This morning I was reading from I Corinthians 7:25-31. Here, Paul is giving advice about living out the few remaining days of our existence. Paul is convinced that Christ’s return is immanent. He advises his readers to not bother themselves with establishing long-term plans. In particular, he tells everyone not to worry about marrying or ending a marriage. “For the form of this world is passing away,” he says.
We were talking about this in our Bible study a few weeks ago. Seldom do we, in our generation (or at least in our denomination) speak of the return of Christ as an immanent thing. We do make our plans, assuming that we will all live to a ripe old age.
We have reasons for living this way. When asked what he would do today if he knew that Christ was returning tomorrow, Martin Luther said he would plant a tree. Luther refused to disassociate himself from the earth entrusted to us by the Creator. We live out our lives in the hope that our daily actions contribute to the greater whole of God’s gracious promise for the world.
We have good reason for avoiding fixation on the end of time, but we could benefit from a good dose of heightened expectation.
A book popular a few years back recorded a young adult’s reaction to a Sunday morning worship service in a Lutheran church. Paraphrasing, the young man said, “The service was beautiful, but the people didn’t seem to be expecting God to show up and actually do anything.”
How do we live our lives so as not to be so fixated on the end of time and yet live our lives anticipating God’s immanent return? It is a difficult thing to do. And yet, unless we want to be lifeless, this is exactly the balance we must find.
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