Series: Advent: The Season to Prepare for Jesus’ Arrival

Title: Why Get Ready to Meet Jesus?

Text: Matthew 24:37-44

 

Are you ready? Are you prepared?

There are certain random events for which we really cannot be ready.

When Mary and I lived in Columbia, South Carolina, she had a 45 minute commute to her job at the Department of Health.

One morning – when Mary was pregnant with Elizabeth – she was heading East on I-20 in heavy traffic.

It was bumper to bumper.

She was in the far left lane.

The car in front of her suddenly served to the right, revealing a parked car directly in front of her.

Mary slammed on the brakes and yanked the wheel to the right, causing the rear of her car to fish-tale in front of an 18 wheeler.

As she yanked it back to the left, she shut her eyes and cried, "Oh, God."

A few moments later, the car had come to a stop.

As she opened her eyes, she found that she had crossed all three lanes of traffic and was facing West on the side of the road.

She was sobbing and shaking as she still clutched that steering wheel.

There was absolutely nothing Mary could have done to prepare herself for that terrifying ordeal.

When I was a teenager, we moved from Bloomington, Indiana to Columbia, South Carolina.

A few weeks after I started the ninth grade, I had my front tooth knocked out in a freak accident.

The doctor stitched up my chin and the dentist reinserted by tooth.

Twenty years later the root started to disappear. My dentist sent me to an Endodontist, who did several root canals to preserve my front tooth. Everything seemed to be fine.

Twelve years after the Endodontist’s work, I was at Brandon and Leslie’s rehearsal dinner. As I bit into a savory chicken fajita, and my tooth broke off at the gum line.

I went into shock, unable to lift my head from the table.

At the wedding the next day I was still shaky, and toothless.

There was nothing I could have done to prepare for that tooth breaking off.

No matter how hard we try, there are certain random events for which we cannot be ready.

For other events, we can and should be ready, and we would be foolish not to prepare.

For decades experts have been warning the residents of New Orleans to prepare for a category thee or four hurricane.

Yet, the people and the politicians just didn’t listen.

For decades, through dangerous environmental practices, they have allowed the marsh lands – which used to protect New Orleans from hurricanes – to disappear.

According to a spokesman from Ducks Unlimited, they have lost "1 million acres of marsh."

http://www.louisianaspeaks.org/news/984.html

"A third of Louisiana 's coastal marsh is gone, and 50 more acres are lost each day."

http://www.ducks.org/Page2220.aspx

To make matters worse, when Hurricane Katrina hit, the people, the mayor, and the governor were totally unprepared.

Even though 49% of New Orleans is below sea level, with some sections as low as 10 feet below sea level, many did not have flood insurance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans

The dykes failed. The pumps failed.

Hundreds of buses filled with water instead of transporting people to safety.

"Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina

The people, the mayor, and the governor could have been prepared; they should have been prepared, but sadly they were not ready.

Tragically, the same will be true for many when Jesus returns. They should have been prepared; they could have been prepared, but they will not be ready to meet Him.

Are you ready? Are you prepared?

Here in Memphis experts have warned us for years about an impending earthquake.

One-hundred-ninety-six (196) years ago, the area just north of here was hit with one of the most massive series of earthquakes in recent history.

The earthquakes were so powerful that they woke people from their sleep in Washington, D.C.

Tremors were felt as far away as Quebec.

North of Dyersburg, next to Tiptonville, the land dropped down causing the mighty Mississippi River to literally flow backwards, to flow into the indention, creating the 18,000 acre, Reelfoot Lake.

http://www.reelfoot.com/new_madrid_earthquake.htm

Memphis is preparing for the next big earthquake:

The old bridges have been retrofitted to prevent their demise.

Kim Hightower tells me that they have removed several of the top floors of the VA hospital to make protect it from ruin.

Many homeowners have an earthquake riders on the insurance policy to protect their investment.

Mary and I have a small store of food and water, enough to last about three weeks.

Some in Memphis are ready to face the coming earthquake.

Sadly, some are not ready.

Tragically, the same will be true for many when Jesus returns. They should have been prepared; they could have been prepared, but they will not be ready to meet Him.

