In 569 days we face the unique opportunity to reflect on the passage of time as we enter a new year, a new century and a new millennium. Facing a new millennium has already been anticipated by a great deal of reflection and hype and more is sure to follow. Ken Myers, host of Mars Hill Tapes comments: “Journalists and pundits perpetually live with the occupational hazard of creating pseudo-events, moments of time which are invested with importance not because of something that really happened, but because of what the press releases, or the documentaries, or the op-ed pieces said about such moments. With the exception of the computer programming problem affectionately christened Y2K, it seems unlikely anything really will happen when the calendar will change on New Years Day in the new century.” And yet, even as we face that non-event, we will be surrounded by a great deal of millennial madness. We will be confronted by a variety of seers and sages who believe they know how best to respond to our changing times. Some see in the new millennium a great deal of hope and opportunities. M&M’s have deemed themselves the official candy of the millennium. The New York Times, usually known for understatement, has dubbed New York City "Millennium Central," the place to be on New Year’s Eve 1999, not to mention the next thousand years. No doubt, Dick Clark will be there as well celebrating his millennial birthday, too. Others see the new millennium as a shroud of horror. In May of 1995, the tabloid The Weekly World News reported that the world’s foremost Bible scholars determined after studying the Scriptures and the Dead Sea Scrolls that the world will definitely end on December 31, 1999. Ted Daniels, the editor of a publication called the Millennial Prophecy Report says that 350 organizations in the US alone are predicting some form of Armageddon when the final page of the 20th century is ripped out. Millennial madness with its apocalyptic speculations will no doubt take on a feverish pitch. But this is nothing new. Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth became a cult phenomena and New York Times best seller in the `70’s. Dates were set for the end not by odd-balls holed up in a commune in Idaho, but by otherwise well-respected leaders. Prophecy was said to be fulfilled when Reagan was elected (although it often escaped notice by the conservatives that Ronald Wilson Reagan equaled 666). His pronouncement of the Soviet Union as the "evil empire" emblazoned many end-times sorts. Gorbechov’s forehead birthmark became the mark of the beast. Jerry Falwell sought etymological connections as Ezekiel foretold of invaders from the north who would invade the Middle East for spoil. All one had to do is remove the first two letters and the reason was clear: oil. When it became known that Chernobyl was a Russian word for "wormwood" in Revelation, fundamentalist excitement reached President Reagan who passed on the watch-word slightly altered. While he was told of the seeming prophetic link between Chernobyl and wormwood, he misunderstood the connection and later asked some friends, “Do you know what Chernobyl means? It means Wedgewood.” The friends could not see the connection. When we look in retrospect as to how well-meaning, but exegetically challenged, Christians can so misunderstand Scripture, it is critical for us to examine what Scripture teaches concerning the end of the world. Our passage this morning takes us into the heart of the end-times discussion. Some you have been well versed in such matters; for others, passages such as this or John’s Revelation seem better suited for a Sci-fi flick. But Matthew 24-25 helps us to answer the very important question: “How are we to face the future?” In the face of a future that is always, at best, uncertain and at worst frightening - we need to examine what Jesus has said. 1. Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." 3. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 4. Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5. For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. 6. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8. All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9. "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11. and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13. but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. As Jesus finishes His tirade against the religious leaders of the day, He leaves the Temple for the last time. The twelve talk about the spectacle of the great Temple with understandable awe. Ancient writers were unanimous in declaring Herod’s Temple one of the greatest sights of the ancient world. The stones were of the whitest marble, blocks measuring 25 feet in length, 18 feet in height and 12 feet in thickness. The Temple rose some five stories from its foundation and 8 stories above the city below. Of the temple Josephus writes: “Being covered on all sides with massive plates of gold, the sun was no sooner up than it radiated so fiery a flash that persons straining to look at it were compelled to avert their eyes, as from the solar rays. To approaching strangers it appeared from a distance like a snow-clad mountain; for all that was not overlaid with gold was of purest white.” But there appears another reason for their comments. Their departure coincided with Jesus’s pronouncement of desolation of the Temple. Jesus’s condemnation of the Temple was the conclusion of His judgment against the Pharisees (Matthew 23). This denunciation resulted from their consistent refusal to believe Jesus was the Messiah (Matthew 21). Their refusal is all the more pronounced after Jesus cleared out the Temple, showing that One greater than the Temple was now on the scene. It was because He taught that He superseded the Temple that the leaders sought to kill Him. So the disciples call Jesus’s attention to the Temple in disbelief that such