Gospel: Luke 21: 29-33
The entire New Testament is from start to finish a constant expectation that Jesus would return and the end of the world would take place within the lifetime of the original audience. And yet, we are still here. Jerusalem was surrounded by the Roman army in 70 CE and many times thereafter armies surrounded the holy city, and yet here we are. The end times have not fallen upon us, and Jesus has not come a final time. Here we sit waiting for Godot...
Or is there another way? What if we were to think of Jesus coming among us in our midst today in the here and now, not in some apocalyptic manifestation but as he did on earth when he was present here? How would our lives be different if we encountered the Lord in our daily life? How might we live differently if we met the Lord Jesus today in the midst of our hustle and bustle?
This is not an abstract question; it is a very real one. For in every person we encounter we meet Christ present within them, and we have in that encounter an opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus in the needs of that person present to me now. Each meeting we have with another person is our judgment day, each a time when we sit in the balance as a sheep or a goat, as one who will serve the least ones or one who will not.
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