Unexpected

Should we worry about what is to come?

Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’ Then he said to the disciples, ‘The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. They will say to you, “Look there!” or “Look here!” Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed all of them it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.’ Then they asked him, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said to them, ‘Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.’ - Luke 17:20-37

In today's Gospel, Jesus lays out the uncertainty of life and death.  I am sure his disciples didn't expect such a harsh look at the reality, not only of their future, but of his as well.

Not only will the end come when we are least expecting it, but if we try to hold onto our life, we will lose it.

This is not good news, is it?  Don't we like to think life will last a long time?  Yet, there are no guarantees.  We can live a good life or we can live a bad life, and in either case, it will end.

So, the lesson is to be aware.  Know that the days are numbered and the end could come at any time.  That means we should live each day as though we know it is the last.

If we know, we will do things differently.  So, why wait?

But that doesn't mean we live in fear.  We should go about our business, as we always do.  The only difference is we should be satisfied with all we have done to make this the best life possible, in God's eyes.

We are not the judges.  

More to come...