Matthew 24:3-14, 1 Peter 1:3-9, 13-17
The world’s going crazy! Have you noticed? In all my life I have never seen the world in this kind of mess: from war in Ukraine to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Cold war tensions are rising between Russia and the West; there’s civil war in Syria; simmering tensions continue between Palestine and Israel, Pakistan and India, North and South Korea and China & Japan; and, probably the most concerning of all, is the rise of Islamic State.
Governments the world over are desperately trying to contain the violence and maintain ‘business as usual’ in the name of stability. But for so many there is no stability. Their world has been – or threatens to be – turned upside down and inside out. And of course we can’t shut it out and ignore it because these things are now no longer just happening “over there.” It’s happening everywhere, even in places one wouldn’t have expected – like Canada and Australia. Too close to home for comfort.
Jesus’ take on it
None of these events should be a surprise to those who study the Bible. Jesus made it clear that before He returned we would “hear of wars and rumors of wars … Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places … then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 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” (Matthew 24:6-14).
In this prophetic chapter Jesus describes these things as “the beginning of birth pains” and He also gives some good advice to His followers: “see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.” It’s easy to watch what’s going on in the world and be fearful but Jesus encourages us to be faithful. In Luke’s record of Jesus’ sermon he writes, “So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!”
Pray
Is there anything we can do? Yes, we can pray. I recommend praying using 1st Peter, a letter written to help persecuted Christians to cope, as a guide.
Stick together
Another appropriate action is to draw closer to one another. Jesus said we would need to look out for one another. He predicted that many will turn away from the faith or simply grow cold; but the faithful will read the signs of the times and stand firm and strong. As Jesus encourages us, “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning” (Luke 12:35). This is a timely reminder to us all. It’s so easy to allow our Christianity to become an optional extra. I hear all the time from Christians how they’re “too busy to gather with believers” or “it’s just not a priority for me at the moment” or “I’ll come soon when I’m free” or “I just sit at home these days and watch on live stream.”
Well good luck with that because as times become more intense and challenging, the gathering of the believers will need to become a greater priority in order to keep our lamps burning bright. The writer to the Hebrews wrote this two millennia ago: “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” A friend of mine used to say, “We have to hang together – else we’ll hang separately.”
Pastor Mark Howell put it this way:
In community we can know and be known.
In community we can love and be loved.
In community we can forgive and be forgiven.
In community we can challenge and be challenged.
In community we can celebrate and be celebrated.
In community our joy is doubled and sorrow is halved.
In other words – “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning.”
Risk
Pray, optimise community, and risk. Last week I said we are to find out where Jesus is working and work there with him. There’s often a risk in that. But then risk is our business and risk is our calling. John Piper puts it like this in his book, Risk is Right:
“Every follower of Christ is more than a conqueror. This is the promise that empowers us to take risks for the sake of Christ. It is not the impulse of heroism or the lust for adventure, or the courage of self-reliance, or the need to earn God’s favour. It is simple trust in Christ – that in him God will do everything necessary so that we can enjoy making much of him forever. Every good poised to bless us, and every evil arrayed against us, will in the end help us boast only in the cross, magnify Christ, and glorify our Creator. Faith in these promises frees us to risk and to find in our own experience that it is better to lose our life than to waste it.”
Jesus never promised that life would be easy. Joyful, yes; easy, no. In fact, if any one of us is taking it easy then we are not ‘dressed ready for service and our lamp’ is flickering, about to go out. That doesn’t mean we have to complicate life or make things hard for ourselves; it means we have to follow Jesus, live the life of a disciple, alert and obedient to the Lord, whatever that entails.
[With thanks to Rob Buckingham, senior pastor of Bayside Church, Australia, for much material for this sermon.]