Redemption is drawing near
Luke 21:25-28
25 ‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’
This short section comes from the longer sermon (Luke 21:8-36) Jesus gave about the end of time. As we saw yesterday, he called for humility on the part of human beings, humility to not be swayed by the seeming stability and power of human structures or by the certainty of those who claimed to know when the end would take place. In other words, to humbly follow God’s way, even when that way seems uncertain and even dangerous. Such humility stands in opposition to a culture that is certain that humanity can solve all the problems it faces and therefore control the future.
In the section that is today’s reading, Jesus continues his counter-cultural reflections on the end of time. The words pointing to crisis come screaming off the page “distress”, “confused”, “faint with fear”, “foreboding”, and “shaken”. Things are in crisis, there is fear about the destruction that is present and the destruction that is threatened. And just at the moment when fear is fever-pitched, and the best option seems to be to keep one’s head down so as not to draw attention to oneself, that is when Jesus says, “stand up, raise up your heads.” That is, see and rejoice that the reign of God is at hand, the kingdom of the Son of Man (Jesus) is about to be fully revealed.
Fear is present in many places in our world, in our communities – how will we respond? Jesus calls his followers to look beyond the things that cause the fear, beyond the things that cause confusion and distress – to look beyond them to the truth that Jesus Christ is coming again, and that when he does return all of creation will be redeemed. The fear and foreboding, the confusion and distress will be rolled up into the new world of hope and peace, joy and renewal that Jesus will bring. In a world full of fear, the followers of Jesus see beyond the fear to the world that Jesus is bringing into being.
PRAYER:
God of power and might, teach us to live trusting in you and your purposes for the world, for that is the only way in which we can live without fear. So ground our hearts and minds in you that with hope and joy we may look forward to the reign of peace and truth that you are bringing to the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.