Judgment Day! What a Blast!

Pentecost 23, Proper 28C

Luke 21:5-19

St. Matthias

November 17, 2019

Back on October 28, 1992 at midnight the world was supposed to come to an end.  Now the Good News is that it didn’t.  And the bad news was that it didn’t – at least for the members of the Dami Mission Church.  Here’s what happened.  The leader of this Christian Church in South Korea had it all figured out and he told the members in both South Korea and the United States that the world was going to end, and Christ was going to come again to judge the earth.  He used this very Gospel passage we read this morning to make his point.  The believers would ascend to heaven and the rest would be left on earth to face seven years of war, famine, and various other disasters that would kill all life on the planet.  Now to get ready, the faithful were instructed to sell everything they owned so they would not be burdened by worldly wealthy at the Day of Judgment.  Of course, all the money was held by the Church leaders since the members would not need it in heaven.   As midnight approached, the faithful followers gathered to await the Second Coming.  I wander how long it took them to realize when midnight passed that the only thing going anywhere was their money.  That’s right, the Church leaders were gone.  Judgment Day, it turns out, can be expensive.

I grew up worrying about Judgement Day.  In youth group, retreats, and on Sunday morning we heard about this time that was going to come when we would have to stand before the throne of God and answer for all our sins.  I can remember believing that there would be this movie of my entire life and I would have to explain each of my sins – one by one.  And to my teenage mind that was a lot and was going to be both really embarrassing and take a really long time.  Now before I go any further, let me say that my belief today, after 3 years of seminary and a whole lot of Bible study is that THAT is just not true.  So, rest easy. 

But what is Jesus talking about.  Turn on your TV on a Sunday morning and you will see any number of preachers with charts and diagrams and explanations about why we are in the last days.  Everything from the price of oil to a hurricane in the Gulf is interpreted as a sign.  There are predictions of Jesus coming again at any moment, so we had better get right with God.  Usually the best way to do that is to send your money to that particular TV Evangelist.  Well, the same thing was going on in Jesus’s day.  They may not have had TV but there were still any number of self-proclaimed prophets who would stand on the street corners and on the steps of the Temple and announce that the end of the world was near.  Every war and insurrection, every plague and storm – even the stars in the sky – were interpreted as signs of the end times.  And Jesus is telling his disciples that none of this is the way things will really happen.  After all, how could Jesus come again when He was standing right there with them.

But we do know that Jesus will come again.  This is the hope of the Christian faith.  I like to imagine that Jesus actually is already here and walking down the streets of Birmingham or Tuscaloosa or somewhere else.  What would you do if you met Jesus on the street?  What would you ask Him?

Well believe it or not, someone actually asked this question.  Last year – several days before Christmas - Donah Mbabzi of Society Magazine asked people on the streets of New York City what they would ask Christ if he returned.  Norah wanted to know why life is so complicated.  Robert would ask about all the mysteries of life.  But it was Sammie’s answer that I liked the best – maybe because he is a poet.  He said that he would ask what he needed to do to make the world a better place.  And I believe that starts when we proclaim WE BELIEVE.  When we say those words, we take the first step to making the world a better place in Jesus name.  When we say - WE BELIEVE – then we pack boxes of food and hand out bags of beans and rice and the love of the Kingdom of Heaven comes near.  It doesn’t take a war or a hurricane or fire from heaven to signal the 2^nd Coming of Christ.  Maybe it happens when we love someone else enough to open our hearts to God working in us.  Then Jesus comes again.  Welcoming the new person or sharing the love we find at St. Matthias with someone else is surely a sign just as if a star shines in the east.  And Christ comes again.  Kneeling at this altar rail in faith and then sending a card to a friend in need is surely a sign and then Christ comes again. 

I have always believed that when our Savior returns that it will be quietly and without a lot of fanfare.  I doubt there will be any coverage by the press or natural phenomena.  The TV preachers on Sunday morning may miss it altogether.  May be there will be just a star in the east and some shepherds.  And we may be there too.  Don’t sell everything you own.  Give all the love you have.  That is definitely a sign!  AMEN.