Watching for the Mysterious
A little boy was watching for his mother to come out of a department store. As he waited, he was approached by a man who asked, “Son, can you tell me where the post office is?” The little boy replied, “Sure, just go straight down the street a couple of blocks and turn to your right.” The man thanked the boy kindly and said, “I’m a pastor in this town, and I’d like for you to come to church on Sunday. I’ll show you how to get to Heaven.” The little boy replied with a chuckle, “Awww, come on Rev., you don’t even know the way to the post office, how are you going to give me directions to Heaven?”
Telling someone how to get to Heaven is really taking on the unknown. As far as Heaven is concerned, we can only watch for it as we do with most things concerning God. Jesus explained in one of His parables what it means to “Watch” for the coming of God. He told the story of a wise and faithful servant and a wicked servant. The wise servant took care of the house when the master left and the wicked servant did not and beat his fellow servants. He raised the question, “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants?” God, the Master of our being in Christ Jesus has put us in charge of our life, as servants to work for Him. We are responsible for those in our care, those we say we love and those we don’t love so much. Our job in God’s household of faith is to give spiritual food at the proper time to those in need, including ourselves. Jesus tells us what a good servant will be doing when the master returns. He says a good servant will be feeding and caring for Himself and others when the Master returns and his reward will be to be put in charge of everything the master owns. Jesus says, “But suppose that servant is wicked? Suppose we don’t know the Lord. Suppose we are doing things that we know we should not be doing, living as a hypocrite. Suppose we are practicing hate instead of love, violence instead of peace, living in darkness instead of light? Jesus says this wicked servant will be cut to pieces and assigned a place with hypocrites.
But there are ways to avoid this fate.
First, by watching who God is in us and who we are in God. God is mysterious! God is the Unknown. He is ever present with us and hidden within us as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is the inscrutability of God that keeps us from watching. But through giving our life to Him in daily prayer and meditation we become aware of who God is in us and who we are in God. Watching is the secret way of getting to know the unknown. This surreptitious is worth watching for. This obscure blessing saves us from sin and guarantees eternal life, victory over death and is life’s greatest mystery.
Second, we watch for the mysterious by recognizing when God’s presence has entered us and following His guidance. How do we recognize God in Christ Jesus? By faith! Faith is the thing hoped for, yet unseen. It is Mysterious! Hidden! The Bible says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your lord will come.” Another version of the Bible says, watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your lord doth come. And the watchfulness has to be for twenty-four hours: We cannot afford to be watchful just for a few minutes once a day – in the morning when we pray or when we meditate and then forget God. That won’t help because nobody knows when God will knock at our door. And if we are not watchful we will miss; we will not recognize him. Only in immense awareness, prayer and meditation can God be recognized and known.
