Ready or Not?

 

Advent I    Matthew 24:36-44

 The coming of the Son of Man has been anticipated for a little less than 2,000 years.  When it happens, all will be aware.  We are commanded to “keep awake.”  We are to be ready because no one knows when it will happen, even the Son of Man. 

 This passage comes before others about Jesus’ coming.  We are to be found doing the work of the Kingdom and not treat one another shamefully.  We are to be like the wise bridesmaids who are prepared.  We are to invest what has been given to us (grace, loving-mercy, and love) in the world.  We are to be the sheep who care for the most vulnerable among us and not the goats who refuse to do so.

 It is right after this in Matthew’s Gospel that the events take place which lead to Jesus’ death and resurrection.  These events show what Messiahship is in Jesus and that He is telling the truth about who He is for the world.  It is the fulfillment of His mission as Emmanuel, in the flesh, but not the fulfillment of the Day of the Lord.  That is to come later, and it is that for which we are commanded to be ready.

 It is a message of HOPE.  God will turn things around.  The evils in the world will be addressed directly, and God’s Will shall be done on earth as in heaven.  The Messianic age will commence.  Emmanuel is the message of God with us.  It is GOOD NEWS for those who have been beaten down, exploited and held down, back and out by the world, by empire. 

 Preparation is preparation and being ready is being ready.  This is Advent.  We prepare for the coming of Messiah to us.  Elijah will come in John the Baptist.  Jesus will come in dramatic fashion and identify with us as we live in this part of God’s Kingdom.  Jesus will take on our poverty, homelessness, unjust treatment, suffering and death to let us know that He identifies with us.  Jesus will confront the powers of empire that divide, discriminate, exploit God’s beloved children, and destroy lives.  Jesus will take our death to its death with Him in order to give us His resurrection.

 Preparation is meant to be in our hearts and minds, our actions in repairing the world.  We are to prepare the way for Jesus in hearts and minds by living the agaph that Jesus commanded us to live with Neighbor, with “the least of these” Jesus’ sisters and brothers, and ours.  Preparation is meant to be that we prepare the world for God’s great turn around, transforming the world by living that Love as an example of God’s Will for us all.

 It is already and not yet.  We anticipate the story.  We await His return.  But do we?  I believe that this message is one of being prepared and ready as if Jesus will come back today – everyday.  I believe it is about living our lives the way we know God wants us to live them now.  The truth is that Jesus DOES come to us today – in the world as we encounter our sisters and brothers, in the Word as the Holy Spirit moves us, and in our conscience as we struggle with what is right and wrong in the world in which we live.

 Jesus comes to us as we LIVE that LOVE that Jesus commanded and modeled for us to live.  Jesus comes to us as we DO UNTO OTHERS… FEED THE HUNGRY, CLOTHE THE NAKED, WELCOME THE STRANGER, CARE FOR THE SICK AND IMPRISONED… as we DO for the LEAST OF THESE, as we DO for JESUS.  Jesus comes to us.  As we transform hearts and minds to Jesus’ Way and therefore change the world systems that are designed to divide socially, economically and politically, we end the despair and destruction that come from these empire, worldly systems that go against God’s Will.

 We prepare our hearts and minds.  We take loving, faithful action in the world in anticipation of His coming to judge the living and the dead.  We anticipate His coming and watch for it, striving to be faithful to Jesus and His Way for our lives.  We resist the evils of empire and strive to live in Jesus’ Way or we do not. 

 Jesus is coming.  Ready or Not, Jesus is coming.