In Jesus Holy Name December 2, 2007
Text: Matthew 24:3,4,36,42 Redeemer
The Secret
This past summer and fall I’ve had the privilege of officiating in a number of weddings. Some were held in the back yard of a family home. Others on a golf course. One on the shore of a lake. Some were held in a church sanctuary. In September, our youngest son, Aaron and his finance, Meghan were married.
Every wedding had some things in common. The brides all wore beautiful wedding gowns, chosen with care. Every groomsman had visited a “men’s wearhouse” and been measured for a tuxedo. Every groomsman and every father also had a vest. Did you know there is a secret to wearing a vest?
It’s a secret every father should tell his son. It’s one of those manly things that has to be passed down from generation to generation. It rates up there with teaching your son to shave and used deodorant. It’s a secret every vest wearer must know. If you own a vest and you do not knows this secret, here it is. “Button your first button correctly.” (Max Lucado)
Take your time. Don’t be in a rush. Look carefully in the mirror and then match the right button with the right hole. If you get the first button right, then the rest will follow. If, however you don’t get the first button right, every button thereafter will be buttoned incorrectly. The result will be a lopsided vest. Put the second button in the top hole or slide the second hole over the top button and well, it just won’t work.
There are certain things in life done only one way. Buttoning a vest is one of them. Being ready for the return of Jesus is another.
According to Jesus, being ready for his return to earth is a vest button principle. Not everything is a vest button principle. The church you attend isn’t. The bible translation you read is not. But being ready for the return of Jesus is a vest button truth. Jesus will return. His words can be trusted.
But we human beings are curious lot. We want to know when. We want to know the day, the time. The disciples were no different.
Matthew 24 tells us that Jesus had been preaching in Jerusalem. He and his disciples left the temple area and walked across the Kidron valley; I’d call it a creek, and walked up the Mt. of Olives. It is a fabulous view back across the Kidron Valley of about a ½ mile, towards the city of Jerusalem and the temple mount.
The disciples were also looking at the ancient city with its beautiful limestone walls. Jesus said, “Not one stone will be left on another, everyone will be thrown down.” The disciples asked the expected question. “When will this happen?” “What will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age?”
Jesus said, “No one knows the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor do I, only the Father knows.” “Keep watch….many will come in my name, claiming to be the Christ, and they will deceive many. Keep watch, because you do not know the day your Lord will come.” Be ready! It’s a vest button principle.
In Acts chapter 1, when Jesus had ascended into heaven the angels spoke to the disciples and said, “this same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” When he returns the opportunity for preparation will be passed. Our eternal destination depends on the preparation that we have already made.
The exact day and hour of our Lord’s return is a secret. When that day arrives, “the voice of the archangel will sound forth with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will be raised from the dead.” The exact day and hour is a secret….but there are warning signs so that we can be prepared. When you approach a city street with a traffic light….and you see yellow…. You are to prepare to stop, not race through it. It’s a warning sign. “Prepare to stop… cross traffic is about to move.”
(take out your bible and look at these warning signs of Jesus.)
Jesus begins with a warning in v. 4. There will be false prophets, individuals who claim to be Jesus. Do not be deceived. Nations will be at war. There will be famines and earthquakes. Believers will be persecuted. Christians can expect to be hated because of their lifestyle which is committed to imitating Jesus.
V 37 Jesus uses the story of Noah and the parable of the faithful and unfaithful servants to emphasis his point. Be prepared. The people in Noah’s day were destroyed because of their wickedness, but that is not the analogy here. Jesus compares the normalcy of their daily lives with the normalcy that will prevail before His return. There is nothing wrong with eating and drinking, getting married, going to work, taking a vacation, enjoying the fellowship of friends, buying a house. The fault is getting so caught up in the routine of daily living that one takes no thought about one’s spiritual life.
Jesus continues his sermon in chapter 25. Jesus tells the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, the parable of the talents, and the coming judgment of the nations. Jesus said, “Watch, be ready.”
The Greek word for “watch” literally means “to chase away sleep.” Sleep is the symbolic word for an extreme state of unprepared ness.
On August 29th, 2005 hurricane Katrina was forming in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 6th strongest hurricane ever recorded. The storm surge literally wiped away the coastal buildings, roads and bridges and homes along the Mississippi and Louisiana coast for miles inland.
The City of New Orleans, already existing under sea level, had the levee system fail in 50 places. Did the residents of New Orleans have warnings signs? Yes.
On August 26th, three days before, Katrina strengthen to a category 3 as it came into the Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center issued warnings for the Mississippi and Louisiana coast. The Coast Guard began to reposition their resources beyond the expected impact zone. President Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi 2 days before the hurricane made landfall.
The National Weather Service in News Orleans issued a vividly worded bulletin on the 28th predicting the area would be uninhabitable for weeks. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were issued. On August 29th Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed New Orleans with its full force of rain and wind.
Were there warning signs that people could understand? Yes! Did people heed the warnings? Some did, others did not and were lost. Did they make preparations to save their lives? Some did, others did not. 1,836 people did not heed the warnings and lost their lives. Thousands of others were stranded.
Jesus said, “I’m going to return.” His return is not a secret. All human history as we know it will come to an end. His judgment will separate the sheep from the goats, the believers from non believers for eternity. A dead line is coming.
Strangely, at least to me, the evening news almost always features a home video shot by someone who had decided to ignore the warnings to evacuate his home before the hurricane hit. Every night I can watch film submitted by someone who had taped the tornado. You can see the strong winds, the drenching rain, the rotating cloud; you can hear the siren’s warning wailing in the background. The warning is working, but these people are with their cameras, standing on their front porch or in front of their living room’s giant plate glass window. The sirens are sounding out a deadline, but people didn’t pay attention. They ignored the deadline or thought they were immune. Sometimes they made it. Sometimes the television announcer ended up saying, with somber tones: “this video footage was recovered from the camera of an individual who hasn’t yet been recovered.”
Need I go on? Should I talk about long lines of taxpayers at the post office as the clock counts down to midnight on April 15th? Did these people not know there was a deadline? Did they think the government had switched the day? Did they think that the authorities at the last minute, were going to go on the radio and television an say, “We have a public service announcement: It is not necessary to pay your taxes this year. The government is flush, and we don’t need your dollars?” Trying to beat the odds, believing that deadlines don’t apply, thinking that the yellow warning light is for the driver behind, is just part of human nature. (Klaus. Lutheran Hour Message 2006)
When Noah was building the ark, he kept preaching, shouting warnings, sharing god’s deadlines. But the entire world, with the exception of his sons and their wives, thought God’s deadlines didn’t apply to them. When the flood hit, they found out, you don’t mess with God’s deadlines. The entire Old Testament record is filled with the story of God’s prophets setting up God’s deadlines and watching, in frustration, as God’s people ignored them. Every time, without exception, they found out God is very serious about His warnings; He doesn’t joke around with his deadlines and his promises.
How near is the kingdom of heaven for you? Will you finish this week? This month? Will you be here next Christmas? I know that thinking about the end of your life is not an especially pleasant thing to do; I wouldn’t bring it up if it wasn’t important.
You can pretend that the Lord and the kingdom of Heaven aren’t going to come at any moment. Good luck. You can hope you’ve got a lot of time.
