Sermon for November 28th (Christ's Second Coming)

Our gospel reading today comes from Matthew chapter 24, verse 36. Jesus is talking about the day he comes again: the second coming of Christ! The prophets of the Old Testament called this, “The Day of the Lord.” Some today call it, “The End of Time” or “Judgment Day”. But Jesus didn’t just start talking about it one afternoon out of the blue, he was answering a question given to him by his disciples, “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” How many of you wonder the same thing? When will Jesus be coming again? How will I know? What will be the signs? How will I be able to tell the difference between today and that day or whether today is that day?

Before today’s reading, Jesus spends some time talking about the “signs”. He describes what the day will look like when he comes again. “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” It will be like lightning. It will be fast, it will be shocking, it will be public. When Jesus comes again, it will not be behind closed doors. It will not be secretive. Everybody will know. And it will happen suddenly. “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” That’s all from Matthew, that’s not Revelation folks, that’s simply Jesus talking to his disciples one day.

What have you heard about the second coming of Christ? Does your image fit what Jesus actually said? I think that it is extremely important that we test our individual theories against what scripture says on this topic. I have heard, and read, many things about the end of time and, so often, they don’t seem to really jive with what Jesus says. Sometimes even popular books, like the Left Behind series, seem to leave scripture behind for the sake of a good story. People disappearing and leaving their clothes behind? Nobody knows what’s happening except for a few Christians who weren’t really believers before? That doesn’t sound to me like the second coming of Christ that Jesus is talking about here.

According to 1st Thessalonians chapter 4, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, 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. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.” Jesus did not come in secret and he will not return in secret, like a mystifying magic trick. When Jesus comes it will be like lightning. There will be trumpets. It will be a surprise, yes indeed, but it will be very, very public. “I’m coming soon. Get ready.” Jesus says.

Some will say, “But what about the time before that. What the Bible calls the “time of distress”? The Great Tribulation!” Yes, we must talk of that as well because it is certainly what most people focus on. The Great Tribulation. But first, let me point something out to you. This time of distress, by whatever name you want to call it, is BEFORE Christ comes again. According to scripture, it is BEFORE the consummation of the kingdom. “Immediately AFTER the distress of those days, “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.”

Let me make this perfectly clear once more. According to scripture, when Christ come everything old has passed away. The new has come! There will be a time of great trial and tribulation, the book of Daniel says, “But everyone whose name if found written in the book--will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” In Mark, Jesus says, “those days of distress will be unequaled from the beginning when God created the world until now—and never to be equaled again. But for the sake of the elect he has shortened them.

Does that make sense with concepts such as the rapture where true believers “escape” this time of trial? Throughout Revelation, God’s people are called to “overcome” and to be faithful through patient endurance. In Revelation 7, there is a great multitude who is said to have come through the Great Tribulation and were washed by the blood of the Lamb.

Why am I making such a big deal out of this? Well, because I believe we have slipped in our theology. We are slicing and dicing scripture, cutting and pasting this with that until we are all so confused we don’t know what to think or believe. We’ve left scripture behind for a good story. And so we become worried that we don’t know enough about the End Times as if that was somehow a prerequisite for eternal life. It’s interesting to speculate, but not at the expense of trusting in Jesus as the final Word for your life. Maybe it’s just too simple. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved.” Jesus says, “I’m coming soon. Get ready.”

In the last two weeks, I’ve had multiple people ask me about how exactly Jesus is going to come again. There is an idea out there and Jesus will be born again, walk around as a thirty year old again but, this time, we’d better recognize him or else! But that’s not what the Bible says at all. I remember, when I was in high school, I told my dad that if he ever came home one day and I wasn’t there and he couldn’t figure out why, that Jesus must have come by and asked me to leave with him. I’d have to go without saying goodbye.” Now why would I have said that? Well, I guess I believed that this was what was going to happen? And, I guess I had delusions of grandeur . . . I wanted to be one of the disciples! But what does scripture actually say!

Remember last week’s reading from Acts? It said right there how Jesus would come again, “Jesus was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Where is the confusion? The Bible is very clear on this.

But do you know what? I think that we want more. We want more drama. We want more suspense. We want a good story. And, so, like me, we imagine Jesus coming back for more disciples hoping to be a hero for Jesus. We want a long drawn out story like the Left Behind series, to excite us. We want Kirk Cameron to be our hero for Jesus! It’s more exciting than what scripture tells us. “Be ready. I’m coming soon.” We end up focusing on the Great Tribulation instead of the everlasting kingdom. On knowledge of prophecy instead of faith in promises.

Instead of trusting in Jesus’ promise to come again, we get wrapped up in looking for “signs” that he’s about to come! Jesus’ return stops being something that we prepare for and hope for and starts becoming something we “study”. And while those signs of Jesus’ return might be “right on” here’s the danger: don’t get focused on the trees and miss the forest. Jesus explains the purpose of his talk with the disciples and it wasn’t so that they’d be able to say “I knew you were coming! I saw the signs!” No, Jesus says, “Keep watch, because you do not know of what day your Lord will come. Be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect him.” It’s not about what you know, it’s who you know. Following God’s will has less to do with watching a specific timeline than it does with watching over your way of life. Don’t get so focused on the world events that you never take a look at yourself. Get yourself ready so that no matter what the world throws at you, you can stay faithful.

This is the first week of Advent in the church year. Advent is a time of preparation. We are preparing for Christmas, but we are also always expecting the return of Jesus as he promised. How are you preparing? By watching the signs? Watching the news? Or by watching over your heart?

How are you preparing for Jesus second coming? What will Jesus find in your house when he enters it like a thief? Don’t just memorize prophecies, trust in promises. Your promises. There will be trials. There will be a great Tribulation. Get ready to stay faithful to Jesus and his Word to the end. The End Times can sometimes appear very dark and complicated, but they are also quite simple. Jesus promises, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that where I am there you may be also.”