A PRAYER TO START
One aspect of the life of faith is trusting that what we do today is of eternal consequence, not because of its grandness but simply because it is the way Jesus has shown us to live. Begin your time today praying this prayer adapted from a section of the psalm 119 …
Father, you are right and you do right! Your decisions are always on target, though admittedly I am often slow to catch on. You have rightly given us a way to live which is ever faithful to you. A way of life that follows Jesus. My rivals, those people, ideas and forces that desire to take me down or at least knock me off your way, they persistently ignore your commandments. Yet your promise has been prove through and through, throughout the ages, so I, your servant, love it dearly! I many seem of little consequence to values of this age, but I don’t forget what you have told me in the way that I live. Your righteousness is eternally right, your revelation is the only truth. Even though troubles may find me, and come down hard upon me, your command to love like Jesus loves me always is my delight! The way you tell me to live is always right; help me understand it so I can live to the fullest. Amen.
DIVING INTO THE DETAILS
The disciples asked Jesus for a time and signs of when this kingdom he had been preaching would come in its fullness. A question I am sure most of us have pondered at one time or another, and one we'd all certainly like to know the answer to!
Jesus' first response was with an exhortation to persevere in the in-between, for in their perseverance the gospel of the kingdom would spread across the globe like an ever spreading vine, branching off until every nation bears fruit that will abide. The disciples needed such urging because in short order all that they knew regarding how to relate to God and how God would relate to the world, would be figuratively and literally deconstructed. These first brothers and sister of Christ would experience a time that would feel like the end-of-the-world; though it would actually be the birthing of a new world (Matthew 24:1-34). Then, in Matthew 24:35-25:46, Jesus finally gets to the questions that launched the conversation; but, per usual, not with an answer they expected.
Though there is certainly much mystery in the Old Testament prophetic warnings and visions, there is a certain concreteness to apocalyptic pictures. “When such and such happens, then the end will come”. Or, “in such and such years times such and such years, then the day will come.” Or when so and so falls, then the end will be realized.” These images of day of judgment had provided the people of Israel in each generation something to hold on to, look out for, or even attempt to usher in. Yet Jesus was saying that the events they had been keeping an eye out for, “wars and rumors of wars”, nation rising “against nation, and kingdom against kingdom”, “famines and earthquakes in various places”, where but “birth pains”, “for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” (24:6-8).
If the signs that have typically accompanied the family of faith’s perception of the culmination of time are actually just the beginning of a new world, then how will we know when the end is about to come? Well, Jesus says, you won’t.
Heaven and earth will pass away [there will be an end to the in-between], but my words will not pass away. But concerning that day [the end-of-the-world day] and hour [of judgment of evil] no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. (24:35-36)
The day will be a surprise. The day when the gospel has saturated the nations, when merciful patience has reached its conclusion, when evil has run its course; that day will come like flood rains to a people who had never seen rain before (i.e. the days of Noah, v. 37-39); catching them “unaware”.
Jesus follows up this comparison with the caught-off-guard generation of the past with five additional parables of the surprising nature of the end that comes with no signs. In 24:40-41, the day will come in the midst of ordinary work. Neither worker in the field had any inclination that day would be the day; but it was. In 24:42-44, Jesus urges his disciples to “stay awake” like a watchmen who knows at some point a thief could come, but of course he has no specific date or time of the intrusion. In 24:45-51, Jesus begins to more fully draw out the implications of an unknown end date. Neither servant knows when the master will return. One cares not when, and goes about his work and responsibilities diligently. The other cares not when, most likely assuming he would have some warning—perhaps a letter or servant arriving to ensure the household is prepared for the arrival of the master—but takes advantage of others and the master’s bestowed resources and bequeathed authority. The “wicked servant” will be cast out because of he took advantage of the master’s delayed return as an opportunity to live how he wanted.
In 25:1-13, Jesus tells a story of two sets of five virgins waiting to participate in a great marriage ceremony (a regular symbol of heaven and earth coming together again). Both sets are invited. Both sets expect to participate fully in the festivities. Only one set takes care and responsibility to be prepared if the party should start later than expected. The set that is caught unprepared hear those words Jesus once said in Matthew 7:23, “Truly I say to you, I do not know you.” Their lack of attention to take responsibility for themselves appears to have forfeited their invitation.
In 25:14-30, Jesus continues the progression for those who recognize the surprise nature of the delayed end. Here the servants are given all they need to flourish, both individually and for the sake of the kingdom, while the master is away. Each one, according to his ability is given all he needs to be a fruitful, prosperous, and be a faithful participate in the kingdom imparted to their care. When the master returns, those servants who invested the master-conferred resources, were able to testify that indeed what the master left them reproduced fruitful yields. Their faithfulness receives the praise and presentation of greater responsibility from the master who is now (according to the parallel story in Luke 19:11-27) returning as the clear King. Likewise, the unfaithfulness of the timid servant who took what he was given and simply buried it, is met with rebuke and removal of both the servant's gifts and the his future. The “wicked and slothful” servant did not squander the resources he was given on foolish and temporal things; he simply did not use them. The lack of use was the wicked act. The fact that he did not take what was given to him in the in-between and invest it for the sake of the kingdom was a mark of unbelief—whether he did not believe the master would return (or perhaps that he would return unsuccessful) or whether he did not believe in the generosity of the master shown throughout the story.
