Bethlehem Lutheran Church

A very good friend of mine- terrific teacher, thoughtful- not given to extremist thinking of any kind asked me recently if I thought, with all the disasters happening around the world- from earthquakes in Chile, New Zealand and Japan, to tornados across the United States- and political turmoil seemingly everywhere, if the end of the world might be near...

And I reflected a bit on a segment of Christian thought that has taken the hope of the Second Coming of Jesus and turned it into a club- something to fear: at the appointed time, when the world is so bad that God can’t stand it anymore, God sets a “heavenly alarm clock,” which rings each hour, pouring out death and destruction, culminating in the arrival of the fearsome judge, and Jesus will destroy all the world and fry all the people in it, with the exception of those who have been saved...

If you don’t want to fry, you’d better be right with God!

What’s more, this thinking has the idea that the time of judgment can be predicted! By reading the Bible, misinterpreting the symbolic language present in several places, the time of hellfire/brimstone can be narrowed down.

People who otherwise insist that the Bible be taken literally, word for word, break their own rules and engage in wild speculation about the meaning and course of world events concerning the END...

Most often, this speculation occurs when things don’t appear to be going to well in the world- when times are uncertain and unsure. But with even a half-hearted look, it’s an easy argument that things have NEVER gone all that well- and that, in fact, God has never been thrilled with our stewardship of God’s gift of our world...

The earliest church was persecuted by the  Roman Empire. They were positive the 2nd Coming was imminent. Paul writes, for example in Romans 13, “salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near...”

The Church was so sure that we have very little records of the practices of the church. Why write things down if the world is coming to an end?

It was only at the end of the first Christian generation that it began to dawn on folks that the end wasn’t arriving on schedule- their schedule- and that maybe they had better start writing things down to pass on before all the people who had seen Jesus- or had known people who had seen Jesus died...

Very simplistically, that’s how the New Testament came to be: the Gospels were written between 70- 95 or so AD; Jesus’ cross and resurrection were in 33...

Fast forward some 1500 years to the Reformation: Thomas Munzer, a radical reformer was positive the world was ending. He was so sure that with his followers, he captured a city in Germany, killed all those who didn’t share his beliefs and dug in to wait- and to present the Lord with a “righteous city...”

He was still waiting when Lutherans and Roman Catholics, allied for one of the rare times during the Reformation, overran the city, and presented Munzer with his own, personal “last judgment,” but not in the way he had planned, if you know what I mean...

And today, as I noted when I began, there is war everywhere- scores of people are dying as I speak, thousands will die from hunger and related causes, there are earthquakes, tornados, volcanoes, all kinds of uncertainty- callousness about our planet, the lives of others... It’s a frightening time. People, like my friend, who might not give it a second thought pause and wonder: is it coming? Is the end near?

That strain of Christian thought encourages that kind of thinking- that predicting. Several times since the beginning of the new century and millennium, the world was supposed to end! Just last May, Harold Lamping and his followers were positive it would happen on May 21st...

I was at his website recently- they just re-calibrated- it’s really October 21st, now. And they’re still taking contributions! Why??? Mr. Lamping has millions and millions of dollars! What is he planning on doing with it all???

Now it is to such thinking- and to us- that our sermon series “Creation Matters” and our lessons today are directed.

We start in Genesis 9- at the end of the flood story- of Noah and the ark. It’s worth summarizing the story, too. The reason the Bible gives us for the flood is that members of the heavenly court have been coming down from heaven and seducing human women, taking them as wives, and the result has been children living for centuries.

The line between God and God’s creation is increasing blurred- people appear to be on the verge of becoming immortal- and only God is immortal. That was why, you might remember, that Adam and Eve were invited to leave the Garden: To know “good and evil” was to become “like God,” and had they eaten of the Tree of Life in addition to the Tree of Knowledge, which they had done already, those lines would have been crossed irrevocably.

In addition, these nearly immortal humans were corrupt and violent, and so God decides to “blot out from the earth” the human beings He had created, along with all of the animals, as well. Only Noah and his family- more about them in a moment- find favor with the Lord.

They build the ark, collect the animals, and the flood begins. There are two flood stories combined in Chapters 7 and 8. Let me comment on the one that connects with Genesis 1, our reading last week: If you were here, Genesis 1 begins with watery chaos... And after creating light with a word, the next thing that happens is that God places a dome to separate the waters above from the waters below... Then God gathers the waters under the sky in one place and the dry land appears.

So, if you’re following me, above the sky, there is water. And below the earth, there is water. And God floods the earth by letting the watery chaos back- the skies open and water pours; the ground opens and the water surges: it is literally the “de-creation” of the world... Terrifying to think about... Imagine the people in the ark... Especially when it says in Genesis 8: 1 “God remembered Noah and the animals...” Forgotten by God, swept through the waters of chaos...

If you have ever felt forgotten by God, your life in chaos, afraid, know that you are not the first- and that like Noah, God promises peace and new life...

God blesses Noah and his family when the flood abates, when they are once again on dry land. God once again gives dominion to Noah and his family over all creation, including all the animals- which have now joined the plants as food for humankind...

