Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Friday of Laetare (Lent IV)

Friday of Laetare (Lent IV)

Daily Lectionary Readings: Genesis 47:1-31; Mark 13:24-37; (Genesis 48:1-49:28)

Mark 13:32-37 [Jesus said:] [32] “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. [33] Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. [34] It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. [35] Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—[36] lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. [37] And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

Christ is warning us to keep watch because we will be tempted before His return. He warned us about apostasy, the abandonment of the faith we have believed, taught and confessed as our own. This began happening shortly after Jesus' ascension and is happening right now. We need to look no further than those who change the creed and baptize in the name of a creator, redeemer, and sanctifier instead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We need only recall conversations where we have been told, "I'm letting my child choose his own path" or "don't bring religion into this." The false christs are everywhere. Jesus gives us the warning signs: we would do well to heed them.

This isn't a call to argue if the end times are here or not. They are, they have been since Jesus left earth, and will continue until He returns. These signs are not here to point us to His imminent return, so we can scare others into belief. They exist because sin exists. Jesus' warning is to keep us focused, as St. Peter teaches us: “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”1

Keeping watch for the end is just this sort of mental preparation. But this watch does not preempt our duty to our vocations. We don’t forsake our love of neighbor to become “the end is near” fanatics. We of faith are secure. The urgency is to continue to preach Christ crucified for sinners to those who do not yet know Him, as John reminds us: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”2

Jesus tells us that this waiting period will be like “a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.”3

Don't waste your time listening to the radio and television preachers or your money on their books, which attempt to show you how the signs in the world point to Jesus showing up sooner rather than later. Beware the false prophets and their snake oil. Jesus said He is coming, which is a promise, though open-ended. Conversely, do not succumb to the temptation that nothing really changes, so why act like He is coming soon? Both these paths lead to self-deception and sin.

Consider the poor doorkeeper Jesus spoke about! Jesus says he must remain alert through all four watches, implying the master's return will be at night! Keep in mind that he works a full day shift as well! It will be effortless for him to be caught napping. People in the ancient world avoided traveling at night because of the dangers. The nighttime is the most improbable and challenging time to be on guard. As impossible as the doorkeeper's job is, it will be more impossible for us to only wait and watch because Jesus' return will be far more impossible to predict! Hence, Jesus says, be ready at any time.

It is said that time is a river. It is also said that the Church is a ship. Therefore, the Church is a time machine. We sail toward the certainty of the end of days on a horizon set at an unknown distance and unknown future time. But Christ has prepared us. He continues to come to us in His Holy Supper, a few moments outside of time and space, as we kneel before the altar with all the saints who have gone before us and those yet to come. The holy medicine of His body and blood, broken and shed upon the cross, strengthens our assurance that, all sins forgiven, we will arrive at that distant shore of unknown date to fully realize our rebirth into completely regenerated, perfect creatures, there to dwell with our God forever.

But this moment out of time is temporary, as is this world. So we disembark from our time machine to share the good news of the coming end of days and what it means for all believers. We are assured in the certainty of our salvation, but we are not without urgency. For we do not know the day or hour, so we search out the lost among our families, friends, foes, and strangers alike so that they may come to faith and be secure in that assurance as well. The end is coming, and we embrace it, but spreading the Word is critical. When God decides our work here is done, we will rest. Until then, stay awake!

11 Peter 1:13 (ESV).

2John 3:17-18 (ESV).

3Mark 13:34 (ESV).