Early Sunday morning (November 14th) I was having a discussion with Jesus: Do I really have to preach this? Of course I lost the argument and I arrived at church with fear and trembling!
We began with Article 17 of the Augsburg Confession:
It is also taught that our Lord Jesus Christ will return on the last day to judge, to raise all the dead, to give eternal life and eternal joy to those who believe and are elect, but to condemn the ungodly and the devils to hell and eternal punishment.
Rejected therefore are the Anabaptists, who teach that the devils and condemned human beings will not suffer eternal torture and torment.
Likewise rejected are some Jewish teachings, which have also appeared in the present, that before the resurrection of the dead saints and righteous people alone will possess a secular kingdom and will annihilate the ungodly.
Read carefully, this article has only three sentences. One is a positive affirmation and the other two are rejections of popular but false ideas.
This set the tone for me, and I moved ahead to identify and reject the popular but false ideas of our own time.
Isaiah 65:17-25 ruins all our models of how things are supposed to end. None of our models can account for this combination of events and people. Theologians and popular writers need to stop trying to chart out the end so that we can check off the events of the last days. Jesus told us that no one will know the day or the hour except our Father in Heaven (Matthew 24:36).
Psalm 98 promises all the ends of the earth will see the victory of God. Verse 9 promises that God will judge the earth with his righteousness. This is good news if we trust God. It is very bad news if we insist on living our own selfish lives. True disciples of Jesus long for God’s righteous judgment. We hunger and thirst for it. Jesus calls us to seek this first and beyond anything and everything else (Matthew 6:33).
There will be no secret coming of Jesus (Luke 21:8 and 27). When Jesus returns, God wins, and we will all know it at the same time! Jesus warns us in Luke 21:12-19 that we will suffer terrible persecutions before he returns. Will the Jesus find faith when he returns? (Luke 18:8)
II Thessalonians reports that someone told the church in Thessalonika Jesus had already returned and they missed it (II Thes. 2:1-3). Because of this, some believers had fallen into idleness and had become busybodies. Paul warns them to get back to work (II Thes. 3:12-13).
Jesus has delayed his return for a very long time. This has allowed three false ideas to flourish. I think we need to ask: How are we doing? Pull your toes back, I am about to step on them!
Theologians and pastors have done badly as we have spent an amazing amount of time trying to know more than even Jesus knew about the timing of his return (Matthew 24:36). Our endless charts, end time schemes, and arguments are a tragic waste of time. We need to repent. We cannot explain God’s timing or delay. We don’t need to make excuses for God. We need to get busy and call people to obedience. When did our marching orders change? We are still under orders and we need to either take the lead in fulfilling the great commission or get out of the way.
Our popular Christian culture in American has completely lost hope in the return of Jesus our Lord and Savior. We live as though we no longer believe in eternal life. Rather than sacrificing for God’s future kingdom, we have fattened our pensions and our retirement plans. We hope, by our own efforts, to provide for years of happy idleness in our retirement. We settle for a false, secular, financial heaven of our own making. Some people even confuse their wealth with their claim to righteousness. Their net worth becomes their self-worth. Of course Scripture knows nothing of such a plan! Paul calls this greed and he labels it for what it is – Idolatry – in Colossians 3:5. But it gets worse.
Many seniors have chased this “American dream” only to see their pensions ruined by our current economic crisis. Others have health problems that have kept them from enjoying a happy idleness. Others realize one consequence of the American dream is that they are no longer relevant to society except as consumers. All of this leads to a complete loss of hope. But again, when did our marching orders change? They didn’t! Jesus is calling seniors today to get back to work. They don’t need to work for a salary, so they should offer their gifts and wisdom as mentors, counselors, and caregivers. God’s call to love and serve – God’s wonderful call to life giving mission – applies to seniors as much as everyone else.
Finally, most of our young people have given up on this “American dream.” They are not expecting to retire in abundance. They expect government programs like Social Security to fail. They dread an ecological disaster. We should not be surprised that they choose to live in this moment, choose to serve themselves, and ignore the promise of God’s promised kingdom and coming judgment. But we cannot let our future be wasted! Our young people need to see the tidal wave of problems as a flood of opportunities. God’s Holy Spirit is big enough to use us as part of the answer. The worse it gets for the world, the more persecution we endure, the more opportunities we will have to share our faith and give a faithful witness to Jesus.
I am not expecting the next several years to be easy. I am praying we can be faithful. We must continue as Paul said to “never tire of doing what is right.” Our orders are clear: Love God, love our neighbors, and live to fulfill the great commission!
This week I invite you to seek God’s call for your life in light of his coming judgment. I believe judgment is good news and we will see how this can be so in our next sermon. Amen.
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