Stand Up and Lift Your Heads: Reflections on Luke 21:20-28

When the world feels like it's shaking beneath our feet, when news of turmoil fills our screens, when anxiety about the future threatens to overwhelm us—what are we to do?

Today's Gospel reading from Luke 21:20-28 offers us a surprising answer.

The Reality of Upheaval

Jesus doesn't sugarcoat reality. He speaks of nations in dismay, people gripped by fear, powers being shaken. He acknowledges that there will be times when everything feels uncertain, when the world seems to be coming apart at the seams.

This isn't just ancient apocalyptic language disconnected from our lives. We know these feelings. We've experienced them in our own smaller and larger crises—in personal loss, in global pandemics, in moments when our carefully constructed sense of security crumbles.

The Invitation to Hope

But here's where Jesus turns everything upside down. In the middle of describing these frightening events, He tells us: "When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand."

Stand up. Lift your heads.

Not because everything is fine. Not because we should ignore the real challenges before us. But because in the midst of chaos, God is at work. Because our ultimate hope doesn't rest in the stability of earthly powers but in the promise of Christ's presence and redemption.

Finding Peace Beyond Earthly Security

One of the deepest human tendencies is to place our trust in things that feel solid—political systems, economic prosperity, our own carefully laid plans. We want security, and we look for it in what we can see and control.

Jesus challenges this. He reminds us that no earthly power can ultimately save us or give us the peace we long for. That peace comes only from God's kingdom breaking into our world.

This doesn't mean we disengage from the world or stop working for justice and peace. Rather, it means we do so with a different foundation—not frantic anxiety about controlling outcomes, but grounded hope in God's faithfulness.

Living with Heads Held High

What does it look like to "stand erect and hold our heads high" today?

It means choosing hope when despair feels easier. It means continuing to love and serve when the world feels dark. It means refusing to let fear dictate our actions. It means remembering that our story doesn't end with the troubles we see, but with the coming of Christ in glory.

It means trusting that even when everything seems to be falling apart, God is not absent. Our liberation—our ultimate freedom and wholeness—draws near.

A Prayer for Today

Lord Jesus, when the world shakes and fear threatens to overwhelm us, remind us to stand firm in your promise. Help us to lift our heads and fix our eyes on you. Give us the grace to trust that you are working all things toward redemption, and that our hope in you will never be disappointed. Amen.