Enduring to the end

The hope we have as Christians is in deed great. This week we are faced again with the messiah coming again – with the hope of seeing his face, the trustworthiness of God’s saving arm, and the promise of trials to come.

Jeremiah prophesies that a branch with sprout from the line of David. We find ourselves in the expectation between the last two verses in the reading. We have seen “The Lord is Our Righteousness” bloom in human flesh, but yet we don’t see Jerusalem living in safety, nor did the disciples who followed him to the cross.

The psalmist sings of our expectation of the ability of God to make his promise sure. In spite of the fact we have yet to see the perfect rule of Christ, we still sing with the psalmist.

Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.

Paul reveals his joy in the church of Thessalonica and desire to see him and compares it with the hope they have in seeing Christ return. He prays that they would be strong to endure to the end. There is much trouble coming their way, and God puts a premium on the faithful who overcome.

As a former dispensationalist, the Lukan text gives me pause. I believe that the blessed hope of the return of Christ is imminent, nothing has to happen to set the stage, it has been set from Pentecost. The signs of the times can confuse us. I grew up with the fear of movies like “A thief in the night.” My grandfather watched Jack Van Impe regularly and believed Edgar Whisenant’s “88 reasons why the Rapture will be in 1988.” I was afraid, of what should be our blessed hope, along with a surprising number of my generation who grew up with nuclear war as an expectation. This fear is fueled by “Left Behind” and war in the Middle East. Luke says we are not to faint from fear.

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly,”

As we face the text in Luke we must see it through the eyes of a disciple. Jesus isn’t trying to frighten or convert. He is giving them a base of understanding as the approach the cross, then the persecution of the early church. He is equipping them with the tools to overcome. He says this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. One commentator (Pentecostal no less) suggests that “generation” should be taken as a type of people (i.e. an evil generation, or righteous generation). In that, his people and those who will have nothing to do with him will be around to the end – just like the wheat and the tares. What was true for them is true for us. Every generation has had its reason to realize that the return of Christ is near, because it is. From Goth, to pope, to crusade, to Hitler, to Hussein, the stage has been set, the time ripe. Antichrists come and go, but Christ remains forever and one day we will see him face to face if we are strong in the day of temptation and trial.

“Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”