Mtr Kelli Joyce

“Keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.”

Dear friends in Christ,

I remember quite clearly a regular question that Sunday School teachers and pastors were fond of asking us when I was a child: when Jesus comes back, what sort of thing do you want him to find you doing? It worked well to help us think about how our actions did or didn’t align with our faith, and whether we would be happy or ashamed to show a given action to Christ.

In today’s reading from Mark’s gospel, Jesus himself commands us to remain alert, and not become complacent. But I fear that the church has not done an especially good job of keeping awake in anticipation of Christ’s return.

It’s easy to think that the way of life we’ve always known will last forever - the social, political, and religious status quo can often come to seem not like one possible way things can be, but like the inevitable and unquestionable way that things must be. But as Christians, we are charged to be alert and aware, watching for the return of Christ when the world as we know it will be swiftly changed. How should that shape the choices we make in our lives?

In peace,
Mtr. Kelli