Be Ready

I wonder what in life is most occupying your mind right now? What's filling your horizon? It might be looking for a job, where the horizon is working again. Or having a new baby, where the horizon is sleeping again. Or your health, where the horizon is recovery – or else, the end of this life. It might be academic or professional work, where the horizon is that result or that move up the ladder. Or a romance, where the horizon is possible marriage. Or a bereavement, where it's hard to see what the horizon is. I don't know what it is for you. But at most times there is one big thing, at least, occupying our minds and filling our horizons.

Well, this morning we return to a series in Luke's Gospel, to a part where Jesus is teaching about the biggest thing that he wants to be occupying our minds and filling our horizons. And that thing is: his second coming – that is, his return to wrap up history, judge our lives and bring in God's perfect kingdom. But Jesus isn't saying, 'Forget those other things on your minds – they're unimportant by comparison.' That would be crass. He's saying, 'Get the biggest thing – get that I'm coming again – and it'll put those other things into perspective, and help you to handle them wisely and well.' So would you turn in the Bibles to Luke chapter 12 and look down to verse 40, where Jesus says,

You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Now the 'Son of Man' was one way Jesus spoke about himself, so he's just saying there, 'You must be ready, because I am coming again.' And if that sounds hard to believe, we need to remember that Jesus predicted three things:

1. That he would die on the cross – for our forgiveness.
2. That he would then rise from the dead – and return to heaven.
3. That at some point in the future, he would come again.

And there's good evidence that he's already pulled off one and two, so why shouldn't we trust that he'll pull off three as well – even if the end of time and of this created order is something we can't get our heads around. So two main points come out of this morning's passage:

1. Be Ready for Jesus' Return (vv35-40)

Look down to Luke 12, verses 35-36, where we pick up this series again, and where Jesus says:

Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

So it's a scene straight from Downton Abbey. Lord and Lady Grantham have gone off to some society wedding. They're expected back late – no-one knows quite when. And while others have gone to bed, or at least got into pyjamas and dressing gown, there's faithful old Carson, sitting in his butler's pantry, immaculately dressed – bow tie and tails – waiting for the first sound of tyres on gravel which will tell him it's time to be up on the drive to open the car door for the Master. And Jesus is saying, 'Be like Carson. Live focussed on the fact that I could come again any time.' But that doesn't come naturally to us. Our natural focus is to think that here and now is all there is – and that natural focus is what Jesus talked about earlier in Luke 12.

So look back to verse 13, and you'll see the heading (in the English Standard Version, ESV), 'The parable of the rich fool'. And that's where Jesus tells a story about this bloke whose business takes off and is coining in the money. And look at verse 19:

[He says to himself:] Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.

So he's paid off the mortgage, done everything you could think of to the house, and is living the retirement dream. He's in materialist heaven. Our culture would say he's a total success. Verse 20:

But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?

So our natural focus if we have more than enough is: spending on ourselves. To which Jesus says: no, what you have (over and above what you need) is not to spend unthinkingly on yourselves, but to serve me and my purposes. So, for example, many of us, when we finally get to see St Joseph's, will be able to say, 'This is where our money went – instead of on that house extension, or that level of savings we'd planned, or whatever.' But isn't that great? Because instead of sitting in a spare bedroom, or in the FTSE100, that money is going to be helping others meet Jesus and be ready for his return.

But then look on to verse 22 and you see the heading (in the ESV), 'Do not be anxious.' And that's the natural focus if we have less than enough – or think we do. The focus is not spending on ourselves, this time, but worrying about ourselves. To which Jesus says: don't let your own needs become the thing occupying your mind, filling your horizon. So, to an unemployed believer, for example, he's saying, 'I know what you need. And of course, look for work. But don't let that become your focus. Keep serving me and my purposes as your focus – while you're looking for work, and then at work.' So back to verse 36. Here's the focus he wants us to have:

be like men who are waiting for their master to come

So here's a thought experiment to do. If you knew that Jesus was coming again next Sunday, what would you focus on this week? What would you prioritise and sort out? 

