Monday, November 19, 2007

Today's text

Luke 21:8-11

But Jesus said, “Take care not to be deceived, because many will come using my name and saying, ‘I am the one’ and ‘The time is near at hand.’ Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for this is something that must happen first, but the end will not come at once.” The he said to them, “Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes and plagues and famines in various places; there will be terrifying events and great signs from heaven.”

Prayer

Have you read the paper today, Jesus? Thousands of Bangladeshis died in a cyclone, and many more will die from too little food, tainted water, infection and disease. And that is one page, one story, one nation. Need I go on?

Your warnings of tumult, war and terror describe virtually any and every period of human history. The events to which you point destroy millions … every year. And still time wends its wearisome way without any end in sight.

Suffering continues unabated as feverish preachers sound the alarm saying that earth can’t endure much longer. But it does, and broken human souls must carry on, sorting through the mess we make of things. For the only end we see is the end of days for our beloved, and, too soon, for ourselves.

For some this stirs zeal for the end of things. Others descend to gray despair. And I? I hope. I bear a flame, however small, ignited by your words, Jesus. And it never goes out. Never.

“Do not be terrified,” you say. “Do not fear. Do not be distressed by the tumult around and within you. For I am. I live. And I will speak the final word on the welter of the world.”

So I hope. For I know: that word cannot be less gracious than your divine heart.

Pr. David L. Miller