The Scouting
Movement has as its motto ‘Be Prepared’ which rather sums up the message of
this morning’s Gospel. As people who live in the countryside we are more than
used to having a supply of candles and batteries ready at hand to deal with the
inevitable winter power cuts caused by bad weather. It makes sense, so that we
are not caught out – having to endure the cold and dark.
The Gospel speaks of a more serious preparedness,
one which we must all face. Our earthly
lives are finite, and we have to be prepared for our end. We know that as Our
Lord came among us born as a baby in Bethlehem, so he will come as Our Judge,
and we have to be ready to meet Him. Rather than face this future with a
feeling of uncertainty, of dread, we can as Christians have hope, we can watch
and wait in hope, in the darkness, in the knowledge that Christ loves us, that
he gave himself for us, he died to take away our sins, and that we can live for
and through Him. It need not catch us unawares, as we have been warned, so that
we can be prepared, we can be ready, with the lamp of faith and good works
ready, trimmed and burning – a light burning in the darkness.
It
is a very human fear, and clearly the Christians in Thessaly around ad55 were more than a little concerned
about what might happen. They can have the hope that ‘so we will be with the
Lord forever.’ (1Thes 4:17) and therefore confident in that hope, they can
begin to live out their faith here and now. They can live out the justice and
righteousness which is pleasing to God, as it is how he wants us to live, so
that we can have life in its fullness in Him.
If
what we believe in our hearts and how we live our lives are in perfect sync
with each other, then we need have no fear, as the promise of sharing in
Christ’s Resurrection is there for us – we do not need to be afraid, and we can
get on with the business of living our lives secure in our faith. When we do
this we can begin to see something of the just and gentle rule of Christ, as we
will transform the world, and will be truly alive, living the life of heaven
here in earth. Each day, as Christians, we pray, and we say the prayer that
Jesus taught us which includes the petition ‘Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven’. So that our words are not empty, as well as
praying for the coming of God’s kingdom, we have to do something about it – we have
to show how prepared we are by listening to God and doing what he tells us.
We
pray, we are nourished by the word of God, in reading the Bible, we are nourished
by the sacraments of the Church, by the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist,
so that we may be strengthened in our faith, strengthened to live it out in our
lives, living out the sacrifice so that we may be drawn into its mystery, carrying
our own Cross, and being conformed ever more and more to the example of Our Lord
and Saviour, living in Him, living like Him, living the life of the Kingdom here
and now, so Christ’s kingdom may come here on earth, that His will may be done.
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