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It Was All So Sudden
Luke 12:35-40
A Rosh HaShanah Message for 5776
A few weeks ago Ari and I had the chance to go out to Willow Run for this year’s air show featuring the United States Navy Blue Angels. Their precision flying is a beautiful thing to behold! At one point, while four out of the six planes flew in a perfect diamond formation, their wing tips just 18 inches apart, the other two did flybys, approaching from opposite directions and passing within just a few feet of each other at 450 mph. It was stunning and a bit frightening. Even though I know they do this all the time and are extraordinarily skilled, still I found myself praying and asking God to keep the pilots safe.
But what really took my breath away was to discover that when a jet aircraft approaches, even at high speed, it is almost silent… until it goes by, and you hear (and feel!) the power of – in this case the twin General Electric engines of an F-18 Super Hornet, each capable of 22,000 lbs. of thrust. A high-speed fly-by like that, if you weren’t looking for it, will make your heart skip a beat and maybe cause your knees to buckle.
Now just imagine you’re facing the other direction and are unaware of that approaching thunder. Or even imagine having been asleep at that moment! Yeshua taught that His Second Coming would be very sudden, and it’s appropriate for us to give thought to that on Yom T’ruah – the Holiday of Trumpets, since Scripture tells us that the Day of the Lord will be accompanied by a great shofar blast from Heaven.
There are three things we can state confidently about Yeshua the Messiah’s return to planet earth. First, it is a certainty; on several occasions He said He would return, and He has never failed to make good His word. Second, in contrast to the quiet, humble and unassuming way in which He came the first time, Yeshua’s Second Coming will be thunderous, glorious and terrifying. The third thing we can say with confidence is that most human beings are woefully unprepared for that moment and will be taken quite by surprise.
But what of His servants – what about those who identify as Jesus’ followers? Will they also be caught off guard? The answer to that seems a little less certain. Are we ready for that Day? Let’s spend a few minutes this morning considering one of the many analogies Yeshua gave, and see what God would have us learn from it. It’s found in Luke 12:35-40.
Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit…
Permit me to state the obvious: You choose your own wardrobe. Each day you decide what you’re going to wear. Unless you’re a toddler, nobody’s choosing your clothes for you. When Messiah says “Be dressed in readiness…, it doesn’t leave you the option of being passive. If you’re thinking that God has to do something to you so that you’ll stay focused, you’re on a trajectory for failure. Just as your daily wardrobe is up to you, so is your daily walk with Him. And there is just no substitute for time spent in prayer and in the Scriptures. We are expected to train our own thought processes; to direct them vertically.
“Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit.” We also need regular doses of the Holy Spirit’s refreshing. We are in danger of becoming spiritually stale; of having our light grow dim, of losing our first love and growing complacent. It takes oil to keep a lamp lit. It requires the Spirit of God to keep our love for Him and for one another fervent. And it doesn’t just “happen”. Our spiritual disciplines, or the lack of them, will be the determining factor in whether or not we are ready for His appearing.
Speaking of lamps, in one of His other teachings about the suddenness of His return, Yeshua likened the Kingdom of Heaven to wise and foolish virgins (the friends of the bride) awaiting the call of the Bridegroom to come with the bride to the wedding party. All of them fell asleep and were suddenly awakened at that call. In that sense, we’re not expected to “pull an all-nighter” and suffer sleep deprivation, but we are to be prepared. The five wise ones were those who had a supply of oil with them.
There’s something else to bear in mind: lamps are lit at night. This is a hint, not necessarily that He’s planning to return in the wee hours, but rather it is perhaps meant to be descriptive of the deep spiritual darkness which will have enveloped the world at the time of Messiah’s return.
He continues…
Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
What a drag it is when you come home and it’s late, and you have to fumble for your keys while the mosquitoes take full advantage of your predicament, or while you get rain-soaked because you didn’t take a jacket or umbrella. On the contrary, what a joy it is when someone in the family has been keeping an eye out for your arrival, or listening for the sound of your car, and is already at the door, and opens it for you! Sometimes Alexandra or one of the kids will do that for me.
We should be like that servant who is doing his work with one eye on the sky, as it were, eagerly looking for Messiah’s return. Yeshua isn’t going to call you from His cell phone and let you know He’ll be there in ten minutes, so you need to put the proverbial porch light on and be by the door.
The second watch, in this context, is between 9 pm and midnight; the third watch between midnight and 3 am. That’s late! But after all, weddings are joyous celebrations, and in the joy of a wedding reception one can easily lose track of time. The master might be coming in late, but imagine how pleased he will be with the servants who are alert and listening and watching for his return even at a very late hour!
Yeshua says the master would respond to the faithfulness of his servants by having them recline and then serving them. This is where the analogy ends, and the World-To-Come is contrasted with the world-as-it-is. Can you even imagine ancient lords returning to their estates, putting on waiter’s garb and serving their servants? I doubt such a thing ever took place. But in Yeshua we have the supreme quality of servanthood. How remarkable that He, the King of kings, at His last Passover, took off His robe, put a towel around Himself like a servant, and washed His disciples’ feet! What kind of a master is willing to serve his servants? One who is confident – secure in the knowledge of his authority. It is those who are insecure that “lord it over other people” by being harsh and domineering. The one who knows they are strong can afford to be gentle and humble.
But the point of this parable is to urge us to be alert; to watch expectantly for Yeshua’s return. If we will do so, we will be blessed for it. That is the word He used: makarios. Like the Hebrew word ashrei in Proverbs 1:1, makarios conveys the idea of happiness – a truly enviable state of affairs; not in the shallow, worldly sense of being comfortable and entertained, but knowing that you are favorably situated; that you’re in good standing with Adonai.
While verses 35-38 paint positive scenarios, Yeshua followed up with a negative analogy – a warning.
But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”
The element that ties these analogies together is surprise. Thieves usually work under cover of night. In ancient Israel houses were comprised mostly of mud brick, and a thief might dig his way in through a wall while the family slept. If you knew that someone was going to break into your home at a certain time you’d prepare for it wouldn’t you? If I knew my house was going to be vandalized, I would arrange a “welcoming committee” for the thief, which would include a large contingent of law enforcement officers, Ari, and my dogs.
But thieves don’t send text messages to their intended targets ahead of time. I remember being uncomfortable at first that Yeshua compared His return to a thief. But this is simply addressing the suddenness and unexpectedness of His coming. So here’s the tension, and let me present it as a formula:
The Scriptures say we must be ready for Yeshua’s coming
The Scriptures say we cannot know when Yeshua is coming.
Therefore…
We must be ready at all times for Yeshua’s coming!
Not as a matter of fear of punishment, but because we love Him and want to please Him. Don’t you long for those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? So this Rosh HaShanah, let’s resolve to set our minds to readiness, and our hands to the work – not merely for a season, but as a way of life.