Jesus has now told the disciples that the end will come when it is most unexpected, while they are in the midst of an ordinary day’s labor; therefore, they need to be ones who are aware that end will indeed come though they are unsure of the day or hour, yet their lack of specific information should not cause them to take advantage of this gracious delay (see 2 Peter 3:1-14) but remain diligent in their labors for each will be held responsible for his or her own preparedness and if she or he took what was given to them and invested it with courage. As one commentator notes, Jesus seems to be saying that the suddenness, without sign or prediction, of the day when evil is eternally judged, should discourage, “lax behavior among Christians who may be under the impression that merely being a part of the community will entail a reward and make them exempt from future punishment. All are to be vigilant and to be ready during what may deceptively appear to be a pause in the progress of salvation history when the gospel is to be proclaimed to the nations” (Garland, 243).
Thus Jesus concludes his answer to the disciples reminding them that there will indeed be a day when they see him upon on throne, though like a good shepherd, he will know the difference between the sheep that recognize his voice and the goats who go about doing whatever they deem desirous (25:31-34). But how can we know if we are sheep or goats? By the way we live in relation to those around us, especially those in the family of faith (25:34-46). The seemingly insignificant acts of care demonstrated to “least of these my brothers and sisters” are what constitutes wise and courageous investing in the kingdom (see also John 15:1-17, taking note of what Jesus commands us).
Jesus started his ministry proclaiming that our relation to God had as much to do with our relating to one another as it does to our right understanding (see Matthew 5). Jesus concludes his ministry with the same message. Will we be prepared for the surprise? Will we be ones who “stay awake” or ones caught “unaware” that what we have from Jesus and in our faith family is meant to allow us to participate in the kingdom coming to all nations (including our neighborhoods and city), today, in the in-between?
DEVELOPING DISCERNMENT
Chapters 24 and 25 are the last teachings of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel story before Jesus is nailed to the cross in judgment of sin on our behalf. These words of exhortation to take courage and act in the in-between where the gospel is going forth until the ends of the earth are covered in the grace and peace of our Father; never forgetting that “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years a day”, thus the “Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance”, for “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and the heavens will pass away with a roar…and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (2 Peter 3:8-10).
Don’t skip this part. Information is of little use in quickening a transformed life if we are undiscerning people. Take the time to thoughtfully answer the questions below, and maybe use them as conversation starters in Gospel Community, at work or in your home. Doing so will pay dividends in the long run!
What would be different about your life if you lived aware that in an ordinary moment the in-between could come to a conclusion?
Are you prepared in your waiting, or hoping that someone will spare some of their excess life of faith with you when you see the bridegroom approaching?
How are you investing what Christ has given you to flourish and be faithful with in his kingdom?
In what ways are you taking seriously (or failing to take seriously) the seemingly inconsequential opportunities to serve the King amongst your faith family?
A PRAYER TO CLOSE
Jesus’ closing teaching in Matthew’s gospel story is not meant to strike fear in us that leads to timidity. Quite the opposite is true actually. Jesus desires us to live free and courageously in the midst of salvation history unfolding with all the gifts given us for our flourishing and the flourishing of others. Remember this truth as we pray together with John Ballie…
Almighty Father, in your infinite wisdom you have set my life within the narrow bounds of time and circumstance; so let me now go out into the world with a brave and trusting heart. It has pleased you to hold back from me a knowledge of everything; therefore give me the grace of faith so that I may grasp what I cannot see. You have given me little power to shape things to my own desires; therefore use your own great power to make what you desire happen within me. It is your will that through hard work and suffering I should walk the upward road; so be my fellow traveler as I go.
Let me face what you send with strength you supply;
When you make what I do effective, help me to ensure that your word is effective in my heart;
When you call me to go through the dark valley, do not let me persuade myself that I know a way around;
Help me not to refuse any opportunity to help other people that may come today, nor fall into any temptation that may lie in wait for me;
Do not let the sins of yesterday be repeated in the life of today, or the life of today set any evil example to the life of tomorrow.
O Father of my ancestors, in every age you have enlightened the souls of the faithful. Thank you for the gift of shared memories through which the great stories of the past live with us today. Thank you for the lives of the saints, and for the help I can gain from their example. Thank you for the memory of _____ and _____; for the apostles, prophets, and martyrs; but most of all for the incarnation of your dear Son, in whose name these prayers are said. Amen.