“Be Prepared”

Scripture: Matthew 24:36-44

Today is the beginning of Advent – a time of preparation. And believe it or not, Jesus’ entire life was about preparation. You wouldn’t think that the Son of God would ever need to prepare – after all, God not only knows what will happen, but when it will happen and how it will happen. How much more preparation should He need?
But the truth is that while Jesus was fully God, He was also fully human, and humans, whether they want to hear this or not, need a lot of preparation and planning! Jesus prepared for His ministry by going into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting and prayer. He prepared for each day’s effort by getting up early to spend time in conversation with His Father. He prepared for His crucifixion by going to the Garden of Gethsemane for – what else – prayer!
He was prepared for ministry at every moment. And He spent just as much time in preparing His followers, throughout the ages, for their ministry.

Read Matthew 24:36-41

Rebbe Nachman, a Hasidic writer and scholar in the early 19th century, writes:
“Growing spiritually can be like a roller coaster ride. Take comfort in the knowledge that the way down is only preparation for the way back up.”
--Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, in Moshe Mykoff, “The Empty Chair: Finding Hope and Joy”,
(Woodstock, Vt.: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1994), 43.

There are a lot of stories in scripture that include both the positives and negatives, the ups and downs of life and faith. The prophets give the call to righteousness (that’s the positive!), as well as a warning for what will happen if the people ignore the Hope of God (the negatives). The apostles challenge the church to truly reflect on their life in faith, and to give up those things that do not reflect Christ to the world. And the Church of today is called to do the same – to share stories of those times when each of us has strayed, but also how we have been welcomed back to a renewed life in Christ.
None of these stories are intended to give the appearance that the speaker is in any way better than anyone else. They are simply offered to help others to prepare for the day when Jesus comes.

But preparations are usually made as part of a process for a particular event, and they lead us to a date that we know that we must be ready for. Packing for the beginning of a vacation, studying for a test that has been announced weeks before, making arrangements for our wedding day, preparing a message for Sunday morning worship, and so on.
But these are all being made with a date, not just an event, in mind. But Christ’s coming is an event without a date. How do you prepare for something like that?

Let’s start with a look at the process of preparation that lead Noah to his year long journey on the Ark. (Genesis 5:28-9:28)
The people of earth had fallen into a life filled with violence and godlessness. They were only 8 generations removed from Adam, and yet, they had totally forgotten God. Noah – apparently the only righteous man left on earth - was told that a flood was going to destroy all life that remained on this earth, and that he had been chosen for the task of preserving animal life, as well as the lives of him and his immediate family.
Now it’s important to realize several things.
First, Noah was over 500 years old when he started this project. Of course, his grandfather Methuselah lived 969 years, and his father Lamech was 777 at his death, so longevity ran in his family. But if I ever get to be that old (OK – maybe not even that old!), I’ll be thinking about retiring again, not beginning some new effort! But the Lord never gives us a task that we can’t handle with His help.
Second, Noah was never given a time schedule so that he would know when the flood was coming, and when the construction had to be complete, and when the boat had to be loaded and ready to “cast off”. He was simply told what he had to do, what the result would look like, and why he was being asked to do this. I expect that getting an early start the very next day was the first order of business for Noah.
No time schedule, no project schedule, no construction plans – just here’s what is going to happen. And that was enough incentive for Noah to complete the project before the waters came.
The lesson? Don’t worry about when it will happen, just be ready when it does.

Noah knew, his family knew, and apparently all of the animals that were supposed to be on the Ark knew. But the world didn’t have a clue. Did God intentionally omit them from the plan? I don’t think so. I believe that if anyone else had been “righteous and blameless” (Genesis 6:9), as Noah was, they, too, would have been saved. They would have known. They would have heard. But they didn’t.
Be prepared, for “no one knows about that day or hour”.

And how suddenly will the Christ come? So suddenly and unexpectedly that the normalcy of the day will be in full swing, and not a single person will know. And only those who have heard and seen will even have a clue that the day is approaching, that this day is about to be changed in a such a drastic and profound way.

Read Matthew 24:42-44

So the world had better be prepared! All but a very few people missed his first coming. Only a bunch of smelly old shepherds and a few wealthy foreigners knew – and why? Because they saw and heard, and didn’t miss the opportunity to go and see more for themselves.
Were the shepherds prepared? (Luke 2:8-20) They were busy keeping their flocks safe during the long and lonely night, but they were ready. Their eyes were sharp and alert, their ears were tuned for any sound that was out of the norm – they were doing what they were supposed to be doing, and they were ready!
Were the magi ready? (Matthew 2:1-12) They were watching the heavens for a sign of divine activity, and when the star appeared for all to see, they were the only ones who had sufficient wisdom and heart to understand. They were doing what they were supposed to be doing, and they were ready, too!

Those who had been watchful were blessed beyond all measure, and when the Lord returns in His glory, once again, only the watchful, only the prepared, will be blessed.

Bishop William Boyd Grove, former bishop of the Wyoming Conference, suggests that certain words deserve to interrupt all other words and conversation. Words like “The house is on fire!” or “The war is over!” or
- “Your hostage brother has been released!”
These are, in his provocative words, startling, interrupting proclamations that change everything. If the house is on fire, you [had better] run!
If the war is over, you [will want to] dance! If your hostage brother is released, you leave everything and go to meet him!

-As found in The West Virginia United Methodist, April 1992, 11.

During Advent we prepare ourselves for another set of words that change everything: Jesus Christ is born today. Now there’s a few words that completely changed the world!
It’s interesting that so many people make such elaborate preparations to celebrate Christmas, the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem, but so few are willing to do the same for His reemergence as Fully God in all of His glory! We get focused on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the pageant of maxing out the credit cards, the overwhelming drive to out-give the giving last Christmas.
The preparations are both endless and hollow.

But how should we prepare? We weren’t alive when He came the first time, so preparation for that event is behind us – we can’t do anything about it. But His next coming is getting closer every day, and it’s one that all must be prepared for, because everyone - prepared or not - will know when Jesus has come again. No one can afford to miss this one!
Remember our friend Noah? He was found to be a righteous and blameless man. Remember Job? God told Satan that he was a blameless and upright man. (Job 1:8) “Blameless” seems to be the key doesn’t it? But we are all sinful men and women, and not one of us is worthy of even a single, minor blessing from God! And yet, His first journey to earth in the form of a helpless Baby was the first step in making our preparation for the glorious day that is yet to come. And all we need to do is accept the perfect and only preparation that is sufficient – the one that Jesus has already made for us. His life and death and life – to claim the words that were spoken, and the blood that was shed, and the life that is given. He has made our preparations for eternity, and all we have to do to be ready for that day is to trust Him with our entire life and believe!

Are you ready? Are you truly ready?