Are You Ready

                        Joel 2: 28-31a   Luke 12: 32-40

 

 

          It was called Operation Overlord, a term coined by Winston Churchill for the military operation that has come to be known as D-Day. It was the greatest land and sea invasion in the history of mankind. In the space of a month, over a million troops came ashore on the coast of France in the effort to liberate not only that country, but also Europe, from the grip of Adolf Hitler and Nazism.

          Some months before the invasion, Erwin Rommel, the great German general, was put in charge of defense of the French coastline.  He strongly believed that the Germans could only win the coming battle by repelling the Allies at the water’s edge. He saw the first twenty four hours as decisive. If the Germans failed to hold the coastline, the Allies would ultimately prevail.

          Some two thousand years earlier, the gospel of Luke narrates two stories told by Jesus. One has to do with the preparedness of those who serve. The other tells of a master who failed to keep his house secured from a thief. Matthew relates a parallel story in chapter 25 about ten virgins who are to prepare for a wedding feast and the bridegroom who will come to their door. Mark also shares the parable of the door keeper in chapter 13 of his gospel. These three stories all seek to warn us that we must live prepared for what may come without notice.

          Like the leaders who prepared for the D-Day invasion, the servants, virgins and the master of the house in these gospel stories prepare for the upcoming event. Each in his or her own way is charged with readiness. There is to be an event, a life changing, world-shattering event. There is no question that it will come. The question is when, and whether those who must engage will be prepared. Will they be ready for what comes?

In Mark, a doorkeeper is charged with the task of staying awake, waiting for the master of the house to return. In Matthew, ten virgins are to wait at the home of the groom for the wedding reception that is certainly to follow…and half of them are found wanting in the task while the other half are prepared. In Luke, the story is similar. The master is gone to a wedding feast and the servants are to wait for his return. Like Operation Overlord, the question is not whether, but when. In France in 1944, the appointed hour would only be known by the sighting of the expeditionary force. In Jesus’ parable in the book of Luke, that hour would be signaled by the return of the master from the wedding feast. By the time it is known, it is far too late to make preparations.

Luke’s second parable here talks about the householder and a thief. In this case, the owner must take measures to keep someone out, as opposed to the other stories where servants are looking to let someone in when he arrives. Don’t be fooled. The theme is not about open or shut doors, not about letting someone out or in, but about readiness; about being prepared. This is a message not just for each of us as individual Christians, but for our ministry together as the body of Christ, the church. Are we ready? Does the Christian walk of each one of us reflect that Christ can come tonight and knock on our door and be welcome to see us as we are? Does the ministry of this church say to all who would look our way, that God is on the premises and in the pews and present in the pulpit with the message that issues from it? If not, then we are like the master who opens the door to a thief rather than our Savior.

Operation Overlord was over a year in the making. Months before the invasion, soldiers began to gather all over that part of England. There were many details to be worked out, even down to building a fake army on the ground to fool the Germans. But when the time came, there was no turning back. Men and material came together as one as they fought their way onto the shore of France and gained a foothold never to be relinquished.

Seventy years later, we still remember the terms D-Day and H-Hour. They have come to symbolize that point in history when time seemed to stand still as the world held its breath. It was D-Day, the day when all the forces of freedom converged on the forces of evil in the world. It was H-hour, the moment when the invasion was launched, and regardless of weather or any other circumstance, the die was cast. It was too late to turn back.

Long ago, the prophet Joel spoke of a time when God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh. On that day, said Joel, your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Listen to what else Joel had to say:

          In those days I will pour out my Spirit.

          And I will show wonders in the heaven

and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.

The sun shall be turned to darkness,

and the moon to blood,

before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

                                                                   Joel 2: 30-32

 

Joel prophesied about the same day to which Jesus alluded in his parables, a day when all shall be judged, when God closes the book on this great creation, settles all accounts and ends the age. On that day, the eschatological D-Day of creation, no one will be exempt. No one will have more time.

I have talked about a great moment in history because it may help illustrate what Jesus was saying. He talked in front of a multitude, but he seemed to be directing these lessons to his disciples. In fact, it even confused them enough for Peter to ask whether the parable was for them or for all. Jesus’ answer seemed to point toward believers and more particularly, religious leaders, for he ended this segment by saying that for everyone to whom much is given, much will be required.

Whether you understand preparation better by thinking about D-Day or by listening to Jesus talking about an absentee master or a thief in the night is up to you. No matter how you best understand it, the point Jesus made is just as true and factual today as it was on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. Jesus talked of the Day of the Lord, the day he knew that he would return. On that day and in that hour, whatever preparation has not been made will not be made.

I think about how many times in Scripture we are warned about the Day of the Lord. Joel talked about it. Daniel talked about the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. Paul and Peter talked about it.  Jesus talked about it in each of the Synoptic gospels. Scripture teaches us that there will be a reckoning. And here we are reminded that, like D-Day, you are either ready or you aren’t.

Remember what General Rommel said? The first day would be decisive. Either the Germans would hold the coastline or the tide of the war would turn to the Allies. Rommel was prophetic. The Allies took the ground, and history has marked well what happened after that.  Long before D-Day, Jesus tells us the same thing about the end of history and, frankly, for the end that each of us will undergo personally. Be ready. You won’t get a second chance. When he comes, there will be no warning. The warning is now.

What are you doing with your warning? What are you doing with your time? What are you doing to be and stay prepared? What about your children? What about your neighbor? What if he comes tomorrow? What if he comes tonight? And even more poignant than that, what if your time comes before he comes again? Are you ready for your own D-Day?

In 1944, the Allies built a vast army and an armada of ships to take on the evil of Nazism. They drilled. They planned. They tried in every way to be prepared. Failure was not an option. They had to get it right. Today, our task is little different. We call our army the church. We call our armada the mission field. We are tasked with not only being ready, but with launching a war of goodness and love against the forces of evil in the world. We are not only the bride of Christ; we are also on the front line of witness for the message of Jesus Christ.

There is pressure in knowing that God can come tonight, that he will come without any more notice than we already have. But listen to this piece of good news from this same passage of Scripture:

          Blessed are those servants whom the master

finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you,

he will dress himself for service and have them

recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

                                                          Matthew 12: 37

 

Think of it. To the faithful, to the ready, our Savior promises us that not only will we dine with him…but that he will come and serve us! The banquet of life itself, served up to the servants by the Master himself.

          Are you ready?