The end is near. The end is very near.
Initially, this seems to have been believed widely by Jesus’ followers,
but the belief waned quickly, probably because time passed,
and, more importantly, because apostolic reflection,
recorded in the New Testament,
identified this inaccurate belief as a source of distraction
and gave a different perspective on God’s plan.
A perspective that owes a lot to that first reading from the prophet Isaiah,
which provides an inspiring start to the Liturgical year.
It was written hundreds of years before the time of Jesus,
and is one of the high points in the Hebrew scriptures.
This small nation had little political success,
with a history of being pushed around by its larger neighbours,
and a capital on a not-especially-high mountain plateau
(2500 ft, a bit higher than Kinder Scout).
Nonetheless, Isaiah’s poetry speaks with enormous confidence,
and hyperbole, about the nation’s special relationship with God.
God who is using them to draw people together.
God who through them brings to everyone
true worship, in the house of God,
and truth, the word of the Lord.
God who will judge in a way that teaches peace;
God who desires human solidarity, not division and war.
In all this, the Hebrew people play their part by walking in God’s light.
Prophetically, Isaiah here prefigures the Christian era.
The era initiated by the advent, the coming, of the Son of God as man,
coming as the Word, who teaches God’s ways,
coming as the Light, the radiant splendour of God’s presence,
who is recognised by eyes open in faith, and worshipped.
The era in which Christ’s followers, walking in his light,
take his word and his very presence to the ends of the earth,
making disciples of all nations;
seeking to gather all peoples together in true worship and peace;
extending the advent of the Son of God through time and space;
being God’s good news.
So that, in Isaiah’s metaphor,
the peoples of the earth stream up the mountain of the Lord.
Then, recalling last week’s feast, in the end,
which will come, and which may or may not be near,
the whole Universe comes to completion under Christ in glory:
he rules, he judges,
he reconciles all things, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Before then, we are to be Christ in the world,
or better, in this season,
we are to be the ongoing advent of Christ in the world,
as neighbours to the poor and the broken;
as ambassadors for forgiveness and reconciliation;
as peacemakers in our families and communities;
as people who are supportive and affirming of the good in others;
as people who join Christ Jesus in his prayer to the Father.
This is what it means to be Christian.
Our extract from Paul’s letter to the Romans, and today’s gospel,
are a call to vigilance.
You can’t miss it. Wake up; stay awake:
the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
The gospel imagery is of the unexpected crisis:
cataclysmic flooding, the violation of the home by a thief;
warnings against complacency.
We will encounter the judgement of the living God,
and we don’t know when.
We are to be awake, aware –
mindful that how we live really matters.
mindful that we are each called to contribute
to the advent of Christ in today’s world…..
Come Lord Jesus, come into my heart;
Come Lord Jesus, come to others through me.