Sermon for December 7th

In last week’s gospel, there was a little passage that I did not address, but which many of you may have heard and wondered about. If you remember, Jesus described the signs that the last days were approaching, “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” Then he says, “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” What do you think about that? Does it bother you? Doesn’t it bother you that Jesus says that these things, these awfully weird and scary things, are going to happen before a generation passes away . . . and that was 2000 years ago! As far as I know, everyone Jesus was talking to is long dead and buried. So was Jesus kidding, or wrong, or just misunderstood?

Well, I’d like you to imagine, for a moment, what it must have felt like to be a person in that generation Jesus spoke to. What must it have felt like when Jesus still hadn’t returned and they were about to die? What about the next generation? How do you think they felt? Betrayed? Confused? And how did they deal with the fact that they were still waiting? Fast forward many, many, many generations after that to the generation you are living in. Doesn’t it bother you that Jesus has not returned yet? Why take so long? Is it something you did? Something you didn’t do? Why isn’t Jesus back yet? What can you do about it?

The fact that Jesus didn’t return within a generation, defined as the time between a group of people’s births and their deaths, is tough to deal with. However, there is a good argument that when Jesus said “this generation would not pass away” he was likely referring to the Jewish people as a whole and not just to the specific lifespans of his listeners. BUT, the problem still isn’t solved EVEN IF we accept that Jesus wasn’t talking about lifespans but a longer span of time. Jesus still hasn’t come again, we proclaim each week that he will, but he hasn’t yet. We are still waiting and THAT is tough to deal with. The problem still exists.

And we certainly aren’t the first people to have this issue, our passage from the book of second Peter is dealing with the same problem. Today’s passage is Peter’s answer to those who were troubled by Christ’s delayed return. They think Peter and his merry band of Christians are wrong about Christ coming back. They say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” Where is the promise of Jesus’ return? Where indeed?

In our day and age, lots of people are upset by the fact that Jesus has not had his “second coming” yet. How do you know? Well, just look at how hard they are working to get him to come back! I went online and typed into Google: “getting Jesus to come back sooner”. Here are some examples of what people are doing as they wait for Christ to come.

On BringJesusBack.org they have one interesting idea. Here’s a quote from their website, “We can help speed the return of Jesus by making a cassette tape in every language spoken on earth. Since the Bible is inspired directly by God, we can trust that there is great truth in this quote from the book of Matthew chapter 24 verse 14. Here we will quote it from the New International Version: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." 97% of people have heard according to BringJesusBack.org (how they might prove that is completely beyond me). But, they figure that if 100% of people have heard then the end will come. Jesus won’t have any more excuses I guess.

The Second Coming Project is trying to use technology to get Jesus to come back. They had hoped to find an original relic and get Jesus’ DNA from a hair left on a thorn from the crown of thorns or some skin from the shroud of torah or something, to make a clone of Jesus. Not quite having Jesus return, but a Jesus clone would be the next best thing I guess!

Then, of course, there is the “Rapture Index”. Just as a quick note if you haven’t heard about this before. The rapture is believed to be a time when some Christians, (the really good ones it is assumed) are taken by God out of this world (leaving their clothes and dental fillings behind) while the rest of the world is left to suffer awhile on earth before Jesus comes again—finally! This understanding has been created and taken from several disjointed Bible passages and commercialized into books like the Left Behind series so popular years ago. Of course, while Jesus often says THAT he will return again, he doesn’t say HOW. Surprisingly, however, people who expect the rapture will argue that they do know how and will be more than glad to tell you.

Anyway, Bill Moyers, an American journalist and public commentator, had this to say about the group making up the online Rapture index, “They are sincere, serious, and polite as they tell you they feel called to help bring the rapture on as fulfillment of biblical prophecy. That's why they have declared solidarity with Israel and the Jewish settlements and backed up their support with money and volunteers. It's why the invasion of Iraq for them was a warm-up act, predicted in the Book of Revelation where four angels 'which are bound in the great river Euphrates will be released to slay the third part of man.' A war with Islam in the Middle East is not something to be feared but welcomed - an essential conflagration on the road to redemption. The last time I Googled it, the rapture index stood at 144-just one point below the critical threshold when the whole thing will blow, the son of God will return, the righteous will enter heaven, and sinners will be condemned to eternal hellfire.” Just as a note, as of December 1st, the Rapture index was, in fact, even higher 158! And you can imagine why: unemployment and financial unrest are up, even though floods are down, and a gentleman in Florida has made news recently claiming to be Christ. These are just some examples of how this index decides when Christ is on his way and, as the site recommends, you’d better fasten your seatbelts.

It’s hard to be patient, isn’t it? It’s especially hard to be patient when waiting for Jesus to come back when we have to watch so many people hurting, homeless, going hungry and dying. It’s hard to be patient when people are referring to the rapture index. Why is Jesus taking so long?

Well, first off, Peter makes a distinction in today’s passage. You AREN’T called to be patient. You’re just supposed to wait. GOD is the one being patient. “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness,” Peter says, “but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” In other words, while you and I think we are being sooooo patient waiting for Jesus, God says, “You’re not being patient with me, I’m being patient with you!”

When I’m impatient, I look at the clock. I want to know what time it is over and over again. That’s the same question asked by those of us waiting for Jesus to come again: what time is it? What time is it? Between when Jesus ascended into heaven from our sight and when he will come again in the clouds? What time is it? Are we close or not so close?

Peter says that now is the time to wait and to hasten the coming day of the Lord. He first says to wait. While God is actively being patient, he asks you to wait . . . just wait, and that’s a very passive thing to do, isn’t it? If you were the one having to be patient with God, it would be up to you to forgive God for taking so long, but, instead, God says, “I am being patient with you. I am the one doing the forgiving and I want all to come to repentance. I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that they would turn to me and live.” We are passive. We can’t make Jesus come back any later or earlier than God has planned. When it comes to Jesus’ second coming, you and I have absolutely no power to force his hand.

But Peter also says we should “hasten” the day of the Lord and that sounds like a pretty active thing to do. Yet, it’s important to remember that while we are passive in our relationship to God, we are very free to be active in our relationship to others. While it can be very frustrating to focus on when or how Jesus will come again; instead, you may focus on your neighbors, the ones God has planted on this earth for you. God is actively seeking the lost and the forsaken and through his Holy Spirit uses you.

Now is a time to actively listen and to proclaim the promise of God’s salvation. We wait on God and hasten his coming by calling people to both repent and believe that Jesus Christ has forgiven their sins once and for all. Not so that Jesus will come sooner, but so that people might find their Savior. We are not called to “Bring Jesus Back” as the website I referred to earlier says; instead, we are called to bring PEOPLE back to Jesus by proclaiming God’s law and his gospel so that the Holy Spirit can create faith.

What time is it? It is time to hear the good news! It is a time of salvation. God’s perceived slowness shows his love for all humankind. Not just for others, but also for you. Jesus ascended into heaven but his words have not passed away, just like he promised. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” The time has come and the kingdom of heaven has come near to you; repent and believe in the good news. Jesus Christ has come again, as he does every time that you hear his promise; He has come again, in his words, for you. And one day, as he has promised, he will come again in the clouds and you will see him face to face. Until then, he’ll be patient and we’ll wait. Amen.