You do not know the day or the hour

 Read Matthew 25:1-13

Let’s go to the end of the parable.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Much of professional sports involves clock management: knowing when to stay in bounds and run the clock down and when to go for the last shot of the half or the game.

Some sports don’t have a clock. Baseball is an example. It’s not over ‘til it’s over.

I took Heather to an Iowa Cubs game in the late 1980s. The visiting team was putting a whooping on the Cubs. About the seventh inning, Heather asked, can we go now?

Dad, being Dad, said, “It’s not over, ‘til it’s over.” The actual Yogi Berra quote was, “It ain’t over, ‘til it’s over.”

I remember that game. The Cubs came back and tied the game. That took awhile. Then there were the extra innings, probably five or six of them. Just before midnight, the Cubs came back and won it. The two Spences and seven other people celebrated the win.

Dad was tired, but it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.

Other sports, like soccer, have a clock, but you don’t always know when the game ends. I didn’t grow up with soccer, so the concept seems strange, but it is probably the most comparable to our lives of the sports examples that I can muster.

We have calendars and clocks, but we do not know the day or the hour of the Lord's return. We can see the season but not the divine appointment.

So, we can reasonably say we are in the season, so how do we keep watch? What is it that we should be watching for?

Deception, that’s what. As the end grows near, deception will reach new levels.

Only by being vigilant can we endure what is to come. The casual Christianity of this time won’t cut it. We are vulnerable. Life is so easy that our nature will be to trade the truth for the illusion of security.

We have all become accustomed to an easy life. Even with our trials, life is too easy for our own good. Will deception leverage our comfort? Absolutely!

Our desire for comfort makes us vulnerable to deception.

Yes, we deal with situations at work, situations at school, loss of jobs, illness, cancer, death of friends and family, but as far as living for Christ, we have not yet been tested.

We have been pampered. Life is easy in our time. That ease is a luxury that can make us vulnerable to temptation and deceit. Be ready, keep watch, and stay awake.

Do not be deceived.

We don’t know when our Master will return so we must always be ready. In our daily readiness, we increase our resistance and reduce our vulnerability to deceit and deception.

In our daily readiness, we increase our resistance and reduce our vulnerability to deceit and deception.

Keep watch! We don’t know the day or the hour.

What if we did? Would we change something?

We did the One Month to Live challenge several years ago. It asked us what would we do if we knew we only had one month to live.  What would we do? More accurately, what would we do differently?

I hope that we can say we wouldn’t do anything differently. It seems unlikely, but that is how we should live.

The day and the hour of the Lord’s return should not impact how we live this day. We must always live for him.

The day and the hour of the Lord’s return should not impact how we live this day.

That’s through joy and sorrow, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health… I hope somebody brought the rings and booked the fellowship hall for a reception.

We are the body of Christ and the bride of Christ. Take those as metaphors, not allegories. Some try to separate Christians as the body of Christ from Jews as the bride of Christ. Allegory is a stretch here.

The biblical witness we know tells us we will be one in Christ. The question before us is, would we do anything differently if we knew we would die tomorrow or in two weeks?

I hope not!

But we probably would do something or some things differently. Why? Maybe, we are not ready for the Lord’s return. We cry out Maranatha but are we sure that we are ready?

Is there someone we need to forgive? Why wait for a deadline?

Is there someone with whom we should have shared the gospel? What are we waiting for?

Does that kid across the street need a coat for this winter? Who among us would say that that kid can wait another year unless Jesus is coming before Christmas?

We should live daily as if we only have one or two days left.  That is the nature and disposition of the believer. We do what we know to do, and we do it today.

We are always ready and always vigilant. How do we get and stay that way?

Do we need a checklist? No, but having one can’t hurt.  Every day, we should:

·       Pray..

·       Read our Bibles.

·       Find at least one person to share the love of God that we know in Christ and share the story of salvation that is waiting for them.

·       Help someone less fortunate than ourselves—the least of these our brothers and sisters.

·       Bring up our children in the way they should go.

·       Give thanks to God.

·       Put what God has given us to work now.

·       Be known as a follower of Jesus by our love.

·       Be teachable and seek the judgment of God’s word in our lives.

