Title: STAY AT YOUR POST

Focus: Jesus’ final coming in glory calls for spiritual alertness in our daily journey of faith.

Function: To encourage the people to live as Christian pickets, keeping a watchful eye of faith on the final coming of Christ.

Text: Mark 13:23-37

 

INTRODUCTION

            Words intrigue me. Take, for example, the word “picket.” Recently, Northwest Airlines mechanics protested their company’s proposed pay cuts; they decided to become pickets or strikers. They left their post as mechanics, and they exercised their union rights to strike by forming a picket line, holding signs  and making known their views to the public. Thus a picket is someone who has left his post of duty.

 

            But here’s another meaning of the word “picket.” When our son Elliot joined the U.S. Marine Corps, they taught him the duties of a military picket. A picket is a guard on duty to protect the perimeter of a certain area or encampment. And one of the things he learned is that a military picket must stay alert and must stay at his post. So, go figure! In civilian life a picket is someone who has left her post of duty to strike, and in military life a picket is someone who stays at his post--watchful, alert, and on guard. How interesting!

           

            On this first Sunday in the season of Advent, the Scriptures remind us to live as Christian pickets, keeping a watchful eye of faith on the final coming of Christ. Listen to these words of Jesus (vs. 37) “What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch.’” In other words, “stay at your post; be alert, be a picket.”

THE ADVENT SEASON

            The season of Advent helps the Christian church to focus on her guard duties in a hustle-bustle, busy world. Using the scriptures, we focus on Jesus’ comings in this world--his first coming in humility as prophesied by Isaiah, for example, and his final coming as prophesied by, for example, Daniel.

 

Today we hear the Lord Jesus echoing the words of the prophets as Jesus himself speaks about his final coming in splendor. Listen to him: (vs. 26) “…men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” Here the Lord Jesus holds before us a vivid picture of the future, and he is telling us to keep his final coming on the radar screen of our daily living.

 

Let me help you to understand how the season of Advent calls us to be watchful. Forty days after his wondrous resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus left us and ascended into heaven, where he is now reigning as King and preparing things for him to come back and to live with us forever more.

 

Like the owner of a business having left on a business trip and leaving us in charge of the business, so the resurrected Son of God has left us to assume his duties as King. He told us to do his bidding, to live our lives in such a way that we promote his influence, work and fame in our world today. “Make disciples,” he said, “of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I’ve commanded you.” And while we do these things as Christians in the midst of daily life, we hear the Lord Jesus say: “I’m coming back.” Work and pray, saying “Maranatha”—Lord Jesus, come soon.”

You see? The season of Advent covers the time between Jesus’ first and final coming. And thus it includes our time. And Advent calls attention to our duty to be pickets, to keep a watchful eye of faith on the final coming of Jesus.

So let me ask you: Is Jesus’ final coming in glory on our radar screen of daily living?

 

SOME OBSERVATIONS

            As we let the Scriptures form our spirit today, we must make a number of observations. Consider, for example,

• The Thread Woven Through the Passage: Jesus is preparing his disciples for the far and near future. And as Jesus echoes the O.T. prophets in his teachings, he weaves a common thread which holds the entire passage together. Listen: (vs. 23) “So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.” (vs. 33) “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” (vs. 35) “Therefore keep watch….” (vs. 37) “What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” Surely, I can almost picture Jesus as a drill sergeant telling his recruits to stay at their post, fully alert, ready to act. “Be a picket” is the thread woven through this passage. The next thing we observe is

 

• Jesus’ Reference to the Near and Far Future: To be sure, Jesus is speaking about the end of the age. But with Jesus, the end of the age covers a lot of territory. It’s like he views all of history from his days to ours to the very last day when he comes again with a telescopic zoom lens. And as he tells us what he sees, he speaks about nearby and faraway events and signs all in one breath. He does not speak in chronological, time-ordered fashion, but in a mixed, and therefore hard-to-understand way.

 

For example, Jesus warns about the coming of false prophets, many of whom would come in the days of the disciples: (vs.21) “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible.” Now such things happened in the apostles’ time and they still happen today. So Jesus covers a lot of territory when he says, “at that time….”

 

            Listen to Jesus again: (vs.24) “But in those days, following that distress, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’” Again, some of these cosmic signs happened in Jesus’ own lifetime (at his crucifixion, for example), but the full extent of these catastrophic signs clearly have not happened yet. Thus it’s clear that Jesus’ references to the future are far and near, zoom-in, zoom-out references. And since they do not follow a sequence of time, they keep us alert and on our toes. And that’s the way Jesus wants it for us as pickets who do his bidding every day while keeping a watchful eye of faith on his final return at the end of time.

