Jude 14,15

Zechariah 14:4,5

Mark 13:32 – 37

Matthew 24:29 – 31

What do these verses tell us about the return of Christ?

In what way do the passages describe the need to be ready?

What actions accompany those who believe in and are prepared for His coming?

What is the Spirit showing us about the Church or ourselves regarding our need to live awake?

The return of Christ is often far from my mind. I am not one who speculates on whether the conditions I see now are indeed signs of his imminent coming. I am content to believe that He will come when He will come. But could I be missing out on what the many scriptures about His return are intended to elicit? Might the teachings on Jesus’ return have been given to us  to awaken us with hopeful anticipation? The world as we know it will not continue on indefinitely. Jesus is coming. He emphatically states, “Surely, I am coming.” 

Mark 13:32 – 37 is one of the places where Jesus describes his departure as being like a man going on a journey who leaves his servants in charge, each with their jobs to do.  In this short parable he tells us three times that we do not know when the man, the master, who represents Jesus, will return. Verse 32 begins by saying, “Concerning the day and the hour, so one knows.” Verse 33 says, “For you do not know when the time will come.” Verse 35 repeats, “for you do not know when the master of the house will come.”

However, the point of the parable is not to just shrug one’s shoulders and ignore the reality of His return. Rather, three times Mark couples the words that we do not know when He is coming with words that indicate the desired response, keep awake. Verse 33 says, “Be on guard, keep awake.” Verse 35 repeats, “Therefore, stay awake.” And the parable concludes with verse 37, “What I say to you, (Peter, James, Andrew and John) I say to all: Stay awake!”

This parable is one of many places in scripture that links Jesus’ promised return with our need to stay awake. However, we also learn in other parts of scripture that remaining alert is difficult. I can relate. The anticipation of His return dulls as time goes by, it dulls as I am consumed with the here and now, it dulls as I find my satisfaction in the comforts and pleasures of this world. I recently read an account of a couple that had escaped to the United States from a country that imprisons those who promote Christ and His kingdom. In the United States they were free to worship, free to express their faith, free from the fear of persecution. However after a year, the wife of the couple begged her husband that they return to the land from which they had fled. She explained, “There is some kind of Satanic lullaby in this country and the Christians here are sleepy. I am afraid because I myself am beginning to get sleepy too.” For her the prospect of becoming dull and drowsy was more terrifying than imprisonment. Jesus is returning and she wants to be living fully engaged as His disciple.

Perhaps the shaking that we have experienced over the past years is meant to arouse us out of our slumber. Isa. 52 is a summons to a people who may have succumbed to the lullaby.

“”Awake, awake! Put on strength, put on your beautiful garments.”

“Shake yourself from the dust and arise!… loose the bonds from your neck.”

“The voice of the watchmen, they lift up their voice. Together they sing for joy, for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.”

Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing. Go out from the midst of her you who bear the vessels of the Lord.” (Isa. 52:1,2,8,11)

One hears the urgency of Isaiah’s appeal to slumbering or drowsy people. Awake, awake! The time is now to live as He intends for His people to live. I believed that Isaiah’s appeal to apathetic, indifferent Israel could easily apply to the church today. Wake up! What do awakened people look like?

These studies are an exploration of those attributes and actions that accompany those who are spiritually awake. They are an invitation to allow the Holy Spirit to show us where we might have succumbed to the lullaby so that He can lead us to live fully to please and honor Him with no regrets at His coming.

This study had its genesis in the summer of 2020. The hopes that Covid would have blown over by then had dissipated and it was becoming clear that life as usual was not around the corner and that we were hunkering down for an indefinitely long haul. Amid ongoing prayers for mercy and healing, I often found myself praying that I/we as God’s children would be attentive to whatever He was saying, whatever He was revealing about how and where we had gotten misaligned and how to walk with Him in these turbulent and uncertain times. I often ended these prayers with a bit of a frantic plea, “And please, please Lord don’t let us miss what you are saying”. During one such time, while praying with my dear friend Paula, a word came to the forefront of my mind – Awaken. It was so sudden, so other, that it had the markers of the Lord’s voice. This propelled me to begin to look at all the scriptures that had the word awake, awaken and related words like alert, ready, watchful, prepared, sober-minded, on guard. 

Two things became evident as I looked at these scriptures; first was that many, many of the passages referred to the second coming of Christ in his glory. The second was that there are certain behaviors that accompany this condition of being awake. It is these behaviors that not only indicate whether one is living awake to the real presence of God, but it is also these behaviors that stimulate one to stay awake. Here are the patterns that I identified:

Awake to Jesus’ return

Awake to living by faith and by the power of the Holy Spirit

Awake to holy living

Awake to repentance

Awake to hope

Awake to prayer

Awake to obedience to God’s calling

Awake to Satan’s schemes

Awake to the needs of the world around us

As I meditated on these verses, I recognized that these attributes have been common for all believers for all time. Could it be that I have grown so comfortable and secure in my church, in my freedoms, in my daily life that I have lost sight of His desires for all His followers? And could it be that the  shaking that we are experiencing is akin to a rumble strip on a highway that is intended to alert a drowsy driver that he is drifting away from where he is supposed to be driving? And could it be that this message is not just for me? Which is how these studies came to be. 

I invite you to consider what the Lord might be saying to us, to you. How are we to obey and live out His call to stay awake? I hope that these studies may be a help in answering that question.

