Dear Friends in Christ,
I read an article in a religious periodical that asked the question, How do you stir a sleeping giant? The sleeping giant in question is the church; not any visible church in the form of a congregation or denomination. It is the invisible church, the catholic, small c, Church, that is, the millions and millions of believers in Jesus Christ around the globe.
The article suggested the church is sleeping because such a small percentage of its members are regularly involved in carrying out its work. One study claims that less than fifteen percent of the members carry out
eighty-five percent of the church’s work.
What would you suggest as a solution for this apparent disparity? Jesus was talking to his disciples here shortly before his death on the cross. Our Savior’s intent was to stir up his disciples, wake them up, to the work they would being doing in these last days. Jesus offered several exhortations attached to a parable.
What do we learn here? What stirs us to action? It is No Good to Be Found Sleeping When the Owner Returns. We know Jesus is coming, but not when. We know Jesus has given each of us work to do while we wait.
The specific aspect of Jesus’ Advent on the first Sunday of the season is watchfulness. We stated that, didn’t we, it, I am ex our litany for lighting the first Advent candle. We are watching and waiting to celebrate our Savior’s lowly birth. We are watching and waiting for our Lord, Jesus Christ, to come to us through the gospel in Word and sacrament. We are watching and waiting for Christ the King to come in glory to judge the living and dead, and take us to “the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” [Matt. 25:34]
Jesus’ words shake us awake. They are splashes of cold water to keep open our drowsy eyes. “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” Jesus states that even he according to his human nature nor the angels in heaven know the time either. Jesus’ return will not be to bear sin, which is why the Son came the first time. This time it will be to gather his church to himself in eternity. That hour, that day, can be any hour, any day.
The Master Teacher used a mini parable to make this point. “It’s like a man going away.” His servants including the watchman at the door did 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.”
There is a sense of urgency on our Savior’s lips with regard to our watchfulness and waiting, isn’t there? When I am on guard, I am expecting something to happen in an instant. That is the way the phrase is used in fencing, for example. To be alert, I must chase away drowsiness. I used the picture of splashing cold water in your face when the eyes get heavy while driving, for example.
We are to live as “end time Christians who know we need to be alert” not “we still have a long time until the end comes Christians so we can sleep in.” Sleeping means to be so groggy with this life, we forget who is coming. It means to live without repentance and without carrying out the tasks our Lord has given us. It is no good to be found sleeping when the owner returns. We know Jesus is coming, but not when. We know Jesus has given each of us work to do while we wait.
The servants of the house in Jesus’ parable each had his or her own task to perform while the master was away. They were “in charge” of the house and one of them served as the watchman at the door to look for the owner’s return. In a parallel way, Jesus has put us “in charge” of the affairs of his church on earth while he is away. He also has appointed watchmen, or doorkeepers, who keep a look out on his own behalf as well as the others.
Recall that Jesus is not speaking about a visible church and the various things we do as service to the organization. Those tasks are the outgrowth of the tasks our Master has given us as members of the invisible kingdom of God.
Our tasks as believers are to grow in knowledge and faith in him, and to share the good news of forgiveness and salvation in Christ alone. Spiritual growth and mission work, strengthening the stakes and lengthening the cords are the tasks. It is good for the Lord to find us busy in those tasks when he comes back without any announcement. The Lord will not return unexpectedly, since we are expecting him at all times, but he will come suddenly and without any advance notice.
There is one of the servants who is watching out for the master while the others go about their tasks. He is to be especially alert and faithful. He watches in the evening, at midnight, at the first light of dawn, or during the morning hours. The apostle Paul put it this way to the young pastor, Timothy, “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching…Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them…persevere in them because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
The watchmen standing high on the wall in the Old Testament, and the doorkeepers of Jesus’ parable are the public preachers and teachers of God’s Word. They remind us all that the master is coming back. They encourage us to keep alert and watchful. They help us carry out our tasks of growing in our faith and spreading the gospel.
Advent begins today. It is time to splash cold water in our spiritual faces to perk up our drowsy eyes. Time to “Be on guard! Be alert! Be busy with the tasks of our Master’s house. Good way to be found when Christ returns. Amen. <SDG>