JC Disciples
Closer Than You Think
Jeremiah 33:14-16, Psalm 25:1-9, I Thessalonians 3:9-13, Luke 21:25-36
As the turn of the millennium draws closer, we will see the attention of many Christians increasingly focused on texts such as our gospel lesson tonight. In some segments of Christendom, interest in "the end times" has already reached such a fevered pitch that I can scarcely imagine how it might increase. But it will. As one student of end times prophecies put it, "It would be just like God to have a 2000-year plan all worked out."
Maybe...but then again, maybe not. I think far too many people are ascribing much too great a significance to a certain number. Centuries ago, the pope assigned a monk to organize all of the historical dates under one system with the birth of Christ as the dividing line. The monk, I'm sure, did the best he could. Unfortunately, there is no way to precisely determine when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. As a result, modern scholars have concluded that Jesus was actually born around 3 or 4 BC as we now count the years. Some estimates go as low as 7 BC; others, as high as 10 AD.
So when would the "real" Year 2000 come? The majority opinion would make last year or this year the 2000th year since Jesus' birth. So much for a neat, precise plan.
I suspect that those who are hanging their hopes for a 2000 AD second coming of Christ know this to a certain degree. In fact, I suspect that all of the furor that is already beginning to swell has less to do with a number than some deeper issues with us as modern Americans.
One of the great controversies among those who study the end times, centers on the Rapture. This is a future event when all Christians will be swept up -- body and soul -- from the earth to meet Jesus when he gloriously appears in the sky. Much of the controversy regarding the Rapture involves whether it will occur before or after the Tribulation, a period of intense global suffering.
But regardless of which timeline a believer might subscribe to, the Rapture seems to be a way to bypass death. If believers are taken directly to heaven, they won't experience a physical death. Looking at our culture, it seems quite clear that many Americans have a fear of death to almost pathological levels. We don't like to talk about it or deal with it, and we usually avoid it all together until we are forced to deal directly with death. If the return of Christ is imminent, we might have a way of avoiding this most unpleasant subject all together.
The concept of "subject", as in someone under the absolute rule of a monarch, is another idea that grates on the American psyche. We here in America do not like kings. In fact, it was problems with kings that first brought European settlers to this land. Our Thanksgiving holiday commemorates the celebration of the Pilgrims, or Separatists as they were known at the time. Ever since King Henry the Eighth, the King of England was also the spiritual head of the Church of England. The Pilgrims were called Separatists because they wanted to separate from the Church of England. They believed the Church of England had become too corrupted and the only faithful thing for people of God to do was to start all over again. The King outlawed their worship assemblies in England. In their search for a place to worship God in they way they desired, the Separatists came to America.
The American understanding of king is still rooted in the conflicts of the pilgrims and colonists who came to this land. We, as a people, do not like the idea of a king. We know full well that anyone with absolute authority is bound to abuse it -- if not immediately, then eventually at some point.
So by looking for an imminent return of Christ, we keep the reality of God's sovereignty in a safe place. If the Kingdom is just around the corner, why should we bother solving the problems of our society? Christ is coming soon. Jesus will take care of everything as soon as he gets here.
Also, by keeping God's reign as a future event, we don't have to deal with the lifestyle implications of that reign. The kingdom of God will be a spiritual, rather than physical, event for us. We will all be up in heaven, perfected, freed from the temptations and sins which make life here so much more difficult. By holding this view, I suspect we may be attempting to deny any claim that God might make on our lives right here, right now.
But is the kingdom of God, the reign of Christ really an event that has yet to happen? Is it possible that the kingdom of God has already begun? Are we even now under the reign of Christ?
Consider our first lesson this evening. The prophesy given to Jeremiah that we read tonight was actually a repetition of an earlier prophesy. Jeremiah first spoke these words of hope regarding the coming of a righteous king while foretelling the coming destruction of Judah, the last remnant of the nation of God's chosen people. In our text tonight, the prophesy is repeated even as the terrible fate Jeremiah foretold begins to fall upon Judah.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: "The Lord is our righteousness."
