Jesus is Coming Back – A Believer’s Perspective
Over the many years, there has been talk of Christ’s imminent return. I have found many courses of action in regards to the second coming. Some throw out dates and are disappointed again and again when their calculations prove faulty. Some, like the rich fool in the previous parable, stock up things (read hoard) for themselves and await the eventual collapse of society. Some sell all they have and move out to the middle of nowhere and wait. Many others do nothing and hope for the best. All of these responses have not taken into account Scripture. We are not to worry about the date. We are not suppose to hoard our goods selfishly. We should not desert the world we live in and live like a hermit. Finally, we should defiantly not just sit around and do nothing. So what is the Believer’s response? What should our perspective be? Jesus spells it out in this next passage.
Vs 25 “Be ready for service and have your lamps lit.
The Greek here says it all -let your osphus perizónnumi and let your lamps be kaiomenoi. Translations: let your waist be girded and your lamps be burning. To gird the waist meant that they servants were ready to serve. This is what Jesus did at His last Passover Supper. “Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into His hands, that He had come from God, and that He was going back to God. So He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him.” If the lamps are burning, then, we are ready to receive. Service to the Lord doesn’t stop because the world looks like it might come to an end. My pastor has been doing a series of sermons for the last year pointing us in the direction of how to be the church in today’s world. One thing is clear. The church doesn’t desert the world. It is to be a light so It can point people in the right direction, especially when things are uncertain. Our candle stand is suppose to be prominently positioned so all the world can see Christ. We are not hoarders of goods, but faithful servants who care about our communities, ready to share what we have. Here are a couple examples of what not to do and what to do:
1 – What Not To Do – during the pandemic, many people went out of their way to hoard goods, leaving many people without – especially people who were the most vulnerable. Things like flour, canned goods, milk, eggs and yes, toilet paper, were not to be found on the store shelves. While some churches came together to make sure people people’s needs were met, I was amazed at the many churches who did nothing. Why? I heard these excuses – we had to social distance… we couldn’t get the word out… we were caught off guard… When I heard a church say they were caught off guard I had to wonder why. We should have been ready. Ready to share. Ready to be bold. Ready to be grace to everyone in need. I believe with all my fiber this was a test and a wake up call. It was time for the church to osphus perizonnumi – waists to be girded . It was time for our lamps to be kaiomenoi – brightly lit. Our grade on this test certainly isn’t what it needs to be. So, let’s make sure the next time – and there will be a next time – we are ready to respond.
2 – What To Do – There was a fire in a Bronx apartment complex. Seventeen died and many were displaced. The New York Ministry center immediately went to work providing food, homes, clothing, and other items that were lost in the fire. Churches began to band together to reach out, creating opportunities to give and share the gospel of Jesus Christ to those in need. After a devastating tornado in a community, a ministry through the Baptist Men immediately stocked up their trucks and drove to the heart of the disaster. There, they dispensed hot meals, water, blankets and love to those in need. Many doors were opened to sharing the love of God through this ministry. An elderly lady in my community was being kicked out of her home because she couldn’t afford the rent. The community banded together to secure new housing for her. These are the stories of the church coming together to meet the needs and share the love of God through their service. These stories should be everyday events in the life of Believers.
Jesus then shares with us this parable:
Vs 26-40 You must be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. Those slaves the master will find alert when he comes will be blessed. I assure you: He will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them. If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, those slaves are blessed. But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”
We are to be ready. The master could return at anytime. If we are hiding out, or not engaged, we will be unaware of the master’s return. If we are ready though, we will get a surprising blessing. This master, who has returned from the wedding banquet, will serve us. We will be able to recline at the table. The wedding feast will be set out for us. The servants in this story were not sitting around waiting, they were serving, engaged and had the table set and ready to go. Little did they know that the very table they set up was for them. What a blessing indeed. Their objective was to serve. They wanted to be a blessing to the master. They were awake and ready. And that is what we, as Believers, must be like. Our objective is to do what the master tells us to do. We don’t serve to get something. We serve to give. We are not waiting to receive. We are waiting to give. We are awake, eagerly looking around to see what our next assignment might be.
When I lived in London I had an amazing friend from New Zealand. Everyday, she had to take a one hour bus ride to work. One day, I met her for breakfast and we went to the bus stop together. I noticed she let her bus go by without getting on. When I asked her about it, I was dumbstruck with her answer. She said, “Oh, well, it wasn’t the right one. I pray each day for God to tell me which bus to get on and where to sit so I can meet the right person to share light with for the day.” Astonished, I said, “so you meet someone everyday?” “Without fail,” she said. “God points me to the person I need to sit with. Most of the time, it’s someone who’s had a bad morning or week and needs encouragement, but sometimes, I have opportunities to share the gospel or to meet a desperate need. You just have to be ready for whatever God tells you to do – big or small.” I have tried over the years to live this way – to be ready for whatever God tells me to do. I confess, I am nowhere near as disciplined as my amazing friend, but I want to continue to strive to be ready. We do not know when the Master is coming back. If we did, would we live differently? If you know the thief is coming at a particular hour, then I could bet you would be sitting up ready for him. But, we don’t know the hour and we don’t know what we may have to endure before He does return – if 2020 is any indication, then we know it’s not going to be the easy, broad road. All He wants is for us to be ready.
