The Lutheran Hour
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"Are You Ready Yet?"
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Text: Luke 12:35-40
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Almighty and ever-living God, we thank you for bringing us sinners, out of darkness, to your marvelous light through Jesus Christ our Lord, who died on the cross and rose from the dead so that we may have eternal life. Empower us by your Holy Spirit, so that we may remain watchful until He comes again. And we pray for those who do not know Christ yet, that they too may hear the Good News of salvation and, by hearing, they may be empowered by the Holy Spirit to believe in Jesus as their Savior and be ready for His return. This, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
As we get ready to end the year 2007 and open up a new page with the year 2008, the Gospel of Luke presents us with a powerful invitation to stay dressed for action and keep our lamps burning. “Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.”
“Getting ready” is something you and I experience on a regular basis in our lives. We get ready for work, we get our children and grandchildren ready to go to school, we get ready for the celebration of special events in our lives such as wedding anniversaries. Those playing all kinds of sports know what it means to be ready for the game: They often have to keep a watch on their weight, run a certain number of miles a day or a week. In our churches, we know what it means to get ourselves ready for a worship service: The choir rehearses hymns and songs; the church secretary prepares the bulletins; the pastor meditates on the Word of God and prepares a sermon; the altar guild helps in many ways to make sure that the altar is set with all that is needed for worship; and when Sunday comes, the ushers must position themselves in such a way to greet and hand out bulletins. The pastor, acolytes, and choirs may get their liturgical vestments on before worship begins.
I remember all the work my family and I had to do this past summer when we learned that my mother was coming to our home, from the country of Ivory Coast in West Africa. Once we learned that she was granted a visa to travel to the United States, my wife, children, and I became busy preparing for her coming. We made sure we had a room prepared for her. My wife decorated this room and it looked very beautiful, clean, and fresh. All the decorations and accessories placed in it, gave this room a very different and nice look. By the time we finished working on it, I knew my mother would find it welcoming and would be comfortable in it.
After the hard work in preparation for mom’s coming, we were very pleased with what we had done. We waited for her and began making other plans as to what we would take her to see in the city like the great Chicago’s museums and other great sites.
After all these things came the day of her arrival. I had gone to meet her in New York and right after landing at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, I received a call from my wife. She wanted to know if we had made it safely to Chicago from New York. She and the children wanted to know how much longer it would be before we made it home. I imagined that since it was getting late, by the time we made it home my children would have fallen asleep but; while on our way home, I received two more phone calls from home inquiring every time, how far we were, how traffic was… And when we finally got home around 11:00 p.m, everybody was awake and waiting.
In fact, as we were approaching the front door, I noticed my children watching through the windows and I heard my oldest daughter scream to her mother “Mom, they are here!” Then they all came to the door to welcome my mother. The joy of meeting filled our home. Warm hugs and kisses were shared.
My mother was, for the first time, meeting my wife, our two daughters, and Goddaughter. And my wife and children too were very excited about meeting her. Mine was the great joy of being re-united with my mother. All of us were happy because we were prepared for this encounter. We had made all the necessary preparations for mom’s coming to our home.
Are you ready yet?
Christ’s disciples had seen Him depart, yet knew from what He had taught them that He would come back someday. They therefore had to get themselves ready for His second coming.
Jesus compares this second coming to that of a master who returns from a journey and expects to find his servants ready for service. He set the example himself as to how to be ready when He shared the last supper with His disciples. John 13:4-5,14-15 says: “He laid aside His outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him… If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do just as I have done to you.”
Jesus, who is God, dressed Himself for service and served His disciples, teaching them that they are to humble themselves, they are to serve one another; and by humbling themselves and serving, they will be ready for His second coming.
Jesus wants you and I to remain watchful until He comes again. His second coming, however, presents a problem for many of us who like to plan and have all the dates and times of events and appointments marked in our planners ahead of time. No one knows the day or the time of Jesus’ second coming. Religions that have predicted the date and time of Christ’s return have found out that they were wrong with their predictions. The date and time of Christ’s return are unknown to us.
As I look back to the past few years and months, there come to my mind:
The Tsunami that wiped thousands of human lives from the surface of the earth; and here at home I think about the tragedy of September 11, 2001. I imagine those brothers and sisters who woke up that day and went to work without knowing that the devil was going to strike. What about Hurricane Katrina that killed so many people, displacing thousands and leaving many with scars in their hearts and minds that only the love of Jesus Christ will heal?
I remember the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis this year, causing many to die.Perhaps, like myself, you may have experienced this year a sudden or slow death of some family members, friends, fellow saints, or people who did not know Christ.
Are you ready yet?
