Homily for November 15th, 2013: Luke 17:26-37.
Jesus continues his teaching about the end
time, which began in yesterday’s gospel reading. The end time refers to Jesus’
return in power and glory, a total contrast to his first coming as a helpless
infant, in weakness and obscurity. In today’s gospel the emphasis is on the
unexpectedness of the Lord’s return.
On page after page of Holy Scripture we see God acting in
ways that no one could have expected. Jesus gives two examples familiar to his
Jewish hearers.
No one
expected the flood which swallowed up all but those who embarked in the ark
which Noah built at God’s command. No one save Lot foresaw the catastrophe
which befell the wicked inhabitants of Sodom.
Here are two more examples. The younger son Joseph was hated by his older brothers, who sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. There he is thrown into prison on a trumped up capital charge – only to become the
second most powerful man in the kingdom and the savior from death through
famine not only of the Egyptians but of his whole family, including his
resentful brothers.
Moses, while
still a young man, has to flee Egypt
after failing to save his people from oppression. Forty years later, with
Moses’ life for all intents and purposes over, God summons him from a life of obscurity to do what
he had miserably failed to do forty years before: liberate his entire people
from bondage. These biblical stories, and many more like them, have given birth
to our modern saying: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”
But how do we
prepare for the unexpected? Jesus’ answer is clear: by living with our eyes
directed not upon ourselves and our own interests, but on the Lord God. That is the meaning of Jesus' words: “Whoever
seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will
save it.” Then, when the Lord comes – whether to us individually through the angel
of death, or for all of us through the Lord’s return in glory – his coming,
though unexpected, will be a day not of terror, but of joy – the joy of seeing
face-to-face the One who alone can satisfy the deepest longings and desires of
our hearts; and who told us during his short time on earth: “All this I tell
you that my joy may be yours and your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)
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