1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
“Encouraging Words about the End”
History has an end. The Greek word the
New Testament uses for it is “Telos”. There will be a last day,
this is very clear in Holy Scripture. The universe will not go on, at
least not like this, forever. There is a day, somewhere in the
future, that God has planned, in which Christ will come again to
earth, and bring all things to fulfillment. It is now, in November,
near the end of the church calendar year, that we Christians
especially think about the end time, and the Last Day.
Like many people today, the ancient
Christians in the city of Thessalonica had questions and worries
about that day. They had some misconceptions too. So St. Paul writes
to them, to clear up the picture, to explain why that day is a good
day for us Christians – to give them hope. “Encourage each other
with these words” he says. And so Christians have encouraged each
other with those words throughout the ages, and so today shall we.
Perhaps it's worth reviewing some basic
teachings about the end. One thing we can be certain of, is we are
living in the end times. These are the last days. So many of the
signs of the end are all around us, ever more all the time. Natural
disasters like the Hurricanes that plagued us this year. Violence
like the church shooting this past week.
So much of the book of Revelation
depicts the calamities and troubles that are not only to come, but
that we experience in various ways all the time. Christians are
persecuted. We are as lambs led to the slaughter. Nations rage,
kingdoms fall. Wars and rumors of wars, as Jesus tells it. Paul
uses the analogy of a woman in childbirth – that the creation
itself is groaning in labor pains – but that is all moving toward a
telos – an endpoint, a conclusion.
Then there is the last day. It will
come suddenly, when we least expect it. Passages like our Gospel
reading from Matthew encourage us to be watchful as we look for it to
arrive at any time. Jesus says he will come “like a thief in the
night”, that is, suddenly, and not when you think he might. How
many date-setters have already gotten it wrong? Well so far, all of
them. No one knows the day or the hour.
Many passages, like our Old Testament
reading from Amos, paint the day of the Lord as something great and
terrible – a fearful day in which God's judgment is poured out. But
Amos was speaking to people who had forsaken God for pagan worship.
There was an earthly judgment to come in the form of the Assyrian
empire. But Amos also spoke of the final judgment it foreshadowed.
Surely for the unbeliever, the judgment day will be fearful and
terrible.
But for the believer, it's quite the
opposite. 1 Thessalonians tells us that it will be a good day – a
great day – that should give us hope. So put aside your fears, and
hear what God promises about Christ's appearing – and what it will
mean for us, his people.
“we who are alive, who are left until
the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen
asleep”
The Thessalonians full well expected
Christ to return within their earthly lifetime. And they became
concerned when faithful Christians began to die – wondering if
there would be a difference between the living and the dead – that
somehow their dead loved ones would miss out on the glory of Christ's
return. This became a source of grief for them. But Paul says not to
grieve like others who have no hope. Christ gives them hope.
In Corinthians, Paul explains, “we
will not all sleep”, that is, not every Christian will die before
that day. Some will live to see it. But those of us that do will be
in the same boat as those of us who have already died. The dead will
be raised. And we will all be changed, glorified, and we will all
meet Christ together.
The dead will rise. Here's an important
promise that gets short shrift these days. We're so accustomed of
thinking that we Christians die and go to heaven (and yes, we do),
that we forget the final fulfillment of God's plan is that we would
rise from the dead. Just like Jesus, whose physical, earthly, human
body rose from the dead – so too will our bodies be brought back to
life – to live forever with God. Those who die in the faith –
while their body “sleeps”, their soul is surely with the Lord and
at peace. But at the resurrection soul and body reunite to live in
eternal glory.
We will be changed – made
“incorruptible”, Paul says. Glorified. We will be like Christ, in
his glorified body. We don't know exactly what that means – it
hasn't been fully revealed yet. But it sounds good, doesn't it? A
physical body that is free of the corruption of sin? No more aches
and pains. No more disease or handicap. A body free forever from the
effects of the sin which has corrupted us. A body and soul as God
intended them to be – perfect and holy.
Together, we will rise not only from
death but into the air to meet him. Reminds me of the way Christ
ascended into the clouds, after his resurrection, in his own
glorified body.
And the promises continue. For there,
we will meet Christ and each other, and we will be always with the
Lord. What a blessing it will be to see with our own eyes, in our own
flesh, what we have known by faith already. As we said last week,
being in the presence of the Lord is what makes heaven so heavenly,
and we will enjoy it forever, body and soul, with our Lord.
What about all the fire and brimstone?
What about the judgment day? What about the locusts and horsemen?
What about the lake of fire and answering for all your sins? What
about the picture Amos paints of a great and terrible day?
Well Jesus faced that day himself,
already. On that dark Friday in Jerusalem, when he hung on a cross
for our sins. The sun blotted out. The earth shook. Even some of
the graves of holy people opened up and they came forth. These signs
show us a connection between Good Friday and the signs of the
judgment day.
And Jesus endured the wrath of God's
judgment so that our last day would be a day of peace. He took the
punishment so we would stand before God free of guilt. He died for us
to live – not just spiritually, but also physically – just as he
rose, firstborn of the dead triumphant over the grave.
And because of that day of sacrifice,
and that day of resurrection, we have a resurrection of our own – a
promise yet unpaid but not forgotten. A day of final victory. This is
why his resurrection is such a lynch-pin for our faith. Because only
in his resurrection do we have the promise of resurrection. Only in
him do we escape the judgment of eternal death, and receive the
judgment to eternal life.
That doesn't mean that no earthly
suffering will come to us. That doesn't mean that the devil, the
world, and our own sinful flesh stop working overtime to make us
doubt and tempt us and make us as miserable as possible. They can't
win the war, but they'll kick and scream trying to win as many
battles as they can. Persecutions are sure to come. Many will hate
us for Christ's sake. Jesus doesn't sugar-coat these truths either.
We're still in the flesh, here, and so those battles rage.
But he who makes wars to cease, who
breaks the bow and shatters the spear – he's our mighty fortress
and champion in the fight. And we can hear, in his word, the distant
triumph song. He will come again, and soon.
So watch and be ready for his coming.
Hear his word, frequently and faithfully. Remember your baptism,
where he first raised you from death to new spiritual life. And
receive his body and blood – often – for the forgiveness that
sustains us each day, keeping us strong and vibrant in a faith that
is always ready for its fulfillment.
Live your life in the faith that he has
given you, trusting in his mercy and grace. And die your death in a
peace that knows the promise of victory, and rest in peace, for the
trumpet will sound, the archangel will shout, and Christ will return
for his people. And we will be with him forever. This is our hope.
This is his promise. These are the encouraging words, that point us
to the blessed end. In Jesus Christ. Amen.
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