(Mark 13:26-37)
While it may make the productivity proponents among us cringe to hear it, there are areas of life in which complacency or indifference isn’t really the end of the world. Deciding where to eat on date night is not a life or death decision – food will be consumed regardless of where it will be. This or that color of paint on the wall will not result in visitors black-listing your home due to poor color choices. The dirty dishes washed before bed or first thing in the morning are still getting washed. It’s pretty harmless to be indifferent or complacent about these kinds of things.
But that same approach doesn’t work if you’re planning a trip when there are only so many flights on the date or around the time you need to travel. Complacency may result in pretty significant changes to your travel plans or itinerary. The same attitude about a job opening could easily result in someone else jumping on it and getting hired before you. Indifference toward your retirement plans may find you without any actual plan when the time comes, leaving you working right up until the day you die. So there are also areas in life when being indifferent or complacent can leave you reeling.
If you’re picking up what Jesus is laying down in these verses from Mark 13, one of the areas of life where indifference is not an option is being ready for Jesus’ return on the Last Day. Yes, some of you have been hearing this type of warning for as long as you can remember, having grown up in the church and being used to the ongoing warnings to make sure you’re ready for the last day when Jesus returns. With each passing year, and then decade, it becomes easier and easier to tune out, because Jesus still hasn’t returned.
Of course, this underscores precisely why Jesus gives the warning! He knows that the more time passes as he is patiently waiting for more of the spiritual lost to come to repentance, the more inclined we are toward indifference. So all the more reason – not less – for us to heed his warning. We do well to listen to his words: “What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” (v. 37). The time is coming when Jesus will return, so let us live while watchfully waiting.
To highlight the immanence of Jesus’ return, he gives us a botany lesson. “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door” (v.28-29). Jesus could well have used any other type of tree or plant to make his point. When you pay attention to the stages of growth, they indicate what is coming next. A sprout that sports leaves is maturing. A fruit tree that buds is going to blossom, and after it blossoms it’s getting ready to bear fruit. We can see what’s coming next by paying attention to what the signs are showing us right now.
So it is with Jesus’ return. Since he has provided numerous signs that would precede his return on the Last Day, and we’ve seen and continue seeing those signs take place, his return is immanent. So what does it look like for us to live while watchfully waiting in the meantime? It involves working wisely. Working wisely includes 1) focusing on what lasts, 2) guarding against what doesn’t, and 3) staying on task.
Focus on what lasts
Jesus basically covers one and two with a contrasting statement. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (v.31). Did you catch what lasts from Jesus’ words? Do you see what is never a waste of our time to focus on? If Jesus’ words will never pass away, doesn’t it make sense that they would receive much of our attention?
Not only will his words never waste away, but their power will always be present for us to take advantage of. When your sin’s guilt, shame, and embarrassment have had their way with you and you can’t shake them no matter how hard you try to make it right, turn to the words that will never pass away. The prophet Isaiah provides a beautiful example of such words: “But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail” (Isaiah 51:6).
Do those words from Isaiah help you appreciate why one of the best questions you can ask yourself when facing nearly and struggle is, “What has my time with Jesus in his Word been looking like?” If Jesus’ words will never pass away, and his words point us to who we are and what we have in him because of what he has done for us, why would we possibly start anywhere else? Rather than working backwards through a process of elimination after trying everything else that hasn’t worked and then finally turning to the Word, let me provide you with a helpful cheat code: start with the Word! Start with the powerful words that will never pass away. Focus on what lasts.
Guard against what doesn’t
That Word, which will never pass away, is unlike everything else. “Heaven and earth will pass away…” (v.31). Working wisely isn’t just focusing on what lasts, but also guarding against what doesn’t. To do that successfully, we have to be really honest with ourselves about what so easily gets our attention.
Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to do just that. As loved ones gather together and at some point take the time to share what they’re thankful for, take note of how many of the blessings mentioned are physical, temporal blessings that fall under the “will pass away” category. Now, it’s never wrong to be grateful for those things at all! However, when our expressions of gratitude default to what passes away rather than what will never pass away, that may be an indicator of some priorities that need adjusting.
