Last Sunday of the Church Year: Gospel, Mark 13:24-37              

Mark 13:24-37

“Lord, will it be today?” So asked one of my dear seminary professors each morning as he rose for each new day before him. He taught us to love the appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He let us know that had been his practice for many years and that he lived with the constant expectation of the Lord’s return. I have tried to carry that sense of anticipation ever since. Not in some kind of neurotic, “grab the kids, sell the house” panic, but in a genuine desire to see His return during my lifetime. If He comes for me in death and takes me home in that way, well that’s fine, too. But read Mark 13 and see if you can come away from it not wanting to see Jesus come in glory.

Verse 33 reads, “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.” That is our job, our vocation in Christ among others. But certainly this must not be neglected or worse yet, abandoned. The return of Jesus is called our “blessed hope,” (cf. Titus 2:13). And we must pray that the Lord would allow us to carry that hope each day, each moment until we see Him face to face.

Dear ones in Christ, in and by God’s grace let’s do our job.