Responding to the Coming of Jesus in My Life - today

What would you say if Jesus showed up at your home? Your work? Your school? Would you be glad to see Him? Perhaps you might be somewhat frightened to be in the presence of the holy and almighty Ruler of all. How would you react if Jesus came personally to you?

It does seem shock was the reaction of Moses in Exodus 3, when God called to Moses from the burning bush to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Here was Moses’ reply. “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11) Isaiah, in his book reacted in fear to having a vision of the throne of God. “Woe to me! . . I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5) When Peter was confronted with the miraculous catch of fish, he confessed his sin to Jesus, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8) What if Jesus, if God, showed up in your everyday life?

I ask this question because the Christian Church is now in the season of “Advent.” We are in a time of waiting and preparation for Jesus to come to us. We prepare for the Christmas celebration of when the Son of God himself did come to earth to live and to die and to rise as our Savior. Advent is also a season of preparation and awaiting Jesus’ coming again on the last day to judge the world, and to deliver His people from the pain of this life to eternal life in heaven. But, that is preparation for the past and for the future. What if Jesus was present right now? What if Jesus was in your world and in your life today? HOW would you react?

The truth is, while Christians do celebrate the loving miracle of Jesus’ birth 2000 years ago, and while Christians do prepare for and await Jesus’ second coming, He IS with us, right now. When Jesus began His ministry, we are told what He proclaimed and taught at first. “The time has come, . . . The kingdom of God is near.” (Mark 1:15) The Greek word for “is near” in the original language of the Bible can also be translated “is at hand.” Another appropriate translation of this verse is “The kingdom of God HAS COME.” With Jesus in our world, God’s kingdom is not just coming, it is here right now, because Jesus is here.

Do you remember what Matthew says about the angel’s message to Joseph before the first Christmas? “22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’--which means, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:22-23) Jesus is Immanuel – God WITH us! Or, do you remember what Jesus taught and promised His disciples as He left the world? “ . . . surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) You see, Jesus really is here with His people right now! He is here by His Spirit, through His Word, in the water and the bread and wine of the sacraments. Jesus IS here! So, since Jesus is here, how should we react? Are we afraid of the presence of the holy Lord of all? Do we ignore Him?

Actually, when Jesus began His ministry He instructed people on how to respond to His presence. “The time has come, . . . The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” Repentance and faith are still appropriate reactions for God’s people to the presence of Jesus in our world and our lives today. Jesus is holy and righteous, without sin, and we are all sinners who have offended the Lord of the universe. We have not always loved God with our whole hearts. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. Fear can be crippling, but repentance is a godly response of faith. When a person repents, they admit their failings, and seek God’s help to change their lives. In truth, repentance is practical. When we act in sinful ways, we not only sin against God, we fail ourselves. We are not all God created us to be. For example, it is not wise to keep driving a car with mechanical trouble, hoping it will go away. We want to identify and address the issue. When we repent, with the help of God, we identify and address the issue of our failure and our sin.

But, thankfully, we don’t just respond to the presence of Jesus with repentance, we also ‘believe the good news.’ We believe the good news that Jesus knew our sin, and came to this world in love, anyway, to save us. We believe the good news that Jesus lived a righteous life so that His death could pay for our sins. We believe the good news that Jesus rose from death and is victorious over our enemies in this world; the enemies of sin, and Satan, and death. Since Jesus is victorious, we can live as God’s children in faith, trusting Him to guide us, to forgive us, to save us. We can boldly and courageously proclaim Jesus and His kingdom in our words and in our actions because, in Jesus, the kingdom of God is here! Right now! In OUR lives!

So, how would you react if Jesus showed up at your home, your work, or your school? Perhaps a better question is “How do you react, since Jesus is here?” Really, that is good news. And, Jesus tells us how to react. “Repent and believe.” How are you responding?