Being prepared for his coming

    In days gone by European kings or queens received nicknames- given no doubt by their subjects. And these nicknames gave a kind of insight into what they were like or what they achieved. So William nicknamed the Conqueror was the man who conquered England in the year 1066. In Scotland we had a prince called Bonnie Prince Charlie was called Bonnie or good looking. Charles II of France must have been short of hair because he was called ‘the Bald’. Ivaylo of Bulgaria was nicknamed ‘the Cabbage’ for some reason! And I guess Anund Jacob of Sweden liked to be warm because his nickname was ‘Coal- Burner’. Some kings obviously were bad and were given the name ‘Bad’. 

But sometimes, just occasionally, in history a nation has had a ruler who was remembered by his people for his goodness.  Wenceslas I of Bohemia must have been a good man- his nickname was ‘good’ and he has gone down in the Christmas carol- ‘Good King Wenceslas’ . And England had a queen Elizabeth the First who was called ‘Good Queen Bess’

I would much rather live under a king who had the nickname ‘good’ than a king with some of the other nicknames there have been. But really this world has never really known what it is like to have a thoroughly good king in charge. Ruling and reigning. We would love to have one but somehow they all seem to fall short of our expectations. In Britain we seem to be going through prime ministers every two years right now. They never seem to live up to the hope that we put in them- they have a short honeymoon and then their poll ratings slump. When will we get a really good leader, who is strong but fair, humane and with integrity and absolutely honesty- and with great wisdom and insight – someone who people really want to follow? Someone who can really make a big difference for good? Well last week we were saying that this desire we all have to have a leader who can really be called ‘good’ is going to come to pass. There is a day coming when the only human truly worth of the title ‘good’ is going to come and take over the government of this world. 

A prophet in the Bible gave him four titles:  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The ideal king.

And the promise of the Bible is one day the whole earth will be ruled by this one man- the only truly good man who has ever walked this earth. He came 2000 years ago and he showed the world what true goodness looks like and He predicted that one day he will return as king. 

And he said he would come again, physically to planet earth with great power to rule and to reign.

But its been a long time coming! 

Its been almost 2000 years since Jesus predicted his second coming- and the church has been waiting a long time for it to happen. 

Well we shouldn’t really be surprised- because Jesus also predicted that it would be a long wait. He knew and his first disciples knew he would be away a long time. 

Right after he talks about his coming Jesus gives four parables that give us understanding about his second coming. You heard two of the parables being read out. I’ll read out one more of them in a minute, the first one. We won’t have time to study the fourth parable today. 

The first parable, which we will read in a minute talks about a master who goes away and leaves a servant in charge of his household. But the servant says to himself ‘my master has been away a long time’ and he starts abusing the other servants.

Then Jesus talked about five foolish and five wise virgins waiting for the arrival of a bridegroom and the bridegroom ‘was a long time coming’.

Thirdly Jesus talked about a man going on a journey and giving money to three of his servants and telling them to invest it and make more money. And then Jesus says ‘After a long time, the master of the servants returned and settled accounts with them’.

And so Jesus was saying ‘it’s going to be a long wait’. The master of the servants, the bridegroom is going to be away a long time. But He is going to come back. 

Now it’s important to remember that Jesus is talking to his disciples. He isn’t talking to the wider community, his isn’t talking to everyone, to the world, He is just talking to his people, to Christians. Matthew 24 and Matthew 25 is all Jesus teaching disciples. That’s important.

Notice that Jesus is talking about himself and his church in these parables. He is the master of the household and the church is his household, his servants. And He is the bridegroom in the second parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins and they represent Christians who are invited to the wedding feast. And in the third parable Jesus is the master who is away on a journey, and the three servants again represents Christians- Jesus’ servants, those who call Jesus ‘Lord’. 

But while Jesus is away are we getting ourselves ready for his return? For the master’s return- for the bridegroom’s arrival? Will we be rewarded or will we be punished when He returns? These are the questions we are being asked to reflect on.

When Jesus finally returns there is going to be a great division that He will make among his disciples down the middle of his church. Jesus is going to be pleased with some in his church when He returns and will reward them, but He is going to be displeased with others in his church and is going to punish them. 

Not all disciples of Jesus are going to find his coming pleasant. 

The church will be split into two groups. The faithful and the wicked. The wise and the foolish. 

Notice that Jesus is not talking about splitting all of humanity into two groups in these parables- he is not talking about separating his disciples from the world, Christians from non Christians. These parables are talking about a separation, a division that is coming to those who confess themselves to be Christians. It is a separation between two types of disciple of Jesus. The faithful disciples and the unfaithful ones.

Let me read the first parable that talks about Jesus’ second coming and his dealing with his church on his return, Matthew 24:45- 51. We didn’t read it at the start.

 ⁴⁵ ‘Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

That first parable seems to speak primarily to Christian leaders. Although it’s relevant to all disciples. Its about a servant who leads the other servants- a Christian leader. When the master finds such a leader doing what he is been told to do- he will be put in charge of all the master’s possessions. He will be given more responsibility and authority. Jesus promises it will be good for him. He will enjoy having more given to him. More responsibility and more authority- in charge of all his master’s possessions. 

But the servant who as year passes year and there is no sign of the Master, stops doing his job, mistreats his fellow servants and starts being greedy and selfish. Well that servant of Jesus will be cut to pieces and assigned a place with the hypocrites where there will weeping and gnashing of teeth.

That’s the language of hell being used and Jesus is giving a pretty shocking and direct warning for his servants who are not faithful. And again it seems to be in particular a warning to those who he puts in areas of Christian leadership.

It’s a similar warning in the second parable- the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. 

