by J. Christian Andrews
May 8, 2015
Be Dressed and in Readiness
“Be dressed and in readiness, and keep your lamps alight. And be like men who are waiting for the master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks” (Luke 12:35, 36 NASB).
Without knowing something about first century wedding practices, this text seems odd and maybe out of place in our 2015 context. It is not my purpose here, however, to expound on those practices. I think is it reasonable, regardless of what we know of weddings in Jesus’ day, to take from these words Jesus spoke something about urgency in being prepared. It does seem obvious that a return is expected and that the servants (or slaves) spoken of in the verses that follow need to be ready for that return even if the specifics of the return are in question.
Ever since the angels promised the disciples that just as Jesus had been taken up into heaven from them so would he return, believers have been waiting and watching for that return. There is some Biblical evidence that the apostle Paul thought that return might be in his own lifetime. There is also evidence that believers in the early church thought it certainly possible then that Christ’s return was eminent. So has it been throughout history, especially in times when the Church has been under duress.
It may also be true that particularly in these last days when the western Church and particularly the Church in these United States of America has experienced decades of unrivalled life, it has lost sight of the need to be ready. Life for US Christians has been easy and comfortable, so it is possible that in our ease and comfort we have become lax in our readiness?
Now, however, almost as by surprise, we have been caught off guard by events that are challenging our orthodox and conservative understanding of God’s imperatives in our lives. Partly perhaps because large portions of the so called Church have been lulled into sleep and deceived into accepting the world’s view, and partly because we have become complacent in our faith, we find ourselves unprepared. When our core values, when our core beliefs, come under attack and when we suddenly find ourselves facing dire possibilities thought unimaginable just a few decades ago, we are somehow shocked that these events would dare transpire among us.
How then should we, the Church, react to the signs of the times? I suggest the following.
1. Pray for revival and remember that revival begins with me. It is one thing to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to be made manifest anew. It is quite another to let that power overwhelm us ourselves, to submit ourselves to repentance and renewed faith, to be revived. Both need to happen, both our own revival and the revival of our land.
2. Stay faithful. Faithfulness probably goes hand in hand with revival, but faithfulness also calls for a deliberate and willful hanging on to truth. Faithfulness calls for a deliberate and willful living in truth. Faithfulness is the embodiment of a tenacity to hold on come what may. There will be challenges in the times ahead. There will be conflict in the times ahead. There will be divisions in the times ahead. By the power of the Holy Spirit who revives us, we must stay faithful regardless of the consequences, even prison, loss of personal property, or death.
3. Challenge the marketplace. We should not be deliberately offensive, but we should also not shy away from speaking the truth in love. We must walk in Christ in such depth of relationship that we are always ready to give a defense for the hope that is in us. We must be gentle as doves but wise as serpents. We must be salt and light. We cannot just let the world crumble around us; but we must, even if it is just one person at a time, draw people to a renewing and transforming relationship with Jesus.
4. Be ready. We do not belong to this world. We are aliens here. And yet here we are with a purpose to glorify God and be witnesses to what He has done in our lives. We do this, however, knowing that there is something far greater, even beyond what we can imagine, on the other side of death. They may take all we own, but they cannot take away our hope. They may lock us up, but they cannot imprison the spirit. They may kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul. But, the soul must be ready to meet whatever challenges may be ahead and its Maker.
I am certainly not about to predict that these are the last day, but they might be. I am certainly not going to claim with certainty that we are the divided nation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the final one at the end of the statue which is shattered by the rock rolling in to establish a new kingdom, but we may be. The signs certainly seem to be pointing in that direction. Whether the end is near or not, however, we must be ready waiting for the Master’s return.