Matthew 24:36-44 – “Be Ready”
The Christian Community at
the time of Matthew lived in chaos. The
few thousand followers of Jesus were caught between an oppressive government
and a Jewish majority which wanted nothing to do with them. Poverty was rampant under the domination of Rome who had recently destroyed the Temple.
We are also living in
chaos. As a community, we are deluged
with dire predictions about global warming, the global economy, water and
energy shortages, and terrorism. As
individuals, we are faced with a sense of being overwhelmed by the poverty,
homelessness, domestic violence, job loss, disease, addictions that appear to
be coming more, not less, rampant.
“Therefore you must be
ready.” The core question is how to live
as faithful followers of Jesus in the midst of chaos – just what do we do when
we find ourselves in a bad situation?
How can we learn to seek the good rather than place blame? How can we learn to banish our fear in order
to step out and work for justice? How
can we respond to the needs surrounding us and not succumb to the psychic
numbness and hostility the can result from exposure to human misery on a mass
scale? How can we keep dreaming the dream of beating swords into ploughshares?
