Watching vs. Waiting

READINGS

Jeremiah 33:14-16, 1 Thessalonians 3:12--4:2, Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

With the season of Advent, it’s easy to interpret every reading as something to ponder while we wait for Christmas.  Take a closer look, however, and you might be surprised to find a message more relevant to now than later.  While they can certainly help us prepare for Christmas, this first week in particular holds as much meaning for this day as it does the days to come.

Jeremiah’s message is kind of cliche for Advent at first glance: God promises redemption for HIs people, and of course, His promise was fulfilled in Jesus.  A lot of what Jeremiah writes is about how badly the Israelites have fallen off wagon, but this passage gives those people—as it gives us—something we often lose sight of: hope.

Jeremiah’s life was spent watching the people of Israel go back and forth from one captor to another in a sort of Egyptian vs. Babylonian tug-of-war.  Meanwhile, the Israelites, thinking God had turned His back on them, proceeded to break just about every law Moses ever wrote.  Jeremiah’s job was to bring them back into God’s good graces.  In this passage, he reassures his people that their return to the Lord will not be in vain: one day Israel would be vindicated from captivity and be favored by God again…if their willing to make the effort.

God offers that same promise to us today.  Advent is a time to cleanse ourselves of everything that separates from each other, and by proxy, from God.  It’s a time to recognize everything in our lives that needs to change, and then change it.  Yes, it’s a promise of spiritual renewal, but it’s a promise that we make to each other: that we will rebuild the broken bridges and embrace each other again—or even for the first time—as projections of Christ in our lives.  The chance is there, but we need to take the initiative.  We have to want to change.

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians sounds even more hopeful, almost like a pat on the back.  To some extent that’s true, but beneath his words is a warning.

Thessaly was one of the most successful conversion stories of its day, and Paul’s letter starts out by basically congratulating them for a job well done.  He even implies that they are the model of conversion for the world, and that causes the Thessalonians to get a bit of a big head.  Suddenly, they start patting themselves on the back, and Paul’s tone quickly changes to one of caution.  “Don’t get too full of yourselves, because that’s kind of the opposite of what we’re trying to accomplish, here.”

It may seem like he’s treading old ground, but what he’s trying to do is reinforce the idea that just because you’ve done a good job so far doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods, or that you can just rest on your laurels.  He’s reminding them, as he’s reminding us, that the path of Christianity is a rough one, and while we may think we’re doing great at it, we often become lackadaisical in our implementation of what is constantly hammered into us in Scripture.

We make this checklist in our heads that goes something like this:

1. Did I kill anyone this week?  No.
2. Did I lie this week?  No.
3. Did I steal anything this week?  No

…you get the idea.  There’s this general idea that if we (mostly) followed the Ten Commandments, our spiritual report cards must be Honor Roll worthy.

Paul’s telling us that’s not the case: don’t let your hubris get the better of you.  Spiritual commitment isn’t just Baptism or Confirmation.  It’s not even every Sunday when we say the Creed or receive Holy Communion: it’s a daily mantra that we take with us through every aspect of our lives.  Paul isn’t just warning about the spiritual challenges of walking with Christ, he’s inviting us to challenge ourselves to become greater examples of His love every single day.

It’s also worth noting that while Jeremiah references the laws of Moses, Paul points not to the Ten Commandments, but to Jesus himself.  This new way of life comes not from a prophet, but “through the Lord Jesus.”  Again, Paul mentions that Jesus will return, placing this passage squarely in midst of Advent as we wait for His arrival.

If those readings made you feel like there is some light at the end of the tunnel, then you’ll be surprised by the bleak picture painted by Jesus at the beginning of the Gospel passage.  If we see Jesus’ birth as the beginning of spiritual revolution in the modern world, then the Apocalypse is the end of it, and Jesus reminds us that those days are coming.

Time is a power we cannot overcome.  Every day that passes brings us closer to the time when this earth will pass away.  I could go on to ponder what that means for us as Christians, but suffice to say that Jesus does not want us to pass away with this world.

In fact, He tells us that all who do not follow Him will be swept away in a day of destruction that will “assault” the world.  But for those who dwell in Christ, it will be a day of salvation, for on that day Jesus Himself will return to save those marked by the sign of faith.

Okay, so that’s all well and good for whenever that day comes, but what does that mean for us today?

The best analogy I have for this is Game of Thrones (or A Song of Ice and Fire if you’re not a fan of television.)  For those of you unfamiliar, one of the (many) plot points in this story is the idea that a group of re-animated corpses (White Walkers) are coming to assault the land of Westeros.  Nobody knows when this will actually happen, only that this army is moving steadily south from their home in the frozen north.  The only thing that separates those White Walkers from the southern kingdoms is a giant Wall that spans the width of the entire continent.  This Wall is kept by the men of the Night’s Watch: brothers in exile sworn to live and die at their post in protection of the realm.

Jesus is challenging us to be the real-life NIght’s Watch: staying vigilant against the things that draw us away from each other, and from Him.  In that way, this passage is not about a day that will come, but about every day.

Our world is infested with self-centered messages that tell us we should do what pleases us.  Jesus’ message tells us that we must humble ourselves to serve others instead of our own desires.  Christmas is a living example of the selfless love of Christ, but we are being called and challenged to live that love every day of the year, not just when the calendar calls for it.

DISCLAIMER: I am not an ordained member of the Catholic church.  All opinions here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Catholic church.  This is just one layman's opinion.  Relax!