What to expect when you’re expecting (the end of the world)
Readings: Matthew 24. 36-44, Romans 13. 11-14
The end is nigh, or is it? Jesus could come back tomorrow, or in another 2000 years. Jesus and Paul in our readings today remind us of the importance of readiness. And they also tell us what to expect, what to expect when we’re expecting, the end of the world.
Back at the start of Matthew 24 Jesus draws attention to the Temple buildings, pointing out that a day will come when it will be destroyed. And as they sit down on the Mount of Olives, sat across from the Temple, the disciples ask the obvious question; ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ As we join them in verse 36 Jesus is addressing the second question. And as we join him he’s giving us the first thing to expect; it will be unexpected. No-one knows when he will be returning. We thought a little bit about the end of the world a few weeks ago when we were looking at 2 Thessalonians, and we thought a little then about the many people who try to predict the end of the world. But Jesus shuts down all speculation here. No-one knows. It is not information available to us. And actually it’s even a secret in heaven, the angels do not know. And Jesus even says that he does not know, only the Father, so even trying to pick through his words to look for clues would be hopeless. No-one knows.
And Jesus sort of tells us why with his illustration at the end of our passage today, the thief in the night. If you had a phonecall to let you know someone was going to rob your house at 3am tonight what would you do? You wouldn’t go about your normal routines would you. You wouldn’t have dinner as normal, go to bed, set the alarm for the morning and go to sleep. No. Depending on your disposition you’d ring the police, or sit by the door with a bat, or set up a series of elaborate traps like Kevin in Home Alone. You’d be ready. And that’s why the day and hour remains a mystery, and the second thing to expect when we’re expecting the end of the world; we are always meant to be ready.
I don’t know about you but I’m not good with deadlines. It’s not so much that I miss them, but rather that if I know I’ve got a deadline in a few months, there’s no point doing it now, there’s plenty of time. A fortnight, ages to go. A week, plenty of time. Tomorrow, then my brain kicks into gear ready to do the work. The amount of essays I’ve written the night before the deadline, well, it’s a lot. And I tended to get pretty good marks for them which didn’t really encourage me to change that tactic. For whatever reason I struggled to get myself motivated to do them earlier in the timeframe. It’s something I’ve been working on.
But by not giving us a deadline we can’t do that with our lives. Jesus uses the story of Noah to illustrate this. In the days of Noah there were no signs. Life carried on as it always had, as it does to this day. No-one knew anything was wrong. The only sign that something was amiss was Noah building his Ark, preparing for the flood. But it’s easy to laugh off people doing crazy things with their lives when you know nothing is ever going to happen. But then the door of the Ark shut, and everything and everyone else was swept away. No warning. The Gospel is urgent, will we trust in Jesus or will we not? Will we trust in him for the forgiveness of our sins and know his new life and healing love? You might not get a tomorrow to decide.
But also for us who are following Jesus, are we living the way he calls? Are our lives being lived according to his commands, or are we leaving that for later, closer to an imagined deadline? Jesus tells us to keep awake. And by that he doesn’t mean to lie awake in bed every night fretting that he might come back any minute. Rather he means be ready, spiritually alert, not drowsy and sluggish in our faith.
Paul uses the same language in that passage from Romans. ‘The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here’. We’re to be alert, active in our faith, ready and expectant. And how do we do that? By living the lives Jesus calls us to. Paul gives us some things to avoid, it’s not an exhaustive list but it’s a solid start; indulging our appetites whatever they may be, feeding every pleasure; sex, wild parties, drunkenness. Feeding our every appetite, our every impulse. Caught up in endless quarrels and arguments with others, whatever they might be about. Jealous of others and what they have, wishing we were them or someone else. We’re not to do any of those things Paul tells us, the night is nearly over, it’s easy to hide those things in the dark, but the darkness is fleeing away. So what are we to do?
Put on Jesus he says. Clothe yourself with him. It’s an odd expression, but it points us to the reality of what has happened when we put our faith in Jesus. He took our sin, all that makes us ashamed, all we’d rather not others know about, he took it all and dealt with it on the cross, and in exchange he gave us his perfect record and his life. We are clothed with his goodness, wrapped up in it like a cloak. And so in this new life we have in Jesus we’re to live into it, lean in. Having put him on we’re to live as he did, lives marked by restraint, compassion, love and care. Not thinking of ourselves and how we can feed our appetites, but living for others, seeking their good before our own. That’s how we’re to live as we await his return.
Back to Matthew as there’s one other thing to expect as we await Jesus’ return, we’re to keep living. Whilst we’re to live expectantly for his return, living in his light, we’re not meant to hole up in a bunker and wait. We’re meant to carry on with our lives. As Jesus speaks of those who are swept away and those who are left, that picture of division between the faithful and those who refuse Jesus, they’re all engaged in the ordinary work of life. Two men working in a field, two women grinding with a handmill. These were everyday realities, jobs that needed doing, and both in each pair is doing them.
When God’s people were in Exile in the Old Testament, far from their home, God spoke to them through the prophet Jeremiah, and in chapter 29 he’s basically explaining that they’re to settle down, bed in, get on with life, as it’s going to be some time before they return home. And in verse 7 he writes ‘Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.’ As we await Jesus’ return, that end of exile as it were, we’re to live our lives; build houses, get married, have children, get jobs, do the ordinary things of life.
And we’re to work for the good of this world, of this community. In living lives that reflect Jesus we’re to be a blessing to Hubberston and Hakin and Milford Haven and beyond. We’re to seek the good of these places, for as these places prosper so shall we. We’re not meant to be idly dreaming of escape, rather in the everyday stuff of life, we’re to live with eternity in our minds, but the now before our eyes, ever mindful of Jesus’ return and his promise to make all things new, but also working for the renewal of things in the here and now.
And here’s why. What we are looking ahead to when Jesus returns isn’t an escape from this world, but the renewal of this world. Not the end of the world but the beginning of the new. At the end of all things, when Jesus returns and gives us what we want, whether that’s life with him or without him, it is those who are trusting in him who are left behind. As all pain and suffering and sorrow and sighing is swept away, everything is made perfect at last, the universe is made as it should be at last, and it’s promised to us in Jesus.
The story goes that the reformer Martin Luther was once asked what he would do if he knew for certain that the world was ending tomorrow. His response? I would plant an apple tree today. As we look to Jesus’ return we look not for the end of the world, but for it’s renewal and restoration. And so all that we do for good, for life and freedom and joy and peace in the here and now, that is not swept away, rather it is an investment in that future. What a hope that is. What a joyful thought. When we look to the end, we look not to doom and destruction, but life and hope. An end only to all that is wrong in us and in our world, and the beginning of perfect life, life in all its fulness, life without end.
So what are we to expect when we’re expecting the end of the world? Three things. It will come suddenly, and so as we wait we’re to live lives that are ever ready for Jesus, living as he calls, and finally we’re to live lives in the hope of renewal, working for good in the here and now. And what is more hopeful still is Paul’s reminder to us in Romans, that as we live our lives in this way, in expectant, active hope, our salvation is nearer now that when we first believed.
Amen.