Are You Prepared To Meet With Jesus; You Might Find That You Are?

This sermon was delivered Gordon McCulloch to the congregation at Holy Trinity in Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 11th August 2019; Holy Trinity is a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries.

Genesis 15:1-6 Psalm 33:12-22 Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 Luke 12:32-40

“Please join me in a short prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14)

Introduction

Throughout the gospels we read of Jesus teaching us about the kingdom of heaven, and how throughout our lives we are being prepared to meet with him in person. … This morning we read of Jesus doing just that, he is preparing the disciples for their own personal ministry once he leaves; but he is also making it very clear, that he will return to meet with them … and us too of course … at some future time.

This worries many people, as Jesus is teaching us here that we should therefore be in state of constant readiness for his return … and this is quite scary. … Also we do not know what his return really means.

Does it mean he with physically appear to us as person in this life … does he mean we will be transformed directly into his kingdom somewhere in the spirit world … does he mean that we are prepared for our own death … or does he mean that when he returns it will be the end of the world as written in the book of revelations? …

The bible is not clear on this one and we don’t know for sure, but in the parable given in support of our reading, we are presented with Jesus describing a scene in which several servants were waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet; the point being that they were to remain vigilant and ready for his return; having everything in place and in order … in the exact way that we should be in our preparations to meet with Jesus himself, in whatever manner that curtails.

… Our text this morning therefore details a three point approach to that readiness, and the first point is that we must simply be aware of his return, and be ready to meet with him, which in many ways I suppose many of us here today are, more so than we realise and I will explain.

I. Simply be aware and be prepared to meet with our master.

Verse 35 of our text starts this preparation with two commands: “Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit” …and from this short text we see two word pictures, the first (where the text is expanded later on in the passage), to belt their robes, and the second … to keep their lamps burning.

1. Long robes

Now the long robes of the Middle East, worn by both men and women, nearly touch the ground as we know. They are worn without belts, and in hot climates, this is the best way to cover up and keep cool … however, if they are involved in any strenuous activity like hard work, it is better and more practical to tie a belt or rope around the waist and then tucking in the bottom edge of the robes into that belt to keep it off the ground, and out of the way; that way it is more practical for heavy working.

2. Keep your lamps lit.

The second command relates to keeping their lamps lit which means little to us, unless we have lived without electricity and know the difficulty of preparing a lamp with oil and a wick after it is dark … in other words, it is best to prepare our lamps well before it is dark. In conclusion, the representation of our loins being girded and our lamps burning we are prepared and watching out in the expectancy of our coming master.

3. Be ready for the master returning from the wedding feast

Verse 36 then complements this by telling us to “be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.”

This is an implied story of a master who went off somewhere to get married … and as these weddings in the middle east could last a week or so, the emphasise here would be on the new husband returning home with his new bride … and he is certainly not wanting to be kept waiting. … Applied spiritually, the Lord Jesus when he returns does not want to be kept waiting either. … Jesus wants us to be watching and ready for Him … and not needing to be aroused, or educated, or wait for us to put our affairs in order … he will expect us to be ready; which is quite strong.