Intro
Experience of having to wait for something.
Advent
Advent Sunday - marks start of the new
church year.
The word Advent means "coming" or
"arrival."
Season of Advent is a time of eager
anticipation and preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, but
also a time of looking ahead to the day when Jesus will return in power and
glory to
the earth.
But unlike his first coming, born as a tiny
infant to a young teenage mother into poverty in an obscure little town in
Israel, an event that went largely unnoticed by most people, when Jesus comes
again it will be an event that the whole world will notice.
Mark 13:26 At that
time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and
glory.
And when he comes again it will be to judge
the world.
In Matthew 25 Jesus said “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered
before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats." Mt 25:31-32
The coming of God to
judge the world is something to be eagerly looked forward to. Tom Wright former
bishop of Durham, writing in Surprised by
Hope says:
“. . . God’s coming judgment is a good thing, something to be celebrated, longed for, yearned over. It causes people to shout for joy, and indeed the trees of the field to clap their hands. In a world of systematic injustice, violence, bullying, arrogance and oppression, the thought that there might be a coming day when the wicked are finally put in their place and the poor and weak are given their due is the best news there can be. Faced with a world in rebellion, a world full of exploitation and wickedness, a good God must be a God of judgment.” (p. 137)
People have tried throughout history to
predict when Jesus may return - most notably the Jehovah Witnesses, who
predicted his return in 1878,
1881, 1914, 1918, 1925 & 1975.
And more recently Ronald Weinland gained a
lot of attention when predicted the end of the world on Pentecost Sunday, May
27th 2012. But don’t worry you didn’t miss it, he has now changed
this date to Pentecost 2019.
Scripture
& the Second Coming
Scripture is clear however that no one ones
when Jesus' return will take place - all we do know is that it will happen one
day.
Matthew 24:36-44 - Jesus talking about his
return said:
“But about that day or
hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the
Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son
of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they
knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all
away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be
in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding
with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know
on what day your Lord will come… because
the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
The first Christians clearly expected the
return of Jesus to be within their own lifetime, and so when fellow believers
started to die, it caused worry and concern. What would happen to these
believers? Will they miss out on the resurrection? What about those of us who
are alive when Christ returns?
That is why Paul writes Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed
about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of
mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will
bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.1 Thess 4:13-14
Paul wants the
Thessalonians to understand that death is not the end. When Christ
returns, all believers, dead and alive, will be reunited, never to suffer or
die again. Therefore he says 'do not
grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.' Notice that he doesn't forbid us to grieve. Mourning over
the death of a loved one is natural and healthy, even Jesus wept at the grave
of his friend Lazarus.
When those we love die, it can often feel
as though part of us has died with them. And working through the grief can take
a very long time.
BUT as followers of Jesus, when we grieve, especially for fellow
Christians who have died, there is a difference. Our grief is not a hopeless
one.
A Real
Hope Not Wishful Thinking
When we use the word ‘hope’ it’s often
without any sense of assurance. It’s more like saying ‘I don’t know what’s
going to happen, but this is what I hope for.’
For example, I might say 'I hope it's sunny tomorrow', or 'I hope my football
team does well in the match next week', but it’s more wishful thinking, it is
hope without any guarantee of certainty.
Whereas the hope that Paul writes about is
a real, cast iron, solid assurance. It's a hope based not on what WE DO, but on
what has been DONE FOR US by Jesus on the cross.
That is why Paul writes 'We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe
that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep.' (4:14)
Our hope is based on the Resurrection. Because
Jesus came back to life, so will all believers. All Christians, including those
who have already died when Christ returns, will live with Christ forever. This
is the great assurance, all believers throughout history will stand reunited in
God's very presence, safe and secure.
So therefore when a loved one dies, or when
world events take a tragic turn, or the future seems all uncertain, we should
not despair as those who have no hope. God will turn tragedy to triumph,
poverty to riches, pain to glory, and defeat to victory.
The question we need to ask ourselves is
where do we place our hope? Because there is no hope apart from Christ. If you
put your hope in your church, you will be disappointed. If you put your hope in
your family or friends, they will fail you. If you place your hope in your
money you will be disillusioned. Only Christ can provide hope in a hopeless
world.
Death
Notice how Paul describes those Christians
who have died, as having ‘fallen asleep’ in verses 13, 14, 15, Sleep has often
been used as a euphemism for death, but in a Christian context it takes on a
different meaning. Namely that death is only temporary. As sleep is followed by
an awakening, so death will be followed by resurrection. That is why when
Lazarus died, Jesus said 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen
asleep; but I am going there to wake him up' (John 11:11)
On the cross, Jesus took upon himself the full horror of death so that he could
transform it into no more than 'sleep' for his followers – which is why the
Bible only uses the term ‘asleep’ or ‘sleep’ in reference to believers. We
still face physical death, but the moment we die, we go to be with Christ. That
is why Jesus was able to promise the thief on the cross that ‘today you will be with me in paradise’ (Luke 23:42) And why Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:8 wrote ‘to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.’ That’s the wonderful thing, as Christians the very moment
we die, we go to be in the Lord’s presence.
Coming of the Lord
As Christians our hope is founded on the
knowledge that Jesus will one day return to earth, and when he does His reign
of Justice and Peace, will be fully established on earth.
In the mean time we live in the tension of
now and not yet. The Kingdom of God has broken out in the world, that is why
Jesus declared 'The Kingdom of God is near'
(Mark 1:15) but it is yet to be fully established.
It's like seeing the first snow drops in
winter, it's a sign that spring is on its way. So when Jesus restored the sight
of the blind, made the deaf hear, and the lame walk, and cast out demons, restored
relationships it was a sign of God's kingdom breaking out in the world. But
when Jesus returns in glory, the waiting will be over, all creation will be
transformed.
And when Jesus returns to earth, it will be
heralded by a shout from heaven, the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of
God (4:16) Christ's return will be unmistakable. No one will miss it, neither
the living nor the dead.
Prepare
So what does all of this mean for us?
A friend of mine was had a cup which had on
it Jesus is coming, quick look busy.
In Church we often use this great
acclamation of faith:
Christ
has died
Christ
is risen
Christ
WILL come again
If you had a call to say the Queen was
going to visit you, you would make sure everything was ready in time.
The Scouts have a slogan, ‘Be
Prepared’. We need to live in readiness
for the return of Jesus. A question to consider is, if you knew without a
shadow of doubt that you were going to see Christ face to face in a month’s
time, would you change anything about the way you live now?
If the answer is yes, what are you going to
do about it?
Jesus could return at any moment, or we
could be called home to him, what might need to change in our lives to prepare
to welcome Jesus?
Pray
Secondly we need to pray.
With the birth of Jesus, God stepped into
the world, and became one of us. He came
to bring hope, and light, and peace, to a dark and fragmented world. And the
Spirit of God continues to do this through the lives of God’s people.
The world today desperately needs Christ.
And so we need to pray for Jesus to come and fill our lives with his presence,
fill the church with his presence, fill nation and our world with his presence.
Partner
Finally we need to partner with God in
bringing the reality of his reign into our world. That is why we pray ‘Thy
Kingdom come, thy will be done, ON EARTH, as in heaven’.
Each one of us is called to play our part
in shaping the world around us for the good of all.
As the quote attributed to John Wesley
says: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you
can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you
can, at all the times you can, to all the people you
can, as long as
ever you can.”
So let’s use this Advent season to look
ahead with expectation & anticipation at the return of Jesus who will bring
peace, justice and righteousness to the world, and let’s welcome his presence
afresh into our lives.
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