St Luke 17: 20 – 37
Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’
Then he said to the disciples, ‘The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. They will say to you, “Look there!” or “Look here!” Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed all of them —it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.’Then they asked him, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said to them, ‘Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.’
Reflection
The apocalyptic imagery Jesus uses of one person being taken and another left behind feels uncomfortable; as I write this, much of Los Angeles is in flames. Celebrities and people we have never seen have lost their homes, and entire communities have burned down. When we witness events like this, along with those in Palestine, Yemen, and Ukraine, it highlights how fragile life can be, illuminating Jesus’ warnings about the unexpectedness of the Kingdom of God.
What does it mean to see the Kingdom of God ‘among you’? I am guilty of feeling the Kingdom in my life only when things are going well and convincing myself it can only be seen in positive events. Yet Jesus reminds us that the Kingdom is woven into the fabric of our everyday existence, often unnoticed amid life’s chaos. We are called to find meaning and the presence of God in turmoil, reminding ourselves that even in destruction, there can be glimpses of restoration. The warnings about the days of Noah and Lot serve as stark reminders to remain vigilant in our faith.
We can easily become preoccupied with securing worldly possessions, yet Jesus uses the events of the flood and Lot’s wife, who looked back and became a pillar of salt, to jolt our minds and hearts into seeking our own way within ourselves, our local, and global communities. I spent a long time thinking about how to tie this reflection up neatly before realizing maybe that is the point. Sometimes events mean we cannot wrap things neatly. We all dwell in discomfort at times, but as Leonard Cohen wrote, “There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.” The kingdom is always around you and within you.
Prayer
Creator God
Help us to continue to seek you in chaos.
Help us to see you in it.
May your Kingdom unite in this messy world to search for peace.
Help us to be courageous enough to lose some of our comfort in order to balance the scales of justice.
In you we pray.
Amen