Thoughts for the Day

DETOUR Revelation 1:7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.”

Advent is a time to look forwards as well as back.  According to the headings in my bible, this verse is part of a doxology, a hymn or piece of liturgical praise.  By comparison, our declaration in the communion service “Christ will come again” seems a little tame.  I particularly note that one “is” in this verse, which gives a sense of imminence that we seem to have lost.  For sure, after 2000 years it is hard to maintain it.  Liturgy can help. I don’t mean by that a mindless repetition of phrases we no longer fully understand including words we no longer use, poetic as they may be.  But liturgy can be like a vessel holding precious unvarying truths, detached from our emotional ups and downs yet available for the Holy Spirit to refresh as the words are poured out week by week and even year by year.  It can help too to remind ourselves of Peter’s admonition (2 Peter 3:8) not to forget “this one thing”, that “With the Lord a day is like 1000 years and 1000 years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise … He is patient …”  It is an evocative picture, turning our understanding on its head.  We imagine we are waiting patiently (or not) for God, but Peter says God is waiting patiently (but not indefinitely) for mankind.  I doubt we can really understand more than the merest hint of God’s relationship with time, given that we are so firmly rooted in it.   I may try to imagine the last 2000 years equating to two days of God’s patience as if He somehow skims over the surface of time.  But Peter doesn’t allow that.  He states equally that for God a day is like 1000 years.  How does that work?  400 years on from Malachi, Zechariah had a visit from Gabriel in the temple, and did not believe it.  If Gabriel interrupted our next Sunday service to proclaim that Jesus will return within the next 12 months, would you or I likewise respond, “How can I be sure?”  How do you keep your expectation fresh?