There's our own readiness to think about. For example, you may be conscious of disharmony in your marriage, that you've just let run and run. Well would you really let it run another week if you knew Jesus was coming again next Sunday – if you knew you'd be looking into his eyes this time next week and that his unspoken question would be, 'What's been going on in your marriage?' Would you really want him to find you like that? And then there's the readiness of others to think about. What if we knew the people we rub shoulders with were all going to meet Jesus as Judge next Sunday? Wouldn't we try and have one more conversation with them about spiritual things? Or, where we've never tried, wouldn't we say something like, 'Look, I'm afraid I've not mentioned it before, but I'm a Christian and I wonder if you've ever given Jesus any thought?'

So there's our own readiness, there's the readiness of others. But there's also the wider business of working for our society and our world to be more in line with God's will, for everyone's good. And Lord Shaftesbury was one of the great Christian examples of that. He was a tireless social reformer – for example, working for fairer employment laws and bringing an end to child labour. And what motivated him was Jesus' coming again – because he wanted to be able to say on that day, 'Lord, I didn't just tolerate things that were wrong and harmful for people – I worked to change them'. And he once wrote that "Hardly an hour of my life goes by without me remembering the Lord's return."

And then here's the other part of that thought experiment. If you knew Jesus was coming again next Sunday, what would you not do this week? What would you de-prioritise or just drop? For example, how much time would you spend watching TV, or on DIY, or online, or on computer games or shopping? Now the value of that thought experiment is that it reminds you what ultimately matters. But it doesn't mean we should just drop everything that doesn't ultimately matter (however much we'd love to be off the hook of doing that bit of DIY or some other necessary task). Because of course, we don't know that Jesus is coming next Sunday – just that he could come anytime. So I still have to get the car repaired, and fix the gutter – to name two things on my mind. But I need to remember that cars and houses don't matter that much – and that a lot of things our culture tries to fill our time with don't matter at all. As Paul Tillich put it, 'Most people are ultimately concerned with things that are not ultimate.' So, verse 36:

be like men who are waiting for their master to come

Be like Carson, waiting for Lord Grantham. And then look on to verses 37-38:

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!

Isn't that an astonishing picture of the personal appreciation Jesus will show to those who've served him faithfully? I mean, imagine Carson opening the car door, and out gets Lord Grantham and he says, 'Thanks for staying up for us, Carson, old chap. Go and put your feet up in front of the fire in the library and I'll rustle you up some hot chocolate.' We've had a tradition in the student work that at the end of the year, the student staff cook and serve a meal for the Focus leaders, because it's the strongest way of showing personal appreciation. You could buy in Domino's pizza for them, or take them out to McDonald's, but that doesn't give the same message of personal appreciation, does it?

And here in Luke is an astonishing picture of the personal appreciation Jesus will show to those who've served him faithfully, which is important for all of us to have on our horizon, but especially those of us whose serving has been largely unseen and unappreciated by others. So others may not have said it, but when Jesus comes again, he'll say just how much he appreciated the way you nursed your elderly parent or parents; or the love you poured into children – especially children with disabilities and difficulties – or the way you adopted children; or the way you held a difficult marriage together; or the ways you serve here in church that are pretty invisible compared to standing in a pulpit – especially those of you who really pray for what goes on here. But then the Lord tells this warning parable. Verses 39-40:

But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

So that mini-parable is a picture of being unready, caught by surprise, found how you don't want to be. For example, found still letting marital disharmony just run, or found having missed more golden opportunities to speak about Jesus, or found after more hours on the internet that were at best a waste of time and at worst a sinful time. In Downton Abbey terms, it's like Carson being caught on the hop and racing to the door in his scruffiest nightshirt. And Jesus is saying, 'That's not how you want to meet me, is it? If you've been forgiven through my death on the cross, and in your heart of hearts you now want to live for me, that's not how you want to be found, is it? You want to be found serving me and my purposes – even though that will always be far from sinlessly.' So be ready for Jesus' return. The other point from this passage is:

2. Keep a Check that You're Ready for Jesus' Return (vv41-48)

Look on to verse 41:

Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us, or for all?"

Just look back to Luke 12, verse 1:

In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, [Jesus] began to say to his disciples first...

So in Luke 12, Jesus is doing a mixture of teaching his disciples – like Peter – and talking to the crowd. And actually, that's what happens here, Sunday by Sunday. We don't have Jesus with us like they did – he's died and risen and is back with his Father in heaven. But we gather around him through his Word, the Bible. And some of us can say we're already disciples, while others are just looking into all this. And that's what a healthy church should be – a core of disciples among a crowd of people who are wondering about becoming disciples. So back to verse 41:

Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us [disciples] or for all [the crowd]?"

And I take it: the parable that Peter has in mind is the warning parable about the thief (in vv39-40). And he asks the question because it sounds like the warning applies to the crowd – to the people who still need to make up their minds about Jesus – which of course it does. But it's always a mistake to read the Bible as if it applies to someone else. And Peter was probably making that mistake, here – thinking that because he'd say he was a disciple, and was privileged to know a lot from being close to Jesus, he needn't check the state of his own heart. So how does Jesus answer? Verses 42-44:

And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions."

So Peter says, 'Who is the warning parable for?' And Jesus answers, 'Wrong question, Peter. The question is: 'Who are you going to be?'' Verses 42-43 again:

…Who then is [going to be] the faithful and wise manager [literally 'steward'], whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

So Jesus is asking, 'Is that who you're going to be, Peter?' Because that's possibility no.1 for any of us – that we faithfully steward the gospel that Jesus has entrusted us with, and steward our time and gifts and money and everything to serve him and his purposes – albeit far from sinlessly. But there is possibility no.2, verses 45-46:

But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming', and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces [or some people translate that 'cut him off'] and put him with the unfaithful.

And that's picture language for a professing servant of Jesus, who would say he was a Christian, who knows about Jesus being the Master and about his coming again. But the way he lives shows he doesn't really believe it, so that in the end, Jesus' return exposes him as an unbeliever. Because the end of verse 46 literally says he'll be put 'with the un-believing'.

So Peter says, 'Who's the warning parable for?' And Jesus answers, 'Who are you going to be?' The point is: you can be close to Jesus in the sense of being close to his Word and his people – like we are this morning. But that in itself doesn't make you a believer. The point is: you can say you're a Christian – or in Peter's case, even an apostle – you can say you've been baptised and confirmed, you can even have a JPC staff badge – but that says nothing about the state of your heart before Jesus right now.

Now we mustn't misunderstand this. Jesus is not, not, not saying that if I faithfully serve him, that will earn his acceptance when he comes again. It's completely the other way round: he accepts us first, by forgiving us through his death on the cross, before we've done anything to serve him in response. But the evidence that that's happened is that – albeit far from sinlessly – we do serve him in response. So it's not that our serving earns his acceptance of us in the future. It's that our serving is evidence of his acceptance of us already, in the past. As someone has wisely put it, 'This passage is not about what a person does to be saved – it's about what a saved person does.'

So Jesus says, 'Check whether that's true of you, so that you're ready for my return.' And keep a check on yourself. Because it's easy, like Peter probably did, to think that because I'm part of the core, and privileged to know a lot about Jesus, I must be spiritually OK. But look at verses 47-48 to end with:

And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. [Whereas] the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much [in context that means 'much knowledge of Jesus'] was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Those verses are underlining that it's not what we know that's evidence of where we stand with Jesus; it's what we do – albeit far from sinlessly. And verses 47 and 48 are saying: if someone knows a lot about Jesus, but still rejects him, they'll end up worse off than someone who knew nothing about Jesus, but still rejected their conscience and sense of God. Jesus says both will end up in the same place; both will end up cut off from God. But the punishment of regret of the one who could have responded to Jesus, but didn't, will be the greater.

Now let me just say: we all react against the metaphors that Jesus uses about hell – and rightly so, because they stand for an awful reality. But the medieval paintings of hell, of people literally being beaten, were wrong because they were confusing the metaphor with the reality. But Jesus isn't saying here, 'This is a literal description of hell.' He's saying, 'This is just a metaphor, an illustration from life, to get across something of the reality of hell. And in this case, the reality underlying the metaphor is that the more someone knew about Jesus and had the opportunity to respond, the more they'll suffer the penalty of the regret of not having done so.

But let's end by remembering the positive message of this passage, because Jesus only spoke of the negative – of hell – to warn us off the path of going there, and to get us on and keep us on the path of heading to be with him in heaven. And to do that, he says to us this morning:

• Be ready for my return, and
• Keep a check that you're ready for my return.

So remember Carson, at Downton, in his butler's pantry, and verse 36:

be like men [and women] who are waiting for their master to come.