It’s hard to believe that Christmas season is upon us again. The craziness has begun. I was reading in the paper the other day that a Wal-Mart employee out in New York was killed by injuries sustained while trying to prevent a mob from entering the store at 5 am the Friday after Christmas. A person lost their life because some people had to get some great deals for Christmas gifts. Stories like these serve to remind us how easy it is to lose perspective over the real reason for the season. This is why we celebrate advent as a time of preparation for the coming of Christ. Advent is a time to remind us what Christmas is really all about, to prepare ourselves us getting ready, and we’re not talking about the decorations and the Christmas shopping. We are talking about spiritual preparation for the arrival of Christ.
In the busyness of all that we think we must do during this time of the year, the celebration of Advent recalibrates us toward the true meaning of Christmas. You know what it means to recalibrate? Instruments that measure occasionally drift off a little bit and they need to be recalibrated so they measure correctly. For example if you have a bathroom scale you probably noticed you have to recalibrate it back to zero occasionally by adjusting a little knob (unless of course it’s in your favor, in which case you may not recalibrate it to make yourself feel better during the Christmas season). That’s what Advent does for us, it recalibrates us back to the right priorities and the real reason for the season, because it’s so easy for us to be caught up in the commercial hoopla, what sales are going on where, how many Christmas cards do I need to send out, Christmas ornaments & lights.
Today, on this first week of Advent, we remind ourselves of Christ’s coming, but it is not his first coming that we focus on but rather his second coming. It may seem strange as we begin the Christmas season and start thinking about the birth of little baby Jesus to focus on the return of Jesus, but it’s not really that strange because as we identify with the people in the Christmas story who were waiting for the Messiah to come and restore God’s kingdom to earth, we too are waiting, waiting for his return. So, on the one hand we are looking backward at the birth of Christ, as God became flesh and dwelt among us, the Son of God changed the world as he taught us about God’s kingdom and how we can be a part of his kingdom through Jesus. But we are also looking forward in anticipation of his return when he will appear on the "clouds of the sky with power and glory," and with a loud trumpet call he will send the angels who will "gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Mt. 24:30-31).
Jesus’ disciples were curious of his return, they went to Jesus privately and asked him a simple question, "tell us…what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age (Mt. 24:3)?" Jesus told them about the signs which would occur before his return, of wars, famines, and earthquakes, and that was just the beginning. Then there would be the tribulation, persecution of Christians, something called the "abomination of desolation in the holy place" (whatever that means) and people will have to flee into the mountains. I know we would love to hear about these events and perhaps speculate about how this will happen. But I’m going to be honest with you, you’re not going to get any speculation from me because I believe it’s a waste of time. Like the disciples we are fascinated by this stuff, it’s the same reason people love to buy the National Enquirer, inquiring minds want to know.
Jesus didn’t tell his disciples about these events so they could spend their time speculating, creating complicated time lines and graphs, and interpreting the newspaper through the prophetic lens, as so many people enjoy doing. When he had finished talking about the signs of his return he said to them, 24:44, "42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." The point is watchfulness and readiness. He wants us to be attentive to what is going on in the world, but not to make speculations, like one the recent ones I’ve heard that Barack Obama is the anti-Christ. No, Jesus wants us to be ready for his arrival.
What does it mean to be ready then? How do we get ready? What does he wants us doing?
In Matthew’s gospel Jesus continued his teaching about readiness with three parables. These parables illustrate how we are supposed to be ready, preparing ourselves for his return.
1. We need to care for our Spiritual Condition – The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids (25:1-13)
The first parable Jesus gave a picture of a wedding, and 10 bridesmaids prepared to go out and meet the groom to join in the wedding procession. In Jesus’ day bridesmaids would go to meet the groom in the evening and escort him via torch light to the home of the bride who would then go together to the groom’s father’s house for the wedding ceremony and the festivities afterward. Jesus said, five of these bridesmaids went out prepared with extra oil for their lamps (because they knew they might have to wait and the procession could be at night), while the other five bridesmaids were foolish and didn’t bring any extra oil. They went out to meet the groom, but he didn’t arrive when they expected him, finally the ones who forgot the oil ran out and had to go purchase some more. While they were away the groom finally arrived and they headed off to the wedding feast together, minus five bridesmaids.
