The Doorkeeper
Preaching
Preaching the Parables
Cycle B
Context
Context Of Advent 1 In The Church Year
In Cycles A, B, and C the first Sunday in Advent is Parousia Sunday. Advent is the first season of the church year and is, therefore, the opening of a new church year. It is a season of preparation through repentance for the coming of Christ on Christmas. The church year deals with the Parousia on the first Sunday of the new church year and Eschatology at the end of the year. This can be seen in Cycle B. Advent 1 deals with the return of Christ (Mark 13:32--37) and Pentecost 26 (Proper 28) deals with the signs of the end of the world (Mark 13:24--32). The connecting link is verse 32 which is the opening verse of Advent 1 and the closing verse of Pentecost 26.
The theme of Advent 1 is the return of Christ at the end of time. The pericopes for the day and the propers deal with this theme. The Psalm sings: "Stir up thy might and come to save us" (Psalm 80:2). The Prayer of the Day pleads: "Stir up your power, O Lord, and come...." The Hymn of the Day begins, "Fling wide the door." The Advent color of the paraments is either violet for repentance or blue for hope. The Advent wreath with one violet candle burning is in the chancel. It is appropriately lighted either at the beginning or end of the First Lesson.
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Christ in 4 B.C. On Advent 1 on the other hand, we are happily anticipating and praying for Christ to come to our world today.
Context Of The Lectionary
The three Lessons in the Lectionary for Advent 1, Cycle B relate to the theme of the Second Coming of Christ.
The First Lesson. (Isaiah 63:16-64:8) The newly--returned Babylonian exiles appeal to Yahweh to come to them in their nation's desolation and sin in order to help and save them. They base their appeal not on their worthiness to be helped but on the simple fact that Yahweh is their Father. Here we see a people lost in darkness, desolation, and despair lamenting their sins and crying to God to come to them and save them.
The Second Lesson. (1 Corinthians 1:3--9) While the Corinthian Christians wait for Jesus' return, they are assured that Christ will sustain them and free them from their sins when he appears on the last day.
The Gospel Lesson. (Mark 13:32--37) Jesus says that he will return suddenly and unexpectedly just as a master may return from his journey at any time. In view of this, therefore, his disciples are instructed to watch, be awake, and work.
Context Of The Gospel Lesson In Mark
The Gospel Lesson (Mark 13:32--37) is the closing portion of chapter 13 and is known as "The Little Apocalypse." In this chapter Jesus tells four Disciples the last things which will take place on earth at the time of his return: destruction of the temple, natural disasters, the persecution of God's people, the appearance of false messiahs, certain signs immediately preceding the end, and the parable of the fig tree.
Context Of The Parable In The Pericope
The parable of the doorkeeper cannot be understood apart from the context of the pericope. Jesus is teaching his Disciples that no one except his Father knows when the end of the world will come and when he will return. It is, he says, like an owner or master of an estate who goes on a long trip without saying when he will return but only that it will be sudden and unexpected. Consequently, the servants need to fulfill their assigned tasks, stay awake, and watch for his return. The question at hand, therefore, is the time of his return and of the end of the cosmos. Since no one but God himself knows that time, the parable tells us, we must remain vigilantly ready and alert at all times. Jesus warns all of us to "Watch!"
Content
Precis Of The Pericope
No one knows, not even the angels nor even Jesus, the Son of God, the day or hour when the end of the world will occur and when Jesus will return. Only God the Father knows the time. Therefore, we are to take heed and watch because we do not know the time of the end. It is like a man going on a trip. When he leaves, he assigns work to his employees and commands the guard at the gate to be on the watch for his return. Likewise, we should watch, for Christ, like the master, will return at an unknown hour - in the evening, at midnight, or in the early morning. If we do not watch, the master will find us asleep. Jesus warns one and all: Watch!
