Some time ago a man was staying in a chalet in the Swiss Alps. Early one morning he heard what sounded like an earthquake. Hurriedly he got out of bed and ran to the front desk and asked if there was something wrong, if the mountains were breaking up? He was scared. The man at the front desk explained, “Sir, we are on the west side of the mountain. As the sun comes up in the east, the snow and ice expand as they begin to warm. The expansion causes a large crashing noise. It’s not the end of the world, it’s just the beginning of a new day.” (James O. Davis)
In our Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus has taken the opportunity to tell his listeners of a dark time to come. He tells them that the day will come when the temple will be destroyed. This is not only terrifying, it is nearly blasphemous to those gathered. This was the house that the Lord is dwelling in.
Can you imagine how shocked they were at the sound of these words? They were so shocked they wanted to know the day or what the signs were so they could avert the disaster I suspect.
However, Jesus could see the worry in their faces and the concern in their hearts. For in his next breath he tells them to be on their guard and make sure they are not deceived by people claiming to be a Messiah. He tells them that basically there will be a lot of things and that the temple’s fate is but a small step until He returns. In fact, he tells them not to be afraid for out of the ruins will rise some thing even greater. In other words, it is not the end of the world, just the beginning of a new day.
Remember during this time there were many in Palestine who felt the end was near. There was a community of people called the Essenes who felt so strongly that the end was near they lived in a secluded colony in Qumran, which is located near the Dead Sea. They spent their time looking for all the signs of the coming “Holy One”.
The thing is they had become so caught up in looking for the Messiah, they lost sight of what their mission was on this earth. They had taken the approach they needed to quote, “hold themselves up in a cave and wait for doomsday to come”, instead of working to bring other people to know and love God. They were living as though they were afraid, not joyous that the Holy One was coming.
As I have said, through out history, people have been attempting to predict not only the date of Christ’s return, but also the end of time. Some people come to see this scripture as the guide for what to look for when the end is near. Listen to verses 8 through 13 of Luke chapter 21.
But he said, "Take care not to be deceived, because many will come using my name and saying, `I am the one’ and `The time is near at hand.’ Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for this is something that must happen first, but the end will not come at once." Then he said to them, "Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines in various places; there will be terrifying events and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:8-11 NJB)
He tells us all these things that will happen, however he gives us a sign of hope and the most telling sign for us all in verses 12-13…
`But before all this happens, you will be seized and persecuted; you will be handed over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and brought before kings and governors for the sake of my name, and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. (Luke 21:12-13 NJB)
We are going to have some “birth pangs”, according to these scriptures. We see all these things that are going to happen and forget that none of these events are out of the norm until the people of God as a whole come under oppression. It is then that all those signs become the “birth pangs” for the coming age.
Satan has used all those signs to get us all stirred up and worried. Thus distracting us from the one sign we have some control over. The time when one day Christians and Jews are subject to world wide oppression, which will make the Nazi and Soviet oppression of the Jews look like a college pledge week.
That is why Jesus tells us not worry about all the conflicts in the world, as sign of the end times. He doesn’t want us to behave like the Essenes or more modern groups like the Branch Davidians who shut themselves off from the world and wait for the end to come.
Instead he wants us to have hope. He wants us to continue to do the work that he commissioned us to do. He wants us to have hope in the fact that with every disaster in life, out of it comes a new day.
Luann’s mother believed that for every tragedy we go through in life, there is a blessing that comes after it. In other words, you do not walk through the rain without seeing the sunshine again at some point.
Sometimes, we can get so lost in the darkness or in the rain storm, that we forget about the light that is coming. That is very easy to do at times. Sometimes it is so easy for us to get “down in the dumps” about our life because things are not going as we think they should. We can tend to concentrate of the negativity so much that we can absolutely miss the point that Jesus has promised us that He will be returning one day and all these things we have gone through will be done. We will have eternal glory in Christ Jesus and our salvation will be complete.
I think a lot about the words found in Romans chapter 8 verses 1 and 2:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
How true is the message found in these two verses. You see, because of what Jesus Christ has done for us, because of what we have been given through him, we are not condemned! That means, when things look bleak, when things are really bad and even when we feel that our lives will never return to normal, Jesus is there beside you, waiting to lift you up so that you will be able to stand again.
We do not have to bear any cross in our lives alone because of the one who came before us. He carried that cross for us. So you see, we always have hope. Because of who he is, we always have hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Not too long ago, Luann received a letter from a friend back home. In this letter, her friend was telling her that things were not going very well in her life right now. She was working and her husband is farming and doing extra work on the side. Even with all this work, money is very tight and even getting the electric bill paid and gas put in the cars is a chore for them.
She went on to say that it seems that no matter how hard they work, they can never “get ahead” enough to make a difference. While they were getting their bills paid, she wish they could have more then what they have. She was very down at this point in her life and just felt that she was fighting a losing battle.
Luann thought about how to respond to her and she prayed about it. After a few days, Luann wrote her back and reminded her that sometimes, even when we think we are very poor, it is then that we are actually very rich. Luann reminded her friend that she has a husband and two children who love her very much. She has a nice home to come to at the end of the day and a warm bed to lie in at night. She has food in her cupboard and gas in her car. She also has a job to go to in order to make money to keep supplying food, gas and electricity for her family. And most importantly, she worships a Savior who loves her so much that he gave himself up for her.
So, Luann suggested that instead of concentrating on what she does not have and the fact that her life is not where she wants it to be, take a moment and just thank God for loving her and for giving her these wonderful blessings. She is loved by many people, she has a family, she has a home, she is employed, her bills are getting paid, she has food and she has been redeemed by Jesus….what else is there?
After Luann’s friend read the letter, she thanked her. She went on to say that she has indeed been blessed and instead of being depressed about what she does not have, she should be praising God for what she does have.
In Luke chapter 21, Jesus goes on to say in verses 14 through 19:
“But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.”
So you see, even when we are facing what seems like an impossible situation, or when it seems like our backs are against the wall, Jesus has promised us that because of our faith in Him, when will not perish.
What a wonderful promise that is! We can take comfort in this hope that Jesus has given to us. We belong to him. The world did not give us our salvation and the world cannot take it away.
Many of us know that we are going to have sorrow and troubles in our life, at some point. Many people do not leave this earth without having gone through something that was very dark for them. But, we can take comfort in knowing that Jesus loves us and He knows what it is like to go through a hard time. Therefore, if we keep our faith in Him and hold fast to what He has given us, we will come through it because He has promised us this.
This next week, we will be celebrating one of the most beloved holidays of the year, Thanksgiving. My challenge to you is that when you sit down at your table on Thursday, before you partake of your holiday meal, close your eyes and take a moment to think about a time in your life when you thought you were not going to make it through. Then, open your eyes, look around the room at your family and friends and thank God for delivering you from that time. Thank God for your blessings of family, friends, home and most of all, for the hope that has been given to us through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
