This week, until 22 November, Kevin Mayhew Ltd are offering 10 per cent off No Ordinary Stories: Meditations and Worship Material on the Parables. With the book normally retailing at £19.99, that means a saving of £2.00 using the code STORIES10 when ordering the book from the company’s website. Just type the code into the relevant box at the online checkout between the dates given.
Meanwhile, here’s the third of the sessions I’ll be posting this week from the book, to run alongside this promotion.
THE WAITING SERVANTS
Reading
‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’ Luke 12:35-40
Meditation of Simon the zealot, one of the twelve disciples
We thought the waiting was over.
After all those years looking forward to the dawn of the Messiah,
we dared to hope the moment had arrived,
the day when God’s kingdom would at last be established
and his servant would rule over all.
But apparently not,
for here he was,
our friend Jesus, whom we had looked to with such confidence,
such anticipation,
telling us to be dressed for action,
prepared once again for his coming.
It left us bemused, bewildered,
for why did he have to leave us?
Why not simply stay and claim the kingdom now?
Only it wasn’t that simple, unfortunately,
a time apart needed before we could truly be together,
and it came as a bitter blow.
It had been hard enough for those before us to keep faith,
to hold on to the belief that the Messiah would come
despite centuries of disappointment,
and now here he was talking of another long delay in store,
no telling how long it might be before his return,
even, indeed, whether we might see it in our lifetime.
It takes courage to go on trusting then,
a special kind of faith to keep hope fresh
and the flame burning as brightly as the day it was lit.
We may think we’re ready and waiting,
but it doesn’t take long for carelessness or complacency to set in.
He will come, we tell ourselves,
but not today
not tomorrow,
and probably not the next day;
so relax,
take it easy,
plenty of time for more serious discipleship.
He will come,
but there’s no sign of it yet,
not even the slightest indication that the day is near;
so, for the moment at least,
let’s accommodate the way of the world,
a little pragmatism to balance faith.
Do you see what I’m getting at?
We say we believe,
that our faith is as vibrant as the day it was born,
but it no longer makes any difference to our lives,
its life-giving breath slowly anaesthetised
by habit and familiarity.
Don’t let that happen to you.
Don’t be caught short when the day finally dawns.
I know his promise seems a long time ago
and it’s fulfilment equally as far away,
and I know how easy it is
to feel like those who waited so long for the Messiah’s coming
yet never saw it.
The difference is that we’ve seen him for ourselves,
we’ve watched as he dwelt among us,
lived, breathed, suffered and died;
and we know now, despite everything that may seem to deny it,
that, as he came, so he shall come again.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
we find it hard sometimes
to hold on to our faith in your kingdom,
to keep believing that the day will dawn
when we shall see justice established,
peace among the nations,
an end to sorrow
and good finally triumphant over evil.
When we look at our world today
we see no sign of that happening,
no suggestion even that anything is any different
from when you walked on our earth long ago,
and we cannot help but wonder why you delay.
We are bemused by questions,
plagued by doubts,
and, the more time passes,
the more difficult it becomes to keep the edge on our belief.
Teach us to remember the fact that you did come,
that, after all those years of waiting,
you took on our flesh
and endured our death.
so that we might rise with you to new and everlasting life.
Teach us to remember your promise that, as you came,
so you shall come again.
Teach us to go on trusting you,
despite all that may seem to deny your purpose,
confident that the day will come when wrongs are righted,
hope is vindicated
and love is triumphant over all,
to the glory of your name.
Amen.