End Times

Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, ‘Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.’ So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Revelation 14. 14 - 20

In the readings for this last week of the Christian year, we hear all about the end times, the winding down of the world and Jesus' warnings about what will happen to him. The Book of Revelation is filled with warnings of the dangers of sin and evil, using symbols and images that can only be understood by breaking the code of Jewish symbolism. This is not a happy time in the daily readings.

And yet, these readings and unhappy times remind us of the reason for the Incarnation, why we needed and need the Son of God to come and dwell among us, to be one with us, fully human and fully divine. These days in this world where images of death and destruction are shocking, where neglect and abuse are rampant, where families and friends are divided as they were in the Civil War, we desperately need to be reminded of the Incarnation. And so the church year ushers in the beautiful season of Advent, a time of waiting and preparing for the coming of the Christ Child.

What will the waiting and preparing look like for us this year? What might God be calling us to birth this year? and most importantly, what do we need to purge and reap and cast aside in order to make room for the Holy Child to be born among us? Listen to the readings this week if you can and glean some ideas of how to prepare. Share them here if you'd like to.

Matthew Sheits 1630 - 1700