IS 63:16B-17, 19B; 64:2-7
PS 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
1 Cor 1:3-9
MK 13:33-37
I don’t know about the rest of you, but anytime I hear this Gospel passage from Mark, I get filled with more than a little anxiety. Jesus’ instruction to the disciples to be continuously on guard, watching for when the Lord of the house might be coming back, sometimes feels more anxiety-producing than helpful. Generally my internal reaction to this is something like, “Come on, Jesus, help a sister out! Can’t you give me some clue as to when you’re coming back so I can just hang out until then?” It’s a little like when I was a teenager and my parents asked me to get the house clean while they were out of the house, and I wasn’t really sure when they’d be back exactly. I’d sit on the couch watching TV for a good long while, but there was always that twinge of anxiety at the back of my mind wondering if I was giving myself enough time to do the chores before they walked in the door (and of course it was out of the question for me to just get them done first and then relax…). Usually what ended up happening was that I’d get sucked into the show I was watching and not lift a finger until I heard the ominous sound of the garage opening, then I’d rush to tidy a couple things and station myself at the sink washing dishes dutifully as they walked in the door (this never really fooled them for a second).
Luckily the other readings for today help put Jesus’ command to the disciples in context, making it a little less anxiety-producing. It turns out, according to Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, we don’t have to do all this waiting and watching alone with only our own efforts to keep us going. He reminds us that because of the grace we have received through Jesus, we “are not lacking in any spiritual gift” as we do this waiting and watching, and that God will keep us “firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This promise is the answer to the cry in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah, where the Israelites are aware of their sinfulness and crying out to God to keep them on the right path, saying “would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways!” So it looks like God isn’t interested in giving us a shortcut, providing a clue for when Jesus might come again so we aren’t caught looking like lazy teenagers. Instead, God promises to sustain us in our efforts to continue Jesus’ work here on earth, such that our watchfulness may be transformed from a passive waiting to an active building, participating in, and celebrating the Kingdom here on earth. Let us begin this Advent season mindful of that call to action and trusting in the God who empowers and sustains us in our response.
Michelle Verner is the Campus Minister in Reinert Hall.
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