-MM

This morning I took a walk at the old limestone quarry with my two dogs. Hurricane Sandy had just passed through and after being cooped up inside, it was good for all to get outside and go back to this very popular walking place, one we had been to perhaps a hundred times. This time however the parking lot was empty and the familiar, well-trod path was now covered with leaves and branches and even at various points small downed trees. Having walked the trails so many times, the terrain was very familiar but I was surprised by how confused I became without a cleared path.  Even the dogs strayed far more than usual as there seemed to be no trail to follow, just the woods. At one point on my walk I realized that I had actually departed from my usual trail as I found myself at a sign and bridge that I had never seen before. How in the world did I lose the trail? Where had I turned off? I didn’t think it was possible to have departed from a trail I thought I knew so well.  But now everything in the woods looked the same, evenly coated under rust and orange oak leaves.

It was then, as I stood at the unfamiliar bridge, that I realized that there is a way to stay on the trail even when it lies hidden under leaves and debris – trail markers. Since I hadn’t needed them before, I hardly noticed them; but there they were at regular intervals, a blue cross and an occasional blue arrow indicating the trail. It was from that time on that I looked for the markers to successfully keep to the trail for the remainder of my walk.  

Walking closely with the Lord throughout our  lives  in a way that honors and obeys Him can be a bit like my walk in the woods after the hurricane. The visibility of the trail of faith can often  become obscured by storms leaving internal or external debris. External debris clutters the landscape of our culture and the path of living a life that pleases the Lord can be buried under the stresses, demands and fears that we all face. Internal debris from storms of fear, doubt, disappointment  can confuse my own ability and frustrate even my desire to keep to the trail. Just as I needed to look at markers at regular intervals to keep me from straying in the woods, God has given me markers to follow after Him through the Word of God. Within the text of the Bible are stories, instructions, promises, commands, and revelations all of which are available to be used by the Holy Spirit to keep me walking “in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”. I need to consistently consult the Word of God to be sure I am following Him through this leaf and debris strewn world. 

The need to follow clear markers to remain true to God’s course reminds me of a story from one of my favorite C.S. Lewis books, The Silver Chair. In the beginning of this story from the Chronicles of Narnia, Polly is given four signs by Aslan the lion, the Christ figure in these tales. He requires her to repeat these signs over and over again until she has them memorized. These are the signs that she is to use on her mission to find the lost prince. “Remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs, believe the signs. Nothing else matters.”

The air will thicken, storms will come, leaves will cover the trail so that the ability to recognize paths of righteousness may be surprisingly difficult. Perhaps this is what God knew Joshua would face when entering the promised land which is why he counseled him with these words recorded in Joshua 1:8.

This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth,

But you shall meditate on it day and night 

that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. 

For then you will make your way prosperous

and then you will have good success. 

So what about you? Do you find yourself confused and disoriented at times, as I did in the woods? The path of following Jesus isn’t always clear as we look at the world around us. While we may not find the specific path we are looking for in the pages of the Bible, we do find principles and truth that are timeless and lead to life. These are a  lamp for our feet and a  light for our path. As you pray for direction, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to those passages and promises that will serve as trail markers for your journey and follow the signs.

We finally finished the last bit of our raking for the fall. Most of the trees had shed their leaves in a timely manner, except the oaks. In fact some oaks will tenaciously cling on to their brown limp leaves throughout the winter. Why do they do that? The crumpled leaves no longer feed the tree by creating nourishment from the sun. They no longer exhale oxygen. Yet there they hang dry, lifeless, adding neither beauty nor function. They are a sad reminder of former days when they were supple, green and served a life giving purpose.

As I ask the question of the oaks, why do they hang on to what is no longer lifegiving, suddenly the question points inward. Why do I hang on to things, some role, some pattern or practice which has outlived its usefulness? It may have served a purpose in its season but has that season gone by? Is it time to shed those leaves? 

As I ask the question of the oaks, why do they hang on to that which no longer has life in it, the question also points outward. Why do churches hang on to practices and patterns that have outlived their usefulness? They may have had the vibrancy of Christ’s life flowing through them at one time, but has the season passed? Is it time to shed those leaves? 

Leaf shedding is hard. Leaf shedding often brings sadness. I am still identifying, and with God’s help, addressing patterns and practices even from childhood that served the function of getting by. Hanging on to these often hidden patterns keeps me from developing mature life-exchanging relationships. As a parent, I quickly learned that what “worked” with one child is not necessarily transferable to the next. A new set of leaves was needed to bring love and life to that unique child. Today our youngest moved out. After unexpected comings and goings from our other children and their families throughout Covid, this feels final. So the leaves of children, even adult children in the home need to slowly be released to make room for what is new and next. We can’t always see this or do this on our own.I am so grateful for the help I receive from others to undertake this difficult process. Time to shed those leaves in order to receive what breathes life. 

As we gather as a church, are there patterns and practices that once carried the life of Christ and the breath of the Spirit that have since become dry and crusty? It is easier to tenaciously cling on to old leaves, convincing ourselves that they will turn green and supply life exchanging vibrancy once again; that program, that style of worship, that model. It “worked” before, surely if we hang on and reimplement it, it will work again. Just as the crumpled oak leaves will never return to their former state, it may be time to release the old to make room for the new.

Some things do not change. Like the oak, the roots, trunk and branches remain, and there is life in them even in a season of dormancy. These distinguish it as an oak. The power of the gospel, the centrality of Christ, the life of the Spirit, the truth of God’s word, the call to be light and salt in this world, these and many other features remain. These distinguish us as the Body of Christ.

Our identity, our value and the image of God within remain. These distinguish us as His unique creation, as His children.

The leaves come and go.

What about you? Are there areas of your life that resemble brown oak leaves? Is it time to ask God to help you let them go in order to make room for that which brings growth and life? What about your expressions and practices as the Body of Christ? Is there really life exchange happening in your worship, in your small groups, in your Sunday services, in your life outside the walls of the church? Is it time to ask God how He would like to express Himself through new leaves?

Remember not the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing:

Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  Isa.43:18-19 

You have put off the old self with its practices

and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge

after the image of its creator.  Col.3:9-10