Nobody Knows...

 

Matthew 24:36-44
24:36 "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

24:37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

24:38 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,

24:39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.

24:40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.

24:41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.

24:42 Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

24:43 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.

24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

 

I was in seminary before I learned that Advent was the beginning of the liturgical year, and that its focus was on the “second coming” of Christ. The two United Methodist Churches I attended as I was growing up--and later served on part-time lay staff in one of them--didn’t really follow the lectionary, nor did they observe the liturgical year very closely. We celebrated Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost (sort of), but that was pretty much it, in terms of the church year. Hence, my initiation to the liturgical year in seminary was a real education! I was most interested in the “second coming” emphasis of Advent. As a kid, Advent was nothing but a ramp-up to Christmas, and adulthood didn’t do much to add to this, on my part. I must admit, it still seems strange that in the traditions of the Christian faith, celebrating the idea of Christ’s return before we herald his birth, is the ”appropriate” order of things. I also must admit that the further I got from my seminary years, the more I tended to revert to the ramp-up-to-Christmas Advent motif, over the second-coming stuff. Why? Wanting to please the “customers,” I guess. And I have never gotten over the excitement of the Christmas season, personally. I love all of the atmosphere of Christmas—lights, sounds, treats, presents--and so why deprive my people of it by delaying the “Joy to the World” until December 25? I know, I know, liturgical purists go absolutely gorilla-ape over singing Christmas hymns “prematurely,” and even judge us for mentioning Christ’s birth until “December Five and Twenty, Fum, Fum, Fum…” Still, I kept letting “Christmas Creep” become a bigger and bigger thing. And the “customers” were much happier, as were the children, and my spirit, that was vexed by the occasional liturgical police. Fum, Fum, Fum…

 

However, if one preaches from the lectionary—as I have purposed to do for these retirement sermons—Advent texts are about the second coming of Jesus, such as today’s passage from Matthew 24. The good news is that all believers should be excited about the prospects of Jesus returning, because that’s a good thing, right? The bad news is that some of these texts make it sound like he’s coming back in a bad mood, and some poor souls get “Left Behind,” (alluding to a popular but theologically lame book and movie series that scared the pants off people a number of years ago). Oh, and no one knows when this “second coming” is going to happen—not us, not angels, not Jesus himself. Today’s text says only “the Father” knows. What? If Jesus IS God, how is this possible? The “persons” of the Holy Trinity keep secrets from each other? Is Jesus kept in the dark as a kind of incentive to do better work saving the world? What about the Holy Spirit? Does SHE know when Jesus is returning? About these things, it appears nobody knows, except “the Father,” which seems to indicate a hierarchy in something in which we don’t believe one exists. Can we make any sense of this?

 

Let’s take a stab at it, shall we? You have probably heard the allegory used occasionally to explain the Trinity by saying something like this: 

 

I’m Jeff, but I’m also a son, a husband, a father, and now a grandfather. I’m still just one person, but I have several ‘roles’ or identities within my personhood. And each has its own rules and boundaries. 

 

Might the godhead be like this? While all three “persons” of the Trinity are really one “person,” each has a unique role to play in fully actualizing God and God’s work in the world. And within these roles, different “rules” may apply, such as the rule that only “the Father” knows the date of the endgame for Christ’s final reconciling of the world, as empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit in that world. If there is to BE an endgame, some “part” of God must know when that is, however the other “parts” that are integral to redemption and reconciliation of the creation to God aren’t privy to that day or hour, as it might severely affect their efforts to accomplish this goal, and may add a note of unfairness to it. For example, many years ago, a “B-grade” science fiction movie (“When Worlds Collide”) hypothesized that if scientists knew that a cataclysmic end is close on the horizon for Planet Earth, they might steer resources toward rescuing a human remnant. And, knowing they could only transport a fraction of the human population off world, they might exclusively choose the brightest and best to preserve, leading to a monumental unfairness on the part of those left behind. Likewise, if Jesus knew the schedule for the Parousia, might he, too, seek to rescue only the most “holy” or most “obedient” disciples? Or might the Holy Spirit kick in a heavy dose of power (“signs and wonders”?) to quickly convince people to get their act together? These are difficult questions, aren’t they? And I’m pretty sure some of my allegorical “explanations” are heresy. The truth is, in terms of what the real answers are to these questions, nobody knows (again, except “the Father”).

 

Of course, all of this is highly theoretical, which is something I like to dabble in, but you, as my “listeners” this week may have no interest in. So, what practical spiritual guidance can we glean from this Matthew text? 

 

The text says that the days leading up to the return of Christ will be “like the days of Noah.” I think that means that many will be clueless, eating, drinking, marrying—basically just going on with life—without knowing the flood is coming. My first reaction to that is, “Of COURSE they will be doing that!” If not even Jesus “knows” when this will happen, why should John or Jane Q. Public? While the Bible says that the “days were evil,” and that God was choosing to “punish the earth” for it by sending the great flood, we should remember that history is written by the winners—in this case, the “deserving” remnant that was rescued. What if God knew a flood was coming, and just chose Noah as an example and spokesperson to show the world how to keep from being swept away by it? Is this just another colorful story we find in the Bible designed to tell of God’s continuing desire to save the world, even if only an alert remnant makes it each epoch? If so, the Matthew 24 text is another in these cautionary tales about how to be part of “the remnant.” None of us wants to be the “one left” in the story, presuming the ones who are “taken” are the ones being rescued by God. 

