Readings for today: Isaiah 59-61, 1 Thessalonians 4
Hope seems so elusive these days. The world is groaning. Our nation is struggling. Our communities are hurting. Our churches are dying. People we know and love are suffering. I think of the families of those who have lost loved ones over the past 18 months to COVID. I’ve spent time with many of them. Listening to them share their grief. I think of the families of those who have lost loved ones to suicide recently. I’ve spent time with many of them as well. Listening to them share their pain. I think of the people I know who’ve had to shut down their businesses due to the lockdowns or supply chain issues or lack of a steady workforce. I’ve listened to them share their frustrations. I think of the people I know who can’t find work in their field anymore because of all the changes that have taken place. I’ve listened to them share their fears. I think of the pastors I know who’ve watched their churches be torn apart through divisions over masks, vaccines, politics, social/cultural issues, etc. Stunned by the lack of grace among the people of God, they feel paralyzed and isolated and question their call. It’s heartbreaking and soul-crushing and if we aren’t careful, we will fall into despair.
We are not the first to face such things. We are not the only ones weighed down by such burdens. The early church suffered greatly as well. They too knew hardship and pain. They were intimately acquainted with death and disease. They understood what happened when economies crashed and nations failed and divisions threatened to tear them apart at the seams. Most of Paul’s letters are written to churches who were struggling with all these things and more. They too found themselves on the brink of despair. That’s why I find his words so comforting this morning…
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
We do not grieve as those who do not have hope. We do not suffer as those who have no salvation. We believe Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. We are not fighting a losing battle. We are not engaged in a war that will never end. We are not doomed to wander in the ruins of this world with no escape. There will come a day when the Lord Himself will descend from heaven. He will sound the trumpet of God. With the voice of an archangel, He will issue His glorious command. The dead in Christ will rise. Those who are alive will join them. Together they will ascend to meet the Lord to celebrate His return just as the Roman citizens used to rush out of the city of Rome to meet their victorious generals as they returned from conquest. As Christians, we are to keep our eyes fixed on the horizon. We are to pray continuously for the Lord’s return. We place our ultimate hope in Jesus not technological advance or scientific research or political compromise or social policy or homogenous community or military might or cultural hegemony. He alone will set all things right. He alone will make all things new. He alone will wipe every tear from our eye and put an end to all evil and sin and suffering and pain. Fix your eyes on Jesus, friends, and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same.
Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 62-64, 1 Thessalonians 5