I will seek to be faithful this moment . . . again tomorrow
Ready Today
[Jesus said,] “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
~ the Gospel According to Matthew, Chapter 24, verses 36 to 44, from The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1989, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. (Revised Common Lectionary, First Sunday of Advent, 27 November 2016)
We first must set aside the quasi-pious hysteria that usually surrounds this passage, especially as it is (unwisely) joined directly with 1 Thessalonians 4:17 and inflated into a “rapture” passage. Most rapturists end up convinced of two things: they should be speculating about the time of its arrival, and its imminence should inspire fear. From the surrounding context and patient attendance to Jesus’ teachings we must conclude that both of these opinions are wrong.
In the liturgical calendar it is the first Sunday of Advent. In this season the Church is reminded that just as Jesus Christ arrived once, in the weakness of the flesh, he will arrive again in the power of glory. The power and determination of Jesus Christ to be final arbiter of cosmic history is essential to Christian faith: In the end—at our end—Jesus himself will be the judge of our lives and world. And we don’t know when that end will be.
In this passage, Jesus puts a fine point on it, comparing it to the flood of Noah’s day, in which ignorance—willful or benign—was disastrous. When the drizzle begins, we had best be putting the finishing touches on our boats!
But the Church’s ship is not something to be built in a day. Salvation is something, to use Paul’s words, to be “worked out” over a lifetime (Philippians 2:12). Our boats have in fact been built for us—we spend every day putting on the finishing touches. Like the prevention of so many health problems endemic to our age, salvation is something to be established by lifestyle rather than radical intervention. When The Great Physician shows up at our bedside, there will be no course of treatment: We will either be abundantly alive or dead on arrival.
In case we need one more metaphor to drive it home: The athlete who uses illicit drugs only when she thinks there will not be a drug test is never safe. Only the athlete who always plays clean can avoid suspension, no matter when the sample is taken. She can compete without fear of disqualification, savoring the challenge and taking undiluted joy in the successes. So we students of Christ seek a prize not of fading worldly diversion, but of daily and persistent faithfulness.
How can I be sure that when Jesus returns I will be found faithful? I will seek to be faithful this moment, today. And then I will do it again tomorrow. That way, today or tomorrow, when Christ returns, “with shouts of acclamation, to take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!”*
Glorious Cosmic Thief, so value our hearts and minds that you come for us daily. Break into our lives with your lovely force, turning the key on our evil and pilfering the darkness from our stores. Awaken us at every dawn with the sound of your steps, so that we arise ready to find your power anew at home in us. Do it, we ask, for the glory of God, and in your name, Jesus Christ!
~ emrys tyler
*final quote from How Great Thou Art, Carl Gustav Boberg, trans. Stuart Hine.