The Kingdom of God is at Hand!
By Bishop Chris Giesler
Assigned Reading: Luke 21:25-36
This past summer, I made plans to fly to Miami to meet with congregational leaders. Beginning early in the morning, I took the 6:00 AM flight from Allentown to Atlanta, then changed planes to fly into Miami. We took off on schedule, but as I followed our flight path on the computer screen, I noticed that the further south we went, the further east the plane was going. Soon, I noticed that we were circling the Bahamas! At this point, the captain announced that there were storms in Miami and that we would be circling for a while, which we did for about an hour. Then, the captain announced that we were being diverted to Orlando because we were beginning to run low on fuel. Once on the ground in Orlando, the thunderstorms started there, and they could not refuel the plane with lightning in the area. This went on for several hours, and finally, the captain came back on to say that their crew had reached their time limit and could no longer fly the plane to Miami. As a result, we would need to wait for the arrival of another flight crew, which would take another four or five hours. With this much of a delay, I missed the meetings that would have taken place late that afternoon and evening. So I ended up flying back home, arriving at around 11:00 PM ending up where I started the day. This reminds me of the adage that sometimes you plan the day, and sometimes the day plans you.
Life is never predictable, and Luke’s passage today reminds us of this. Here, Luke tells us, “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation (overindulgence) and drunkenness and the worries of this life.” It is easy for us to hear drunkenness being condemned here, but more challenging for us to notice the warning not to be weighed down by worries of this life. It does not take us long to see the worries all around us.
But into those worries comes a Savior! The season of Advent celebrates that Jesus came once, is present with us today, and will come again in some unknown way. As we prepare for the coming celebration of Christmas, we look back to recall Jesus’ birth; we seek to understand his presence with us today and anticipate his presence will return to us in the mystery of time. It is important to note that in our Gospel for today, Luke reminds us that our lives are not being planned and scripted by God. Some days we plan the day; on other days, the day plans us. There is an element of randomness to the fabric of our lives; that is just how the world works. It is not about mapping out how God has dictated every event in human history, be they good or bad. Luke underscores that despite that randomness, human evil, and the natural calamities that might befall us, ultimately, God will have the final say. Most importantly, Luke tells us that God is present with us at each stage of the journey.
Let us also note that while we are hearing these words at the front end of the Advent season, Jesus spoke them right before his crucifixion; and I believe that he found comfort in them. In these words, Jesus is also trying to prepare his disciples for the upheaval about to come in their lives in the next few days. Furthermore, since the author of Luke wrote these words after the Romans had destroyed Jerusalem, these words would have been significant to those early Christians who saw their world crumbling around them.
The question for us is, how do these words speak in the presence of the uncertainty of today’s world? How often have you heard this lately, “What is the world coming to? It has never been this bad.” I have heard this a lot. But if we pause to reflect on this, we should understand that the world has been much worse than it is today. For instance:
- Think of those early Christians who saw persecution and death in their ranks daily.
- Think of the plagues through which much of Europe suffered in the Middle Ages
- I cannot imagine what our Moravian forefathers and mothers went through as they followed John Hus and John Amos Comenius, even to the point of death.
- Think of what Africans had to suffer through as white Europeans showed up on their shores to kidnap men, women, and children to be thrown on overcrowded ships and sold as property in the Caribbean and North America.
- Think of being a Jew in Germany during the Holocaust. I cannot imagine the fear.
- In more recent times, in the late 1960s and early 70s, I remember doing nuclear bomb drills at school because we were convinced that the Soviet Union would bomb us at any moment.
- Even until the late 1960s, there were “Whites Only” signs in restaurants, bathrooms, and water fountains. Black religious and political leaders were being assassinated regularly, and their churches were being bombed.
- Throughout history, there are records of massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
But there is good news! Jesus said: “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”
It does not take long to find a crisis in the world around us or in the closer orbit of our own lives. We have seen the whole of who God is in the wonder of creation, our mother earth. We see the whole of who God is in the grace of Jesus Christ, who came into the world even while we were yet sinners. The world can see the whole of who God is whenever we act in the name of Jesus to bring the presence of God into our homes, neighborhoods, cities, and countries. In the midst of it all, we trust that God has promised to be with us and that we are in God’s hands beyond it all.
Just in the past five years, the Board of World Mission has had the privilege of distributing over a million dollars to people who have experienced the Covid pandemic, hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes, and political upheaval. When these crises hit, we were able to share God’s love in tangible ways such as oxygen concentrators, blankets, tarps, food, water purification filters, well-cleaning materials, and seeds to grow rice, beans, and other food staples. The kingdom of God is indeed at hand whenever kindness shows up.
As we begin this Advent season, let us be assured that God is here with us now and that we can be part of God’s effort to bring the love of Christ into the pain and joy that we see in the world today.
