Jesus is not asking us to figure out when He will return. Jesus is asking us to live everyday in the certainty that He will return.
My neighbors were about to have a baby, and it was hard not to get excited. We were not having a generalized conversation about whether or not to start a family. This was a very specific conversation about a very specific baby that was six months along and coming into this world. It was the specificity that struck me. They were anticipating holding their baby, changing diapers, and listening in on the baby monitor to catch their baby waking or beginning to cry. These normal, everyday tasks of caring for a child made the future personal and hopeful.
Something like that is happening in our Gospel reading for today. Jesus is prophesying the future and yet, in the midst of the prophecy, He offers small glimpses of daily life. These glimpses invite us into a future which is personal and hopeful.
“Hopeful” is not the first word that comes to mind when you listen to the words of Christ’s prophecy. His vision is chaotic and confusing. Jesus points out the darkening of our world. The sun is darkened, the moon no longer offers light, and stars are falling from the heavens. The cosmos is in chaos. Not only that, but it is easy to be confused. Jesus speaks about His return on the clouds of Heaven but then says it will happen before “this generation” passes away. How is that possible? Not only that, but if you are concerned about the Second Coming and trying to pinpoint the date, Jesus reveals He does not know the day or the hour but only His Father in Heaven. How can Jesus know this generation will not pass away before it happens if He does not know the day or the hour? It is chaotic and confusing.
The prophecy of Jesus leaves us wondering and, unfortunately, the chaos and confusion of this vision has led people to try to predict the Second Coming. Confusion creates a desire for clarity and the desire for clarity leads to long and tortured explanations of dates and times, symbols and signs. The more people try to explain the timing of the second coming, the less realistic the event seems to be. It becomes a puzzle, an esoteric study for biblical scholars, disconnected from daily life.
That is why I treasure the small breaks in the prophecy when Jesus points to things we know. Right after foreseeing chaos in the cosmos, Jesus turns our attention to a fig tree. He knows His disciples have seen fig trees. He knows they know how fig trees go to leaf as summer arrives. There is nothing strange in this reference to the fig tree. It is something they understand and expect, a picture of daily life.
The same thing happens after Jesus reveals that only the Father knows the time of the Second Coming. At that point, Jesus paints a picture of a household of servants whose master has gone away on a journey. The master will return. The servants may not know when. It could occur in the morning, or the afternoon, or the evening, but the master will return. So, the servants maintain the household until the master comes. Even though they do not know precisely when he will come, they know what to do until that time. Food needs to be stocked, lanterns need to be lit, and corners need to be cleaned.
The master will return. The servants may not know when. It could occur in the morning, or the afternoon, or the evening, but the master will return.The fig tree blooms. Servants work. These are not strange, esoteric images detached from daily life. No, they describe the world in which we live. They invite us to remember Jesus is not asking us to figure out when He will return. Jesus is asking us to live everyday in the certainty that He will return.
Like my friends who were expecting a baby, they did not know the exact day their baby would arrive. They just knew the baby was coming. So, they lived. They lived every day in the beautiful hope of a baby. They engaged in concrete activities shaped by the good news that a baby would arrive.
On this day, the Church celebrates that Jesus is Lord. He has risen from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and rules over all things. The One who came and gave His life for you, has now gone to prepare a place for you. He has promised to return, to judge the living and the dead, and to bring those who believe in Him into His eternal Kingdom. Until that day, He rules over all things... for you.
Just because you do not know the day when He will return does not mean you do not know what to do. You live in His Kingdom now, awaiting His future presence when He comes in the flesh. Like parents awaiting the arrival of their child, we are children of God awaiting the arrival of our Savior. Until He comes, we participate in the things He has given us to do. We bring our sins before Him in confession, and we receive from Him forgiveness. We gather around His table, eating and drinking His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. We enter the world with hope that is personal and powerful and changes the way we live.
We do not become discouraged when the world tells us the future is dark. We do not become anxious when the world offers frightening visions of what is to come. We know Jesus is Lord and rules over all things and will return to welcome us into His Kingdom where we will serve Him in righteousness, innocence, and blessedness that will have no end. We live today and tomorrow in hope.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Mark 13:24-37.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Mark 13:24-37
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach Mark 13:24-37.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
Lectionary Podcast-Dr. Arthur Just of Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN walks us through Mark 13:24-37.
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