 

            Jesus sharpens the focus of our duty as pickets by stressing a posture of readiness. And thus we observe from the text

 

• A Need to View Daily Events in Light of Jesus’ Final Coming: Jesus says: (vs.28) “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.” Jesus is asking us to sensitize ourselves to the signs of his coming: cataclysmic events, wars and rumors of wars, persecution, famine, and all kinds of dramatic, life-changing and life-shaking events are reminders that Christ will come again to make all things new, to bring shalom and newness and order where there is chaos, misery and pain today.

 

By looking for these signs and by reading them in light of the Christian faith and final coming of Jesus, we sensitize ourselves as pickets, and we stay alert and strong, ready for his arrival in awesome splendor and power. But note:

 

• We Need to Observe Humility and Claim Ignorance as to the Time of Jesus’ Final Coming: Jesus is very clear on this matter: (vs.32) “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on Guard! Be alert.” Not even Jesus, viewed from his sinless human nature, knows the time of his final coming in splendor. Too many so-called Christian interpreters of Bible prophecies (in our life-time, for example) assume a shocking posture of pride and forecast precise dates or seasons for Jesus’ final return. The best we can do is claim ignorance as to the exact time, and to assume a posture of readiness every day. A Christian picket is always ready to welcome the King of Kings. The Advent season calls us to assume such posture, and thus we do well to ask ourselves: How then shall we keep Jesus’ final coming on the radar screen of our daily living? How shall we stay at our post, alert and watchful?

 

SOME SUGGESTIONS

·        We need to know the signs: The signs that accompany Jesus’ glorious coming at the end of time are mentioned in Scripture. Thus we need to nurture our spirit and sharpen the ax of our faith with the scriptures. By feeding our spirit with God’s Word on a regular basis, we stay in tune with God’s Word. And thus we stay alert as pickets waiting, serving, praying, longing for Christ’s final return. Scripture reading, memorization, and meditation or pondering are excellent disciplines to stay alert at our post. Know the signs— breathe in and exhale or live out the scriptures. And thus keep Jesus’ final coming on your radar screen of daily living.

 

·        We need to deepen our yearning for Christ’s glorious return: Why? Because when he comes in power and glory, he will make all things new. Then there shall be no more sickness, pain or death. Then there shall be no more mourning or sadness or empty loneliness. Then there shall be shalom—an eternal rest so beautiful that no one can put that beauty and splendor in human language.

 

            Here’s a way to deepen our yearning for Christ’s return: live deeply and engage with passion in the affairs of daily life. Read the newspapers, engage in political questions, feel deeply for those who suffer calamities; rejoice with those who howl and laugh in the midst of victories and great achievements; weep with those who moan and mourn in the midst of losses and great physical sufferings. Live deeply and engage in the daily affairs of the world. Why?

 

We’ll discover a growing discontent with the way things are. We’ll become sensitive to the shortness of life. We’ll become aware of a growing, holy restlessness within us that life is not fair, that something is radically wrong, that justice and peace are missing, that this world, this universe, this creation is in need of renewal—yes, that we all need restoration. Such awareness increases our yearning and sharpens our prayers, where we cry out: Maranatha!—Lord Jesus, come soon!” Here’s another suggestion to stay at our post--alert and watchful pickets:

 

·        Enjoy life but with a sense of spiritual detachment: I find that very difficult to do. There’s so much to enjoy—and hold on to: our children, family, friends, career, and things that give us pleasure ranging from a flower garden, toys and tools to stocks and bonds and bank accounts. Riches and simple things—they all lure us into possessing them, and holding on to them. Yet, the challenge is to enjoy them all with a sense of detachment, a willingness to let go of them. For it is not things that give us life and joy—it is God—in Christ—who is our source of life.

 

            I am learning to travel “lightly” through life from those who suffer. And I take my cues from others. For example, I think of Bill—a man who loved life but who in his late 80’s longed to be with the Lord as he was in such physical pain. I remember Andrew who learned at the age of 48 that he was terminally ill. I think of Sharla, who died at the age of 16 in a car accident. And then there was Alice—she was blind and her spirit was wounded early in life by loveless family members. There were moments she could be so cantankerous and bitter, and then there were moments of joy and delight. Alice lived deeply, but she longed for the renewal of all things. While battling her “demons” and coping with her hardships, Alice stayed at her post and died waiting for the Lord.

 

Friends, life has much to offer, including beauty and love. Enjoy it and live it with spiritual detachment. Yes, it’s true: Jesus has conquered death; he was raised from the dead; and he is now our ascended King of kings. But he has not yet made all things new. He must as yet return in splendor.  Therefore, watch for the signs of Jesus’ return on the radar screen of daily living. Keep your eyes of faith on his final coming in glory.

 

            In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.