Main readings: Isaiah 1.1, 10-20; Psalm 50.1-8, 23; Hebrews 11.1-3, 8-16, (17-28); Luke 12.32-40; [Genesis 15.1-6, Psalm 33.13-21]
Supplementary readings: Psalm 78.51-70; Hebrews 11.17-27 (28-40); Isaiah 2.10-17; Psalm 33.13-21; Luke 12.41-48 or Hebrews 11.17-28
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12.34)
We spend much of our lives waiting – impatiently at red lights, anxiously for test results or eagerly for morning coffee. We wait for the right job, the right partner, the right moment to act, but if I am honest I will admit that I rarely spend my waiting time in the present moment. My heart often dwells in sadness or nostalgia for the past, or anxiously tries to imagine what the future may hold.
In this vignette Jesus asks, Where is your treasure? Where is your heart? The Gospel describes waiting as an act of faithfulness, but also questions the attitude in which we pass time. We are implored to cast aside distractions and instead, light the lamps, and be awake and watchful. Waiting is an active stance through which the present moment longs to be revealed.
When we are anxious our worldview is filled with the dreaded ‘what ifs?’ What if we get sick? What if we do not have enough? What if I fail? The world feels smaller, scarier and we might wonder, where is God in this? In the meantime, we fail to notice and name the gifts in front of us – the nourishing meal, the energy of colleagues, the safe place to rest. The unexpected hour of blessing is now, but anxiety is the thief that robs us of the ability to be in a state of encounter, and so we miss the inspired presence for our own lack of presence.
Perhaps the question then is not where is God, but where are we?
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