Theme: Paul reminds the congregation of what God has done for them through Jesus Christ and urges the people to put both their present and future hope, despite death, in an eternal future with Christ. As he exhorts them to comfort one another with this hope using apocalyptic imagery, one is left contemplating why we spend so much time worrying about the future, especially the end-times. Instead, we should be concerned with living in the present; a life in Christ that begins with what we believe. As a message for All-Saints Sunday, we are reminded in this scripture what God has done, is doing, and will do for us through Jesus Christ.
A local priest and a pastor were fishing on the side of the road after a storm. They thoughtfully made a sign saying, “The End is Near! Turn yourself around now before it’s too late!” and showed it to each passing car. One driver who drove by didn’t appreciate the sign and shouted at them, “Leave us alone, you religious nuts!” All of a sudden, they heard a big splash, looked at each other, and the priest said to the pastor, “You think maybe we should have just said, ‘Bridge out’ instead?” This may bring a few laughs but it seems that many in the religious community these days are concerned about the end – the end of time; the apocalypse, as some scholars call it; the end of the world as we know it; the Day of the Lord as it was called in the Jewish tradition. Since the beginning of the early Christian church, believers have been waiting for Jesus to return, overthrow the forces of evil, resurrect the dead, and establish God’s kingdom. American churches, in particular, seem obsessed with the second coming of Jesus. There are books on the subject; books that either predict when the end will be or how it will be played out. Movies have been made for years that speculate about events leading up to the end and even what will happen once the end is here. Much of what the obsession is based on comes from this dramatic end-time scenario that is found in Paul’s earliest writing – the letter he wrote to the church at Thessalonica. But was Paul writing to the believers about an end-times scenario? Let’s read the scripture together (read 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 to the congregation).
A first reading of this passage might lead one to think that Paul was indeed writing to the believers about what was going to happen when Jesus returned. But there was more going on in this letter that we should explore before we become too obsessed with Paul’s ideas about the end-times. Paul was writing this letter to the congregation at Thessalonica in light of two concerns that had been reported to him. The first concern that had been reported was that the believers were suffering afflictions and persecutions because of their faith. Paul praises them for remaining steadfast in the faith; continuing to exhibit the gospel in their lives even in the midst of the afflictions. He reminds them in the letter, that even during persecution, they should continue to live a life pleasing to God, continue to work together while abounding in love for one another, and be blameless before God when Jesus comes again. The second concern that Paul addresses in this letter is a little more specific. Some of the congregation had died since Paul had been there and the people seemed to have been concerned that those who had died would not see or share in the blessings promised in the coming of the Lord. It is this part of the letter that we have before us today.
When I write a letter to someone, I usually write for a specific reason. At Christmas each year I send all of my relatives a letter about the Davis family life during the past year. It is a specific letter to a specific audience. I doubt that someone who didn’t know my family would be the least bit interested in this annual letter. We must remember that Paul too, was writing a specific letter to a specific group addressing specific concerns of that group. Paul was not writing to us in 2005: we have much different concerns now and our situations are different! However, even though our situations may be different than those of the early church in Thessalonica, most all believers wonder about when and how Christ will return.
There is a constant hum in the world today about the signs of the times. Many have speculated that the increase in natural disasters just this year is a sign that the end is near. Others claim that world-wide wars and rumors of wars must mean that Jesus will be returning soon. Several have spent countless hours tying the events of the war in Iraq to the prophecies of the Bible. It seems as if Christians are so caught up in trying to figure out if the war or the bird flu or the next hurricane is going to be the beginning of the end that they have forgotten to be about the business of God. The Thessalonians were also having this same difficulty. They were so concerned about what happened to their loved ones who had died before Jesus returned that they began to worry about the fate of the dead instead of having concern for those in their midst that were living. The result was great anxiety and grieving at the passing of a brother or sister in Christ. For them, death still held an unquestionable power; hope only remained so long as they were alive. So, was Paul writing the Thessalonians to give them a full-blown understanding of the end times? I don’t think so. He really doesn’t say that much about the return of Christ and a believer’s eternal destiny in this letter. So what was Paul’s point? Paul was writing to this church as a pastor; a pastor who wanted to share with them the hope that they have in Christ, both now and in the future. He’s not correcting the theology of the believers, but their behavior. They are grieving – as those who have no hope.
