Sunday, August 7, 2016

Luke 12: 35 – 40

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Why are people so enthralled with knowing when the end of this age will come? If they know the hour they can prepare for it at that time. They don’t have to prepare beforehand. To prepare for anything is to put something before yourself. I want to eat tomorrow so I must spend my time and money today to buy food to have tomorrow. If I know that a friend is going to be taking me to lunch tomorrow I can spend the time and money I would have dedicated for lunch on a selfish endeavor instead.

People do not want to live a Christ centered life for any longer than they have to. To have a life centered in Christ is to have a life spent in sacrificial service to others. We know that this is the life Christ has called us all to. It means to let go of the self and embrace the other. If we know when the end is coming we could live for ourselves until the day before the last day. Then we could dedicate all that we are for the other and get the reward for our nobleness.

If I knew when the last day was coming I could sin all I want, enjoying life to the selfish fullness possible. They I could repent and go to confession before the last day and be clean. Living life this way is like playing chicken with a bridge that is out. We want to drive as fast as we possibly can and hit the brakes at the latest possible second before going over the cliff. Pray that the car comes to a full and complete stop.

The true Christian isn’t concerned about when the end of the age will come. The true Christian lives every day glorifying the Lord in the way they live their lives. The true Christian is like a loyal puppy waiting for the master to return home.

Hachiko the Akita is an iconic legend in Japan. Every day the dog would accompany his owner to the train station to see him off to work. The dog would return to the train station every night to greet his master when he returned home from work. One day the master did not return. He had died at work that day.

Every day for the next ten years Hachiko would go to the train station and wait for his master to return. The commuters who knew the dog fed him. Despite the care he still developed mange, heartworm, and was often attacked by other dogs, but nothing kept him away from the train platform at night to greet his master upon his return. After nearly ten years, Hachiko laid down on the platform when he waited and died.

This is what true love and devotion looks like. May we all have the heart of Hachiko as we wait for our Lord to return in glory to judge the living and the dead.

Statue of Hachiko - Placed where he waited for his master's return.