Wisdom 18:6-9/ Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19/ Luke 12:32-48
If we were asked what are the top ten popular inventions, we would certainly be able to name far more than just ten, in fact, there are so many.
It depends very much on how important it is in our lives and how much we use it for our convenience.
But the one invention that we have with us, here and now, is the handphone (mobile phone or cell phone, or smartphone).
From an independent survey, it is reported that there are 7.8million mobile phones in Singapore and 90% of the population own a mobile phone.
That is quite a staggering number and it seems like there is a lot of communication going around.
But the irony is that whenever we call a hotline, or a helpline, we may find ourselves talking to an answering machine.
“Press 1 for English…press 0 to speak to our customer service officer” or “Our Customer service officers are all engaged at the moment, please wait, your call is important to us…” (elevator music).
The irony is that telephones were invented for the purpose of direct voice communication.
Yet, just when we need to talk to someone on the line, we may end up talking to a recording, a voice mail, or we listen to a minute of ring tone and then get disconnected.
Yes, when we call someone on the phone, we expect the person to answer the call.
We expect the person to be like on standby to answer the phone, especially if it is an important and urgent call.
So when our calls are not answered, we get disappointed and frustrated.
Yet, for us who have our handphones so intimately close to us, we also have missed calls. Most of those calls are missed unintentionally, though some are intentionally not answered for various reasons.
And if we are waiting for an important call, we will make sure that our phone is in our hand, or at least within our reach.
Nonetheless, waiting for a call is not as stressful and anxious when we have our phones with us.
But waiting for someone important to appear can be quite wearisome.
Especially if it is that kind of person that Jesus was talking about in the gospel.
Jesus told a parable about being dressed for action, and having our lamps lit and to be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks.
The trouble here is that the servants do not know when the master is going to appear, and he can come at any time, and so they have to be ready and alert at all times.
There is no way of calling the master to ask what time he would be arriving.
There is also no way of checking the Internet for the estimated time of arrival.
There was nothing for them to rely on, nothing for them to check with.
All the servants need to do is to be dressed and ready, have their lamps lit and wait for the master to come and knock.
Surely, that is wearisome and tiresome. Furthermore there is no knowledge and clarity about the whole situation.
And that is what happens in life most of the time – we are blur and we are not clear about where life is going and what God is saying to us.
And we envy those who seem to have so much clarity about life and what God wants them to do.
People like Mother Teresa seemed to be clear about life and what God wants her to do.
She founded the Missionaries of Charity which numbered about 4000, in addition to thousands of lay volunteers.
The MC sisters also have 610 foundations in 123 countries on all seven continents. That indeed is very impressive.
One young man came to Mother Teresa and asked her to pray for him.
She asked: What do you want me to pray for?
The young man replied: Pray that I have clarity, just like you have clarity.
Mother Teresa replied: No. Clarity is what you desire but it is what you have to let go of.
The young man said: But you seem to have the clarity that I long for.
Mother Teresa laughed and said: I never had clarity. What I have is trust in God. So I pray that you will have trust in God.
Well, we can be sure that Mother Teresa who is sitting at God’s banquet in heaven is praying for us to have trust in God.
We often complain that we call upon God and get no answer. God don’t seem to answer our “phone calls”.
So we get disappointed and frustrated and we say that God doesn’t speak to us and we don’t know what to do. We are blur and we are not clear.
But the fact is that God speaks to us all the time! Just that we may have missed His “calls”.
Because God calls us at the unexpected time, at an inconvenient time, a time when we are too busy with ourselves, a time when we would rather reject the call.
Just like how we would reject calls from our parents, or from our spouse, our boss, our colleagues, or someone whom we consider a nuisance or troublesome.
Those calls usually come at an unexpected time and at an inconvenient time, but yet those are precisely the calls from God.
But if we are faithful and trusting servants, any time is a good time. For an unfaithful servant, anytime is a bad time.
But if we truly trust God, whenever He calls, it is a good time. Because with God, anytime is a good time.