When we read a Gospel message like today’s Gospel it is so easy to project out into the future, to go into apocalyptic mode. Our minds become preoccupied with anxiety and worry. For ages people have seen world events, whatever they may be, and sought to interpret meaning into them through the lens of this scripture and several others. Record year of hurricanes, end of the world, HIV/AIDS, end of the world, The Plague, end of the world, The Pandemic, end of the world. I was terrified of this stuff as a kid. There were many around me that proposed this theology, so it was easy to get caught in the avalanche and feel fear ridden. But, you know what I discovered over time? The years just kept ticking by. I also paid more attention to the entirety of Jesus’ message instead of out of context snippets. In doing so I saw a much more immediate and nearby presence of Christ. With this, the advent season and it’s waiting focus become shifted or transformed in our perception. OK, enough of the lofty and philosophical. What’s this mean and how does it affect us and the world? When we think of God as distant and confined to the sweet by and by and being a someday God after the Big One or the Apocalypse or the War to end all wars we are severely limiting the God who became flesh and dwelt among us. We end up just waiting and looking to interpret perceived signs that point to what?, and in so doing we neglect the ministry focus that Jesus had and we miss out on the relationships, wonders of creation, and many Gifts that God has bestowed upon us. I guess it boils down to the question of whether we take Jesus at his promise that he would be with us always, even to the ends of the earth. “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” I think, in light of Christ’s entire message and ministry, we can hear quite a different tone, one not based in watching for the signs of an event where we are finally out of here and out of a creation that God repeatedly called good, but a tone of not missing or overlooking the Christ that is with us because of the catastrophic distractions. I would like for you to meet someone.
Ernesto and so many others are forced to live where danger could arise in a moment’s notice, forcing them into a life of loss and uncertainty. This type of tragedy can strike anywhere and invade anyone’s life. In Florida and many east facing shores we wait and watch for hurricanes, in California, wildfires and earthquakes, in many places drought, in others flooding, in all the world the pandemic to go away. We are in essence always waiting for the shoe to drop and the focus resides on the events or the perception of a sign that means something is in it for us, when we are not the ones being hammered into the mud. So we are told to be alert. For what? The opportunity to stand before Jesus. How on earth could we miss that? Jesus tells us and Leo Tolstoy does a wonderful job illustrating it in a short story. There was a cobbler who lived alone in his shop with one window that looked out on the street. His wife and children had all died and he asked God, “Holy One, why have you so long delayed your coming? I have almost given up hope in seeing you. Please come to my humble shop this day and show me your face.” He fell asleep and was awakened. “’Martin!’ he suddenly heard a voice, as if someone had breathed the word above his ear.
He started from his sleep. ‘Who’s there?’ he asked.He turned round and looked at the door; no one was there. He called again. Then he heard quite distinctly: ‘Martin, Martin! Look out into the street tomorrow, for I shall come. He gathered all of his resources to offer the Lord when he arrived. The next day, the cold winter brought snow. Through his window he saw a beggar who shivered in the cold. He invited the beggar into the shop to warm him and offer a meager meal from his shrinking larder. The beggar thanked him and left. As the day passed, a few customers came with repairs they needed for their shoes and harnesses. A young boy sought shelter from the cold and snow. The child’s feet were wrapped in old dirty rags and stuffed with paper. Into the shop he invited the boy. After making him some warm milk and a sandwich from the little food he had, he went to his closet and found a pair of shoes that belonged to his son. He fit the shoes to the boy. Grateful, the boy left with a promise to return to visit him. It was approaching dusk and the cobbler despaired of a visit from the Lord. A woman with her young babe appeared in front of the window. She was dressed in a thin piece of cloth and she looked as if she might freeze to death. The cobbler invited her into his shop. Wary of the old man, she hesitated at the door, but feeling the warmth within she stepped across the threshold. The cobbler made her some tea and went to his closet to find a heavy woolen cloak that belonged to his wife. Giving her the cloak the woman thanked him and after he shared the rest of his larder with her, she left with the child. The sun descended and left the cobbler bereft. “Why didn’t you come and visit me today,” the cobbler asked? There was a voice that spoke to him in his humble shop: “But I did come to you. When you invited the beggar, the boy, and the mother and her child, I was there with you. In each of their faces you looked into my eyes.” Martin then remembered the scripture: “When did you see me hungry and feed me, alone and naked and clothe me and thirsty and you gave me a drink.” The visitors who had come to his shop that day had been his master. In their faces he had looked into the eyes of God. We are not waiting for a single one time big kaboom, we are waiting for the next time and the time after that and after that and so on. Did you look into Ernesto’s eyes? Were we alert? Were we too caught up in the devastation of property, seeking for places to access blame, the color of his skin, where he was on the planet, what his house looked like, his accent or language, fear, our worries, the weights of this world or any other distraction. The text reads: “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down.” What is weighing on your heart? How can we offer our worries to God? Christ comes to us as one in need and Christ comes to us as one who reaches out to help us. Here. Now. In the midst of all the catastrophic earth shaking signs is Jesus helping and being helped and Lutheran World Relief is but one way to get involved. The waiting of Advent is never very long because Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. What things can we focus on to help us be more alert to God’s presence in our lives? Let’s ponder those things this advent and stay alert to meet the one who brings God’s kingdom near.
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