The Last Sunday of the Church Year-St. Mark 13:32-37

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,+ and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

‘“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.’ (Vv. 32, 33)

Do you all remember the tale of Chicken Little? The most memorable line from that story is the chicken crying to all he met: “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” Well, what actually happened? A piece of the ceiling had fallen and landed on his head. So, instead of looking at the evidence around him, he went off on a fool’s errand saying that the sky is falling.

Did anyone believe Chicken Little? No. No one took him at his word.

If we are paying attention, we hear such proclamation all the time. Some group or other regularly declares that the end of the world is at hand. Lately, it has been a fascination that some media have had with the date 2012. The story goes that this is when the Mayan calendar ends and so it must be the end of the world. Well, if an actual Mayan is consulted, we find out that the end of the world has nothing to do with the prophecy of theirs taken out of its context.

And, for the past century or more, each of us can probably think of multiple examples of the same thing. Some group, usually religious, going around essentially doing as Chicken Little did. They tell all the rest of us that the sky is falling. Well, the appointed end date comes and goes with nothing happening and we all move on.

Yet, we remain awake. We do not fall in with such crowds; we are on our guard against such things, as Jesus warns us here. We know that if the angels in heaven and even the Son are not privy to when the end will come and the Son, Jesus, will return, then none of us humans here on earth are going to figure such things out either.

In fact, we as Christians have no need. As I stated last week, the end will be a terrible time. You and I will certainly be able to state just such a thing if we remain alive to see it occur. Yet, for us as Christians, this is not all there is. We are also comforted by this event Jesus is teaching us about because then our current tribulation will come to an end. We know that from Jesus’ own words.

‘“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.’ (Vv. 32, 33)

We in our human-ness do not need to know. It is as is said in the military some times, “This is on a need to know basis and you do not need to know”. You and I are on a need to know basis when it comes to such things as the end of the age and the return of the King. We do not need to know. This knowledge is not helpful for us. This does not serve to increase faith among the faithful. This is a reason we are told what we are told in the revelation of our God in the Scriptures. We are given the knowledge we need in order that we might be rescued out of our sinfulness, granted forgiveness of sins and everlasting life in heaven. This is why the Bible reveals what it reveals and not other things we would like to know.

Those who claim to know when Jesus will return grab for themselves knowledge that is not given for them to know. This is what the holy writers mean when they say such things as ‘The Lord your God tries you that he may know’, that is, that you may be known in your blessing of faith. (Deut. 13:3)

So, in this way, you and I make ourselves ready spiritually on a daily basis. We begin our day as the Catechism teaches, with the Creed and Lord’s Prayer, we follow a series of daily devotions, and we confess our sins in our prayers or in the general confession as we did to begin today’s service. This is what Jesus means by stating, “Be ready!” here. He is telling you to be spiritually ready. After all, we all generally are asleep for the four watches of the night mentioned in these verses.

‘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. 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 cock crows, or in the morning.’ (V. 34, 35)

You do not know the day or hour of your Savior’s return, but you do not need to. You daily make yourself ready as the doorkeeper of Jesus’ parable; you daily confess your sins.

We are left in ignorance because it is better for the strengthening of our faith. This is so because if you or I or any other knew the day and hour of Jesus’ return would we really remain vigilant? No. We likely would not remain in our faith. After all, why would we then need to, if we knew when Jesus was coming then we could simply repent fast before he returned. So goes such faulty logic.

The reality is, there is no such cheap grace on offer. True, there are deathbed conversions. This is not due to the dying remaining an unbeliever with the intent of repenting at the end. Instead, such conversions occur when there is genuine repentance and a faith in the mercy of God through Jesus.

We would all, in our in born sinfulness, fall victim to such thinking if we knew the return of our Savior. We would go about, eating, drinking, and being merry (Genesis 6). Tomorrow would in this case be sufficient for repentance. As it is, we do not know when Jesus will return so we are forced to remain vigilant. We are forced to remain awake and alert. It was the same with the doorkeeper. He did not know when his master would return so it was necessary for him to remain steadfastly alert.

‘“Away,” he cries, “with dull repose,
The sleep of death and sinful sloth;
With hearts now sober, just and pure,
Keep watch, for I am very near.”’[1]

With the hymn, we pray that our heavenly Father will send His Holy Spirit to keep us in the true faith unto life everlasting. After all, if we are not watching, if we are not praying; then our former good deeds will not matter. They then will be useless to us for we will have gone astray from the true faith. Jesus is using this parable to guide us to the proper path.

Jesus is teaching you and me and each of us as Christians, that we remain ever vigilant strong in the faith. We are looking for the return of our King. We are looking for Jesus to come for us on the clouds with great glory. As St. Jude tells us: ‘But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.’ (St. Jude 20-21) I encourage you to take this small book as homework for the week. Go home and read Jude’s twenty-five verses; they are very encouraging and very timely still for our own age.

The message of Jude is the same as Jesus: Stay awake!

After all, when Jesus returns it will be too late. When Jesus came the first time, it was in obscurity, as we will soon hear once again. When He comes this final time the entire world will see. Those who are His servants, that is the ones who saw Him at His first advent. At the second terrifying advent, all will see. Those who believe, we who are Jesus’ servants, but also those who have not believed, the good and the bad, we will all see Jesus come again on the clouds.

When Jesus came in obscurity, He came to be judged. As such, He was silent at His trial. He will not be silent when He returns. He will then come to judge. ‘They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.’ (Ps. 14:3) With the words of the Psalmist ringing in our ears, if there is any who will listen, Jesus is not silent.

Praise the Lord that this coming of our King will not be only terrifying for you and me. We are those who, in Christ, keep the Law of the Lord. We are those servants who have heard. We are blind Bartimaeus. We are those crying out, ‘“Lord, have mercy upon me!”’ (St. Mk. 10:47) Praise the Lord that the return of our King is a longed for event among us here.

So, we do as Jesus teaches us, ‘"And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”’ (V. 37) In the faith given by the Holy Spirit, you do remain awake. (SC II: 3rd)

In Jesus’+ Name. Amen.

[1] ACCS NT vol. II p. 196. Prudentius A Hymn for Cock-Crow.