I think, therefore I am not (or something like that).
Round here it's another day, another dollar or two. Round here it is and was business as usual.
Now, it doesn't take a great deal of imagination to think God is shaking his head this morning at the latest of my ineptitude-al moments. It doesn't take must to see God wondering, oh, I don't know, why or how I'm faltering and failing one more time and pondering just how I'm going to fail again soon.
In other words, if I have that much trouble with a phone, what on earth (and beyond) would I know about questions and answers to the most important of ideas, the deepest of notions? To paraphrase, if I can't handle the least of these, why would I be given the most important of these?
That's right. Didn't think so. The signs point an entirely different way, round here.
In the book of photos of the deepest of thinkers, I suspect I'm not on there. More likely in another book, there's a picture of a shepherd, of a mutt, of a collie, of me, of a dachshund, of a mutt, of a ... You get the idea. More likely to have had fleas than have learned to fly.
This morning, however, let's look through another idea, in the 17th chapter of Luke's Gospel. In the verses between 20 and 37, Jesus is offered the chance to explore the idea of the Kingdom coming.
"One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, 'When will the Kingdom of God come?' "
"Jesus replied, 'The Kingdom of God can't be detected by visible signs. You won't be able to say, 'Here it is!' or 'It's over there!' For the Kingdom of God is already among you.' "
As the enthralled group of folks (disciples and Pharisees and those in the spiritual marketplace as it were) looked around at each other as if to say, uh, exactly how is the Kingdom of God among us, or when did that occur that we didn't notice, Jesus said, "The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won't see it. People will tell you, 'Look, there is the Son of Man,' or 'Here he is,' but don't go out and follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes. But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation.
Then in verse 26, Jesus says, 'When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all. And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business -- eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building -- until the morning morning Lot left Sodom.Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Yes, it will be business as usual right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed."
Business as usual, round here. Till it's not. Business as usual, till Entertainment Tonight breaks into CBS News which had broken into CNBC just seconds after a report showing fiery skies breaks into ABC news update that shows the Son of Man playing in the clouds with fire and sulfur as His backup band. The parties are over because THE party is about to begin.
Business as usual till it's not. Round here, I mean.
Step out the front door like a ghost
into the fog where no one notices
the contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
the angels get a better view
of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
Round here we always stand up straight
Round here something radiates
Round here, we're in the process of making absolutely certain those around one of our churches know about our churches, about our Christmas Eve Service. Tomorrow, we're handing out Christmas stockings with self-created book marks and candy at a city-wide garage sale. On Thanksgiving evening, we're distributing as many as 50 cups of hot cocoa or coffee with labels on the cups at the Stage Department Store in Eunice as people line up for the opening of the department store before Black Friday. Between December 9th and 14th, we're sending out 1,000 post cards advertising our Advent services and our Christmas Eve service.
I think what we decided was we needed to do some things round here that were not business as usual, that we would do things that were extra-ordinary. Or else...
Verse 31 tells us, "On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home. Remember what happened to Lot's wife! If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it."
Now in verse 31 the word 'that' refers back to the beginning of the Lord's remarks where he warns them of there would be false Messiahs.(Luke 21:22-23) When they heard about bogus Messiahs rallying patriotic Hebrews to fight off the Roman soldiers, they were to flee without looking back because their lives would be in such danger that they would not even have time to collect their belongings.
"On that day, a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home.Round there, they were to abandon everything. During the siege of AD 70 there was a short break in hostilities. That day Christians, heeding this advise, took that opportunity to flee Jerusalem.
Here's the point of all this (found somewhere in this, I suspect), where ever you are, it is time. The clock has been going off round here, chiming, beeping, singing, chirping, ribbitting, you name it. Round here business as usual isn't working any more.
So, over and over and over again, we are hearing and seeing signs that are whispering, shouting, that it's time to BEGIN to get ready.
Do I know when He's coming back? Nope. But I know that it's approaching. Whether that's a minute, an hour, a day or a generation I have no idea. But I know (KNOW) it's closer than it was, round here.
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