BE ALERT FOR JESUS’ RETURN
August 27, 2006 - PENTECOST 12 - Luke 12:32-40
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Fellow Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
We are a nation that is watchful. Consider the events of one day last week. During one day 7 different flights were re-routed because people were watching. Some saw what they thought might be dangerous. Because so many are watching so much these flights were interrupted. There was no terrorism and still, people are watchful. In our day and age we can watch news, sports, weather any day of the week any hour of the day. There is a lot out there to watch. At times watching so much in this world can numb us from watching for what is truly important.
Today, the Lord reminds us to always be watchful, not just watching what is on TV or what might threaten our lives here on earth. We are to be watchful for that which is important--the coming of Jesus as he returns. We are to be alert for Jesus’ return. There are many that watch the things and events of this world and become so wrapped up in those things of this world. We also take note of the things in history, take note of the fact that the times are pointing closer to Jesus’ return. Paul writes in Thessalonians: "You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled" (1 Thessalonians 5:5,6). We are breathing, living and walking in the very light of the world, Christ our Savior. Because of that, we look at these words from Luke with the theme:
BE ALERT FOR JESUS’ RETURN:
I. Without any fear
II. Always prepared.
I. WITHOUT ANY FEAR
Again, a reminder in Luke, chapters 11 and 12 are almost all red-lettered. These chapters contain the words of encouragement and warning from Jesus himself. In the verses right before our text, Jesus had told the disciples not to worry. He told the disciples that Solomon in all his glory was still not dressed as beautiful as the flowers of the field. In verse 31 right before our text begins he says: "But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." We see Jesus directing the disciples’ attention to looking to God’s kingdom. (That has also been our emphasis the last few weeks.)
Listen to his words of encouragement: "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." As these words of our text begin in verse 32, we see God’s pure grace here. Jesus says, "Your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." God had given to his disciples the kingdom and has given to all believers his kingdom. God’s kingdom, not an earthly one, is eternal life. Jesus says, "Do not fear little flock." The disciples weren’t in great numbers. There were only a few. Jesus encourages them, "don’t fear. God’s gift to you is eternity." They didn’t choose him, but he chose them. This is God’s grace. What an encouragement for these disciples.
Jesus continues and tells the disciples how they should show no fear. He says: "Sell your possessions and give to the poor." The disciples had done that, didn’t they? Matthew, a tax collector, gave up a very lucrative business to follow Jesus. He showed that he had no fear, showed that he put his trust in God. John, Peter, Simon, their brothers, the sons of Zebedee, gave up their occupation as fishermen. They didn’t just leave nets behind, but had boats. They had a fishing industry, and they followed Jesus without any fear.
Why? Jesus explains: "Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." They had done that. A purse that didn’t wear out, a heavenly purse, was their inheritance in heaven. No thief could come and take it away. No moth would destroy it. That is where they had placed their confidence already. Jesus encourages to continue to do that. The disciples are going to face troubles and trials and persecution. In fact most of the original apostles were put to death because of their faith. What was their assurance? Were they to be frightened of the future? Were they to be terrorized by what might happen or could happen? No, Jesus uses those familiar words: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." The treasure now for the apostles was in heaven. Truly, the treasure for the present for them was in Jesus.
We read the Gospel Lesson for today where people grumbled and complained, because Jesus said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever." Jesus had to tell them to stop grumbling and complaining, because he was the Savior. The apostles knew this. Their treasure was in Jesus, the Bread of Life, and the Water of Life. They were ready to face the future without any fear. We know that our society lives and thrives on fear. We can become so terrorized by what might happen, could happen, and may happen that we stay pretty close to home. We do all sorts of things differently because of irrational fear. Maybe we don’t do it as much as people around us, but we see people make lifestyle changes because of what might happen, could happen, may happen. So how do we overcome that and boldly go outside of the walls of this church into the frightening, terrorizing world and face it without fear? We look forward beyond the future that is today or tomorrow or next year or a decade. We can look right into the future of heaven that God has prepared for each one of us. In Corinthians we are told: "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). We look for Jesus’ return -- unseen. We know when he comes back on the Last Day, there is the gift of eternal life. There is our treasure, which will return to give us an eternal inheritance.
In our very first verse he says: "Fear not, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." Jesus still says that to us today. The Word of God started with the apostles, the original 12; and it spread. On Pentecost the church increased by 5,000. The church later decreases until the Reformation and flourishes again. The Lord doesn’t say there will be a great number of believers on the Last Day. Sometimes as you look, you may agree. But the Lord says to us today, "Fear not, little flock. The kingdom is yours." The strength of the Christian church is not really in numbers of believers. The strength of the Christian church is in the faith that God has planted in the hearts of believers. Your strength is your faith that God by his grace has given you. Paul writes to the Romans: "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31b, 32). God sent his Son to die on the cross and freely gave us forgiveness. God sent his Son to die on the cross to be our treasure that we would inherit the kingdom. If he is willing to do that, we also know he is willing then day by day to take care of us, to watch over us, to guide us and protect us, and most important of all to love us.
True, there are going to be tough and difficult days, but the Lord still loves us. Our earthly future may not be so rosy; but our eternal future, he says, is what is important. He says, "Fear not, little flock for the kingdom is yours." We know there are all kinds of temptations. First of all, Satan knows how to work his way into our hearts and our thoughts and our lives to make us fret about what might happen, could happen and may happen. We wonder; but God says, "Look to the future. Look into the gates of heaven and realize that you can truly live without any fear." In John: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). The Lord says we will have trouble in this world. Jesus has overcome the world. He has overcome sin, death, and Satan. Now we have that same power to overcome sin, death and Satan and even the world and all of its temptations. "Fear not, little flock, for the kingdom is yours," Jesus says.
Be alert for Jesus’ return and always prepared without any fear.
II. ALWAYS PREPARED
Jesus continues by reminding the disciples of God’s grace and love for them as he tells them how they can look to the future without fear. Jesus adds: "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning." We have to remind ourselves to keep the lamps burning was a job that took diligence. They didn’t flip any switch or replace bulbs when they burned out. They had little oil lamps and lousy wicks, you might say, compared to today where we use synthetic wicks. Today’s patio torch wicks may last for two or three years. Not so with these oil lamps and wicks. They didn’t have matches to light them, so they had to make sure that at least one lamp was burning or a fire so they could relight the lamp. They didn’t burn that long, so they had to replace the oil and relight them to keep them burning. But there was a purpose--it reminded them they were always watching and always prepared.
Jesus continues, "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him." The master is gone and the servants are there and it is night. They want to go to bed after a long day’s work. Instead they had to wait for the master to return. When the master returns, he will not have a flashlight or yard lights to light the way, just the moon and the stars. As he walks along the dark path back looking for his house, he is able to find it; because the lamps are burning. He returns from the celebration of a wedding. They don’t know when that is going to be. When is the wedding over? We know when it starts, but it is over when people leave, no set time.
For those who are ready and prepared and had the lamps burning they will be blessed. Jesus mentions this twice, so there is an important meaning there then. Jesus states in verse 37: "It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. In verse 38: "It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready." You can turn to Matthew and look up the parable of the wise virgins and the foolish virgins, those who let their lamps burn out and those who didn’t. It would be good for those servants who do not give up and are ready and watching. Jesus says he will come at anytime. He says, "Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night." The second watch was before midnight and the third watch was after midnight and could be anytime. They were to be dressed ready for service with lamps burning. The master would be welcomed back to his house. In Matthew Jesus says that when the Lord returns, he will separate the sheep from the goats.
If they didn’t understand that, Jesus adds, "Understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into." The servants and the owner would be there. If they knew the thief was going to come at 2:15, they would be there at 2:10, wouldn’t they? If they knew the thief was going to come in the second watch, they would be there watching and not gone. If the thief were going to come just before daybreak, the house would be protected. But they don’t know. No one knows when a thief is going to come. So he says, "You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." He is going to come, he says, and come when many would not expect him.
