Note: This sermon was introduced with a drama called "Party Like It’s 1999" (www.dramaministry.com).
With the year 2000 on the horizon, it seems that more and more people are talking about all the possible disasters that could take place. Extremist author Gary North predicts that the y2k computer bug will bring about the end of civilization as we know it. In January of this year Time magazine devoted its cover story to millennial madness and the y2k issue. In his excellent book The Millennial Bug Debugged, Christian author Hank Hanagraaff describes a dinner he had with a Christian book publisher earlier this year. The publisher wasn’t at all concerned about the y2k computer problem, but he did see y2k as an opportunity to make a substantial amount of money. He half-jokingly said to Hanagraaff, "This is our year to sell fear."
And "sell fear" is exactly what lots of people have done as people both inside and outside the Christian community lined their wallets by pumping out hysteria and fear. The rest of the world has noticed this trend. This week’s Newsweek has as it’s cover story Biblical prophecy about the end of the world.
As I’ve been watching all this, I have a theory as to why we’re seeing a rise in millennial madness, end times speculation, and y2k anxiety. The deeper issue beneath all this is the issue of security. Kenneth Woodward says it well in his Newsweek article: "Thinking of the end of the world-like contemplating one’s own death-is a painful process." At its heart, massive speculation about the y2k computer bug and the significance of the year 2000 has shattered the illusion we’ve so carefully created that our way of life is secure.
Perhaps you remember the old Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes. The Emperor’s tailor pretends to weave an invisible set of clothes, and because everyone is afraid of the Emperor they all pretend that his new clothes are real, when in reality he’s parading around in his underwear. The emperor’s new clothes in our current world is the idea that our lives are safe and secure. In the drama, the character Rick said, "We’re on the brink of the whole world entering an unknown future. And we’re standing here seeing it coming, not able to do a single thing to slow it down or stop it. You can fight it and fight it, but in the end you’re powerless, even though it’s right in front of you, coming directly over you."
The irony of Rick’s statement is that it’s true of every moment, because each moment we enter into an unknown future that we can’t control. In the end, the Steve Miller band is right: "Time keeps on slipping into the future." Millennial fever is merely an attempt to regain a sense of security after we realize that the emperor’s new clothes aren’t real.
We grasp at straws for security, straws like setting dates or coming up with elaborate timelines on how the end of the world will come about. These are feeble and futile attempts to preserve the illusion that our lives are secure, ways to try to assure ourselves that life tomorrow will be basically the same as it is today. We’re in the midst of a series called LIVING CONFIDENTLY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES through the New Testament books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians. This issue is nothing new to us, but people facing the uncertainty of the future have constructed their own emperor’s new clothes in every generation of human history. The Thessalonian Christians had caught the millennial fever in their own time. In fact, one New Testament scholar named Robert Jewett has suggested that everything Paul writes in 1 and 2 Thessalonians needs to be understood in light of the church being caught up in millennial fever. In light of the social and cultural upheaval the Thessalonian Christians were experiencing, they too were groping for dates and timelines for how time would end in order to regain a sense of security.
In Paul’s response to the Thessalonian millennial fever, we’re going to find three ways we can confidently face the future without resorting to calendars and timelines. We’re going to find three ways to have Christian confidence without a detailed calendar of how the end will come.
1. Admitting Our Limited Knowledge (1 Thess 5:1-3)
Let’s look at how Paul approaches this subject of the future in verses 1 to 3. If you were here last week, you might remember that the Thessalonians were deeply concerned about some of their Christian friends who’d died. They were worried that when Jesus came again at the end of the age, these departed Christian friends might somehow miss out on Christ’s coming. So at the end of chapter 4 Paul described the rapture and he assured them that regardless of whether a Christian is dead or alive when the rapture comes, that all followers of Jesus will equally participate. No one would be left out.
But here Paul introduces this idea of "times and dates" as it relates to the end of the age. Understanding this phrase "times and dates" is critical. The Greek word Paul uses here for "times" is chronos (where we get our English word "chronology" from) and it means a "unit of time" usually emphasizing time in its duration. So this word focuses on the interval of time between Christ’s first coming and his second coming at the end of the age. If a person knew the chronos, they’d be able to pinpoint the exact time of the second coming.
The word translated "dates" is kairos, and this word emphasizes the particular events that occur within the chronos. This word "dates" describes the sequencing of specific events within the time period leading up to Christ’s second coming.
Now the only other time in the Bible these same two words are used together is in Acts 1:7. There Jesus told his followers, "It is not for you to know the times (chronos) or dates (kairos) the Father has set by his own authority" (Acts 1:7). The apostles were asking Jesus for details about the future, and Jesus makes it abundantly clear that the duration of time between Christ’s first and second coming, as well as the specific sequencing of events within that period of time are hidden from view. God himself has set these things, and he has withheld the details and specifics from us.
