The Master Will Return

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Well, we made it to the end of another year. Although for this celebration, we won’t be going to New York in Times square to gather with all the different people. We won’t be staying up til midnight to ring in the New Year. But today marks the end of the church year as next week we will begin the season of Advent which will lead us into the Christmas Season. And today is a tough text to hear; it can be text that leaves some fearful, some uncertain, some filled with questions. In our passage today, Jesus is addressing the End Times, what they will be like, what the experiences will be like for some. And this brings us to our text.

Jesus starts out our text talking about the Cosmic end of the world - even using imagery found in the Old Testament. He says, that the days will be darkened, the moon will not give light, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. And people will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory! And Jesus says, He will gather His people from all corners of the earth - from all the ends of the earth! But Jesus as He talking about this cosmic end of the world - He breaks into a parable or story to go into more detail about what the day will be like! He says that no one will know the day or hour when He will come in glory - not the angels, not the Son, but only the Father. And Jesus says it is like a man going on a journey, when He leaves He puts His servants in charge, and instructs the doorkeeper to stay awake to let Him back in. No one knows when the Master will return in the parable, but Jesus uses this parable to encourage us, to remind us, to instruct us, to stay awake until His coming.

The way Jesus describes His coming is One filled with awe, one filled with glory, and one filled with power. But coming to the end of the World can be a scary thought for some. What is that exactly going to look like? Will I be ready for that day when He comes back? Or seeing the Moon or sky darkened and powers of heaven shaking, that can be hard to imagine. And the transition from one way of how we know the world to the new way of what will happen after Jesus comes back, change can be hard. But as Jesus comes back, no matter what it looks like, no matter how scary or terrifying the thought of that is, for us people of God we can have comfort and peace, we can have certainty, that He is coming back to gather us! He is coming back to invite us close to Him forever. He is coming back to set the world right, to usher in the new heavens and the new earth where we will dwell with Him forever and forever! As we gather around the throne of the Lamb of God to praise His name on high!

As people of faith, we are waiting for that day - when He will return to draw us close to Him forever. Jesus says stay awake, be ready until that day. What does staying awake look like as we wait for Him to return?

Some people hear the words stay awake from Jesus - and think I have to do all these things to keep me busy to stay awake. It’s like that one person hosting Thanksgiving dinner for the whole family. The family is arriving in town in just a few days - and this person creates a checklist of all the different things that have to get accomplished before their family arrives for the Thanksgiving dinner. They have to clean the house, because they want their family to appreciate their cleanliness. They have to go to the store buy all the ingredients for the precious Thanksgiving meal, and they have to make sure that every family member has their favorite dish there. And after all that shopping - they have to wake up so early to make sure the turkey is cooked all the way through for everyone to enjoy - so that they have the best Thanksgiving ever. And after all that effort, after all the checklist items are completed, after everything is done - this host is completely exhausted. The host spent and focused so much time and getting all the things done - completing all the things on the checklist, that by the time the guests all arrive they have no energy, they have no drive, they have no desire to be around others because they just want to rest. Perhaps, there are some people who have similar thoughts in their relationship with Jesus and the End Times. They think I have to do this for Him, I have do to that for Him, I have to complete all these things for Jesus. But similar to a Thanksgiving gathering with family, Jesus isn’t looking for a completed checklist, He isn’t looking to see all the checklist items you have done, He isn’t looking for perfect people, He isn’t looking for a perfect world, He is looking for faithful people, He is looking faith-filled people. And it’s because of that faith in Jesus that you are called near to Him! He calls faith-filled people to be with Him - to drop everything, to drop the focus on everything to see Him!

When we think of the End Times, our modern world has taken some twists on this in our culture. TV shows and movies have been made about the Apocalypse, they have made the world anarchy at the end of the world. But even throughout Scripture the End times is not described as pleasant time. It is said to have rumor of wars, earthquakes, destruction, again not fun, peace-filled things. And there are some people, even some Christians who struggle as we wait for the Master to return, And they can’t help but look out at the signs in our world, and say - God, where are you now? God, why are you allowing this to happen? God, how come you are so far from us right now and why don’t you do something? In the midst of our broken world, people today see the power of sin, the power of death, the power of Satan - and perhaps they begin to doubt - God are you still coming? With Jesus our physical site doesn’t always tell the final story. As Jesus was hanging there on the cross for you and me - His disciples I’m sure were wondering what is happening, Jesus? As the tomb was slammed shut - I’m sure they asked Jesus are you going to save us? But Jesus didn’t stay dead. He defeated the cross, He defeated death as He rose from the grave. And He did it for you! The signs that we see out the world - while they may be scary or cause doubt - they don’t tell the end of the story - Jesus said He was coming back. And the same God who rose from grave - is coming back for you! He is faithful to His Word!

In our world and in our lives, no one like an unsolved story. No one likes a mystery. It’s amazing the amount of TV shows or movies that focus on explanations for the “unexplained” - to try and make sense of something. In efforts for all these different theories to make sense of something - they read into all these different clues - that lead them down unintended paths. Or has anyone ever done an escape room? I’m amazed every time I’ve done one I find myself staring at something that has nothing to do with the puzzle, that has nothing to do with the solution, it actually becomes a distraction and hurts my team rather than helps. In the same way, when it comes to the End Times, people try to spend time predicting when Jesus is coming back, rather than simply being prepared. There is all these different theories out there - to try and decipher numbers, to try and figure out so called clues that Jesus leaves. But Jesus says no one knows the day or hour - and today He invites you to stay awake by hearing and believing in His Word rather than theories. He has given you His Word to hear, and He calls you to believe, not fully understand, not fully know, not be able to explain every unexplainable thing. He calls you to draw near to Him - knowing that He gives you the victory, He gives you new life - that has no end, He invites you to hear His Words of comfort even in uncertain times - such as the End Times. Jesus has given you everything you need to know - He has come to be the way to God for you!

As we continue to wait for that day- let us fix our eyes to Jesus the One who is Coming back One Day. The One on that Day will gather us to be with Him forever. It’s in Him you have new beginning and your life with never end!

Now may the grace of God the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, may it guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.