The King Shall Come

Scripture — Luke 21:25-36 (NRSV)

Jesus said, “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. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Devotion

Starting on Monday, the De Pree Center is going to be sending out a set of reflections around the theme of Advent written by all our devotional writers (including me). If you haven’t already, you can download Holy Disruption, our Advent guide, which has all the devotions and more. The Center has taken many of the traditional lectionary passages for the Sundays of Advent, dispersed them throughout the weekdays of Advent, and asked all of our Life for Leaders writers to contemplate a few passages, so that you will have something to ponder every weekday during your Advent journey.

So in some ways, my usual procedure of speaking in my devotionals about the upcoming Sunday’s reading is a bit repetitive—this particular reading from Matthew, which those of us in liturgical traditions will be hearing in church in a few days on the First Sunday of Advent, will come back to you in the devotional series on December 5. Nevertheless, I think it’s worth meditating a bit on the passage to prepare us for the season as a whole.

As I’ve written many times at Life for Leaders, Advent readings—especially the readings early in the season—can seem shocking if you come to them looking for a sweet baby in a manger, gentle candlelight, and Christmas cookies. They speak of distress, confusion, fear, and foreboding, just to name a few words from today’s reading.

These readings also remind us that our most definitive sign that Jesus is coming back soon will be that the world appears to be in supremely bad shape. Since the world was in bad shape in the first century and it’s still in bad shape in the twenty-first, this has made it very hard down through the centuries for people who want to use the signs around them to predict exactly when this is going to happen. And, in all honesty, that’s not what Jesus is asking us to do here. Instead: stay alert and pray; be on guard; stand up bravely and raise your heads. That’s actually the mission Jesus has for us in light of his Second Coming. If we live every day as though we were already in the Kingdom, the coming of the Kingdom in its fullness will hold no terror for us.

So, by all means, as you go through the next four weeks, make your usual Christmas preparations. Read our daily devotionals. Bake the cookies, light the candles, ponder the tiny baby. This is a long and dark and hard season, and we need to look for the joy where we can find it. But also remember what you are waiting for—that moment when all that was hard is over, and all that was old is made new, and the Son of Man will be among us in power and great glory. Amen and amen.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: On Guard and Actively Preparing.