Watching

October 1, 2021 Georgia Tanner

“Therefore, watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Matthew 25:13

God created them for watching. They stand alert, unmoving, waiting. Their eyes look straight into mine. Direct. Searching. Their ears, high and open, tilting, rotating toward the slightest sound. Their noses are dark and round, twice the size of their almond eyes, hiding their mouths underneath.

They are interrupting my sunrise watch, these deer who silently arrive each morning, quietly waiting to see if I am friend or foe. This morning there are fourteen of them; bucks with their awkward antlers, does who lag slightly behind, and the fawns who stay mostly hidden in the taller grasses.

Jerry had called out to me the first sunrise morning when the sky was purple and the glowing ring of the sun had just started to appear, “There is feed just inside the door if you want to throw it out for them.” We are staying for three nights in the guest house of an old stone farmhouse built by the original German settlers. The metal glider where I sit is barely separated from the grasslands where the deer roam on the other side of the eight-foot fence. The sun rises higher in the sky; it outlines the deer with light as they graze.

They look awkward, these creatures who listen. Their legs are mere sticks balancing on tiny black hooves – and can't possibly hold up their bodies. Yet they move quicker than you would expect, defending their space from another in their herd, bolting abruptly in flight, or easily clearing the fence at the edge of the stand of trees in the distance.

They spend an hour with me, grazing and watching. Heads high. Alert. Listening.

It dawns on me by the third morning of deer watching - they have an adverb tightly attached to their action. They watch expectantly. With every sense alert, they listen, they look, they smell – muscles poised to spring into action. They watch because they are expecting something to happen!

Jesus used the word ‘watch’ as a request and a command. We all remember his plea in the Garden of Gethsemane,

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:40-41

He was asking his closest friends and confidants to watch with him and interestingly, to watch for themselves. To not watch opened the door to weakness and temptation.

But he also commanded those who would follow him, those who would soon be without him, to watch carefully and wisely for his return. I am sure that was confusing! They had asked about the time of this coming Kingdom he taught about. When should they expect it to arrive? Tomorrow or the day after? You know us, humans – we want all the answers – especially when it comes to the day and the hour of the good things coming our way. Waiting is hard. We want to enter the date into our calendar so we can schedule everything else on our agenda around it.

Jesus was patient – but he didn’t want us to miss what he was saying – so he said it over and over again, in multiple ways. He used the visual of the fig tree, which was everywhere around those early listeners. He talked of two men working in a field, two women grinding grain; people doing everyday things when suddenly with no warning, one would be left behind. He told of the strong man waiting to prevent the thief from entering his home to steal. And then there is the favorite analogy we women love of the ten virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive.

In this day and age of the bride-to-be organizing everything, we lose much of the drama and excitement of this story. In ancient Israel, the preparation for the wedding event was in the hands of the bridegroom. I think I have this right. The hope-filled man had already shown up at the family home, talked with the father, received agreement from the willing daughter, signed the contract, and had gone away to spend the days or weeks or months he needed to prepare the honeymoon chamber.

As she waited, the bride sewed clothes and prepared all she would need to start her own household with her unmarried virgin girlfriends helping her. And they would remain watchful as they all waited together for the bride’s groom to return for her.

And suddenly, the new home ready, the celebration feast prepared, the best man of the groom would appear in the gathered dusk announcing the groom and his companions were arriving! Her friends would help the bride slip into her gown and her veils and light her way with their lamps out to meet the bridegroom! The procession to the wedding feast would wind the streets to the place of celebration, the gates would close, and the dancing would begin!

But what would happen if some of the bride’s friends had been distracted with other priorities? What if they had other things that were more important to them and suddenly were taken unaware, with no oil in their lamps to light the way of their friend the bride?

I think of other bridesmaids I have known whose actions have spoken volumes of how little they cared for the welfare of their friend the bride. And the coming of the bridegroom.

Jesus was telling those who would listen that he was our bridegroom – and we were his beloved promised bride. He was going to prepare a place for us. He would return. Would we be ready? Would we be watching expectantly?

But Jesus didn’t end there. He continued with the most fascinating description of his Father’s upside-down justice. This story just won’t do for those who want social justice. “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

You have to ask yourself, what does one have, and how does he come to have it? It is the story of the servants being entrusted with talents – money, things of value and worth. The faithful servants didn’t despise what they were given or fearfully hide it under a rock. They cherished what they had, they worked hard, they watched carefully, they invested wisely, they wanted what was entrusted to them to prosper and it did. No excuses. No gossiping at the gate. No sleeping late and putting off to tomorrow. The master returned without warning and rewarded the servants who had accomplished much for him. The one who had hidden what he was entrusted with was left with nothing, and the gates were locked tight against him.

This seems harsh – judging by our limited human understanding. But I remember Jesus, even as a young man, had already thrown off cultural expectations and had set his priorities on seeking the things of God. “Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?” (Luke 2:49)

Is your talent invested to grow and multiply? Is your lamp full of oil and the wick carefully trimmed? Are you watching expectantly?

God’s Instructions on Watching:

Read Matthew 24:36-51 and 25:1-30

Stories of the faithful and wise watching for the return of the Son of Man: The lesson of the fig tree, the two in the field, the two women grinding grain, the man preventing the thief from entering, the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom with enough oil for their lamps, the story of talents.

“For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping, and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 25:29-30

Jesus’ request to his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane:

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:40-41

The shepherds who stood guard over the sacrificial sheep were found watching:

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:8-11

Paul’s instruction to a young teacher of God’s Salvation:

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:16

For fun – the village gathers for the wedding from Fiddler on the Roof

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee-htWvXMIg&list=RDee-htWvXMIg&start_radio=1&rv=ee-htWvXMIg&t=64