Key Words In The Parable
1. "Only" (v. 32) Only God knows when the end of the world will come and when Jesus will return to judge the nations, and gather his people for life eternal. If even Jesus and the angels do not know the hour and day of his return, then how could any human presume to possess this information? Yet in the first century some actually claimed they did have this information, but Jesus warned his Disciples not to pay attention to anyone who claimed such knowledge. Even Paul had some in his congregations who held that Jesus had already come, and through the centuries, religious fanatics in many times have announced the day of Jesus' return, only to be proven wrong. If, after all, God the Father did not reveal the date to his Son, why would he disclose the secret to a sinful human being? The fact that we do not know the date of his return is precisely what gave Jesus the occasion to tell the parable of the doorkeeper.
2. "Journey" (v. 34) The master of the estate leaves on a trip, but where he is going and how long he will be gone in unknown. This is analogous to Jesus, the Master, because at his Ascension he took a journey to his Father's right hand in heaven, but we do not know when he will return to earth. This is why we must be ready at any hour to receive him.
3. "Servants" (v. 34) We Christians are to be like the "servants" of the master in the parable. When Jesus ascended, he gave the mission of reconciling the world to God to his servants. As the master in he parable asked his servants to work in his absence, so each Christian has been given his or her work of kingdom extension by our Master. When Jesus returns, he will expect to find us working at our jobs, and we will be held accountable to him. In this sense, therefore, there is a judgment for Christians and non--Christians alike. We have a great deal of important work to do. We are not here to dream, to play, or to sleep because we are "in charge" (v. 34) of God's work in the world, and we thus have a tremendous responsibility.
4. "Doorkeeper" (v. 34) The doorkeeper was commanded to watch for the master's unexpected return. While the other servants are busy with their assigned tasks, the job of the doorkeeper is to announce the return of the owner. While we servants today are busy with our God--given tasks, who will tell us Christ is coming? It is for this reason that the church has its clergy and lay leaders. Preachers, teachers, lay professionals, administrators, and all other leaders are today's watchmen on the kingdom's towers. They are set apart to be on the alert, to watch, and to announce the Master's coming. Nevertheless, every Christian is to be on the alert, for what Jesus said to a few Disciples he meant for all: "Watch!"
5. "Suddenly" (v. 36) This is a key word which provides us with the reason for taking heed and watching. Not only will Christ come at an unknown hour, but he will also come suddenly. This unexpected and sudden arrival will not allow time for us to prepare for his coming at the last minute. There will be no opportunity to set our house in order or to suddenly get busy about our assigned tasks. We must, therefore, live each day as though it were our last - we must go about our tasks, live lives worthy of our calling, and seek to be in a state of grace at all times.
Contemplation
Before preaching on the Second Coming, a preacher faces certain questions and problems related to it. These need to be carefully considered before sermon preparation begins. It is a time of contemplation, in other words, following study of the context and content of the parable.
Questions For Contemplation
1. Is Jesus really coming back to earth? If we do not believe in the Parousia, then how can we preach it? And neither do all of our people believe in Jesus' return. A 1986 survey by the Princeton Research Center reports that 62 percent of the American people believe Jesus will return. A preacher thus faces a significant portion of his/her people with little faith in the Parousia. How should we try to convince them?
There are also sincere Christians who believe that Jesus has already returned, arguing that Christ's Resurrection is spiritual rather than physical. They claim that Jesus came again on Easter when he returned from the dead, for example, while others feel that Jesus returned in the reception of the Holy Spirit, for the spirit of Christ is the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17). Furthermore, the church itself may be seen as the body of Christ, or as the contemporary incarnation of Christ. In his church, after all, he is present in Word and Sacraments.
Is Christ coming at the end of the world or is he not? If he is not, there certainly is no need for preaching on the Second Coming. But the Scriptures tell us that Christ will return: The Second Coming is mentioned 318 times in the New Testament and seven out of every ten chapters in the New Testament refer to the Parousia.
Moreover, the Christian church believes and teaches that Jesus is coming again. Throughout the centuries, the church has professed its faith in the ecumenical creeds, the Apostles' and Nicene ("He will come again to judge the living and the dead") and in the words of Paul, the church forever prays: "Maranatha - Our Lord, Come" (1 Corinthians 16:22).
If religious appeals are insufficient to convince us, we can make a more basic appeal to common sense. If Jesus does not return, then history will have no meaning or destiny and we must accept the Greek conception that history constantly repeats itself. But history for Christians is not cyclical but linear; history has a destination. History is His story, and reason therefore demands that there be a consummation of history. Justice requires evil to be vanquished and that truth, goodness, and love shall triumph. Christ needs to come to gather the living and the dead for their eternal home in heaven. The world as it exists today in its sin and injustice clearly cannot go on forever - not as long as God is in his heaven! Reason insists that there must be an end, a climax of history when God, through Christ, will end our story in victory.
2. In whose hands is the fate of the world? In the threatening light of nuclear arms, will there still be an earth to which Jesus will come? Will God's will be frustrated by the destructive power of humanity? This is not an idle question because humanity now has the power to destroy the human race. A Canadian physicist, Allen Munn, says that with the nuclear devices now in existence we "might cause the world and all in it to disintegrate in less than a minute." The world's nations have enough nuclear bombs to destroy every major city in the world. And such a war would also result in a nuclear winter caused by a radioactive cloud that would hide the sun and lead to a worldwide famine. The radioactive blasts would contaminate the remaining water, food, and milk, and make human habitation impossible.
Since human destruction of the earth would be counter to God's plan for Jesus' return, it should arouse and inspire all Christians to demand nuclear disarmament by all nations and to work for peace on earth. Maybe this alone is enough to preach on the Second Coming.
3. Why is the Second Coming left largely to sectarian churches? Why do the mainline churches neglect and/or ignore the Parousia while the Sectarians make it the primary subject for preaching and teaching? Following the Lectionary and the Church Year, mainline churches often only consider Christ's return once or twice a year, while Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Fundamentalists deal with it almost every Sunday.
Both extremes need to be avoided. The doctrine of the Second Coming should be kept in balance with the other doctrines of the Bible. Through the Church Year and Lectionary, the church keeps the Second Coming in proper perspective by designating the beginning and the end of the Church Year for the consideration of the Parousia. To ignore the Second Coming may prevent a congregation from understanding the important truth of the Parousia and its meaning for life today.
Permanent Preaching Values Of The Parable
1. What do we know about Christ's return? Preceding the parable of the doorkeeper, Jesus tells us that neither he nor the angels knows the time of his return. But there is much that we do know:
A. The uncertainty of his coming - the parable promises that the master is going to return at an unknown date. We know that he is coming. This fact has important implications for our lives:
History has a purpose.
Evil will be judged and destroyed - justice will be done.
Victory for God and his kingdom will be accomplished.
B. The certainty of his coming. Because we cannot know the hour, we are admonished to:
Wait patiently (Waiters) - v. 33
Work faithfully (Workers) - v. 34
Watch carefully (Watchers) - v. 37.
2. Work while you wait. When the master leaves on a trip, he "puts his servants in charge, each with his work." What shall we do while we wait for Christ's return? Should we be idle as some were in Paul's day? Eat, drink, and be merry? Separate ourselves from society? Through this parable, Jesus teaches us to work at our assigned tasks (v. 34). This involves:
Our use of talents.
Our responsibilities to serve.
Our eventual accountability when Jesus returns.
3. Jesus Watchers. Today many people are concerned with excess weight, and some even go so far as to join the "Weight Watchers" program. These people watch their weight very carefully. The parable of "The Doorkeeper" asks us only to pay a similar degree of close attention to something far more important, and cautions that the opposite of "watching" is "sleeping" (v. 36). When we sleep, we are unconcerned and apathetic. To watch, therefore, means to be awake to what is happening. Christians are to watch:
For the signs of the end.
For the coming of Christ.
4. Life until he comes. The parable emphasizes the unexpected and sudden nature of Jesus' return. This means that last--minute preparations cannot be made, and therefore we should be in readiness each day of our lives. What manner of lives should we live until Christ comes again? We must:
Discharge our obligations ("Put his servants in charge").
Perform our tasks ("Each with his work").
Watch for Christ's return ("Commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch").
Contact
This parable's teaching must become relevant and immediately applicable to every person's daily life. So preachers must ask themselves, "How does the Parousia relate to my people? Are they interested in it and if not, how can they be interested? What difference should the sudden and unexpected return of Christ make in the life of a twenty--first--century person?"
Preachers first need to face the fact that approximately one--third of all Americans do not believe Jesus will ever return, and that probably a majority of those remaining are deeply apathetic. This constitutes a significant challenge to the preacher in making the Parousia real and vital for the average person's life. The subject matter and the approach used will have to be fashioned to confront this difficult set of circumstances.
Illustrative Materials
1. Jesus coming soon? Commuters on Conrail's New Haven line saw a billboard alongside the railroad that read: "The Lord is coming soon." Someone had written underneath: "Not if he takes the New Haven!"
2. Work while waiting. When an eclipse of the sun occurred during a meeting of the Continental Congress, some of the legislators became alarmed and said fearfully, "It is the end of the world." Benjamin Franklin called for order and said, "It is either the end of the world or it is not. If it is, we should be faithful to our task. Light a candle and let us be about our business."
3. Watch. On April 12, 1912, the Titanic left Southampton for New York City on her maiden voyage with 2,200 passengers on board. The new ship was as tall as an eleven--story building, 900 feet long, and weighed 46,000 tons. She was also considered to be a perfect ship, the best ever built. A crewman boasted, "God himself could not sink this ship." The ship sailed speedily and carelessly ahead among icebergs in the North Atlantic. When the Titanic struck an iceberg and sent out an SOS, another ship, the Californian, was only ten miles away but failed to come to the rescue because the radio operator was asleep. As a result, 1,100 lives were lost.
4. When the Master returns. Some years ago, a tourist visited a castle along Lake Como in Italy. A friendly old gardener opened the gates and showed him the gardens. The tourist asked the gardener, "When was your master last here?" And the old man answered, "Twelve years ago." "Does the master ever come?" "Never," replied the gardener. "But you keep the garden in such fine condition, just as though you expected your master to come tomorrow." The old man replied hastily, "Today, sir. Today."
Context Of Advent 1 In The Church Year
In Cycles A, B, and C the first Sunday in Advent is Parousia Sunday. Advent is the first season of the church year and is, therefore, the opening of a new church year. It is a season of preparation through repentance for the coming of Christ on Christmas. The church year deals with the Parousia on the first Sunday of the new church year and Eschatology at the end of the year. This can be seen in Cycle B. Advent 1 deals with the return of Christ (Mark 13:32--37) and Pentecost 26 (Proper 28) deals with the signs of the end of the world (Mark 13:24--32). The connecting link is verse 32 which is the opening verse of Advent 1 and the closing verse of Pentecost 26.
The theme of Advent 1 is the return of Christ at the end of time. The pericopes for the day and the propers deal with this theme. The Psalm sings: "Stir up thy might and come to save us" (Psalm 80:2). The Prayer of the Day pleads: "Stir up your power, O Lord, and come...." The Hymn of the Day begins, "Fling wide the door." The Advent color of the paraments is either violet for repentance or blue for hope. The Advent wreath with one violet candle burning is in the chancel. It is appropriately lighted either at the beginning or end of the First Lesson.
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Christ in 4 B.C. On Advent 1 on the other hand, we are happily anticipating and praying for Christ to come to our world today.
Context Of The Lectionary
The three Lessons in the Lectionary for Advent 1, Cycle B relate to the theme of the Second Coming of Christ.
The First Lesson. (Isaiah 63:16-64:8) The newly--returned Babylonian exiles appeal to Yahweh to come to them in their nation's desolation and sin in order to help and save them. They base their appeal not on their worthiness to be helped but on the simple fact that Yahweh is their Father. Here we see a people lost in darkness, desolation, and despair lamenting their sins and crying to God to come to them and save them.
The Second Lesson. (1 Corinthians 1:3--9) While the Corinthian Christians wait for Jesus' return, they are assured that Christ will sustain them and free them from their sins when he appears on the last day.
