Introduction – Childhood Game
When I was a little boy growing up in the Himalaya Mountains of northern India, one of my favorite games was hide-and-seek.
Can you picture it? The thin mountain air, the smell of pine, the deep silence between giggles as I squeezed into some “secret” spot.
I remember hiding and waiting for the big people to find me.
At first it was thrilling. But before long impatience crept in.
“Why don’t they come? Why don’t they look under the bed? Why don’t they peek in the closet?”
Never did it dawn on my naïve little mind that I wasn’t nearly as hidden as I thought.
Then came the shout every child knows: “Ready or not—here I come!”
That single line carried a mix of excitement and urgency.
It’s not a question. It’s a declaration. The seeker is coming. Game or not, you’d better be ready.
Jesus takes that childhood line and raises it to eternal significance.
Matthew 24 is His way of saying, “Ready or not, I am coming.”
But unlike a game of hide-and-seek, this is not meant to make us anxious.
It is meant to fill us with hope and move us toward faithful living.
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1. Facing Fear—and Refusing the Panic Industry
> “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” — Matthew 24:42
Jesus’ coming has often been hijacked by fear-merchants.
You know the names: best-selling novels, doomsday billboards, social-media prophets who confidently announce dates that always fizzle.
The Left Behind series alone sold millions by turning panic into profit.
Even in more sober Adventist circles we can slide into dread, our imaginations fed by the beasts of Revelation and the dramatic pictures in The Great Controversy.
I’ll never forget something my son’s friend told me as an adult.
He said that as a boy he often lay awake at night, terrified, because of the end-time pictures impressed on him.
He wished, he said, that his parents and church had given him less fear and more hope.
What a sad commentary on how easily the blessed hope can be twisted into a source of nightmares.
But friends, Jesus did not give us this teaching to scare children or to create anxious adults.
He gave it to anchor us in the certainty of His love and the reliability of His promises.
The very word Advent means coming.
In December we celebrate the first Advent—Christ’s humble arrival in Bethlehem.
But Advent also points us forward to the second coming when Jesus will set all things right.
And between those two, as St Bernard reminded the church centuries ago, there is a third coming: Christ arriving in our hearts day by day.
That present coming is as real and transforming as any future trumpet.
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2. The Kingdom Already Breaking In
Let’s pause on that “third coming,” because it changes everything.
Jesus said repeatedly that the kingdom of God is not only future but present:
> “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).
“The kingdom of heaven has come near” (Mark 1:15).
New Testament scholar N. T. Wright puts it memorably in Surprised by Hope.
He insists that Christian work today is not wasted effort “oiling the wheels of a machine that is about to roll over a cliff,”
not restoring a masterpiece “about to be thrown into the fire,”
not planting roses “in a garden that will be dug up for a building site.”
Instead, every act of love, every work of art or music inspired by God, every prayer and every gospel conversation will somehow find its way, through the power of resurrection, into God’s new creation.
Think about that for a moment.
Teaching a child to read, planting a community garden, helping a neighbor through chemotherapy, composing music to God’s glory—all of it is kingdom work that will last.
Nothing done in the Lord is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
So if you have ever wondered, “Why keep serving when the world seems to be falling apart?” remember:
We are not treading water until the end.
We are building for the kingdom that Jesus is already inaugurating.
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3. The Prophets Dream—and So Must We
Isaiah 2 gives us a picture of that kingdom in poetic form:
> “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
That is not escapist fantasy.
It is God’s dream for the earth.
The 20th-century preacher of justice, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., heard those words and said:
> “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Friends, this is our calling:
not to sit back waiting for the clouds to part, but to bend the arc with our own lives—
to teach, to reconcile, to advocate, to love.
Let me ask you directly:
Where do you long to see swords beaten into plowshares?
In your family?
Your workplace?
Our city?
How might God be nudging you to become part of the answer to that prayer?
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4. Christ Present in the Suffering
Some of you might be thinking, “That sounds inspiring, but where is Christ in the pain I see every day?”
Irish musician Bono once put it this way:
> “God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house.
God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both of their lives.
God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war.”
Yes. Christ comes to us in suffering as well as at the end of history.
And He calls us to meet Him there—
in the shelters, the prisons, the hospital wards, the lonely apartments of our own neighborhoods.
This is part of being ready:
not hiding from the world’s pain, but meeting Jesus within it.
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5. Love Is the Fulfillment of the Law
Let’s open Romans 13 together:
> “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law…
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.” (Romans 13:8, 12)
Did you catch Paul’s urgency?
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.
That’s not about chasing dates on a calendar.
It’s about waking up to the only debt worth carrying: love.
When Paul says “our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed,” he isn’t predicting a day.
He’s sounding the alarm on spiritual drowsiness.
Think of it like this: You set an alarm for 5:30 a.m. so you can catch a sunrise hike.
At 5:25 a gentle light begins to leak around the curtains.
Technically the sun hasn’t risen, but the day is already pressing in.
Paul is saying, Live as if dawn is breaking.
Turn on the lights of love now.
So what might that look like?
Choosing forgiveness over grudges at the family table.
Spending a Saturday morning mentoring a neighborhood teen instead of scrolling social feeds.
Writing a note of encouragement to someone who is quietly hurting.
Every one of those is a way of beating swords into plowshares, right where you live.
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6. Living Prepared—Not Panicked
If “ready or not” sounds ominous, hear how Barbara Brown Taylor reframes it:
> “Why waste your time making preparations for an end you cannot predict? Live prepared. Live awake, not afraid, so that wherever you are—standing in a field, grinding at the mill, or just going about the everyday business of life—you are ready for God for whatever happens next.”
