Matthew 24.36-44
‘But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But 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. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
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At the end of the latest James Bond film ‘no time to die’ if you go to the end of the credits it says, ‘James Bond will return’. Which I was puzzled by because, spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it yet, he doesn’t survive the film. He’s blown up by a missile on a remote island. And the film makes it absolutely clear that he dies. M and Moneypenny and the others back at MI6 HQ drink a toast to their fallen comrade, and there is no scene right at the end of the credits where you see a hand appearing grasping on a cliff edge or something like that to show that he really did make it. No, he really has died.
Yet as I say, at the very end of the credits, it says ‘James Bond Will Return.’
I thought to myself, ‘how are they going to pull off that one?’
Maybe it’s like Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, after he falls into the pit of Khazad Dum fighting the Balrog Demon he is ‘sent back’ in order for his task to be completed, to restore destroy the evil at large in Middle-Earth. Or maybe it’s a great conjuring trick, like in the Sean Connery bond film You Only Live Twice where bond is apparently ‘killed’ at the beginning, Or maybe they will re-set the series, beginning things again like they did with the first Daniel Craig film Casino Royale
In our reading from the gospels this morning, we see Jesus speaking in a very strange way. Indeed, much of the gospel when read in isolation like we do through a lectionary seems odd. That’s why it’s really important to be reading larger chunks of the text in own time and studying the scriptures as well when we are able to.
Christmas is a time when we celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world. But on this day, the first Sunday of advent, we remember that Jesus will one day return in judgement over all the world We remember that he will bring justice to those who commit evil, and peace and hope to victims. Today is about remembering that, just like James bond, Jesus Christ will one day return.
Yet we read in our passage today, that even Jesus himself does not know when the end of all things will occur, only the Father. This has not stopped people many times throughout the ages assuming that they have some secret knowledge of when the world will come to an end. They have found prophesies from all over the bible that speak of God’s judgement finally coming to earth and all of the strange events that that portends and read it into their own day and age. Every now and again you hear of a Christian cult somewhere where there is a charismatic leader who has ‘figured out’ exactly when Jesus will return. Sometime next Tuesday perhaps?’ Indeed, I have had conversations with quite a few people during my ministry who think that Jesus is coming back very soon and in our own life time. It’s understandable that they think this way, especially when all is not well with the world; but it is mistaken.
I think what people miss when they reason this way is that there has been over two thousand years of Christian history, in which all kinds of terrible things have happened. And each one, you could argue, is ‘proof’ that the messiah is coming back soon. Nobody who has ever predicted such a thing has been proved right, but again it’s understandable. One thinks of hundreds of years ago when a village is sacked or raised to the ground, or when plague strikes, or perhaps even the two World Wars of the last century, or a pandemic. We are to stay away from such interpretations of modern events, our job during times of difficulty is not to become seers, endless pouring over the scriptures to find out when Jesus returns. Rather, we are to exhibit the character of Jesus Christ, no matter the time, serving each other, helping the least and the lost.
Now, even this mindset has difficulties, it makes it easy for us to become complacent, we could say, ‘well it doesn’t matter what we do really, as Jesus isn’t returning any time soon. Our passage this morning warns us against this attitude. What Jesus is basically saying is that, when he returns, it will be at an unexpected time.
Jesus speaks of Noah and the flood, how people were eating and drinking and marrying. Which is a way of saying that they were simply getting in with their lives and suddenly this earth-shattering event occurs; In other words, they are not preparing themselves for his coming. likewise, when he gives the example of the farmers in the field, one is suddenly taken and the other left, and the same with the women grinding the meal. These were a day to day activity back in those days, people getting on with their lives, and suddenly they are taken.
Now, this is purely illustrative of the unexpectedness of what will happen, it’s not ‘how it will happen’ What Jesus is saying that when he returns, there will be people who have prepared themselves for it, and there will be those who have not prepared themselves for it.
In some of the epistles of the New Testament there is a real weighty expectation that Jesus is coming back andsoon. We don’t know when, but we know it will be soon. This is the right attitude to have. I’d say, odds on that Jesus is not coming back this evening, or tomorrow or next month or next year. But as I’ve said, we must not fall into the trap of complacency. We don’t have that excuse to say He’s not coming back before that relationship that need healing is fixed or they thing we need to ask forgiveness for needs to happen, or that sin in our lives that has dogged us for years if not decades needs dealing with. We don’t have the excuse not examine ourselves.
Advent is the time of preparation, when we get ready for Christmas. Now, this usually becomes, getting the decorations up, and getting the food in. But it’s not about that, just like Lent, it’s a time to examine ourselves, find out what needs to change and ask His Holy Spirit to work in our lives to make us more like him. This is what it means to prepare ourselves for Christmas.
Jesus is there at the door, and we live in the expectation that the door will open at any time, where Jesus brings judgement, and rights all of the wrongs of the world.
When the Lord comes, may he find us watching and waiting.
Amen
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