Douglas Hickey

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The gospel reading* for today is…well, a little intense.

As Episcopalians, we are many things. But “intensity” is not one of our hallmarks. In fact, if you’re anything like me, you’re only too happy to shuffle past passages like today’s gospel and get back onto Jesus’ social teachings—especially the ones that seem actionable in a nonthreatening sort of way.

Because really, what am I supposed to do about the abomination of desolation? (Matthew’s exhortation to “let the reader understand” notwithstanding, I definitely do not.) Head for the hills? Now? I suppose it is the start of a weekend, but doesn’t the whole “prepper” mentality seem a tad alarmist and, let’s be honest, undignified? Besides, I haven’t even finished the crossword yet, Lord.

How seldom we reflect on the extraordinary comfort that defines our lives, on how sheltered we are from world-shattering violence, on how impossible the prospect of leaving everything behind seems—on how much of an aberration our position is in the history of humankind.

More times than we can count, real people have had to drop everything and run as the world they knew turned to dust around them. It’s happening in Gaza (and many other places around the world) today.

As Christians, we must pray for peace. As Christians, we must aid the fatherless and the widow. These things aren’t easy to do. And yet the biggest challenge (at least for me) in today’s gospel is trying to find space in my own life for holy fear. Because the kind of cataclysm that Christ describes in Matthew seems infinitely remote.

That remoteness is an illusion. Tribulation isn’t just something we get to see happen somewhere else. Whether you believe Matthew’s prophecy is code for the Roman Empire’s destruction of Jerusalem in the first century or something that still lies very much in our own future, the thing that seems inescapable to me is that as Christians, we should prepare ourselves for the end of things.

Any sense of security we might feel as a consequence of our wealth, our institutions, our education or any other privilege of this life is ultimately false. The only security is Christ, and until he comes again in glory, we should all of us be ready to leave everything behind, flee to the mountains, and pray when the world ends.

If that seems a little intense…well, it should.

In Christ,

—Douglas

*“So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Then if any one says to you, ‘Lo, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Lo, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Lo, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; if they say, ‘Lo, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man. Wherever the body is, there the eagles[a] will be gathered together. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. —Matthew 24: 15-31