Living Toward God’s Tomorrow

Devotional Reflection, Monday, June 23, 2025

Proper 7, the week of the second Sunday after Pentecost

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrase for reflection from today’s Gospel reading:

34 ‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’

You will find the full text of today’s Gospel at the end of this reflection.

Daily Office Lectionary readings (BCP, 972)

AM Psalm 89:1-18; PM Psalm 89:19-52

1 Samuel 5:1-12;  Acts 5:12-26 ;  Luke 21:29-36

David’s Reflections

My major professor and doctoral advisor in seminary, the late Malcolm O. Tolbert, lived in retirement in Baton Rouge until his death in 2014,  We spent an afternoon together in March of 2013, after I had flown in to attend the funeral of the Rev. John Moloney, a priest friend whose influence and support were crucial when I was new in the Episcopal Church. I saw Malcolm one other time for a day of conversation, in the winter of 2013, before he lapsed into dementia and died on Thanksgiving Day, 2014.

Malcolm was a master teacher and an attentive mentor.  Exposure to him as a college student loomed large among the reasons I chose the seminary in which he taught.  His wisdom especially proved helpful with passages like today’s Gospel.  Malcolm loved to say that there was at least one event closer in time than Jesus’ return—our next heartbeat.  And, we had no promise that the next heartbeat would occur;  hence, the call to live each moment with a sense of urgency.

Luke shapes Jesus’ teaching so as to give encouragement to the church when the delay of Jesus’ return threatened to dishearten them.  Luke fought against two extremes.  On the one hand, people were vulnerable to apathy, to giving up in the face of there seeming to be no end in sight. Such despair seems common now. On the other hand, people could be vulnerable to demagogues who claimed to know the day and the hour, a claim designed to win the loyalty of their hearers. We have had recurring examples of such hubris in recent history.

Jesus lived with a sense of urgency, with a sense that his generation might well be the last.  If I understand anything about the biblical concepts of waiting and hope, Jesus was living the way we all should.  Our generation could well be the last.  Given the environmental cataclysm we’re facing and the ongoing threat of nuclear holocaust, it does not seem difficult to live with the sense of an ending and with a sense of urgency.

However, that sense of urgency can translate over into our daily lives.  Our next heartbeat could well be our last.  This day could be our last.  So, without giving in to demagoguery that claims to know the time of the end and that tempts people to withdraw from the world and the conflicts for justice and peace, we live with a sense that today may well be our last.  We throw ourselves into living, stretching ourselves into the tasks most urgent and most compelling.

If we believe that Jesus’ return will recreate and purge the environment, living toward that would involve throwing ourselves into that challenge. If we believe his return will end injustice, we can live toward that day by throwing ourselves into the contest for justice. If we believe Jesus’ return will bathe the creation in love, we can live toward that day by seeking to love unconditionally and by serving in love. You can construct your own version of these sentences. The point is that the best way to prepare for Jesus’ return is to seek to bring the realities of that new day into our present existence, depending on God’s wisdom and the Spirit’s presence.

I find comfort and encouragement here. First, trust that God’s tomorrow has been shown us in the resurrection of Christ. And, second, to live toward that tomorrow by witness, service, and advocacy that brings that tomorrow into our present moment.

Collect of the Day, Proper 7, the second Sunday after Pentecost.

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 230)

A Collect for the Renewal of Life

O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 99)

Of the Holy Spirit

Almighty and most merciful God, grant that by the indwelling of your Holy Spirit we may be enlightened and strengthened for your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 251)

A Prayer for Light

Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 110)

A Collect for Mission

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming

Daily Office Gospel, Luke 21:29-36

29 Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

34 ‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’

Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer

Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer 

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer 

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer