Good evening.
Let's pray together.
Lord, we do pray that you would be glorified through us,
and I pray that you'd be glorified through me and these words that I speak.
I pray that your word would speak to us,
and I would love you more for having heard from you.
In the name of Jesus, I pray these things.
Amen.
I want you to imagine with me, or better, remember with me,
if you've had an experience like this,
a situation you may have experienced while taking a road trip.
You're on the highway, driving along at your usual seven miles an hour above the speed limit.
You know already that you're not going to arrive at your destination on time.
And suddenly it becomes clear to you that in a quarter mile,
the highway is going to fork.
And that one of the options holds the promise of getting you to your destination not so very late.
And the other one will mean a 20-minute detour out of your way,
and you're not sure which one to take.
So you inquire.
Which way do I go?
You ask your navigator, who took his eyes off the road and onto Facebook for a bit too long.
Let me check, he says.
And you speed toward the decisive point.
Which way do I go?
You ask again.
Just a second, your navigator says.
Your stress levels spike through the roof.
Your mind is filled with unholy rage at the fact that you ever let this navigator be your friend,
which is a problem you will soon remedy.
Left.
No, right.
No, left, he says.
And as you follow his direction and take the left exit,
you are distraught to hear those two words coming from your GPS
that signal you took the wrong turn recalculating route.
In our passage for tonight,
Jesus speaks of precisely this sort of decisive, dividing choice.
But the stakes are infinitely higher here than they are in following road directions.
Our passage for tonight is Luke 12, verse 35 to 59.
I'm going to read the whole passage together.
And as we read this passage and meditate on it tonight,
I want us to see one thing.
Christ divides.
So let's read that passage together.
Luke 12, 35 to 59.
Jesus said,
Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning
and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast
so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.
Truly I say to you,
he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table
and he will come and serve them.
If he comes in the second watch or in the third and finds them awake,
blessed are those servants.
But know this,
that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming,
he would not have left his house to be broken into.
And you also must be ready
for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Peter said,
Lord, are you telling us this parable for us or for all?
And the Lord said,
Who then is the faithful and wise manager
whom his master will set over his household
to give them their portion of food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
Truly I say to you,
he will set him over all his possessions.
But if that servant says to himself,
my master is delayed in coming
and begins to beat the male and female servants
and then to eat and get drunk
and drink and get drunk,
the master of that servant will come on a day
when he does not expect him
and at an hour he does not know
and will cut him in pieces
and put him with the unfaithful.
And that servant who knew his master's will
but did not get ready or act according to his will
will receive a severe beating.
But the one who did not know
and did what deserved a beating
will receive a light beating.
Everyone to whom much was given,
of him much will be required.
And from him to whom they entrusted more,
much they will demand the more.
I came to cast fire on the earth
and would that it were already kindled.
I have a baptism to be baptized with
and how great is my distress
until it is accomplished.
Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?
No, I tell you,
but rather division.
For from now on in one house,
there will be five divided,
three against two and two against three.
They will be divided.
Father against son and son against father.
Mother against daughter and daughter against mother.
Mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
He said also to the crowds,
when you see a cloud rising in the west,
you say at once,
a shower is coming.
And so it happens.
And when you see the south wind blowing,
you say,
there will be scorching heat.
And it happens.
You hypocrites.
You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky,
but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
And why do you not judge for yourself what is right?
As you go with your accuser before the magistrate,
make an effort to settle with him on the way,
lest he drag you to the judge
and the judge hands you over to the officer
and the officer puts you in prison.
I tell you,
you will never get out of there
until you've paid the very last penny.
So, this passage has plenty of confusing material in it.
And so I want to walk through it bit by bit
and then come back and meditate
on what this passage means for us here today.
We just read it in the order that it was written in,
but I think that we can get a better sense of what's going on
if we read it a bit out of order.
I think the main idea of the entire passage
is this startling claim that Jesus makes in verse 51.
Do you think that I've come to give peace on earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
I think that's the heart of the whole idea.
