Until

. . . until the day dawns . . . 

 - From 2 Peter 1

Peter had seen all of it, firsthand. He is a witness to so many things documented in the New Testament. He's writing his account of all of it, based on his memories, and perhaps his own journaling. He was there. 

By the time he's writing his epistles, probably long enough for many in the Church to become impatient: "So when is Jesus going to come back, after all?" They were getting tired of waiting. The Roman world wasn't getting any better. Like any great civilization in its early stages of sliding from it's plateau, things were getting very scary. And the Church had this expectation that if they just be patient. Wait. Have faith. For another moment. Another hour. Another day, Another week. Another month. Another year. 

Another century . . . 

That their patience would be rewarded, and Christ would return, and they would never again have to fear living in the counter-culture underworld of society; or being refused the benefits of society as second-class citizens, or torture, or the gallows, or crucifixion. 

But then members of the first generation Church began dying. And then another generation. And then another. 

Two thousand years have passed. Christ has not returned yet. 

But now we are in a situation that is as close to the downfall of Rome, as any national slide since the time of Christ. I am not exaggerating. The world today is faced with conditions more chilling and dire than at any time, perhaps ever, in history.

Peter wrote to the Church . . . to us . . . to keep our light shining in a world of darkness . . . until . . . the day dawns. 

The world is in darkness. It is the just before the first twilight, called the "astronomical" phase . . . the darkest period of the day. It's also the quietest. At some point after midnight, the creatures of the night stop their din . . . and the world is quiet. Any sound, even benign ones, sound menacing, in those wee hours. 

The world alone isn't just dark, today. The Church itself . . . so many churches everywhere, are also silent when they should be calling out world events, and marking them as guideposts of what's to come. 

Peter wrote encouraging words to us. Is there world dark? Let us be the light. Let us continue until . . . 

And until can be a very, very long time. 

But so can a long, quiet, dark, menacing night, turning nervously, unable to sleep. 

But the light finally returns. It always does.