Those Who Wait

We're in a little mini-series based on #34 on our list

#34 - AWAIT JESUS' RETURN

And we get this entry into our Fifty Things list from our key verses for this little mini-series - Matthew 24:42-44 which says

So you, too, must keep watch! For you don't know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.Matthew 24:42-44

Alright. Now this is a confusing passage. A lot of people take it out of context and try to make it something that it's not. We spent time in this mini-series putting these verses and these ideas into the proper context.

We said that

#34 - AWAIT JESUS' RETURN

Didn't just mean to sit around and twiddle our thumbs until Jesus came back. Awaiting is not the same as waiting. We're not just supposed to be comfortable and rest on our laurels and sit around on our assets

HE SAID "ASSETS"

Until Jesus comes back. We're supposed to

#34 - BE READY

Like it says in our key verse. But being ready and keeping watch

#34 - KEEP WATCH

Is not about keeping watch for the end of the world and signs of the end of the world. Matthew 23 and 24 were written to the disciples during the end of the temple age and the majority of the content is about the end of the second temple age in Jerusalem, not the end of the world.

Similarly,

#34 - BE READY

Does not mean "Be Rapture Ready." We talked about how the modern "Left Behind" rapture imagery and ideas are based on a theological concept created by John Nelson Darby and really only took hold once the Scofield Reference Bible was published in the early 1900's. Dispensationalism and pre-trib, mid-trip, post-trib and the idea of secret rescue plan with people being taken up to the skies to avoid tribulation and others being left behind to experience it - is not at all what Jesus was talking about in these verses. And truthfully, the whole idea, as much as it captured the imaginations of many an evangelical for a long period of time - it's just bad exegesis. It requires huge leaps of logic, taking things out of their original context and operating from a predetermined conclusion that is wildly inaccurate and unhelpful. But this idea of needing to be ready for the rapture and the tribulation and where we're at in the timeline of prophecy… made a lot of people replace being ready with being anxious.

#34 - BE ANXIOUS

And I am positive that is something that Jesus does not want us to do. So what does it mean - to Await Jesus' Return and

#34 - BE READY

Put plainly and in context - it means

#34 BE READY = BEING ABOUT JESUS' WORK WHEN HE SHOWS UP

And the way we arrive at this conclusion is simply by seeing what Jesus Himself has to say. Right on the heels of saying

You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.Matthew 24:44

Jesus says -

A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing His other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.Matthew 24:45-47

Being ready means that when Jesus comes back, He finds us taking care of the people who He loves. Who does Jesus love?

For God so loved THE WORLDJohn 3:16

God does not show favoritism.Romans 2:11

Jesus said as his death was drawing nearer,

And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.John 12:32

Being ready… means taking care of people. Being ready… means feeding His sheep. And not just theologically - not just spiritually - PHYSICALLY taking care of people. Showing love to people. Meeting needs. Not just trying to convert people but to clothe people. Not just trying to convince people but to comfort people. Not just trying to correct people to connect with people. Not condemning people but communicating with them. Not convicting people but carrying their burdens.

That's what Jesus wants to come back and find us doing.

CARING, COMFORTING, CLOTHING, CONNECTING, COMMUNICATING, AND CARRYING BURDENS

And so - this passage - if we treat it seriously… it should give us hope. It should take a weight off our shoulders in someways, but it ought to be sobering in others. Because we need to ask ourselves - as a church collectively, and as individual followers of Christ - are we doing those things?

This is not guilt. I promise you. It's not. I don't operate that way. It's just a real and introspective question. A time to be honest with ourselves. If Jesus came back today, is that what He would find us doing?

CARING, COMFORTING, CLOTHING, CONNECTING, COMMUNICATING, AND CARRYING BURDENS

Cause… we can do this thing as Christians sometimes… we can do good things… things that might be helpful to us… things that are Jesus adjacent. Without doing the things Jesus actually asked us to do.

There's a bumper sticker that I see every so often and it cracks me up every time - it says

"Jesus is coming…look busy!"

And that's the problem. Because there's a lot of us Christians that are doing the equivalent of "busy work." Or we're doing something. We're "keeping busy." But busy work is called busy work because it keeps you "busy." "Busy work" is not MEANINGFUL AND EFFECTIVE WORK. And look - this is where you're gonna have to do some introspection - this is where you're going to have to be honest with yourself. I'm not labeling these things as good or bad - but I'm just saying some of these things can be busy work.

"I did my daily devotional and my life group homework for the week."

"I color-coded the tabs on my Bible."

"I organized the church photo archive from 1967."

Okay. Cool. Good for YOU. But knowing what we know from this series and reading what we just read, if Jesus showed up and you said that, don't you think He might be like - "That's great… but did you feed anybody? Did you clothe somebody? Did you stand up for somebody who didn't have a voice? Did you meet somebody's needs? Did you comfort someone who was struggling? Did you protect the marginalized? Did you look out for the least of these?

Because Jesus continually THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE tells us what matters to HIM - Matthew 25:31

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit upon His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in His presence, and He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at His right hand and the goats at His left. "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.' 'Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?' "And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!" "Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. (Fun fact, the Greek word used for 'demons' here is more accurately translated as 'the devil and his messengers… even a possibility of translation is 'pastors' - so basically those who are encouraging and advocating for evil and selfish behavior. I say that case in today's day and age (as it has been throughout history)… I think it's still timely. Anyways - back to scripture) "For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn't give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.' "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?" "And He will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.Matthew 25:31-46

By the way - that whole section- that follows Matthew chapter 24. It's still a part of the Olivet Discourse. It's still part of that same conversation Jesus was having with His disciples on the Mount of Olives when He left the temple and they asked Him the questions about the end of the age and what His return would be like. And doesn't what we just read in Matthew chapter 25 sound similar to

"A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing His other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.Matthew 24:45-47

Yeah - what if I add the verses that follow?

