The End is Near [part 1]; where not to look ...

The man on the street corner, who is wearing a sandwich board sign, that says nothing more than – “the end is near”, is looking for something from you.  He wants to wake you up.  He wants you to consider your life and self-examine it.  Are you ready for the end of all things as we know them?  Are you ready to meet your maker?  Or not.  Presumably the man with such a sign on his person, has ideas about how you could become ready, and what you need to “do”.  The overpass sign alongside of the busy freeway or roadway has an advertisement about a “prophecy crusade”.  The graphics on this sign look menacing.  The message seems to imply the end is near.  And the poster’s of this sign want something from you.  They want to wake you up.  They want you to consider your life and weigh what you do, against a clock soon running out of time, and ask yourself if you are ready to meet your maker?  Or not.  But the prophecy crusade would purport to tell you what has not happened yet, what is coming, and at least some notion of when it will be coming.

What is common between the two approaches is also common across a plethora of “hell-fire and brimstone” churches.  The idea that “fear” motivates.  You can catch up with love later, for now we are content to let fear get you where you should be, to hear a message (chalked full of fear), that is designed to keep you in church, and “get you straight”.  Being “ready” for Christ to come has devolved from submission to a transforming love that would have Jesus re-create who you are in the here and now – into a series of actions you must take, and activities you must continue to do, in order to keep yourself ready at all times for an end that has been “near” for more than 2,000+ years.  And fear does work, for about a minute.  It may poke the guilty into taking the next step.  But fear also wears off.  It does not work forever.  We become immune to fear of a punishment that has not arrived any faster than the final reward has.  And so those who saw only the fear in our approach, backslide away from that fear, choosing rather to live guilt-free, than guilt-filled, by a system that offers nothing more than a perpetual game of fail and forgive – while change eludes us all.

So what does it mean to truly be ready?  What does it mean to truly live prepared?  To answer that question, start by throwing out the future tense of your expectations.  Ready is not the goal, harmony is.  Ready implies you are looking forward to an event.  To be ready implies that at some future point, how you live will be judged as worthy or not by what occurs at that event.  Harmony with God, and His love, implies you are already living like you intend to, whether in a future state of heavenly bliss, or while still on this earth no matter what conditions surround and impact you.  The future event does not come as a judgment but as an extension of how you live.  To live in harmony with God, requires us to look back to Jesus, in order to see Him create that state-of-being within us, and keep it there.  It is a continual submission to Jesus, because we know we cannot get there at all through our own miserable strength.  Only Jesus can re-make us, changing what we want, how we love, and therefore how we live.

For believers who seek the end of all things as the only relief from sin they will ever have – they miss the point of the gospel entirely.  Jesus did not come to our world to live and die and live again, only to leave you in the pain of your sin until you die.  He came to show us, it is possible to live differently here.  Not through your own strength, but through continually submitting your will to your Father in Heaven, just as He lived.  The gospel is not about good news, or scary news for that matter, at the end of all things.  The gospel is good news for us, in the here and now.  It is not about being pronounced forgiven and free to screw up again.  It is about being truly forgiven, and a method for never tasting the pain of screwing up again, because you want different things, and love with a passion of Jesus buried deep in your newly re-created heart.  Once transformation is a real part of who you are; what happens in our world that points to His coming is seen in a different light.

To take the gospel on now and find the rewards of living free from the self-inflicted pain of sin in the here and now; the signs of His coming, and the nearness of the end represent a different challenge.  It is not about what happens to me then; it is about what I can still do, to try to help others live in a different way, as quickly as possible.  To see them submit and end their pain ASAP; not to see them only embrace forgiveness, and then keep on causing themselves pain that Jesus is so willing to take from them in their thoughts, motives, and then actions right away.  Living differently is the reward of the gospel.  Not just living differently in the future, living differently in the here and now.  Being judged is a not a future event for believers, it is in the past.  Once the believer embraces Jesus and begins to submit their lives to Him, embracing that transformation that only His love can bring – judgment of that believer is completely in their rear-view mirror.  The future is not about judgment then, but only about a welcome home to a heavenly Dad all too anxious to reunite with His formerly lost children forever.  Forgiveness fixes judgment.  Transformation fixes sin.

So when we change our perspective on the signs of His coming, it is not fear we examine those signs from, it is about time management and the accomplishment of the mission of redemption.  Not our own, Jesus has already done that.  But to those we love, and those we can still reach with a message of pure passionate love grounded in the view of Jesus Christ.  We look then for signs, only as reminders, of the mission our very personal testimony of transformation will tell to the world, especially the world right around us.  In this light, fear will leave the building.  Only love will remain.  Only love was truly ever there in the first place.  Instead of trying to find exact future dates when the end will finally arrive; we can live free from fear, and steeped in love right here and now, ever letting go of the pain of sin, as we submit our will to Jesus and He continues to re-create who we are.  Jesus saving us from us, all along the road, not just at the end of it.