Paul does admit that time as we know it is leading to an event he calls "the day of the Lord." The "day of the Lord" is an Old Testament phrase that refers to the end of time viewed from the perspective of God’s judgment. My former theology teacher from seminary Robert Saucy says that "the day of the Lord" speaks of "God’s final intervention in history to overthrow his enemies and establish his rule." In the New Testament this same day is called the "day of Christ" (Phil 1:10) "the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6) and "they day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 1:8) Whenever the "day of the Lord" occurs in the Bible, it’s in a context of God bringing judgment on those who resist his rule, so it’s a phrase that describes the end of time from the perspective of God’s judgment.
Now the Bible describes the end of time in lots of different ways. Jesus himself described the end as his "coming" focusing on his arrival to the earth as king of kings. Elsewhere the end of time is described as the "appearing" of Jesus, where he’s manifested in his glory, as he truly is. In other places the end of time is described as an apocalypse or revelation, where the curtain is removed and Christ is unveiled to the earth. But this phrase "day of the Lord" describes the same event from the perspective of God’s judgment on the world, and Paul reminds us of Jesus’ words that this day of judgment will come like a thief. We can’t know the duration of time or the exact sequencing of events leading up to this day, but we can know that this day will come.
Because we don’t know the "times and dates" this day will come unexpectedly, like a thief. John Stott tells us, "The trouble with burglars is that they do not tell us when they are coming. They make no advance announcement of their arrival." While the majority of people are admiring the emperor’s new clothes of peace and safety, basking in their illusion of security, the day of the Lord will come suddenly and unexpectedly. And since the day of the Lord is a time of judgment for those who reject God and his ways, this day will bring destruction. Just as a pregnant woman can’t stop labor once it starts, so those who reject God and his ways will be unable to escape the day of the Lord.So even though we can’t know how long it will be until this day comes, and we can’t be sure about the exact sequencing of specific events leading up to this day, we can be confident that the day of the Lord will come.
Here we find the first action we can take. WE DEMONSTRATE OUR CONFIDENCE ABOUT THE FUTURE BY ADMITTING OUR LIMITED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE END OF HISTORY.
It’s vitally important for us to admit that we can’t know the times and dates. The Christian community is filled with so called "prophecy experts" who ignore this clear biblical principle and who make millions by pretending to know more than God has revealed. When cracks start to appear in our illusion of security, when we feel powerless and vulnerable in the face of an uncertain future, we’re tempted to look for "times and dates" and there’s always an expert ready to tell us for the right price. But for followers of Jesus, true security isn’t the ability to pinpoint the end on our calendar. This becomes an issue of faith, where we’re forced to deal with whether or not we truly trust God, that he’s told us everything we need to know.
Second Peter 1:3 tells us, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness..." Do you believe this, that Christ has withheld nothing from his Bible that he’d have us know about the future, that he’s given us everything we need to face the future, to live a life that’s pleasing to him? You see, if we believe this, then don’t need to search for hidden Bible codes, modern-day predictions, or elaborate end time scenarios. The Bible give us everything we need to know, and the sooner we admit that our knowledge of the end is limited to what the Bible clearly and explicitly says, the sooner we’ll be able to face our own uncertain future.
2. Living in the Future Perfect Tense (1 Thess 5:4-7)
The day of the Lord will come--of that we can be confident--but it’s not a day to be feared by Christians. People who follow Jesus Christ aren’t in the dark about the future. We may not know when Christ will come, and we may not have as clear a picture as we’d like as to the sequencing of events leading up to the end, but we’re not in the dark. So when that day comes, it won’t overtake Christians like a thief, because when it comes we’ll recognize it.
This is because a person who’s a follower of Jesus Christ is a son of the light, which is a Jewish way of saying that followers of Jesus belong to God’s light. Of course light is being used here as it often is in the Bible to describe a relationship with God, that we’re not alienated from God or ignorant of his ways. We may not know all the answers about times and dates, but we’re not in the dark.
We’re also children of the day, and the word "day" here looks back to the phrase "the day of the Lord." The day of the Lord hasn’t yet arrived, but every follower of Jesus Christ belongs to that day. Our identity is shaped by our future, much as a baby born to a royal family is already royalty, even if the child can’t yet understand what that means.
You see, the Bible presents the time we live in as an overlapping between two ages. The present evil age started when sin entered into the world, and that present evil age will continue on until the day of the Lord comes. This age is often described in the Bible as a time of "darkness," where heartbreak rules, where sickness devours, where evil is rampant. But when Jesus Christ came, lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and rose from the grave, he marked the dawning of the age to come. This is why Jesus proclaimed that God’s kingdom was near, because in Jesus the age to come had arrived. Christ’s life, death, and resurrection inaugurated the age to come, where God’s light broke in on the darkness of the present evil age.
This is why the entire church age (from the time when Jesus came to the world until that time he comes again) is called the "last days" in the Bible. The author of Hebrews, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son" (1:1-2 NIV). This is why when the church began on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, the apostle Peter quotes the Old Testament prediction of Joel 2 to describe the birth of the church as the start of the last days (Acts 2:16-17).
