In the Gospel, Jesus urges His followers to prepare for an uncertain future; the only thing that is really certain is that the world will one day come to an end.
We do not know when, that’s why of course there is the uncertainty, but we do know that it will happen. So, Jesus says, be ready to meet God at any moment.
Before you start thinking that all this talk about the end of the world sounds a bit far fetched just consider the ‘scare mongering’ at the beginning of the pandemic. Many people reached for their Book of Revelation and began to seriously consider that this might be the end of times.
I don’t believe this is the End of Times, but one thing is for certain, one day our own lives will end, and we don’t know when that will be.
We seriously need to be prepared for that. It is an interesting reflection on our society that the one thing about all our lives that is absolutely certain is the one thing we talk about the least and are most afraid of.
But, take heart, Jesus came to take the fear out of death for those who believe in Him. But we still need to be prepared, ready to meet our God at any moment.
How is your prayer life?
The Jews prayed seven times a day that the Messiah might come among them. However, when He came, as their brother and their saviour and their friend, they did not recognise Him.
They expected a powerful leader, instead, there appeared among them a simple human being, one of their own, someone with ordinariness stamped on His very being.
It is His ordinariness, His humanness, that enables us to connect with Him; in Christ God meets us where we are, as we are, and shows us tangibly the He is like.
That is what we celebrate at Christmas.
How did He enter our world that first Christmas?
Not in great majesty or power. He came as a helpless, tiny baby.
And now, we can meet Jesus in the smile of a child or in the neediness of an older person.
He is there in the beauty of a sunset or in the power of the wind or rain.
He is there in the laughter of a teenager or in the healing touch of a nurse.
We don’t have to look far for Him. But it is so important that we learn to recognise Him when He does appear among us.
God comes to you this Christmas. Don’t miss His coming!
Advent is a season to prepare, a season of anticipation. Don’t harden your hearts by being caught up only in the material things in our world, failing to recognise Him in the ordinary relationships and experiences of life.
Seek to recognise Him in the many different ways He appears in our midst.
And as you become used to meeting Him day by day, so you will find you are prepared to meet Him at the end of your earthly life as well.
Amen.