Dear all,

I hope and pray that this letter finds you well.  It is good to be back after having a month off for the final part of my sabbatical which got postponed due to the pandemic.  Once again, we find ourselves in a lockdown but hopefully it should not last too long this time.  Throughout history there have always been people who have said that Christ was coming back and then predicted a date.  In due course it has been proven they were incorrect and thus a false prophet.  The Bible warns us to be on our guard against such people. 

In this week’s reading taken from 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11, we are concerned with the coming of the Lord.  The first thing to say is that we need to be always in a state of preparedness as we are told Jesus could come back at any moment.  Would you live your life differently today if you knew Jesus was coming back tomorrow and the world would end?  If there are things you would do differently and if they are people you would contact to make amends or catch up, ask yourself why? 

The second point is that we should be extremely wary of date predictors or people that claim to know the truth when Jesus is returning.  We are told in scripture that not even Jesus himself knows the time nor the hour (Matthew 24: 36).  The purpose of the text before us today is to help us understand that Jesus’ return is imminent and will come like a thief in the night.  This image has the tendency to be rather like the children’s story Burglar Bill in which Jesus would quietly tiptoe into our world without making a sound.  However, this is not what is meant if we read this culturally, when the thieves came to a village, they did not creep in, steal valuables and creep off again, they did the total opposite.  They created such a noise, hullabaloo, and confusion that people would run around panicking and in all the melee and the mayhem, the robbers would steal goods and make off with them unchecked and unnoticed. 

This rather creates a different picture doesn’t it?  And so, because of this we are warned, not to ‘fall asleep’ in other words remain vigilant and ready to greet our Lord.  When Jesus does return, we are to be found to be faithful and encouraging one another.  So, in the meantime we are to put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of hope for salvation.  Jesus Christ is coming back to redeem His church, His people, and His world, this should make us expectant and hopeful for the future.  As we approach Advent when traditionally we think about the end times let us do so with renewed hope and vigour, encouraging all and sharing the Good New with our nearest and dearest.      

May our Lord Jesus Christ, the King who is coming to reign, bless us now and always,