But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
1 Thessalonians 5:4

IN HIS letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes about the return of the Lord. In response to many questions the church had on this issue, he describes, in more detail than anywhere else, the events that will surround this Advent hope.

It is perhaps difficult for us to relate to this being as pressing an issue as it was for the Thessalonians, and yet the imminent return of the Lord is clearly one of the most oft-repeated teachings of Jesus. Throughout the New Testament, two certainties of eschatology are often emphasized: that the Lord will return one day, and that it will catch us all by surprise.

Paul tells us to stay alert, lest this occasion should surprise us like a thief coming in the night. But what exactly would this ‘thief’ steal from us?

It doesn’t take much stretching of our imaginations to realize that, if Jesus were to return today, it would be our dreams, our plans and all the expectations we have for this life that would appear to be suddenly stolen from us.

All our best-laid plans would immediately become irrelevant and, if we were not in the right spiritual disposition, the Lord’s coming could represent for us a day of great loss – rather than the joy of a new beginning that it truly is.  

How will even the Lord’s own people receive his coming? It is quite possible that his return might bring joy to some and disappointment to others. Just imagine some likely responses:

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“Jesus has returned? Oh no! I just got married . . . I’m right in the middle of planting a church . . . I’ve been saving up for my European holiday, and we’re just getting ready to go . . . I’m immersed in some very important business negotiations . . . I’m almost finished writing my novel . . . I’ve been working on my self-esteem issues for years, and I’m just starting to see some progress . . . I’ve just about reached all my goals . . .    I just need a bit more time!”

It’s easy to live in the illusion that the loose threads of our personal stories, or those on the world’s stage, must all be somehow resolved before life – as we know it – comes to an end. But scripture clearly states the Lord will come not at the end of these stories, but in the very midst of them.

People will be in the middle of the busy-ness of marriage preparations, of buying and selling, of making plans for tomorrow. And, in an instant, all these stories will come to an abrupt end.

Are we prepared to have this happen? Are we truly ready to drop all the details of our lives in order to run out and meet our Lord? Or will it seem as if a thief has robbed us of all our earthly hopes and ambitions?

In 1Thessalonians 5:5-6, Paul says we should know better than to let this day catch us off guard: “You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.”

We have occasion, each Advent, to meditate on the Lord’s coming. If we can honestly say that we are prepared, at any moment, to exchange our story for his – to receive the Lord, not as a thief, but as the author of the joyful new beginning that is about to unfold at his return – it is a sure sign that we have not fallen asleep to this most important truth.

Excerpted from Higher Than I: Meditations for Spiritual Direction, a new book by Rob Des Cotes. Painting by Fred Peter. 

November 2007