“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on His arrival.” On the surface, this seems like a very plain statement that tells us to be watching for the Lords coming, when He will return to judge all of humanity. That is indeed one way to take that quote, but there is another, and I believe that for most of us, the latter interpretation may be a bit more applicable. The second way we can interpret this statement is the more certain meeting we will each experience with our Lord upon our death, and the same question applies – will we be found ready? I have always found it a bit remarkable how much time seems to be spent in some circles contemplating when the Lords next coming will take place, when in fact, He already told us plainly that it is not for us to know; that knowledge belongs solely to the Father.
The question then is, how do we prepare for the meeting we do know we will each experience with our Lord when we leave this life? We often like to think in terms of what we can each “do” to fulfill our call to love the Lord and one another, and while our actions are indeed part of our call, there is a bit more to it. We need to consider what we have truly accepted through Gods word, what we have come to believe, and in the light of faith are willing to stake our eternal lives on. When talking about faith, I sometimes hear the expression “leap of faith” used, as if to imply that it is an act that does not have a supporting foundation, and that there is a significant element of chance involved in doing so. I do not subscribe to this line of thinking. That might be ok for the purpose of buying a used car (and even then, I doubt the wisdom of that action), but it is certainly unacceptable for something as crucial as the eternal well-being of our souls. We need to be far more versed about what is expected of each of us, and what has been promised in terms of our inheritance as God’s children. The grace of acceptance, belief, and faith in our Lords promise, comes through spending time in reflectively and prayerfully immersing ourselves in His word, and connecting the dots throughout the biblical timeline, that repeatedly show the fulfillment of Gods promises, and the corresponding trust that can be attained through that consistency and reliability. This is not some act of blind, well intentioned wishful thinking.
In our second reading from Saint Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, we hear of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, that he would have a son, even though at his age it was almost unthinkable to believe such a thing could happen, and yet because there is nothing impossible for God, it came to pass. All the balance of Gods promise to Abraham was dependent upon his son Isaac, and the heirs that he would produce. Yet God asked Abraham for the greatest of all acts of faith, to give up his son to God by sacrificing him. Abraham did not hesitate; he knew that if God could produce a son for him, then he could also concretely have faith that He could raise him from the dead, and so there was nothing to fear. We too have no reason to fear through what we know of Jesus birth, death, and resurrection for the express purpose of our salvation. There is no leap required, we have Gods word in the books of the bible to provide knowledge, we have the gift of reason and intelligence to process this, we simply need to invest the time in contemplating, asking in prayer for the grace of acceptance, and then committing, so that our faith rests on a firm foundation. There is great peace and surety to be found in a well-reasoned faith, and the preparation will surely keep us vigilant for the Master’s return.
The Deacons Bench 