The End Of The World?

In today's gospel, Jesus says the day is coming. Here are his words. "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. But of that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the son, but only the father." Is the world coming to an end? Absolutely not. But be assured, Christ the King, is coming. Let's take a walk from the past into the future. Let's spell future together. F, first was God, the alpha. Before anything else was God. God always has been. There has never not been God. U, U is for uttered. God uttered creation into existence. God spoke the world into existence. He said, "Let there be light," and there was light. He said, "Let the waters be gathered together in one place and let there be dry land. Let us make mankind in our own image." God made the heavens and the Earth simply by speaking. God made Adam and Eve. He uttered them into existence and he said, "Do not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and you will be with me forever." But rather than listening to God, Adam and Eve listened to the Serpent, so Adam and Eve ate. They disobeyed God. Sin entered the world and it has never left. Sin separates us from God. F is for first, U is for uttered, T, then Jesus. As the years passed, God watched as his created human beings continued to disobey him. They turned away from him, they served themselves, tried as hard as they could to be like God and sin swept over the face of the planet. Wars raged, greed prevailed, envy ruled in the hearts of men and women, and God said, 'Trust me," and we said, "No, thanks."

So, God was faced with a choice. Destroy the ungrateful humans, those he had made to be free, who had exercised their freedom to turn away from him rather than to love him, or give them a chance. So, God did a new thing, and his name was Jesus, the son of God, our Savior. A Savior to show us who God is, what God looks like, how God desires that we live. God sent Jesus, and Jesus looks us in the eye and says, "Trust me, follow me." F-U-T-U, Unfolding now. Jesus offers us a choice like Mary to say yes to him, to choose life with God or to turn away and to choose death, to live with our minds on earthly things, or with our citizenship in heaven. The church is called to be in mission to share the grace and love of God with the world, to introduce others to the savior, to the things of God. Just as Jesus has led you home, he invites you and me to share that same good news.

So, you and I live between the times. Between when Jesus came and when he will return, when he will come and judge the world and bring it all to completion. Because again, rest assured, Jesus is coming back. To you and me, 2000 years seems like a lot, but in eternity, 2000 years is about the amount of time it takes to switch off a light. For the church, and Christians, we live between the times. We're here, but our citizenship is in heaven. Now is the time of good news, now is the time of invitation to say "Yes," to say "Yes" to Jesus, to say "Yes" to life, to say "Yes" to God.

F-U-T-U-R, R is for resurrection completion. We say it in the creed, he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the father almighty. From there, he will come to judge the living and the dead. From there he will come, he will come again. These things will pass away, but Jesus will bring a whole new order, a whole new life. God's kingdom is only the beginning. Jesus will come, he'll come down the stairway from heaven, jangling the keys to the kingdom, saying "Boys and girls, it's closing time." He'll gather all his saints, all his children, and he will usher in the judgment of God.

So, let's state what we know and what we don't know. Here's what we know. Jesus will come again and gather his saints. God's grand plan is for his creation, a fulfillment, a completion, a consummation of all creation. It'll happen right here. Jesus will return here and sow a new heaven and a new earth coming down out of heaven from God for all who trust him. Who's this for? For all who call him Lord. Here's what we don't know. We have no idea how this is going to happen. It's beyond our comprehension, we're merely human beings. God is God and his ways are beyond us. We simply know he holds creation in his hands, and he will complete it when he sees fit and how he sees fit. The gospel today makes it clear it's not for us to know, it's God's business. But Christians somehow and people have been obsessed with "When's the world going to end?" Do you remember Y2K or all the way back in the second century, there was a guy named Montanus who started a movement of Christians to be all thinking that the world is about to end. We all get obsessed about that and we've all been wrong. Duh. Because E is for eternity. The world is God's, and God is eternal. He has no beginning; he has no end. God's plan will unfold in God's time. He'll bring all this to completion. And those who love him will share in it. God will heal and bring all things unto himself. A new heaven, a new Jerusalem. Wickedness and sin will be no more. There will be no more crying, no more dying, no more mourning. Many things we cannot know, but this we do know. Those who love and trust him will be a part of that plan. Is the world coming to an end? No, it's only just beginning, and with Jesus and his church, you will be a part of it, too.