A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .
So now what?
Luke 21:25-36, Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, November 29, 2009
On a road through a desert in
One day, as
he was walking, he came to a big lever in the middle of nowhere, just by the
side of the road. 'Pull this to end the world' said the sign on it.
Now
Nathaniel saw this as the perfect spot for him to preach, and soon many
automobiles were parked nearby, the people all swayed by his powerful elocution.
All was well, until there were so many people, and so many cars, that the road
was nearly blocked. Then a big 18-wheel rig came down the highway, and couldn't
stop in time. The driver had a choice: run over Nathaniel, or run over the
Lever. As the driver explained to the Highway Patrol later, he actually had no
choice. Pointing to the red smear on the road that used to be Nathaniel Evans,
he said "Better Nate than Lever."
If our text this morning had a title it could rightly be the
apocalyptic discourse of Jesus. The word "apocalyptic" comes from "apocalypse,"
which actually doesn't mean end of the world, but rather revelation. Now here's
one thing about apocalyptic stuff that you may not know: This type of writing,
this type of revelation about God and the world was popular among Christians for
about a thousand years. As a kind of religious literature, apocalyptic deals
with a revelation, or series of revelations, usually by means of an angel, which
reveals or discloses the supernatural world and what it's impact will be on the
historical world in which we live. The focus is on the end of the world as we
now experience it and the beginning of a new world, during which normally a
judgment of failed persons and institutions, a transformation cosmic in scope
and nature, and the vindication of God's saints, God's people, occurs. A second
important thing to know about this type of religious thinking and witnessing of
our faith is that major historical crises triggered it in the beginning. For
example, the destruction of
Just so you know, this is not the same picture of the end of the world as you may have heard about called the Rapture. This take has become popularized in a series of books, and yet it only comes from the bible as the most minority of views. In fact, the source for this viewpoint is only one of Paul's sentences in First Thessalonians ("...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), from a writer (Paul) who was decidedly not apocalyptic in his thinking, and in fact downplayed this whole thing in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians by not mentioning it again when he certainly could have. This Rapture is not something I subscribe to. For the biblical reasons I just mentioned and because of well more practical matters, as a Megan's story reveals. “May I help you?” the clerk asked cheerfully, as Megan browsed through the children’s book section of the Christian bookstore. “I’m looking for something for my 3-year-old,” the young mother replied. “She loves books, and I want to get her something with a ‘Christian message.’” “I have exactly what you’re looking for,” the sales lady replied with a wink. “It just came in; we’re really excited about it. It’s the latest from Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, Left Behind: The Toddler Edition.” “I’m not sure that’s what I’m looking for,” said the young mother, trying to be polite. “Nonsense,” the clerk replied, taking a volume from the rack to show her. “It’s about a group of toddlers at a Christian pre-school,” the clerk explained. “On a trip to a petting zoo, the school’s minivan suddenly swerves out of control.” “Oh, how awful!” “It’s the rapture,” the sales lady continued. “The teacher and two of the children are taken, and the rest are left behind. Look, their little clothes are still in their car seats. Isn’t that cute? One little guy was taken right out of his diaper!” Those who are left behind are in big trouble on Judgment Day.
Our gospel reading has Jesus talking to his disciples about
signs that will precede the return of the Son of Man to earth. He speaks of
cosmic changes, signs in the sun, moon and stars, as well as distress among the
nations and deep foreboding in the hearts of individuals. Jesus is speaking
these words with only days to live. First, he foretells the destruction of
It’s a blockbuster scene, full of death, destruction and despair. But
then Jesus turns his attention to the second coming of the Son of Man, and
predicts signs in the sun, the moon and the stars, and on the earth distress
among the nations. People will drop dead in cardiac crisis, he says, when the
heavens are shaken. Others will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power
and great glory. What’s most impressive about this event is that it’s designed
to be soothing, not shocking. It’s supposed to be reassuring, not frightening.
“Now when these things begin to take place,” says Jesus to his disciples, and to
us, “stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
When he returns, Jesus wants us to look up in anticipation, not fear.
So when is this going to happen? Who knows. Jesus explicitly says we won’t and can’t know the chronology of the second coming. But you’ve still got your pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation and post-tribulation pre-millenarians, post-millenarians and amillenarians. One senior citizen remembers as a kid hearing a grown man commenting on world troubles in the news at that time and saying “We must be living in the end time!” But now that kid is an old man himself and the world is still going on. So the troubles back then weren’t signs of the end after all. 2,000 years later, it’s hard for many to know quite what to make of Second-Coming talk. You can only stand gazing eagerly at the sky for so long with nothing happening before you start to feel ridiculous.
And so now what? Well first of all, we'd be foolish not to thank our lucky (and non-shaking or exploding) stars that God hasn't started the Second Coming prior to our birth. Where would be in then? We'd be out of the picture completely. This is true of each and every moment that the end doesn't occur, which we should take to be a good thing for all those who could and should come after us, who have yet to make their mark for God and good. I guess someone up there thinks so also. Second and akin to the first point is the important story of the promise of the rainbow, as in God's promise to Noah seen in the rainbow that the good Lord would never again choose to destroy creation, including us, over some other option, any other option. After signing on to this, God is definitely in this thing for the long haul.
Maybe then we should just drop this whole Second Coming thing?
It's an untidy piece of Christian business it seems. Before we go that far it's
fair to say that Advent, the season in which we talk about Christ's Second
Coming, as well as the first, has an important role to play; in other words, it
needs to stay. And I would say it like this: If Lent and Easter ultimately talk
about God's love for us in Jesus Christ seen in the Passion and Resurrection;
and Pentecost and the birth of the Church arise out of faith, then Advent and
Christmas make up the season in which we highlight hope as the greatest of
virtues, the deepest spiritual force in our lives, and the last power to stand
before a too often cruel and punishing world. Before there was
So give in to hope. Renew your promise to give God your heart. Present your life as a present to Christ. In this season, take a trip to Bethlehem, and find there your light, your reason, your hope.
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