a magnificent structure would ever cease to exist. We have a hard time relating to this kind of destruction, but for the Jews the destruction of the Temple could only coincide with the end of the world. The closest thing we have is if we would imagine the obliteration of the White House or Capitol Hill. Hollywood plays with those sympathies. Ever notice how it is always the White House that gets blown away by aliens or crushed by asteroids? Jesus describes the destruction of the Temple in verse 2, which was fulfilled forty years later. During the long siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD, a soldier threw a torch into the Holy Place, igniting the veil and causing the timbers to ignite. As the temperature inside rose the gold ornamentation melted, ran down into the drainage lines and seeped into the cracks of the temple wall. In an effort to recover the gold, Roman soldiers overturned each and every block. Thus what Jesus foretold came true. This prompts two questions for the disciples. “When will the Temple be destroyed?” And “What is the sign of your coming, that is, the end of the age?” For the Jews of that day, the centrality of the Temple was such that its destruction could only mean one thing, the beginning of the end. If the temple were destroyed, the world must end. While the disciples saw these two events as occurring simultaneously, Jesus describes the Temple destruction as typical of the events of all ages that will occur until the end of time. Between Jesus’s Resurrection and return a cycle of signs point to the end without ever being conclusive enough to let us know when the end will be. Jesus’s answer was very different from what they expected; for whereas they were eager for a triumph, as if they had already finished their warfare, Christ exhorts them to long patience. In light of that fact - WE MUST FACE THE FUTURE WITH THEOLOGICAL SANITY (Verses 4-5) We must be watchful, not of events, of geo-political turmoil, but first, of theological, Biblical issues. Deception is a very real problem between Jesus’s Resurrection and return. The possibility of deception is very real. To be deceived or tricked in verse 4 is the word planese, from which we get our word “planet” or a wandering object. To be deceived is to wander from the truth. Every page of history is blotted with the names of those who deceive. In 70 AD Josephus tells of 6000 refugees who fled into the Temple because of the message of a false prophet who promised salvation. On that day, the Temple was burned by the Romans and they all died. Sixty years later during the Second Jewish War in 133 AD Kokhba made messianic claims. The same phenomena occurs with uncomfortable regularity, from Sun Yung Moon to David Koresh. Others function within the mainstream of Christian culture, but claim special knowledge that reveal how we are to live in these last days. There are those who claim to know a secret code to unlock the Scripture. Verse 24 specifically speaks to watch out for those who not only speak with authority, but who perform signs and miracles as authentication of their position with God. When asked for dates and signs (when and what) Jesus first warns His disciples against people who claim to have them, who claim to be Christ. The first sign that is given: watch out for signs! The answer is that we are to become well-trained in what is true and what is false. The ability to discern truth from error, knowing the authority of God’s Word and trusting its sufficiency is the only safeguard against such error. We must face the future with theological sanity - so don’t be tricked WE MUST FACE THE FUTURE WITH EMOTIONAL STABILITY (Verses 6-8) The first warning is theological, the second is pastoral. Just as we can become misled by false teaching, so we can be manipulated by the hysteria of world events. Not only the reality of war will frighten, but the mere rumble of conflict is enough to send people into instability. While the Dow Jones may fluctuate over the talk of conflict with Saddam Hussien, believers are not to be shaken with fear. Emperor Caligula threatened to have a statue placed in the Jewish Temple, and while this threat was never realized, the people in Jerusalem panicked at the thought. So in our own age the fears of nuclear holocaust caused some of our parents to prepare by building bomb shelters. The effect continues today as rumors, not of armed conflict, but of institutional failure are making their ways into mainstream media. Concerns over the Y2K problem foretell of economic collapse as banks fail, electronic systems freeze and planes fall from the sky. As some computer systems face the inability to distinguish between the year 2000 and 1900, they will be unable to operate. Some have speculated that society will suffer something a good bit bigger than a technological hiccup. Such prognostication of a techno-meltdown comes not just from wild-eyed fearmongers but by people as sophisticated as Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. But this is not the source of fear for many. The greater fear arises when the ugliness of human depravity comes into full force as people are unable to get what they want. As the problem, universal in scope, effects the world economies, some paint scenarios of pillaging, looting, street riots, and burning cities on a scale perhaps never before experienced in human history. The apocalyptic vision has led some otherwise responsible Christians to talk of stockpiling food and arms, of fleeing for the mountains to await the ensuing war which will follow for the few goods that are left. In times of crisis Christians should be the calmest people on the block, caring about those on their block. As nations go to war, the obvious effect of conflict is famine; from famine comes disease. But all this, Jesus says, is just the beginning, the birth pangs. What begins with a twitch, then becomes a sharp pain. In between each