St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.

 

You yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night. When people say, "Everything is quiet and safe," then suddenly destruction will hit them! …. But you, friends, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. … We should not be sleeping like the others; we should be awake and sober.                 

Prayer

We like surprises. The unexpected bouquet of flowers, the thank you gift, the sudden visits from friends we haven’t seen in ages.  A pastor almost religiously fond of pure undiluted horse-radish, took a bottle with him on his holidays. In a restaurant, he put generous amount of the stuff on his meat at the table. A gentle man near him asked what it was, and then asked if he might try a little. “ Of course, of course said the preacher.”

The neighbour took a huge teaspoon of it, swallowed it, at once, and gulped, tears filling his eyes, and his face growing red. When he finally caught his breath and could speak, he said to the minister. “ I have heard preachers talk about hell-fire, and brimstones, but I never before me one who carried samples with him.”

As I said, there are some surprises we could well do without. To a more serious story. It was late in the afternoon one hot summer’s day at the beach. Most people had gone home and those who were still there were enjoying the sunset, except for four young adults who were playing in the waves.

Suddenly their loud laughter turned to screams. It took a while for those on the beach to realize that they weren’t messing around. One of the young men, diving repeatedly into the surf. Some in the crowd waded into the water. Within minutes they moved back to the shore, following a young man holding the lifeless body of his friend.

How quickly these things happen. How thin that veneer, that delusive crust separating death from life. Life appears certain and sure. Then there is the late night phone call, the little spot on the x-ray of the lungs, the slight twitch in the chest. There are some surprises that put a stop to our happiness and fun. There are surprises we don’t want. Paul writes to the Thessalonians:

"You yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night. When people say, "Everything is quiet and safe," then suddenly destruction will hit them! …. But you, friends, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief."

 

Today's second reading compares the advent of God to a thief. Paul warns the Thessalonians, "Don't let God jump you unawares like a thief in the night." Four times in the New Testament, the coming of God is compared to the intrusion of a thief. Some of us here this morning have experienced what it’s like to come home to find that someone has broken into our home and gone through our belongings, looking for something valuable to steal.

How do we feel once the thief has entered our life? ‘Violated’ is the word the best described the feeling? That safe, secure, sanctuary we called home, never feels quite so safe again. An intruder has had the nerve to finger our most intimate possessions. There are some people who never feel comfortable in their own homes again after a thief has been through everything and robbed them.

Now to speak of God as a thief seems so contrary to what we believe about God. There are much more flattering images of God.  A shepherd who lovingly cares for his sheep. A loving parent who is always ready to welcome back straying son or daughter. But a thief! That’s not a very nice image to have of God. That’s exactly why Paul uses this picture. To catch our attention. This is so important! Jesus is coming back, there can be no doubt about that. Be ready for his return. "Don't let God jump you unawares like a thief in the night."

This parable from Jesus helps us to understand this plea of Paul to the Thessalonians. "Be on the watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come. It will be like a man who goes away on a trip and leaves his servants in charge, after giving to each one his own work to do and after telling the doorkeeper to keep watch. Watch, then, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming" (Mark 13:33-37).

You see, Paul is repeating Jesus warning to be alert, to be on the watch, because Jesus is coming back. Don’t be caught unawares because he will return at the most unexpected time. One of the reasons we are caught unprepared for either God’s call to us to our home coming or Jesus’ return to bring God’s Kingdom is that we think that things will go on forever.

"There will always be a tomorrow," we say. We build up our financial reserves for the future. We build and buy to such an extent without thinking that our life could come to an end so quickly. Life ends, things terminate, the only permanent fact of life is our impermanence. Oh! how we hate, avoid, and deny this.

There is nothing wrong with planning for tomorrow, but a planning that takes into account that one day, either with our own departure or with the coming of Jesus.

Our lives hang by a fragile thread. The loved ones we cluster so securely about us, are temporary residents here, just as we are. The things that we accumulate, and hoard, and insure; they are decaying, depreciating, devaluing even as I speak.

          As Psalm 90 says of us, "We are like grass which flourishes in the morning; by evening, it fades and withers." We can all tell stories about being surprised by the sudden death of a friend or relative, or the sudden collapse of a business. When Christ will return we don’t know. Just as you can never predict when a thief will break into your house, neither can we predict when the last day will be.

The point of this message is – if we know that at some time a thief will break into our house and violate our personal space, then we will be on the alert, we will stay up all night if necessary, we will install anti-theft devices, we will do everything possible to be ready for the occasion when the thief will try to enter our homes.

The Scriptures call each and every one of us to be on a similar alert for the day we breathe our last or the day when Christ will return. We would do everything possible to be ready for that day when we will be called into God’s presence.

How can we be ready for the Second Advent? First, let me say that a lot has been done for us. Jesus has made it possible for us to feel comfortable and to rejoice when he comes again at the end of this earth’s history. The thought of this world coming to an end or our lives drawing to a close and leaving everything and everyone who is familiar and loved is disturbing and frightening.

To have those fears is normal. But at the same time we know that we have a Saviour who has a powerful love for us. When the time comes for us to leave this life we will feel completely at ease and happy because we are going to a place that is beyond our wildest dreams.

He has made it possible for us to feel at ease when he returns. We don’t need to fear God’s judgment. We are forgiven. All that we have done to offend God and hurt our fellow human beings has been wiped away by the blood of Jesus. We are members of his family.

We have received reassurance of his forgiveness and love for us through our baptism and through the celebration of Holy Communion. Through his death and resurrection he makes his coming again and our dying the beginning of a glorious new life in the presence of God and all those who have died in the faith.

Today’s gospel reading about the servants who were given various amounts of money to invest for the master reminds us that until Jesus returns we have been called to be faithful managers of everything that God has given to us. The church has been called to be the prophetic voice, a faithful steward with the gospel, and the precious message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

The church has been challenged to make an investment in the lives, the eternal lives, of those who do not yet know Jesus. The parable calls us to take a look at what we are doing or not doing. As individual members of the church we are to carefully manage and use those gifts God has given to serve God, and world community.

Jesus confronts us through this parable to take another look at how unconcerned we have been in using our God given gifts to bring blessing to others. We forget how generous God has been toward us and wrongly think that he has given us all this just for ourselves.

As we wait for the Lord’s return, God’s presence is with us. Son. He gives us his body and blood to eat and drink, he forgives us, and sends us right back into the world to make it a better place until that day when he will come again in glory.

 

May peace the of God which passes all understanding keep

your heart and mind through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.