What? TODAY?

But I’m really busy today. Can’t this wait until Saturday? That’ll be a lot better for me. Can’t God postpone the Day of the Lord to meet my schedule? I suspect we’re all in this dilemma: we’ll welcome God, but we’d prefer that God would stay out of sight for a while. Yet here we are in Church, hoping that Divinity will pass us by and get to those awful neighbors. Scripture to be heard this weekend reminds us that the Day of the Lord will come, ready or not…

ZEPHANIAH 1:7, 12-18 reminds us in no uncertain terms that God is very much present: “the day of the Lord is at hand”! We like our habits and our stuff, and God is welcome as long as there’s not much required as far as involvement. The prophet blasts those who are complacent in their worship, we who prefer to keep God caged until needed. And if we can’t do that, well, we’re gonna fry! “But God is a GOOD God,” they/we say. YHWH won’t hurt us…much.

I THESSALONIANS 5:1-11 speaks to this: “You yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night”. When we least expect it, God’s gonna show. Paul reminds his people that they’re special, that their knowledge and experience have taught them that their faith will be adequate to stand against calamity and tragedy. They need to be strengthened in the fact that they are indeed citizens of the Things to Come, that their total embrace of the heavenly will tame the roars of God’s coming. Implied here is that the presence of Christ in daily life saves us from the anxieties of worry about how yet to live.

MATTHEW 25:14-30 is–what else?–a parable of Jesus during his last days before crucifixion. He tells about a very rich man who goes off for a bit, leaving his three trusted stewards in charge of his money. To the first he gives five “talents”, to the second he gives two, and the last guy gets one. As you probably remember, the two invest in world commerce, while the last fella buries his money in the ground. Needless to say, when the rich man finally returns, he’s not pleased with the one who buried his talent. We’re presented with extreme generosity, still with the expectations that some risk is involved. The Kingdom of God is based upon the question, “What shall we do until the Master gets here?”

There used to be a bulletin board that read, “Don’t make me come down there!–God”. And a bumper sticker that advertised, “Jesus is coming again–and is he mad!” Some of our more liturgical friends have sung, “Dies Irae, dies magnus calamitatus et miserie” (Day of God’s wrath, day of great calamity and misery). Although the Last Things may be delayed, they’re bound to come–and blessed are they who use the time wisely in serving God.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please join the conversation every Tuesday as we examine texts to be read on the upcoming weekend; at horacebrownking.com