Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him…You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." (Luke 12:32-36 & 40)

Jesus was crucified, put to death, wrapped in grave-cloths and laid in a tomb. After two nights had passed (on the third day), the tomb was found empty, and he was seen alive, eating food, actually even touched by some of his followers. Jesus was at pains to emphasize the physicality and the ordinariness of his resurrection body. He said to his disciples: Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have (Luke 24:39)

After appearing intermittently for a period, he was raised to heaven, promising to come again to earth at the end of time. ‘Apocalypse’ in Christian terms is this idea of that Jesus will come to earth a second time and that the next life will break in on this one: the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52). An apocalyptic awareness of the future teaches us an appreciation of the immediate moment; if we realise that something is not going to last forever we make the most of it while it is here. (It may be that we lose a sense of end times because we have not lived through a war).

The Bible is clear that this will happen 'at an unexpected hour’ (Luke 12:40). We don't and are not expected to know when this will be. People who want to speculate about Revelations and claim to know exactly what it means appear to have uncovered rather more about God than he is willing to reveal of himself.

This is the context for today’s passage that talks about being ready, alert, awake and open to the possibility of the master’s return. We are called by Christ to wait and to hope for what is to come and while we wait we are not to worry. We do not know how, when or where the Second Coming will happen so how can worry help? Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Mt 6:34).

Learning to live without worry is not simply a learnt skill. It is a gift from God that we receive with thanks and praise. Learning how to live is learning how to worship (where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mt 6:21)). We need both safe places to return to but also a future to look forward to: live in hope rather than feed on memories. The Eucharist is both a reminder and a pointer (come and will come). The idea that we should live each day as if it were our last is common advice from life coaches and embedded within the pages of Scripture. This has a particular application for each age group:

Children learn to worry and need to be taught how to play – Many parents will not let their children out unsupervised because of fears for their safety, a survey suggests. Some 43% of 1,148 adults quizzed for the Children's Society said children should not be allowed out with friends until they were 14. But most said they had been allowed out without supervision when they were aged 10 or even younger.

Those of us in the middle years learn to cope and we need to be taught how to relax. There is nothing wrong with working hard; the trick is knowing how to rest. We script this out of our Christian lives by ignoring the Sabbath (Ex 31:14-15). The Sabbath teaches us that time belongs to God in the same way that tithing teaches us that money belongs to God.

Those closer to the end of our lives learn to regret and need to be taught how to celebrate. When we have more of our lives behind us it is easier to reflect on how things have been in the past than to wonder at how things might be in the future.

Underneath worrying, coping and regretting is fear - Fear erodes our creativity, occupies our mental space and distracts us from enjoying the life that we have been given by God.Perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18) and so we all need to become good lovers. Playing, resting and celebrating are all done for their own sake and not because we want to achieve something else.

What does this Christian belief mean for us when there are those, such as Alex, who have died young? It means that we are not left alone with a fading memory and a fierce sense of loss – we have a trust in Christ’s future which sets us free: living and the dead together we are waiting for the second coming of Christ. Christ alone has already been raised from death, while the rest of us must 'await' his return? (John 5:24-29)