But what if the servant is evil and thinks, 'My master won't be back for a while,' and he begins beating the other servants, partying and getting drunk? The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.Matthew 24:48-51

To be READY means to be WORKING at KINGDOM WORK

#34 - BE READY (DO KINGDOM WORK)

The opposite extreme of that is detailed here by Jesus in these passages. And it's a shame that we even have to reference this because it seems so over the top and comical and exaggerated- the evil servant doesn't think his master is gonna be around for a while, so he beats the other servants and takes advantage of them and flaunts wealth that doesn't belong to him but belongs to the master and gets drunk and parties and enriches himself to the detriment of others. Not caring for the people that the master has put into his care. But don't you see that happening? Every day? I wish it wasn't so real. Don't you see people who use Jesus' name in vain and I don't mean by saying JC or GD or whatever- that's not what that means - but using Jesus name and attaching it to worthless, false, evil purposes, profiteering off of His name and misrepresenting His character - don't you see evil servants doing this every day? Yeah - Jesus says - "they're evil. They're not really buy servant. There will be consequences for that." But the ones who ARE His servants. His TRUE servants - are about Kingdom work. Feeding the hungry. Welcoming strangers. Loving people.

In Matthew 25, also part of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus tells the parable of the ten bridesmaids too- and we won't read it here today for the sake of time, you can check it out on your own if you'd like - and again, a lot of people read that through the wrong lens - but we can boil it down to this basic idea - there's a long delay… the bridegroom is gone a lot longer than people expected him to be - but the ones who are praised when he comes back are the ones who are READY. There's a brief parallel telling/shared idea in Luke 12 about this same stuff - if you read it, you'll see a lot of the same dialogue and ideas from Jesus and Jesus says - in Luke 12:35 -

Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!Luke 12:35-37

The servants who are READY

#34 - BE READY

And waiting for his return…

#34 - AWAIT JESUS RETURN

Will be rewarded. And what that looks like is being dressed for SERVICE. Having the resources and the desire at the ready to do Kingdom work and take care of our Master's cherished people and feed His sheep no matter what pasture they may be grazing in currently.

BE DRESSED FOR SERVICE. KEEP YOUR LAMPS BURNING

It's what we're supposed to be doing. In Ephesians 2:10 the apostle Paul wrote,

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.Ephesians 2:10

A number of other translations say we were created "For good works." "To do good works."

Alright I kept teasing for three weeks - be patient. This has to do with patience. Patience is a factor in all of this. And it is. But it might not be the kind of patience you think about. We talked in week one about that waiting. Waiting in the doctor's office. Waiting in the two hour line at the amusement park. Waiting forever while those three dots in the bubble go on forever in that one text thread you're in. But that's passive patience. You're not doing anything.

We are called, while Awaiting Jesus Return to Be Ready and that requires

ACTIVE PATIENCE

James describes it this way in James 5 -

Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient.James 5:7-8

Alright. But here's the difference between passive patience and the active patience - the farmer like patience that James describes here - a farmer doesn't just plant seeds and then binge Netflix for six months. Nope. The famer plants. He sows. But then while they are waiting for the rain, they water themselves, they tend to the field, they de-weed, they fertilize, they work the soil, they're getting the barns ready for the harvest… they are ACTIVELY WORKING even while they PATIENTLY WAIT

ACTIVELY WORK WHILE WE PATIENTLY WAIT

See, it's possible, especially for those of us who have been Christians for a long time. We've been waiting for Jesus to return for a long time. It's possible that while we think we're patiently awaiting Jesus return, and we applaud ourselves for not losing patience, what's really happening is we're losing the plot. We start turning inward on ourselves. We have a saying that's popular in America that Jesus is our personal Savior. And that's great. It emphasizes that Jesus loved ME, that I choose a relationship with HIM. It's Personal. But we get so hung up on the idea of a personal Savior that we forget that our personal Savior preached a SOCIAL GOSPEL and that He didn't ask us to do busy work, to fight over preference, to argue over theological nonsense that ultimately does not change lives or hearts, to protect our comfort and our little corner of Christendom, or just to establish a private , little intimate relationship with Him apart from the rest of the world - but rather that Jesus asked us to love people and to serve people and to stand up for people and the rights of all people.

We're not called to endure the world, ignore the world, escape the world or look forward to it's end. We are called to TRANSFORM the world by doing the things that Jesus asked us to do. To be about Kingdom Work. To truly Love God and Love People and get our hands dirty and put our money where our mouth is and to be okay if we're uncomfortable doing it sometimes.

BEING READY DOES NOT MEAN BEING PASSIVE

BEING READY DOES NOT MEAN BEING PANICKED

Being Ready while we await Jesus' Return means BEING PRODUCTIVE.

BEING READY MEANS BEING PRODUCTIVE

It's living the Beatitudes. It's living out the Sermon on the Mount. It's doing the Fifty Things. Not just by ourselves but actively within our church, out in our community, in our neighborhoods, with friends and strangers and believers and non-believers alike.

See- being ready… isn't just waiting for Jesus to come back… it's living like He never left.

Until next time, may we leave this place Ready to serve with our lamps burning not with the flames of fear but the light of Christ's love. May we care for the hurting, carry each other's burdens and show compassion to all and live like Jesus never left. God bless you, have a great week!