He Was Here Today
We’re mistaken if we think Luke 12:35-40 is about waiting for an absent God who left a long time ago. Jesus denies that. He invites us to be present to a God who is always here. He teaches us how and where to wait. He tells us to listen for the knock, to watch, and to be alert for a God who is ever-present in the ordinary circumstances of our lives.
We might be tempted to ask, “But if He’s ever present, then where has He been in all our waiting?” But maybe our question should be, “Where were we?”
A camp counselor at a religious camp once asked her campers, “Where did you see Jesus in nature today?” A very surprised and excited camper cried out, “You mean He was here today?!”
Sometimes we’re surprised, too, and Jesus responds to that surprise by saying, “I was here today and I’m here right now. How did you miss that? He tells us to be prepared because He wants us to be part of what’s going on right now. To come and participate because the Father’s good pleasure is to give us the kingdom. This is the good thing He’s preparing is for us.
“Be alert,” He says, but this isn’t a command with a threat of punishment. It’s an invitation to be blessed. “Blessed are those who he finds alert.” He’s not only inviting us to be awake and be ready. He’s calling us to be fully alive and living into the present moment.
Blessing and life are synonymous in God’s kingdom. Jesus is that returning master and He’s telling us, “Be alert, be blessed, and I will come and serve you. I’ll feed you with the bread of life. I’ll serve you the cup of salvation.”
But, as Jesus says, all of this happens at an unexpected hour. It’s coming like a thief in the night at a time when we least expect it. And when is that? My guess is that for most of us, that most unexpected hour would be right here, right now.
The most unexpected hour is that hour spent alone in the hospital waiting room. It’s the hour sitting next to the phone waiting for news of a loved one. It’s the hour spent praying for a miracle. The hour when we’re waiting for clarity and hoping to find some direction to move forward.
It’s the hour when we’re waiting for our grief and pain to finally be over so life can go back to normal. It’s the hour when it seemed like nothing was happening and nothing was the way we wanted, and there was nowhere to turn.
But Jesus was there, whether we recognized Him or not. He was right there loving us.
“You mean He was here today?!” Yes, He was. Right there in that most unexpected hour of your life. We just need to recognize Him.
