“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back; whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. “ Mark 13:35-36
It seems that there are two questions that continue to be at the very top of our ‘need to know’ list. First, what will Heaven be like and second, when will the second coming of Christ take place; in our lifetime? It is a new month and in Creole this month is ‘ME’ and that in itself is interesting as so much of our time is spent wondering about ‘me’. With each new month and day, it seems that the news of worldly unrest and a deadly pandemic is drawing us closer to the ending point in time as more and more of what should be ‘right’ is turning ‘wrong’. There was a program on the History channel that presented an overview of when many ‘learned’ men had determined the world would end and most of them decided that the Mayan calendar has set the ending of time on December 21, 2012; oops.
That ‘end of time’ date has come and gone and we still don’t know how much time is left to reach out to the lost souls of Haiti through the witness of a young child attending a Lutheran school with a Trinity/HOPE feeding program. As we read in the thirteenth chapter of Mark, we learn from our Savior that we should not be concerned when the alarm clock or Angelic trumpet will signal the end of time but rather stay focused on what we will be doing when Jesus arrives.
Pastor Ken Klaus with the Lutheran Hour shared a snippet of American history some time ago, about a Colonel Davenport who was from Connecticut. The event took place in Hartford in 1789 within the State legislature. “During the daytime, without warning the sky blackened and their room grew unnaturally and increasingly dark. Glancing out the windows, some members of the House of Representatives concluded the Day of Judgment had come upon them. With fears increasing, a motion was made for immediate adjournment. Just before the vote on that motion was to be taken, Colonel Davenport took the floor. This is what he said: "The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to have the Lord find me doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought." A great story, stay in the Word and don’t worry about the ending time; stay in the Word and pray.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay