A while back, the powers that be here in Pacifica told us that they were going to test the new tsunami warning system down there at Linda Mar Beach on a given day at a given time. I was at home, all ready at that hour to hear what I thought would be a very loud alarm, but when it did sound I could barely hear it. The point of having the sirens is to alert people that a tsunami is on the way, so that they have time to get to higher ground and escape. Because tsunamis can be tracked and predicted, many lives can be saved, as long as an alarm is sounded early enough and loudly enough. Unlike tsunamis, however, with earthquakes you have no advance warning at all that one is about to strike. All you have is the sure promise that there will be earthquakes. But as of yet nobody can tell when they will strike. So you have to be prepared at all times in case one does.
The second coming of Christ, like the coming of an earthquake, will occur on a day when no one will be expecting it. The Lord gives us advance warning in the Gospel text for today that He will be coming back, but He does not tell us when. Jesus wants His Church to be prepared at all times for His return which could occur at any moment. He tells us to stay awake. In the Greek language, the word Jesus actually uses means “watch.” What does it mean to watch? To watch for the coming of the Lord is to be on the alert, to be vigilant, to be ready for His return at any time. It's what you would do if you knew that a tsunami were going to occur on a certain date at a certain time. You'd be ready for it.
Jesus could come at any time. But in the text He compares His coming to that of the owner of the house who returns at some time during the night hours, whether in the evening (6-9), midnight (9-12), when the rooster crows (12-3), or dawn (3-6). From midnight on, most people are sleeping (at least I am). This doesn't mean that Jesus must come after it's dark, but it suggests that He will come at a time when people are asleep spiritually. They won’t be watching or alert for His coming as they should be, and He’ll catch them unprepared and unaware, like a thief in the night.
It's easy to stay awake during the day after you're well rested and you've had your morning cup of coffee. But how do you stay awake when you're tired and all you want to do is sleep? It's like that with our Christian faith, sometimes. It's hard to maintain a constant state of alertness. In fact, we can't do it without the Lord's help. It's too easy to fall asleep, to become lax and lazy about being vigilant in the faith. But to fall asleep spiritually is a dangerous thing. It is to sleep the sleep of death. When we fail to stay awake and alert in the faith, we fall into all kinds of sin and false doctrine, disbelief and despair. If we were to remain in such a state, Christ's coming would come as a shock to us.
So how do we stay awake? On my recent trip to So. Cal. I played loud music and drank caffeine to keep me awake and alert on that 7.5 hour drive one way. But how do you stay awake, alert, and on the watch for the second coming of Christ? Here, too, it's by taking something into your body and by listening to something. What you take into your body is the body and blood of Christ given you in His holy Supper. What you listen to is His Word. In addition to these, you have the daily exercise of dying to your sinful lusts and walking by the spirit, a regimen that was laid on you to do at your Baptism. These are the means which the Holy Spirit uses to keep you awake in the faith.
The Lord's Supper was given to keep you awake in the faith until the Lord’s return. It keeps you watchful and alert for that Day, as the Scripture says, "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." Every time you partake of this holy food, you proclaim Christ’s crucifixion, you proclaim His body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. This eating and drinking proclamation will go on until He comes again. Every time you partake of this Sacrament, the Lord awakens anew and strengthens the faith He worked in you through Baptism and His Word.
God's Word also keeps you awake and ready for the coming of Christ through the preaching of Law and Gospel. Through the preaching of Law against your sin the Holy Spirit turns you back to the Lord through repentance. Through the preaching of the Gospel the Spirit comforts you by assuring you that your sins are forgiven for Christ's sake. As long as you continue to hear His Word and not close your ears to it, but believe it, and do it by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will be awake and alert, ready when Jesus returns for you.
Doing your Baptismal exercises as you live as the child of God He created you to be in Christ also keeps you awake and alert in the faith. By daily dying and rising with Christ, you’ll be ready for Him when He comes, because you won’t be living according to your sinful nature, conforming yourself to its lusts, walking in the dark. Instead, you’ll be walking by the Spirit, walking by the light of God’s Word, crucifying what belongs to your old nature, including the temptation to fall asleep in the faith. When Baptism, God's Word, and Christ's body and blood have their way with you, you’ll remain awake and alert, ready for the Lord no matter when He returns for you.
Jesus compares His return to that of a homeowner who leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Jesus is the owner of His house, the Church. He is her Head by virtue of His having purchased her from many nations with His blood shed on the cross. Jesus, the Lord of the Church, tells everyone in His house to watch, no matter what their assigned tasks are. The doorkeeper represents the shepherds of God's people, the men that the Lord has given the task to preach and teach His Word, to baptize, to administer the Lord's Supper, and to absolve. They are to watch over the household until the Lord returns. At the same time, each Christian is given specific tasks from the Lord to be busy about doing until He returns. These tasks will be different for each Christian, and no one task is any better or worse than any of the others.
While we are watching for the second coming of Christ, we are to be busy about the vocations the Lord has given us. In the past there have been many religious fanatics, who have gone out into the desert to wait for the Lord to return. They're told by their religious leaders that the Lord is sure to come at such and such a date or by a certain period of time. And they don't remain faithful to the vocations the Lord has given them. When Luther was asked what he would do if he knew the Lord was to return within a couple of days, Luther responded that he would go out and plant an apple tree, meaning, he would not just sit around and wait, but would keep busy with the tasks God had given him to do.
So, we've talked about how to stay awake as we watch for the second coming of Christ, and we've talked about what we are to do as we watch for the second coming of Christ. Now I want to talk about the coming of Christ itself and the hope we have to look forward to as we watch, which should motivate us to watch all the more.
During the season of Advent, not only do we look forward to the second coming of Christ, but we also look back at His first coming, and receive Him today as He comes to us through His Word and His Supper. Our hope is founded on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus which He accomplished for us at His first coming. Remembering His first coming will keep us alert and awake as we await His second coming. Christ's coming the first time as a lowly servant to give His life for you on the cross assures you, who have been sprinkled with His blood and washed with the pure water of Baptism, that His second coming will not be a time of wrath, but a time of joy and celebration when you will enter into your inheritance. Keeping the cross of Christ perpetually before your eyes in the meantime will keep you in perfect peace, until either you depart from this life in death, or until the Lord comes again for His Church. The Lord’s crucifixion is a daily, present reality for you. It was on the cross at His first coming that He worked forgiveness of sins and salvation for you. But that forgiveness is given out to you today through the Word and Sacraments. The more, then, that you hear His sacrifice for your sins proclaimed to you, the more you will be assured of the forgiveness and peace that you now have with God on account of that sacrifice.
Having been clothed with Christ and His righteousness through Baptism, you can look forward in hope to the second coming of Christ. This hope is strengthened today as we are gathered together in His Name. And you have the promise that where two or three are gathered together in His Name, there He is in your midst. Though He is not visibly among us since His ascension, Jesus is not absent from His Church. He promises never to leave you or forsake you. He is with you always, even to the end of the age. He is present to bless you where His Name is, where His absolution is being given out, where His Word is being proclaimed, and where His Supper is being celebrated. Through these means our Lord gives you the benefits of His life, death, and resurrection, so that you might stay awake and watchful until He returns for you. Through these means He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. You ought to be encouraged by the promise of His second coming, because it will mean your final redemption from this world. Jesus is going to come and take you to live with Him in the new heavens and the new earth that He will create for you, where there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. That's something to look forward to.
Advent-minded Christians live in anticipation of Christ's second coming, as opposed to absent-minded Christians, who forget about Christ's coming. Just as children can't seem to go to sleep the night before Christmas because of their excitement and anticipation, so the promise of the second coming of Jesus should stimulate excitement, anticipation, and watchfulness as we wait for Him. Our Lord Jesus could come again for us at any time. And so He tells us to be watchful, to stay awake, and be alert. He's given us the means to do so: His Word and His Sacraments. He's also given each of us specific vocations and tasks. We're to be busy about them until He comes, all the while keeping our eyes on Him and His cross, receiving Him who comes to us today along with all the benefits He won for us on that cross, living holy and godly lives by the power of His Spirit. Then we will be ready, alert, and awake when He comes to take us home. Watch! Your Savior is coming soon. Amen.