Now and not yet

Therefore you must be ready, for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.  Matthew 24:44

I remember, years ago, a pastor said in a class I was taking, "The kingdom of God is now."  It was a revelation to me to consider that the Kingdom of God is not (or not only) something in the future, but it is a present reality, right this minute.  The  now and the not yet.

The verse above is part of an apocalyptic passage in Matthew.  I don't like those kind of passages, because I feel helpless in the light of the them.  God is coming; something will happen.  We don't know when or where or what, but we need to be prepared.  And I always feel woefully unprepared, and it makes me anxious.

Barbara Brown Taylor in her book The Seeds of Heaven, says:

The truth is that Christ comes again and again and again - that God has placed no limit on coming to the world, but is always on the way to us here and now. The only thing we are required to do is to notice - to watch, to keep our eyes peeled.

God is here now.  He is coming, but he is also here now.  Right now.  In my office.  What difference does that make in the way I live my life?

Taylor says that the passage in Matthew (24:29-44) speaks of three virtues - enduring love, discernment, and alertness.  We are called to keep watch - God is here now and God is coming.  Be aware and notice.  And while you are doing that, remember enduring love.  Remember the mission we have been given, which is to reach out to the lost, the hungry, the homeless and to act with enduring love.  We don't know when God may come, but we do know that God is here. (I love that idea.)  And if God is here, then we had better be about God's work.

God still comes

Our Sunday school lesson today centered around Mark 13, the "little apocolypse."  It's a difficult passage to understand, and given Christ's statement that even he does not know the day or the time of his coming, I can easily move this passage aside as something I will not worry about.

However, is there a message in this scripture for me, today?  I think there may be several, but the one that spoke to me today is that no matter what happens -- no matter how terrible the suffering, God still comes.  He gathers us together, and does not leave us alone in our pain.  Stars may fall and the sun may stop shining, but nothing can separate us from God.

Christ with us always?

Read this passage from 2 Peter 3:

Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation (verses 11-15a)

Do we hear fear at the discussion of end times? Is that the right response to this passage? Do we miss the command to live our lives in a way which demonstrates our conviction -- our core belief -- that Christ lies and reigns in our lives. how would we live if we believed he might walk in our door -- tomorrow? Today, even? Shouldn't we be living a life that says that Christ is with me always? We say we believe that, but do our actions demonstrate -- provide a witness -- to that belief?