Sermons from Moorpark Presbyterian Church

When God Steps off the Stage

by Dave Wilkinson

Titus 2:11-13

November 28, 1999

Some years ago Woody Allen wrote and directed a movie called "The Purple Rose of Cairo." The movie tells the story of a woman during the Depression who goes to the movies every day -- trying to escape from the dullness and despair of her own life. The movie theater has become her world, her reality. The characters are her closest companions. She is so intimate with their dialogue that her lips move right along with their lines.

But one day something strange happens. Right in the middle of a perfectly predictable scene, one of the characters makes a radical departure from the script. He does a double take, squints out into the darkened theater, and looks directly at the woman. "You must really love this picture," he says. "You've been here all day."

She is flabbergasted. This isn't supposed to happen. The dialogue she knows by heart is all wrong. She has to think of something to say. Then the truly unthinkable happens: the character steps off the screen. People around her start screaming and fainting. The proscenium -- that imaginary plane that separates the stage from the audience -- is hopelessly broken. And the borders of this woman's reality are impossibly blurred. Nothing will ever be the same.

It is amazing when the impossible becomes the possible. It is also a miracle. This is the miraculous meaning of Christmas — that God Himself steps off the stage into our own lives. He breaks the barrier that has separated us from Him. Suddenly the borders of our reality are impossibly blurred.

Scripture says that God will actually break the plane twice. The first break was in Bethlehem when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The second break will be at the Second Advent — when Jesus will return to bring history as we know it to its decisive end.

On this first Sunday of Advent it is very appropriate that we focus on this Second Advent — especially as we approach a New Year and a turn of the calendar that so many have invested with tremendous meaning.

In Titus 2:11-13, Paul writes about this Second Advent

(Read Text)

Today let us look at why this hope is called the blessed hope. We’ll do this first of all by looking at the need.

You may have heard about the two guys, both in their mid-thirties, named Charlie and Leroy. Neither of them had ever held a steady job and their mother was getting on them: "Get a job or get out of the house!" As they thumbed through the classified ads in the local paper, they saw an ad for a team of truck drivers. They quickly reasoned that if they had to get a job, to be on a truck driving team is better than most jobs because the half of the time you're not driving you can be up on top asleep. So they decided to apply for that job.

The man who interviewed them saw that their potential was somewhat limited but he needed another team of drivers. So he decided to engage them in a hypothetical situation. He said, "Charlie, imagine you're driving the truck and Leroy, your brother, is asleep. Charlie, your truck is loaded down with produce. You are going down a steep mountain when all of a sudden your brakes fail. You try your emergency brake and that fails. You try to gear down and you strip all your gears. Now, without any mechanical means of stopping, you are accelerating 80...90..100...110..120...130 miles per hour. Now, at that rate the road suddenly narrows into one lane and goes over a one lane bridge. Coming down the other way -- you see another truck coming toward you that seems to be in exactly the same situation you are in. At that point. Charlie, what do you do?"

Charlie's instant reply was, I'd wake up Leroy."

The employer asked, "Why, at a time like that, would you wake up Leroy?"

Charlie replied, "Well, sir, Leroy ain't never seen a great big wreck."

Sometimes life seems that way. We read the papers and it looks like we're heading for a great big wreck. There seems to be no way to avoid it and we might as well make the most of the disaster at hand.

It may be that the wreck will come from nuclear war. With the collapse of the Soviet Union that seems less imminent. But more members have been added to the nuclear club -- some of them, like North Korea, not all that stable. The danger of terrorists getting the bomb has

dramatically increased. We'd like to believe that nuclear war couldn't happen because it has never happened yet. But it would only take once. On the market right now is a $14.95 book called nuclear war, survival skills. You'll be glad to know that it comes with a money back guarantee.

Some propose an alternative to the bang theory which might be called the "whimper." The whimper occurs when the downward curve of non-renewable energy sources and food production intersect with the upward curves of pollution and population growth. According to a 1972 report released by a study group called the Club of Rome, this intersection will come sometime in the 21st century -- in the lifetime of children, grandchildren or great grandchildren. Then, human society as we know it will end, not with a bang but with a whimper -- starvation, riots, wars of survival, the collapse of organized government and the rise of anarchy and chaos. This is the apocalyptic vision of movies like "Escape From New York," and "Escape From Los Angeles."

