Nobody knows the day or the hour. Matthew 24 v 36-44.
‘The Father alone knows’-There is something very real and assuring that God alone only knows when the end of time or our time will be! In a day and age when so many people profess to know and want to know everything and furthermore claim that they do know all, none of them really knows when that end will be! So at least we can be assured when there have been many that claim and will claim that the end of the world is near- we can know for sure that it cannot be so ,because only God knows when that will be. Furthermore do we really want to know-imagine the scene if we knew when the world would end, how frightened, how scared and worried we would all be, not just the day before but from the minute we knew- our entire lives would be an absolute misery.
No doubt we have all been there in that similar scenario. A carefree Saturday morning, or a lazy Sunday afternoon-the teapot brewing, china cups on the coffee table-a fig roll waiting to be eaten or whatever our fancy, reading the Sunday papers or listening to our favourite music or playing with the children. Suddenly the doorbell rings or the knocker clangs- the children have arrived, the parents have come for tea, the friends who were due to come next week or so you thought have arrived today, we had the date wrong – the turmoil-the stress, the shame that follows from the unexpected visit because nobody was ready, now causes a nightmare you- clear up, the toys packed away- dashing upstairs change your dress or your shirt, smarten the children- amazing what has to be done in a few seconds when otherwise it would have taken hours, exhaustion follows If only you had been prepared and ready !!!!
On reading this passage firstly I thought it obviously refers to Christ coming again into our world, making himself known again amongst us all, referring to and bringing the end of the world .Or does it refer to our ‘own world’ our own lives coming to a close, whichever again I am sure none of us really want to know when that will be unless we are one hundred per cent prepared. No matter, Jesus tells us to be on our guard and be ready (for either?) Which do you think it refers to, how does this passage resonate with you, which interpretation is your preference?
So this passage could refer to our own lives. As a child growing up and sitting in the Choir stalls listening to some of the varying sermons preached; I found it very difficult to understand when the preachers would talk about the end of our lives here on earth. How could there come a time when I would no longer be around, what would the world be like without me, how is it possible that one day I will not be here in this world , how will everybody that I know and love continue without me. It is only as we grow older and wiser and become more worldly that we realise that our own mortal lives cannot continue forever, so expecting that one day when we are ‘ old’ that we shall be no more becomes more a reality . However for some it will be different –as we know many people will suffer from sickness and disease and war and famine which will claim their lives much earlier than they anticipated- this we know only too well when we look all around us. For those terminally ill their lives will be unfortunately shortened, but the Bible teaches us that the best is yet to come, if we believe and have faith in the Lord God – that is his promise! That is God ‘s promise for everybody.
So what do we have to do, quite clearly as I have already stated Jesus said be on your guard and be ready- watch and wait! Ensure that when the eventuality finally does come, the end of our lives as we know, that indeed we are prepared. Being prepared means, that we have lived a life pleasing to God, that we have been obedient to his word, that we have lived our lives faithful to God. That we have given ourselves in worship, praise and glory to his name to the best of our ability and understanding, that we have believed and trusted in his word, that we have placed God central to our lives, that material wealth, monies and personal prowess has not dominated our whole being. To have lived our lives according to Gods will, to have taken care of the sick, and the orphans. To have brought God into our every being-then and only then we shall be prepared to face and accept the beautiful future that God has promised to those who believe in his name, the gift of everlasting life. This gift that is often difficult to understand and comprehend because only God knows how wonderful it will be and how good it will be for us. If we are in tune with God it will not matter when the hour has come, because we shall have been prepared and ready.
The Christian author Tom Wrights quotes in his book concerning this passage: ‘Firstly nobody knows when the end will be for each of us, secondly life will go on as normal for the others, remember the story of Noah and the flood; life continues as normal for those around, and thirdly it will divide people, the flood divided families and friendsl
Accepting that this passage refers to the end of the world, as Gods chosen disciples the preparation is the same and we have to be on our guard and be ready. For me this is a message to the whole world believers and non- believers alike. The premise is the same again only God knows when the end will be- but Jesus clearly says two people will be side by side, but it will only be the believer who accepts the name of the Lord Jesus that will be saved – does that mean that there will be a divine intervention by God? Who knows it could well be so, only God knows. Perhaps that will happen one day and we should work towards that. How do we know otherwise? Many will say its poetic language- who can be sure, we cannot profess to know. Only God knows never forget that, in the meantime – I think it’s more a message for those who do not believe in our Lord God, to encourage them to think, to encourage them to understand, to encourage them to accept that there is a God, to encourage them to think that there is a power greater than they are, that there is an omnipotent influence in the world which we the followers of that divine being call God. For none of us want to be alone at the party; none of us want to be a wallflower watching all of the excitement take place from a distance.
So the challenge that we face as disciples of Jesus Christ is to encourage others to become disciples as well, we need to start thinking how we can bring all those people who visited our Christmas Fair into our Church to worship God! You can argue that is what we have been doing – then we must do it more powerfully with more conviction with more passion! Spreading the gospel message is harder today than ever before, people face many more distractions as we do our selves- we must take the gospel message of Jesus Christ into the 21st century! We have to allow the power of the Lord Jesus through his Holy Spirit to take complete control of our lives so that nothing is departmentalised, everything we do is for our Lord God, so that our whole soul heart and mind is committed to our Lord God to bring his gospel message to others. There has to come a time in our Christian faith when a Church meeting takes preference over any other event – only then we can start to say we are fully committed to our Lord Jesus! Advent the time of looking forward to Christmas and all the jobs that it brings, advent the time of looking further ahead when Jesus returns – because surely we do not want anybody left behind when our Lord Jesus returns. We have to make sure that we are all ready. Amen.
Brian Scotcher Lay Reader.