Malachi 3:13-4:2a, 5-6
Psalm 98
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19
The end of the world is at hand. I'm sure of that because I got a booklet about it in yesterday's mail. The September 11th destruction of our temples of economic and military power still haunts us all. We're already living with the plague of AIDS, and, though we seldom see it, we are surrounded by hunger. And then early this morning there were "great signs from heaven" – an incredible meteor shower – the sky is falling! ... so we can expect to have earthquakes soon. The end of the world is at hand.
Of course throughout history there have always been some people who have been certain that the end of the world is immanent. The Bible is full of them. These are not usually scriptures that I want to "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" as today's collect suggests. I want to ignore them or ‘symbolize them away.' Even Jesus talks about it. And many scholars believe that Paul wrote from an end-time perspective. There are whole books in the Bible about the end of the world. From the Book of Daniel to the Revelation to John.
And people are still talking about it. Every generation since Jesus has seen the signs of his second coming in their own time. We still pray, "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again." (Though we Episcopalians don't talk much about that last part.) We see cartoons where guys with beards and long robes carry signs saying, "The End of the World is Near" and there are bumper stickers and t-shirts saying, "Jesus is coming, look busy!" Or, "Get ready! God is coming. And she is pissed!"
But behind the shock of painting God with crude language and an unusual gender is the fear that it just might be true. Most of us can think of some reason God might be angry with us. And if Malachi is right, the signs say that the day is coming when all the bad guys are going to be burned up.
There seems no escape from the weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Not even the one suggested by little Rachel, who asked "But what about Grandpa? He doesn't have any teeth?" "Oh, my dear child," the old preacher replied, " I'm sure that if God decrees gnashing of teeth, teeth will be provided.") God is coming. The Bible says so. We'd better do something quick.
Now the early Christians, it seems, were not afraid of the end. They anticipated the end times with joy. Some of those Thessalonians, it seems, were so sure that world would end soon, that they quit working for the common good and became idle busybodies, waiting self-righteously for God to show up and prove that they were among the good guys. "If it's the end of the world, why work?" they thought. But Paul objects strongly. "Brothers and sisters," he writes, "do not be weary in doing what is right."
Sometimes it feels to me in our little congregations as if we are like those idle Thessalonians. There are moments when we see our own end times all to clearly and are tempted to give up. Why work so hard in a tiny parish when everyone leaves during the winter? We only have money for a few more years, so why pay a priest so we can have Eucharist or a organist so we can have music? Why plan mission and outreach, when we're all to old to walk around the block? Paul says that's no excuse. In fact, the end times seem for him to be the time to get busy with God's work. Paul would have a "Jesus is coming, GET busy" bumper t-shirt.
Well, some of us are busy. Those of us who haven't responded to the end-time signs with apathy, may instead rush into a last-minute panic to of busyness because there "just isn't time" to do everything we think we need to do to save ourselves. This may be no more helpful than the idleness. Not only did we wait till rather late in the day, But we are not the ones in the savior business. And our own busyness might cause us to miss the Savior.
It's like that old priest in the long line at the gas station just before Christmas. When the attendant apologized for the delay, saying "Everyone waits for the last minute to get ready." The wise priest replied quietly, "I understand. It's that way in my business too."
The signs are there. The day of the Lord is coming fast. Some of us give up, become apathetic, and do nothing. Some of us panic and rush around trying to do everything.
But, you know, I think the signs of the time are always present. So don't be distracted by the signs and their immediacy and urgency. The Coming of Christ is now and always. Christ comes to us when we gather for prayer. Christ comes to us in our brokenness. Christ comes to us when we serve one another. Christ comes to us in our thanksgiving.
The Day of the Lord is here. Now is the time to put aside our fear and take that opportunity to talk about Jesus. Yes, now may be the time of trouble and suffering. And now is also the time when Christ stands with us protecting every hair on our heads. Now is the time to do God's work in the world - to love those neighbors, to forgive those who hurt us, and to pray. And now is always the time to do those things as if this were our very last chance.
While we wait for Christ to come again, the Kingdom of God is among us now.
Christians live in that "already- not yet" tension of eternal life. While we live in Christ, waiting for the fullness of the Kingdom of God, it's both a time of endurance and a time to work together for the common good.
The signs are all here. The time is now. Let's get to work.