Meditation on
Matthew 24:36-44
***
‘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. 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.
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.
***
Not long ago, I opened up one of my commentaries and an old church
bulletin fell out. Turned out, it was the bulletin from my first service here
at Ebenezer—Sept. 4, 2011.
The call to
worship came from Psalm 46 and began, “God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble. Therefore we
will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in
the heart of the sea.” Our hymns were, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” “The Solid Rock,” “Because He Lives,” and “Seek
Ye First.” Our gospel lesson was Matthew 7:24-29, which begins, “Everyone
then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who
built his house on rock. The rain fell,
the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall,
because it had been founded on rock.” This is the passage that follows Jesus’
warning that “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom
of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven…”
My sermon title? “Getting ready.” And it was about preparing our hearts and
minds for our new ministry together. I remember it was a very exciting
time. I couldn’t wait to begin the work
that God was calling us to do!
The main point of that first sermon was that this wasn’t our
work and it wasn’t for us. It was God’s work through us for Him. And Christ would be our “Solid
Rock”—the foundation for our faith, the head of our church, and the reason for
all that we do. If Christ weren’t our foundation, then the work would be in
vain; we would be like “the foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”
“Getting Ready,” then, was
making sure our hearts and minds were in the right place, to ensure that our work
together was God’s work and not done simply
to make us feel good about ourselves. What was the best way to ensure our readiness
for ministry and that our work would be what He wanted for us? Prayer. Seeking
God’s will together and then surrendering ourselves and our lives humbly to
Him. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, that there would be trials and
temptations. We are human, after all. But we also knew that there would be
joy as we were led by the Spirit to walk this journey side by side, growing in
trust, growing in love, waiting in hope.
***
And here we are today, this first Sunday of Advent in 2013, talking
about getting ready again. But this time, the getting ready isn’t about
preparing our hearts to do ministry together.
Instead, it is about preparing our hearts for Him! For when He comes again to reign in glory, to
be our King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
And my first response to the news of His coming at an unexpected hour is an anxious, “But, Lord, we’re not ready!
There’s still so much more we need to do.”
We have friends and family who are still unsaved. All around us are people who walk in
darkness, hungry for the light of Christ that dwells within us but not knowing they
hunger for Him. All around us are broken hearts and wounded lives, people
without hope in this world or faith in the world to come. We have neighbors,
near and far, in need of our acts of kindness, generosity, and compassion. And
we ourselves still struggle daily with sin and selfishness, feelings of
helplessness and unworthiness.
But it doesn’t take me long to realize how foolish is my response of
“Not yet, Lord,” to thoughts of Christ’s immanent return! As foolish as the man
who built his house on sinking sand! I’ve missed the point of laboring for Him
and the gracious message of the gospel if I think that somehow we can get more
done for Him if we just have a little more time before He comes back!
The whole purpose of the Christian life is loving and serving the Lord.
Everything we do is done to draw us nearer to Him; we long to be with Him face
to face! And the whole point of the gospel is that we can’t possibly make
ourselves worthy enough for Him! And if we can’t “fix” ourselves, we certainly
cannot “fix” our neighbors or unsaved family members, either. For God so loved the world that He gave his
one and only Son so that all who believe on Him would not perish, but would
have everlasting life.
The message of Christ coming at an unexpected hour is both a
warning to the apathetic and a comfort to those who are overly anxious. If we
are promised that Christ’s coming will be unexpected, then we have to believe
that we cannot fully prepare our hearts and lives for His coming—certainly not
without His help.
Our Matthew reading reveals Christ’s concern for his followers being
distracted from doing the good works He has taught them to do. Hear the urgency
in his command, “Keep awake! Stay
alert!” No one but God knows the day and hour of His return—not the angels, not
even the Son of Man himself. Truly
powerful are the images of the two women grinding meal together; one who will
be taken and the other left. And the two working in the field, one being taken
and the other left.
But for today’s church, I think more
than fear or apathy, the notion that we have somehow “arrived” or finished our
work for Christ may be the greatest obstacle to faithful discipleship. The Lord
is saying to us through this passage not just “Keep alert!” but “Persevere!
Keep going! Labor until the very end!”
Brothers and sisters, we are blessed to welcome four new families into
membership in our church today! We are
blessed with growth not so we can pat ourselves on the back and say, “Good job!”
We are blessed because the Lord still has more work for us to do! He has brought us more laborers for His
harvest. And more people to love and nurture in the faith.
God is getting us ready, preparing our hearts and minds for more
ministry together. I have to say this is a very exciting time! I can’t wait to begin the work that God will
lead us to do!
But we know the best way to ensure our
readiness for ministry and that our work will be His work is by praying
together. Seeking God’s will and then surrendering ourselves and our lives
humbly to Him. It isn’t going to be easy; there will be trials and temptations.
We are human, after all. But there will also be joy as we are led by the Spirit
to walk this journey side by side, growing in trust, growing in love, waiting
in hope!
Comforted that our Lord will come at an
unexpected hour!
Let us pray.
Holy God, thank you for your Son, whom
you graciously gave up for our sakes—so that we could be reconciled with you
and one another. Bind us together in
love, Lord. Teach us to have grace for
one another. Equip us and lead us to do the work you have ordained for us to
do. Keep us alert and focused on You,
persevering until the very end. Bless the new families who have joined us in laboring
for your harvest. Help us to warmly
welcome them and be a blessing to them in the days, months, and years to come. Build our faith as we journey side by side,
learning to trust, growing in love, waiting in hope, and longing for our King
of Kings and Lord of Lords to come again!
In His name we pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment