November 28, 2010
Dear friends in Christ.
How are your Christmas Preparations going? Have you completely finished them? Or are you just getting started? Personally, today is the day we are planning to get all our Christmas decorating done, not merely here at church, but also at home. In fact, I would be willing to bet that most people make the most of Thanksgiving break in order to get started on their Christmas decorations. That’s what our family used to do in those years when we stayed home for Thanksgiving. We never really participated in after Thanksgiving shopping. Instead, we would stay home and my sister and I would do our best to stay out of Dad’s way as he brought all the Christmas items down from the attic. We would watch as he unpacked everything, set up the Christmas tree, screwed in all the light bulbs, went outside to replace Christmas bulbs that had burned out the previous year, and then, follow him from room to room as he placed candles in all the windows. In short, when we stayed home over the Thanksgiving Holidays, Saturday afternoon was a flurry of Christmas preparation, preparing everything for the coming Savior. Though yesterday may not have been the flurry of Christmas preparation as it was in my house when I was growing up, I’m sure that each and every one of us will be making the most of our time in the next few weeks to prepare our homes, our families, even ourselves for the Coming of our Savior at Christmas time.
Yet, even as we prepare ourselves for the coming of our Savior at Christmas time, today, as we have gathered for worship, our Savior is calling on us to prepare ourselves not only for his coming at Christmas time, but to prepare ourselves for his return on the last day, as well. In fact, this is the very thing that Jesus is speaking about in our lesson today, in Matthew 24:37-44. I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to Matthew 24:37-44 and we’ll take a look together at what Jesus is telling us.
Now, when Jesus spoke these words, it was Tuesday of Holy Week. Jesus had spent the day in the Temple, teaching the people and answering all the challenges brought to him by the Pharisees, Sadducees and Teachers of the Law. Then, once the challenges came to a conclusion and no one dared to ask Jesus anymore questions, (Matthew 22:46) Jesus began speaking his condemnations of woe upon the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Teachers of the Law (Matthew 23) because they simply refused to believe that Jesus was the Savior whom the Lord had promised to his people. After Jesus had completed speaking, he got up and left the temple for the last time (Matthew 23:37-24:3) and he and his disciples headed out from Jerusalem, to the Mount of Olives. It was there that the disciples spoke to Jesus privately, asking him about the signs of the end of the age and the time of his coming. Jesus spent the next couple of chapters answering their question (Matthew 24:4-25:45), but the section we want to focus on is found in Matthew 24:37, where Jesus says, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Matthew 24:37–44, NIV)
In such a simple way Jesus tells us to keep watch and prepare ourselves for the coming of our Savior. As he says in vs. 42: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (Matthew 24:42, NIV) And again in verse 44: “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Matthew 24:44, NIV)
But how is it that we are supposed to prepare? What do we need to do to be certain that we are prepared for the coming of our Savior? The answer to that question is simple. “Continue,” as Paul said, “to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” (Philippians 2:12, NIV) In other words, dive into the Word of God and make a habit of swimming in it daily. Plumb its depths for treasure on a daily basis, and make certain that it is part of your faith exercise habit every day. Not only that, but make the most of every opportunity to gather to worship the Lord our God so that you might hear his Word yet again, be built up in faith, and strengthened in your preparation for our Savior’s reappearing. Take time to spend a few extra moments with the Lord in worship on those days when the feast of his flesh and blood is offered, for it is there, in that miraculous meal that we receive such tangible assurance that our sins have been forgiven. Pray to the Lord at all times and in every situation. Pray to the Lord for his blessings to be showered upon the family of believers wherever they may be, and pray to the Lord for his forgiveness, that through faith in him you may live your life according to his will.
In doing these things you will continue in your preparation, continuously prepared for the coming of your Savior. For in the same way that the angels suddenly appeared to the shepherds in the fields and announced the birth of the Savior; suddenly, when we least expect it we will hear the trumpet call of our God. In the same way that the people of Noah’s day were shocked by the rain, we too will be surprised by the sight of our Savior returning on the clouds of heaven. But unlike those who were unprepared because they ignored 120 years of Noah’s warnings about the coming flood and were swept away when the flood came upon them, we, who, through faith, are prepared for our Savior’s coming, will be taken to be with the Lord. This is the difference that Jesus describes in verse 37-41, where he says, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.” (Matthew 24:37–41, NIV) Just as the only difference between Noah’s family in the ark and the millions of people outside the ark was the difference of faith, so also the difference between the two men and the two women who are taken is faith. Faith is the difference between the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46, and faith is the only difference between those who are prepared for our Savior’s coming and those who are not.
So with that in mind, you and I have an important task ahead of us. We have the task of proclaiming the message of salvation to those who do not yet know it! And what better time of year to take up that task! What better time to take up the task of telling people about their Savior so that they can be prepared for his coming, even as they prepare themselves for the Christmas Season! So as you go into the world, let us do just that! Let us share our faith through our words and actions—a smile to grumpy cashiers, a word of encouragement to tired shoppers, a message of Merry Christmas to whomever we meet, and a wary eye always looking for an opportunity to tell another about Jesus who came as the baby in Bethlehem and who will soon return as the King of Kings.
This is the very thing that you and I are prepared for through faith, though our homes may not be exactly prepared for the coming Christmas season, through faith we are prepared for the coming of our Savior. We are prepared for his birth in Bethlehem, and we are prepared for his coming on the Last Day.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN
