Being Ready

Being Ready

Luke 12: 32-38

This illustration is about not being afraid for the return of the Master.

When I was a young boy in the Fourth Grade at Yost Elementary School, our teacher, Mrs. Conley, would periodically leave the room and say, “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Just work quietly at your desks on your math worksheets.” Now, the minute she left, my friends and I would stake look-outs at the door. Why would we do this? Because in her absence chaos would break out leading us to all sorts of mischief. We would throw chalkboard erasers around the room, fly paper airplanes into the lights, jump in and out of our first floor windows, and chase each other up and down the aisles. For us, it was a test of courage to boldly defy the teacher and we all accepted the challenge.

You see, the fear of being caught is what made it all so exciting because we knew that if caught, there was a heavy price to pay, besides we had the need to expend all the youthful energy that was built up in us like caged birds.

Mrs. Conley was agreeable most of the time, but you did not want to get her angry. She seemed to us to be ten feet tall, and could give you one of those, “I would like to kill you stares, that would put the fear of God in your soul”. Her wrath was an awesome thing to behold. She took pride in doing her own paddling and to make things worse, she did it before the whole class and as she paddled, fire would shoot from her eyes.

Meanwhile, our classmate Karen never worried about when Mrs. Conley might reappear. Why? Because Karen would be at her desk the whole time faithfully doing her math -- faithfully doing what Mrs. Conley asked her to do. Whenever the teacher would return, she would find Karen, without fail, busy doing her work.

Sometimes we find that we are anything but ready. We get so caught up in day to day living and we don’t find much time for God. Our Savior gives us fair warning to be be ready when He returns. Can your honestly say that you are ready? Today... or even this very hour? Listen to His warning:

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

sermon ending:

When the teacher returned in the Fourth Grade, the wisdom is that Karen had no need to fear, unlike the rest of us. In our lives, the Rabbi – the Teacher from Nazareth has given us work to do as well. We are to live, work and love as those who belong to God. If we are faithfully engaged in such work for the sake of God’s realm, then we should not fear when Jesus comes back to gather his flock. Our lamps will be ready and we will be up and waiting and we will be happy to see him. And I pray that when he comes, he will find us all busy and ready.