"On The Alert"
July 16, 2006

The Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 51: 9 - 11
The New Testament Lesson: Luke 12: 32 - 40

Vigilance allows us to rest securely

Today we finish this series on Fear.  We have looked carefully at Jesus’ words concerning fear in Luke 12: both good and bad kinds of fear.

On the good side: we are told to base our lives on the fear of the Lord.  We are to make all our actions conform with what we know God wants from us and to reverence the Lord in all we do.

On the negative side, we are told not to be afraid of those whose only power over us is physical and not to worry about our physical needs.  Instead we are to trust in God who cares for us and to seek God’s kingdom above all.

Today, as we conclude, we look at an important result of getting our concerns in the right order: vigilance!

I.  It is very easy to be lulled into false security by a long wait.
   A. A few months ago, I read about a fire alarm in a business.
        1. They regularly held drills for fire so people knew the response.
        2. On this particular day, an inspector was present to check efficiency
            a. No one in the building was told about the drill
            b. Wanted a natural response.
        3. When the alarm sounded, there was no panic.
            a. In fact, there was almost no response at all.
            b. People continued sitting at lunch, working at their desks, whatever
        4. Concluded that there was no urgency because there was no fire.
            a. The bulk had never experienced a true emergency, only drills.
            b. The result was that they assumed it was another drill.
            c. They didn’t wanted to waste their time with evacuation.
   B. It is extremely easy to be lulled into false security.
        1. When you are told about an impending disaster, you fret.
        2. When there are repeated warnings with no disaster, you relax.
        3. You get to the point at which you no longer pay attention.
        4. Compare the response to the hurricanes pre and post Katrina.
            a. before Katrina, you had people in FL saying “Oh it’s just cat 3”
            b. Afterwards: packing up when a Category 1 came through
        5. Long delays put our warning sensors on sleep mode!
        6. That has happen to many Christians!

II.  From experience, Jesus warns us to stay alert for God activity
   A. Jesus spoke to people who had long waited for Messiah.
        1. The last Old Testament prophet had spoken centuries before.
            a. Malachi, last of the Old Testament books written about 450 B.C.
            b. He warned of the coming Messiah and the Day of the Lord.
            c. Then, God fell silent as far as written material.
        2. During that period, there had been numerous false alarms.
        3. when the Messiah did arrive on the scene, some said “Not Again!”
   B. It was into this attitude that Jesus told his story.
        1. How lucky for those servants who are ready for their master!
        2. They had been waiting for a long time!
            a. The Master was at a wedding banquet.
            b. These could take as long as a week!
            c. the 2^nd and 3^rd watch was sometime between 10pm and 6am
        3. but, regardless of the long wait and late hour, they were ready.
        4. Their reward can hardly be imagined.
            a. we are not talking of a nice Christmas bonus.
            b. The Master plays servant to these servants and feeds them.
            c. That is an unheard of practice!  They were transformed into Lords!
        5. But they had to be vigilant because no one knows when
   C. In our day, this is not too difficult to apply this text.
        1. The Early Church was watching for Jesus’ return.
            a. some thought that it would occur right away.
            b. Others believed it might be years.
            c. But years turned into decades and decades to centuries.
            d. And today we are still waiting for that return.
        2. Many churches, including the Presbyterian church, have lost focus.
            a. We have curled up to wait for Jesus and have fallen asleep.
            b. We no longer have a sense of urgency about the task.
            c. We just aren’t as ready as we need to be to respond to God.
        3. What would Jesus tell us to do?

III.  Jesus wants us to use very method to stay alert: God is coming!
   A. Ever been driving down the road and becoming sleepy?
        1. Driving while over tired is a common cause of accidents.
        2. I vividly remember coming home from camp Pinecliff late one night.
            a. I was having trouble staying awake.
            b. I had already jerked the car back on the road twice from drifting.
        3. I employed every method I could.
            a. I stopped for coffee and walked around.
            b. I turned on the radio really loud and started to sing.
            c. I rolled down the window to get fresh air. (It was cold out!)
        4. What is Spiritual equivalent that get us to our heavenly home safely?
   B. Remind yourself that the time really is short.
        1. Think: had Jesus returned in 80 years, would have been a short wait!
        2. But few people have any longer than that to wait.
            a. Most people don’t have much longer than a single generation
            b. That should hit home to all of us.
        3. As an occupational hazard, I read the obituaries.
            a. Many of the people have died after long lives.
            b. I’m seeing more and more who are right about the same age as I am
            c. The most chilling are the accidents that take people at 20 or 30
        4. The urgency is that we will never know when our lives will end
        5. Or the lives of those we love.
        6. What are we doing to make sure they’re prepared?
   C. Think carefully about the suffering that people are enduring.
        1. Jesus doesn’t just care about people’s eternal destination
        2. Jesus showed great concern for the suffering of the now
            a. People who were ill moved Jesus.
            b. People who were lonely moved Jesus.
            c. People who are hungry and homeless moved Jesus.
        3. Part of our preparation for Jesus’ return is to be moved the same way.
        4. we need to be compassionate and strive to alleviate all suffering
        5. But our special task is to ease spiritual suffering.
   D. Lastly, Hope should give us a sense of urgency.
        1. Things do not have to continue to be the way they always have!
        2. Jesus didn’t come so that everything would stay the same.
        3. Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God—God’s way of doing things.

    Friends, we live in a nation that is full of physical comfort.  But that very comfort can be a danger to us.  We can forget that there needs to be some real urgency about our task.  We must always take care to share the love of Jesus whenever we get a chance, because we never know when those opportunities will end!