Jesus loved using the analogy of a wedding feast when referring to the kingdom of God. Jesus is the groom, when he returns he is going to gather his people who are prepared in the great procession to the wedding feast, which is heaven. But we don’t know when the groom will arrive. The point of Jesus’ parable is making sure we are spiritually ready for the groom to arrive. The oil is a symbol of God’s Spirit and represents our spiritual condition, our relationship with God, which clearly in this story is our responsibility (who had to get the oil?). God has already offered us the grace through Jesus for the journey. He’s already promised the fullness of his Spirit.
Some may say this is a parable about unbelievers getting right with God, but I don’t think so. I think Jesus was addressing those who do believe, that’s why all 10 bridesmaids began their journey with oil, they had the Spirit, they all had a relationship with God, but they didn’t prepare for the long wait. They expected the groom to return right away, they didn’t prepare for the long haul. They didn’t bring enough oil. In other words their spiritual life in Christ Jesus wasn’t very deep. As time passed on their spiritual light fizzled. Sure they may have repented and turned to Jesus once upon a time and been baptized and the whole bit, but either nothing took root after that, or there was no ongoing relationship with Christ, no filling of the Spirit.
The reason this parable is significant is because Jesus was trying to prepare his disciples (and us) for some tough times ahead. They thought Jesus would return right away and it would be done, God’s kingdom come, but Jesus was preparing them for a long wait. He also wanted them to know that the closer the time came to his return the more tribulation his followers would experience, the more false teachers and false prophets would try to lead us astray. If we are not prepared we could become a casualty and if we don’t know the truth and the voice of the Good Shepherd the easier it will be for us to be deceived. They weren’t spiritually prepared, they weren’t grounded firmly in Christ, their supply of oil was too low.
If the time of tribulation Jesus referred to would began soon, are we grounded enough in Christ to know truth versus falsehood? Jesus wants us to focus on our spiritual condition, to go deeper with him. That is why we are beginning "Take the Plunge" because we want everyone to be prepared for his return.
2. We Need To Use Whatever God Has Given Us For His Kingdom – Parable of the Loaned Money (25:14-30)
Jesus’ takes the analogy one step further, it begins with our inner spiritual life but then moves to our outer spiritual life. In the second parable Jesus compares his return to a Master who gave his three servants money to manage while he went away on a trip. The first was given 5 talents (talent is a unit of money), the second 2, and the third 1, each given according to their abilities. The ones who received 5 and 2 talents, both put it to work immediately just like their Master would have if he were in their place and soon they doubled what they had been given (obviously they didn’t invest in the recent stock market). The one who received only 1 talent dug a hole in the ground and stuck the money in it for "safekeeping." After all it seemed like the safest thing to do.
When the Master returned the three servants presented their money. The one who had been given 5 talents returned 10, the one who had been given 2 returned 4 and both of these servants were praised for their faithfulness, "well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities." But the servant who had only one talent, what did he do? He dug it up and returned the one talent. The Master rebuked him, calling him wicked and lazy for not doing anything with it, he took it away from him, and gave it to the one with 10, and he said, "throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (25:30)."
The point of this parable was that God has given each of us something. We are given resources; abilities, talents, time, money, connections, influence in certain areas and with certain people. Some are given more, others less based on our abilities and our faithfulness. While we are waiting for Jesus and his kingdom, we prepare ourselves by using the resources we were given the way Christ wants us to, or the way he would if he were in our shoes, until his return (we’ll see how in his next parable). One day, Jesus will return and we will be brought before him to give an account of how we have used what God has given us. With the crashing stock market, there has been a lot of talk about investments, so think about it this way, if WE are God’s investment, what kind of a return has God received? How much of a difference has our life made on others? How much kingdom work have we done before his return or our death whichever comes first? Or are we making excuses for not using our resources God’s way? Are we complaining that we don’t have the ability to do God’s work? The reason I chose the passage from 1 Corinthians for this morning was because the apostle Paul reminds us that God has given us everything we need, 1:7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ (NLT).
