Have you ever had a friend or family member go through surgery while you waited in the waiting room? It can be kind of a trying experience, can’t it? You’re never quite sure how long the surgery will last or how it will go so there’s always a little anxiety, a little nervousness, you’re always a little on edge. The hospital does its best to make you comfortable. They have comfortable seats in the waiting room. The have a pot of coffee going. There are plenty of magazines to read and a big screen TV to watch. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a waiting room. That’s why you’re there. You’re there to wait. And even though a lot of waiting rooms now have a video monitor that allows you to kind of track the progress of the patient (she is in pre-op, she’s in the O.R., she’s in recovery, etc.) the fact is, you’re still waiting. You never know exactly when you are going to be able to see your loved one again and so you do your best to occupy your time while you watch and wait.
If you think about it, isn’t that waiting room a little like our lives as Christians? We are all waiting to meet our loved one, Jesus—whether that be at the end of our lives are the end of this world. But in either case we don’t know exactly when that will happen. And so what are we left to do? We wait. Just like in the waiting room.
In our midweek Advent Series this year we are focusing on that idea of waiting. Last week songwriter Chris Driesbach led us in a service entitled, “While we wait, we hope for Christ’s coming.” This week our sermon shifts to the idea of watching and waiting for Christ’s coming. Today our theme is,
While We Wait, We Watch for His Coming
In fact here in our text Jesus gives us three pieces of advice while we wait. He says,
Watch the Signs
Don’t Fall Asleep
Get Your Work Done
First, watch the signs. I mentioned before that the modern-day waiting rooms are often equipped with electronic signs to help you track the progress of your loved one through the various stages of surgery. In fact if you’re like me, you’ll keep checking on that monitor. Any change in the patient’s status? Any sign that we’re getting closer to the end? In fact, if you want to be ready when it’s time to go in and see your loved one, you’d better watch the sign. It’s communicating some important information.
Here in our text, Jesus says that the same thing was true back in his day. He says that there are certain signs that communicate important information. Only in his day he was not talking about a video monitor. It was talking about the leaves on a fig tree. How does Jesus put it? “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. In other words, the leafing out of the fig trees is a sign that a future event, namely, summer, is right around the corner.
From there Jesus goes on to draw a parallel to another set of signs that point to head to different future event. What does Jesus say? “Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. What is Jesus referring to with the words “It is near? What is near, and what are these things that tell you that it is near? To answer those questions, we need to look at the broader context of Jesus words. Jesus had just finished telling the disciples the magnificent temple in Jerusalem would one day be completely destroyed. The disciples assumed that could only happen on the Last Day. And so they ask, “When will this happen and what will be the signs of your coming and of the End of the Age?”
From there, Jesus goes on to describe some of the signs that will announce that the end of the world is drawing near. Jesus says that there will be signs in nature—earthquakes and famines. There will be signs in society—wars and rumors of wars, an increase of wickedness and a decrease of love. And there will be signs in the church—the rise of false prophets and the subsequent persecution of those who hold to the truth.
Jesus says that all these things are the beginning of birth pains, in other words, they are signs that things are going to get worse before they get better. Jesus point is that when we see these things going on all around us—and they certainly are evident in our world today—when we hear of wars and natural disasters and persecution, we need to recognize that these are all pieces of information designed to prepare us for what is coming. So whether you’re sitting in the waiting room at the hospital, or you’re living out your life as a Christian, in either case, it’s important to watch the signs. And know that the signs are telling us that we’re getting that much closer to the end, whether it be the end of our lives or the end of the world.
But of course when God says that we’re getting near the end, we need to understand that’s a relative term. What does Scripture say? With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day (2 Peter 3:8). In other words, even though God may say we’re getting closer to the end, still from our perspective it may seem like we’re still waiting an awfully long time. And anytime we have to wait for longer than we expected, there’s always the danger that we might fall asleep and miss what we’re waiting for. It happens every year in the deer season right? Uncle Bob doesn’t get a shot at the buck of a lifetime because he’s sound asleep in his stand. Or maybe this has happened to you where you’re sitting in an airport terminal, waiting for your flight, and there is a guy next to you who is totally zonked out, dead to the world. And there’s a voice over the intercom, “Would Mr. Steve Jones please come to the ticket counter? Last call for Mr. Steve Jones.” And you’re thinking, “Yikes, is this Mr. Jones? Is he going to miss his flight because he sound asleep? Should I wake him up?” I guess that’s one of the dangers of falling asleep while you’re waiting for something.
Which brings us to the second piece of advice that Jesus has for us while we wait for his coming. And that is not only watch the signs but also, II. Don’t Fall Asleep. What does Jesus say about the last day here in our text? He says, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, but only the Father. Be on guard. Be alert. You do not know when that time will come. Do you hear what Jesus is saying? Be alert. Don’t fall asleep. In fact a little later, Jesus uses an example of a master putting his servants in charge of his house and then going away for a time. What does Jesus say? “If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.”
