Serving when He comes
Anyone who has been charged with overseeing a group of employees has quickly discovered that there are three broad types of workers: those who are unwilling to work at all despite repeated request; those who will work when given specific, personal direction; and, lastly, those who—even unbidden and unobserved—are always to be found busy with work which needs to be done.
It’s difficult to imagine which of your employees fit into each of these three categories at first glance; they all wear the same uniform, and they all appear in the payroll listings on equal footing. But the surest way to sort them out is terribly simple: return early or unexpectedly from an outing and quietly observe what has (or more often hasn’t) occurred in your absence. Much can be discerned from the initial reaction of your employees to an unexpected arrival.
Now Christians are not employees in the strictest sense, I suppose. Nonetheless, the same three groups can be seen at work (or not at work!) within any local assembly you choose to visit. There is usually a large group of those who are content to sit, to be fed, and to leave when the services and programs are over. Then there are those who, when directly requested, are willing to serve, and perhaps even to serve well, by opening their homes or in other ways contributing to the work of the assembly. But finally there is a much smaller group of those who simply see the needs of the local work and community, apply their gifts liberally at the direction of the Holy Spirit in keeping with God’s Word, and in so doing not only please (and surprise) their elders but also, more importantly, please their true Master.
There will come a day when the Master will return. It will be unexpected. I trust that most current readers will see the Lord Jesus as the glorious Bridegroom who comes to claim His Bride in the rapture. Others will wait longer and see Him not as the Bridegroom but as a great Ruler and Judge, whom they will fear (Rev. 6:16). Still others will see Him as the promised Messiah, whom they will mourn (Rev. 1:7). Sooner or later, every eye will see Him.
Double revelation
In Christ’s appearance in each life, there will be a twofold revelation. First, it will be in that moment, that Christ is revealed to those who know Him in an entirely new way. We will see the One whom, having not seen, we love. We will finally see Him as He is and will know even as we have been fully known.
But second, as much as Christ’s return reveals Him, it reveals us, too. We may have been fooling others or even ourselves about how devoted and hopeful for His return we were and how seriously we served Him. Perhaps our efforts, which were judged generously by our Christian brothers and sisters, have actually been driven by self-love and pride rather than devotion to the Lord Himself. How shocking for you and me are the words of 1 John 2:28: “And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming”!
Let us pause for a moment and realize that John is addressing believers here, not the unsaved. John sees the real possibility that some believers might become involved in activities that they would never have chosen had they really expected Christ’s return was imminent. How terribly sad that a believer’s first reaction to the sudden appearance of Christ could be to shrink back in dismay or that our first thought at seeing His face could be, “Oh, no, not now!” What a regrettable revelation of us! There is no doubt that the shame we feel in His unexpected return will quickly be suffused by the joy of an eternity in His presence and an end of sin—there is no room for regret in heaven. But even momentary and passing distress at the return of our Greatest Hope is horribly sad to consider and unworthy of our calling.
Instead of dread, our lives as Christians are to be marked by the invigorating hope of Christ’s return, and every choice of activity or indolence should be shaped by the gripping realization that perhaps He’ll come today. John’s desire is that we should all “abide in Him” and, as a result, confidently welcome the return of the Lord Jesus to call us home whenever it should occur.
Of course, if we wish to be confident and joyful at Christ’s return and if we cannot know when He will return, it follows that we will need to consistently be doing only what will please Him, even in His prolonged absence. We will need to abide in our labors.
Double reward
We read Matthew 24:46 and several similar passages and conclude from them that there is a blessing that is not immediate, that will eventually come to those who are busy for Christ when He returns. Paul confirms that idea in 2 Timothy 4:8: there is a “crown of righteousness laid up” that is promised to all those who “have loved [Christ’s] appearing.”
Paul is correct, of course: there will be blessing for those who are busy working for Christ when He comes and who welcome His return. But if we carefully read the passage in Matthew again, we will note, perhaps for the first time, that it does not begin with the phrase “blessed will be the man” but rather “blessed is the man.”
Let us understand that working as if Christ might come today not only assures us a reward one far-off day in eternity, but also offers real and immediate blessings in this life too, not the least of which is a joy in the journey itself. As an unfortunate illustration of this, look around at your own home assembly: who are the unhappiest members most prone to complaints and creating strife? With a disturbing regularity, you will find that the unhappiest are the most inactive or self-involved. Those who are busiest and have most reason to complain seem to find little time to do so—there is too much rewarding work at hand to grumble.
Paul, after speaking of some who will turn aside to myths, forewarns his young charge this way:
“But watch in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to all those also who love His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:5-8).
Paul is clear-eyed about the difficulty of the matter, and his language shows it: he has run a marathon that allowed no slackening of the pace; he has fought a fight that was to the death; he has clutched and held the faith firmly in the face of doubt and countless assaults. But in all this, and despite describing himself as being “poured out,” there is no hint of self-pity, regret, or complaint. Quite to the contrary, he’s advocating the same course for Timothy. At the end of his days, Paul was convinced all the effort and struggle had been well worth it, and he was longing for the sight of his Lord.
May Paul’s example inform and inspire us. May we bend our backs with gratitude, joy and humility. May we be daily encouraged at the thought that perhaps in a moment or two, we will be ushered into the presence of the Master who loved us and bought us at great price. May He find us busy for Him when He comes.