“Watch and Pray” (Luke 21:34-37)

The Second Advent

Author and businessman Stephen Covey found that effective people had something in common. He wrote a book titled “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Among those seven habits, the habit 2 is this: “Begin with the end in mind.” This pass week we had a funeral service for Priscilla Clark. During the service I invited us to stop and imagine our own funeral. And now I want you to do the same. Imagine the people closest in your life – your family, your friends, your coworkers, and your church family members – speaking at your funeral about your life. What would you want them to say? What character would you like them to have seen in you? Contemplating the end helps us to see life in perspective.

Advent has the exact same purpose. Advent, which means “arrival’ or “coming,” begins with the end in mind. We begin this new church year, as we are expectantly waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ. While Jesus was here with us on earth, he repeatedly said that the Day of the Lord would come unexpectedly as a thief (cf. 1 Th 5:2, 2 Pet 3:10, Rev 16:15). And today’s passage is one of them. Eugene Peterson in his Message Bible paraphrases it this way:

But be on your guard. Don't let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap, for it's going to come on everyone, everywhere, at once (vv. 34-35). 

Chronos and Kairos

Jesus also said three times, “Behold, I am coming soon!” (Rev 22:7, 12, 20) More than 2,000 years have passed since Jesus had said this. Then, what does it mean that Jesus is coming soon? It’s very helpful to know that there are two types of time in the Greek language – chronos and kairos.

Chronos is most familiar. It is the time of clocks and calendars – November 14, 2021. It is chronological, sequential, linear, quantified and measured. It moves in one direction: past – present – future. But another word for time is often used in the Bible – kairos. Kairos time is different. It is rhythmic, seasonal, circular, dancing back and forth, here and there, without beginning or ending. Kairos is God’s dimension – one not marked by the past, the present, or the future. Kairos is marked by the person of Christ: his birth, baptism, ministry, suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, sending of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost), and promised second coming (Advent).

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law” (Gal 4:4, NIV). “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6, NIV). “When the day of Pentecost had come… suddenly from heaven there came a sound like rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:1-2, NRSV). On God’s karios timetable, all his promises have been fulfilled – Jesus’ birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Holy Spirit. And now, there is only one event left – the second Advent, the second coming of Christ. In this context, Jesus says to us, “Behold, I am coming soon!”

Watch and Pray

Christians are those who live in both times: chronos (Nov 14, 2021) and kairos (between Pentecost and Advent). To be more accurate, Christians are those who live a kairo life in a chronos world. But it’s so easy to be preoccupied or overwhelmed with our chronos calendar – work schedules, family schedules, doctor’s appointments, and the list goes on. That’s why in today’s passage Jesus says that we should constantly be on our guard so that our hearts will not weighed down with busyness, self-indulgence, self-pity and the worries of this life. Instead, we need to practice kairos time. Then, how do we learn to live a kairos life in this chronos world? In today’s passage Jesus calls his disciples to watch and pray. “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (v. 36). Praying is the answer.

Then, what does it look like watching and praying in everyday life? We can find the answer in the very next verse: “Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called” (v. 37). During the day Jesus worked hard, teaching, preaching, healing, but then, at night he went to his prayer closet – the Mount of Olives. He also got up early in the morning and went to a solitary place and prayed there (Mark 1:35). And before important decisions or events, Jesus spent entire nights in prayer. He prayed to God all night before choosing the twelve apostles (Lk 6:12). He spent the night in prayer, as he so often did, on the Mount of Olives, before he was betrayed and arrested (22:39). Jesus’ chronos time was hectic most of his life (cf. Mark 3:20 – he couldn’t even find time to eat because of the crowds), but he was never in a hurry. Instead, he was able to find peace and joy from above in God’s kairos time. And his prayer life made this possible.

Praying in Advent

As we enter into Advent this year, I exhort us to examine our prayer life. If our prayer life does not shape our thoughts and our actions, we should ask ourselves whether we are praying right.

Though we know it’s important to pray, some of us in this room may wonder how to pray, or what to pray. As we pray during this Advent, I commend us to follow Jesus’ example. When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father, he prayed specifically for two things. First, for himself, Jesus prayed that he may have complete trust in God and follow God’s will no matter what it costs. “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). As we pray for ourselves, let us cry out to God day and night that we may die to self and live for Christ.

Secondly, during his last hours Jesus prayed for his disciples (cf. John 17). He prayed, “Holy Father, protect them… so that they may be one, as we are one” (v. 11). “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one” (v. 15). “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (v. 17). Jesus prayed for the disciples’ protection, perseverance, unity, and holiness. And Jesus’ prayer led him to sacrificial, meaningful actions. He laid down his life for them. During this Advent, let us set aside time to pray for others. As we pray, let us reflect on how God might use us to answer our prayer. The Spirit may be telling us to follow up with the person or contact him. Maybe the Spirit is telling us to repent of our negligence in the way we relate to that person. For instance, instead of praying, “God, please heal John of his sickness,” we may pray, “God, please heal John of his sickness. Help me to encourage him to draw near to you in this time of distress. As I send him a text message, I pray that it lifts up his soul toward joy in you.” Praying for others means giving our life to others. When we pray for others, we are sharing our life with them.

Advent is coming. The second Advent, the second coming of Christ, is coming soon. Are you ready? As followers of Jesus, we are called to live a kairos life in the chronos world. We are called to watch and pray at all times. As we spend quality time with God daily through prayer, and as we pray for others and love our neighbors with meaningful actions, we will be ready for the return of the King Jesus Christ and say, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20) Amen.