I say this is startling
because we have a temptation to emphasize
that Jesus is a minister of peace.
He's a bringer of peace.
And indeed, the prophecies that tell of his coming
give us good reason to think that he does bring peace.
Isaiah 9 calls him a prince of peace.
So, I don't want us to misunderstand Jesus here
by saying that he comes to bring division instead of peace.
Rather, I think he's saying that he comes to bring division
so that we might finally have peace.
That is, a true peace, not a false peace.
Jesus is the one who brings true peace by dividing.
I'll return to that idea in a little bit.
So, I think that's the central idea.
He has inaugurated this division by his first coming
and he is going to complete it at his second coming.
So, he warns him in verse 40,
you must be ready for the son of man is coming
at an hour you do not expect.
What's he going to do?
He's going to judge his servants,
those who have been found faithful
and those who have not been found faithful.
He's going to divide them at his coming.
This is the big idea.
He does this work of dividing
through kindling the world with fire.
Verse 49,
I came to cast fire on the earth
and would that it were already kindled.
A strange idea.
But throughout the New Testament,
this metaphor of fire is used frequently
as a cleansing, purging force.
Not a destroying fire,
except against evil.
Our God is a consuming fire
for all things that are evil.
He comes to cleanse the world with fire.
The function of Jesus
purifying the world by fire
is in fact a purification,
not a destruction.
Our God is a consuming fire,
Hebrews tells us.
Everyone's work one day will be manifest
for the day of judgment will disclose it
because it will be revealed by fire.
And the fire will test
what sort of work each one has done,
1 Corinthians 3 tells us.
It's been predicted by the prophets
over and over
that Jesus will do this sort of thing
with fire.
Most closely,
John the Baptist says this,
I baptize you with water for repentance,
but he who is coming after me
is mightier than I,
whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and with fire.
His winnowing fork is in his hand
and he will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into the barn.
With the chaff,
he will burn with unquenchable fire.
That's Matthew 3.
So you see the same dynamic
that John the Baptist is predicting there.
He's going to purge the world with fire.
He's got a winnowing fork in his hand.
A winnowing fork separates out
the wheat from the chaff,
the good usable produce of the earth
from the unusable husks.
So he's coming with fire to divide.
Same idea that Jesus is speaking of here.
Hundreds of years before John the Baptist prophecy,
Malachi prophesies a very similar thing.
He says,
behold, I send my messenger.
Jesus,
the Lord speaking through Malachi says,
behold, I send my messenger
and he will prepare the way before me.
And the Lord whom you seek
will suddenly come to his temple.
And the messenger of the covenant
in whom you delight,
behold, he is coming,
says the Lord of hosts.
So predicting the coming of the anointed one,
the Messiah,
this is a great day of great rejoicing for sure.
But then the verse immediately following is,
but who can endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
He's like a refiner's fire.
He's like a fuller's soap.
So do you see again?
He's coming,
but who can stand in his day?
Why?
Why is it a question?
Who will stand in this day?
Because he's like a refiner's fire.
He's like a fuller's soap.
He's coming to wash,
clean the world
and purge it by fire.
So Jesus comes to divide.
He brings division on the earth
through his coming.
He does this through a cleansing fire.
That's the heart of this text
and the rest of it flows out of that claim.
There are two stories that bracket this idea
and they illustrate what we ought to do
given that there is a decisive moment
of division and judgment that's coming.
These two stories,
they bracket the central idea.
They frame it like a picture frame.
The first story is the parable
of the servants of a house
whose master is away at a wedding feast.
They know that their master is returning,
but they don't know when.
Therefore, Jesus says,
they ought to be constantly ready
so that they can be prepared for him
when he returns.
For at his return,
he will make sure his house is set in order.
And if it is,
he will reward his servants.
And if it's not,
he says they will cut those servants in pieces.
Make them go with the unfaithful.
This is no playful master who's coming back.
This is a master who has a concern
for the way his house is organized.
He will not let his house languish in disorder,
but he will come and clean it.
And similarly,
the parable at the end of this passage
is about going with your accuser to court.
The man is walking with his accuser to court.
He knows he's guilty.
He knows the judge is going to find out he's guilty.
And what is he encouraged then to do?
To make amends,
to settle with his accuser
before he gets to court.
So both of these parables
are preparation parables.
Something is coming
for which you ought to prepare.
And guess what?
You're probably not prepared for it.
That's the central idea.
Those are the picture frames
that bracket the central idea.
What's the thing that's coming?
Christ is coming
to divide,
to purge by fire.
So this passage then
is about the warning
of the second coming of Christ
to cleanse the world.
And now that we have
a general sense of what's going on,
the main moves of the passage,
I want to spend the rest of our time tonight
thinking about
what this might possibly mean
for us today.
I have four things
this might mean for us.
First,
this passage
is an encouragement
to God's people
because it tells us
what he's doing
in the world.
I was
with some Jewish friends
in Israel
a couple summers ago
and we got,
as we always do,
got talking about
why they don't believe
Jesus is the Messiah.
And they say to me,
look,
the text says
that he will be
a prince of peace.
Does this world
look like it's governed
by a prince of peace?
Therefore,
he must not have come yet.
Plausible argument,
it seems to me.
If he comes to bring
good news to people,
if he comes to make
his people rejoice again
and we look
and we read the newspaper
and that's not what we see,
we might think
that he's not
the Messiah.
But this passage
is comforting
to God's people
because it tells us
why we do not yet
see the peace
overcoming
the entire world.
Why?
Because he has come
to divide.
Who among us
has not felt
at some time
like his own life
is out of control?
That it's directionless?
Perhaps even meaningless?
And history itself
equally meaningless?
What are we to do
when we hear
of famine in Africa
or ISIS
in the Middle East
or Zika
in South America
or racism
in New Haven?
What are we to do
with these things?
What are we to do
when the Bible
makes the claim
that Christ
is a prince of peace
and we do not
see that peace?
I think we ought
to understand
that God
has introduced
a sword
into the world
not because
he is a God
who loves violence
but because
this world
is held
by a usurper.
There is a kind
of peace
that comes
with tyranny.
It's the peace
that allows
no kinds
of quarreling
at all
because it's
enforced by a sword.
It's a false
sort of peace.
Tyrants
pride themselves
on this sort
of peace
but the people
are not free
and the peace
in that regime
is not a true peace.
And Christianity
says that this
is the world
that we live in
that has been
taken over
by a usurper
an evil one
and that God
has launched
an invasion
into this world.
He's launched
an invasion
into this world
to purify
for himself
a people
to reclaim
those people
for himself
and to bring
them home
with him.
That's what he's
doing
in this world.
So this world
is redemptive
in the midst
of all of its
pain.
The peace
the prince
of peace
brings
we do not
yet see.
In this
astounding passage
Hebrews says
that the Lord
God
has put
all things
into subjection
to Jesus.
But
and then
in the most
astounding
parenthetical
we do not
yet see
all things
put in
subjection
to him.
That could be
the headline
for the New York
Times tomorrow.
Headline
things still
not in
subjection
to him.
Today
the world
not in
subjection
to him.
But this
passage
tells us
what God
is doing.
It allows
us to read
the signs
of the times.
Do you see
that bit
there from
54 to
56?
We know
how to
interpret
the weather
but we
don't know
how to
interpret
the times.
This
interpreting
the times
knowing
what God
is doing
in the
world
this is
what Jesus
would have
us do.
So the
first
function
this
passage
plays
for us
is to
encourage
God's
people
about
what he's
doing
in the
world.
He's
come
to
refine
the
world
with
fire.
Paul
in
Romans
speaks
about
these
refining
sufferings
of the
world
like this
in Romans
8.
He says
I consider
that the
sufferings
at this
present
time
are not
worthy
to be
compared
to the
glory
that
shall
be
revealed
in
us.
For
the
creation
waits
with
eager
longing
for the
revealing
of the
sons
of
God.
For
we
know
the
whole
creation
has
been
groaning
together
in the
pains
of
childbirth
until
now.
