“No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!” Netflix and a Roku box means that in idle moments I’ve watched a couple seasons of the original Monty Python show. One memorable sketch has a late-coming-home husband protesting to his wife that he didn’t expect a “Spanish Inquisition.” The joke is that at that moment there’s a pounding on the door and in pop three or four men in red clerical garb declaring that line, “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!”
As we arrive at the start of a new church year and the first Sunday in Advent, one wonders if it’s almost as humorous and true to say about us as American Christians, “No one expects the return of Christ!” Yes, we talk about it and sing about it, but what in our daily practice actually reflects a sincere conviction that our Savior may actually pop through a sky thrown open at any moment?
The Gospel lesson from Mark 13:24-37 gives us Jesus’ warning to be alert for His return and the end of this age. Our sermon text from I Corinthians 1:3-9 shows us Paul assuming that part of the purpose of the gifts of grace in Jesus is to enable us to persevere and remain strong “to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We don’t expect a Spanish Inquistion, but we do expect that at any moment we may need to give an account of ourselves before our Lord. What kind of life truly reflects that expectation?
May we be truly ready for the end our Lord will bring to this age through devotion, good works, and joyful worship that expresses a real conviction and expectation that Jesus will return.