The "last days" describes the final chapter of history.
Now Christians differ as to whether the church will stay on earth until the day of the Lord or whether the church will be raptured out before shortly this final day. Paul’s point here is that since the age to come has already dawned, followers of Jesus belong to the day of the Lord as children of light and children of the day even though we continue to live in this present age of darkness.
If this is true, we should be "alert and self-controlled." The word "alert" here means "to be watchful and vigilant." Since we can’t know the times or dates, we’re alert and attentive for the day of the Lord. We have an expectant, hopeful attitude about the future, because no matter what difficulties lie in our future, we know we belong to the future. The word "self-controlled" here means "to be in control of your thought processes and thus not in danger of irrational thinking." Many Christians today are "alert" but not "self-controlled," and a failure to be both is one of the causes of millennial fever. In their excitement about Christ’s coming, lots of people abandon rational thinking, and engage in all sorts of bizarre and irrational ideas. But both watchfulness and clarity of mind are essential for us to live as children of the light who belong to the age to come.
So here we find the second action we can take. WE DEMONSTRATE OUR CONFIDENCE ABOUT THE FUTURE BY LIVING IN THE FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
Do remember the future perfect tense from high school English? I didn’t either until I read a business management book a few years by Stan Davis called Future Perfect. The future tense puts the word "will" before the verb, like "I will go to church." The future perfect tense envisions how that future action, once it’s a completed action, will effect the present, and it sounds like this: "I will have gone to church." The future perfect tense speaks of a future event as so completely certain that it’s already accomplished, and then it envisions how that future effects life right now. I think the future perfect tense is a great way of describing what it means to live as children of light and children of the day. Our alertness and our sober thinking today is a result of the fact that our future is certain and secure because Jesus will one day return. We have no need to fear judgment on the day of the Lord because we belong to that day already, so we can live in the future perfect tense.
3. Anticipating the Completion of Our Salvation (1 Thess 5:8-11)
Building on the fact that our identity is anchored to the day of the Lord, look what Paul says in verses 8 to 11. Based on the fact that our place in the future is secure, we’re told to put on certain character qualities. The image here is of a sentry guarding his or her post. Just as a night watchman has certain equipment like a radio, a uniform, perhaps a can of pepperspray, Christians living in light of the day of the Lord also have certain equipment.
If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, this is your "day of the Lord preparedness kit." Using the word picture of armor (because that’s what sentries wore back then) Paul shows us what’s absolutely essential for our "day of the Lord preparedness." Nothing about canned food, purified water, a generator or a handgun here. Instead we’re to put on faith, love and hope, that same triad of character qualities Paul mentioned back in chapter one of 1 Thessalonians. Back in 1:3 they were commended for their "work produced by faith," their "labor prompted by love" and their "endurance inspired by hope." In 1 Cor 13:13, Paul says that when life is boiled down to its absolute essentials, these three remain: faith, hope and love.
Faith is a confident trust in Jesus Christ, love is a sacrificial giving of ourselves for the welfare of others, and hope is a convinced and expectant attitude toward the future. If you want to be prepared for the day of the Lord, these are the values to cultivate.
We have nothing to fear because God didn’t save us from our sin and call us to follow Jesus only to pour out his wrath on us. We’ve been delivered from God’s judgment, so we have nothing to fear from the day of the Lord. Whether the Christian church is raptured before the day of the Lord or at the day of the Lord, regardless of the "times and seasons," we’re secure. And we’re not secure because of some computer system somewhere, or because our borders are safe, or because the US economy is strong; we’re secure says Paul because Jesus died for us. Jesus took upon himself the penalty for our sins, he experienced God’s wrath, so we could live free from God’s judgment. So whether we die before the day of the Lord arrives or whether we live to see it, we can be sure that we belong to that day, that Christ died for us, so we can be fully prepared with faith, love and hope.
This is the basis of our encouragement and strengthening of each other, not speculating about what might happen or what could happen, but anchored in what we know for sure will happen.
Here we find our final action we can take. WE DEMONSTRATE OUR CONFIDENCE ABOUT THE FUTURE BY ANTICIPATING THE COMPLETION OF OUR SALVATION.
Our readiness for the unknowns of the future doesn’t come from carefully computing the possibilities or from reading the horoscope, or from cracking some hidden code. Our readiness comes from the cross of Jesus, and our resolve to clothe our character with faith, love and hope, even in the midst of an uncertain world with unexpected circumstances. This is how we anticipate Christ’s return, this is how we encourage and build each other up, this is how we live with confidence in Christ.
So as we face a transition into a new millennium, the emperor is parading in his underwear. The emperor’s new clothing is our illusion of security. The future holds all kinds of unknown things that will happen that catch us totally by surprise. But we don’t need a date on a calendar or a detailed timeline to be secure, because our security is firmly anchored in Christ and his promises about the future. But to demonstrate that security we need to admit our limited knowledge of the future, live in the future perfect tense, and anticipate the completion of our salvation by putting on faith, love and hope.