God makes a covenant with Noah and with every living creature- don’t miss that; it’s not just with humanity- it is with all the earth- and God promises never again to flood the world- destroy the world, because God loves the creation he has made! God hangs his war bow in the sky as a sign- the rainbow- to remind us of God’s love- and God’s promise not to destroy God’s creation...

Even though Noah and the children prove not to be so wonderful- Noah’s first act after getting off the ark is to plant a vineyard, make wine and get plastered... And in the next story, we see the people of the earth building a tower up to heaven- once again, trying to be like God, but we’ll talk about that next week... Even so, God remains faithful to God’s covenant made known to us in the rainbow...

Please don’t try and say, well, God just promised not to destroy us with a flood- there’s nothing there about fire, brimstone, earthquakes and stuff...God can do that! That’s a little disingenuous, don’t you think? That’s a God to run from- fooled you, gotcha... God’s promise is to restore the earth.

And indeed, there is far more in the Bible about God restoring creation- renewing creation than destroying it. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the prophets certainly talk of purifying, but it is always followed with renewal...

In Isaiah 2, for example, Isaiah’s vision of the “Days to Come,” a time of God’s rule forever is glorious! All people desire to know God’s will and actively seek it. The Lord, creator of all that is, reigns in Jerusalem, God’s Holy Mountain. No more war is necessary- or even possible: “they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore...

Words of hope for centuries! And Isaiah’s vision is inclusive- no remnant- all Nations streaming to know God and God’s word. There is reason for ALL people to have hope in the fullness of God’s rule!

And the Gospel has succinct words to all those who would predict the time of the Lord’s coming- and to those who claim to know who is acceptable to God.

Jesus says, in effect, forget it! You can’t guess so don’t waste time trying. The time of the second coming will be like the days of Noah before the flood- people living their lives- eating, drinking, marrying.

And again, don’t make an issue of the sinfulness: we are no better!

The point is that people are living every day lives and BOOM- the Kingdom arrives! Then, the strange words: two men in a field, one is taken, one is left. Two women grinding at the mill, one is taken, one is left. We know nothing about the people being described. In Jesus’ context, they’re probably Jews doing identical work. Both should be acceptable to God, but only one is taken into the Kingdom!

Jesus cautions us here against trying to figure out who is acceptable to God, and who is not- which is far more fun... We don’t know the basis for the choice, and the text doesn’t say!

And at the end, Jesus compares the coming of the Kingdom of God with that of a thief in the night: if you knew when, you would be ready! So always, be ready! Be ready for Christ to come in power and glory- to restore creation and to judge the living and the dead...

But how do we look forward to that? To the end? To the Last Judgment?

The answer to that question is the heart of the Gospel. It is why we gather to worship God instead of recoiling in fear.

You and I have already been judged, found guilty of rebellion against God, guilty of every sin, and in the cross of Christ- in Jesus’ death and resurrection, you and I have been pardoned because God loves you and me so much.

The Judgment of the World took place on a garbage heap outside the city of Jerusalem. As Jesus died with arms outstretched- at the moment of his death, as the verdict “guilty!” rings out, so too is your pardon graciously given.

For it is the same Jesus Christ, crucified and raised from the dead who will return in glory, and when he comes again, we can say the same things about him as we have always been able to, for “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever!

In Christ, we say and know that God is love, and that will be as true on the last day as it was on the first.

Jesus as the restorer of the creation he loves today as much as when God used him to speak it into existence!

Jesus as Good Shepherd- as he always was and always will be;

Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords before time began, at the moment of his humiliating death and when he comes again in glory!

To “be awake, and prepared” is to live the forgiveness and the love given to us and to share it with others. It is to love the things and the people Jesus loved- Those who are sick, in need, to care for the creation- the world Jesus came to save.

We know who and whose we are. We don’t need to worry about the end because we know whatever happens, we are secure in Christ’s love!

Who is the better witness for Jesus Christ? Harold Camping, the millionaire radio host insisting that the end is at hand- or those who work for Habitat for Humanity, building homes alongside of the low income folks who will live in them?

Or those who work at Loaves and Fishes in witness to the love of Jesus? Or you and me: freed from sin and death to be awake- prepared for the coming of Jesus, freed to live full, rich lives, planning, hoping for the future- whatever the future brings by caring for creation, by serving one another and those who need us...

After the news, after the headlines, whether still another story about the rapture- or another disaster, you and I have work to do in our world. The TV cameras and stories switch to something new, but there are still folks struggling in Joplin, in Haiti, and in Japan. Closer to home, there is still work needing to be done in North Minneapolis- and there will be much to do in Minot and up and down the Missouri River as the flood waters recede and the cameras pack up and leave...

Martin Luther was once asked what he would do if he knew the world was ending tomorrow. He replied, “Plant the apple tree I have planned to!” That is, do the job at hand.

 That’s because he knew who was coming- one who loved him! We know him, too!

 E’en so Lord Jesus, quickly come! Amen.

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