Christ Will Come Again
In a little over a week we will celebrate a birth. We will celebrate the birth of a baby born to a peasant couple in an out of the way place in an out of the way corner of the world. Yet, we know how profound of an event that birth was.
In that birth God came into the world in a powerful and special way telling us that we are loved more than we will ever know. In that birth God offered grace and salvation to a fallen and broken world. We celebrate the birth because it was the birth of Jesus.
The rest of the story is known to most of us. Jesus lived among us and revealed to us both by his teaching and example God’s will for our lives.
We know that there were those threatened by Jesus’ message and they responded by killing him with Jesus being nailed to a cross.
We know that Jesus triumphed over evil by rising from the grave proclaiming to the world that the power of love is greater than the power of sin and that God offers salvation and eternal life to all. We also know that Jesus has promised us that he will come to earth again to bring God’s perfect reign of justice and righteousness upon the earth.
Indeed the future coming of Christ to earth is one of the central teachings of the Christian faith. The creeds used in worship by my denomination speak of this teaching. Our communion ritual speaks of the “mystery of faith,” stating, “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.”
Many have tried to pinpoint when Christ will come again and when the world will end.
The year 999 is referred to in the history of Europe as the year of terror because so many feared the world was ending as the year 999 morphed into the year 1000.
In most of our lifetimes we saw some of the same fears as the calendar flipped from 1999 until 2000. I recall in the year 1988 I received an unsolicited book in the mail which was entitled “88 Reasons the World Will End in ’88.” I was actually a little miffed because I didn’t get this book until October.
Of course we know the world didn’t end in the year 1000 or 2000 or 1988. In fact, the teaching of scripture is fairly clear in saying that the timing of the event is unknown to humanity.
I wonder if we will recognize Christ when he comes again. After all, God surprised us when Christ came the first time.
Very few persons were looking for a baby born in a stable to be the Savior of the world. The scriptures say only a few folks recognized the event when it happened and I wonder if we cannot expect something similar the second time around.
Regardless of how the event unfolds we are left waiting. We know that Christ has come into the world. We also are waiting on his coming again. The question for us is what do we do while we wait?
Perhaps that question is best answered by asking another question, “If you knew the world would end tomorrow what would you do?”
Some might answer that question by saying they would take the opportunity to seek forgiveness from someone they had once wronged.
Parents might take the opportunity to show their children one more time how much they love them. Children might take the opportunity to thank their parents for all they’ve done for them.
Spouses might take the opportunity to embrace each other one more time. Some might avail themselves of the opportunity to let go of a grudge or say goodbye to some bitterness.
Allow me to ask one more question—if those things are important enough to do if the world was ending tomorrow are they not important enough to do anyway?