I used to know someone who, when she saw things in the news that scared her, or if she ran across something frustrating or difficult, or when she confronted people she thought lacked common decency, then she would exclaim, “Oh Lord! Come and take us home, Jesus!” And sometimes, for added dramatic affect, she would add in, “And make it soon!”
This idea that Jesus is going to return again, that God will ultimately and finally save mankind from itself is, of course, a major tenet of our faith. In fact, in the middle of the Eucharistic Prayers, we say the Memorial Acclamation: “Christ has died. Christ is Risen. Christ will come again.” And in the Catechism, we find this belief under the heading of “The Christian Hope.”
Hope.
Now, I didn’t know her well enough to know how she would have reacted to the results of the election this year – whether she would have been happy, or used her favorite expression – but I am sure that she knew the hope she had in Jesus, no matter what her feelings.
In the Hebrews passage today, we see that Jesus will come a second time, not to deal with sin – as he did the first time – but to collect those who are eagerly waiting for him. And, what’s more, he does this in a sanctuary not made of human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered heaven itself.
Those words, “not made by human hands” express a truth that we all know, but becomes all the more important during an election cycle, both before, and after. Those things built by human hands: policies, laws, monuments, buildings, and even nations and cultures. All these things will pass away, but God will remain.
The Psalm for today, Psalm 146, speaks to this directly, when it says, “Do not put your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, for there is no help in them. When they breathe their last, they return to earth, and in that day their thoughts perish.”
So what does all that mean to us?
Well, no matter what happens, God is in control. No matter what side of the aisle we are on, we rejoice in the fact that we have the God of Jacob as our help, and that our hope is in the Lord. That all of our trust and faith is in the Lord our God, and not in rulers, or any child of earth.
In the book of Acts, we see a devout man, Cornelius, met by an angel, who tells him that his righteousness have come up as a memorial before God, and that he needs to send a messenger to Joppa. In Joppa, we see Peter, who has a vision of all sorts of unclean animals presented to him, and the voice from heaven tells him to eat, but Peter refuses, because he says that the meat is “unclean.” And God scolds him, telling him that if God has declared it clean, then it is so, and you must not call it unclean. Shortly thereafter, Peter receives the message from Cornelius and meets him, and Cornelius tells him that he must hear all the things that Peter can tell him about God.
And Peter says: I truly understand that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears God and practices righteousness is accepted. The word which God sent through Jesus Christ to the Children of Israel is Peace, and Jesus is Lord of All. And we were commanded to preach that peace to the ends of the earth.
Now, you’ve heard me say this before, and I’ll say it again, because it is all the more important after an election. Because while people may have had their differences before the election, when the dust clears, and the sand settles, we, as Christians, are first and foremost children of God. God shows no partiality. Or, in the older language of the King James Bible, “God is no respecter of persons,” meaning God doesn’t care who you are, what tribe, tongue, or even country you belong to; if you believe in Christ, and you work for peace and righteousness, you are acceptable to God.
And what exactly does that look like?
Thankfully, today, we don’t have far to look. Our Psalm today gives us a list of things we can do: we work with God to provide Justice to those who are oppressed, we give food to the hungry, we set the prisoners free. We work with God to care for the immigrant, and we help to care for widows and orphans. And if we do that work with God, then together with God we will frustrate the way of the wicked.
This is how one waits eagerly. It is not a passively sitting around, moping. It is actively engaging in the work of God, while expecting what what we have been promised.
The Psalm begins with “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, O my soul!”
It goes on to say that we ought not to put our trust in rulers, or any child of earth, and then finishes off with “The Lord shall reign for ever… Hallelujah!”
Christ will come again, and shall reign forever. Christ will come again for those who eagerly await him.
This is our hope. The hope of eternal glory, in a sanctuary not made by human hands.
