1 Corinthians 1:1-9; Psalm 144(145):2-7; Matthew 24:42-51
St Paul's opening to the Corinthians is so supportive and reads well in today's stress filled, busy lives. We have been given all the gifts we shall need to see us through whatever the world throws at us. Perhaps is is just as well then that this reading is paired today with Jesus speaking to us through Matthew, telling us to always be awake, ready, and busy at God's work, because we do not know when or how the master is returning.
Hold on to the encouragement - it really is the case that we have been given what we need to see through our problems, and if we are always intent - despite our frequent failures - to do the right thing, then that is exactly what 'being ready' means.Matthew was writing to a people who had every reason to believe that Jesus our Master was going to return in their own lifetime - in a matters of a few months or perhaps a year or two. Two thousand years and more later, the the writing style of Matthew seems excessive, over the top - but the essential truth is still valid. Jesus' kingdom has come - it came with his death and resurrection - and our place in it is assured if we choose it. So we can live in joy and peace, doing God's work.