Advent

When is Jesus coming?

Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. - Matthew 24:42

If you ask anyone today when Jesus is coming, chances are they will answer “Christmas, of course.”

And they would be right.  Today as we begin the season of Advent, that’s where are thoughts turn, to Jesus coming as a newborn babe. 

Advent is a season of anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. 

But we begin with a different type of anticipation, the anticipation of the end time. 

Jesus talks about the Lord coming at an unknown time, and this coming will be like the coming of the flood in Noah’s day.

But wait. Didn’t God tell Noah He would never again destroy the world?  He put a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his promise.  So, what is Jesus alluding to here?

He lays out the message in layers.

Noah is the first example. 

He says it will be like the time of Noah when people were going about their business without a care in the world.  They believed there would be a future and they would be there to participate in it.

We do that, right?

We celebrate life, make plans for tomorrow and the next day, and we keep doing the things we have always done, without thinking this could be the moment I die.

Then he talks about the thief in the night.  Odd that he would liken himself to a thief, for that sounds like a threat.  But to whom?

Our affinity for the things of this world makes us see the end time as something bad, rather than as a gateway to something amazing.

Now, I don’t think Jesus wanted his disciples to give up and focus on the end.  Nor do I think that is what we should do.  Instead, why not take each moment and  make it worthwhile.  Not in the sense of earthy value and wealth, but in the sense of spiritual value and wealth.

Store up for yourselves riches in heaven, he said. 

The thief analogy reminds us of our love of material things, things we cannot take with us, things we pine for when they are lost. 

Advent is that time when we look at Jesus as both the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega.  He will come into the world as a child, and as crazy as that sounds it makes a lot of sense when we look at our role in God’s kingdom.

We are the stewards.  We are the ones given everything in creation, and so why not have God give himself as a helpless child into our arms?

We have no way of knowing when the end is coming.  Jesus even told us that he doesn’t know, either, or he would tell us.

We just have to live as though it is imminent. 

How do we do that?

The other day, a woman told me she needs a pair of boots, and I told her we are hoping to get some in and I will put them aside for her.

But if that was a test, I think I failed.

The storm is coming and she has no boots.  What am I waiting for?

We don’t always get it right in this world.  In fact, we often get it wrong, but that’s ok.  God doesn’t expect us to get it right.

He expects us to be aware, to be ready, to think about doing something now, when it is needed, and not later when it is convenient.

Jesus said if someone asks for your coat, give him your shirt as well.

As we scroll through online websites and Black Friday sales fliers, trying to find that special something for that loved one who may already have several of what we have in mind, maybe we should think of those who have more urgent needs.

We have no way of knowing when the hour will be, so why put off what we plan to do at some more convenient time?

It occurred to me recently that I used to have to shop for more people each Christmas. 

I had mom to buy for.  She was always a challenge because she was a home shopping addict who bought stuff for everyone including herself just before Christmas.

And years before, I had dad, who reveled in simple gifts the whole family could use, like toilet paper.

And my sister and I stopped exchanging gifts years ago, so why not do something for total strangers in their name?

I think this year, I am going to make a list of what people need, including sizes and styles, just like I used to do as a kid when we adopted a family at Christmas, and then I will go shopping for them.  I will do it in memory of Mom and Dad, and to honor my sister.

Because I don’t know the hour or the day.  And I don’t have a guarantee I will be around for it.

So, why not make the most of this day while I can?

More to come...