Moreover, if we conclude that an unbalanced and unhealthy focus on what is passing away isn’t really that big a deal, then we have really failed to capture the tone of Jesus’ whole teaching here. For what else does Jesus have in mind by his repetition of warnings like “Be on guard! Be alert” (v.33) and “keep watch” (v.34 & 35) and “do not let him find you sleeping” (v.36) and “Watch!” (v.37)?
Warnings aren’t issued when nothing could go wrong. No one says, “Watch out, your grandkid is coming in for a big hug!” or “Be alert, someone is about to give you a gift!” Warnings are issued when there is potential danger or risk involved. Jesus’ warning is to guard against attachments to and distractions from the “heaven and earth” stuff that is on its way out. So while we’re focusing on what lasts, it’s equally important that we’re guarding against what doesn’t.
Stay on task
To help us in both of these areas, working wisely also includes staying on task. Jesus compared our watchful waiting to a man leaving his servants in charge while going away for a time. “It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch” (v.34). His absence doesn’t mean an extended break or vacation for his servants; quite the opposite! Instead, they were to take care of things, “each with their assigned task.” You, Christian, have been assigned tasks to tend to until Jesus returns.
That is to say, the Christian life is not one of spiritual unemployment. When Jesus paid a dear price for you, you were brought into God’s family by his grace. You were hired not for your qualifications, and not because you deserved some amazing compensation package, but by grace. And by grace you were paid salvation and eternity up front. They’ve already been credited to your account. We are saved by grace, not by works
But we are saved for works. As Christians, we are not sluggards. We are not slouches. Just because we don’t run ourselves ragged like much of the world busying itself with chasing after what will pass away doesn’t mean we check out and sit on our thumbs all day. Quite the opposite!
We have every reason to work harder than anyone else who only has this world to live for! Your work matters because you are the lips and the ears of Jesus, you are his hands and feet. You are how he gets his work done in this passing world, so work as hard as you can for him before the owner of the house returns on the Last Day.
Christians often assume the most important work they can do is the work within the church. To be sure, that work matters, too. To have leaders to keep us all moving in the right direction, to manage our finances and pay our bills, to teach in our classrooms, to edify our worship with their musical and creative gifts, to roll out the welcome mats every Sunday, to manage the kitchen and meals, by greeting, by handiwork, through overseeing technology, coordinating events, facilitating Bible studies, etc. Yes, all of this and so much more is essential to the health and growth of any congregation, not just numerically, but more importantly, spiritually. This is all certainly included in the “assigned task(s)” of working wisely.
Let’s widen our field of view, though. Let’s realize that each of us also has more than our share of assigned tasks to carry out for the kingdom right where we are in our own little station in life. When you clock in at work, you do so as a Christian, so let that be clearly known to others as the light of your faith shines so brightly that it cannot be ignored. As a student, you carry out the assigned task God has given you by studying hard, participating in class, and helping to encourage your classmates and show respect to your teachers whenever possible. As a parent, you have more influence on your child’s spiritual growth than any pastor or teacher ever will have, so carry out your assigned task with intention, highlighting Jesus daily. As a friend, you carry out your assigned task to others by listening patiently, speaking the truth in love, and being deliberate about drawing others – believers and nonbelievers – closer to Jesus. There is no shortage of work to be done ahead of Jesus’ return, so let’s make sure we stay on task.
“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (v.26).
Imagine, for a moment, just how amazing that day will be. Our Savior, arriving once again on the scene, visible for all to see, without question will be the single most spectacular event the world will ever get to witness. And all of that glorious display and all of that fanfare will be… for you.
Knowing all of that is coming, and knowing how supremely superior your eternity will be from that point on, what place does complacency have in our lives? There’s far too much to live for right now as we watchfully wait, so let’s make as much of a difference as we can with the time we have left by working wisely.
Focus on what lasts.
Guard against what doesn’t.
Stay on task.
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