Current newsletter article, July 2011

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone (Matthew 24:36)

“And we believe that he will come again to judge the living and the dead...” so go the words of the creed.
But when will he come again? The question of the timing of End-Times events has always been on the mind of the church. In Acts 1 just prior to the moment Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples ask: “Lord, at this time will you restore the kingdom to Israel?” This was their way of asking if it was ‘grand finale’ time now? In discussing the return of Christ and the impact it would have first on the dead believers, and then on those who had not yet died, St. Paul in 1Thessalonians includes himself in the still-living camp when he says in 4:17 “After that, **we** who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” As much as it may seem that the Bible presents a New Testament Church that believed Christ may return any minute, however, balance is provided by other passages that seem to indicate that the present epoch is just that—an epoch of indeterminate length. I had to chuckle a few years ago when a book caught my eye. It had the title: “The Last Days are Here Again: A History of the End Times.” Not surprisingly the book appeared just before Y2K. In contrast, the book of Hebrews in the New Testament opens with these words: In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. And of course most recently who can forget the predictions of Mr. Harold Camping who boldly proclaimed May 21, 2011 as the day the Lord would return.

So, what gives? What are average Christians supposed to make of this muddled mess? The bible says no one knows the day or the hour yet people keep trying to predict the day (and in Mr. Camping’s case, ALSO the hour). Some in the bible seemed to live in a state of constant expectation, yet the same bible tells us that it has been ‘the last days’ since Jesus was born.

Well, in a nutshell I’d like to offer my thoughts on this topic in the hopes of providing some practical guidance.

--To begin with, never forget the words of the creed: we believe that HE WILL COME AGAIN...and leave it at that. A Christian world-view is such that we believe that we are on the road TO something. This world of sadness, sickness and sorrow is passing away. Just as we believe that God restored the broken relationship that existed between himself and humanity through the cross of Jesus, we also believe that God will restore all of creation one day. There is an ‘end’ that will come. This will happen when Jesus returns. In other words, the failed prophecies of those who don’t know what they’re talking about haven’t changed anything.

-- Knowing that the end will come, however, should not dissuade us from active and regular function in life. I’ve read several sad stories of people who listened to latter day ‘prophets’ in the 1800s who sold everything and then gathered together on a hillside to await the return of Jesus. Sadly, some of Mr. Camping’s listeners may not have been aware of those stories as many of them also sold everything as May 21st approached. The point is this, not only does no one know the day or the hour, no one CAN KNOW the day or the hour. And until that day/hour actually arrives, we all have a CALL to function in our God-given vocations as fathers/mothers, employees, professionals, business-owners, students etc. Of course we balance our vocation with our own best response to follow the Great Commission of “making disciples,” but our methodology of doing that shouldn’t be driven by sanctified attempts to read tea leaves or crystal balls concerning The End.

--Take the patience of God SERIOUSLY. 2Peter 3:8,9 state: But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. In other words, every day that The End doesn’t come is an example of God’s patience allowing more people to repent. But that means the current epoch we find ourselves in could go on, and on, and on.....AND ON!!

As a teenager in the 1970s I was raised in a church that fully believed that this world would never make it beyond the 1980s. This had a very strange impact on us. Many of us took for granted and internalized the idea that we would not suffer physical death. Jesus was going to return and pre-empt all of that! Few, if any, took a longterm view of ANYTHING. Why be involved in ecology of the earth, Jesus was coming SOON! Signs of cultural shifts all around us, the loss of “traditional American values,” and God-forbid, the potential fall of America as the most powerful nation in the world, would all be interpreted as “signs” of the impending end. MANY Christians thought in precisely those same terms when Rome fell 1500yrs ago. They, and sometimes WE forget that God is very patient.

It boils down to this: We should live our lives as if the Savior would return before dinnertime tonight, but not be shocked if he doesn’t. God has given each of us a task to do and has called us to FAITHFULNESS in that task. Part of that faithfulness includes following in the steps of our blessed Savior who was more than happy to say: “It is not for you [us] to know the times or dates The Father has set by his own authority,” (Acts 1:7). We are happiest and most blessed when we remember that God is God, and we’re not—and that includes simply being ‘ok’ with not knowing the day or the hour. He’s got that one covered, and that’s good enough.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.