Jewish thought has always regarded this passage a messianic, related to the coming of a promised deliverer, a leader like Moses or David who would lead the people according to the ways of God. In fact, just as we do today, the Jewish people have translated or paraphrased scripture into the language of their times. An ancient Aramaic paraphrase uses the word "messiah" in the place of "a righteous branch" in this prophesy.
We as Christians claim Jesus as the Messiah, the one who delivered us from the evil which separates us from God and frees us to be God's people. It is Jesus who mercifully forgives our sins and enables us to live righteously according to the ways of God. In this sense we do see Jesus as the fulfillment of this prophesy.
The Messiah has indeed come. As we journey through Advent, it is hard not to anticipate the Christmas celebration. While we may dread the effort required for some of the preparations we feel we must make -- like baking, decorating, shopping, we do it because we find some joy, some measure of happiness in these things. The story of the birth of Jesus holds a special place in all our hearts and we hear it with eagerness every year. Forget the designated Advent hymns, let's sing (if we were to sing tonight) the Christmas carols: "Joy to the World the Lord is come! Let earth receive its King!" " 'Hark,' the herald angels sing, 'Glory to the newborn King!"
And that's all fine. We can accept the infant King born in poverty. That sort of king is less threatening to us because he is, for all purposes, powerless. An infant only wants to be loved and cared for. We can do that. It's hard to resist the appeal of a helpless newborn. Babies are cute. They invite us to care for them with their very beings. They demand little besides food and comfort.
But how does that view change when our baby King has grown into the risen and ascended Messiah, our deliverer to whom we owe everything? This King has power -- a power we might wish for ourselves.
If Jesus was the promised King and he has risen from the grave and ascended into heaven, as we affirm in our creeds, then he is King even today. Christ has a claim on our life. We have no grounds for delaying our obedience to our King to some future date. The kingdom of God has come and we are part of it. We are the subjects of the righteous King and we are called to live accordingly.
Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah. He has come to us and the kingdom of God has already begun. We as Christians live not so much in the absence of the King as in the shadow of the King. Even in the dark tonight, the sun is no less present than it was during the day. This section of the planet has simply turned away from the sun. Likewise, our King is not absent, gone far away to return some future day. Our King is here even now. We only scarcely glimpse his glory as the faint edge of the moon can be seen during a lunar eclipse. Here in the shadows, we can catch only glimpses of the glory of God we shall someday see in fullness.
It is Advent, the season when the church year begins. Pastor Hamlin has been calling it a time of "holy darkness." I really like that phrase. I've also heard it said many times in Advent sermons, and I think I even said it myself last year, we are an Advent people. We live in a "dark" time when the light of God is yet to be fully revealed. However, the light is not absent. We are only in the shadows. One day the light will dawn in fullness. Until then, we can live in hope.
What does it mean to live in hope? It means to believe that the promises of God are true for us and will be fulfilled. As a writer in the daily devotional book that I read phrased it, "Anticipating the promise is to begin living it." That means the kingdom of God is not a future event with little bearing on our daily lives. No, the kingdom of God is to be the business of our lives every moment, every day.
Jesus calls us to be alert, to be ready to stand before him at the moment he returns. Christ could come to us any day. We have been warned. We would be wise to heed Christ's words.
It's Advent, a time to journey once more to Bethlehem and witness the coming of the Messiah as baby born in poverty. But this time, when we hear that beautiful story, let us not just accept a tiny, helpless baby king, but the King of Glory and give him full reign in our lives. Anticipating the fulfillment of God's promise, let us start living as though the promise is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is here among us right now, in our hearts -- and in our daily lives.
As Jesus said while here on earth, "Blessed are [those servants] whom the master will find at work when he returns." May we be found among the blessed as Christ comes to us. Amen.