Hey, Cobblestone,
How glad are you that Jesus came the first time? Emmanuel
– “God with us.” He left the glory of heaven, put on the frailties of flesh,
and subjected himself to every temptation common to mankind. He conquered sin –
and death, too – and made a way for sinners to be delivered from the dominion
of sin. He made a way through the veil, his flesh, for us to have access to the
throne of grace, now and forever. So tell me: have you loved his first
appearing? I should hope so.
How about his next appearing? How’s your level of eagerness for
the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Christ on this very planet? As compared to,
say, Christmas or your next birthday or your income tax refund, how giddy do
you get at the prospect of the rightful King’s return?
Jesus gave a parable (Matthew 25:1-13) of ten virgins who
went out to meet the bridegroom (parallel to Jesus) for the wedding feast. The
five virgins who took extra oil for their lamps were considered “wise,” and
were ready, even though the bridegroom delayed. The other five, considered
“foolish,” had insufficient oil, and were shut out of the feast. The difference
between them wasn’t resources; it was eagerness. We know that to be true
because of the warning Jesus gave at the end of the parable: “Watch, therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour” (verse 13).
I thought it might do us some good to study the example of a
long-ago Christian who had loved the first appearing of Jesus and worked hard
to build eagerness in others for the consummation of the Kingdom. His name, at
first, was Saul of Tarsus, later to be Paul. Jesus met Paul on the road to
Damascus, Syria – as Paul put it, Last of all, as to one untimely born, he
appeared also to me (1Corinthians 15:8). How would someone who had met
Jesus in his first appearing recommend his second appearing to us who have come
so many centuries afterward? There’s solid evidence in another letter the
apostle wrote. Take a look:
I charge you in
the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and
the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove,
rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not
endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate
for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander
off into myths. As for you, always be
sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an
evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
For I am
already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure
has come. I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth
there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only
to me but also to all who have loved his appearing (2Timothy 4:1-8).
In my humble estimation, the ink hadn’t dried on the words
“the time is coming” before the time had come. Most of what Paul wrote to the
churches was about false and deceptive teaching, and the propensity of people
to fall for it – even to accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their
own passions. Other than Jesus himself, Paul was more qualified than anyone
to give exhortation concerning the Lord’s return. Given the audience and the
inspiration, he made his charge by (Christ’s) appearing and his
kingdom: Work hard. Be ready. And be glad – we’ve loved his first
appearing, and we have every reason to love the next one.
Not that I’m claiming to be an apostle or sub-apostle or
anything of the sort, but maybe I’ve been around long enough that I can make
some observations worth considering. I’ve lived, so far, through 13
presidential administrations, 32 versions of Congress, and I’m-not-sure how
many Supreme Court Justices. Truly, the level of foolishness is at an all-time
high, at least for the years to which I can personally attest. Serious people
with high-caliber titles refer to pre-born humans as “pregnancy tissue.” Laws
are on the books saying a female can become a male – or vice-versa or back
again – just by saying so. Arguments are made in high places that some people
don’t have the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness because
they were born south of the Rio Grande. Moral issues get fumbled, picked up,
and fumbled again, as if moral issues actually belonged in the arena of
legislature (which they do not). “Truth” gets reinvented with every news cycle
– whatever it takes to scratch the itching ear.
It's not a failure of politics or democracy. No political
system could ever handle what humans have been up against ever since Genesis 3:
namely, sin. And being subject to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, like
everything else in the universe, political systems run down, not up.
The problem is lack of a King. When God’s chosen people
rejected him in favor of a mere mortal king (1Samuel 8:1-9), it was a far
bigger tragedy than they realized. And we haven’t recovered. With each
generation, each century, each millennium, the ratcheting has been downward. Absurdity
is given legitimacy. The list of atrocities grows. The only way out is up,
through the tunnel vision of the tightening spiral, anticipating the only one
who ever earned the title of capital-K King.
How, then, would we show eagerness for his return? Feelings
are never enough – what’s the proof-of-concept? In another parable involving
lamps, Jesus said, “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning…” (Luke
12:35). Curious about the application, Peter asked, “Lord, are
you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the
faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his
household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when
he comes” (verses
41-43).
Are you unsure of how to prove your eagerness to see the
Kingdom on earth? Ask the King. He will have perfectly scalable, perfectly
appropriate, perfectly acceptable actions for you and me to take – in the power
of the Holy Spirit. And then we do what he gives us. That’s what it means to
keep one’s lamp trimmed and burning.
Grace and Peace (to all who have loved his appearing),
John
