The Thief Who Came to Dinner
AM Psalm 45 • PM Psalm 47, 48
Zech. 2:1-13 • Rev. 3:14-22 • Matt. 24:32-44
In today’s selection from Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples to be alert to the signs that will signal the destruction of the Temple, and by extension, the end of the world as they know it. There will be wars. There will be famines. There will be earthquakes. There will be tortures, false prophets, and increased lawlessness.
The good news is that those who can endure all this will be saved and a new kingdom will be proclaimed. “[A]nd then the end will come” (24.14).
Perhaps on the assumption that anyone could sleep through such terrifying events, Jesus admonishes the disciples to stay awake:
Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: 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. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
But who exactly is this thief? A neighbor whom we are supposed to love, and perhaps could not love us back? Part of ourselves? Satan? If we follow the logic of the sequence of verses, perhaps the thief the Son of Man himself!
Consider these verses from today’s reading from Revelation:
I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.
We would assume that the “owner of the house” in Matthew would want to keep the thief out; while a house owner in Revelation needs merely to open the door to invite Jesus in for a meal. For a time of fellowship. One might even say a time of communion. But if the door is closed, the house owner doesn’t know who is standing outside the door.
Neither do we.
The trope of a god or gods at the door can be found elsewhere in ancient literature. Ovid tells us of Baucis and Philemon, who answer a knock at the door and find two strangers looking for a meal—strangers who have been turned away at every other house in the village. Strangers who turn out to be the gods Hermes and Zeus.
The story continues that Baucis and Philemon serve wine to their visitors from a pitcher that miraculously never goes empty. There is more than a little resonance here with the stories of loaves and fishes and water being turned into wine.
The story further continues that Baucis and Philemon are led away to a mountain top where they turn to watch their village being destroyed – perhaps resonant of the earthshaking events about which Jesus warns the disciples?
Our faith depends in no small part on our being able to stay awake. But staying awake is hard. We might remember the disciples who fall asleep when Jesus goes off to pray on the night before his crucifixion.
And of course these days we might open our door to strangers in the middle of the night at our peril.
But perhaps there are other ways of opening our doors to the Son of Man. Passing out clothing in a homeless shelter. Tutoring children whose parents are unwilling or unable to help them with homework. Or how about trying to have a civil conversation with a recalcitrant relative over a holiday meal. (How many articles have you read on the internet lately suggesting coping strategies for having those kinds of conversations while passing the mashed potatoes and the pumpkin pie?)
Staying awake might mean not only being ready for Jesus to appear, but also being able to recognize him when we see him.
Written by James Gamble
James Gamble is grateful for family and friends at holiday time, and regardless of the topic of conversation, seldom passes up an opportunity to partake of mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.