Beyond the Patio

Awakening to a New Reality
Matthew 24:36-42

“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” (Matthew 24:44)

Whenever I read this kind of a statement that appears in the Gospel appointed for today, I think of the saying:

“Live every day as if it was your last, and one day you will be right.”

The reason I think of that statement is because the Gospel present us with the challenge to act in a certain way NOW because we do not to know ahead of time when we will see the Son of Man coming upon our lives. 

I don’t think the Gospel writer is just taking about our death or even about the end of the world. The “Son of Man” to me always represents a new beginning. It is a new way of life and a new way of being.  It may mean the end of the world as we know it but our emphasis should always be not on what is passing away but on our awakening to a new reality. 

Certainly the images that were presented earlier in Chapter 24 of Matthew indicate that at the time of writing the author was aware of the end of the old world for him and the rest of the community of which he was a member. The temple had been already destroyed and Jerusalem had been over-taken by hostile forces. Many people died in the conflict.  Even as people worked together, one would be killed and the other lived.  It was a horrible time and life as they knew it was at an end but it was not a time to despair but to look for the new beginning which was already happening. It was just that many people were not aware of it.   No longer could they look for their power and fulfillment as human beings in the external things but deep within themselves. Messiah would not come externally as a military leader to rid them of all their enemies but as the Christ within. 

In The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says “The Kingdom will not come by expectation. The Kingdom of the Father is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it.”  (quoted in Joseph Campbell “Thou Art That”, New World Library, Novato, California, 2001 p. 19. ).

Jesus in some of the other Gospels says, “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand” or “has come near” or “has arrived” (Matthew 4:17), “The  Kingdom of God is among you”or “The Kingdom of God is within”.(Luke 17:21). In other words, it is a present reality but we just don’t see it.

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How are we to discern this new reality that continually breaks into our lives as a present situation?  How do we get ready for the “Son of Man” ushering in the Kingdom of God? How do we seize the moment? I have found that it is being able to move beyond our egotistical concerns, our self interests and our preoccupation with the externals of our life.  It means trying to get in touch with the true self within. In takes time in silence to do this. 

Watchman Nee says in his little book “Sit Walk Stand” we first must sit before we can walk in the ways of God and stand against adversity. It is in sitting that we do discover more about ourselves.  By getting in touch with our inner being we connect with the Ground of all Being.  Then, we come to the realization that we are one with all living beings. In fact, it is in knowing our oneness with all gives us the ground for compassionate action in the world.

For me it is not a once and for all thing.  It is a continual process.  I continually get involved with my own self interests and concerns. I continually put emphasis on externals and “things” that I need to have, thinking that they are going to bring me happiness and contentment.  In fact it seems easier to do this as we rush toward the Christmas season with everything around us shouting “Be happy! Buy this! Ask for this!”  So just as I have a continue drive toward self concern, I also have a continual need to take time to get in touch with my true self.

I have found that there have been times in my life where I have experienced darkness and a significant loss of some kind, that is a loss of a loved one, a friend, a relationship, a job, health and mobility, that I have had to dig deep and find within that strength beyond myself which enables me to face whatever is happening externally. Even with this kind of effort it still comes as a gift, as a surprise or as unmerited Grace. All we can do is be ready for it, but it comes upon us like “a thief in the night”. This strength, this life-giving power is called by many names.  It is sometimes just called as they do in Alcoholics Anonymous  “the power greater that ourselves that can restore us to sanity”. It is also called “spirit”, “soul strength”.  I prefer to call it the “Christ within.”  No matter what we call it, it is a power that heals and gives us a great sense of oneness with all of life.

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Bernard Martin in his book If God Does Not Die (John Knox Press, 1966, Chapter 7, p. 55) talks about going through a very difficult time after the loss of his wife. He also lost the faith that he had, along with the strength that he had received in the past from prayer, ritual and the bible. He realized that he had sought his life in Christ outside of himself and began to realize that he needed to seek it within.  He says:

“God has led me to lose him, in order to find myself. If I am faithful in this search for myself, I will rediscover him, more truer and more himself.”

What he found in his search for self was a greater compassion for others. He found that the rules, rituals and outward forms of his religion was not nearly as important as compassion. Even though he had been an ordained minister for many years he found through this inner search of himself  that he began understanding his parishioners and being connected with others as never before.  He found people seeking him out and sharing with him their sorrows and concerns in ways that they had never done before. Also, as he connected more and more intimately with those people, he learned more and more about himself and more and more of  “the Christ within”. He found himself at the end of an old way of life and facing a new beginning, a new way of life and  a new way of being.

It is significant that in Matthews Gospel the writer moves toward a surprising picture of judgment in the 25th Chapter.  It talks about the Shepherd separating the sheep from the goats. To me it is a picture separating those who belong to the old world and those who have entered into the new reality or the kingdom of God. Where you are in the picture is not dependent on correct belief, dogma or ritual.  It depends on whether we are acting compassionately, that is feeding the hungry (not just for food but for love), giving drink to the thirsty (not just for water but for human kindness), hospitality to the stranger (not just to those we don’t know but to those who are alone), clothes for the naked (those in need of human dignity), care for the sick, (anyone in need of care), and personal presence for those in prison (not just those in correctional  institutions but those in all kinds of personal prisons which they cannot seem to break out of on their own).  This powerful picture of compassionate behavior cuts across all barriers between “them” and “us. (An interesting treatment of this passage can be found in  Tom Harper’s book Water Into Wine,  Thomas Allen Publishers, Toronto, 2007, p. 158-162)

There is a story of a wise old Rabbi who instructed his students by asking questions. He asked, “How can a person tell when the darkness ends and the day begins?” After thinking for a moment, one student replied, “It is when there is enough light to see an animal in the distance and be able to tell if it is a sheep or a goat.” Another student ventured, “It is when there is enough light to see a tree, and tell if it is a fig or an oak tree.” The old Rabbi gently said, “No. It is when you can look into a man’s face and recognize him as your brother. For if you cannot recognize in another’s face the face of your brother, the darkness has not yet begun to lift, and the light has not yet come.”  (Attributed to Dennis Bratcher)

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The beginning of Advent is an opportunity be ready for the coming of the “Son of Man” to search within for our true selves, to move out of  our egotistical concerns and  move toward compassion, to leave behind the darkness and move toward the light. 

I have always liked the Christmas hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” because in the final verse, it has the words:

O Holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend on us we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in
Be born in us today.

This is a time to get ready to celebrate not just a birth that took place centuries ago but the birth that takes place in our lives now as we discover once again through our inward journey and compassionate action “the Christ Within.”

This season can truly be an awakening to a new reality.

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