Greetings all,
How is everyone? By the grace of God, I am fine. I hope that all of you have made an effort to appreciate the Bride of Christ since last week. It is a glorious institution that He gave so much for. As the songwriter says, "Tis a glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle; Washed in the blood of the Lamb."
Have any of you heard the prayer "maranatha?" It is Greek for "Come, Lord." It was common for the early Church to pray this prayer. The same can be said for much of the Church of history. But, when is the last time you have honestly prayed, "Come quickly Lord. Come." Have you ever heard someone else pray that prayer? Maybe these two questions deserve an introductory question: When is the last time you even heard (a sermon) about the Second Coming? Albeit, tradition (via the lectionary) has placed the second coming in the Advent season (so hopefully you will hear a sermon in the weeks of December leading up to Christmas). But, for such a big deal, do we really only talk about it only once a year?
We are being fed eschatology whether we realize it or not. The secular world calls it the "end of the world" which can be seen in the upcoming blockbuster 2012 featuring John Cusack. This Friday millions will flock to the flick. The date of the "end of the world" comes from the end of a time cycle of an ancient Incan/Mayan calendar. If the argument even needed bolstered, the famous French astrologer Nostradamus has been thought to predicted the same time for the end of the world. I'm sold. Aren't you? Well, some Christians are anyway.
I think so much effort is spent in trying to decipher both world and cosmological events as "signs of the times." And yet is the end not the same? Holywood may portray it a certain way--which conveniently is a way that profits hundreds of millions of dollars; for Christians, it still comes down to Jesus' return to the earth. The Lord Himself encouraged us to live in a state of expectancy for it will come like a thief in the night (Matt. 24:43)/or no one knows but the Father (of the day or hour--Matt. 24:36). If I can't take my Lord seriously at His word, then newspaper clippings (and ancient Incan/Myan calendars along with the French astrologer Nostradamus' prophecies) pasted next to other Bible verses isn't going to change much of anything for me.
Put all the speculation regarding the Second Coming aside, do we, both individually and as a church, really want the Lord to come back? Can we honestly pray, "come quickly Lord?" It is easy for me to say yes on the front end, for that is what I am supposed to say as a good Christian. Yet, am I saying it with life? Uh, ouch I just burned myself, well that was a rhetorical question...Cough...ya rhetorical.
Living expecting and hoping for the Second Coming does not warrant an escapist life--withdrawing from the world. Nor does it necessarily encourage us to forsake goals of education, careers, etc. to enter a life of monkery. Living in expectation of the second coming doesn't reduce this life; rather, it elevates it. It makes it more meaningful. I encourage you, as I am myself, to pray the prayer of maranatha everyday for forty days. Maybe it will open our eyes to where we are truly storing our treasures--in the things of heaven or of earth. I think that our faith is based on this eschatological hope. The return of Christ seems to drive...well, it all. Salvation, sanctification, holiness and all the other theological jargon becomes just jargon, if we do not believe that Christ is coming back. I hope to live ready for His coming, newspaper articles aside. I hope to live as my Lord encouraged me to live: always ready and always hoping.
The scholar Anthony Hoekema writes, "Our expectation of the Lord's return, therefore, should be a constant incentive to live for Christ and for his kingdom, and to seek the things that are above, not the things that are on the earth. But the best way to seek the things above is to be busy for the Lord here and now."
Grace and Peace to you until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And I would like any readers to post some topics they would be interested in having discussed: it can range from specific Scripture verses to branches of theology or to how do we apply/live a particular X (fill in the blank) out. I would like for this to be formative for you and for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Something that sparks your curiosity, very well may do the same for others. Post 'em. "We're all in this together."
ReplyDeleteThis is good stuff!!!! It is nice to know that I am ready for the second coming of Christ, whenever that may be. I love it when I hear people say that it could be any day, anytime, any second. I always think, well duh! The word says that is how it is going to be. But even though I am ready, I am not sure that I want him to return anytime soon. I feel like He has a lot left for me to do, and there are a lot of things that I would like to do before that time comes. I have a hard time believing that it will be on X date at X time because that is just not biblical. Like a thief in the night. I remember this great song from the eighties by a group called Degarmo and Key. It went something like this, "like a thief in the night, just like lightening in the sky, when Jesus comes to take His church away. I just liked the music at the time, but today I love the words. i put a link to the video for those who want to see the video. Feel free to make fun of me, but know that this song was the stuff in the 80's!! lol! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-c6D5u1Idg
ReplyDeletei love andrew johnson.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you adding me to your "newsletter" list. I enjoyed last week's email, and I have been thinking about it all week. I have never been very keen on the new style of worship for church (I like the music, but sometimes I don't think it should be in the church), and some of my friends and I like to have discussions on how we like hymns and the older worship tunes -- the ones that have different chord progressions than the new ones. But that email got me thinking about how new worship does the same thing as old worship -- it worships the Lord. One act is not better than another act if it is for the Lord. Then I found a Bible verse...Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfsh ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
ReplyDeleteAnd concerning this blog, I have seen a huge increase in the end-of-the-world movies, like "I Am Legend," "The Day After Tomorrow," and "The Road," which is coming out soon. I can't help but wonder when it is going to happen, but sometimes the unknown-ness isn't enough for me to be more intentional with my life. I'm getting a Christian education at Indiana Wesleyan, I go to church every Sunday, I volunteer in the community, I do everything "right," but I don't do anything for my spiritual life, which I am trying to work on now. But just today we learned in class about some counseling techniques (I'm a Psych/Addictions Counseling double-major), and we were talking about existentialist therapy and the topics of freedom and death and life, etc. The text book said that even though we know that death is certain, it does not mean that life should be lived like we know we are dying. Knowing that it is temporary gives life so much more meaning. We have to live it like we don't know when the end is. Maybe we should start looking at the end of the world through the "Bucket List" perspective.
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI wrote out a much longer response, but it never got posted because of my ignorance. Oh well, I will try to sum up what I said in a few sentences. First, the Lord has taught me to extend grace to my brothers and sisters just as it has been extended to me. I prefer hymns like you because of their rich theology and intentionality. Alas, tis just my preference. I had more, but I need to be getting to work. I think it would interesting to have the band behind the congregation to "lead" in worship. I just think that would be cool to try one time?
The Bucket List: spot on. That is a great illustration. Those guys sure lived life, didn't they?
And Ryan, do you have any topics you would like to have discussed? Post some and we can get some good discussions going hopefully.
I don't know. I'm having a hard time with trust/faith. As Christians, we have an easy time prescribing the phrase, "Just trust in God, and everything will be better." But no one tells you how to do it. Specifically, I'm graduating from IWU in May, and I don't know what I'm doing -- where I'm going to grad school, where I'm going to live, whether I should pursue a relationship with this girl or not, etc etc etc. The Bible says I need faith the size of a mustard seed to do amazing things, so what does it mean if I can't do that? How can I "Let Go and Let God?"
ReplyDelete