Are you ready? Are you prepared?

Our reading from Matthew chapter 24 indicates that many will not be ready.

Please turn to Matthew 24:37. Jesus said,

37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:37 (NIV)

When Jesus returns, it will be very similar to the days of Noah.

What was it like in the days of Noah? Verse 38:

38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
Matthew 24:38 (NIV)

The people will be doing normal things:

Eating and drinking.

Getting married.

Going to work.

Going shopping.

Playing games.

Yet, ignoring God and his commands.

Sound familiar?

Genesis chapter six tells us, that in the days of Noah,

People’s ⁵...wickedness on the earth had become [great], and that every inclination of the thoughts of [their hearts] was only evil all the time.
Genesis 6:5 (NIV)

"...the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.
Genesis 6:11 (NIV)

Should familiar?

Second Peter 2:5 tells us that Noah was "a preacher of righteousness..." For 100 years, as he and his sons built the giant ark:

He called them to repentance.

He called them to prepare for the flood of God’s judgment. I imagine:

Some laughed at Noah.

Some ignored him.

Only a few believed him.

http://noahsarksearch.com/faq.htm

If you’ve seen the movie Evan Almighty:

It must have been very much like that scene when the reporters and hundreds of people mocked Evan as he built the ark.

The people in the days of Noah were very much like most modern Americans. They were absorbed with themselves, not God:

They were busy with every imaginable activity, but made little or no time for worship.

Their thoughts were wicked.

They ignored and mocked God’s preacher of righteousness.

When the flood of God’s judgment came, they were not ready.

Look at Matthew 24:39.

39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:39 (NIV)

Even though Noah had warned them for 100 years of God’s coming judgment,

"...they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away."

These people ignored God’s Word:

The Bible sat on their bookshelf unread.

Driving all the way to Noah’s place to hear him preach every week, was just too much effort.

Why repent from a few chronic sins? No one’s perfect!

 

"...That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."
Matthew 24:39 (NIV)

Those who are not embraced by Jesus; those who are swept away in God’s judgment, will have the same lame excuses.

Are you ready? Are you prepared?

Look at Matthew 24:40. Jesus said that when he returns:

40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

Matthew 24:40-41 (NIV)

One will be swept away in God’s judgment.

The other will be swept up into God’s loving and holy presence.

So what should you do to be ready for Jesus’ return? Look at verse 42:

42"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴So 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 (NIV)

If you knew a thief was going to try to break into your home tonight, you would be ready:

You’d turn the flood lights on.

You’d lock the windows and doors.

You’d have 911 on your speed dial.

You would not doze off.

You’d keep watch.

 

You know Jesus’ return is inevitable. We proclaim it every Sunday,

"He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end" (The Nicene Creed).

How much more should you keep watch, keep alert for the coming of Jesus.

Don’t be like the people in the days of Noah, who after a 100 years of Noah’s preaching ignored God’s coming judgment.

As Jesus said,

44So 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 (NIV)

Be prepared. Be ready.

Draw close to God. Be about the Master’s business, and you will rest in peace.

Can You Sleep While The Wind Blows
Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast.  He constantly
advertised for workers.

Back then, most people were afraid to work on farms along the Atlantic.

They feared the powerful summer storms which, destroyed buildings, crops, and people.

After many refusals, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer.

"Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him.

"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

Although he was puzzled by his answer, the farmer hired him.

The little man worked hard around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the
farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

Then one night a terrible storm swept in from the Atlantic.

The farmer jumped out of bed, grabbed a lantern, and rushed next door to the worker’s bunkhouse.

He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up!  A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I
can sleep when the wind blows."

The furious farmer, ran outside to prepare for the storm, but to his amazement, he discovered that:

All of the haystacks had been covered with tarps.

The cows were in the barn.

The chickens were in their coops.

The shutters were tightly secured.

Everything was tied down.

Nothing could blow away.

The farmer then understood what his worker meant when he said,

"I can sleep when the wind blows."

When you are ready, you can rest in peace.

It is time to be ready to meet Jesus, to continually:

To be alert.

To "keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."