The Heart of Eschatology
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THE HEART OF ESCHATOLOGY
As the murky shadow of evil grew like kudzu in the forrests of Mirkwood, Gandalf passionately addressed the white council. His suggestion was to swiftly attack the rising dark Lord Sauron while he could still be easily defeated. Yet, his guidance was rejected because a nefarious little fox named Saruman had worked his way into Middle Earth's hen house. Had the council banded together under Gandalf's advice, the entire saga of the Lord of the Rings would have never occurred, at least not with such panache. And while the books and movies are markedly better due to the treachery of Saruman, we can see the simplest of points: doing nothing in the face of rising evil almost always makes things worse.
This brings us to the very heart and center of Biblical eschatology. While Mordor's shadow darkens daily across the waning empire of America, our goal mustn't be to hide all knobby kneed in an evangelical version of Helm's Deep. We must not bury our heads like a herd of ostriches, wet our pants like terrified turtles, or blend in like chameleons until the danger has subsided. As the end draws near, no matter how long that drawing draws on, we are called to take up our weapons of warfare and do four things as we wait on our savior to return.
These four things show up in today's passage that we will examine below.
"Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his Master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his Master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the Master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. - Matthew 24:45-51
1) BE FAITHFUL WHERE YOU ARE AT
No matter your eschatological position, these words could not be any clearer. Instead of wasting our time trying to identify the next candidate for Antichrist, or which shade of red the next blood moon will be, or living in total ignorance as if eschatology doesn't matter, we are called to be faithful. Scripture tells us not to look back while we are plowing (Luke 9:62) and not to look up while we are supposed to be working (Acts 1:11). Instead, we are to look forward with hope as we labor faithfully wherever we are at.
And where are we? We are in the household of the King of kings and Lord of lords (Matthew 28:18). He is the one who purchased this down-and-out dilapidated mess called earth with His most precious and holy blood. All of it now belongs to Him! And through His Church, whom He left with the renovation plans, we've been tasked with reshaping everything to His vision.
While our Master is away, our behavior must be conformed to His desires. That means learning how to obey everything He said (Matthew 28:19); learning how to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37-38); understanding how to better care for our neighbors with the same vigor in which we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39); announcing His royal reign has come (Acts 1:8); and knocking down every one of Hell's rusted out gates as we advance to the ends of the earth (Matthew 16:18). The timing of His return does not matter. The question is, will He find you being faithful?
2) SERVE SENSIBLY WHILE YOU WAIT
Again, this makes good sense no matter which position you take on the end times. We are not only called to be faithful but to direct our faithfulness in sensible ways. Why? Because it is possible to be faithful without being sensible.
An emergency room surgeon may perform a perfect open heart surgery with all faithfulness and precision. But if the man on the gurney is in liver failure, the new heart won't do much good. Sensibility requires doing the right kind of work, with the right tools, at the right time in order to have the right effect. You can be faithful and insensible simultaneously, so doing both well is absolutely necessary.
How, then, may we be sensible? For starters, the Church needs to wake up and smell the proverbial roses. We need to recognize that we are not in Kansas anymore. The ship of culture has started to sail, and the reason all this happened was because we were too busy sleeping on the docks. If we have any hope of seeing this land bow to Christ, we need to stop being silent, stop hiding in plain sight, stop cowering over every gentle breeze that wobbles us, and start living publicly, dynamically, and ardently for Him.
When salt gets removed from the carcass, it rots. When the light gets put under a bushel, the darkness gets thicker. Knowing that, I believe it is high time the faithful and sensible Christians stood up, grabbed the megaphone, and started hollering over the racket to herald: "Our God reigns!"
3) TALK LIKE HE OWNS THE PLACE
Since everything belongs to Christ, and He has put us in charge of everything He owns, we need to stop acting like we are not in charge. If our boss puts us over a project, wouldn't we take ownership of it until it is handed back to him? If a friend asks us to watch over his house while he is away, would we let prostitutes and pimps turn it into a brothel? If we were appointed as the police chief of our city, would we let criminals run rampant in our streets? Of course not! So why are we, the ones He put in charge, sitting back and watching the world trample over Jesus' stuff? That is neither faithful nor sensible!
The most faithful and sensible labor we could ever engage in is to make the trespassing aware of what our Master said. We should declare their actions violate the edicts of the great King. We should alert them that this King has appointed a day of judgment to deal with their rebellion. And, if they do not petition this great King, so He may forgive them and welcome them into His citizenry, they will face the eternal judgments awaiting them in perdition. Either way, doing nothing is not an option.
The Church must abandon this sacred "nice guy" persona that tries to caudle everyone and offend no one. Does a S.W.A.T. team enter a building to have tea with the terrorists? Does the king's army cast out the rebels with silly stories and anecdotes? Would the wise doctor prescribe sugar water to treat an aggressive form of cancer? Never!
The Church needs a good scrubbing, down past the toxic veneer or "niceness," past the dermal layer called "winsome," and get to the meat of the Gospel. This world lies in rebellion against God. They are trespassing on the King's lands. And if we do not warn them to join His Kingdom, then they will be left weeping and gnashing their teeth. The time for mush-mouthed evangelicalism is over.
4) BE FOUND WORKING WHEN HE COMES
Sadly, the Church has heeded Wonderland's rabbit, screaming: "Don't just do something. Stand there!" For far too long, the Church has been standing around like a gaggle of state-paid road workers, watching one or two men wield a shovel. We have been far too docile and lethargic and have spent too much time trying to stay out of everyone's way. This needs to stop.
Jesus says that the faithful slave will be found working when He returns. She will not be in a drunken stupor. She won't have cucumbers on her eyelids being pampered at the local spa. And she won't be passive, hoping no one will notice her tip-toing through vanity fair en route to the celestial city. Instead, she will be found working! She will be focused on everything her Master told her to do, and she will be doing it with faithfulness, diligence, and sensibility.
The heart of eschatology produces faithful workers. It must not engender endless trivial debates and ongoing passivity. May we be the caliber of people, who will be found faithful, sensible, speaking with authority, and working should He return in our generation.
Soli Deo Gloria