We can’t argue that we don’t have the time, we don’t the money, we don’t have the gifts and abilities to do what God wants us to do because God has given us all we need as we wait for the return of Christ. We may not be aware that we have everything we need, but that is where faith comes in. When we act on faith doing what God asks us to do we find we have what we need. So there will be no excuses when we are before God. He has given us everything we need to accomplish his purposes, to make a difference in the world, and in the lives of others while we wait for Jesus to return. When he returns though he’s going to bring us before him and ask us what we’ve been doing with what he’s given us. Are we putting our God given resources to work for his kingdom, or do we use them for ourselves? Have we been burying our resources and not using them at all, saying we don’t have time, or we’re retired , we’ve already given our time? How are we supposed to use our resources? Jesus gave the last parable, the parable of the sheep and goats.
3. We need to care for others – The Parable of the Sheep and Goats (25:31-46)
The third story is actually not a parable but an illustration of what will happen when Christ returns to judge the nations. He said he will gather everyone before him and they will be separated just like a shepherd separates his flock of sheep and goats. The King will place the sheep on his right side and the goats on his left. Those at his right hand will inherit eternal life in the kingdom of heaven, while those on the left will go away to eternal punishment. There is one distinguishing factor which he uses to separate the two: 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ The righteous will answer him, "When did we see you hungry, etc. 40 And the King will tell them, ’I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
The distinguishing factor, the readiness factor if you will for when Christ returns, are our acts of mercy and compassion toward others, particularly other Christians in need (brothers and sisters). We are to be the hands and feet of Christ for each other. While our good deeds don’t save us, we are saved by God’s grace through Jesus, Jesus is clear that our faith must be reflected in our care for "the least of these." If our faith is not expressed in good deeds or love for others, what good is our faith, the Bible tells us?
I recently saw a commercial about a new television show coming out where some of the richest people in the country give up their lavish lifestyles, sprawling mansion, and private planes to dress up as ordinary folks, living incognito in America’s poorest neighborhoods, working for minimum to survive the challenges of everyday life (I’m not sure how this works with a whole camera crew following them around, seems little conspicuous to me). Which is kind of what Christmas is all about, Jesus who gave up the luxury of heaven to live like one of us, in our lowly state here on earth. But that’s not all, after working side by side with these blue color folks, they give away some of their wealth to the everyday heroes they meet, the people who treated them and others with kindness without expecting anything in return. It’s kind of their way to find people who are the real deal, who walk the talk. I don’t think the show is on yet, so I haven’t seen it.
Jesus’ parable reminds me of that, what you’ve done for the "least of these, you’ve done for me." Our reward for our faith isn’t what we do in public for all to see, it’s what we do in private. He’s observing if we care for the least as though we are doing it for Jesus. How do we care for the sick those with AIDS, malaria. Getting back to what Paul said, as we wait for Jesus’ return we have everything we need to do his will. I believe we as Christians have everything we need at our disposal to eliminate world hunger (including our own community), to help every person have safe drinking water, to alleviate suffering and people displaced from hurricanes, tsunamis, and genocide. And lastly we have everything we need to spread the Good News of Christ to every people group in the world, through radio, internet, direct missionary support. As we wait for Christ to return, this Christmas season is a good time to remind ourselves that there are a lot of people going through hardships, how are we using our resources in helping others?
Closing
Notice these parables build on each other first we need to be care for our spiritual condition , then our relationship with God becomes an outward expression of faith by using our God given resources for God’s kingdom, and lastly the way we use our resources is by helping others in need as though we were doing it for Jesus. As we begin this Advent season are you ready? How is your inward spiritual condition, your relationship with Christ? How is your outward spiritual condition, using your resources for God, helping others?