The
pains
of the
world
are not
the
pains
of
a
sickness
leading
to
death.
They
are
the
pangs
of
a
pain
leading
to
birth.
New
life.
That's
what God
is doing
in the
world.
And
again,
Paul
applies
this not
only to
the
world
but
also
to
himself
individually.
In
2nd
Corinthians
he
says
after
confessing
a few
things
he
says
that
he
has
this
terrible
sentence
of
death
in
himself.
He's
under
so much
persecution
and
suffering
that
he
counts
himself
as
good
as
dead.
He
says
this
light
momentary
affliction
is
preparing
for
us
an
eternal
weight
of
glory
beyond
all
comparison.
This
is what's
happening
in the
history
around
us.
It
is
not
meaningless.
The
world
is
convulsing
in the
pains
and the
pangs
of new
life.
And we
individually
are
through our
sufferings
being
transformed
into an
image of
glory.
This
is happening
day
by day.
That's the
first in
this passage
does.
The
second
thing
I
think
is
that it
warns
us
of the
coming
division
that
Christ
will
bring.
It
warns
us.
In the
example I
used at
the beginning
of this
sermon,
the problem
with that
fork in
the road
is that
your
navigator
didn't
see it
coming.
It
snuck up
on you.
You're
caught off
guard.
But here
Christ is
warning
all of
us,
be on
your
guard.
God
said
if you're
here
tonight,
you no
longer
can
ever
say
that
you
did
not
know
that
Christ's
return
was at
any
minute.
You
are
now
without
an
excuse.
Christ
has
told
us
that
he's
coming.
He's
advertising
it to
us.
And so
what are we
supposed to
do?
What are
supposed to
do in
the face
of this
warning?
Well,
if you're
here tonight
and you've
not yet
made your
decision to
be with
Christ,
to claim
him as
master and
be his
servant and
work in
his vineyard,
if you're
not yet
allied with
Christ through
faith,
flee to
him.
That is
the main
message of
this text.
he is
coming,
he is
like a
refiner's
fire,
he will
purge the
world of
evil.
And if we
put on the
jersey of
evil rather
than the
jersey of
Jesus,
you will
be purged.
This is a
promise.
Jesus
comes and
says this.
Jesus
himself,
the docile
one that the
children play
with,
he talks about
coming and
purging the
world in
fire.
God
the way we
avoid this,
Christianity
teaches,
is that we,
as these
songs sung,
we claim
Jesus' blood
for ourself.
We plead
guilty.
At the end
of this
passage,
when we're
going to
the court
with our
accuser,
we plead
guilty.
We make a
plea bargain.
And Jesus
has come and
said that he
will take
the penalty.
if only we
trust in
him,
if only we
have faith
and believe
in him.
If you're
not a
Christian and
you want to
talk more
about that,
at some
time,
I'd love to
talk to
you after
the service
or the
pastors would
love to
talk to
you as
well.
That's
what you
do in
response to
Jesus'
warning if
you are
not yet
a Christian.
If you
are a
Christian,
I think
this passage
is comforting
to us
because it
gives us
final hope
that the
sin that
so easily
besets us
is doomed
to pass
away.
This is
the third
thing this
passage teaches
us.
It's comforting
to the
Christian because
it gives us
final hope
that the
sin that
so easily
besets us
is doomed
to pass
away.
Think of
this metaphor
that the
prophets
say about
Jesus.
He is like
a refiner's
fire.
He divides
between good
and evil.
And he
does this
not only
for
peoples,
but he
does it
with the
loves in
our own
heart.
This
world,
Christianity
says,
is a mix
of those
who have
claimed
allegiance
to Jesus
and those
who have
set their
mind
against
Jesus.
And so
is all
of our
heart.
Each of
our heart
is precisely
that same
sort of
ambiguous
mixture
of good
desires,
of good
love of
Christ
and love
of neighbor,
and of
evil,
perverted
self-love,
the desire
to use
other people
around us
manipulatively
for our
own benefit.
