Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sun City, Arizona
Mark 13:32-37 - Christ is Coming! Be Watchful!
First Sunday of Advent - 30 November 2014
TEXT
32“No
one knows about that day or hour,
not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father. 33Be on guard! Be alert! You
do not know when that time will come. 34It’s
like a man going away: He leaves his house
and puts his servants in charge, each with his
assigned task, and tells the one at the door to
keep watch.
35“Therefore
keep watch because you do
not know when the owner of the house will
come back—whether in the evening, or at
midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at
dawn. 36If he comes suddenly, do not let him
find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to
everyone: ‘Watch!’ ” (NIV84)
INTRODUCTION
Christmas is coming. In many stores, it has been coming for over a
month. When we hear the announcement, Christmas is coming, what
does it mean? For stores it means, Start buying gifts. For families it
means sending Christmas cards, planning meals and parties. There is a
lot of activity, a lot of frenzy. And what does it all get you? Tired and
relieved, and maybe some good (and bad) memories when it is all over.
If we change the announcement slightly, we can hear a different
emphasis: Christ is coming. That means preparing for a person, not a
holiday, for a person bringing salvation. It really is the message of
Christmas, but that message can get lost in the noise. Let us focus on,
Christ is coming.
Christ himself is making that announcement. He was already on earth.
He would be leaving soon, but he would come back, more glorious, as
judge. He uses the picture of a man’s doorkeeper to help us make proper
preparations for that coming back. And then he sums up his whole
advice in one word: Watch, sometimes translated as be alert or be
vigilant. This is a whole different way of preparing than what the world
knows. But it is very important.
CHRIST IS COMING! BE WATCHFUL!
I. Keep the faith
II. Keep the focus
III. Keep the hope
I. KEEP THE FAITH
A. Believing that Christ is coming is the first step in being watchful
We notice that preparing for Christ’s coming doesn’t involve us
actively doing anything to make us ready. You see the doing is done by
Christ; he is coming, he is coming to us. The most important thing for
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us to be watchful is to believe that he in fact is coming to us. Most
people in this world do not believe this. They believe all kinds of other
things—this world will continue as it has into the indefinite future, they
will be reincarnated into another life, they will cease to exist when they
die, they will be absorbed into their god, and the list goes on. But in fact
Christ will come into this world, he will come as Judge, and he will
come for us, his people.
B. Christ made us worthy of his coming to take us to his home
That he will come for us, that we are is people and can be ready, is
based on what he did for us. He came into this world originally to take
on our sins and then to suffer and die for them. It was a humble coming,
with no signs of pomp or glory, until he rose from the dead. Even then
he appeared as an ordinary man. He was taking our place under sin,
paying the price for that sin, cleansing us from that sin, making us
worthy participants in his kingdom. Then he proclaims: Repent, and
believe this good news. I will come again at the end of time to take you
to your home in heaven to live with me forever. Those who do not
believe will not go there. Christ is coming again for them, will raise
them from the dead too, but only to send them to eternal punishment in
hell. The first thing, then, to be watchful for is to keep the faith until he
comes again.
Application
Faith can sometimes seem so tenuous, so hard to actually
comprehend. It is simply accepting that Jesus died for you and is coming
again for you. If you believe that, you have faith. But that faith can
wither, it can be lost. That faith needs to be nourished on God’s word.
Keeping faith to be watchful involves feeding on the word of God, the
only way faith can be nourished. That is important with all the
distractions there are to our faith.
II. KEEP THE FOCUS
A. The doorkeeper had to avoid distractions to keep watchful
The doorkeeper in our text was to keep watch the whole time the
owner of the house was gone, starting right away, until he the time when
he would come again. That would take a high degree of vigilance. That
would mean staying awake or arranging for someone trustworthy to stay
awake at all times. He was to be ready to receive his master whenever
he would come. There would be distractions, friends coming to invite
him to go with them, rain and wind to disrupt his work, interesting
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things going on across the street or across town. But he was to stay and
be watchful.
