In Mark 13, the Gospel reading for today, Jesus spoke of
a time in the future when the trials and tribulations of mankind will be
resolved. In verses 24-27 he said: “But in those days, after that tribulation,
the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of
heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will
see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then he
will send his angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the
farthest part of the earth.” The time will come, Jesus said, when
the Son will come and gather his people together to receive his eternal
blessing.
Jesus went on to say in the same passage that no one, not
even the Son, knows when this will happen.
Therefore, he advised, “be on guard, keep
awake. For you do not know when the time will come.”
Frances remembered that when she was a teenager in
Hoquiam she one day was walking to a dreaded dental appointment, looked up at
the foreboding clouds and thought, “this would be a good time for the Lord to
return.” In a sense she was expressing
the hope that the church was born with, that the time predicted by the prophets
would come, the time when:
·
Wars would cease,
and peace prevail;
·
When evil and sin
is replaced with love and justice;
·
When pain and
tears give way to joy and singing;
·
When this old
house of an earthly body will be taken away and we will be given, as Paul said,
“a building from
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Cor
5:1).
The
church was born with this hope and one of the primary means of reminding
ourselves of it is the Lord’s Supper. In 1 Cor 11:26 Paul wrote: “As often as you eat
this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” We don’t always think about the last
words, “until he comes.” At this table we often stress his death for
us, and all that it means, which we should, but we cannot forget these last
words. In that small phrase, “until he comes,”
our hope is summed up. Think about it.
If the Son were not to return, what good did his death do? But Jesus
knew he would return and his word to us was: “BE ON
GUARD, KEEP AWAKE. FOR YOU DO NOT KNOW WHEN THE TIIME WILL COME.”
But the time will come. He will return. We anticipate his coming. And in the
meantime, we proclaim his death until he
comes.