The
refiner's
fire is
not only
for the
world,
but is
also for
our
hearts.
If you
are a
Christian
in this
room,
and you've
been a
Christian
for any
amount
of
time,
you know
what it
is to
fight
your own
sin.
You know
what it
is to
be in a
battle with
the world
and the
flesh and
the devil.
You know
what it
is to
say,
never again
will I
do this
sin,
and the
next day
to do
that sin.
You know
what it
is to
come to
church
Sunday
after
Sunday,
repenting,
hoping,
praying that
you never
sin again,
only to
have to
confess the
same sin
the next
week.
And the
glorious
teaching of
the Bible
is that
one day
those evil
desires in
your heart
and mine
that we
fight with
every day
that easily
beset us
will be
scrubbed
away,
will be
purged in
the refiner's
fire,
that we
ourselves
will be
separated
not only
from other
sinners,
but from
our own
sin.
This is the
message of
Christianity,
and this is
why God's
cleansing,
purifying fire
for us
is good
news.
C.S.
Lewis writes
a book
called
The Great
Divorce.
It's an
allegory about
heaven and
hell,
and in one
scene,
there's a
ghost person,
a person who
may or may
not have
died,
the imagery
is strange.
The important
thing is a
person has
got a
lizard on
his shoulder,
and this
lizard represents
lust,
and it
whispers into
his ear over
and over
lustful
thoughts.
An angel
comes to
this man
and says,
do you want
me to get
rid of that?
Oh,
yes,
it has been
annoying me
for quite
some time,
that'd be
quite nice.
Okay,
can I
kill it?
Can I
kill your
lust right
here?
And the
man says,
I don't
know if I'm
ready for
that,
I'm not
quite sure,
it might
hurt.
The angel
says,
it will
surely
hurt.
I am
a messenger
of fire.
And after
some back
and forth,
the man
decides finally
that yes,
he will allow
the angel
of fire
to grab
the lizard
of lust
off his
shoulder that
whispers lustful
thoughts into
his ear and
break its
back.
And when
his lust
is broken,
that man
ceases being
shriveled up
and becomes a
strong and
sturdy man.
the lizard
now dead
is transformed
into a
stallion
that the
man gets
onto and
rides in
the direction
of the
heavenly
mountains.
The idea
Lewis is
saying here
is that
your lust
keeps you
away from
God,
but when
it is
broken,
the love,
the good
love,
is actually
a vehicle
to wing
you on
your flight
to heaven.
And the
good news
of Christianity
for Christians
is that
our warfare
against our
own sin
will one
day be
over.
He will
cleanse us.
He will
wipe away
our sins
and those
evil temptations
that beset us
day by day
we will be
freed from.
That's the
third thing.
And the
fourth and
finally,
the thing
that this
passage
teaches us,
for those
who are in
Christ,
this passage
is an
exhortation
to continue
waiting for
his return.
For those
who are in
Christ,
this passage
is an
exhortation
to continue
waiting for
his return.
How much
of your
life and
each of
your days
is spent
eagerly
meditating
and waiting
for the
return of
the Lord?
For myself,
not so much.
I'm far
more interested
in trivial
concerns and
cares.
We find it
difficult to
wait for
Christ eagerly.
it's
difficult to
wait for
him eagerly
because it's
so easy
to live
lives
forgetting
about
his
promises
of
return.
Do you
find yourself
to be like
the man
in the
passage
right before
this one?
The man
who builds
bigger
barns
after a
windfall
crop.
He concerns
himself with
his economic
status rather
than the
condition of
his soul.
Jesus calls
him a fool
for being
concerned about
these sort
of things
to the
exclusion of
being concerned
about his
soul.
Maybe you
don't care
about barns
and crops
but do
your thoughts
run more
often to
paying bills
or advancing
in your
career and
less on
preparing for
this decisive
day when
Christ shall
return?
To meditate
often on the
return of
Christ is to
remind ourselves
that a great
reckoning is
coming and
we ought to
spend our days
in preparation
for that
reckoning.
for those
who are in
Christ we
know that
this reckoning
will be a
good day
rather than
an evil
one.
