"What about the Second coming and resurrection?"
Burning Questions/death
11/25/12
Maybe you've heard the story of the little boy who decided to write a letter to God one Christmas. He started out by writing: "Dear God, I've been a really good boy this year." Unfortunately, he remembered that God was all knowing and all seeing and he decided that he couldn't lie to God. So, he crumpled up that letter and started over. This time he wrote: "Dear God, I know I haven't done everything I should have, but I really tried to be good." He stopped and crumpled up that letter, too. It was obvious that he was struggling with what to write to God.
As he sat there thinking he looked up and saw his mother's favorite piece of sculpture on the mantel. It was a beautiful rendition of the Madonna, the mother of Christ. The boy perked up and ran out of the room. He came back with a towel and a shoebox. He walked over, carefully picked up the Madonna, gently wrapped it in the towel, carefully put it in the shoebox, and then hid it in the closet. He immediately went back to the table and wrote: "Dear God, if you ever want to see your mother again . . ."
You know what? I get tired of people trying to blackmail God, bribe God, and hold God's doctrines hostage.
As I have studied for this last message in the Facing Death with Hope series, which is also the last in the Burning Questions series, I have read more strange ideas than I care to think about. The difficulty in preaching this sermon is not getting to the truth of the Gospel, but peeling away the layers of misconception that have been piled up against our Christian hope.
I hope, today, to push all of that aside in order to set free in our hearts the great hope of the future God has prepared for all of us.
First, how many of you have read any of the "Left Behind[i]" series?
Even if you haven't you probably have picked up on the popular ideas of the end times like the rapture, tribulation, and the beast. The thing we have to understand about almost all of the popular ideas about the end of the world is that they are speculative fiction at best. The problem with books as popular as the "Left behind" series is that people including some pastors forgot that it was fiction.
21 centuries have provided ample time for some really wacky ideas to develop about the end times. So, let's see if we can get back to what Jesus tried to teach. I promise you, it is not as complicated as some have tried to make it.
Before I share these two indisputable truths with you we need to know that what we are talking about things that are way beyond human knowledge. With our weak little human minds, we can't even begin to understand the mysteries of the end times, like how will Jesus come back? What will happen in the last days? And how God's Kingdom is going to come? We all pray "Thy Kingdom Come on earth as it is in heaven." But to understand it is an entirely different matter.
There is a lot of speculation about how God is going to do this. It runs the gamut from pre-millennialism, to post-millennialism to a-millennialism to preternism; we hear about tribulation, rapture, lakes of fire, and more.
Much of that comes from the book of revelation with a sprinkling of things from Daniel and Ezekiel and the gospels and Paul. It comes from what is called apocalyptic writings. The thing people forget is that apocalyptic writers were attempting to communicate the deepest mysteries of God. In order to do that, writers relied on symbols, images, poetry and coded language to attempt to communicate those truths of God which are beyond human language.
The monsters point to various manifestations of evil.
Plagues to human suffering.
The tribulation speaks the truth that evil and suffering are still with us even as we approach the new age to come, and there is nothing we can do to change that.
The rapture is a relatively new concept that emerged in the 1880's as James Darby tried to understand the future hope of resurrection. Reading passages like the one we read from 2 Thessalonians today, he came to the conclusion that there would be 2 resurrections. One for the living (which he called the rapture) and one of the dead. The so-called rapture became another one of those popular ideas that just is not really supported by a careful reading of scripture.
You see there are a lot of beliefs that have been tacked on to the Bible and it can sometimes be difficult to tell which are which.
In the midst of what might seem confusing, I want to tell you today that there are really only two things that are clearly fundamental to the faith about the end times. If you remember these two things you can sort out what's truth from fiction, and you can decide for yourself what you believe.
First, Jesus says, like McCarthur, "I shall return." Or like the Terminator, "I'll be back." Jesus says, "I will come back." We find this in a number of places, but from today's reading we see it in John 14:3. "3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
This is what we call the second coming. Next week we will enter the season of Advent. We think of advent in terms of a time of preparation for Christmas. Advent, however, not only looks back to the first coming (Christmas), but looks ahead to the second coming of Christ. Advent is a time for singing not only Emmanuel- "which is God with us" but also singing Maranatha- "Come Lord Jesus Come!" So this is a perfect time to ask, "What do we expect?"
First, expect him to return. There is no doubt that Jesus expected to return, that his followers expected him to return, and that we should expect Jesus to return
Second, expect him to return in bodily form. Jesus does not teach that he will come in spirit, or in political power, or anything else. Acts 1:11 says "This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.". And we should expect that in bodily form. Now be careful not necessarily like these bodies. Remember after he was resurrected he apparently looked like himself, people could touch him, and he ate as usual. However, he also walked through walls, was instantaneously transported from one place to another, and was able to appear in a way that the disciples on the road did not recognize him. So bodily, but not necessarily fleshly.