The Gospel Lesson. (Mark 13:32--37) Jesus says that he will return suddenly and unexpectedly just as a master may return from his journey at any time. In view of this, therefore, his disciples are instructed to watch, be awake, and work.
Context Of The Gospel Lesson In Mark
The Gospel Lesson (Mark 13:32--37) is the closing portion of chapter 13 and is known as "The Little Apocalypse." In this chapter Jesus tells four Disciples the last things which will take place on earth at the time of his return: destruction of the temple, natural disasters, the persecution of God's people, the appearance of false messiahs, certain signs immediately preceding the end, and the parable of the fig tree.
Context Of The Parable In The Pericope
The parable of the doorkeeper cannot be understood apart from the context of the pericope. Jesus is teaching his Disciples that no one except his Father knows when the end of the world will come and when he will return. It is, he says, like an owner or master of an estate who goes on a long trip without saying when he will return but only that it will be sudden and unexpected. Consequently, the servants need to fulfill their assigned tasks, stay awake, and watch for his return. The question at hand, therefore, is the time of his return and of the end of the cosmos. Since no one but God himself knows that time, the parable tells us, we must remain vigilantly ready and alert at all times. Jesus warns all of us to "Watch!"
Content
Precis Of The Pericope
No one knows, not even the angels nor even Jesus, the Son of God, the day or hour when the end of the world will occur and when Jesus will return. Only God the Father knows the time. Therefore, we are to take heed and watch because we do not know the time of the end. It is like a man going on a trip. When he leaves, he assigns work to his employees and commands the guard at the gate to be on the watch for his return. Likewise, we should watch, for Christ, like the master, will return at an unknown hour - in the evening, at midnight, or in the early morning. If we do not watch, the master will find us asleep. Jesus warns one and all: Watch!
Key Words In The Parable
1. "Only" (v. 32) Only God knows when the end of the world will come and when Jesus will return to judge the nations, and gather his people for life eternal. If even Jesus and the angels do not know the hour and day of his return, then how could any human presume to possess this information? Yet in the first century some actually claimed they did have this information, but Jesus warned his Disciples not to pay attention to anyone who claimed such knowledge. Even Paul had some in his congregations who held that Jesus had already come, and through the centuries, religious fanatics in many times have announced the day of Jesus' return, only to be proven wrong. If, after all, God the Father did not reveal the date to his Son, why would he disclose the secret to a sinful human being? The fact that we do not know the date of his return is precisely what gave Jesus the occasion to tell the parable of the doorkeeper.
2. "Journey" (v. 34) The master of the estate leaves on a trip, but where he is going and how long he will be gone in unknown. This is analogous to Jesus, the Master, because at his Ascension he took a journey to his Father's right hand in heaven, but we do not know when he will return to earth. This is why we must be ready at any hour to receive him.
3. "Servants" (v. 34) We Christians are to be like the "servants" of the master in the parable. When Jesus ascended, he gave the mission of reconciling the world to God to his servants. As the master in he parable asked his servants to work in his absence, so each Christian has been given his or her work of kingdom extension by our Master. When Jesus returns, he will expect to find us working at our jobs, and we will be held accountable to him. In this sense, therefore, there is a judgment for Christians and non--Christians alike. We have a great deal of important work to do. We are not here to dream, to play, or to sleep because we are "in charge" (v. 34) of God's work in the world, and we thus have a tremendous responsibility.
4. "Doorkeeper" (v. 34) The doorkeeper was commanded to watch for the master's unexpected return. While the other servants are busy with their assigned tasks, the job of the doorkeeper is to announce the return of the owner. While we servants today are busy with our God--given tasks, who will tell us Christ is coming? It is for this reason that the church has its clergy and lay leaders. Preachers, teachers, lay professionals, administrators, and all other leaders are today's watchmen on the kingdom's towers. They are set apart to be on the alert, to watch, and to announce the Master's coming. Nevertheless, every Christian is to be on the alert, for what Jesus said to a few Disciples he meant for all: "Watch!"