And so our
hearts ought to
be uplifted in
desire for
this day to
come.
But there's
another reason
it's so hard
to wait for
Christ's return
and I think
it's just that
we're just bad
at waiting for
anything for
any amount of
time.
waiting through
tribulation is
hard.
We're like the
servant in the
night in Jesus'
parable here.
The night watches
at 4 a.m.
The servant who's
tempted just to
sit down on his
cushion because his
master is not
home and is not
coming home.
Do you remember
ever trying to
pull all-nighters?
Do you remember
how your eyes
begin to close
involuntarily
against your
control?
How your brain
begins to go on
protest against
you pulling
any more
information out
of it?
And is not
waiting for
Christ in this
world like that?
Our desires are
low.
We can't sustain
a desire for him
coming back very
often or very
strongly.
We individually
have passed
decades here on
this earth and
our earth has
passed thousands
of years since
Christ's ascension
and still we
don't see him.
surely then the
temptation to
think that he's
not coming is
great.
But if we
would be
faithful and
heed the words
of our Lord,
we cannot
allow ourselves
to slip into
imagining that
he will not
return.
We cannot
allow ourselves
to slip into
thinking that our
greatest concern
is the building
of bigger barns
to hold our
great harvest.
Christ's promise
of return is
as sure as
his promise
that he has
wiped away all
of our sins.
And if we
would believe him
that he has
wiped away our
sins, we must
believe him as
eagerly and as
sincerely when he
promises to
return.
But will we not
grow tired in
waiting for the
return of the
Lord?
I think we
will.
So how do we
rouse ourselves
awake again and
again as the
night watches
pass and the
nights grow
darker and
darker that we
wait for the
coming of our
Lord?
Two things we
can do to help
us wait eagerly
for the coming
of the Lord.
The first thing
we can do is
recall the
faithfulness of
God that we've
seen in our own
lives and in the
lives of other
Christians.
Recall God's
faithfulness to
us in our own
lives and in the
lives of other
Christians.
This by the way
is one of the
reasons church
history is really
useful.
Seeing God's
faithfulness not
only across my own
27 years but
across 2,000 years
of church history
has so inflamed my
trust in Christ.
again if you want
to have a
conversation about
what church history
you ought to read
I'd be happy to
talk to you about
that.
We can recall the
faithfulness of God
that we've seen in
our own lives and
wait patiently
because we know
that those
faithfulnesses are a
down payment of
his greater final
faithfulness.
The medieval
theologian Bernard
of Clairvaux in his
exegesis of Song of
Solomon he observes
that the bride
waits and pines
away after her
husband on the
bed and as she
waits for him she
is refreshed in
her desire and
prevented from
fainting by desire
by eating the
pomegranates of his
garden and smelling
the flowers there.
Bernard writes
what are these
pomegranates and
what are these
flowers?
with these fruits
and flowers the
bride begs to be
surrounded and
nourished now.
I believe that she
does so sensing that
the warmth of her
love can easily
cool if it's not
encouraged and
supported until she
is led into her
husband's chamber
where she will be
held in the long
desired embrace and
she can say his
left hand is under
my head and his
right hand has
embraced me.
This means that as
long as the world
lasts in which one
generation is succeeded
by another God's
chosen ones will not
be without the
consolation of memory
until they can enjoy
the feast of God's
presence.
So memory which is
signified by these
pomegranates is for
the generations of
people in this world
the presence of God
belongs to those in
the kingdom of heaven
and the memories of
God's faithfulness are
those on earth.
This generation on
earth which is still
on its pilgrimage to
heaven is comforted in
the meantime by
memory.
We remember the great
works that God has
done for us and we
trust that those are
the down payments of
his future faithfulness.
That's the first thing
we do to help us wait.
The second thing we do
we trust not only in
memories but in the
promises.
We look back and we
look forward.
Look at the great
promises set out here
for us.
Look particularly in
verse 37.
This is astounding to
me.
