“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Luke 12.35-40
Do you have those places in your life where you just can’t stay away? Maybe it’s a favorite restaurant—Mexican food comes to mind! Or, for me, coffee shops. I go there daily, pick up my Americano or cold brew, and enjoy it.
We as humans are creatures of habit. We have places we frequent—we just can’t stay away!
We who are made in God’s image share this inability to stay away naturally. God did the same thing with us. He just could not stay away. All throughout the history of the world, God would come to His people. He created us to be with us. Like a loving parent who wants to hang out with his kids, God wants to be with us. Time and time again, He sent prophets, angels, or came Himself to communicate His purpose and plan to His people.
This passage is about God not staying away. It’s a warning, an encouragement, and advice to be ready for Christ’s return. His second coming is imminent. Verse 40 reads, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” God is coming back. Jesus is returning to bring believers with Him. Sure, God in Jesus could be doing other things—enjoying the perfect relationship of the Trinity forever—but He has His eyes and heart focused on us. Imagine that. No other god has this kind of love for humanity. Most want us to sacrifice, to be subservient, or to submit to the extreme. God wants us to be in fellowship with Him. And so, He has plans to return—soon, I hope—to a people who are waiting and ready for a divine appointment.
Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday in the life of the church—the day when God returned in the fullness of His Spirit to fill each believer with His power and presence. This is what we were waiting for: God’s presence in person. In the Old Testament, the filling of the Spirit was selective—usually upon a king, prophet, or priest. But now the indwelling of God is available to all believers. God has come near! By dying on the cross and rising again, Jesus removed the veil of the Temple and opened full access to Him. We now have the ability for God to live in us.
Read that previous line again: God will live in us! Our bodies become His temple, His dwelling place, His habitation. When we say to Jesus, “I love You, I trust You, I believe You died for my sins—come into my heart,” He fulfills that very request. Pentecost is the first evidence of full access to God through the power of His Spirit.
If God can’t stay away from us, I don’t want to stay away from Him. Sure, I am weak, sinful, fragile, and frail, but my deepest desire is for devotion, not disobedience. And so I make it my goal to please Him, as Paul writes: “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it” (2 Corinthians 5:9).
Will you join me in doing the same?
“O Lord, on this day, I worship You. I acknowledge You as Lord, and I exalt Your holy name. Come now, Lord Jesus, make Your way into my heart. Return soon! Find me willing and waiting. Pour out the fire of Your love upon us by Your Spirit. Help us to become one with You and thus submit to Your will. For You are good, and Your love endures forever.” Amen