It had become a ritual for the boy.
Every evening he would grab his basketball, go out onto the porch, and stare where the road met the horizon.
He was waiting to see the silhouette of his father returning home from war. He had done this same thing for a couple of years, and his mother’s heart broke for him each evening when he would come back in and say, “He didn’t come tonight.”
Eventually, too much time had passed with no letters, and no response from the military. The mother assumed the worst and slumped into a grief stricken sort of depression.
The boy, on the other hand, had the opposite reaction. He maintained his evening watch on the porch, with the basketball firmly planted at his side, but he also learned to pick up the slack around the house.
He did the things that his father used to do. He mowed the lawn. He washed the dishes. He fixed the toilet. He changed the oil in the car. He made the bed in the guest bedroom. And, he even made his parent’s bed every morning…a task that his mother just could not bring herself to do any longer.
He had resolved to be the man of the house until his father’s return. The boy did this for years without fail.
The boy had devoted himself to “keeping awake.”
It is the same sort of "keeping awake" that Jesus encourages us to maintain until his return. It is not a one and done sort of wakefulness though. In other words, it is not the sort of one time spiritual awakening that you get when you finally see the truth and the truth then forever sets you free. It is not the one time, blinding vision of Jesus on the road that changes everything for the rest of your life.
As valuable as those spiritual experiences can be if you are lucky enough to have had one, the wakefulness that Jesus encourages is the kind that quietly, continually, happens every single day.
We are encouraged to keep awake like the boy on the watch for his father.
We do not know the time of his return, so “keep awake” Jesus says. We do not know when the end will draw near, so “keep awake.”
This is the way it is when you live in the end times. Each day is lived as if preparations are being made for Jesus’ return.
It is as if an employer has gone off on a vacation and left the employees in charge. The employees would continue to produce the goods. They would continue to order the raw material. They would continue to hire workers to assemble the product. They would still hire the trucking company to distribute the goods. And, though the company is running smoothly, the guard at the gate still watches for the employer’s return, and is ready to open the gates as soon as his car turns the corner.
And, so it is with the followers of Jesus who wait for his return. We care for the sick, feed the hungry, pray for the imprisoned, comfort the grieving, and forgive the sinner until he returns.
It is a way of life.
It is washing the dishes, and changing the oil, and making the bed in the guest bedroom until the father’s return.
Just as the boy has no idea when or even if his father will return, we too do not know about that day or hour. Yet, we do not stop being the people of new life and new possibilities in the meantime.
As legend has it, when asked what he would do if he was told that the world was going to end tomorrow, Martin Luther answered, “I would plant a tree.”
In other words, he would continue to live a life that gives life.
If you were told that your days were numbered what would you do?
Having walked with many people in this situation I know what most people do. They do the things that matter. They do the things that are important.
They spend time with children. They forgive in abundance. They make things that will last ages such as writing books or letters. Some finish life-long dreams such as recording the music they had always hoped to pass on, or writing journals full of wisdom for the family that they will leave behind. They go on that long dreamed of hike in the mountains with family and friends. They take the time to be with those they love. They touch base with those whom they had forgotten. They hug a lot.
In other words, they love and love as if tomorrow there might not be a chance to love again, because maybe there will not be another chance. They plant trees all the way through to the last day.
Living in the end times is not a time to lay back, give up, and rest in the corruptness of the world.
Living in the end times is a way of life that is awake. It is a way of life that loves and hopes all the way to the end.
It is a way of life that would love even enemies all the way to the cross. It is a way of life that would forgive even as the nails pierce the hands and feet. It is a way of life that would embrace the world even though the world abandons. It is way of life that seeks God’s ways to the last breath, “it is finished.”
It is the way of life, backing up Jesus’ story a few paces, that stays and prays in the garden of Gethsemane even though the disciples fall asleep. It is the way of life that loves those who fall asleep, but desires much more than a life of sleep for those disciples.
The world might seem cruel and harsh, and we may be enticed to just give in and fall asleep to it all; but sometimes being awake pays off.
A young man now, he still sits on the porch as he always has with the basketball in his hand looking out to the crest of the horizon. But, this evening is different. This evening the crest is breached by the heads of two figures. As they near, the young man can see that they are both in uniform. They walk with purpose. They walk as if they have something to say.
Knowing the news that the sight of two soldiers always brings, his heart falls to the dust as does the basketball.
As they approach, they take off their hats and the hat of the soldier on the left reveals a face that he knows very well.
“Dad!” the young man screams embracing the soldier. The father embraces his son back, and the mother joins them in shock after hearing the all the commotion on the porch.
“This is my friend Chuck” the father introduces the second man.
“He has no home or family to which he can return. I hope that the guest bedroom is ready.”
“It is dad. It is.” the young man says proudly.
“That’s my boy. I knew I could rely on you. Now, I believe that a game of basketball is long overdue.”
And, with that, the father picks up the basketball, and they play the long anticipated game deep into the night. It is a game that is more about love than it is about winning.
Sort of like this life in the end times.
It is a life that is more about love than accomplishing tasks, following rules, or getting ahead in life.
It is a life that is awake though it waits.
It is a life that is awake to others and awake to Jesus.
It is a life that is awake to love.
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