Saturday, November 23, 2013

Waiting for Jesus' return

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen
(Jude 20-25).

This weekend we’ve reached the end of the church year—we have arrived at the Sunday of the Fulfillment.  When Jesus returns in glory, everything promised in the Bible will at last be fulfilled.  The dead will be raised to life.  Christ will judge every man, woman and child according to their faith (or lack thereof).  Satan and all the enemies of Jesus will be locked away in hell forever.  The earth will burn at God’s command, stripping away all trace of impurity.  Then the Lord will rebuild the world in perfection, an eternal paradise for we who love God’s only Son. 

This is no pipe dream.  This is the reality that is coming closer with each passing day.  How far off is the Last Day?  We don’t know—it is a secret that God the Father has not even shared with Christ His Son.  It could be years, even centuries away.  It could be tonight or tomorrow.  Since we don’t know when this life will stop, we need to be ready.  And so Jesus urges us to keep watch (Matthew 24:42).

But keeping watch is hard.  Have you ever worked a night shift as a guard?  The first hour or two isn’t so bad, but eventually boredom sets in.  You’re tempted to start entertaining yourself instead of staying alert for trouble.  By three in the morning, the quietness and darkness and boredom lead to drowsiness; it gets hard to keep your eyes open.  If you’re not careful, you can fall asleep while on duty.

We know that Jesus is coming back.  We certainly don’t want Him finding us asleep at our posts.  We are to be alert and ready for His arrival.  But as the years go by with no sign of His coming, it’s hard to stay watchful.  We are tempted to entertain ourselves by doing things we shouldn’t.  We get lazy and careless.  Eventually, some get tired of waiting, tired of church; they just stay at home and sleep, not worried that Jesus might catch them napping when they should be busy.

Our Lord said, Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.  It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.  Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping (Mark 13:33-36).  Each of us has work to do, duties assigned by our Maker and Redeemer. 

But during these long hours of waiting, what are we supposed to be doing?  In the Epistle reading, Jude gives us some idea.  He lists several things that we should be doing as we await the Master’s return, activities that please Him and also help us to stay sharp and focused. 

Jude starts his list by saying, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith.  Of course, we know that faith is a gift of God, not a product of our smarts or effort.  In Romans chapter 10 Paul writes, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.  The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith (12:2).  Christ Himself said, no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him (John 6:65).  Faith is a gift of God, a miracle that He works in our hearts through the power of His mighty Word.  But like any gift, the gift of faith can be abused.  If you mistreat your faith by ignoring it, staying away from church and filling your life with sinful activities, your faith can wither and die.  Faith is a living thing, and like all living things it needs to be nourished and cared for.  Since faith comes by hearing the Word of God, it is clear that in order to grow your faith needs ongoing exposure to the message of salvation.  To build yourself up in your most holy faith, you need to make a habit of worship and time spent with the Bible.  This will strengthen your faith, please Your Lord, and keep you alert for the day of His return.

Jude also urges us to pray in the Holy Spirit.  Communication is vital to every relationship, and no more so than to our relationship with God.  We are not in a one-way relationship with Him, where God talks and all we do is listen.  The Lord wants us speaking to Him as well, and we do this through prayer.  People love to communicate—look at all the phone calls and text messaging that goes on.  We communicate with others all the time—but sadly when it comes to God, not so much.  In 1st Thessalonians Paul says, pray continually.  David considered prayer to be part of the daily routine—listen to His words spoken to God in Psalm 141: May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.  Every day the priests burned incense to praise God for His goodness; every day the priests offered sacrifices as they asked God to have mercy on sinners.  For David, prayer was a daily activity where he begged to have his wrongs forgiven and thanked the Lord for all the blessings which He provides. 

However, many of our prayers are flawed.  We ask for things we don’t need or shouldn’t have.  We focus our attention on what we want and forget to pray for other people and their needs.  Sometimes we forget to pray entirely.  Thankfully, Jesus sends us the Spirit of God to help us in our prayer life.  In Romans chapter 8 Paul writes, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express…the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.  With the Spirit’s help, we can be sure that our prayers are heard in the heavenly throne room.  Praying is commanded by God, because we cannot love the Lord and yet give Him the silent treatment; being in constant prayer also keeps us alert during our long wait for Jesus’ return.

Next on Jude’s list: Keep yourselves in God's love, as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  How do we keep ourselves in God’s love?  In the Gospel of John chapter 15 Jesus says, As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.  If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  To remain in God’s love requires that we understand our relationship with Christ and embrace it.  Our relationship is based on love and submission.  Jesus loves His Father, and that love is shown through Christ’s willing submission to His Father.  In the same way, if we love Jesus then we will gladly submit to His authority.  Sin is rebellion against God’s leadership; sin shows disrespect.  When we ask Jesus to forgive our sins, He restores us to a relationship of love and willing submission to God.  When we live in submission to the Lord, our joy is complete; when we try to strike out on our own, our joy is crushed by obstacles, mistakes, and failures. 

In Ephesians chapter two, Paul says that we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  God designed each of us to serve Him in one way or another.  But we don’t work to impress God; after all, everything we do is flawed by sin and falls short of God’s high standards.  No, the reason that we try to do God’s will is to show Him our love by submitting to His leadership.  We don’t serve God to earn a place in heaven; we serve God to show Him our love and appreciation.  We try to do as Jesus asks to thank Him for dying as the sacrifice for our sins and preparing a place for us in His kingdom.  When we busy ourselves in grateful service to the Lord, we show Him honor and we are kept awake during the time leading up to His return.

Jude goes on to give examples of that service.  First up: Be merciful to those who doubt.  The world is filled with people who want to do the right thing, but aren’t sure what the right thing is.  The world is filled with people who are weighed down by guilt and are desperate for relief.  The world is filled with people who are terrified of death or who struggle with despair over the loss of a loved one.  These people need the truth of God.  They need the Good News of forgiveness.  They need the hope of everlasting life. 

Such people need to be treated gently.  Life has wounded them; they need tenderness and compassion.  They need to hear the words that only Christians can share with them.  They need to know that although life can be confusing, God offers clarity; He and He alone can clear up matters of right and wrong, of good and evil.  They need to know that while the past cannot be changed, Jesus offers relief from the guilt caused by mistakes and missed opportunities; He offers forgiveness to those who trust in His love and demands nothing in return.  They need to know that on the cross, Jesus suffered the death that our sins deserve; when He stepped from the grave alive, He proved His power to raise us and our loved ones to live with Him forever.  They need the hope that makes our lives glad; when we share that hope, lives are enriched and our focus is kept where it should be—on Christ alone.

Our service also involves snatching others from the fire and saving them.  There are a lot of people who don’t think about right or wrong, about death or eternity.  Their focus is on living it up, pursuing their goals at any cost, and hurting anyone who gets in their way.  They don’t just live in sin; they revel in it.  They believe that everything revolves around their wants and needs; and when they do something nice for others they expect to be rewarded.  They are kind of people Paul had in mind when he wrote, do not be fooled. Those who sin sexually, worship idols, take part in adultery, those who are male prostitutes, or men who have sexual relations with other men, those who steal, are greedy, get drunk, lie about others, or rob—these people will not inherit God's kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

These people are headed towards the place of everlasting fire.  If we are filled with the kind of love Christ wants from us, we will try our hardest to snatch them away from the deadly path they’re on.  Of course, we can’t save them—only God can put saving faith in their hearts.  But we can share God’s Word with them, the Word that gives freedom and life to those enslaved by sin and death.  When we point out sin for what is and describe the Way of Christ, we are God’s ambassadors and we are keenly aware of the short time left until Jesus returns in judgment.

Lastly, our service includes showing mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.  People tend to rub off on each other.  As we spend time with other sinners, their twisted ideas and dangerous habits can start influencing our thoughts and behavior, dragging us away from the purity that God expects in His followers.  Jude tells us that when we associate with unbelievers, we are to show them God’s mercy, but we should be extremely cautious lest they infect us with their sin.  Isaiah rejoiced that God robed him in garments of salvation; no one should willingly exchange that clothing for clothing stained by corrupted flesh (Isaiah 61:10).  The ways of this sinful world distract us from Christ’s imminent return.

Jesus is coming back—we just don’t know when.  But while we wait for Him, the Lord has given us work to do in His service.  That work includes worship and time spent reading Holy Scripture.  That work includes prayer and submission to God’s leadership.  That work includes reaching out to the lost and erring.  That work includes keeping ourselves free of anything that distracts from Christ.  So commit yourself to this work, not because you want to impress God but because you want to show Him your love and gratefulness.  Keeping busy will help you stay alert, so you can be ready when He comes back in glory.

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