It Takes a Thief
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.” (Matthew 24:42-46)
The Discovery Channel runs an interesting little reality show called “It Takes a Thief” where a couple of experienced burglars (read: ex-cons) case out a house, break in, steal a bunch of stuff and record the whole thing. Then they meet up with the homeowners, walk them through their ransacked home, show them the video of the break-in and warn them of the dangers of not properly securing their house. (And eventually they give them their stuff back.)
The homeowners, predictably, are mortified.
They’re furious.
They feel violated.
The crazy thing is that the homeowners give them permission to break in.
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They prearrange this whole thing. They actually get signed waivers from the homeowners before anything bad ever happens. The folks who live there know it’s coming, they know what’s going to happen.
They just don’t know when.
And they do nothing to prepare.
Zilch.
Nada.
And still they are shocked and horrified when it actually comes to pass.
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Jesus talks to his disciples in Matthew 24 about His imminent return. He’s told them that He will come back, and they’ve just asked Him, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
When are You coming back?
What day?
What time?
And how will we know?
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He goes on to describe some genuinely distressing events that are coming, starting with “birth pains” and including the sun going dark and stars falling from the skies. He tells them how dreadful this time will be, such that it would be “unequaled from the beginning of the earth” and “never to be equaled again.” And after that, He’ll appear in all His glory and gather His own back to Himself.
But the big question was still When?
When are You coming, Jesus? We really need to know.
And He flatly says to them, I’m not telling you. But you should keep watch.
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And why won’t He tell? Because He knows how we are. If we knew when the thief was coming, we would have locked up the house. We would have made sure everything was secured. We would have called to make sure our insurance was paid. If we just knew when it was going to happen.
But being ready for that at any moment is a lot of work. That takes a lot of focus and energy. That’s tough to sustain over the long haul.
So then look at what He says. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when He returns.” It will be good for the servant to be carrying out his duties when the master comes back.
It makes me wonder sometimes, what will I be doing when the Master comes back? I’m convinced He’s coming. If that should occur during my life, will I still be shocked? What will I be doing? Do I spend my day engaged in activities I’d be quite comfortable doing if that were the moment? At the time He returns, will He find me in the middle of a sarcastic and snide remark to someone? Will He find me exasperating my children? Will He find me absolutely wasting time?
Or will He find me actively bringing good news to the poor? Will He find me showing my children and husband how much I love them? Will He find me serving His people? Will He find me in the middle of talking to Him? (Would that be cool? “Yeah, hang on a sec, I’ll be right there.”)
I want Jesus to find me doing what He called me to do when He returns. Walking in those good works He’s prepared for me. I don’t want to have to explain myself.
I don’t want to have to grab for the remote to turn off the tv. I don’t want to have to quickly Alt-Tab to change to a different screen on my computer. I don’t want to have to bite my tongue and not finish whatever unkind thing I was saying. I want to be able to say without hesitation, “I’m so glad You’re here.” I want what I’m doing to very naturally move to the immediate and overwhelming worship response that His presence would most certainly compel.
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If I knew what time He was coming, I’d live my faith even sloppier than I do now. I’d be just like those dim folks on tv who know that the break-in is coming and still just do business as usual.
If I knew, I’m afraid I’d be the one that would just quick tidy up in the nick of time, sound of the door opening in the background while I’m shoving the last rogue sock in the closet and forcing the door shut.
It takes a thief to give them their wake-up call on tv.
I want to be the faithful and wise servant.
Already awake, ready and waiting.
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