5. "Suddenly" (v. 36) This is a key word which provides us with the reason for taking heed and watching. Not only will Christ come at an unknown hour, but he will also come suddenly. This unexpected and sudden arrival will not allow time for us to prepare for his coming at the last minute. There will be no opportunity to set our house in order or to suddenly get busy about our assigned tasks. We must, therefore, live each day as though it were our last - we must go about our tasks, live lives worthy of our calling, and seek to be in a state of grace at all times.
Contemplation
Before preaching on the Second Coming, a preacher faces certain questions and problems related to it. These need to be carefully considered before sermon preparation begins. It is a time of contemplation, in other words, following study of the context and content of the parable.
Questions For Contemplation
1. Is Jesus really coming back to earth? If we do not believe in the Parousia, then how can we preach it? And neither do all of our people believe in Jesus' return. A 1986 survey by the Princeton Research Center reports that 62 percent of the American people believe Jesus will return. A preacher thus faces a significant portion of his/her people with little faith in the Parousia. How should we try to convince them?
There are also sincere Christians who believe that Jesus has already returned, arguing that Christ's Resurrection is spiritual rather than physical. They claim that Jesus came again on Easter when he returned from the dead, for example, while others feel that Jesus returned in the reception of the Holy Spirit, for the spirit of Christ is the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17). Furthermore, the church itself may be seen as the body of Christ, or as the contemporary incarnation of Christ. In his church, after all, he is present in Word and Sacraments.
Is Christ coming at the end of the world or is he not? If he is not, there certainly is no need for preaching on the Second Coming. But the Scriptures tell us that Christ will return: The Second Coming is mentioned 318 times in the New Testament and seven out of every ten chapters in the New Testament refer to the Parousia.
Moreover, the Christian church believes and teaches that Jesus is coming again. Throughout the centuries, the church has professed its faith in the ecumenical creeds, the Apostles' and Nicene ("He will come again to judge the living and the dead") and in the words of Paul, the church forever prays: "Maranatha - Our Lord, Come" (1 Corinthians 16:22).
If religious appeals are insufficient to convince us, we can make a more basic appeal to common sense. If Jesus does not return, then history will have no meaning or destiny and we must accept the Greek conception that history constantly repeats itself. But history for Christians is not cyclical but linear; history has a destination. History is His story, and reason therefore demands that there be a consummation of history. Justice requires evil to be vanquished and that truth, goodness, and love shall triumph. Christ needs to come to gather the living and the dead for their eternal home in heaven. The world as it exists today in its sin and injustice clearly cannot go on forever - not as long as God is in his heaven! Reason insists that there must be an end, a climax of history when God, through Christ, will end our story in victory.
2. In whose hands is the fate of the world? In the threatening light of nuclear arms, will there still be an earth to which Jesus will come? Will God's will be frustrated by the destructive power of humanity? This is not an idle question because humanity now has the power to destroy the human race. A Canadian physicist, Allen Munn, says that with the nuclear devices now in existence we "might cause the world and all in it to disintegrate in less than a minute." The world's nations have enough nuclear bombs to destroy every major city in the world. And such a war would also result in a nuclear winter caused by a radioactive cloud that would hide the sun and lead to a worldwide famine. The radioactive blasts would contaminate the remaining water, food, and milk, and make human habitation impossible.
Since human destruction of the earth would be counter to God's plan for Jesus' return, it should arouse and inspire all Christians to demand nuclear disarmament by all nations and to work for peace on earth. Maybe this alone is enough to preach on the Second Coming.
3. Why is the Second Coming left largely to sectarian churches? Why do the mainline churches neglect and/or ignore the Parousia while the Sectarians make it the primary subject for preaching and teaching? Following the Lectionary and the Church Year, mainline churches often only consider Christ's return once or twice a year, while Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Fundamentalists deal with it almost every Sunday.
Both extremes need to be avoided. The doctrine of the Second Coming should be kept in balance with the other doctrines of the Bible. Through the Church Year and Lectionary, the church keeps the Second Coming in proper perspective by designating the beginning and the end of the Church Year for the consideration of the Parousia. To ignore the Second Coming may prevent a congregation from understanding the important truth of the Parousia and its meaning for life today.
