Into the Fray

Into the Fray--December 5, 2018

"Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints." [1 Thessalonians 3:12-13]

The One we are waiting for is right here already.  How about that?

Christians talk about looking for a day when Christ will "come again"--even our most ancient creeds use that language.  And with good reason: here, for example, in Paul's conversation with his friends in Thessalonica, he reminds them of the promised "coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints."  Honestly, you can't read more than a few sentences in Paul's writings, or in the New Testament as a whole, for that matter, before you come to another reference to the promised coming of Christ and the consummation of all things.  The Scriptures keep directing our attention forward, like a friend pointing a finger eastward to direct our eyes at the sunrise so we don't miss a minute of the day that is coming.  And we are constantly being told to keep an eye out for the arrival of the sun on the horizon, Christ Jesus, who will start that new morning.

But then that same Jesus does a funny thing.  Somehow, he is both the sun being pointed to on the edge of the horizon... and he is the friend at our side.  The one whose coming we wait for is also the one we rely on, Paul says, to give us strength in the mean time.

If that sounds a little mind-blowing, you're hearing it correctly.  A god who can be pinned down to "just the future" or "only up in heaven" is certainly an deity of our own making, an idol who can't be bothered to show up for the messiness of this life, but only arrives in time for the curtain call.  And ours is no such idol.  The Savior on whom we call is not just off in the distance, out in the future, or sequestered up in heaven.  The Christ who is coming is also the Christ who, as Paul says, strengthens us now and makes us grow in love.  Christ is the sun whose dawning will start the new day, and he is the friend at our side in the darkness who waits with us as we watch the skies turn from black to blue to gold.

And what is at the top of Paul's list for how we wait for that promised coming? More love.  More, bigger, deeper, wider love--not just for "one another," but as Paul himself insists, "for all."  There is no directive for us to hide away and cut off connections with the people around us while we wait for Jesus' coming. There is no permission given to write off the rest of the world as unimportant so we can focus on looking good for Jesus.  The way to get ready for that grand arrival is to practice love--more fully, more completely, more recklessly.

That only makes sense, since the One we are waiting for--the same One who is with us now--has tipped his hand and told us that self-giving love will be his calling card, and that people will know us as his followers by the ways we love like him.  It isn't reserved for other "club members" only.  It isn't just for people like me, or for people whom I like.  It isn't for people from the same place as me, same background as me, or even who believe in the same faith as me.  The way to be ready for Jesus' coming in glory, Paul says, is to increase in love "for one another and for all."  

So today, as much as the Scriptures are pointing us to look at the eastern sky for lightening skies, they also point us to the One who is beside us, who whispers, "I am right here already, too--let's go back into the fray around us here and help the folks around us instead of just staring off into the distance."

He's right, of course.  Let's head back into the fray--there is work to be done.

Lord Jesus, keep us both hopeful of your promised future and mindful of the ways we can love others here and now in this day.