 

Here we have another paradox, however. If people are being snatched away in God’s rescue effort, then why is Jesus returning to the earth? Is he coming back merely to judge those left behind? This interpretation presupposes an angry, judgmental God, a much broader “clueless” human residual, and a precious few who find redemption. This does not sound like the loving, forgiving, accepting Jesus we find elsewhere in the Gospels, and looks a lot more like something predicted by those who believe they are inseparably part of the redeemed (the “winners”). If this sounds needlessly complicated, then you are beginning to be enlightened. Which “voices” in these apocalyptic texts to give credence to is a key “filtering” question one must ask in interpreting them. Where is the good news here?

 

The good news is that God in Christ desires to save and reconcile. That some may not choose to receive this free offer is an unfortunate side effect of God’s creation gift of free will, but the will of God is to redeem and reconcile. Who are we to question the power of this will and the breadth of God’s grace in making this happen on a very large scale? There may be significance to the Matthew “left behind” story only talking about a handful of “left behinds.” That one “is taken” and another “left behind” should not be viewed as a poll indicating that only half of the world shall be saved! The purpose of the story is to encourage people to “stay awake,” akin to the parable of the ten virgins and their lamps awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom. Both stories are about preparedness for the “journey.” Be ready; stay awake. Doing so may say more about our role as believers to guide and encourage others who don’t yet “get it,” than it does about our own salvation.

 

We should not be anxious about our redemption, if we have come to believe in the saving efficacy of Jesus Christ, and our stage of “readiness” is evidenced by our lifestyle as a Christian disciple. Remember what they tell you on the airplane—in case of a depressurization emergency, put on your oxygen mask first and THEN help others with theirs. As believers, we should see today’s text as saying we should be moving toward the “helping others with theirs” phase of the coming emergency. 

 

I’m intrigued by the twist at the end of the text about “not letting your house be broken into.” Is this a metaphor for maintaining and nurturing your most significant relationships? How many times have I seen Christians—especially those called by God to service or ministry-related occupations—feel they are doing something “good for God” by sacrificing their marriage or their family to their work? As a pastor, the hardest and most hurtful thing I have witnessed is when I see spouses or children of missionaries, clergy, or Christian academics move themselves into the “unbeliever” category for reasons of neglect. Friends, whether you are a lay believer or a called servant of God, “don’t let your house be broken into.”

 

Books have been written, movies made, and countless sermons preached that aim to “figure out” the schedule for the return of the Son of God into the world. A whole “cult” has grown up around a fictional event usually labeled “the rapture.” It has spawned a fatalistic philosophy that basically concludes, “Oh well, we can’t fix it, and Jesus is going to come back, anyway, and make it all right.” This idea is wholly counter to what we read in Matthew 24! We are called to “fix it,” to “put our oxygen mask on first and then help others with theirs,” and to offer the grace of God to everyone we see who is struggling. We are urged to “stay awake” and “live prepared” for Christ’s coming again, fully aware that nobody but “the Father” knows when it will happen. I once heard a suggestion that we should “live as though each day were our last, but plan our lives like we know we will be around for a hundred more years.” That is good counsel, at least according to this text. 

 

As we enter the 2022 Advent season, may you resolve anew to grow your discipleship lifestyle so it becomes increasingly more seamless with “who you are” as others see you. If you want to hasten the return of Jesus, live more like him and encourage others to do so, as well. Keep alert to opportunities to help others don their “oxygen mask.” And together, may we work to fix the world so when Jesus returns, he won’t find a hovel of a planet inhabited by a self-absorbed people. Amen. Oh, and for this First Sunday of Advent, I’m singing “Joy to the World.”

 

P.S. Since I don’t like the depressing Advent hymns in the U.M. Hymnal, this year I wrote my own, sung to the “Hymn to Joy” by Beethoven (“Joyful, Joyful…”, No. 89 in the U.M. Hymnal). You are free to use it, with appropriate attribution to the author! 

 

Advent Song [Tune: “Hymn to Joy” by Ludwig von Beethoven]

1. Joy-filled Advent candle's burning, church folk singing joyfully,
People, come and join the chorus, share our great redemption song!
Children smiling, parents watching, all anticipate the day,
When the Savior's second coming brings God's kin-dom to this place.

2. Hope is why this candle's shining, light that warms the hurting soul,
In Christ Jesus we find comfort, and the will to carry on.
In a world where darkness hovers, Hope gives courage to us all,
To confront the evil powers that oppress and spread a pall.

3. Love is in this candle's brightness, fueling flames of God's embrace,
No one can escape the wideness of God's ever-present Grace!
Hate is vanquished, biases cast down, by a love that will prevail,
Jesus' love is always with us, in our hearts and in the world.

4. In this candle peace burns brightly, promising Gods healing hand,
Jesus, as its Prince, announces peace for all across the land.
War will end and swords and sharp spears all become the farmers' tools,
When Christ comes again in glory, claiming earth for his just rule.

5. One White candle's left unburning, 'til the birth of Christ the Lord,
Even though it's not yet lighted, still its light is shining through.
Joy and Hope point to Christ's Love, which will usher in God's Peace, 
Knowing Christ will come once more, encourages us to live in peace!

 

CopyrightÓ2022, J.D. Sterling