Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
The coming of the Lord may be an occasion for fear if we have fallen asleep. He may come like a thief to reclaim the gifts we were supposed to put in the services of our brothers and sisters, to take away the gifts we had been using selfishly that were always meant to be used for others.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
This coming will happen definitively at the end of time, but it also happens throughout history, as with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. The stewards of that house were unfaithful and the gifts were taken away and given to those who would be fruit (see Matthew 21:43). It can happen to us if we fall asleep, that is, if we become complacent. But even this fearful coming of the Lord in our lives is an act of mercy, a call to wake up and remember that we have a destiny greater than this world, a call to live as people who believe the Lord will truly come again.
Yet the coming of the Lord need not be an occasion for fear for those who don't backslide into complacency. Indeed, it can be a cause for joy, something to which we truly look forward with rapt anticipation. If we wait for his coming with fear it is probably because we know we are holding on to that which is not truly ours, the gifts of God, in a way that is causing harm to ourselves and others. We fear rightly then that we won't be permitted to persist in sin forever. We know that the days of such enjoyment are numbered. We know that we will experience the removal of such pleasures as a punishment. But this fear is better than nothing, if it motivates us to move beyond such attachments, and therefore beyond the fear itself.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love (see First John 4:18).
The more we live lives of fidelity to our call, each according to our station in life, "to distribute to them their food at the proper time", the less the coming of the Lord will be a cause for fear and the more we ourselves will desire it. It will not be a contradiction of the secret lives of sinners, but rather the confirmation and completion of the lives of saints in the making.
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Those who follow Jesus, who do not succumb to the temptation to believe and live as though the here and now is all there is, can greet him when he comes, not as a thief, but as a bridegroom. His coming will not be a disaster but rather the beginning of a wedding feast.
Paul desired for the Thessalonians that their faith in Jesus was strong and that their love would abound. His coming to them would therefore be a cause for joy for both him and them. It was different for the Corinthians whom he warned that he might be forced to visit with discipline if they made it necessary. In this way his coming to was an image of the coming of the Lord, in fact an occasion in which the Lord, through Paul, did return to them.
But I will come to you soon, if the Lord is willing, and I shall ascertain not the talk of these inflated people but their power.
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a gentle spirit?
Our relationship with the Lord can be joyous or fearful based on how ourselves respond. "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness" (see Second Peter 1:3). He has given us all that we need by his grace, food to enjoy ourselves and to distribute to others. If we remember he is coming to bring completion to the feast we won't need to gorge ourselves or turn to abusing our fellow servants to try to get more now than now is meant to offer. May his coming be good and welcome news for us.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
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