·       Have ears to hear the Spirit of God that lives within us

Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

We need a readiness program. Be ready by putting the words of our Master into practice every day. Putting his words into practice is readiness.

Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Be ready today and every day. Jesus is coming…soon.

Amen.

Matthew 25 - Part 1

 

Read Matthew 25

Long ago and far away, I used to fly from Orlando, Florida to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on a regular basis.  Nothing outside of North Carolina goes to the Albert J. Ellis Airport that services Camp Lejeune with it’s one or two flights every day.

The pilots that serviced that airport always chuckled when they started to taxi, “Looks like we are first in line for takeoff.”  Of course, we were first in line.  We were the only aircraft in line. 

All of that to bring us to this point.  I spent a lot of time in the airport in Charlotte.  My layovers were longer than both of my flights. I always flew in civies.  I didn’t care to get my service uniform splashed as the drink cart went by.

One day In Charlotte Douglas Airport, I was at the food court getting lunch when one of the girls behind the counter said, “You work here right?”

I said, “No, I just spend a lot of time here between flights.”

She said, “That’s OK.  It’s like you work here so we will give you the employee discount.”

It’s nice when they know you. It’s like being Norm on Cheers.  It’s nice when everybody knows your name.

The parable begins At that time…  What time?

What preceded was the short course on eschatology.  What time?  It’s the end of the age and this is a parable, so Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to 10 girls waiting on the wedding party to come. Weddings were big deals. 

They did not take place at an exact time.  Waiting was involved and we are told that the bridegroom was a long time in coming.  These girls were waiting well into the night.  It was midnight before anything started to happen.

And the cry came that the bridegroom was on the way.  The girls awoke and trimmed the wicks but 5 of them had run out of oil.  The other 5 brought oil enough for the entire night.

The unprepared asked for oil from those who came prepared.  They said no.  That seems mean but we should consider the first words of this parable:  At that time.  What time?  It’s the end of the age.

The end of the age will be a come as you are affair.  You knew to be ready.  You either were or were not.

All the way up to this point, there had been plenty of time to get more oil, or if we see that this is about more than oil, then there was plenty of time to get ready for the coming of our Lord.

Those who had oil trimmed their wicks and their light shone brightly.  The others saw their light going out and there was nothing they could do about it.  Sure, they could leave to buy more oil, but they had waited too long.

They waited too long.  They were only prepared for the bridegroom’s arrival if it was convenient.   We might say their seed did not take root in good soil. 

What did I ask you to take home last week?

Do not be alarmed.

Do not be deceived.

Be ready.

The girls who ran out of oil were not ready.  They had been deceived—by their own thoughts and human nature—that they would not need to be ready for more that a few hours.  Now they were alarmed.

What could they do?

They went to get more oil but we know how that came out.  There were no timeouts here to get resupplied.   

There is something that is not written here but relates to the previous chapter.  How do you think the 5 who ran out of oil thought about those who were ready?

I am sure that they hated them.  If there had been more time, they might have persecuted those who came with extra oil, but the time for the bridegroom’s arrival had come.  Time to persecute those who were ready had come to an end.

The 5 who needed oil did make a desperate attempt to refuel.

But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

For those who believe, think of being persecuted.  You are hated.  You might be physically abused.  You might get nailed to a cross.  You might be separated from your family. Your possessions might be stripped from you.  You might be strapped to a chair and forced to watch The View. You might be imprisoned, and in these days of persecution don’t expect prison to be the luxury housing facilities that we see today in this country.

Those seem harsh and they are but here is something worse.  It is to hear your Master say, I don’t know you.

I don’t know you.

But I have 2 forms of ID.

They let me cash a check anywhere I go.

I can rent a car or book a flight or buy stuff with one click.

The world knows me!  The whole world knows me. Nobody has to ask me, what’s in my wallet?

I am connected to this world in so many ways.  I have 4500 Facebook friends and 1200 Linked In connections. I have premier status on 3 airlines.  I know everybody.  Everybody knows me.

But, does your Master know you?

Are you ready for his return?

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Which brings us to the United States Coast Guard for your weekly nugget to chew on.  What is the motto of the Coast Guard?

Semper Paratus

It means always ready.

We are charged to be always ready for the return of our Lord.  Be ready.

Amen.