It is then with excitement and wonder that we look at what happens around us, prodding us to stay committed to the mission of the redemption of others.  The disciples were beginning to understand this.  They understood that Jesus would be coming back, returning in triumph once and for all, even before they understood He would have to die before that could occur.  There was no fear in them to ask how soon Jesus would be coming back.  There was eager anticipation.  Bring it on.  They already knew Jesus, they were spending every day with Him, every minute.  They had relationships with Jesus where they knew Jesus as friend and savior and Master of all scripture or religion.  Jesus was not some foreign guy no one has ever seen or met.  He was personal to them.  Someone they wanted to spend time with.  So knowing when He would return, was not about predicting dates and times, it was about signposts to remind them of the happiness of His ultimate return.

With that in mind, Matthew records in his gospel in the 24^thchapter, picking up in verse one, the beginning of the explanations of how to read the road-signs that were to present themselves starting all the way back then, in the days of the disciples, that would continue even in our days, the last days if we are lucky enough to see them so.  Verse 1 says … “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. [verse 2] And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”  Looking forward begins with keeping your eyes in the right place.

The disciples gave Jesus a tour of the Temple, to be more precise of the glory of the Temple.  Israelites were significantly proud of “their” Temple.  They had built it centuries ago.  The original building Solomon built with the supplies David (his father) had gathered, had been torn down with most of the gold finding its way to the palaces of Nebuchadnezzar who treasured it and respected it.  After 70 years in captivity, the Israelites finally were permitted to return to Jerusalem, and rebuild the Temple to the best of their abilities then.  It was far less than Solomon had been able to do.  But it was still a magnificent site, and caused much pride in the Jewish heart.  But buildings of precious woods, finely carved stone & marble, and gold plating were NOT where the eye of the believer was to stay focused.  It is NOT our church buildings which are to represent the body of Christ, it is our hearts with His love in them, that will do that.  We are not to keep our eyes downward on what we can see, but upward to Jesus to find love which is unseen, yet very visible to those around us.

This was so important.  Jesus first warns His disciples, that their magnificent Temple will be torn down, all the way to the stone floors.  Do not take pride in your structures.  Do not look to your buildings.  But instead look to the refinement of the heart that comes from belief that leads to submission of all pride, and eventually its absence.  When the Romans invaded during the time of the disciples, one of the soldiers (against orders) threw a torch into the Temple, lighting it on fire, and melting the gold coverings and plating’s such that they dripped down all the way in between the stone flooring.  The Romans were under orders to return this gold to Caesar, so they pulled up every stone and scraped the gold from each one all the way to the floorboards.  What Jesus prophesied came true word for word.  But the lesson was not about the accuracy of His foretelling’s.  It was about where we place our vision, and what we invest our hope in to be saved.  The past and its structures were no longer to govern us going forward.  Only Jesus would remain our future hope.

The disciples were floored.  They had never even considered such a horrible prophecy.  So they came to Him to ask in verse 3 saying … “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?  [verse 4] And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.”  The disciples want to know when the Temple will be destroyed.  For the disciples so proud of their Temple, its destruction was bad enough to signal the end of the world.  But those two things would not be the same.  What warnings will happen before that occurs, and what things will precede the second coming of Jesus.  The response of Jesus is equally important.  Just as Jesus has directed us not to look to our buildings or Temples as the focal point of our vision.  So we should not look to men either.  Billy Graham, the Pope, Joel Osteen, your pastor, your parents, anyone that perhaps you admire.  No man is to be the center of your hope and faith as you look forward.  For men will deceive, even if not by intent.  But Jesus alone is true.  Vest your vision and your focus in Jesus alone.

For every truth, Satan looks to invent and present his counterfeit.  Satan tries to distract the minds of the weak with copies of truth, but void of truth, for they are void of Jesus.  The first very specific warning of Jesus comes in verse 5 saying … “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”  Yikes.  We immediately associate this foretelling with folks like David Koresh who the media reports compared himself with the son of David in his cult-like following in Waco a few years ago.  But the Dahlia Lama also claims to resurrect and return to his followers in every subsequent generation.  For Christians, finding a “criminal” like Koresh to cast blame on is easy, and perhaps comforting.  But what about when we represent the name of Christ to others, stating we are Christians, yet spewing the speech of judgment, condemnation, and frankly disdain that looks a lot like hate.  Do we also deceive many, that what we teach is of Christ, when it clearly is not.  In that view, the David Koresh types are few and far between.  The average believer steeped in the speech of hate is a dime a dozen.

