2011 05 22 The End, But Which One?
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16,1 Peter 2:2-10, John 14:1-14
Well…this past week certainly has been an interesting one. Interesting…and busy. For me…I had a compass group meeting and youth group on Tuesday. I was gone Wednesday for personal reasons, Thursday, I planned worship for today, tried to plan a few things for this summer, spent time with the air conditioning and fire extinguisher people, met with a couple about a wedding, and had Bible Study that night. Friday, more summer planning, sermon preparation, all topped off with a meeting to learn about the air conditioning system. Saturday…rummage sale. I think my wife needed a picture to remember what I looked like. Sorry Hon, that it was such a busy week.
And of course, all throughout this, there was that tiny little thing about the world coming to an end. By the way…is anyone missing? You see… the big deal was that a pastor/church leader by the name of Harold Camping had predicted that Jesus would return to collect his faithful followers yesterday at…what was it? Six o’clock? Camping has been a numerologist studying the significance of numbers in the Bible. According to his studies, the Rapture would occur at 6:00PM, Saturday, May 21, exactly 7,000 years after the Lord had shut the door on the Ark as recorded in Genesis 7:16.
It is quite remarkable that the Gospel passage for today comes from John 14. In the passage before it, Jesus had told his closest disciples that he must leave them. He told them that he would be betrayed to the authorities, suffer, and die. Of course, their hearts were broken. The disciples were losing their teacher…their leader and friend.
So Jesus gives them these words of comfort. John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Harold Camping is right. In his search through the Bible, he knows what we already know. Jesus died, was resurrected, ascended into heaven, and would one day come again. Yes, Jesus will return to the earth in glory to collect his followers. Mr. Camping was wrong about the when.
Matthew 24:36 and Mar 13:32 tell us that 36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Literally, God alone knows when it will happen. In my opinion, there is absolutely no reason to be concerned about when Jesus will return. However, Matthew 24:44 reminds us to be ready when he does. “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
I’m going to pull a Forrest Gump on you and tell you, “That’s all I got to say about that.” Harold Camping was wrong about the time, and there’s sense trying to figure it out anyway.
I mentioned earlier that Wednesday, I was gone for personal reasons. Over the weekend, I received news that the mother of a good friend of mine had passed away. Her name was Theresa Finnucan, but I just knew as Mrs. Finnucan. Her son, John and I had been in pretty much all the same high school classes, ran around in the same group of friends, and probably got in the same trouble together. We even took driver’s training at the same time. I could probably tell you some stories, but it’s probably best I stop right there.
In all honesty, I didn’t know Mr. and Mrs. Finnucan all that well. I had been in their house on many occasions, but it’s not like you hang out and talk much with your friends’ parents. “How is the stock market doing? “Did you have a good tennis match today?” “What do you think about the peasant uprisings in South Africa?” These are not the type of conversations teenagers actively engage themselves in.
Really, that’s too bad. It was not until her funeral Wednesday that I learned of her faith. Her Catholic faith was real in the witness she set for her children. She attended Mass every Sunday and was a person of great kindness, compassion, and generosity. Her son, Jimmy, spoke at length of how she was the example for all these things in his life.
The Priest spoke with great certainty as to how we will be able to meet her in heaven. You see, John 14 is a passage that is frequently used in funerals. I know because I have used it many times myself. I feel that in our society we have a truly awful view of death. Death scares people. We want to know how, when, and where it will happen. It is the great unknown, and we don’t like not knowing. We want to know what is on the other side of that door. Is it the end? What happens when you die?
I don’t know exactly what happens. But I can tell you that I am not afraid. I am not afraid of death. Why? Because I follow Jesus. In John 14:2, he has told us that he is preparing a place for his followers. Death is not the end. In 14:3, he said that he would come back for us and take us to where he is. I know that for some this still might seem too simple, too crazy, too…I don’t know what. It was too much for even some of Jesus’ followers then.
4 You know the way to the place where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
It is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that created and gave life to our universe in the first place. To go to the Father, is to go to the source of life, not the source of death. Jesus is the way to the Father. Jesus is the giver of the Holy Spirit. I guess that maybe death is the end, but it is not the end that we’re thinking of. We see death as the point where everything stops. But Jesus tells us that it is where everything truly begins.
But in this passage, we can tell that the disciples are still having a tough time wrapping their minds, and their hearts around this whole concept. Now Philip chimes in in verse 8 "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus is almost incensed at this point. 9 "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?
Again, we have a messed up view of death. Death is when your heart and your body stop working. They stick you in a box, and they stick you in the ground. Death is anytime…anytime when our hearts are not living for the Lord. You can walk the earth and have all of your bodily strengths and abilities. You can have your thoughts and mental faculties, but if we are not following Jesus Christ, we are just as dead as a stone.
Jesus did not just die so that we could remain in death. Jesus died and rose again. As we die in him in baptism, we rise again in faith. He has offered us new life while we are still walking, talking physical entities. In other words, in Christ we can be alive today…REALLY alive today. Jesus wants to make a different in our lives today, so we can make a difference in the lives of others.
When in verse 11, while he was still dealing with Philip, he said,
11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Think about all the things that Jesus did. Think about it for a moment. Jesus said that WE can do those things. Even greater things too. GREATER THINGS! If Jesus is calling us to follow him, we need to be praying people. We need to ask him for the power, gifts, and abilities that will bring glory to him and to the Father. Lord, I need better ability to preach and give you glory.. We’ll get it it. Lord, I need courage to share my faith with others who don’t believe. We’ll get it. Lord, I need the focus to dedicate my time, my money, my possessions, and my life to you. If we ask him…we will receive it. If something…anything will bring glory to God, and we ask him for it. Jesus will give it to us.
This is the kind of death we all need to have, not just a death that will give a place in heaven, but death to ourselves…death to our desires…death to sin. We can give these things to Jesus. He‘ll take them. They have been bought by his blood and crushed beneath the weight of his cross.
1 Peter 2:4 As you come to him, the living Stone-- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Once we give him our sin, death has no hold. Jesus gives us a life, a place, a power, and a purpose. "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Harold Camping got his predictions wrong. But I think of Mrs. Finnucan, and I think she got it right. Death is not the end…just the beginning. She lived that life through her faith here on earth, and she now has an even sweeter taste of that life in heaven.
Rest in peace, Mrs. Finnucan.
