It was still early in the morning when the Peter and John ran to the tomb and discovered that Jesus was not there. It was then that Mary stood outside the tomb crying and was met by her risen Savior.

Some eight to ten hours later, John’s Gospel tells us, Jesus appeared to his disciples as they hid behind locked doors in an upper room. John tells us they were hiding in fear. Jesus surprised many during that first day. There were two disciples on the road to Emmaus and Jesus surprised them by joining them on the road.

Even though Jesus told his disciples that he would suffer and die, but would be raised up in three days, still they were not prepared for his resurrection. They were surprised when he appeared to them in various places. Jesus surprised many people on that Easter Day. He is still surprising us 2000 years later.

Have you ever received a surprise visit. Maybe on a special birthday, or someone range the doorbell and it was long lost friend from high school, or a family member who hadn’t been seen in years. These surprise visits can be rather enjoyable. They can give you the chance to relive the old days and catch up on new events in the life of a friend.

However, surprise visits are not always pleasant. Last week, I experienced a rather unpleasant surprise visit. One night I came home from work and had an arm load of things to carry in from the car. As I got them out of the car, my hands were full, so I wasn’t able to lock my door and unfortunately, I forgot to return to the car and lock the door.

The next morning I got in my car and thought nothing about my door being unlocked overnight. I went through the day and never noticed anything out of the ordinary. However, that next evening, 24 hours later, I got in my car to go to a meeting and it suddenly hit me. Where is my iPod? Some of you may not know what an iPod - it is much like a CD player, but with the ability to store hundreds, even thousands of hours of music in its memory.

As I began to think through and retrace my steps, I figured out what happened. I remembered coming home the night before. I even used the iPod in the car to listen to some music. I remembered getting my armload of things out of the car. I remembered not locking the door. I figured out that my iPod and as I looked around the car, several other things, had been stolen out of my car.

I was really upset with myself. I knew that there was virtually no chance of finding the stolen property. I had even decided that there was no reason to call the police, because I was the one who was dumb enough, to leave my car unlocked. I prayed for the person who stole my property. I prayed that God might let them listen to some of the Christian music, I had on my iPod and that somehow they might come to know about God’s love and forgiveness.

This experience brought home to me in a very real way the words of Jesus from our passage today, Luke 12:35-40. “35 'Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, . . . 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house (or I might add, his car to) be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Oh boy, can I agree with that. You see, if I would have known that burglars were going to go through my neighborhood on that Monday night, I would have been doubly sure that I locked my car, because you see, they only stole things from cars that were unlocked. No other cars were broken into, no windows smashed. They only took things from cars that were left unlocked. If I would have known they were coming, I would have locked my doors and took my valuables out of the car. But I was not ready. I was not prepared for the events of that night.

Jesus is telling the disciples in this passage that he will come back again. He’s not talking about his resurrection at this point in the gospel. He is talking about his second coming. Several places in the gospel accounts, Jesus talks about his second coming. He describes it like a thief that comes in the night.

Peter writes in his second letter, third chapter “10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.”

1 Corinthians 15 says, “52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. . . . the dead will be raised imperishable.” Revelation 16:15 - “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake. . . .”

What Jesus is trying to teach us through Luke 12 and other scriptures like it, is that we must always be ready. - "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.”

In Jesus’ day, Jewish weddings were held at night. And sometimes they could be held miles away at the bride’s home. After the ceremony the bridegroom would bring his new bride back to his home. The bridegroom’s servants were to be ready to welcome the master and his bride when they arrived. They were to be ready to serve the master and his bride. The servants would not have known when the wedding ceremony was over. There were no cellphones to call ahead with an ETA, an estimated time of arrival.

So the servants were expected to wait and to watch for their master’s return. It would not made a good impression on either the master or his bride, if they would have come home to sleeping servants. It would not have been good for the master and his bride to have to wait outside and bang on the door. The servants had to be sure they were ready to go to work at a moment’s notice, to serve the bridegroom and the new bride. (Weirsbe commentary, p. 222)

Jesus uses this example to talk about our need to be ready for his second coming. “38It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. . . . 40You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

How do we remain ready and watchful? Does it mean that we quit our jobs and go outside every morning and watch the sky to see if the clouds part? Certainly not. Do we have to stay up all night losing sleep, in case Jesus comes in the middle of the night. No!

Jesus is talking about an attitude of readiness. The follower of Christ must have the mindset that Christ is first place in our minds and in our hearts. Therefore, we don’t get so wrapped up in other activities, work, hobbies, play, leisure, or relaxation, that we forget about the master’s coming.

Certainly the servants could have been busily preparing the house as they waited for the master to return with his bride. They could’ve swept the floor, or baked some bread. But they didn’t commit themselves to anything that would take their attention off the coming of the Master with his bride. They didn’t leave the house to go on vacation, or they didn’t lay down in bed for fear of falling asleep.

It can be so easy for our attention to be diverted away from Jesus’ second coming; to get caught up in other activities, so that we forget to be watchful and ready. What are those things, those activities that divert your attention away from Jesus’ potential coming? Is it slumber? Is it your work? Is it your leisure activities?

A thief came in the night and I was ready. But, I was fortunate. I found out by listening to the news that one of dogs in my neighborhood started barking on that Monday night. The barking woke her owner up and she looked out her window and saw the three burglars in her car. She called 911 and the police responded immediately and caught the burglars with all the stuff they had stolen. I was able to call the police station and reported my burglary, and they had recovered my stuff.

I was lucky. Even though the thief came at night, I still got my stuff back. But when Jesus comes again, there will be no second chance. Either we are ready and waiting, or we will miss his coming.

In his commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Warren Weirsbe shares a story of a highly regarded Presbyterian pastor, Robert Murray McCheyne. McCheyne was known for asking people the question, “Do you believe that Jesus is coming today?” If they replied “No,” then his response would be, “Then you better be ready, for he is coming at an hour when you think he is not.”

Do you believe that Jesus is coming today? He could.. Non of us knows the time or the hour? We simply must be ready at all times. Are you ready for Christ’s second coming?