For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. -- Luke 21:35
The context here is the not-too-future destruction of
Jerusalem and the temple. The Lord warns
us to be watchful lest we become too distracted by the worries as well as the
pleasures of life. That’s an important
understanding. But alone, the verse says
something more general.
All of us “who dwell on the face of the whole earth” will
face a day of judgment and reckoning. It
may be as part of some great and noted movement of history – wars, revolutions,
reformations, invasions, natural catastrophes of disease or destruction –
something that will be written down and remembered. It can also happen on a very quiet, mostly
unnoted, personal level.
Every day there are thousands upon thousands of people who
find their lives turned upside-down.
Unless it happens to us or to someone close to us, we won’t even be
aware of it. It may be the ultimate day
of the Lord as we step through the veil into eternity to answer for our
stewardship and our lives. It can also
be something like Saul of Tarsus experienced on his way to Damascus. It may be an unexpected loss or setback or
threat in any area of life.
There are all kinds of reckonings, and all of us, regardless
of our place in history or society, regardless of our families, our resources or abilities will have days of reckoning come upon us. The best we can hope
for are two such cataclysms. The one I
have already mentioned. Death is
inevitable and unavoidable. My standard
answer to people who remark about the dangers of riding a motorcycle is that
the mortality rate for bikers is 100%.
The funny thing is that it is also 100% for non-bikers.
The second is not altogether dissimilar:
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:11, KJV)
This, too, is a crisis, a calamity of will. To come to the Cross is to recognize our own
death in the vicarious sacrifice of Christ.
If we will come to this crossroad and take the right way, when that
which comes upon all comes upon us – whatever it might be, up to and including
the laying aside of our physical body, it will not find us unprepared.