Then comes the politics of power.  Jesus continues in verse 6 saying … “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. [verse 7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. [verse 8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.”  When we hear of wars and rumors of wars Jesus tells us specifically “do not be afraid”.  For wars and rumors of wars will happen and the end is not yet.  It is not the politics of power that will initiate the second coming of Christ.  It is not in the power of man to make God hurry up by starting wars.  Rather as kingdom rises against kingdom, and nation against nation – they are only the beginning of sorrows.  Satan will not go down without causing as much damage to God through his errant children as he is able.  Wars are an effective way of killing millions in a short period of time.  So they remain sorrows, but only the beginning of sorrows.

Once again Jesus directs our focus away from the world, and whatever may be going on in the world, as we look forward.  It is decidedly not the world that will save us, in fact it will only be the source of our sorrows.  So just in the first part of this examination Jesus has asked us not to focus on our church structures, to leave our pride in them behind.  For structures will one day share the same fate.  We do not find Jesus in a building, we find Him in our hearts.  Jesus asks us to avoid looking to men, for men deceive.  Sometimes this is by intent, sometimes by accident.  But men are not to be our role models, men are corrupted by the disease of sin, even the best of men.  Look up to Jesus, for Jesus alone is worthy, perfect, and able to save.  Finally, Jesus asks us to look away from this world, from wars, even from the natural disasters.  As these are NOT signs, but simply sorrows Satan will inflict along the road to the end.  But the end is not yet.  It is not the physical church, the pastors or leaders even, and especially not the world who can save us; only Jesus can do that.

To live in harmony requires we focus our vision in the right place.  It does me no good to pledge my life to a building, or its art.  It does me no good to pledge my life to a pastor or pope or prophet.  It does me no good to pledge my life to natural events, or man made wars, as the guideposts constantly looking down instead of up.  To find Jesus.  To submit myself to Jesus alone.  This will be the basis of my hope, and the method of my transformation.  Focus, even of where not to look is important.  But there was more Jesus had to say on this matter …

 

Getting Ready ...

Ever had to prepare for something important; perhaps, your wedding, a formal banquet or dinner you attended, or something that was far out of the normal and required special attention?  When Christians pose the question … “are you ready for Jesus to come?”  Is it just me that infers this is a loaded question somewhat like the old … “have you stopped beating your wife?”  Answer yes, and it implies that you were beating her before but have now stopped, answer no, and it implies you continue to beat her – i.e. no win.  The same is true of the Christian question.

To begin with the question is loaded with implications of guilt – i.e. “have you stopped sinning yet?”  If so, then perhaps you are deluding yourself with your “supposed” perfection and are therefore doomed to discover your sins after it is too late to do anything about them.  If not, then what the heck is wrong with you, don’t you know there will be no sinning in heaven.  Either way, no win.

Those Christians who are assured they will be saved by the grace of Christ are free to answer a resounding yes … at least orally.  But then a strange phenomenon sets in, they realize that while “saved” they remain sinners who continue to sin – seems to counteract the idea of readiness.  Those Christians who believe that the accumulation of all their good deeds proves that they have faith, and therefore they deserve to go to heaven – experience the same deep dark reality as the former group – they remain sinners who continue to commit sins.  Both groups may ask for and get forgiveness, but that has not changed the pattern of sin in their lives as yet.

The basic problem with Christians “getting ready” is that the question makes NO sense when salvation is understood properly.  It is like smelling the color green, or tasting the number nine, it does not make sense.  Salvation is a gift.  How does one prepare for a gift (something they do not deserve, but are given anyway)?  How do you prepare to be perfect, before you even enter the process of making you perfect.  It is like George Carlin’s famous analysis of the silly term “Preboarding” in airline jargan – “how do I get on, before I get on?”

What the question really is asking is … are you “ready” for heaven, not salvation.  And again how could a mortal in this world ever really know the answer to that question?  Ready may imply forgiven to some, but may imply perfection to others.  At some point in the Christian experience forgiveness is not enough, what is really desired is reform.  A change in behaviors that result from a true change in the heart and mind, as only Christ can recreate within this pitiful form.  Rebirth is more than analogy, it is a statement of the death of the old, the carnal, and the full of pain – to be reborn into joy, into intimacy, and into love.

Understanding the nature of evil makes one want to avoid it.  No-one truly likes inflicting pain on themselves and everyone who cares about them.  Understanding further that you CANNOT end evil in your own life, that only Christ can, means you need to daily surrender your will, your perceived control, your very character into the loving hands of He who can recreate you and eliminate the pain you have fostered all your life.  Experiencing this is life changing.  It is personal, meaningful, and real.  You cannot help but become someone new, and someone better.