When the master returns
he does not demand that
the servants serve him
but rather this happens.
Blessed are those
servants whom the
master finds awake when
he comes.
Truly I say to you he
will dress himself for
service.
He will have them
recline at table and
he will come and serve
them.
Do you get the vision?
This master has returned
from a wedding feast.
Perhaps his own wedding
feast.
He is overjoyed.
He abounds in joy and
rejoicing.
And what does he do as
soon as he sees his
servants?
He invites them to
rejoice with him.
He gives to them their
food.
He serves them.
The promise that we
wait for at the coming
of our master Jesus is
for him to serve us.
It would be blasphemy to
say we're not the Bible so
very clear that this is what
we wait for.
Jesus himself will prepare a
table before us.
Jesus himself will not
drink of the fruit of the
vine, the wine of rejoicing
and of grand marriage
supper until we drink it
with him.
Jesus himself prepares a
house for us.
Jesus himself shall fill his
people with glad rejoicing
by inviting them to his
bridal feast.
The Christian in this life
waits with eagerness
knowing that the eternity
that waits in front of us is
not an eternity of being
cajoled and commanded
but an eternity of being
wooed by the great lover of
our souls.
He will gird himself
and serve his servants.
This is a sweet grounds
for our hope in the future.
But why does he tarry so
long before he comes?
I think there's a reason for
this too.
Note how Jesus specifies the
time for these servants.
Verse 38.
If he comes in the second
watch or in the third
and he finds his servants
awake, blessed are those
servants.
Now I don't want to make
too much about a parable
right?
In every parable you can't
find something out of every
particular detail but I
think there's something
significant about the
waiting of the coming of
the Lord.
Why does he wait?
We live in an Amazon
Prime world where we
the first generation in all
of human history can get
almost any object with free
two-day shipping.
This means we rarely have
opportunities to wait and
eagerly long for anything we
want.
We get frustrated when we
have to wait 20 seconds for a
YouTube video to load.
How are we prepared to wait
decades for the coming of
Christ?
Christ.
When I was younger my parents
would make Christmas a big
deal.
They would start talking about
it two, three months in
advance.
My sister still does this.
In October and November her
eagerness for Christmas is so
profound she could explode.
You don't get that with Amazon
Prime.
And on Christmas Eve she is so
excited for the coming of
Christmas precisely because she
has waited for so long.
This time of waiting has
heightened her longing for the
coming of Christmas.
I think this is one of the
reasons that Christ tarries.
So that our desire for him might
be heightened.
Like those servants who the
master returns to in the second
and third watches at midnight
and 3 a.m.
They yearn for him to come back.
Every hour they wait they yearn
more and more for him to come
back.
The psalmist says something
similar.
I wait for the Lord.
My soul waits and in his word I
hope.
My soul waits for the Lord more
than watchman for the morning
more than watchman for the
morning.
The watchman a soldier set at his
post all night long yearns for
the morning and he yearns for it
more at 1 a.m. than he did at
midnight and more at 2 a.m. than
at 1 a.m.
And as the waiting continues so also
does his desire increase.
I think this is one of the reasons
why Jesus tarries.
Because only when our desires are
high do we fully realize how
desirable Christ is.
The watchman, his aching body and
fatigued mind cry out all the more
for the dawning of the day.
And then at the pinnacle of his
desire dawn.
Light shall arise in the darkness for
the upright the psalmist says.
And so also will Christ come to all
those who love him and desire his
coming.
Let's pray.
Lord we do pray that you would give
us the grace tonight to place our
trust in you and faith in you so that
as you come to divide the world we
would not be on the side of those who
have set our minds and hearts against
you.
But we would be among those who
eagerly desire your coming.
And we pray that you would sustain us
with memories of your faithfulness in
the past and the promise of your
coming to dwell with us forever in the
future.
I pray that you would give us a renewed
desire to see your kingdom come and
your will be done on this earth.
I pray that you would come quickly Lord
Jesus and satisfy the desires of your
people.
In the name of Jesus I pray all these
things.
Amen.