The question is what does Jesus mean by those words? Is he saying, “Don’t be dozing off during the sermon? Not really. Jesus is not warning us of the dangers of falling asleep physically. Rather, he’s warning us of the dangers of falling asleep spiritually. You know, to get so comfortable with ourselves that pretty soon, certain sins don’t bother us anymore. We become comfortable using off-color language. We get comfortable letting our Bible collect dust on the shelf. We get comfortable with our pet sins. We kind of settle into an attitude of smug self-righteousness. “I’ll be fine. Don’t bother me. I don’t need to go to church this week. I can push it off to next week or next month. I think I’ll just sleep in.”
My friends you realize how easy it is for us to fall into this kind of spiritual slumber? To kind of put our spiritual life on the back burner. To say “I’ll worry about that when I get a little older when I get to be my parents age. When I get closer to the end.” Jesus’ warning to you and me is this. “How do you know when the end will be? What does Jesus say? “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son. Be on guard! Be alert!”
The question is how do we stay alert, spiritually speaking? The answer is simply this: Remember what is at stake. Imagine for a minute you’re hiking on a trail along the edge of the Grand Canyon. But you’re not satisfied to stay on the trail. You want to get a little better view. And just as you get to the very edge of the canyon, your foot slips and over the edge you go. You grab on to the only thing you can find—a tree branch. And there you are hanging in midair a thousand feet above the canyon floor. Tell me, are you in any danger of falling asleep at that moment? No, you are in danger of falling to your death. That ought to keep anybody awake, right?
Well, you realize, that’s where you and I are right now. We’ve all rebelled against God in one way or another. We’ve all wandered off of his path. We’ve all fall into sin. And now there lies beneath us a gaping canyon called hell. And the only thing that is keeping us from falling to our eternal destruction is that little tree branch. And so we’re hanging on for dear life. My friends, you realize what that branch is? Or maybe I should say, who that Branch is? That Shoot from the stump of Jesse? That branch that is preventing you from falling to your destruction—that branch is Jesus. And by the power of the Holy Spirit who has worked faith in your heart, God has given you the ability hang on to that branch. And as long as you do, as long as you realize what’s below you, as long as you realize that your only hope is Jesus, and you can be sure you won’t fall asleep, as you struggle with all the strength that God gives, to cling to Jesus, as you watch and wait for his coming.
So watch the signs. Don’t fall asleep. There is one more piece of advice that Jesus has for us while we wait for his coming. And that is III Get Your Work Done.
I don’t know about you but I cannot just sit in a waiting room and do nothing. Fortunately the last waiting room I was in had Wi-Fi and I had my laptop computer, so I was able to catch up on a bunch of emails, review the mission board budget and get a start on my next sermon. In the end, that period of waiting was a great opportunity to get some work done.
My friends, isn’t the same thing true when it comes to our waiting for the Lord’s return? Jesus has given us a certain amount of time between now and the end, to carry out our assigned tasks. In fact isn’t that the point that Jesus makes here in our text? Jesus describes our lives in this world with the words, “It’s like a man going away. He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and he tells the one at the door to keep watch.” Did you catch that? Jesus leaves his house in charge of his servants, each with his assigned task. Right? God never said, “Now I want you to spend your time waiting I just twiddling your thumbs.” No, God says, “I’ve assigned each one of you a task to carry out. Are you a father or mother, a son or daughter, a husband or wife, an employer or employee? No matter what your vocation in life, you have a task to carry out and you use the time God has given you. Whether it’s ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of your children. Whether it’s providing assistance to those who are hurting financially, or providing food and shelter for those who are disadvantaged. Or maybe the task that God has assigned you is reaching out to that co-worker who has no church home. Maybe your assignment is to invite them to come and worship with you some Sunday. Or make a visit a friend in the hospital or send a card to someone who is grieving, or have that challenging conversation with a friend who’s caught in a sin.
The point is, while we’re waiting for the Lord’s return, God has given us work to do. Working and waiting are not mutually exclusive actions. It’s not one or the other. Either we work or we wait. No, it’s both. God has given us a certain amount of time to carry out his mission for our lives. Isn’t that what Jesus said in John chapter 9? “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work (John 9:4).
Yes it’s true. God has put us all in a waiting room of sorts. In this time of grace he’s given us, we all run the risk of getting distracted, falling asleep, and squandering our time. But that’s why Jesus gave the advice he does. He says “Christian while you’re waiting, watch the signs. Don’t fall asleep. And get your work done.” For in that way, you can be sure that when Jesus does return, whether it’s your final hour, or the world’s last day, you dear Christian, will be ready. God grant it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.