But even in the success of seeing Christ eliminate sin in your life, comes the temptations the evil one has prepared for the few that begin to find their way back to God in the here and now.  Remember Peter, who during a storm on the sea at night, while terrified they were seeing a ghost, called out to Jesus who was walking on the water towards the boat at the time.  He asked Him if it were truly Jesus, to call himself out to meet him on the water as well.  Peter reasoned if this were truly Jesus he would have no problems.  He probably also reasoned that this honor for exercising his faith in his relationship would accord him more respect among his peers.  So out of the boat he went walking on the water just like his Lord.

Peter had experienced interaction with the divine.  He was living, breathing, and walking on water just like Jesus.  And immediately human nature kicked in and he turned around to look at the guys still in the boat.  I’m sure he was thinking “look at me”.  Peter was proud of where divinity had led him.  He might have even thought that this was some sort of gift or ability Jesus had granted him because of his faith.  But no matter.  Immediately down he went.  And his first thought became once again centered back on Christ as he utters, Save me lord.

Jesus was still right there.  He called Peter out the first time.  He knew what would happen.  And He watched it all take place.  He allowed Peter the freedom to choose to center his thoughts back on himself, instead of remain fixed on the source of the miracle.  Had he remained focused on his Lord, Peter would have remained above the surface.  Jesus does immediately pull him up again, and brings him into the boat whereupon the storm disappears.  Peter is both wet and amazed.  But the lesson is for more than just Peter.  It is for us.

When we begin to experience the relief of long held sins in our lives, when we finally get to experience the joy from the lack of pain; we are tempted to turn inwards rather than remain focused on the source of our own miracles.  We are tempted to feel pride over our victories even though we know we had nothing to do with them.  Christ alone is the source of any victory in our lives, but we tend to want to process the credit differently than it is deserved. 

We want to share some of the glory in our victories.  As if we had something to do with it.  Even if it is just to say because of our great faith, we were able to surrender and overcome.  Or perhaps because of our perseverance with the Lord, praying for victory until He finally heard our prayers and took the bad thing away.  But faith is also a gift, nothing we can credit in ourselves.  Perseverance too comes from the Lord, as do ALL good things.  We originate nothing good.  We are rotten trees growing rotten fruit, we must be made new, before our fruit begins to be edible.

Just like Peter, we turn away from Jesus, and begin looking at our brothers in the faith.  Just like Peter we take for granted the gift of freedom from sin we were granted, and assume it may be some new ability Jesus gave us.  And all too often as a result, just like Peter, we sink right back into the same sinful waters we were just pulled up out of.  Lack of focus on Christ is a recipe for seeing the bottom of the sin ocean.  Pride in victory and accomplishment we did not even have any part of, is blasphemy, arrogance, and of course pride the mother of all sins and precursor to a fall.  What is required to avoid this cycle is vigilant humility.  And we need not fall into dark waters and like Peter become publicly embarrassed to achieve real humility.

There are some things about your relationship with God that are allowed to be a secret between you and Him.  This is one of them.  You do not need to go around the church announcing your victories over your various sins as you begin to experience them.  You can praise your God in secret for the work He is doing in you.  It is best to remember that this work is probably not complete just because 1,2, or 3 things are gone.  We are all plagued with a massive level of sin disease that infects us in many ways, some of which we do not even consciously recognize.  This work may continue for some time, probably longer than you expected, and surely longer than you would have wanted.  Remaining quiet and humble about it, will only make it easier for you over the long run.  The Lord rewards secret prayers, and this is something deeply personal between you and Him.

Remain a humble sinner to your brothers in faith.  And share only that the source of removing pain is surrender to God’s will, giving up control, and trusting in His mercy.  Over time the changes will become self evident, and your brothers will want to know why and how you could be so different.  It is important when asked these questions that you remain humble, take no credit, and direct them to the source of light.  Do not turn around for a second to answer their questions, or to preach to them, or to teach them – instead point them to the source while keeping your own eyes fixed on it.  You have no power, but God has more than enough for everyone who seeks Him.

At the end of this process is perfection in Christ, because of Christ, through Christ.  At the end of this process is your life saved from evil, reconciled to intimacy with a loving personal God, who performed a unique work, to save your unique life.  A story you will never tire of repeating in the city that lives forever.  This is the secret to the power of our shared beliefs.  It is not that we are given super human powers, or abilities, or even victories over evil – but it is that we can be vessels for all these things as we yield up our wills and allow God the control He seeks in our lives to make them better.  This is the power of a Creator God.  It is personal, available and real.  I cannot conceive why anyone would choose to remain in pain, when there is such a clear and distinctly better alternative at the ready…