Permanent Preaching Values Of The Parable
1. What do we know about Christ's return? Preceding the parable of the doorkeeper, Jesus tells us that neither he nor the angels knows the time of his return. But there is much that we do know:
A. The uncertainty of his coming - the parable promises that the master is going to return at an unknown date. We know that he is coming. This fact has important implications for our lives:
History has a purpose.
Evil will be judged and destroyed - justice will be done.
Victory for God and his kingdom will be accomplished.
B. The certainty of his coming. Because we cannot know the hour, we are admonished to:
Wait patiently (Waiters) - v. 33
Work faithfully (Workers) - v. 34
Watch carefully (Watchers) - v. 37.
2. Work while you wait. When the master leaves on a trip, he "puts his servants in charge, each with his work." What shall we do while we wait for Christ's return? Should we be idle as some were in Paul's day? Eat, drink, and be merry? Separate ourselves from society? Through this parable, Jesus teaches us to work at our assigned tasks (v. 34). This involves:
Our use of talents.
Our responsibilities to serve.
Our eventual accountability when Jesus returns.
3. Jesus Watchers. Today many people are concerned with excess weight, and some even go so far as to join the "Weight Watchers" program. These people watch their weight very carefully. The parable of "The Doorkeeper" asks us only to pay a similar degree of close attention to something far more important, and cautions that the opposite of "watching" is "sleeping" (v. 36). When we sleep, we are unconcerned and apathetic. To watch, therefore, means to be awake to what is happening. Christians are to watch:
For the signs of the end.
For the coming of Christ.
4. Life until he comes. The parable emphasizes the unexpected and sudden nature of Jesus' return. This means that last--minute preparations cannot be made, and therefore we should be in readiness each day of our lives. What manner of lives should we live until Christ comes again? We must:
Discharge our obligations ("Put his servants in charge").
Perform our tasks ("Each with his work").
Watch for Christ's return ("Commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch").
Contact
This parable's teaching must become relevant and immediately applicable to every person's daily life. So preachers must ask themselves, "How does the Parousia relate to my people? Are they interested in it and if not, how can they be interested? What difference should the sudden and unexpected return of Christ make in the life of a twenty--first--century person?"
Preachers first need to face the fact that approximately one--third of all Americans do not believe Jesus will ever return, and that probably a majority of those remaining are deeply apathetic. This constitutes a significant challenge to the preacher in making the Parousia real and vital for the average person's life. The subject matter and the approach used will have to be fashioned to confront this difficult set of circumstances.
Illustrative Materials
1. Jesus coming soon? Commuters on Conrail's New Haven line saw a billboard alongside the railroad that read: "The Lord is coming soon." Someone had written underneath: "Not if he takes the New Haven!"
2. Work while waiting. When an eclipse of the sun occurred during a meeting of the Continental Congress, some of the legislators became alarmed and said fearfully, "It is the end of the world." Benjamin Franklin called for order and said, "It is either the end of the world or it is not. If it is, we should be faithful to our task. Light a candle and let us be about our business."
3. Watch. On April 12, 1912, the Titanic left Southampton for New York City on her maiden voyage with 2,200 passengers on board. The new ship was as tall as an eleven--story building, 900 feet long, and weighed 46,000 tons. She was also considered to be a perfect ship, the best ever built. A crewman boasted, "God himself could not sink this ship." The ship sailed speedily and carelessly ahead among icebergs in the North Atlantic. When the Titanic struck an iceberg and sent out an SOS, another ship, the Californian, was only ten miles away but failed to come to the rescue because the radio operator was asleep. As a result, 1,100 lives were lost.
4. When the Master returns. Some years ago, a tourist visited a castle along Lake Como in Italy. A friendly old gardener opened the gates and showed him the gardens. The tourist asked the gardener, "When was your master last here?" And the old man answered, "Twelve years ago." "Does the master ever come?" "Never," replied the gardener. "But you keep the garden in such fine condition, just as though you expected your master to come tomorrow." The old man replied hastily, "Today, sir. Today."
