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The Mystery of Lawlessness

December 12, 2024

Isaiah 7:1-9| 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12| Luke 22:1-13

2 Thess. 2:1-12

As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here . . . .

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. 

December, and the season of Advent, in today’s culture seems to abound with excess and distraction and temptation. Of course, there is also the joy of festivities and decorations. While we are to prepare for the coming of our Lord, and not be shaken in mind or alarmed, our holiday season, of our own creation (“as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here”), offers much to draw our attention away. So we experience that annual push and pull during Advent, between the sacred and the secular, the noise and the silence, the preparations and the “lawlessness.” How do we acknowledge that the season itself is not perfect, and in that sense quite human, and yet still feel great anticipation for the coming of our Lord? How do we separate out the distractions of our own creation from the excitement of spiritual preparation? My solace – a stolen evening sitting in a quiet church pew, surrounded by the simplest of holiday decorations and the scrubby hills behind.

Laura Bottaro