The Kingdom Coming Near
Luke 21:25-36
The start of Advent this year was marked by a strange set of scriptures from Luke, which tell of 'heaven and earth revealing their power' and 'the end of the earth.' It didn't quite put me in the Christmas spirit when I first read it. In fact, some Christians have used this text, such as the marginal group of Christians called the Millerites in the 1840s, to predict the date for the end of the world. But the more I read this text, I believe that Jesus is not only talking about destruction, per se, but also about waiting for a new beginning with hope. Not a hope in which we are called just to sit idly and wait, but a hope which drives us to wait with movement, and great anticipation. And that's what Christmas is all about--waiting for the Christ child. However, in that waiting we find that God calls us to be moved by the coming of Christ, and move ourselves and be an active witness for Christ here on earth.
I was struck by one verse in this set of verses: verse 31, which tells not only of the end of something but more importantly the waiting for the beginning of something. It says “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”
As Christians, we are called to wait the birth of something: not only of the Christ child, but along with it, we await a new beginning.
I was struck also by another thing: the beginning of the chapter which these verses are from (Luke 21) begins with the story of the Widow’s mite: the impoverished women, who when at the temple gave all her savings despite the fear of giving away all that she had, and withering away in poverty. As the text says the Kingdom of God is near. And when we place such a trust in God as that woman, the Kingdom comes a little closer. When we trust God enough to place our hate aside, and love one another, the Kingdom comes a little closer. When we listen to Jesus and love sinners as much as we love ourselves, no matter what they might look like, do, or say, the Kingdom comes a little closer. When churches start reaching out to their neighbors in radical love and hospitality, as did the Christ child, the Kingdom comes a bit closer.
At this time of Advent, we wait for the Christ child. We wait for the child who brings the Kingdom of God into our lives; who teaches us to love and cling to that love in hope.