B. We have to recognize and avoid distractions to keep watchful
There are many distractions to our faith in this world, distractions
which appeal to our sinful nature. Behind them is the devil whose real
desire is to pull you away from that faith and destroy you, eternally. So
watchfulness, vigilance, is required. First of all it is important to
recognize the danger to your faith in these distractions. Some are sinful
(and harmful) in themselves—temptations to drugs or drunkenness,
gossiping or slander, cheating and deception. These we need to guard
against. Some are neutral in themselves, but can be harmful and
dangerous when they distract us from our faith and the things we need
to build up our faith—leisure time activities, making or being concerned
about money, involvement in politics or even charities. These we need
to assess, as to our involvement, on an individual basis.
There are some distractions which are farther away and involve us
less directly, but still can be distracting to our faith. News reports of the
devastation and loss of life caused by natural disaster and of the
atrocities of war and evil governments can shake our faith in our loving
God. Likewise news reports of incompetent and misguided laws and
policies in our own country together with news reports of corporate
greed and malfeasance can lead us to doubt God’s guidance in this
world. We will want to be active in fighting evil in this world where we
can, understanding that sin will run rampant in this world until the end
comes. We will pray for God to alleviate suffering and injustice
wherever it is found, but remembering to pray that such people repent
and come to faith, which is much more useful for them in all eternity.
Especially we dare never forget that keeping our own faith alive through
God’s word has to be at the forefront of our lives.
Application
Our preparation for celebrating Christmas is a little bit different from
preparing for Christ’s coming again. We know the exact date of our
Christmas celebrations, religious, secular, family—though we do not
know the actual date of our Savior’s birth. Celebrating our Savior’s birth
is good and beneficial in and of itself. But we can apply some of the
same cautions we mentioned above to this preparation, avoiding the
sinful ways of celebrating, evaluating the neutral things. In fact we can
apply the way we evaluate our preparation for Christmas celebration,
something more concrete and defined, to our evaluation of our
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preparation for Christ’s second coming, less concrete and visible. To
help us in that we can think of the third way we can stay watchful.
III. KEEP THE HOPE
A. Our hope is much greater than that of the doorman
There is one area where the picture in Jesus’ parable falls far short
of the reality pictured: the hope we have when Jesus comes. For the
slave in the parable, his reward for being watchful would be to continue
to be able to live as a faithful slave, probably having his future and that
of his family secured in an adequate if not luxurious style. He would
probably get his master’s praise. But not much beyond that.
B. We have the hope of an eternity in heaven with Jesus
Our hope is much greater. Before us lies an eternity of pure joy and
bliss and escape from all the suffering, distress, and other problems of
this life. And of course our fate if we give up our faith and our
preparation for Christ’s coming is absolutely terrible, immense
suffering, forever. So keep the hope alive. Reread the parts of the Bible
that talk about our hope. Don’t be afraid of the book of Revelation. Even
if you don’t understand everything you read, even if you can’t figure
out the meaning of much of what you read, there is still great comfort
and encouragement that can give hope in many parts of this book.
Application
The brightly-lit decorations that will soon appear in our church,
together with services in which we sing joyous Christmas songs can be
used as a partial picture of the hope we have. Likewise gatherings of
loving family members during the holidays can also be used as such
picture. But it especially the words of Scripture which energize our hope.
Let us keep the hearing and reading of Scripture at the center of our
preparation for Christmas and for Christ’s coming.
CONCLUSION
Christ has told us he is coming again. And since he has redeemed,
and we believe in him, he is coming for us, to take us home. He has one
word of advice for us during our time of waiting: Watch! How can we
do that? We can keep the faith we have in him by listening to him, we
can keep the focus by avoiding distractions of sin and busy-ness, and
we can keep the hope we have of our home in heaven, especially by
reading about it in his word. As you await Christ’s coming, Be watchful!
Amen.
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