The Word of God presents us with people who got themselves ready before God’s judgment.
Genesis 6 tells us about one such person: Noah. We read in Genesis 6:12-14: “And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.'”
God goes on giving Noah more instructions in that chapter. And in chapter 7, God gives Noah another instruction: “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1) And we read in the same chapter in verse 5: “And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.”
Noah was found by God to be righteous among the people of his corrupted generation. He did what God commanded him to do and the way God commanded him to do it.
It did not matter how tiring it may have been for this man to build an ark that was going to hold the people, animals, birds, and plants that God ordered him to take.
Noah also did what God commanded, no matter how foolish it may have seemed to his people who lived in corruption. Noah did not doubt the Word of God, he did not argue that God was asking him to do the impossible, he did not question God as to how much time it would take, how long it would be before God acts. Noah could have decided not to obey God. He could have decided to join the rest of the people of his generation who lived in total corruption. He could have taken time before doing God’s command. And he could have decided to do things in his own ways and not the way God instructed him to do. But, once again, the Word of God says, “He did all that God commanded him” (Genesis 7:5).
Noah is not the only person who prepared himself for the coming judgment. Many other people in both the Old and the New Testament prepared themselves for the coming judgment of God.
The first Christian communities understood that following their coming to Christ, they had to keep their lamps burning. Acts 2:42-47 says:
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved”.
So after receiving the free gift of salvation, these people did not say to themselves “We are done and we can go on living as though we did not know Christ.” They devoted themselves to the Word of God and to the Sacraments. They changed their way of living, caring for everyone in their community. They sold their possessions and made the money gained available to provide for everyone’s need. They did not believe it was OK that some people may have plenty to eat while others are starving. They did not accept that some people may be dressed in expensive clothes while others have no clothes on their back. They did not accept that some people may be in luxurious homes while others were being rained on without any shelter.
So they took it upon themselves to make sure that they made available to others the blessings that they received from God so that everyone in their community had food, clothing, a shelter, and other things. After knowing the Lord and receiving the salvation He won for everyone by His death on the cross and His resurrection, these saints kept their lamps burning.
Are you ready yet?
As this year gets to an end and a new year is about to begin, we are reminded once again by the Gospel of Luke, that the world is moving toward its end. God’s final judgment is coming though on a day and at an hour unknown to us. Jesus is coming and happy are those who believe in Him and are baptized for they are saved. And when He gets here we need to be prepared to see Him. We have to have our lamps burning. Our lamps must remain burning in the midst of this sinful world with unending wars and crime, where many are gaining their power forcing innocent children to bear guns and join armies. Our lamps must stay burning in the midst of the corruption of this world where many are gaining their wealth, stealing from the poor, forcing young girls and women to prostitution. Our lamps must stay burning in the midst of the injustice of this world where some people are sentenced for weeks, months, and perhaps several years in jail without a fair judgment. Our lamps must remain burning in the midst of the racism that divides our society.
Our lamps must stay burning in the midst of the failure of our society to be unanimous in condemning abortion as murder.
We must keep our lamps burning.
The Word of God invites us to be ready so that we may escape the wrath of God when Jesus comes for the final judgment.
Can you imagine waiting for a special guest coming to your home at night with your lamps turned off? If the lights had been off when my mother came in, she would not have had the joy of seeing her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. Nor would my wife and children have been able to see her and know her face. We must therefore keep our lamps burning so that we can recognize the Lord when He comes in His glory to judge the living and the dead.
Are you ready yet?
There are billions of people out there who do not know Christ yet and are not ready for His second coming. It is our job to bring them the Good News of salvation so that they too may enter the Ark of Salvation where there is room for people of every nation, every race and every tongue, young and old, men and women.
There are many people who may be close to us and who will die without Jesus Christ unless we tell them about Him.
It is our job to proclaim Christ as Savior to the members of our families, our friends, and colleagues who do not know Him yet, so that they may come to know Him, and by the power of God the Holy Spirit, believe in Him, be baptized and saved.
There are millions of people around the world who will die without Jesus Christ unless we make an intentional effort to reach out to them with the Holy Gospel so that they may join in the ark of those who will escape the coming judgment. There are brothers and sisters who have known Christ but who have stopped practicing their faith. It is our job to reach out to them with the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
As this year ends, we are blessed to be invited by the Holy Gospel to get ready for the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who will come at His own time and who expects to find us ready.
Are you ready yet?Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for December 30, 2007
TOPIC: Did Jesus Experience Effects of Aging?ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m
Mark Eischer.KLAUS: Mark Eischer, may I interrupt?
ANNOUNCER: Certainly.
