To Stand Before the Son of Man
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December 2, 2018“Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” (Lk 21:28)
This first Sunday of Advent draws us into the season of waiting with some disturbingly familiar images:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Lk 21:26-27)
Are we not visited almost daily by news of an earthquake here, fire and flood there, the mounting effects of pollution and climate change on our earth and its people, as well as the seemingly never-ending drumbeats of war, political unrest and senseless acts of violence? We could well ask, are these the signs, is the end at hand?
“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.” (Lk 21:9-11)
So, fire, flood, war and violence do not necessarily herald the imminent end of all things. But there is a mounting sense of urgency, at least among people of conscience, those who are watching with trepidation and asking the question: where is all this leading us?
And yet today’s liturgy does not leave us trembling on the precipice of destruction. Quite the contrary. Luke’s version of the eschatological discourse is unique in featuring the call to “Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand” (Lk 21:28). This posture of confidence is in sharp contrast to those who “die of fright” (Lk 21:27). But how is it possible for us to stand erect, raise our heads and “stand before the Son of Man” (Lk 21:28)? Isn’t this rather daring for mere mortals who do not know their right hand from their left? On what basis do we find strength to stand and courage to meet the gaze of our Redeemer?
If we do not die of fright, it is because we know ourselves to be children of God, and no longer children of wrath. The One who is coming is the same One who came to our world in the poverty of a Bethlehem stable, who walked the roads of Galilee and Judea and died the death of a criminal outside the city of his fathers. He it is who knows our pain from the inside, carries our sorrows and overcomes our death by his death. If we dare to raise our heads, the eyes that meet ours are filled with compassion, and the hand that reaches out to us is filled with power.
“When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.” (Rv 1:17-18)