Vs 41-48 “Lord,” Peter asked, “are You telling this parable to us or to everyone?” The Lord said: “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? That slave whose master finds him working when he comes will be rewarded. I tell you the truth: He will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female slaves, and to eat and drink and get drunk, that slave’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. But the one who did not know and did things deserving of blows will be beaten lightly. Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.
Here Jesus gives us a look at the two kinds of servants in His household. One that is at the ready and one that is not. We can tell which one they are by their actions. James 2:14-26 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder. Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected… For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” Jesus is telling us that faith alone is meaningless without actions to back it up. Anyone can say “I believe”. This is why Jesus said this in Mark 2:3-5, “Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four men. Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” How did Jesus see their faith? By their actions. They walked, carried, lifted, removed, lowered… Their belief translated into two hands and two feet moving. The servant that is ready will be actively serving, looking around expectedly waiting to see what they can do next. They are engaged in active faith.
On the other hand, the servant who is not ready looks around to find who they can take advantage of. They call themselves believers, yet, at the same time, they malign people and try to gain something off their “gifts”. They ignore the needs of those around them and, instead, hoard things for themselves. They may even look like givers, but, they are actually takers at heart. It will always be about them in the end. One thing to note, God will come and judge. To those who have been given much, more will be expected. For those who didn’t “know”, they will be judged as well, although not as harshly. In other words, there are no excuses. God sees right into our hearts. He sees our faith.
Vs 49-53 “I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how it consumes Me until it is finished! Do you think that I came here to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three. They will be divided, father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Yes, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but He also came to set the earth ablaze. The fire can be seen in many ways. The fire of God’s judgment that Jesus just spoke of. The fire of the gospel as it spreads throughout the earth because His servants have been set on fire by the power of the Holy Spirit. The fire that He, Himself had in Him as He made His way to the cross. John the Baptist gave us this very picture when he said, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn. But the chaff He will burn up with fire that never goes out.” For those who follow the truth of the gospel, this fire will cause division. We can see it now in our world. It divides families, countries, people groups and, yes, even churches. Those who follow the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ will experience division from the world. We are set apart. We are walking the narrow rough road. We do not see things the same way as the world sees them. I wonder at Believers who are upset when the world tries to take their “rights” away or when they are criticized for their beliefs. This should not be surprising. Jesus has told us very clearly that division will happen. Even so, we must walk with Him. We must be at the ready to serve Him in whatever capacity He asks. We must set our faces towards the cross of Christ.
Vs 54-59 He also said to the crowds: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does. And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be a scorcher!’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this time? “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the ruler, make an effort to settle with him on the way. Then he won’t drag you before the judge, the judge hand you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff throw you into prison. I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last cent.”
Jesus says to the crowd – It amazes me that you can understand the weather patterns, yet you have no concept of prophecy coming to life right before your eyes. They were looking for the Messiah while the Messiah was standing right in front of them. They had all the benefits of Scripture, yet they did not understand them. The Messiah had arrived and judgment day was upon them. Division was coming because of Jesus. And it did happen. A church was born and the leaders of the Jewish synagogues didn’t recognize it. They had all the prophetic Scripture at their fingertips, yet they still led the people to scream “Crucify Him!” Later, Christianity would divide the homes of the world. Families torn apart because of their beliefs. Communities divided because now, some would not bow down and worship the idols in the temple or join in the pagan rituals anymore. They were walking a new way – a narrow rough road. And now, here we are needing to make the same choices in our world. We need to walk the road that will set us apart and divide us from the path society takes.
Just as the signs were there in Jesus’ day that the Messiah had come, the signs are everywhere for His return. No, we do not know the day or the time. It could be years from now, it could be tomorrow. But, the time is not the point. Jesus said, “If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.” It’s not about when Jesus is coming back, it’s about our readiness for His return. Many books have been written about the time of Jesus return n- all focusing on the WHEN. Truth – servants have no business worrying about when the master is going to return. He’s the master. He can stay out as late as he wants to. All servants are suppose to do is be ready when ever the master does return. While we have left the house to hide in the woods, the master is going to come back to the house and find it empty. While we gather our belongings around us to await His coming, the master is coming back to the house to share in a banquet, only to find an empty table. Readiness is not about prepping and hoarding, it’s about having the table laid out with a feast. There is nothing wrong with preparation as long as you have the right end goal. I believe Joseph gives us a great model to follow. He didn’t store up grains for himself for 7 years, he stored them up to feed the multitudes who would be in need. All around us are people in need of a Savior, and Jesus has given us instructions: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The question is, are we ready?
As servants of the Almighty God, we are to have the table ready for his coming. Faith is not really a noun, but a verb. Faith is about actively following God – walking, carrying, removing, lowering… Our two hands and two feet in active service. We have our instructions and we know what to do. All that’s left is to ask God which bus to get on.
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