Lifted

Matthew 25:1-13

Pastor Dom did a great job with this text today. I really liked what he did with the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven breaking in among us startling, unexpected and often unique ways.

Keep watch!  How do we do this?  It can be hard to be diligent. If you notice, all the bridesmaids in this story fouled this up, they all, both the wise and foolish fell to sleep!

Keep watch, for we do not know the day or the hour, but the message of Jesus is that the kingdom of heaven is breaking into this world, so keep watch.

Keep watch, well… I what was it I was looking for?  Yeah, I don’t do this well, I have at times the attention span of a juvenile gnat.  The worries and struggles of this world, my life, my job can all too easily tug my attention away from keeping watch.

Here is where our word for the day comes in.  Lifted.  My first thought, when I saw the word for today, was the opening of the 121st Psalm.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills—
    from where will my help come?
 My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.”

Look at those first few words… “I lift up my eyes to the hills – ” In other words it is a bit hard to keep watch, to see where your hope and help comes from if you are staring at your navel.  If you belly button is the center of your universe, then things are going to be a bit rough.  But when we lift our eyes up, to the hills or  even to ground level, we take in a view. As we look, we see that we are not alone.  When we lift up our eyes to the hills, it is here we can see what God is up to, here we can keep watch and watch what God does in Christ every day.

How do you keep watch?  What is it like for you to try and look to the hills for God’s blessing and hope?  Why is it so easy to get stuck navel gazing?

Keep awake, the kingdom of heaven is coming among us and through us each day in Christ.