Advent

Matthew 24:36-44 (NRSV)

The Necessity for Watchfulness:

36 ‘But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,^* but only the Father. ³⁷For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴²Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day^* your Lord is coming. ⁴³But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Romans 13.11-end: (NRSV) An Urgent Appeal

¹¹ Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; ¹²the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; ¹³let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy.¹⁴Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. 

As is often the case, I am indebted to Barclay for his commentaries on Matthew and Romans for this homily.

My text this evening is written in Matthew 24:44

⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

The Gospel for Advent Sunday echoes the theme of the Advent Hope coupled with the idea that Christ’s first Advent also comes with a promise of the Second Coming. I have to confess that I am never too concerned about the Second Coming and in my earlier more evangelical days even, I could not see the point of arguing if one was premill, postmill or amill! What matters more is the fact that Jesus is with us now by his Spirit and that we are charged with following him in love and obedience, where we have been placed, by his grace. I think our Lord was probably addressing this issue as reported here by Matthew for the same reasons, knowing that humans like to be side-tracked into displacement thinking that deflects them from the real task at hand. (I often find that I tidy my study when I should be marking countless essays!!!)

Jesus says that no-one knows when it will happen – even he did not know – only the Father. I know it is an oversimplification, but that does it for me. If no one knows, just get on with what we can know. William Barclay is much more forceful and states that ‘... speculation regarding the time of the Second Coming is nothing less than blasphemy, for the man who so speculates is seeking to wrest from God secrets which belong to God alone.’ I do not believe it is our place to speculate; rather it is our duty to be faithful to what we have been called to do.

These verses also tell us that then time will come with ‘shattering suddenness’ especially for those who are immersed in material things. Noah prepared himself and so was ready while the rest of humanity was immersed in their eating and drinking and marrying, and they were caught completely unawares. Barclay comments: “These verses are a warning never to become immersed in time that we forget eternity ...”

We are also told in these verses that the coming of Christ will be a time of separation and judgement, when Jesus will gather to himself those who are his own, Barclay concludes: “Beyond these things we cannot go – for God has kept the ultimate knowledge to Himself and to his wisdom.”

If we do not know the time when this will all happen, then we need to be prepared – in fact all our life should be a constant preparation for that coming. Jesus will return like a thief in the night in the sense that a thief does not send a letter on ahead to warn the owner of the house he intends to rob, because his principle weapon is the element of surprise. The owner of a house that contains precious things must be on their guard. But our watching is different in the sense that we are not afraid; our watching is an eager expectation for the coming of the glory and joy that will mark meeting our Lord face to face.

Being prepared is a wonderful challenge. We cannot tell the time or the place of many things. I well remember when I was struck with a pancreatic tumour, there was no warning, just sudden soaring pain – and for some time – death seemed imminent.

What will we be found doing if our Lord were to return suddenly? I believe the challenge is to be doing what he has called us to do, by being faithful to our calling wherever we find ourselves.

Martin, the Cobbler, is Leo Tolstoy's story about a lonely shoemaker who is promised in a dream that Christ will come to visit his shop. The next day Martin rises early, gets his shop ready, prepares a meal and waits. The only one who showed up in the morning was an old beggar who came by and asked for rest. Martin gave him a room he had prepared for his divine guest. The only one to show up in the afternoon was an old lady with a heavy load of wood. She was hungry and asked for food. He gave her the food he had prepared for his divine guest. As evening came, a lost boy wandered by. Martin took him home, afraid all the while he would miss the Christ. That night in his prayers he asks the Lord, "Where were You? I waited all day for You."

The Lord said to Martin:

"Three times I came to your friendly door,
Three times my shadow was on your floor.
I was a beggar with bruised feet.
I was the woman you gave to eat.
I was the homeless child on the street."

Watch out! Christ may be closer than you can imagine.

This same theme is picked up in the Epistle appointed for today.

It was these verses that brought St Augustine of Hippo to faith. After years of living it up, denying himself no pleasure of the world, he heard a little girl reciting these verses and the Holy Spirit used them to convict him of his sinful ways, and brought him to faith. I love this story, because it so graphically shows us how God uses the Scriptures to touch our lives at their very core. As Coleridge observed, the Bible is inspired, not so much in every word contained in it is perfect (for we know this is not true), but because ‘It finds me.’ God’s Word finds the human heart.

When we prayerfully read Scripture, we often find that they wake us up from a sort of sleep; we see things different, afresh, anew, as we have never seen them before, and we become aware of what is happening. The imminence of our salvation is not chronological, a matter of time, it is theological, something that happens to us at the core of our being. The image of ‘putting on’ is nothing new. Isaiah used it (11.5) as did the Psalmist (132.9) as did Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Corinthians 5, Galatians 3.27 and Ephesians 6.13-18 speaks of putting on the whole armour of God.

In this Advent season, we encounter the lovely imagery of darkness and light – and it is the season of light shining in the darkness and the darkness never putting it out. This armour of light that we put on symbolises the virtues that we can have to, ‘... protect us from the assault of evil ...’ In effect we need to put of the Lord Jesus. We should not linger in sin, but show every seriousness by living lives of righteousness and goodness. God’s way of righting wrong has been revealed, and so there is some urgency: are we going to respond in faith or not? Our lives are short, and so there is not much time for us to serve Christ.

There is a sense that we live in the new age, but at the same time we await its full coming, and while we wait, we need to display the behaviour of the new age, and so attract others to it. Best explains: “In wearing Jesus Christ the Christian puts on the character and ways of Jesus.” Christians are “... now called to let the world see the clothes they have already been given ...”

Simply put, the most effective way of showing Christ to the world is to live differently. Paul explains in verse 13:

¹³let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy.

We should avoid revelry – the Greek word komos – which refers to the sort of revelling that lowers a person’s sense of self and is a disturbance and nuisance to others. This is obviously linked to drunkenness which is shameful and disgraceful. Immorality – where one shows no sense of self-control, but takes pleasure when and where one can. Shamefulness is an interesting one in our present times. Don’t you feel so sorry for the way in which some young people no longer seem to feel any shame, as they stumble through our streets, half naked and out of control. Gone is the sense of shame, where people are not bothered anymore by what others think!

Our whole economy seems to rest on contention what some refer to as jealousy. We are told that we should not be unhappy with what we have because wanting and greed are good for the economy. This has been translated into a modern virtue where competition is seen as always good and the desire for place, power and prestige are praised; where people are taught to hate being surpassed and that second place is no good. This envy is what drives things on.

Living in the light is living differently, is being dignified, living for others and not ourselves alone, reaching out in love and forgiveness, and being content with what we have. It is living in the light, it is being like Jesus, clothed with him, living his life where we are. This is what brings light and this is what brings hope to ourselves and to the world we live in. This is what Paul believed is ‘... putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.’ Jesus put it this way:

⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Amen.