Luke 21;25 - 28, 34 - 36
If you asked most of us what Advent was all about, we’d probably answer, “It’s the season in which we get ready for Christmas.” “It’s the preparation for Christ’s birth.” Something like that. But as our gospel today tells us, it’s also the preparation for the Second Coming, when Christ comes in judgment.
In 1798 back when our country was still young, the house of representatives in the state of Connecticut were having a debate. It was a bright summer day and there was enough light so that lamps were not needed. An eclipse occurred, and suddenly the room darkened to the point where you could barely see two feet in front of you, and many of the members called for canceling the debate and adjourning -- maybe it was the end of the world. One member, however, said “I don’t know if it’s the end of the world or not, but if it is there isn’t anything we can do about it, and if it isn’t we have no reason to cancel our deliberations. I therefore suggest we light candles.” That’s a wonderful attitude, I guess, but it doesn't seem to be quite what Jesus is getting at in today’s gospel.
The first part of the gospel is an apocalypse. That’s Greek for “taking off the veil” and means that it’s a glimpse of the future. There are many of these passages in the Bible. The last book, called “Revelation” is one long apocalypse, and in fact that was the name of the book in Catholic bibles many years ago. The question always comes up, who is the glimpse of the future meant for? And of course when is it going to happen?. The second question has resulted in new denominations of Christians who believe they’ve figured it out; the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and Latter Day Saints all were founded by people who thought they had the answer. And of course many books have become best sellers because the author showed in great detail how you and I are living in those times -- but so far, no one has solved the puzzle.
But the first question is more important. Is Jesus talking to you and I, or warning people in the future? In first century Palestine the expectation was that the coming of the Messiah and the remaking of the world were going to happen any minute. Jesus wasn’t the only one to predict these events. And some people were getting ready. There were the Essenes, who lived like monks in the desert. And there were the Pharisees who believed that the better the Jewish people kept the laws God had given to Moses, the quicker the Messiah would arrive. So when Jesus talks about the end of time and all the events leading up to the return of the Son of Man, that’s just background for what he really wants from his disciples. He tells them to live in anticipation of the end of the world as we know it. And to live so as to welcome it, to raise our heads because our redemption is at hand.
Jesus goes on to warn us about carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily living. I’m sure nobody here is guilty of drunkenness, and only a few of us are carousers, but we all can relate to anxieties of daily living. To me the worst thing is that daily living is so distracting. I usually get up in the morning and set my goals for the day. Then something comes up that I have to attend to. Then someone calls. Then I realize I forgot to do something I promised to do. And so it goes, and by the end of the day I haven’t accomplished my goals, but I sure feel like it’s been a busy day. And the saddest thing is, even though I pause here and there for prayer, I don’t get the sense that I’m progressing spiritually as much as I wish I could. Now we have to deal with daily living. Even if you live in a monastery, you’ve got to take care of your body and fulfill your routine responsibilities. Jesus knows that, but is warning us that the danger is that we tend to forget that everything comes to an end, and that what seems so predictable in our lives is really not.
And I think that’s why Jesus really wants us to be vigilant. He wants us to have a sense of expectation, to carry out our tasks keeping in mind that we will someday run out of time. And telling us to be vigilant is one thing, but praying that we will have the strength to escape the tribulations is another. Because it’s hard enough to focus on eternity when things are going fairly smoothly; it’s much more difficult when our world turns upside down.
I think we should get up in the morning and take inventory -- if we were told that judgment time had come and we now had to stand in front of the Son of Man, would we welcome this or would we fear for our lives, fear for our souls? And if the second is the way we would feel, what should we do about it?
