Recently I suggested a different perspective on “Christ will come again”: maybe, just maybe, this statement does not so much affirm an actual future event as express a longing for (and faith in) restoration. The whole discussion reminded me of a quandary that plagued me during my fundamentalist days: the gospels seem to indicate that we should “get ready” for the Second Coming—but how?
A recent trip through Matthew 24-25 surprised me with a straightforward answer. In this passage, Jesus presents four parables that deal with “getting ready.” Here’s what struck me:
- The servant left in charge of the master’s households (Matthew 24:45-51). If the servant gives “the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time,” he is blessed; if he beats the servants and “eats with drunkards,” he is punished. The moral: treat other people with justice and respect.
- The wise and foolish maidens (25:1-12). Five of the maidens run out of oil for their lamps, so they cannot meet the bridegroom when he returns at night. The other five have prepared and are (here’s that word again) ready for the bridegroom. I may be reading too much into this, but I believe it expresses the need to cultivate and feed the interior life—to “keep the flame alive,” as it were.
- The parable of the talents (25:14-30). The master leaves three servants with money. Two of them invest the money and earn back double what they invested; the master commends them. One, saying that the master is a “harsh man” and being afraid of his wrath, buried it in the ground—to keep it “safe”—and was rebuked. The moral here involves stewardship: manage wisely your gifts and talents, and use them to bear fruit.
- The sheep and the goats (25:31-46). At the Second Coming, the king separates people as one would separate sheep and goats. The “sheep” go to eternal life; the “goats” go to hell. What separates them? How they treated the sick, the hungry, the naked, and those in prison.
So, in summary, how does one “get ready” for the Second Coming? By practicing justice, acting as wise stewards of God’s gifts, fostering the life of the Spirit within us, and serving the very least among us. Or as the prophet Micah puts it (Micah 6:8), “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
In other words, we get ready for the return of Christ by doing what we’re called to do every day of our lives.
This is why I think—whether you believe in a literal Second Coming or not—that we need not pay a great deal of attention to it directly. Our job is simply to do what God calls us to do, day in and day out. By fulfilling God’s will, we make ourselves ready for God’s coming, regardless of what that means.
5 comments:
i like how you include so much of the everyday in worshiping God. it seems as though everyone has a different opinion on both the Second Coming and how to live in worship. but shouldn't doing God's work in our own small lives be enough? praising God for sunrises and songbirds, and worshiping Him in our creative acts are, i think, what He calls us to do. humility, love, patience, gentleness, grace, and mercy--these are the works of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and what we are striving to do and be.
peace&grace,
sarahrachel
Very well said. In some sense, I think that this self, at this time and in this place, is all we have to work with--so "doing God's work in our own small lives" may be all we CAN do. Well, that and joining ourselves with other small lives to make a bigger difference...to strive for justice in the big issues, for instance. But that's really just another part of serving God in the daily, as far as I can tell.
i think God gives us joy and power in the little things we do. often we are not equipped to be world leaders who pass laws and make changes that affect nations, but we can smile at passersby and give to the needy and make sure the people we love and know are taken care of. i take such pleasure in watering my plants and watching them grow. when i feed my cats and watch them scramble around to get a good place at the bowl, i am filled with love. when i meet a kindred spirit with whom i connect with immediately and could tell my life story to, that is the stuff of living. so i think God is behind all joy and all love, and he takes such delight in His children's lives. being our true selves is serving the Lord, and coming to Him honestly and without pretense is i think as joyful to Him as it is satisfying to us.
with love,
sarahrachel
I didn't respond to your question re my comment on your previous post on the Second Coming: do I think of it as a definite event or as an ongoing process?
I think your final phrase in this post points in the right direction: "regardless of what that means".
So I can confidently say "it's definitely a process, whatever that means."
I continue to go back to the idea of The Body of Christ, taking it very concretely, very physically. If we go beyond the Body of Christ as a metaphor and make it a collective reality, living and doing in the manner called for by Micah 6:8, then that would be a pretty good kind of Second Coming of Christ in itself.
(Also, I like the translation of Micah 6:8 that goes "to love kindness". "Kindness" has such simplicity, whereas "mercy" carries implications of judgment and asymmetrical power.)
If I understand you correctly, Bill, your perspective on the Body of Christ dovetails beautifully with something I've come to appreciate in 2007: how little life is about "me," and how much it is about "we." In other words, my life is not really about achieving great things, but about contributing to the collective effort, which DOES have the potential to be great. Does that tie into to your thinking?
Curiously, I've found that this perspective takes some of the sting out of death. Worst case scenario, even if I die and there is no life with God hereafter, I can take my rest securely, knowing that the greater whole pushes forward toward the image of Christ.
Not that I'm giving up on the hereafter. The vision of union with God beyond death is just too compelling for me to surrender easily. Plus, it seems so like the nature of love to call us to such an ultimate bliss.
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