Title: Are you ready?
Text: Matt 24:36-44
Facebook live: Are you ready?
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Friday afternoon at 2 PM, What are you doing?
Imagine someone came to you exactly at that time and said,
“Stop what you're doing now!”
And you would say, “But I'm not done with this yet.”
The person would say, “Stop now!”
And you would say, “But it's only 2 o'clock. I have several hours to go after this afternoon.”
“Stop now!” says the figure and you would put down what you were doing and walk with the person and say,
“Will I be able to finish this later?”
“No!” comes the reply.
“You mean I won't be able to pick up where I left off?”
“But where are you taking me?”
“Is it a long way off?”
“But I had such great plans for the weekend.”
“Come along,” is the reply.
“Can I go just for a minute?”
“Just one little minute? “
“No,” come on.
I think you know who the person is, was, or could have been.
Our text for today recounts, some of our Lord's words. Towards the end of his ministry, he speaks of the end of the world and the need to be ready for it even as in the days of Noah.
When the normal course of life was going on and the flood suddenly came, so it'll be business as usual as our lives today.
When the trumpet sounds and all earthly life as we know it suddenly ceases to exist.
If we had known the hour, Christ says - we would have been ready.
But you don't know on what day your Lord's coming. He tells us, so we are to watch, to be ready, for the son of man is coming at an hour that you and I don't expect.
Let's consider this sobering thought this morning.
How can we be ready for Christ’s coming?
The Lord will come when it's business as usual. Waking, sleeping, working or play.
38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
None of the virgins in the chapter of Matthew following this were on the watch for the bridegroom, but some of them were prepared for his coming.
You can’t always be looking heavenward for the personal appearance of our Lord, but it is possible for you to be prepared and ready for his coming right now.
Are you prepared?
Is your soul ready for the coming of the son of man and when he appears?
What will the verdict of your life be?
Imagine 2 o'clock last Friday has come and gone. And you are now in the presence of God. What might be said about you 2 days after your passing?
The old line I’ve heard comes to mind,
“If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”
What will others say about you, or me?
Are you ready?
40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
A Christian pastor is always to preach as a dying man to dying people.
Today you and I are baptized and redeemed Christians, and we're living in the grace, mercy, love, and care of God; for we are his children now, and not on the brink of falling into hell.
Nevertheless, our Lord’s sober words apply to us as they did to the people in Noah's day and our own day.
How then do we live with a proper spirit of preparation?
Always ready for his coming.
First, we should live in the present tense, each day for itself.
For most of us it is a fairly level road, but it could change dramatically tomorrow.
What will you do?
It may be a totally unexpected illness.
It may be calamity in your home or your life.
It may be loneliness or despair. The likes of which you have never experienced before in your life.
You may meet death itself.
Sickness, loneliness, desperation and the like are all inevitable.
What will you do? How will you get ready?
I submit your best preparation is to give attention to today. Trust in the very Lord who said these words of our text to you for every passing moment of your life.
That means most of you in life.
Prepare for the changes which will surely come, but to which you cannot foresee, and need not fear so you can see the little blessings of your life today.
Prepare for the big emergencies tomorrow. And the ordinary road you travel right now.
Luther said that if God told him there'd be a judgment day tomorrow, he would plant an apple tree today. That's the way to live in the present.
The son will rise only if our Lord lets it. But that being granted, when we are living in the Lord, and we can say that this day will never come again. Let's enjoy it. Let's live in it to its fullest
We see our life and preparation as being one. Not filled with fear in Christ’s coming but with hope for the scriptures say perfect love casts out fear.
The Christian does not live in anxiety for he knows his redemption is assured through Christ's work. And he lives in hope.
And the hope he lives in is the confidence and certainty of life in the Lord. And with this certainty, the Christian has an attitude towards life-and-death.
Quite unlike others around him.
Knowing we are going to die. We can live with a certain zeal and zest. Because we shall not pass this way again and we can approach life's daily task with a fantastic kind of satisfaction.
We live as those who must die but who know Christ will take care of us?
That is his promise!
The word and the devil wants you to cling to this broken life of sin and forsake your true home, but God in Christ has called you to faith to believe the Good News that your eternal home has been prepared in Christ and that you have that hope and peace.
Are you ready? This Advent season and always in Christ Jesus the answer is, “Yes, and Amen!”
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Concordia pulpit 1978 Donald Deffner modified
