Already and Not Yet

November 30

Read Micah 4:3-4

Pray: Almighty God, may the already and the not yet collide until there is peace on earth.

Hear:

Another one of the beautiful themes of Advent is the tension between the already and the not yet. This tension is painful and joyous all at the same time. The lectionary (the guidebook for reading scripture on a liturgical calendar basis) stacks all of the greatest prophecies all on one another.

These prophecies point to the coming Messiah, or Jesus for those of us who are Christians. These prophecies point to all of the great things that will come about under the lordship of the Messiah— peace, justice, and universal joy for all people. Bad guys get what’s coming to them and good guys get to chill under their own fig trees.

But if the Messiah has come, where is the peace? Justice? Universal hope and joy? Most of all— where is my fig tree?

That is because Christ came as a King who reigns in power, even though all of creation isn’t yet under his rule. That is what the Christian walk seeks to bring about— the total and complete reworking of all creation under the Lordship of Jesus. What? You thought you were just trying to be a good person? The Christian life is so much more than that!

During this Advent season, how will you begin to see the world around you as a place for you to live out your Christian walk? Where are the places that are filled with the forces in this world working against Christ's rule? How will you work to get people their own fig tree?

Respond:

Where do I need to show the reign of Jesus?

Meditation:

Right now and not yet.