Happy Advent! These weeks before Christmas mark the start of the church year and a time when people of faith focus on not just preparing for celebrations at Christmas, but also (or even more) on preparing for Jesus’s return and the ultimate transformation of all creation. We are invited to watch for and notice God’s presence and God’s movement in our lives and in the world around us. We know that, though the arrival of the Christ child is celebrated each December, God is already with us now.
With the start of this new year, we’ve left Luke’s gospel behind and are reading from Matthew’s gospel. If you’ve looked at the passage for this week, you have seen that the reading for this first week of Advent truly focuses on “the coming of the Son of Man” (the return of the messiah). Jesus tells his disciples that no one knows when it will happen. Like the people who were swept away in the flood that Noah escaped, people will not have any clue about the timing. This passage has been misused and misunderstood as a threat of surprise and negative consequences rather than a promise that God will return and complete the healing and transformation that has already begun. When Jesus says “Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” we can instead hear encouragement to not lose hope and to continue watching and preparing for God’s return.
So, what does this all mean for us as we return from break for these last weeks of the semester, with deadlines and finals looming, in a world that is a confusing mix of wonderful and awful? It means that God is here, despite the difficult and the tragic things we encounter. God’s love and faithfulness are bigger and more consistent than any struggle we meet. Watch for God’s presence and action around you and in you – notice that even as we face disappointment, defeat or sorrow, God is here with us.
When life is hard or painful, God is the source of all that lifts us up and brings healing. God is all about new life. As followers of Jesus who are eager to see the world transformed into all that God intends, we live in a paradox, behaving at the same time as if we will never see this final chapter, and as if it will happen tomorrow. Whatever the timeline is, God is love and hope, wholeness and new beginnings.
Peace,
weekly prayer | Jesus encourages waiting disciples in Matthew 24