That final week: so be prepared (and what that looks like in practice)

We don’t get to know the exact day and hour when we will die.

We don’t get to know the exact day and hour when Jesus will come back to earth again.

Even Jesus didn’t know.

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Matthew 24:36

We’ll be just getting on with our everyday lives and bam! suddenly life as we know it will be over. Nothing will be the same again. Jesus uses the example of the time of Noah: everyone was just getting on with their lives – people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage – until the flood came and took them all away.

For those of us who like to feel in control of what is going on in our world, this is pretty scary stuff. How are we supposed to live in the light of this uncertainty?

Jesus’ advice is simple. Be ready.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come…So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.  Matthew 24:42,44

But what does that look like in practice?

It looks like the servant who is put in charge of all the other servants when the master goes away and does a good job of it (Matthew 24:45-51). He cares for them. He feeds them. He obeys the master. He trusts the master will return. Everything is in order and as it should be when the master returns.

The alternative is that the servant will take advantage of the master’s physical absence to abuse his position – beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards.

Jesus has entrusted us with those around us until he returns. He expects us to care for people and planet. He expects us to respect all living things. Movements like fair trade and veganism and human rights and equal opportunities and celebrating diversity and biodiversity and protecting rainforests and eco-friendly initiatives and green politics and anti-armament protests are not all fads. They are all ways to put Jesus’ expectation of care for people and planet into practice.

Let Jesus catch you working for good. Let Jesus catch you caring. Don’t wait, don’t procrastinate. The time to act is now!

It looks like ten virgins who took out their oil lamps to greet the bridegroom but only five had prepared the lamps and had the oil to keep their lamp burning (Matthew 25:1-13). The other five begged for oil but there wasn’t enough to go round and while they were of getting some more, they missed the bridegroom’s return. Then the door was shut on them. Only those who were ready were allowed in.

What does being ready look like?

Living everyday as a follower of Jesus. Living life as it was always intended to be lived. Living the life you were created to live. Loving God, loving others, loving yourself. Living within God’s will for His world. Bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth in the most unexpected places and the most unexpected ways.

It looks like the rich man going away and entrusting his vast wealth to his servants (Matthew 25:14-30). Each servant is given a different amount, but each amount is a ridiculously huge amount of gold. Just as God has entrusted us with so much – just look around at this wonderful world that He has given us to enjoy! One of the servants doesn’t get it though. He’s scared of his master and paralysed by his fear, he hides the money and does nothing with it. He doesn’t enter into the role he’s been given. He doesn’t understand the master’s generosity and love and grace. The master wants to share it all with him and the others – share the wealth, share the happiness, share it all. That’s God’s invitation to us today too.

It looks like all people being separated out like sheep and goats, according to what they have done in this life (Matthew 25:31-46).

It looks like this.

“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

“Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison and go to visit you?”

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”   Matthew 25:34-40

It’s not about what we know. It’s not even about what we say. It’s about what we do. It’s about love in action. That’s how we can be prepared for what is to come. By showing love to those around us in practical, life-giving, compassionate ways. By sharing all that we have been so generously given.

Let Jesus catch you working for good. Let Jesus catch you caring. Don’t wait, don’t procrastinate. The time to act is now!