The Element of Surprise

Advent 1A | November 28, 2004

Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44

In Monty Python's sketch, "The Spanish Inquisition," a man is being questioned in a way that surprises him and he says, "Mr Wentworth just told me to come in here and say that there was trouble at the mill, that's all - I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition." As if on cue, inquisitors burst into the room and one of them says, "NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise…surprise and fear…fear and surprise…. Our two weapons are fear and surprise…and ruthless efficiency…. Our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency…and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope…. Our four…no… Amongst our weapons…. Amongst our weaponry…are such elements as fear, surprise…. I'll come in again." The inquisitors exit the scene to re-enter and begin the speech again.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. "If the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into" (Matthew 24:43). The Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

It has always struck me as unfortunate that the primary metaphor of Christ's return that sticks in most of our minds is the metaphor of a thief in the night. Why is the coming of the Son of Man likened to something that fills us with dread? Is there not some kind of good surprise we could imagine? In Luke 12, Jesus tells his hearers to be like servants waiting up for their master's return from a party. The good surprise there is that the returning master will cook for his servants and serve them. By contrast, even Matthew's wedding feast stories are not such great news: bridesmaids are left outside (Matt 25:1ff), and someone who gets in at first is tossed out later for lack of proper outerwear (Matt 22:11ff).

So the metaphors are not helping us here, yet the return of Christ is in fact good news. Upon our Lord's return, the petitions of the prayer he taught us will be finally, definitively answered: God's kingdom will have come and God's will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is what we are looking forward to. About such a time it is true, I suppose, that we don't expect it. "The meek shall inherit the earth." Right. Like I so expect that. Jesus says, "Keep awake." In other words, "Expect that."

In Matthew's gospel, we hear quite a lot about Jesus as "God with us" (1:23), present with us in tough times (18:20) and for the long haul (28:20). One of the benefits that the ongoing presence of Christ offers the church is the chance to live in the end time ahead of time. We have the presence of Jesus with us even before he comes again in glory. "Lo, I am with you always," he said. His presence heals, reconciles, calls to account, opens the door to the banquet, pays workers all the same, and on and on, ahead of the time of his return to judgment. Paul's words in Romans are all about living "ahead of time," anticipating with our lives that way of life that will be ours when Christ returns.

Maybe the surprise, when Christ returns, will be that he was here all along. Maybe the surprise will be that, ahead of time himself, he has been calling, gathering, enlightening and sanctifying the meek and all the rest of those who bear his name. Come, Lord Jesus.