Jesus will return. In order to be ready for his return is to always be prepared. It is good for those who are prepared and the master finds them watching. Listen to what is going to happen: He says, "I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them." The disciples knew exactly what Jesus meant. If they didn’t, they would see it once again when Jesus told them, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many." The night before he was betrayed, Maundy Thursday, he washes the disciples feet. They recline at the table while the Master serves them.
On the Last Day it will be the same. The Master, our Lord, our Judge, will come in his service to his followers--he has prepared an entrance into his eternal kingdom. So we are to be watchful and alert for Jesus’ return. We are watchful, but watchful for so many things in this world. We are watchful for the things that might come. It is a good thing to be prepared such as when we are warned a tornado is coming. It is good to get into shelter to be protected. The Lord just gives us general signs of his return. Each generation seems to get closer for in each generation the signs are fulfilled. These are the beginning of the end. We are to be always prepared for what will happen when he returns. "Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you" (Revelation 3:3). As we get on in years of the world, we see and know that we can expect the Lord any day, any hour. Jesus will arrive a little unexpected probably for every one of us. Jesus will not be totally unexpected. When we remember what we have heard - God’s Word - we will remember when Jesus suddenly appears. We will see him without any fear, because we know, as he says, "your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."
Now, how are we going to always be prepared? Study and learn God’s Word and also pray. I think one of the saddest times for Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane when he took his disciples with him to pray. It was late at night so they were tired. Jesus knows what is going to happen next. Judas was coming to betray him. Jesus was going to spend the next hours awake all night in court and the next day hanging on the cross until dead. Before all of these events on Thursday in the Garden of Gethsemane, after the Lord’s Supper, the disciples fall asleep. Jesus goes to pray, and they fall asleep. Jesus comes back and wakes them up. He goes to pray and comes back to find them sleeping again. Jesus prays one more time and comes back. Finally he says to them, "Can’t you keep watch with me just one hour, to be prepared?" Maybe sometimes we have heard those same words of Jesus on a Sunday afternoon or Monday morning when we missed our time of worship. We hear Jesus’ words, "Couldn’t you keep watch just one hour or visit God’s house for just one hour?" Then Jesus also says to us: "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak" (Matthew 26:41). Jesus says our sinful flesh is weak even though our spirit is willing. We are to watch and pray as we expect the Lord to return. As we watch and pray, we watch for things that are yet to come.
We watch knowing that our future is certain. We watch knowing that no matter what happens in this world, no matter even if our nation would fall or nations around us crumble and fall, God still is in control and is directing it all for our purpose. As evil and wickedness grow in this world, it is for a purpose pointing that the Lord is closer. Jesus is going to come sooner than many might even think or expect. For you and I, we look forward to that without fear and always prepared. In Colossians it tells us how we are prepared: "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:2-4). That is what positively got the disciples through their kinds of persecution. When they were about ready to be put to death for their faith, they realized that they were going to appear with God in glory. They no longer had to wait for Jesus’ return. We have from the present to the future when Jesus returns. Rest assured that when Jesus returns, we will also appear with him in glory; because our life is hidden with Christ. Christ is our life.
Today, every day, Jesus says to each and every one of us, "Fear not, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom, a kingdom that is yet to come." So until Jesus comes and our true treasure appears, we are to be alert for Jesus’ return without fear of the future. God’s future is always certain. God’s plan for us is always certain. God’s kingdom is our kingdom. We are always to be prepared. Paul wrote to Timothy when he was in prison ready to face the end of his life and didn’t think he would get out of prison, but be put to death. He says, "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8). Jesus says, "Fear not, little flock. The Father is pleased to give you his kingdom." We are to be alert without fear and always prepared realizing on that day there will be many others who also long for his appearing. Now until that day, may we always be alert, watching without fear for Jesus’ return. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
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Pentecost 12 readings: 1 KINGS 9:3-8; EPHESIANS 4:30-5:2; JOHN 6:41-51