Isn’t that freeing?
No charts. No code-cracking.
Just a life so centered in Christ that whenever He comes—whether in the clouds or in the quiet of your final breath—you are ready.
Maybe that means living debt-free not just financially but emotionally.
Clearing the backlog of unsaid “I love yous,” the apologies you’ve been postponing.
It’s being able to say with peace, “Nothing left undone between me and my Lord, and nothing left undone between me and my neighbor.”
And don’t miss the subtle joy in her words:
Wide awake, watching for the Lord who never tires of coming into the world.
Christ’s coming isn’t one day on a far horizon.
It’s a daily visitation if we have eyes to see.
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7. Occupy Till I Come
Now we come to Jesus’ parable of the ten minas in Luke 19.
> “A nobleman went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’” (Luke 19:12–13)
Some servants invested and multiplied what was entrusted.
One buried his coin in fear.
When the master returned, he said to the faithful, “Well done, my good servant… take charge of ten cities.”
But to the fearful servant he said, “I will judge you by your own words… why didn’t you put my money on deposit so I could collect it with interest?”
The lesson is unmistakable:
Waiting is not idling.
Readiness is not withdrawal.
Faithfulness is fruitful activity.
What might that mean for us?
Serving on a ministry team even when schedules are tight.
Tutoring a struggling student.
Starting a neighborhood prayer group.
Supporting a refugee family.
Giving sacrificially to gospel and justice causes.
You are not simply filling time.
You are planting roses that will bloom in God’s new world.
Paul echoes the same in 1 Corinthians 3:
> “Each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it…
If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.”
Your salvation rests on Christ alone.
But your rewards in the kingdom will reflect how you have invested His gifts.
So ask yourself:
What am I doing today that will survive the refiner’s fire?
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8. Christ Will Come—and Christ Comes Now
Everything so far points to a double truth:
1. One day Christ will return and supernaturally reorder the universe.
2. Every day Christ comes in the hungry neighbor, the wounded friend, the opportunity to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.
We hold both.
We don’t abandon this world because a better one is coming; we prepare this world because a better one is coming.
This is why Isaiah’s prophecy still sings:
> “They shall beat their swords into plowshares… nation shall not lift up sword against nation.”
And why Dr. King could stand on the Mall and declare:
> “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The Second Coming is not an excuse to sit back.
It is the fuel to work for peace now.
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9. Beauty That Lasts
Let’s revisit N. T. Wright’s insight for a moment.
He says the Christian who teaches a child to read, writes music to God’s glory, or plants a tree is not merely oiling the wheels of a machine about to crash.
Each act of love, gratitude, and creativity will “find its way through the resurrection power of God into the new creation that God will one day make.”
That means the roses you plant in a church garden are not doomed decorations.
They are rehearsal pieces for Eden restored.
Your acts of service are not just nice extras; they are building blocks for the world to come.
So when you care for an aging parent, when you volunteer at a food pantry, when you create art that points to beauty—you are saying with your life, “The kingdom is already here, and I will live as if it matters.”
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10. Living Wide Awake
Barbara Brown Taylor urges us to live prepared, not frantic.
Picture two workers in a field.
One is taken, the other left.
The point is not terror about who goes and who stays; it is that the rhythm of ordinary life is the very place of readiness.
I sometimes ask myself: If Jesus returned this evening, what unfinished conversation would I regret? What kindness left undone would weigh on me?
Those questions don’t drive me to anxiety.
They invite me to wake up and love well now.
That is watchfulness.
Not a sleepless, eye-twitching vigilance but a calm attentiveness that keeps the heart soft, the calendar open to divine appointments, and the wallet available for kingdom generosity.
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11. “Occupy Till I Come” — the Call to Courageous Faithfulness
Jesus’ words in Luke 19 land here with new force:
> “Put this money to work until I come back.”
Until He comes, we are to occupy—to work, witness, and create with courage and joy.
Paul gives the final perspective in 1 Corinthians 3:11–15:
> “No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ…
If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.”
Salvation is Christ’s gift alone, but reward grows out of faithful labor.
Every prayer, every cup of cold water, every gospel seed sown will gleam like gold when the Refiner’s fire has done its work.
So here’s the searching question for us:
Am I burying my mina in the ground, or am I multiplying it for the Master?
The quiet choices you and I make this very week—helping a neighbor, forgiving an enemy, sharing Christ’s love—are eternal investments.
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12. The Blessed Hope
Now we come to the crescendo of Christian hope.
Yes, Jesus will come again.
He will right every wrong, heal every wound, and end every war.
As the hymn says, “He shall reign where’er the sun does its successive journeys run; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more.”
Picture it:
Blessings abounding wherever He reigns.
Prisoners leaping to lose their chains.
The poor lifted up and the hungry satisfied.
That is not wishful thinking.
It is the sure promise of our Lord.
And when He comes—ready or not—those who have walked with Him in love and labor will discover they have been ready all along.
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13. A Final Word of Invitation
Let’s bring it very close to home:
Maybe Christ will return in your lifetime. Maybe you will meet Him, like countless saints before you, by closing your eyes in death and opening them in His presence.
Either way, your life is already in God’s hands.
So—
Wake up.
Love deeply.
Serve boldly.
Build beautifully.
Because nothing done in Christ is wasted.
And when the trumpet sounds or when the quiet breath of eternity carries you home, you will hear those most beautiful words:
> “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
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14. Closing Appeal
Will you live ready today?
Ready not by hoarding supplies or decoding prophecies,
but by trusting Jesus, loving people, and building for His kingdom?
That is readiness.
That is joy.
That is Advent hope.