contraction there is rest, but that time of rest lessons as the contractions come closer and closer together. The world events will come and go; they are pointers to the inevitable. But like birth, the contractions may take some time before the child is born. They are only an indication of imminence, but not a means to predict the time. It gets worse before it gets better, but it IS going to get better! But on what basis can we have emotional stability when all around us is in turmoil? Notice verse 6: “these things must happen.” The word used there means they are necessary; they are part of a plan. World turmoil is frightening, but we have the comfort that all this is part of God’s plan. Nothing is more effective in bringing us to control ourselves than to recognize that the greatest apparent confusion is restrained by the authority of God. We must face the future with emotional stability - so don’t be terrified. WE MUST FACE THE FUTURE WITH MORAL SOBRIETY (Verses 9-12) Throughout history, the spiritual tricks and political fears are just one aspect of what lies before us. But the contractions get worse when the turmoil enters into the Church itself in the form of persecution. It is one of the things that puzzle Christians in every age that, although they are doing their best to love God and their neighbor and to put love into practice by ministering to whatever needs they discern in those they encounter on their way through life, they are so often the butt of ridicule and the objects of hatred. Many of the earliest figures of Church history were martyrs: Peter, Paul, Stephen, James, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp. Justin Martyr. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote that Christians were the odium generis humani - the hated of the human race. The intolerance bred by pluralism is often the culprit. As all ideas are held to be equally valid, the exclusive claims of Christ become dangerous. This was true in the early centuries of the Church as it is true today. The stubborn devotion to the exclusivity of Christ is scandalous. The discomfort of hatred will drive some who profess to apostatize. Nobody likes to be disliked, yet unfortunately such pressure will force those whose professions are shallow to leave. Some come to faith with a desire to find peace and joy in a difficult world, so when they find persecution, they’ll run as fast as they can. Those who apostatize often are the most bitter and violent persecutors, so that not only is the world against the Church, but now the Church is against the Church. The confusion in the Church will open the door to more false teachers, who in turn continue the pattern of deception, deprecating God’s Law. Lawlessness results in lovelessness. Wickedness (literally lawlessness) does not grow by simple increments, but multiplies. The word for "increase" implies a tremendous jump. Where God’s Law no longer holds sway on people, where people are taught another gospel, love suffers, love for God as well as love for others. When people refuse to submit to law and each person does what is right in his own eyes, moral disaster follows. By definition the lawless person is motivated by personal, selfish concerns, not by any regard for others. So with the upsurge of lawlessness there is a cooling off of love. The one necessarily involves the other. We must face the future with moral sobriety - so don’t be troubled. WE MUST FACE THE FUTURE WITH COMPLETE TRUST (Verses 13-14) Perseverance is necessary in the face of such a future. If we stopped with verse 12 it would be a bleak picture. But in the face of a difficult future, Jesus tells us there is a reason to hope. While the Church may at times be beaten down and face persecution, while it would appear hopeless, God gives grace to endure. God gives saving faith. This endurance is not borne out of a firm declaration or a well-intentioned beginning, but by a trust in a gracious God who strengthens those who are His. The power of God is such that He can and will sustain His faithful servants through whatever trials they may be called upon to endure. Jesus does not so much charge us with watching signs as He charges disciples with sobriety. Jesus does not commission us to be apocalyptic seers, but He commands us to be spiritual and moral long-distance runners. Jesus does not give us supernatural knowledge of coming events but rather supplies us with supernatural endurance. What does this perseverance look like? What are we to be doing? Verse 14: We are not to be passive, counting the days till He comes again, but we are to be active, seeking the lost, telling others about Christ. This is not the ending we would expect. In a chapter filled with horrible news - of wars, persecutions, martyrdom, apostasies, false teachings, lawlessness - we are brought to the conclusions that there is good news to be told. As we know that our Father is sovereign over all the events of our world, that this world’s disorders are ordered by God, we know even more that we have hope to offer in the message of God sending His Son to die for sinners like you and me. We do not squeak out a timid message, but we herald, loudly proclaim wonderful news that the victory is already won. While the battle rages around us, the war is complete, Christ is victorious over our sin, He has died in our place. Death has no power in our lives. What we are to do between the Resurrection and the end? Tell others about Christ! How can a crucified Messiah with a minority Church reach the whole inhabited earth and all its nations? This verse shows that Jesus’s predictions of loss were not predictions of defeat. Utter pessimism is cut off at the pass, at last. A winnowed, persecuted, purged, minority Church - paradoxically - grows. This has been the testimony of history from the catacombs in Rome to the Cultural Revolution in China. The mid-second century Justin Martyr said, “The greater