When I return...!

Luke 17:26-37
*
Jesus said: “When I return the world will be as indifferent to the things of God as the people were in Noah’s day. They ate and drank and married—everything just as usual right up to the day when Noah went into the ark and the Flood came and destroyed them all.*
*“And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot: people went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the hour of my return.*
*“Those away from home that day must not return to pack; those in the fields must not return to town— remember what happened to Lot’s wife! Whoever clings to his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall save it. That night two men will be asleep in the same room, and one will be taken away, the other left. Two women will be working together at household tasks; one will be taken, the other left; and so it will be with men working side by side in the fields.”*
*“Lord, where will they be taken?” the disciples asked. Jesus replied, “Where the body is, the vultures gather!”*

Food for thought

Our reading speaks of the Second Coming of Jesus. Out of this difficult passage we can pick only a few things which are certain--and in truth they are all we need.

First of all, the coming of Christ is certain, but its time is uncertain; the end of the world as we know it is certain, but uncertain is when it will end; our death is certain, but when it will happen is uncertain. Our friend Jesus prepares us by saying that we be faithful, humbly and watchfully doing our daily duties. The best way to prepare for the Lord, and by extension our death, is to carry our ordinary duties extraordinarily well. Just be and do your best in everything. Whatever you do, do it for the last time. Remember what Jesus said a few days ago: “Blessed is that servant whom the master finds at work when he comes.” (Matthew 24:46)

Another lesson to note is that when that day comes the judgments of God will operate on a personal level, and of two people, who all their lives lived side by side, will be dealt with individually: "*two men will be asleep in the same room, and one will be taken away, the other left. Two women will be working together at household tasks; one will be taken, the other left; and so it will be with men working side by side in the fields.*"

There is a warning here. Intimacy with a good person does not necessarily guarantee our own salvation; being a good friend of a good wo/man is no guarantee of our own goodness. Goodness and holiness is intransmissible because it is personal; we can neither borrow nor lend goodness! Living with a righteous or holy person is no guarantee for your own salvation. As St. Paul says (Phillipians. 2:12),

*"What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When **I was there with you, you were always so careful to follow my instructions. And now that I am away you must be even more careful to do the good things that result from being saved, obeying God with deep reverence, shrinking back from all that might displease him.*

The judgment of God is an individual matter. (2Corinthians 5:10), "*For we must all stand before Christ to be judged and have our lives laid bare—before him. Each of us will receive whatever he deserves for the good or bad things he has done in his earthly body.*"