Some games were created with the great imaginations we had, other games would be the traditional games handed down from kid to kid - proving to stand the test of time.
One of those games was: Hide and Seek.
Kids would all stand at one place whilst one kid would close his eyes and start counting. The rest of the group would disperse into every direction possible with one goal in mind: HIDE AWAY FROM THE COUNTER!!
When the counting was done the counter would shout, “Ready or Not… heeeeerrrreee I coooomeeee!!!”. And then he would have to find the others who are hidden away. Once found they could come out of hiding.
Then they would walk around with the counter to find the other hidden people. Once everyone was found they would all walk back to the place where they all started.
This game is very similar to our spiritual lives today.
Keep that image in your mind as we read our text for this morning:
Text: Matthew 24: 36-44
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
In this text, we are told that Jesus is coming back.
In addition - we will never know when Jesus is coming back.
We are simply encourage to be ready for when it happens.
And when He does come back, people will be divided into two groups (Even though they are in very similar situations):
· Those who are ready (The saved)
· Those who are not ready (The lost)
Ok, now let us tie this in the game Hide and Seek:
God is the counter - Only He knows when He is coming to find us.
And we are the ones hiding away… Let me explain.
Firstly: Let’s talk about the hiding places:
· Dark
· Small confined space
· Behind something
· Up something
· Under something
· Etc.
Wherever it is, it is in a place where we will go where we do not want to be found.
This idea of hiding from God is not a new thing.
This happened at the beginning of time with Adam and Eve.
God was walking in the Garden of Eden trying to find them and calling out, “Where are you?”. (Gen. 3:9)
Adam answered, “I heard you in the Garden, and I was afraid… so I hid.” (Gen. 3:10)
They hid away from God.
Can you remember what drove them to find a hiding place?
SIN – they disobeyed God.
And they were punished severely for their sin.
SIN tells us that we must have one goal in mind: HIDE AWAY FROM THE COUNTER (GOD).
There are people out there, and even inside this church this morning, who are hiding from God (or trying to), through whatever sin is in their lives.
Sin is keeping them trapped in that dark hiding place.
But God is calling out to us, “Where are you?”
Why?
Because He doesn’t want us to live in hiding.
Not so that He can punish us, but for another reason…
For us to live in the light of His grace and walk with Him – Like being found in the game of Hide and Seek.
This is the good news:
Do you remember what Jesus did to SIN?
He took it! Died with it! And He beat it!
Then gave us Grace in its place.
Now we don’t have punishment but Grace.
With this grace we are able to step out of our dark hiding places into the light wherever Jesus finds us.
And just like the game of Hide and Seek, we have the opportunity to walk with Jesus to find others who are also in dark hiding places.
Today is celebration Sunday.
We are Celebrating that…
· Grace!
· Jesus found us.
· We can be part of the group who goes out to find others who are lost in dark hiding places and help them find the light.
· Jesus is taking us back to the place where we can be together with Him.
· Jesus came once before, and… He is coming again.
· Now it is our turn to work and walk with Jesus to help find the hidden/lost and share with them what they can Celebrate about.
But the question we need to ask ourselves is this, “When Jesus comes a second time to call me to be with Him, will I be ready? Also, am I helping others to be ready too?”
Just like the game of Hide and Seek has been handed down from generation to generation, it is our responsibility to hand down this message of Grace and Jesus coming again to the those who don’t know it.
It is also our responsibility to step out of the darkness with this knowledge of grace, to face our sin with Jesus, overcome it and walk with Jesus.
When you hear Jesus Shout, “Ready or not here I come” - will you be ready or will you still be hiding.
Just like we anticipate Christmas and remember the birth of Jesus, when he came the first time, let us wait in celebratory anticipation of Jesus coming again. And let’s do what it takes to be ready.
