Stay Awake

Text: “And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:37)

There are days when the meaning of the text has to be teased out through careful study; when Christ’s words seem vague; when the message seems unclear. And then there are days like today. “What I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” The message is pretty clear and direct. But are we listening?

Let’s put it in slightly different terms. It would be a very poor farmer who was oblivious to the signs that his crops were maturing, to the signs that summer had given way to fall, and did not have his equipment ready to get out into the fields when it was time to start harvesting. That would be a really bad farmer. Harvest time is crazy enough when you’re prepared for it. If you’re not ready, bad things are going to happen. You know better than I do what the consequences of not being ready would mean—crops rotting in the fields; dangerous rush to try to catch up (probably putting people at risk); not doing what you need to do to prepare the ground for next year…. It would not be good. A guy who is too busy playing softball, too busy camping, too busy drinking and carrying on with his buddies to have his equipment ready; to have everything working properly; to have the supplies he needs—he would be a really bad farmer.

That’s essentially Jesus’ message to you today. Don’t be a bad Christian. “I say to you…: Stay awake.” Christ is coming back. He is returning to judge the living and the dead. Are you ready for that day? Or are you a bad Christian?

The signs are clear. You know the signs of when it’s time to cultivate and when it’s time to plant and when it’s time to harvest. You know that, after the Thanksgiving leftovers are finished, it’s time to start thinking about the Christmas decorations. When “the branch [of the fig tree] becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place,” Jesus says, “you know that he is near, at the very gates” (Mark 13:28-29). The signs of our Lord’s return are clear. Are we not seeing wars and rumors of wars? Is there some question about whether or not the signs say that He’s returning soon? If anything, it’s just the opposite. There are days when you look at the world around you and wonder how much longer this can go on.

Are you ready or are you asleep? If only we looked forward to our Lord’s return with the same single-minded focus with which we look ahead to the start of deer season. If only we looked forward to it with the same excitement as Black Friday. If only we looked forward to it with the same intensity and fervor with which we eagerly anticipate the day when Ohio State is crushed and humiliated once and for all. Or perhaps it’s not deer season or college football season, perhaps it’s the latest smartphone. Or maybe it’s politics. There are countless things that absolutely possess our minds with an almost demonic strength. They consume our attention, our passion, our energy, even our money. And God help anyone who would try to get between us and them.

The amount of time, money, and attention you devote to them is staggering. And yet all of these things are passing away. The heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and they who dwell in it will die in like manner (Isaiah 51:4), yet we insist on handling these things as if they really mattered. I would venture to guess that the only thought you give to the stubble from the corn stalks that are left in the fields is the impact that they may or may not have on the next year’s crop. And, in the end, all of these things that claim so much of our time, energy, and attention are just as temporary as what’s left in the fields, soon to be plowed under so that new seed can be sown.

In fact, they’re worse than temporary. They’re distractions from the fact that our Lord is returning and nothing sinful will be able to stand on that day. Heed our Lord’s warning: Stay awake! Be ready for His return!

Do you really think that sin will never actually be called to account? “Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples. My righteousness draws near… and my arms will judge the peoples…” (Isaiah 51:4-5). His return is drawing closer day by day. And when He returns, He will, in fact, judge humanity. Yet you live like you’ll never have to account for the careless words, the callous disrespect, the lust, the coveting.

The really sad thing is that, even if it were never called to account, sin is not a matter of transgressing some set of abstract rules. We’ve all been there, I’m sure: dealing with a bureaucracy that absolutely insist on all sorts of stupid rules that seem completely arbitrary and pointless. God doesn’t operate that way. He’s given the commandments because, when we fail to keep them, people get hurt. It is your sin and mine that have made this world what it is. Our sin is the cause of everything in this life that needs to be set right by God when He returns. That alone should move us to strive to live holy lives. Instead, you and I invest our time, energy, and attention in distractions.

One of my favorite sayings from Pastor Bahr is an alternate set of words to one of the verses to “Onward Christian Soldiers.” The actual words say, “Like a mighty army moves the church of God. Brothers we are treading where the saints have trod.” Pastor Bahr likes to joke that it would be more accurate to sing, “Like a mighty turtle moves the church of God. Brothers we are treading where we’ve always trod.” Arguably, Christ’s church on earth is sleepwalking. It is consumed with things that will vanish one day like a dream and oblivious to the need to be ready for our Lord’s return. You’re living as if you were still dead in your trespasses and sins. You’re living as if you were still in and of this world. You’re living as if you had not been born again as a child of God. On top of that, there are people suffering all around us right now. There are people who are dying without hearing the gospel right now. God has called His Church to important work in this world. The master is coming back. No, you do not know the day or the hour. No one does. Not even the Son of God knows, only the Father. But Christ is coming back. And when He does, will He find any of His servants awake and watching for Him? You know as well as I do the consequences of not being ready on that day: hearing Christ say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Are you awake or asleep?

The Master is, in fact, returning. And, thankfully, there is one Servant who is ready. He was never caught sleeping. He has done His work, not just faithfully, but perfectly and completely. “3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows[— that was His assigned work—]yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” His companions could not stay awake. They couldn’t watch and pray with Him even for a single hour. 5But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

“10Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him.” That was the work that the Father had given Him to do. “[H]e has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:3-10). Even when His work took Him to the cross, even when His work caused the sins of all humanity to be placed upon Him, even when it required Him being forsaken by the Father, the Father’s Servant served faithfully. When He rested in the tomb on Holy Saturday, it was an echo of the 7th day of creation when He rested from the work that He had done. And because He did, the Father raised Him on the third day.

I can’t tell you when Ohio State will finally be defeated. But I can tell you that the devil, the world, and your sinful flesh have been crushed. Heaven and earth— including all the things that we love so dearly— are passing away, but His words endure forever. On the Last Day, the earth will give way beneath our feet even as He comes riding on a cloud— perhaps the least substantial thing that we could picture!—and He will establish His everlasting kingdom. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end (Isaiah 9:7).

He will soon return to judge the nations. “My righteousness draws near… and my arms will judge the peoples,” He assures us (Isaiah 51:4-5). But God’s Faithful Servant has established the throne of His father David and upholds it “with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore” (Is. 9:7b). “11 [B]y his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous…” (Is. 53:11).

You are, literally, waiting for the coming of God’s righteousness. He is your righteousness. “For our sakes God made Him to be sin who knew no sin so that, in Him, we might become the righteousness of God.” Yes, His righteousness is coming. He is coming to judge the nations. And first, He is the Lord your righteousness.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will not pass away. And what word has He spoken to you? “I forgive you all your sins.” “This world is not your home. He has prepared a place for you in His Kingdom.” “You are new creatures, new creations in Jesus Christ.” Those words are spoken to you; they will never pass away.

On that Day, all that is wrong will be made right. You will see a new heaven and a new earth that will not pass away. You will receive the final redemption of your body and soul. In that confidence, “21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”

Because you’re also given the privilege of speaking Christ’s words to those around you who may very well see the signs, too: those who realize that this world can not endure forever; those who know the measure of their days; those who realize how empty the things of this earth can be; those who may very well realize that the day when they will have to account for their sins is drawing closer and closer. You have the privilege of declaring them innocent, of proclaiming that their sins have been paid for and they have eternal life.

You know what it means to be good farmers. Today you’re reminded what it means to be good Christians. “What I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:37)