New Years Eve
Grace and peace from God the Father and our Savior Jesus Christ.
As I reflected on the gospel lesson for this evening I couldn't help but wonder what the people prior to Jesus thought about prophesies of the Messiah. We have seen that prophesy was fulfilled, of course hindsight is 20-20. Until the last few hundred years prior to the birth of Jesus the prophets had spoken of a Messiah then the prophets went quiet.
In that quiet time we don't know how often the people were reminded of Messiah prophesy or how many variations of interpretation were offered. I suspect there was no urgency in their anticipation, after all the Messiah hadn't appeared yet even though His arrival was foretold from the very beginning. We do know that when Jesus was born the religious authorities were expecting something other than a lowly baby in Bethlehem. As Jesus went about His ministry He was the farthest thing from the warrior king many anticipated.
Since that time we rejoice at the birth of Jesus and we look forward to when He will come again. And like the people waiting for a Messiah many today feel little urgency about His second coming. After all for two millennia the church has recounted Jesus telling the disciples He will come again, yet we are still waiting.
We are in the same situation as those awaiting the Messiah in Palestine. Not only did He suddenly appear at an unexpected time, but the circumstances of His arrival and the aftermath were not what they anticipated. Jesus clearly tells us His second coming will be at an unexpected time and the aftermath may be much different than some of our peers have described. The truth is no one knows more than a few hints left for us in the bible, and as you know there are widely varying interpretations of those hints.
As we look at this particular reading we find that Jesus spoke against hypocrisy, told the parable of the rich fool to warn against greed, and used the analogy of the ravens and lilies to warn against worldly cares and to focus on the gifts of the Kingdom.
Now we read Jesus focusing on diligence in preparation for His second coming the opposite of the self-indulgence of hypocrisy, worry and greed. The contrast in these lessons is the comparison of the unimportance of worldly things verses the great importance of the eternal things of the Kingdom.
It's difficult not to compare this reading to the parable of the ten bridesmaids however the waiting is not for the bridegroom to arrive at the banquet rather the master has gone to the banquet and is delayed in his return.
The master of the house doesn't expect to return home and knock on the door to enter. He expects the servants to be alert, dressed, with lamps burning, to open the door as he approaches and light his way as he enters his home.
Jesus said, "Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes." The blessing is strangely different from anything the servants would expect. The master will dress to serve them and serve a meal as the servants recline and relax. A complete role reversal from the experiences of first century Palestinian people, but then Jesus was a master of using these types of analogies to show that God is loving and compassionate not a cruel tyrant.
Jesus repeats the blessing again for those in the second or third watch perhaps to emphasize the master will be delayed and those who continue to be alert long after the anticipated time of his arrival is exactly what is expected of his servants.
Jesus takes an interesting aside when He talks about being ready for thieves. Homes in Palestine were typically barred at night. But thieves didn't try to storm the door, especially at night when it would surely wake the inhabitants. Thieves would quietly dig through the mud-brick wall of the house to gain entrance at night, with luck they would exit with valuables without waking the owner. There was no defense against this kind of attack except to stand guard all night. Thus Jesus was adding emphasis to being alert even on the second and third watch. And He closes with a warning that we also must be ready because He is returning at an hour we do not expect.
As I take this in its obvious to me that Jesus wants me to be on alert and ready for His return. It immediately brings to mind two questions. How do I become ready or alert? And if I am alert and ready why would I not stay alert?
The answer to the first question is pretty obvious to most of us. Stay in the word, worship regularly, pray daily, do devotions, take part in education, and follow Jesus' lead. However if we reflect on this reading and the previous lessons of this chapter we find some other possibilities; be trusting rather than worried, be sincere rather than hypocritical, be generous rather than greedy, be diligent rather than lazy, be ready to witness rather than fearful.
The second question may be better answered from the perspective of a tragic accident. As an aviation buff I keep up on the aviation news and one tragic crash sticks out in my mind as bringing home the point Jesus is making. In August of 2006 Comair Flight 5191 was departing from a regional airport in Kentucky when it crashed. The only survivor was the co-pilot. As the investigation ensued some terrifying facts came to light. The aircraft tried to take off on a runway that was to short. Idle conversation was heard on the cockpit recorder as the plane taxied to the wrong runway a direct violation of FAA regulations. The co-pilot was heard on the voice recorder questioning the pilot in command whether they were on the correct runway but the pilot overruled the copilot and proceeded to takeoff.
Two professionals committed errors that cost the lives of 49 people. How was this possible? First they became complacent and just followed their normal routine without thought as evidenced by the cockpit conversation. Second their complacency allowed them to become distracted from the task at hand.
Sound familiar?
The truth is we all become complacent about our faith; we all have blood on our hands, we all add to the burden of Jesus on the cross. We decide we can put off devotions for a day to get some other task completed. Then discover the day became a week or longer. We get tired and think if we miss a Sunday no big deal, but find it starts to be a habit. Perhaps someone offends us in some way one Sunday so we decide I'm not going to attend services. We find distractions all around us like white noise drowning out the conversation we need to be having with God. Our complacency about our faith allows the distractions to drown out our connection to God. Without that connection and the enthusiasm it brings, this worship thing becomes stale pretty quickly.
Have I become complacent and easily distracted? Am I spinning my wheels trying to do it my way? Have I become spiritually dull? Just a few questions that each of us needs to evaluate for ourselves.
The good news is that God knows our faults better than we know ourselves. He is willing to let us work it out and return to Him when we do. And when we do work it out there is much rejoicing in Heaven because we were lost for a little while, but returned to the flock.
A baby came into the world to purchase each of us as His own He left us with a promise of salvation and of His return to gather us into our heavenly home. With great joy we can count on that promise as assuredly as all of the other promises made and fulfilled in the bible.
As we begin this New Year be diligent be ready with joy in your heart! Don't let His delay lead you to complacency. He is waiting for us to help add to His Kingdom. Amen.
