A surprise interruption or a hoped-for fulfillment?
After 2,000 years it is easy to forget that Jesus promised to return. As a matter of fact, the last verse in the Bible repeats that promise and ends with the prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)
For the first generations of Christians the expectation of Jesus’ return gave their lives a sense of urgency and also alienation in the world in which they lived. They had become part of a different world. Eternity had invaded and every good thing they experienced was a taste of what was to come. And every bad thing they experienced was a sign of no longer belonging to a former age, to a world that was passing away.
This Sunday at the Gathering Church the focus will be on what is usually referred to as the Last Things. The Bible assumes that anyone who knows God also knows something about the future. Yet Jesus knew that it would be easy to become complacent, to ‘fall asleep,’ become dull to God’s dynamic moving, to the judging and renewing of all things.
Some Christians were already becoming confused and discouraged about the promise of the future, and some were just unaware of what was true.
But a clear understanding of our future lets us know who we really are today. Otherwise, we are merely defined by the trivial stresses and ambitions that have absolutely no eternal value.
This Sunday we get to look up.