S5 E13 - Armed Robbery

Our local pharmacy was robbed at gunpoint yesterday. Thankfully, no one was injured and later on the suspect was aprehended. This kind of thing just doesn't happen that often here in our small town, so it took us all by surpise. It was unexpected, and many were not prepared for it. 

The Lord likens his return to a thief - because we will not know when he is coming, and when he does, it will be too late if we are unprepared. But if we know his return is coming at an unknown time, what sort of lives ought we to live in preperation today? 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 5 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Let’s grow together! 

We live in a relatively small town here in Danville, Kentucky. Especially for those who work and live inside of Danville proper, for the most part everybody knows just about everybody. It’s not quite Mayberry, but we sure love our small town that we now call home. There are a lot of things that we love about it, and one of those things that we are particularly thankful for is a relatively low crime rate. It’s not often that something catches everyone’s eye on the news around here – usually those kinds of activities take place in much more populated areas. That was not the case, however, yesterday morning. For the past six years we have used the Bluegrass Drugstore Pharmacy located right off the bypass. It’s a small business that only just recently was bought out by our local hospital, but the folks who work there and run the establishment are still the same. They are kind, honest, hardworking, and several of them we have become friends with outside of simply being customers there. They are a staple of our community. 

You can imagine the shock, then, that it was to all of us when we heard that they were robbed at gunpoint yesterday morning. Kylie was at the gym early after dropping the kids off for school when her coach, who also works at the pharmacy, received a call with the news. Kylie immediately paused her workout and called the school, which is right down the street from the pharmacy, and learned that the school was placed on immediate lockdown for the safety and protection of all the kids. She called me to tell me the news at about the same time the school sent out a message to all the parents letting them know as well. We made the decision that once the lockdown was lifted, we were going to go ahead and pull the kids out of school for the day and bring them home. We knew they were safe at school, but our hearts just needed them home where they were in our immediate care. As the day continued, more details came out concerning the perpetrator. He apparently came in and told the girl working the counter to give them everything they had, and she laughed thinking he was making a joke. When he pulled a gun, they realized he wasn’t joking. He left with an incredible amount of medication and sped off in a red Toyota sedan with no license plates. Incredibly, and thankfully, not a single person was injured during the robbery.  Police worked tirelessly to follow leads on the suspect, and just before 9 pm last night an arrest was made, and justice was served. We’re thankful for the outcome, but still shocked that it even occurred. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen that often here in Danville, and as a result, it comes as a great surprise to the entire community when it does. 

See that’s the thing about a robbery – you don’t know when it’s going to happen. There is no warning, no sign, no opportunity to go back and be better prepared for it. It is for this reason, then, that both the Lord and the apostles would liken Jesus’ return to being like a “thief in the night”. We see this in several places throughout Scripture. Starting with the Lord, we read in Matthew 24:42-44, “Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. But know this: If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into. This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” While the context of Matthew 24 is debated amongst scholars, the principle that we can understand here is clear: when the Lord returns, that’s it. There will be no warning, no sign of his return, and no opportunity to go back and be better prepared for it. We see the same language used by both Paul and Peter concerning the Lord’s return as well. First from Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, “About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” Second from Peter, we read, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.” (2 Peter 3:10) Do you see the common theme in all of these statements? The Day of the Lord, his second coming, will be sudden and bring about the end of all things. Like the thief, no one can know when it will take place – though many of tried and failed to guess time and time again. His return is imminent, but the timing is unknown.

The question then that both the Lord and the apostles ask us is this: are you ready for his return? Given that we will have no time to prepare when he returns, the time to prepare and ensure that we are ready is now. This is what Peter implores us to consider, continuing on starting in vv. 11 of 2 Peter 3, “Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” If we know the Lord is coming, and we know that will be the end of all things, and we know we will then face judgement…what sort of lives ought we to live today? Many times, we operate under the false assumption of, “I have more time,” but that is not a guarantee. None of us are promised tomorrow, as in fact even tonight perhaps our very soul will be required of us in death (see Luke 12:20). And just as death could come at any moment, so could the Lord. So, ask yourself – is your life right with God? Are you ready for his return? If not, you’re playing a very dangerous game by putting him off. The Lord is patient with us, certainly…but we should not try his patience. 

The Lord would continue in Matthew 24:45 and state, “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed,’ and starts to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” His message is simple: those who prepare now and are found faithful when he returns will be rewarded, but those who put him off and are unfaithful will face judgement. We will have no excuse if we are found unprepared at his return, and we will have no one to blame but ourselves. Your soul and your eternal state are not things to gamble with or procrastinate. Heed the words of the Lord and the apostles – make your life right with God now while it is still called today. Live faithfully as we await his return, and do not be found faithless at a day and hour you were not ready for. This is your chance now – take it, because you may never have another.

Let us conclude with the words of Paul continuing on in 1 Thessalonians 5 starting in vv. 3, “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.”

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 5 episode 13 – and I’m so thankful that we had this time to grow together! A new episode is dropped every Friday, so be sure to tune in next week.  Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, give us a good rating or most importantly share it with someone else – it would help to reach others that I never could alone.  And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.