the number of persecutions which are inflicted upon us, so much the greater the number of other men who become devout believers through the name of Jesus." Tertullian said, "Every time you mow us down like grass, we increase in number: the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church." In closing, I would like to illustrate this truth with a true story where those of the next millennium come face to face with those whose lives clearly belong to many millennia ago. It is a story of persecution, of betrayal, of death, but most of all it is a story of proclaiming the gospel as a testimony to all nations. The story began forty years ago when five missionaries made contact with a small Stone Age tribe in the Amazon basin who were then called the Aucas. Jim Elliot, Nate Saint and three other men were martyred on the beach near their plane. But their deaths did not end the story. Their wives and children continued the contact, leading many to Christ. That is the familiar part of the story. But it does not end there. Recently, Nate Saint’s son, who was five when his father was killed and who grew up among the Aucas, more properly known as the Huaorani, returned to the tribe to help them make the spiritual as well as economic adjustments necessary for life in the third millennium after Christ. The tribe often hosts Westerners who wish to learn more about their way of life. Steve Saint, in a recent issue of Christianity Today, tells of one such experience when 34 students from the University of Washington were led on a several-day journey through jungle trails in dugout canoes by several Huaorani men. After settling in, the students and villagers gathered around a campfire and asked Steve Saint, “Where are all these savage Huaorani we’ve read about?” “You’re sitting next to them,” Steve replied As they registered disbelief, Steve encouraged the older members of the tribe to share their stories, to tell the students what happened to their fathers. The first woman spoke up, “He is already dead a long time ago. Having been speared, he died." Her tone of voice suggested any other cause would have been unusual. Others gave graphic detail of how loved ones were impaled. Then Ompodae spoke up; she was an unusually warm and affectionate woman who was a wife and a mother of ten. The students had taken a liking to her. "My father, too," she said, the pain of the memory showing in her expression. Then, holding out her arm, she pointed at old Dabo, who was listening to our conversation a couple of feet away. "He killed my father and almost all of the rest of my family, too. Living angry, he speared them all." Then Dawa spoke; pointing to her aging and gentle husband, Kimo, who was sitting by me, she stated, "Hating us, he speared my father, my brothers, and my mother and baby sister whom my mother was nursing in her hammock. He took me and made me his wife." Our visitors looked genuinely stunned. "How could she live with the man who murdered her family?" one of the young ladies asked. The students began whispering among themselves, and suddenly I pictured the setting from their perspective. They had gotten themselves in a situation where they couldn't travel without a guide. They were utterly dependent for their survival on a group of primitive people that had just admitted to being habitual killers. It occurred to me that they didn't yet know my relationship to the Huaorani. Dawa had just finished telling how Kimo had killed her family and made her his wife. Now I put my arm around Kimo's shoulders and informed them, "He killed my father, too." Silence. At last, the question on everyone's mind found a voice: "What changed these people?" Dawa and Kimo began to describe a life where everyone did as they willed. They explained how they threw babies away when they weren't convenient to care for. They talked about how people begged to be buried alive when they were dying so their spirits wouldn't wander without solace when freed from their decomposing and unburied bodies. One of the Huaorani, a gentle and happy woman, told the group how she had strangled her daughter with her own hands to meet the demands of her speared and dying husband, who wanted his children to be buried with him to keep him company. The one son she had refused to kill was the students' lead guide. Then they explained to the 34 highly educated young people from the most technologically advanced society in history how they learned from the missionaries that the Man Maker sent his Son to die for people full of hate, fear, and desire for revenge. "Badly, badly we lived back then," Dawa said. "Now, walking God's trail which he has marked for us on paper [the Bible], we live well. All people still die, but if living you follow God's trail, then dying will lead you to heaven. But only one trail leads there. All other trails lead to where God will never be after death." Dawa's clear explanation had left her audience spellbound. Now she had a question for her listeners. "Have you heard me well? Which one of you wants to follow God's trail, living well?" There was silence again. Then the seed of Dawa's message landed in the fertile soil of at least one heart as a lone hand raised into the night air. Dawa understood the American student's gesture and joyously clapped her hands. "Now I see you well," she said. "Leaving, we will still see each other in God's place some day." Then she looked around at the others. "Dying, I will never see you again if you don't follow God's trail. Think well on what I have spoken, so that dying, we will live happily together in heaven." (Christianity Today, March 1998) And
so the gospel travels full circle. From the missionaries forty years ago to a primitive
people living in a distant place and time back to the twentieth century. Despite the
terror and turmoil we face, in whatever age and place God places us, we have but one task:
to trust Christ and tell others. |
