The text is set in the middle of Jesus’ Olivet discourse
(sermon). The Question and Answer
session has the Pharisees and Sadducees trying to trip Jesus up, while the
disciples were attempting to figure Jesus out.
Neither group was too successful because they failed to understand what
Advent was all about.
Advent isn’t about setting dates and who’s in charge; Advent is
about relationship – the kind of relationship that God wants to have with
us.
The disciples asked Jesus the kind of question Dad gets from the
back seat of the car during the first twelve minutes of the trip to Grandma’s
house – Are we there yet? Jesus
gave them the kind of answer you’d expect from a Jewish rabbi. He tells them how to recognize being there,
and how it will feel, and what you should do about it.
This text, Christian believer, is Jesus’ Advent answer to you
about what to do while you’re waiting for him to come back.
Certainty – God’s Timing is
His Own
“But
about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so
will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the
flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the
day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the
flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of
Man. Matthew 24:36-39 (NRSV)
The fact
that God has not “let the cat out of the bag” about exactly when
Jesus will return does not allow that there is an if about his
return. “So too will be
the coming of the Son of Man” is not a question, but a statement of prophetic
fact; Jesus IS coming again.
While serving in Jacksonville,
Florida I drove every day up Main Street to our church. Around 8th Street the Day Labor
office was always surrounded by hopeful people at 7am. They waited, but had nothing to do.
Husbands sometimes feel this
way waiting for that special someone to get that last bit of pesky unruly hair
in place. Wives patiently wait while
husbands work on getting around to taking out the garbage. The waiting game!
This is so different from
the picture Jesus paints. In a later
part of Jesus’ sermon he tells the parable of the talents. A businessman going on a trip gathers his
three employees and places the responsibility for his property in their
hands. The businessman calls for an
accounting upon his return. The first
two employees have worked and made the boss’s investment pay off. The third buried what he was supposed to use
and sat on it until the boss returned.
Needless to say, the boss wasn’t amused!
The parable was a metaphor
to describe how Jesus went away from the earth, but left his servants (you and
me) to be stewards over his kingdom.
When he returns there will be an accounting of what we have done with
what he placed in our hands.
The parable isn’t about
whether or not God loves us – that was settled at the cross. But they are a measure of how much we love
God, and if we desire to be obedient to his command.
So, we should be busy, not
lazy. John and Charles Wesley should
serve as our examples – even if we were not Methodists. They worked tirelessly and with great
sacrifice to extend the Kingdom of God.
Every area of their lives was devoted to Christ.
Jesus is coming back; it
will be in his own time, and we should be living our lives in the full light of
an impending accountability. Advent
means “his appearing”. His appearing
means we must give account of the kind of steward we’ve been. So…while you’re waiting get busy with your
talents.
Sifting - God’s Purpose will
Divide
Then
two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two
women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be
left. Matthew 24:40-41 (NRSV)
God will divide the sheep
from the goats. The sheep are those who
have accepted Christ – the goats are those who have rejected Christ. Now, if Jesus is going to do the separating,
we must not do that dividing now. The
very nature of judging is forbidden; it is not up to us who qualifies to go to
heaven. Jesus will sort that out on
judgment day.
Now, if the judging or
sifting is going to work out the purpose of God dividing the lost from the
saved, what is our responsibility in the mean time? Our job is to bring as many of the lost into
the fold as we can.
Unfortunately the church is
not as good at that as we should be; often that is because we don’t even
try. Many times, however, it is due to
our miscommunication and selfishness.
Somehow as the family of God we must reclaim that understanding with
compassion that two are going to be in the field…one taken and the other
left….LOST!
Do you
recall the movie “Home Alone”? The main character is Kevin, an 8 year-old
boy left alone at home by mistake. He
has to fend for himself while his parents desperately try to get home from a
crowded London airport.
Kevin, played by Macaulay
Culkin, is afraid of his next door neighbor, a tall, older, bearded man who is
suspected (by the neighborhood kids) of being a murderer. The man is really only sad and alone,
estranged from his only son and his granddaughter. There’s a scene in the church, where the old
man has come to see his granddaughter sing.
Kevin and the old man meet and talk.
In the end their talk leads to understanding, and both are helped.
There is so much that
separates the human family. Advent means
Jesus is coming; the Bible word Parousia means
presence. That is at least part of the
meaning of Advent…how Jesus came to be Emmanuel – God with us – so God could be
in our understanding.
We cannot be afraid to talk
to one another. No matter what the world
is doing these days, believers in Jesus Christ must overcome our fears about
sharing the gospel. The sifting of
judgment day demands that we spread the good news – souls are at stake. While you’re waiting, share the Gospel with
others.
Sending – God Defines
our Mission
Keep
awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But
understand this: if the owner of the
house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have
stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore
you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected
hour. Matthew 24:42-44 (NRSV)
The two
terms Keep Awake and Be Ready aren’t just synonymous
they are complementary; to do one is to do the other.
What do the phrases imply?
1.
Something to guard and therefore something to lose if we are careless.
2.
We have a responsibility to prepare for his coming, and help others
prepare.
Matthew 26:46 is not in
today’s reading, but it sums up exactly what our challenge is in meeting the
responsibility of being God’s obedient children. It tells us that the wicked go to eternal
punishment and the righteous to eternal life
It is not a game, but the
words should ring loudly in our ears about the Lord’s coming…
Ready or not…Here HE comes!
