“All We Need to Know”

Luke 21:25-36

It finally happened. For several years now I have been cynically predicting that Halloween trick-or-treaters will be tripping over the extension cords of the Christmas decorations. In October my cynicism was finally rewarded: driving on Good Luck Road we passed a house where the Halloween decorations were scattered among the Santas, reindeer, snowmen, and plastic renderings of baby Jesus. It was all I could do to not bang my head on the steering wheel and scream.

Today marks the beginning of Advent, that period of celebration and expectation that leads up to the celebration of our Lord’s birth. A major emphasis in Advent is the Second Coming of Christ. Today’s Gospel and Epistle texts speak directly to that. But how can we faithfully and intelligently speak to our culture about the Second Coming of Christ when we have all too often contributed to the glittery, schmaltzy, saccharine, and commercially driven misunderstanding of his First Coming that is rampant in our culture? And when the cultural - and Christian - understanding of the Second Coming has been so perverted and polluted by all that heretical, unscriptural, but oh-so- popular “Left Behind” garbage?

We can’t. Until we rescue the truth of the First Coming of Christ and the entire Christ event – his incarnational birth, holy life, ethical teachings, atoning death, and resurrection – from all its misinformed cultural trappings, we can’t say diddly about the Second Coming. We dare not speak of any explicit signs of that Coming until we deal with the reality that most of the world missed the signs of the First one. As John’s Gospel puts it, “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.”

Let’s pretend that we’re in a First Century Bethlehem’s version of Starbucks, overhearing the following conversation:

“Hey, Josh, how ya doin’?”

“Not bad, Jude. How about you?’

“It’s all good. By the way have you heard all the gossip about what happened a couple of nights ago?”

“No, I’ve been out of the loop. What’s going on?”

“Some of the local shepherds have been muttering about angel voices, pregnant virgins dropping in from Nazareth, and the Messiah being born in a stable. Have you ever heard such nonsense in all your life? Why in the world would God’s holy angels show themselves to a bunch of dirty, smelly, trashy shepherds? How can a virgin be pregnant? And the Messiah coming from Nazareth – nothing good ever came out of Nazareth. And even if it were true there is no way that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is going to be born in a stable, with a couple of redneck yahoos for parents.”

“That sounds like a load of hooey to me. Maybe those shepherds have been up in the hills too long. You probably see and hear some pretty weird things when the only company you have is a bunch of sheep. Messiahs born in Bethlehem, indeed. There’s no way that we could have missed the signs pointing to that. Well, I gotta go. Have a good one.”

“You too.”

Signs, signs, everywhere signs of the Messiah’s coming, and they missed every single one of them. Would we have done any better? Probably not. So we need to be real careful when we talk about all this Second Coming business.

What do we really need to know about it anyway? William Barclay and Eugene Peterson have some good suggestions. Wrote Dr. Barclay concerning the Second Coming of Christ: “… the one great truth it enshrines is this – that history is going somewhere… it has a goal and at that goal Jesus Christ will be Lord of all. That’s all we know, and all we need to know.”

Eugene Peterson wrote in his introduction to I and II Thessalonians in The Message: “The Christian faith has always been characterized by a strong and focused sense of future, with belief in the Second Coming of Jesus as the most distinctive detail. From the day Jesus ascended into heaven, his followers lived in expectancy of his return. He told them he was coming back. They believed he was coming back. They continue to believe it. For Christians, it is the most important thing to know and believe about the future.

The practical effect of this belief is to charge each moment of the present with hope. For if the future is dominated by the coming again of Jesus, there is little room left on the screen for projecting our anxieties and fantasies. It takes the clutter out of our lives. We’re far more free to spontaneously respond to the freedom of God.”

Jesus has come. Jesus is coming again. The future is in God’s hands, and as the hymn says, “God is working his purpose out.” As for the details, well, they’re in God’s hands. We don’t have to fret about them. And as for trying to read the prophetic signs, well, let’s just remember that most folks misread the signs of his First Coming. Dare we think that we can somehow do a better job of reading the signs of his Second Coming?

Our task is not to read the signs of Jesus’ coming but to live the life he has called us to live. Jesus himself said as much in verse 34 of today’s text: “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly…”

The Apostle Paul had some similar advice, first from I Thessalonians 3:13: “And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord with all his saints.” And then from Ephesians 5:15-20: “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And remember that this is the day our Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. William Barclay wrote that, “We must live forever in the shadow of eternity…” But N. T. Wright wrote some wise words about how to live in that shadow: “… it would be as well to live in the present in the mode that is to be vindicated in the future.”

Do we want to live so that we will always be ready for the Lord’s return? Well, then, let us live carefully and wisely, making the most of each day. Let us live with a sense of expectation instead of dread. Let us do what we’ve been called to do in the present and let God deal with the details of the future. That’s the most important lesson we can teach about the Second Coming.

It’s also an important lesson we can teach ourselves and our culture about properly celebrating our Lord’s First coming. On Tuesday I received an e-mail from a friend and colleague entitled “A Letter from Jesus.” I don’t know from whence it originated. But I do know this; it was worth forwarding on to others and sharing with you today. Bear with me as I quote some of it:

“It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking my name out of the season… I don’t care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate my birth, just get along and love one another… If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn’t allow a scene depicting my birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put a small nativity scene on your front lawn. If all my followers did that there wouldn’t be a need for such a scene in the town square…

Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way my birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know they tell me all the time… Visit someone in a nursing home… Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording of cards his staff sent out this year, why don’t you write and tell him that you’ll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up… It will be nice hearing from you again… Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her… try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make [a] difference… If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary… Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to me, then behave like a Christian… Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine… Don’t forget: I am God and can take care of myself. Just love me and do what I’ve told you to do. I’ll take care of the rest.”

History has a goal and at that goal Jesus Christ will be Lord of all. That’s all we know, and all we need to know. Meanwhile let us make the most of this time that we have. Amen.