Word for Today

Our Penultimate Now

From Revelation 22:

 ¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say, "Come."

And let everyone who hears say, "Come."

And let everyone who is thirsty come.

Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift."

  ²⁰The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!  ²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

First off, something I would like you to notice as a student of the Bible.. The book of Revelation doesn't have an "s" in the title. It is Revelation and not Revelations. The book, as a whole, speaks of one revelation to (and through) the author. End of public service announcement.

Come Lord Jesus. This is one of the simplest prayers ever. The welcome from both parties is so profound here, so full of love and satisfaction. Isn't it fitting that our Bibles end with these verses? This is the way the Bible ends. Once you're done reading these verses, all you have left is an index and maybe some maps.

I love the word "penultimate." It refers to something that's next-to-last. You can picture the penultimate turn before arriving finally back home. You would rather eat the penultimate piece of cake.

Our faith needs to be penultimate. It needs a longing, a desire that expects something. Our faith needs to pray over and over and over, "Come Lord Jesus." The lovely thing about our "penultimate now" is that we are open to surprise, to friendship, to challenge, justice, sacrifice and love. This is made possible because of a promise: "Surely I am coming soon."

Photo from commons.wikimedia.org

Definition of PENULTIMATE

1

: next to the last <the penultimate chapter of a book>

2

: of or relating to the next to the last syllable of a word <apenultimate accent>

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

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