A wedding is in progress and ten young women are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. All of the women have lamps, but only five of them have brought jars with oil. In today’s terms you could say all the women have torches, but only five have spare batteries. Night falls and they all are asleep. Finally the bridegroom comes at 12 midnight. But only the women who had oil in their jars can keep their lamps burning. And only they are allowed into the wedding. The others have to go off to buy more oil. When these five other women later came along having finally bought some oil, they aren’t allowed in. The door is shut. 

The message of the parable of the ten virgins is very simple. Only those who had put the effort in to prepare for the bridegroom’s coming ahead of time will be allowed in to the wedding. The doors of heaven won’t open to all Christians, but only those who are prepared.

RT France writes in his commentary about this parable- ‘It is a warning addressed specifically to those inside the professing church who are not to assume that their future is unconditionally assured. All ten are expecting to be at the feast, and until the moment comes, there is no apparent difference between them. It is the crisis which will divide the ready from the unready.‘ So the question Jesus is asking is- are you ready? Have you prepared correctly to meet the bridegroom?

Ok, but what is readiness? How do we prepare? The next parable tells us.

The next parable is about a man who goes on a journey and he gives three servants a sum of money- each according to his ability.

To the most able man he gives five talents of silver. To the less capable man he gives two talents. And to the least capable man he give one talent. 

A talent of silver is worth tens of thousands of pounds in today’s money. It was quite a lot of money each got.

The servants who got the five talents and the two talents of silver went out immediately and put their money to work and each doubled their amount. The man who got one talent, dug a hole in the ground and hid the money.

When the master returned he rewarded the two servants who got a return on the money. But the third servant who just gave him back the same amount the master had given him in the first place- he wasn’t happy with him, he is punished. 

What do the talents, the sums of money represent in this parable?

The sums of money given to the servants represent the resources, gifts, privileges and opportunities which God gives his Christian servants. Some of us are given more of these things and some are given less. But we all get something.  

The point of the parable is- the Lord wants us to use what we have been given. Make the most of the golden opportunities that come our way, make the most of our resources to serve him and make a difference in people’s lives. The message is don’t let fear stop you stepping out and taking a risk and using what God has given you. Use what you have to serve Jesus. 

The first two servants go off at once and put their money to work. They are eager to make a difference. They are a model for enthusiastic discipleship. They are entrepreneurial for Jesus. Yes it involves some risk, but being a disciple always involves risk. They were bold and enterprising and the master was pleased. 

These two servants get a warm well done from the master when he returns. He says to both of them ‘well done good and faithful servant’. He is just as pleased by the man who had been given less but made the most of it as the man who had been given more. Which means Jesus will be pleased with those of us who have been given little, but still make the most of what they have in his service. Just as much as he will be pleased with the big names on Christian TV who have maybe been given more. 

Notice the master had been away a long time – so these servants had been faithful over a long period of time. They were reliable over time. Can I just say- Jesus is asking his disciples to keep going- not just to start out with enthusiasm serving him, but not to walk off the job, not to get distracted, not to be put off by pressure but keep going, over a long period of time. That’s what the two good and faithful servants did. 

And they get a reward. The reward is to share their master’s happiness! Jesus wants us to know real happiness, his happiness and that is what he offers us. But also he gives these faithful servants a promotion. He gives them a bigger responsibility. Heaven is not going to be a holiday camp, where we lie around on the beach all day, soaking in the sun. Personally I would find that very boring!

The master’s reward for faithful service is a bigger job to do! Hopefully you enjoy serving the Lord, because in the future you will get more service! 

The master says to both of them ‘You have been faithful with a few things- I will put you in charge of many things. ‘

A scientist worked for years in a laboratory it was a very rough lab, a garden shed really, but he managed to discover a medical answer to a disease that really affected the world. So the world got together- or at least those who knew of it- to reward him and they thought; ‘now what can we reward him with?’ They built him a new laboratory and that was his reward and that is the kind of reward that Jesus gives. 

We all are happy when we feel we are making a difference – that is the way God wired our brains! 

The third servant hid the money in the ground. And when he gave the money back to the master, the master was not happy. The master was expecting a return on his investment- and he got none.

The failure of the bad slave was not that he did anything wrong. He simply did nothing.

That’s not good enough. Jesus expects us not just to avoid doing wrong, he expects us to pro-actively go out and do good and make a positive difference in this world.

The bad slave had a totally wrong image of God. He thought the Lord was hard and unfair and it was this mind-set which caused him to be fearful and sit on his gift and do nothing with it. His discipleship was one of playing safe and avoiding risk. 

The master calls him wicked and lazy- which he was. And the master’s final words are ‘throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The man was one of the master’s servants- he was a disciple of Jesus, a Christian- but he didn’t make into heaven – he ends up outside- in the darkness. 

These are Jesus’ words. He expects his people to have a faith that is faithful. We are saved by faith in the gospel, but that faith is a faithful faith, a working faith. 

How do we prepare for the second coming? Jesus’ message is very simple. We prepare by faithfully doing what the master has called us to do. Whatever that may be. 

There is an old African American spiritual which goes:

‘There’s a king and a captain high

And he is coming by and by

And he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes

You can hear his legions charging 

In the regions of the sky

And he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.

There’s a man they thrust aside 

who was tortured till he died

and he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.

He was hated and rejected, 

He was scorned and crucified

And he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes

When he comes when he comes.

He’ll be crowned by saints and angels

When he comes

They’ll be shouting out hosanna

To the man that men denied

And I’ll kneel among my cotton when he comes. 

In other words I’ll get on with my job. What I have been called to do. The way you prepare for Jesus’ coming is to get on with the job he has called you to do. Whether that job is to be a taxi driver, a church leader, a parent, an intercessor, an evangelist, a cleaner, a volunteer in church. 

As Jesus says ‘It will be good for that servant, whose master finds him doing so when he returns.’