KLAUS: I have a question from a person who talked to me when I was out speaking in Michigan.
ANNOUNCER: And what was the question?
KLAUS: The person wanted to know, since Jesus was God, and therefore was without any sin, would He, as He got chronologically older, have aged like the rest of us? They also wanted to know if Jesus could catch a cold, or did He ever get the flu?
ANNOUNCER: Those are all good questions. What did you say?
KLAUS: I don’t know.
ANNOUNCER: You don’t know what you said?
KLAUS: No, I don’t know the answer to the questions. Of course, since Jesus died on the cross to save us from sin, Satan, and death, it is a moot point and there’s hardly any point in trying to guess about such things where Scripture is silent.
ANNOUNCER: Even so, I’m really curious. Isn’t there a passage in Matthew that tells how Jesus carried our sicknesses and infirmities?
KLAUS: Yes, that’s Matthew 8:17. (I looked it up.) That passage says, “He (meaning Jesus) took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” But I don’t know if anybody can make a case for Jesus being a walking encyclopedia of physical maladies. Jesus was perfect, and the passage could mean that Jesus was showing He was in control, or master, over these things.
ANNOUNCER: Like, for example, when He restored sight to the blind, or hearing to the deaf, and helped the lame to walk.
KLAUS: Exactly. See… Scripture is silent on the matter.
ANNOUNCER: But how about experiencing the effects of aging, many of which bear silent witness to the realities of living in a fallen and corrupted world? To what extent did Jesus share in those? We do know that He grew up.
KLAUS: Yes, He grew up. He didn’t stay a Bethlehem baby wrapped in swaddling clothes forever. I know the world’s merchants would love to keep Him that way, but Jesus did grow up into adulthood, as people do.
ANNOUNCER: Well, suppose He hadn’t been crucified when He was 33-years-old. Suppose He had lived to be 60 – would He have gotten arthritis? Or, if He lived to the age of 80 – would He have to worry about Alzheimer’s? Could He have made it to 100, or 300, or 500, or even celebrated His 1,000th birthday?
KLAUS: That’s a lot of questions, Mark. Let me try to answer them in the way you gave them: the answer to the first question is: I don’t know. The answer to the second question is: I don’t know. And the answer to the third question is: I don’t know.
ANNOUNCER: Which surprises me. Can you give us anything?
KLAUS: I’ve already said Jesus grew up like regular people. He had a regular body, not a superbody. His body was able to eat, drink, cry, get tired, feel pain, and it was able to die.
ANNOUNCER: And in that respect He was like the rest of us.
KLAUS: Yes, but I don’t know if He would have aged like the rest of us. I mean, if Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned, would they have needed to go in for some kind of plastic surgery maintenance after the first 10,000 years of their life? I don’t think so. Adam and Eve would have grown older, but they wouldn’t have been afflicted by all the negative aspects of aging.
ANNOUNCER: Could you say any more about this?
KLAUS: Well, not actually. There is no precedent which allows me to answer. Adam and Eve sinned, and as a result sickness and death entered the world. For that reason, Adam and Eve don’t give us an answer. Jesus did die on the cross when He was still a young man, so we don’t know how the turning of the calendar would have changed Him.
Mark, You asked if I can say any more? I can say that Mary, when she gave birth to Jesus, didn’t give Him her sinful nature. For that reason, the best I could guess at would be something like: Jesus would have grown older, but He would not have suffered from the harmful results of aging. His mind would have grown in wisdom, His soul in God-pleasing maturity, and His body without the aches and pains of time. But that is, at best, only a guess.
ANNOUNCER: Well, in closing is there anything else you could say about this?
KLAUS: There is. The Bible gives us what we need for salvation; it doesn’t necessarily answer every question our curious minds might create. This is one of those times; and it, I might add, is one of the few times I think the Bible tells us we’re going to have to wait until we get to heaven for the answers.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. And with that we come to the end of our broadcast for another week. We thank you, the listener, for making this program part of your day. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Let Us All with Gladsome Voice” From And My Mouth Will Declare Your Praise by the Children’s Choir of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (© 1997 St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Ft. Wayne)
“Keep Your Lamps” arr. by Andre Thomas. Performed by the Concordia University Choir, Portland, OR (arrangement © 2003 Hinshaw Music, Inc.)
“Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices” arranged by John Behnke. From For All Seasons, vol. 2 by John Behnke (© 2001 John Behnke) Augsburg-Fortress
“In dir ist Freude” by J.S. Bach. From Orgelbüchlein & More Works by J.S. Bach by Robert Clark & John David Peterson (© 1997 Calcante Recordings, Ltd.)