We’re living in what some have called the “Information Age.” We have access to more information than ever before in the history of humanity. We can easily access most of that information with a few key pad strokes or spoken requests to our digital assistants (Siri or otherwise named). As a people, we like to know, we like to predict, we want to be able to plan for and have control over our lives and others’ lives, even if for the best. It seems to be part of our human nature. And God often doesn’t cooperate with our desires to know all, predict, and control.
This week we are at the end of the liturgical year, just before the start of Advent. This liturgical time brings us to the book of Revelation and gospel readings about the end times. In today’s passage from Luke (21:5-11), the disciples similarly want answers about when and “what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” But they (and we) are not given obvious and direct answers. Scripture scholars tell us that Luke’s writing shows that he had come to terms with a delay of the Second Coming that early Christians had initially believed was imminent in their time (somewhat different from Mark’s gospel). Realizing that they/we do not know when the end times will occur, Luke focuses more, throughout the entire gospel, on the importance of the day-to-day following of Jesus.
The book of Revelation was meant to bring hope to the early Christians who were facing persecution. Rich with symbolism, its primary purpose is to proclaim God’s victory over evil. Although today’s passage from Revelation (14:14-19) refers to the final judgment, we do not know when “the time to reap…because the earth’s harvest is fully ripe” will be. But we can hope and trust, as the early Christians, in God’s ultimate authority over evil. And we can take heart with Luke’s words of Jesus to his disciples, “do not be terrified.”
Accepting that God is outside of our control, and God’s timing is beyond our predictions, may we let go of the “need to know” and join Luke in focusing our attention on following Jesus in the day-to-day realities of our lives. In what ways am I working to help bring about God’s harvest through daily acts of love? Do I trust in God’s ultimate authority over evil and death? How does that affect the choices I make in my daily life? Rather than cling to fear and hopelessness, may we embrace the hope and joy that we hear the psalmist proclaim in today’s psalm (96), “Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound…for he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the earth with justice.” Amen.
~Eileen Miller