Matthew 24: 32-51

Theme: Second Coming

Series: Parables of the Kingdom

HOW TO BE READY

A year or two ago, a man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was fed up with the cockroaches in his apartment. He decided to do something about it. He brought 12 cans of roach spray. But, it was not your ordinary spray can. It was the kind of roach bomb you place in a room, squeeze the triggering device and then shut the door and leave. He set off, all 12 cans in various parts of the house.

The papers said that the explosion could be heard three miles away. The best they could figure is that the pilot light on the heater ignited the gaseous spray and formed a rather large air-fuel bomb. Fortunately, the man was gone when it happened and no one was hurt.

Passers by said that it was like the scene of a movie, windows blew out and a huge fireball erupted. It was estimated that about $100,000.00 worth of damage was done to the apartment. The TV reporter interviewed a fireman and asked what he saw. The fireman said that everything was gone. The furniture, all the furnishings, everything was destroyed. The floor was scattered with burnt debris. However, there were roaches running around everywhere.

I suspect this guy did not follow the instructions very well. And he certainly was not prepared for the consequences of his actions. And yet, he has no one else to blame but himself!

Jesus warned us that we needed a certain kind of awareness about the way we live our lives because, one day, he will return. We have the instructions written rather plainly for us. We may not understand what will happen in the future, in fact, I am certain we don’t. But, we know that Jesus is going to return just as he promised. If we are foolish enough not to follow the instructions of our Lord, we may well end up like the man who tried to kill the roaches. We blow up the house and the problem still remains.

How are we to approach the second coming? Are we to be preoccupied with it, constantly reading with the newspapers in one hand and the Bible in the other, tracking events we think might point to the second coming? Jesus said we are to be dressed in readiness, prepared for what might happen. We are to be on alert. This does not mean that we are to stand staring sat the sky waiting to catch a glimpse of his return. It is means to be like the watchman who makes his regular rounds, to be always on the alert.

I was security guard in Seminary and we made regular rounds on campus to protect it from potential thieves. But most of us cannot afford guards. Jesus said that if the head of the house knew when the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. If the head of the house had known that the thief was about to break into his house, he would have stopped him. The only thing he could do was to be constantly on guard.

Jesus told a parable, a story about a rich man who went out on a journey and his time of return is uncertain. He left his servants in charge while he was gone. What are the servants to do? Are they to sleep or are they to stand watch and work and make ready for their master's return? The obvious answer is that the servants are to work as if he were in their presence. They are to be about the work that their master has given them. So, if their master returns at the second or even in the late night of the third watch, they will be found ready and will open the door even before he knocks.

In this story, the master returns and finds that the servants are hard at work. He is proud and impressed with his servant. Jesus assures them that the master will be so impressed with the loyalty of his servant that the master will put him in charge of all his possessions. But, what if the servant was not at his post? What if he said,

So he throws a party, he abuses the other servants and has a good time. But, the master comes home early and walks in on the party. What will be his reaction? Anger does not begin to describe it. He will cut the evil and abusive servant to pieces and cast him into the place where there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth–not a very pleasant reward.

You never know when the master is going to return. He is like a thief in the night and you cannot anticipate that he will return here or there. In fact Jesus said on more than one occasion, we cannot know when he will return. In Matthew 24: 36 He said that, "Of the day and the hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." In Acts chapter one, Jesus answers the disciples question about the coming of the kingdom, "It is not for you to know the times or dates which the father has fixed by his own authority." It is none of our business. That is knowledge that belongs to the Father only.

What are we to do then? We are to watch and wait and to work. Like the slaves waiting for their master to return, we are to be in our work clothes and be about the master's business. If you want to be prepared for the Lord's return, you need to be about the business of living a righteous life, loving those around you, fulfilling the great commission by witnessing to the good news of Jesus. That is how we are to spend our time. If you think that the time is near, we are not to hole up in the house until he comes. We are to be out working.

Growing up on the farm, one of the things you learn is that there are times of hard work and times of waiting. When the Spring comes, you are busy preparing the ground and planting the seed. Then you wait. Soon it sprouts and grows and you work to protect it from weeds and pests. And while you may watch the weather, there is not much you can do about it. If you spend all your time watching the sky instead of the crops, you will have nothing at harvest time. But, if you are faithful in you work and waiting, you hard work will pay off with a good crop. Jesus called us to be faithful to work with the promise that the harvest will be great.

Luke records an interesting question that Peter asked Jesus "Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?" Jesus does not directly answer the question. But, upon finishing the parable we have studied, he says, "And from everyone who has been given much shall much be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more." The parable is to all of us. We who are Christians have a great gift and great responsibility. We have been given the Gospel to take it to our world. We must be in the fields tending to the harvest of God. That means we must throw off any habit or thought or practice that might hinder our work. We must be a worshiping community where our highest priority is to glory God. It means that we must love one another because they will know us by our love for one another. It means that we must be sharing the gospel with all who will hear because that is how the work gets done. We must give ourselves to teaching proper doctrine so that we make disciples. We must be at work lest, our master comes and finds us unfaithful.

An unknown poet has written, "What would He find, should He come just now;/ A faded leaf or a fruitless bough;/ A servant sleeping, an idle plow;/ What would He find should He come just now?/ What would He find should He come tonight,/ Your garment soiled or a spotless white;/ Your lamps all burning or with no light;/ What would He find should He come tonight?"

How can we be ready? We come to faith in Jesus who takes away our sins. Then, we carry out his command. We work until Jesus comes again.