New Year Resolve: Stay Alert!

Blessed are those slaves whom, when the Lord comes, he will find them on the alert."
Luke 12:37a



Jesus here is warning each of us to be "spiritually alert" always, for we never know when He will come to take us, whether individually (Luke 12:16-21) or at the end of time. For Jesus states that "no one" can predict when this will happen (Luke 12:39-40), it will be comparable to when a thief robs a house. Thus, the warning to be "awake."

This spiritual alertness can be understood in several Biblical images which Jesus plays on here: "Gird your loins for action" which means to cast off all entanglements which wrap around our spiritual legs and cause a believer to stop, go off course and fall off the path; and secondly to "let your lamps be burning" which refers to the light of one's faith, that magnificent reflective light of the Gospel radiate from one's living for the Lord. We must and can have this spiritual alertness not by what we do, but what Christ does for us in His holy means of grace (Word and Sacraments) He serves us, He pours His light into us and lives in and through us. Jesus speaks of this is this text, Luke 12:37 with "he will serve them." Being a believer is about Christ serving us, not we serving Him emphasis. As my good friends at Issues Etc. put it: "It's not about You, it's about Jesus For You!"

People make all kinds of resolves this time of year, but most of them are not even remotely close to taking on spiritual change. So, if we are to make any New Year's resolves this year, let us begin by admitting that we have had epics of spiritual sleep, and thus praying for the Lord's blessings in 2010, we resolve to be "spiritually alert" through habitually letting Him serve us with His Law and Gospel at the place we assemble together to hear His Gospel purely preached and His Sacraments rightly administered.

Blessed 2010: Keep Alert!