Luke 21:29-38
Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’
Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called. And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple.
Today's passage concludes the perplexing passages of Jesus teaching about things that are to come.
And what is the final word? Be alert. Be on watch. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be heralds of the coming Kingdom. We are to be alert to the signs of the Kingdom, so that we can help bring it about. Jesus calls us to live into a freedom, perhaps what St Paul calls "the glorious liberty of the children of God." This freedom is not being tied down with the worries of this life, but being on the move for the Kingdom. As heralds and as stewards of that coming Kingdom, we are free to call out injustice, to live without fear, and to show love to others beyond an economics of exchange. If we do that, the Kingdom will already be among us.
May we live freely. May we love freely. And may we continue to be alert for the coming of God's Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.