Not too long ago, a moment of wonder occurred to me: how many individuals have tried to predict the end of the world? Almost instantly, I found myself on the computer, typing furiously, trying to unearth some sort of answer as to how many predictions there must be. I eventually found myself glancing at a list far more ponderous than I would have ever imagined. I was shocked because I was looking at what seemed to be hundreds of individual predictions, some a long time ago, some recent, and some that even had yet to be. Nonetheless, it is something of a very popular attempt to predict.
Honestly, on some level, it makes sense! Can you imagine if we were able to plan this out?! What if we found out it were to end next year? Many of us might start to plan out a schedule, trying to figure out how to divvy up our time between friends and family members. Perhaps there are a few odds and ends off of our bucket list we’d like to try to accomplish. Maybe we have always wanted to go see some sights and wonders, and we have the perfect moment of opportunity. Whatever it would do, it seems like a moment of perfect opportunity, right?!
Well… perhaps it may be in some way, however, we know that life doesn’t progress in this way. So many variables are unexpected. We don’t know when the end will come, whether for the world or for ourselves. We aren’t quite sure what the next year, or even the next few months will hold. We don’t often even know the simple day to day things, such as what will await us at the office or at school. A lot of our world lives in this nebulous unknown, or at least it feels like it! Even this end of the world, or end of time- we are being warned of this, and yet, why are we told? Why do we need to have an awareness of this coming of the end? What will happen, and what will we find ourselves faced with?
To help answer these questions, we should start with the book of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah, as a whole, seems to be one of the strongest prophets in planting the seeds of Messianic expectation, and we can see why when we read his text and prophecies. The first reading goes into several themes along the same line- the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain. Many nations will come to it, and want to climb it. Their intent for this is simple- they want the Lord to instruct them, and they want to walk in his ways! Yet, there is more to this promise. Often the Israelites are faced with the realities of war, and yet, something dramatic will change here. They will move from a place of violence to peace! They begin to beat their swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks- because the nations are at peace. This is truly something that is monumental and unexpected! The power of God will cause all of these things to happen together. There is this final plea- let us walk in the light of the Lord! Isaiah is filled with expectation himself, and he and all of the people want to stream towards God, because He is going to do something tremendous in their midst, and will establish something altogether new!
The second reading is taken from Saint Paul and his letter to the Romans. As he goes through the course of this letter, which is directed at the Romans, he begins to sense this need to paint the need for urgency when it comes to salvation. He starts off: “You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed! The night is advanced, the day is at hand!” Paul is giving this certain sense of urgency, and rightly so, because, as he notes, time is going by! The day of salvation is closer than it ever has been before. To finish the plea- he notes all sorts of things that should change. We should live as if in daylight. We should not spend ourselves in vices, nor in rivalry, jealousy, or the like. We should be aware of what is coming- and because of that, life should change!
Finally, we arrive at the Gospel of Matthew, which we will follow for the course of this liturgical year, and we are given several illustrations, warning us that we will not know the day of the Lord- or when the Lord will come again. Two men will be in the field. One taken, the other left. Two women in the mill, one taken, and the other left. So, we have this need to stay awake! We truly do not know the day when the Lord will come. Further, Jesus gives this illustration of the thief- if one knows when their house would be broken into, they would have stayed awake! Therefore, that simple encouragement that Jesus gives at the end: be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
Let’s stop at that last phrase though: at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
When you heard that, did your heart rejoice, or did it recoil and sink? When we hear this statement, likely we will respond in one of those two ways, and it all depends upon the way that we view that coming. If we recoil and sink, it seems that our heart is not really ready for or anticipating this very moment! That can be a reality that we struggle with, especially if we aren’t quite sure if we are ready, or don’t even know where to begin in preparing for Jesus to come.
Yet, that is the very purpose that the entire Advent season is given to us. Advent, as it appears in our annual cycle, is a season of preparation, which sets before us the task of getting our souls ready for the coming of Christ. This isn’t just in the celebration of Christmas that is coming, but it is also in preparation for the coming when He will come at the end of time. When we go through these readings, they seek to set us out on our advent journey, and to get us motivated and moving in our celebration of the season.
Jesus gives us that reminder that the coming of the Son of Man will be quite unexpected. Everyone will be in the middle of their usual routines, simply living as they normally would, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. So, when that happens, it will be as if a sudden thief comes. This is something that can seem very daunting because of the sudden nature of it. Yet, if we are prepared- which is the reality of what Jesus wishes for us to be, then we will have accomplished that goal.
Isaiah, too, consistently reminds us of that reality- there is something coming. Yet, it also gives it an element of hope. It isn’t that there is an end that is coming and that it will be something simply traumatic and and anxiety inducing. He rather wishes to illustrate that this is a moment that will come, yes, but the moment will be one that brings great peace for those that are prepared. There will be no need of war, no need of violence, no need of anything else that might threaten to take away peace. There is a dramatic turn away from violence to peace, because the Lord will be present in our midst in a new way.
So, what do we need to do, to ensure we are prepared? Saint Paul really gives the Romans an excellent insight into this idea of being prepared. The hour is here to be awake, but then awake doesn’t just mean conscious. It means that there is a need to conduct one’s self in the light of Christ. We must turn away from vice, from the flesh, from jealousy, from judgement, and from everything that threatens to move us away from God. That is a reality of where God wants us to be prepared. The question for each one of us to consider in this vein though: where do I need to prepare for God to come? Where is that area of my heart where I feel some level of shame, or I feel uncomfortable, and where I need to come into Christ’s light just a little more than I have been before?
The simple fact of our journey in faith is that we don’t know when the end is coming. We’ve tried and tried to predict the end of the world, and have been met with absolutely no success, though I suppose that doesn’t stop us from trying. Yet, that isn’t really what God wants us to focus on. Rather, He wants us to simply enter into this season of preparation, and to prepare our hearts for that coming of His Son.
The Son of Man will come- therefore, stay awake!
