Matthew 24:37-44
In the early part of the last century, Charles Tate Russell wrote an extensive commentary on the bible, in which he maintained that the return of Christ and the end of history were imminent. He attracted a large following. When he died, his successor, Joseph Rutherford, predicted that the end of the world would occur in 1925. It didn’t. Another prediction was made, for 1931, but that didn’t work out either, so the leadership of the Jehovah’s Witnesses declared that the end times did occur, but on a spiritual plane. Predictions aren’t made any more.
About the same time in history Ellen White predicted that the end times would commence in the last few years of the 1800’s. They didn’t, and now the Seventh Day Adventists don’t make such predictions. In the 1970’s Hal Lindsey published the book “The Last Great Planet Earth” which, based upon biblical calculations, predicted precisely when the events that ushered in the end of time and the coming of the Son of Man would occur. He laid out a future history in which eventually there would be two forces, the force of Rome and the force of the Antichrist. They would be locked in a great battle, in which ultimately Rome would triumph. Of course, Rome would be led by the returning Jesus. Some of the predictions have not come true, and others have been contradicted by events like the formation of the European Union.
Predictions about the end of our world, the coming of Jesus, the defeat of Satan seem to fascinate our human minds. You have similar strains in Islam, especially among the Shi’ites, who anticipate the coming of their messiah in the imminent future. There are millennial Jews as well, and Buddhists and HIndus. And even among Catholics there are people who look forward to a near-term coming of Christ preceded by a world that falls into total ruin. Sister Lucia, the surviving member of the three children who witnessed the appearance of Mary at Fatima, said that before the coming of Christ the whole world would be communist. It almost seemed like that was possible in those days -- One by one, countries were succumbing to Communism. But it didn’t turn out that way.
And that brings us to the gospel for the first Sunday of Advent. Notice that Jesus tells us that we will not know the day our Lord will come. In another place he tells us that the angels don’t know, the Son doesn’t know, only the Father knows. You would think that people who study the bible would have heard those words.
Today’s gospel sounds like another prediction about the end of time, but what it does say is that it will be like the time of Noah. People will be going about their ordinary lives. Now when Jesus talks about two men in the field, one being taken the other left, or two women grinding flour, one will be taken and one will be left, that the ones who are taken are the ones brought up to heaven. That’s another belief that is common among some Christians, the idea that there is a rapture that will occur before the end of time, and the people who are good with God will be snatched up before the terrors of the end of time. But notice that Jesus says, “As it was in the days of Noah…” The people then who were spared were Noah and his family. So, when Jesus talks about one being taken and one being left behind, the ones being left behind might be the ones who will be there for the coming of the Son of Man. In fact, yesterday’s gospel, the last one of the previous church year, has Jesus saying “Be vigilant…and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations … and to stand before the Son of Man.” So, no rapture. It’s better to be left behind.
Today’s gospel really tells us that there will be nothing that will help us know when the end times are coming. He emphasizes that. The conclusion is that we must stay awake. All through the New Testament we hear words like those -- stay awake, be prepared, be alert -- all the way from the gospel of Matthew to the Book of Revelation. But that doesn’t mean we drink a lot of coffee and sit anxiously in our basement bomb shelter. To be in the state of mind Jesus talks about is to be attentive to our every act to make sure it is being done well; to tune in to opportunities to bring the good news to our neighbors, to be sensitive to the needs of others and whether we can do something about them; and to ask ourselves every day, “can I do better? Can I give up bad habits and adopt good ones? Can I open myself up more to God’s grace?”
Saint Francis was asked what he would do if he knew Jesus would return to the world today. He replied, “I’d keep working in my garden.” Being alert means that we live lives so that we can say that as well.
