As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. What happened in the days of Noah? We heard Jesus describe several destructive occurrences in the Old Testament that led to devastating and unanticipated death. But similar happenings also occurred in the time of the Son of Man.
Today is Armistice Day, the 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month when an armistice was declared ending World War 1. It was said to be the end of all wars but there would be others. There would also be innumerable natural disasters where one person would be taken, and another remain alive although both were in the same room. These events would happen during the days of the Son of Man.
It is not unusual for us to be hearing readings that speak of endings and unavoidable deaths. We are coming to the end of the church’s year.
For some, such thoughts can move us to make profound changes in our lives. They become a wakeup call or as the psalmist said today, “our eyes are opened to the wonder of God’s law,” the law spelled out for us by Saint John when he exhorted his congregation to hold fast to what they received from the Father in the beginning.
Don’t lose what others worked so hard to teach you. Let your lives be rooted in truth and love. Lives that are rooted in truth and love need not fear if our end time arrives unexpectedly.
Jesus critiqued Noah’s and Lot’s activities as being distractions lulling people into false securities. We don’t know what’s around the next bend, but we would do well to avoid the complacency that Jesus described just in case we don’t have time to slam on the breaks.
What’s needed? Stand erect and raise your head because your redemption is at hand. Open your eyes that you may consider the wonders of God’s law: truth and love.
Our church honors St. Martin of Tours today, a roman soldier who converted to Christianity concluding that being a soldier was incompatible with the teachings of Jesus. He also founded the first monastery in France. What had he seen and experienced as a soldier that opened his heart to Jesus? No doubt the destruction of lives and human suffering.
My thoughts took me to our community cemetery and the remains of brother religious many who had American flag affixed to their grave marker. Like Martin of Tours, their eyes had also been opened to the wonder of truth and love that our world needed and rather than be caught short, they stood erect and raised their heads because they knew that their redemption was at hand.
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