Let Go and Let God

Continuing in the Sacrament of Waiting

Jesus said to his disciples, "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." Luke 12:35-38

Jesus speaks of his coming as a time of joy and celebration, not of fear and trembling. We only need to wait prepared so that when he comes we can open the door to him. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Lord, help me to live with my lamps lit and ready to welcome you when you come into my life.

One writer put it this way - “I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. This quite incredible statement was fulfilled at the Last Supper when Jesus, to his friends’ great surprise, put on the apron and started washing their feet. Our God is one who serves us, who waits on us at table. In our waiting it is good spend some time reflecting on this great truth, and ask for gratitude.”

When we work in the Master’s service, he will feed and sustain us. He never asks more of us than we are capable of doing.

There is a condition called acedia. It is a listlessness of the soul which the ancient monks called ‘the noonday devil’ - a demonic force intent on breaking the monk’s spiritual resolve. When life seems overwhelming, and we are paralysed by fear, fatigue and inertia, can we look forward to the end of the day when Jesus brings us to a laden table, sits down beside us and talks with us about what I have been through?

The theologian Karl Barth has a lovely description of what salvation in Christ means: 'the prisoner has become the watchman'. Yes, prisoners have been liberated; but they have only been liberated so that they can take their place in the watchtower, waiting for the return of the Messiah so that they can announce it.

Lord, make me vigilant so that I may recognise your face in my encounters today. As C. S. Lewis says, there are no ordinary mortals in this world. Everyone is an extra-ordinary immortal, destined for eternal joy. Let me be reverent to them all. Amen