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Look Down the Road! - Luke 21: 25-36

In an old Calvin and Hobbes comic strip this conversation takes place. In the first frame Calvin speaks to Hobbes and says:

"Live for the moment is my motto. You never know how long you got." In the second frame he explains:

"You could step into the road tomorrow and WHAM, you get hit by a cement truck! Then you'd be sorry you put off your pleasures. That's what I say - live for the moment."

And then he asks Hobbes: "What's your motto?"

And Hobbes replies: "My motto is - Look down the road."

Today's scripture readings are about what is coming down the road towards us, they are about the promise God has made to us, the promise made when he said, "The days are coming, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch to spring up from David, and he will execute righteousness in the Land."

Now just stop and think about that for a minute with me, if you would.

What does it mean to us now, this promise of God? What does it mean too when Jesus says to us that there is a day coming when the Son of Man will come to us in a cloud with power and great glory?

What do these promises mean now in the midst of a busy life, a hectic life, a crazy life?

- a life where our kids expect to be driven here and there and ask for things that we just can't afford?

-a life where our employers expect us to work overtime, and our club, our church, and our ball team ask for hours we just don't have?

What do these promises about the future mean when we are caught up in trying to do all we can right here and now in the present - what do they mean when we are struggling to live one day at a time - when we are trying to be all things to all too many people?

What do they mean when we watch the news or read the paper and discover that senseless horrors continue throughout the world; that crime and starvation and terrorism and war and earthquakes and floods abound and indeed seem to be increasing?

To me they mean that I should rejoice and that I should stand up and watch and pray; to pray that I might be able to escape the time of tribulation - and to pray that I may be able to stand before The Son of Man when he comes.

The promise of God - the promise of Christ - is that the future is not going to be like the present. It is that those things that I see that are wrong in this world - those things I hear that are evil - will perish away, and that a new heaven .and a new earth will come upon us - a heaven and earth of everlasting peace and justice, joy and love.

I think somehow that that is very important.

And so does Jesus. That is why he talks about the future - that is why he mentions the signs of this coming, how the stars and the moon and the sun itself will appear to go off course and terror will be felt among the nations, and fear among the peoples.


And that is why he says:

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day you catch on unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

A friend of mine had a horrendous week this past week. He was expecting his wife to have a baby. He had a million and one obligations to take care of. He felt rushed off his feet and distracted and unable to appreciate what was happening around him.

He writes this about to day's gospel reading from Luke - the passage where Jesus tells us to be on guard:

"I'm caught. The passage spoke straight to me. It told me - Don't get so caught up in the worries of this life that you are unprepared for the return of the Master. It told me, be alert to the bigger picture. It told me understand your place in the greater scheme of things. Be on guard.

And I was convicted. I had been so caught up in waiting for this baby, that I had no idea what else I missed. I was feeling sorry for myself and for Debbie (his wife). I was grumbling and hard to get along with. All because of one aspect of my life.

I had missed the excitement of my kids when their uncle, my brother, came to visit on Thanksgiving from Michigan. I didn't thank God for the smiles and support other people were giving us as we wait. I didn't watch for what else God was doing around me this past week. There is so much more to life than waiting for this baby. The baby is important, but it is not exclusive. It took this passage for me to realize what I had done."

And then David asked - Now what about you? I'm curious, what one thing or couple of things do you tend to be so focused on that you kind of lose your context?

And I have to answer - my work. I can get so involved in it, so caught up in it, spending hours at my desk, and then rushing around doing visits and getting ready for meetings and then going to them - that I forget what it is that I am proclaiming - that I can miss my family's joys and what it is that God is actually doing all around me.

What about you? Do you feel lost in today? - lost in the moment that is at hand? -and the concerns that this moment brings? Has your life been taken over by one thing or another so that you can't appreciate what else is going on? What else is happening?

Jesus tells us in today's gospel reading not to be distracted by the big issues: warfare, floods, famine, and creation seeming to fall apart. But rather to see them as signs of what is to take place.

But he is also telling us about the personal things that can be so much more distracting than any civil war halfway around the world.

It's those personal events that are so dangerous, because they are subtle and sneaky. We don't realize what is happening until its too late. All of a sudden we're trapped, feeling sorry for ourselves, working so hard, being focused on one thing, that we miss the bigger picture.

That's why Jesus tells us to be alert. To watch. To not get so caught up in the everyday things or the big tragedies that we lose sight of the larger scheme, that we fail to look down the road, that we fail to see the presence of the Kingdom looming towards us with all its hope - all its promise.

The kingdom is coming. A righteous Branch has sprouted from David's line; and he will do what is just and right in the land. He has come - and he is returning. We are called to be ready for him when he does, to be praying and loving and doing the things he has commanded us to do.

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all, who live on the face of the earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

And that is the attitude of Advent. Of being alert to what is going on around us. Of understanding what the signs around us are trying to tell us and readying ourselves for the fulfillment of God's word in our midst. Of readying ourselves in prayer. Of readying ourselves by having in us the holy hope that God wants us to have.

Jesus does not tells us about the signs of the end and the coming time of judgment to frighten us, but rather to assure us - to have us understand that God is keeping his promise - and that the time of his rule is at hand. He tells us about the signs of the coming of the Kingdom so that we might ready ourselves for it.

Look around. Look down the road. And, with your head held high, walk the road towards the approaching Kingdom in prayer and hope, in righteousness and in love, knowing that as so many of the promises of God were fulfilled at the birth of Christ, so too the rest will be fulfilled - to his praise and glory.

Amen.