Be Ready!

Sermon November 30, 2025, Matthew 24:36-44

Be Ready!

Rev. Fred Okello

Beloved, people are very good at getting ready for things, especially when they know when and where they will happen. Students get ready for tests. People looking for work get ready for interviews. Families get ready when they know guests are coming. When we get ready, we always do our best. We choose the right clothes, practice the right words, arrive on time, and ensure we present our best selves.

Sometimes we even get new clothes. People think we always live that way when we show up looking clean, put together, and confident. That impression is not correct, though. We just got ready for the moment. There is a very normal life behind the neat look, with its own problems, burdens, and flaws.

Now picture what it would be like if we knew the exact date and time of Jesus' return. Many people would wait until the last minute to change, pray, forgive, or repent because that's how people are. We would treat the Second Coming like we treat appointments on Earth: preparing outwardly when the deadline approaches, instead of living inwardly transformed.

But Jesus takes that option away by saying in Matthew 24:36, "No one knows the day or the hour—only the Father."

God doesn't want people to be holy at the last minute; He wants them to be faithful all the time. He doesn't want people to meet deadlines. Jesus teaches us how to live as people who don't know the time but are always ready.

In verse 36, Jesus begins with a clear and humbling fact: no one knows the time or the day. Not even the angels in heaven. Not the prophets. Not even the Son, who was humble on Earth. Just the Father.

This truth makes us less interested in trying to guess when Christ will come back and more interested in getting ready for it. If the time were known, people would wait to obey.
Since we don't know when it will happen, we must be obedient every day.

God doesn't want people to repent out of fear or do last-minute spiritual cleanups. He wants a life of steady obedience, with a heart that beats with faithfulness every day. In other words, the unknown hour is God's way of reminding us to always do what is right.

In vv. 37-39, Jesus then talks about the days of Noah. People were doing what they usually do: eating, drinking, getting married, building, and working. Life seemed normal and straightforward. Their schedules weren't out of the ordinary or exciting.

It wasn't what they did that was dangerous; it was how they thought.

They lived as if God didn't matter.

They didn't pay attention to the warnings.

They didn't realize the importance of the hour.

And the flood came out of nowhere.

Jesus' point is clear: everyday life can be spiritually dangerous.

People aren't always angry with God these days. Many people are simply too busy, too distracted, or too comfortable to think about God. Life can feel so normal that you lose your spiritual alertness. And Jesus tells us, "Don't let your normal life put your soul to sleep." Things were fine in Noah's time, but then they weren't. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes.

From vv. 40-44, Jesus goes on with two strong illustrations: Two people working in the field—one is taken, and the other is left. Two people working at the mill—one was taken and one was left. What made them different? Not their job, their surroundings, or how close they were to each other, but how ready they were.

Then Jesus tells us two things:

1. "Stay awake." Be spiritually alert. Don't let prayer get cold. Don't let the Bible lose its place. Don't let sin become okay. Don't make church an option. Spiritual sleep is hard to see but very deadly.

2. "Get ready." Being ready doesn't mean being scared; it means trusting. It is a way of life that is based on holiness, forgiveness, compassion, generosity, and obedience. It means living every day as if Christ could come back tonight. Being ready means keeping short accounts with God: quick to repent, quick to forgive, and quick to serve.

Jesus concludes with an example: If a person knew when the thief was coming, they would stay awake. A thief comes to steal what isn't his. But Christ will come to get those who are His. In other words, Jesus says, "The Son of Man is coming at a time you don't expect." So, being ready isn't just a moment; it's a way of life.