Waiting for Christ's Return Without Falling Asleep

Introduction

Every week we pray "your kingdom come," and we confess in the Creed that Christ "will come to judge the living and the dead." But caught up in the whirlwind of life, this waiting easily falls asleep. For this first Sunday of Advent, Stéphane Guillet meditates on Matthew 24:36-44 alongside Isaiah 2 and Romans 13: Christ comes at an hour you do not know, not to frighten you, but to wake up the way you inhabit your everyday life.

Message Outline

1. A coming that calls for a conscious response

• Three texts converge: "Come, let's walk in Yahweh's light" (Isaiah 2:5), "It is already time for you to awaken" (Romans 13), "Watch therefore, for you don't know" (Matthew 24:42).
• The believer isn't invited to live as if nothing were happening: the Lord is coming, and that concretely changes something in your life.
• The liturgy of the universal Church tunes us to a shared waiting: joining the people of Israel who awaited the Messiah, to rekindle today the expectation of his coming.
• The book of Revelation ends almost with these words: "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'", it is the Spirit himself who inspires our prayer as we wait for the Lord's coming.

2. No sign lets you calculate the date

• The disciples ask for a sign (Matthew 24:3), and Jesus mentions false prophets, wars, famines, earthquakes, but each time he adds: "this is not yet the end."
• The only sign he gives is the coming itself: "then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky... coming on the clouds of the sky" (Matthew 24:30).
• "But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
• Don't let yourself be troubled by those who claim to have decoded the date, books, emails, texts full of "good calculations." The trash can is the best use of your time when faced with that.

3. The real danger: falling asleep when everything is going well

• Jesus doesn't bring up catastrophes to illustrate the days of Noah, but ordinary activities: "they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage."
• It's times of peace, times when "everything is going pretty well," that lull our waiting to sleep the most. The tent grows slack, drowsiness creeps in.
• Psalm 119:70 speaks of a heart "as callous as fat": a striking image of a heart that falls asleep in the middle of abundance.
• Stéphane admits it himself: "I eat, I drink, I got married, my three children are married. That's totally me." Nothing outwardly distinguishes Jesus' disciples from anyone else.

4. The difference is inward, not visible

• "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left; two women grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one will be left" (Matthew 24:40-41).
• A hard saying: nothing sets them apart outwardly. And yet one is taken, the other left.
• Unless we're willing to accuse God of arbitrariness, the difference plays out elsewhere: on the inside, in the way one invests in and inhabits daily actions.
• You can eat and drink, or eat and drink with thanksgiving because the Lord gives you your food. You can work to earn money, or do your work as a disciple of Christ, seeking to live out the love of God and neighbor.

5. Watching: staying awake to Christ

• We are called to be "awake", not to the ideologies of our age, but to Christ, to his teachings, seeking how to put them into practice in everyday life.
• In the New Testament, the verb "watch" is often paired with the verb "pray": it is Christ's own request.
• Paul sums it up: "Whether then you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). A vast challenge.
• The New Testament most often uses the verb "come" in the present tense: Christ is the one who is coming, not only the one who will come. He is coming now, and you can already taste his presence in the everyday.

Key Takeaways

• Waiting for Christ's return isn't a passive posture: it's a conscious response, a way of inhabiting your days.
• No one knows the day or the hour, not even the Son. Every numbered prediction of the return belongs with the emails you delete.
• The real danger isn't war or catastrophe, but the comfortable routine that lulls the heart to sleep in the middle of abundance.
• The difference between the one "taken" and the one "left" isn't visible from the outside: it plays out in how you invest in ordinary gestures.
• Watching means staying awake to Christ in everyday life, eating, working, loving for the glory of God, and watching for his presence that is already coming now.

Personal Application

1. When did you last pray "come, Lord Jesus" with your heart, and not just by rote?
2. Does your current comfort (health, work, family), numb your waiting for Christ rather than nourish it?
3. Whom do you give credence to when you hear a new "revelation" about the date of Christ's return? What does Matthew 24:36 want to tell you about that?
4. Concretely, how would your next meal, your next workday, your next encounter change if you lived them as "someone waiting for their Lord"?
5. Where can you already "taste" the presence of the coming Christ, in what encounter, what Word, what service given or received this week?

Verses Cited

• Matthew 24:36-44 · Watch therefore, for you don't know what hour your Lord comes
• Isaiah 2:2-5 · Come, let's walk in Yahweh's light
• Romans 13 · It is already time for you to awaken
• Matthew 24:30 · Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear
• Psalm 119:70 · Their heart is as callous as fat
• 1 Corinthians 10:31 · Do all to the glory of God
• Revelation 22:17 · The Spirit and the bride say, Come!

Further reading

• Which Bible Translation Should You Choose?
• How to Read the Bible When You're Just Starting Out
• How to Meditate on a Bible Verse

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Bible give precise signs for knowing the date of Christ's return?

No. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus is categorical: "But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only." The only "sign" he gives in the whole chapter is the coming itself (v. 30). Wars, famines, and earthquakes have existed since the world turned away from God, Jesus himself adds, every time he mentions them, "this is not yet the end." People who claim to have decoded a prophetic calendar shouldn't be allowed to disturb the peace of your heart.

Why does Jesus talk about the days of Noah rather than catastrophic events?

Because the real spiritual danger isn't crisis (a crisis often wakes up our waiting), but ordinary life going on quietly. Jesus describes the people of Noah's day "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage," perfectly legitimate activities, yet they lulled people to sleep to the point that "they didn't know until the flood came, and took them all away." Comfort and routine are the greatest anesthetics for our waiting on Christ. That's why Psalm 119:70 speaks of a heart "as callous as fat" in the middle of abundance.

What does "watching" concretely mean in my ordinary life?

Watching doesn't mean stopping living. Stéphane Guillet says it plainly: "If Christ were to return next week, we wouldn't stop eating, drinking, or going about our various activities." Watching means inhabiting those same activities differently, as someone who confesses that Jesus is coming. It's eating with thanksgiving, working as a disciple, loving for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). That's why the New Testament almost always pairs "watch" with "pray." Christ isn't only the one who will come one day, he is the one who is already coming, whose presence you can taste in everyday life.