Third, don't worry about when. Do not get sidetracked about WHEN he will return. The clearest word about when comes from Jesus himself. "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."[ii] Did you catch that? "Neither the angels, nor the son will know." Unless we think we know more about God's plan than Jesus, we need to just watch and wait. Jesus says over and over believe, and watch, and prepare.
Let's be honest. The disciples thought he would come back in their lifetime. There are even places where Jesus seems to think it will be soon. Luke 21 says "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened"[iii] That sounds like a, "I'll be right back" to me. But what did he say? Jesus said, "Not even the son knows when this will come to pass." It will surprise us like a thief in the night. No one knows when the thief is coming and we won't know when Jesus is coming back either.
Trust and watch and prepare. Trust that Christ shall return because he said he would. And watch in hopeful expectation that he might come at any time.
Finally regarding the return of Christ, when Christ comes everything will change. Revelation says there will be "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.[iv]" That is really about as far as we need to go. Let's let other folks argue about premillennialism and postmillennialism. Let's let other people argue about Pre-tribulation and post-tribulation. Let's let other people debate about when and what Jesus will do when he returns. Let's just get to our job of watching, and waiting, and preparing. We prepare our hearts and minds, but we also work to prepare the world for him. Doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. Maranatha- Come Lord Jesus Come.
The second thing that we can say with certainty is that when he comes, he will take us home. There will be a bodily resurrection and we will be with him forever. The Apostle's creed calls it "the resurrection of the body."
16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After 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. And so we will be with the Lord forever.[v] Do you remember a few weeks ago I said when we die we don't do directly to heaven? Remember Paradise and Gehena? That is because when Jesus comes back he will raise the dead (both righteous and the unrighteous,) and take all the souls of the dead and the living to final judgment. In the twinkling of an eye, the sheep will hear "'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.[vi]" And the goats will hear "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.[vii]"
Let me tell you three things about our resurrection hope.
First, when we talk about a bodily resurrection we have to apply the same rule we did for Jesus bodily return. Our bodies will be raised, but not necessarily these bodies. We will be raised in a spiritual body that is "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading![viii]" Does this look imperishable, undefiled, and unfading to you?
Second, God's time is not our time. Our bodies are locked into time. However, for the souls in paradise there is no time. It will seem in the twinkling of an eye that we are accepted into heaven. It will be even better than the express lane at Wal-mart. No waiting in the kingdom.
Finally -don't worry… for those who have faith there is no need to worry. We stand ready and awaiting the return of Christ and our entrance into eternal life. That is the hope for the future on which we stand. Today we stand with one foot in the here and one foot in the hereafter. Or you might say we stand squarely in the world, but our hearts are really in heaven.
· Jesus is coming back.
· He is coming back to take us home.
Those are the two indisputable truths that Jesus teaches about the end of the age.
There are other doctrines and images that might be important to you. That's OK. If they bring you hope and help you to hold firm to these two indisputable truths, we can have a variety of beliefs about the end of the age.
But mostly we must believe. We must look forward to a future with Christ.
We should ache for the kingdom to come.
We live in that strange in-between time. Like the time on our calendars between Christmas and New Years. It is kind of a weird week because we still have Christmas in our hearts, but New Year is just around the corner. This time in which we live- between the first and Second Advent of Christ- is a little like that.
It is the between time- We know Jesus but we wait with hopeful expectation of that which is yet to come.
The gospel singers call this Beulah land. (You thought I had forgotten your questions didn't you?) We live in Beulah land. Which is a reference to Isaiah 62:4. The Israelites are told that when they return from exile they will no longer be called forgotten but they will be God's delight. Their land will no longer be called barren but will be called Beulah which means"married" or in relationship with God. It is said that Beulah land is not heaven but you can see heaven from there.
It is certainly where we stand as we gather on this Christ the King Sunday. We are somewhere between the first advent and the second coming. And we have seen just a glimpse of that which is to come. Somewhere between the cradle and the crown. And we have seen just a glimpse of the reign to come. Somewhere between the last supper and the communion of the saints and we have seen just a glimpse of the banquet to come.
And that is our hope. That this world with all of its pain, and injustice, and sickness, and cruelty, and hatred, and greed and lust is not all that there is. That there is more, and (no matter how smart people think they are) that "more" is in God's hands.
So we go back to a phrase I have used a number of times in this series.
We live like those
who are prepared to die.
So that when we die
we shall go forth
as those who are prepared to live[ix]
[i] 16 novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, first published 1995-2007 by Tyndale House,
[ii] Matthew 24:36
[iii] Luke 21:32
[iv] Revelation 21
[v] 2 Thess. 4:16-17
[vi] Mattehw 25:34
[vii] Matthew 25:41
[viii] I Peter 1:4
[ix] UM Hymnal Service of death and Resurrection
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