How many times do we hear the expression, “There is no hope.” We even say it! “My friend has cancer and there is no hope.” We live in a world full of hopelessness. We face death everyday. We hear about it nightly on the news. We hear about it in our communities. We even face death here at church when beloved members die. Paul is consoling his readers by reminding them that they have hope, unlike the unbelievers, who do not know God. Paul wants to make sure that the church understands that they don’t have to worry. Whether dead or alive, they will be with the Lord because of what God has done and will do in Jesus Christ. Paul wanted to remind the Christians in Thessalonica that God called them, Christ loved them, and that the believer who dies in Christ, remains in Christ. He borrows imagery from biblical and political sources to enhance his message; images like a cry of command, the archangel’s call, the sound of God’s trumpet, and meeting the Lord in the air; imagery that he and the people of his time would have related to and understood in their context. But today, hundreds of years later, we read them literally and use them and other end-times images that often scare people into believing in Christ, rather than offering them the hope that Paul was emphasizing and encouraging them to share with others. Paul wanted his readers to understand that life in Christ was just beginning in the present world and that salvation would be fully realized on the last day. All that Paul intended to say was that at the appearance of Jesus, everyone who is in Christ, whether dead or alive, will be with the Lord. Why is that so hard for us to believe? People ask me all the time questions like, “Does this mean we stay in the grave until Jesus returns? Or does this mean we go straight to heaven when we die?” I personally believe that when we die, our next awareness is that we are in the presence of the Lord. Can I explain the science of when and how that happens? No. Does that make those questions unimportant? No, however, Paul would say, “Don’t worry about that.” As believers, put your hope in what God has done and will do through Jesus Christ and go about living as a child of God now. We must live now in this in-between time; in-between the resurrection and when Jesus will return. “Don’t worry about the future,” Paul was saying in this letter; just live blameless before God now, while you wait for Jesus to return.
We sometimes lose sight of the fact that every moment of the church’s life is formed by the expectation that something is about to happen. We should be excited about Jesus’ second coming but as believers, we should not dwell on our eternal future. We should dwell on how we can share this future with others. Every time a congregation creates a clothing closet or a food pantry for those in need, they do so not because they are so naïve to think that a few used garments and a shelf of canned foods are going to end all human need – but because they live today in the light of God’s tomorrow, when all will be clothed in garments of light and the banquet table of the kingdom will hold a feast. Every time we, as Christian people, speak words of forgiveness in circumstances of bitterness, words of love in situations of hatred, we are speaking in the present future tense – meaning they are using now, in the present, a language which the whole of creation will learn to speak in God’s tomorrow. The end times are still in the future. Christ is coming back and that is important. So, what can we take from this scripture about the end-times, the Day of the Lord, the apocalypse - that’s not blown out of proportion or confabulated with our own ideas? We can learn much from those we honor in memory today; those whose lives are remembered by how they lived in the in-between time, while they too waited and expected Jesus to return.
This year the person who held the honor for many years as the oldest member of our congregation died. Mr. Ray Wolfe was born April 25, XXXX and he died March 14, XXXX. What you remember about Mr. Wolfe doesn’t have anything to do with the year he was born or the year he died, but how he lived his life in the in-between time. I did not get to know Ray until after he was living in a nursing home but I was told that when Ray lived at home that he always had a garden that he shared with others. I was told that you’d always get a piece of cake if you showed up for a visit at his house. I was told that there was never a nicer person, a more Christian man, a more loving father and husband. We remember Ray Wolfe because of how he lived in the time he was given on earth. We remember Ray because he lived his life in a way that reflected his salvation. Ray lived his life in the hope that he had in Jesus Christ because he believed in what God had done, in what God will do, and in what God is doing through Jesus in the world. Ray knew that he would spend eternity in the presence of the Lord and so he lived for Christ each day, while he waited and expected Jesus to return. We must all live as if the apocalypse, the end-times, is now or right around the corner.
Every generation since Paul wrote this letter to the church in Thessalonica has had disasters, sickness, earthquakes, and wars, coming unexpectedly and inhospitably. The end of the world seemed as imminent then as it does right now. The believers in the early church were convinced that Jesus would return in their lifetime. There were signs and speculations of Christ’s return then. Paul, although he too expected Jesus to return in his lifetime, was telling the early church not to be focused on when or how this would happen. Instead, believers should share the hope promised by God in the resurrection of Jesus. Listen to the words written by Paul: For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died (1 Thess. 4: 14). Our task as Christians is to share this hope found in Jesus Christ with others in the midst of speculation of the end-times; in the midst of disasters and hopelessness; in the midst of each other’s personal apocalypse – when our worlds seem to be crashing to an end around us. Our task as Christians is to console and encourage one another with the hope found in Christ. As we grieve for those who have passed before us, those who have died before Jesus’ return, we are not to grieve as those who have no hope but instead, our grief is to be enveloped in hope. We are to live in the hope of our salvation, today, even when we grieve.
Christians, claim that hope right now; begin to live this hope daily in your lives; begin to live that wonderful gift of salvation this day; walking each day in the love of Christ; and believe that whenever Jesus does return for his flock, all will be well. Amen.
Let us pray:
Holy and wonderful God, we thank you that you love us so much that you desire for us to be with you forever. We praise you for your continuing work through Jesus Christ our savior and lord. Guide each of us as we live our faith in the hope of your future; a future promised in the resurrection of your Son; a future in which the awesomeness of our salvation will be fully realized as your kingdom reigns. Allow your Spirit to touch each life here today, filling them to overflowing so that they will go from this place full of your hope, trusting in your promises, and focusing on living each day following a risen Christ who will one day return to gather all believers to him. Help us to face the future with expectation and joy, and not fear, as we pray in the precious name of Jesus, Amen.