Some propose that this whimper prospect is much too pessimistic. "Don't worry" they say, "if we run out of metals we'll use plastics. If we run out of gas, we'll use solar energy. If we run out of farm land, we’ll harvest the sea." Personally, I like this approach but I also doubt it. The sea itself is dying and we are rapidly burning up the petroleum needed for plastics and fertilizers in our cars.

I feel a bit this morning like Charlie talking to Leroy saying "Wake up! You don't want to miss the big wreck that's going to happen!" And that is all that I would be doing if it were not for one overwhelming fact -- God's promise that the world will end neither in a bang or in a whimper or in a Y2K meltdown but in Christ -- that this created world will be renewed as we will be renewed at the second coming of Jesus. With the Apostle Paul writing to Titus, we "look forward" not to destruction and decay, but to the "blessed hope and the appearing in glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus."

In the course of this morning's sermon, I would like to ask you two questions. Think about each question for a few moments and frame your answer in your mind.

The first questions is: If you knew for a certainty that Jesus Christ was going to return at 12:01 on January 1 of the year 2000 -- that’s 34 days from now -- how would you live between now and then?

Different people have responded to this question in a variety of ways through history. It’s a dangerous question. The nuts are out in force once again. You may have read how the State of Israel as been deporting groups of so-called Millennial Christians from the U.S. and Canada. These Millennial Christians are looking to hasten the second coming of Christ with a few well placed bombs. When the year 1000 A.D. rolled around, thousands of Christians in Europe eagerly awaited the return of Christ. Hundreds of pilgrims journeyed to the Holy Land to stand on the Mt. of Olives -- to be there when Jesus arrived. In 1524, a German astronomer and preacher named Stoeffler predicted the return of Christ after God flooded the world "as in the days of Noah.' His parishioners dutifully built rafts and arks. But when the waters didn't rise as Stoeffler had predicted, they threw him in a pond. In 1844, a group of followers of William Miller stood waiting for Jesus on a hilltop -- dressed in flowing white robes. It was out of this group that the Seventh Day Adventist Church was born. About 10 years ago, a group in Garland, Texas started a giant blimp. They are going to sit out the Battle of Armageddon which they have scheduled for May 5 of next year.

The second coming and all of the events of surrounding the end of the world are among the most intriguing and dangerous subjects in all of scripture. This fascination to Christian theologians and lay persons is in many ways like the beautiful songs of the sirens of Greek mythology which had the unfortunate effect of luring sailors to their deaths on sharp rocks. Witness the apparent inability of many persons who profess to believe every word in the Bible to believe Jesus' words in Matthew 24:36 that no person can know the day of the hour of his return --or else they don't actually identify the day or the hour but are pretty sure about the year and the month.

Despite the difficulty we find in agreeing on the specifics of the second coming, there are some things which can definitely be said about this event. The first definite observation that can be made from Scripture is that the second coming will not be secret. When it happens, everyone will know about it.

Remember Jesus' words in Matthew 24:"Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ or there He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. If therefore they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go forth, or 'behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them. For just as the lightening comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be."

There are groups around today which claim that the second coming has already occurred and that they are the only ones that know it. The Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, claim that Jesus returned in 1914 -- not as a physical being but as a glorious spirit creature. The Unification Church, or Moonies, claim that Sun Myung Moon is the second coming of Christ. He is called the "Lord of the Second Advent.'

This is interesting but very contrary to scripture. When it happens, we'll all know it.

The second definite observation that can be made from Scripture is that the Second Advent will not be like the First. When Jesus came to earth the first time, He came as a humble servant.. When He returns He will come as a conquering king.

As Amos 5:18 states, for much of the world the Day of the Lord -- the day that Christ returns -- will not be a day of light but a day of darkness. They will look upon Christ and, as Matthew 24:30 declares, the peoples of the earth will morn.

This is nothing for those who are in Christ to worry about. We are joint heirs with Christ and, as Romans 8:1 declares, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. John, in his letter, assures us that we can have confidence in the day of judgement. For we have received mercy from God through Christ Jesus. Our relationship to the final judgement is that same as that of Jesus Christ.

The day of Christ's return will be a day of rejoicing for those who have known Christ in this life. They know that they will continue the relationship of love begun in this life and, as Paul expresses in 1 Corinthians 13, have the supreme joy of knowing God even as God has known us.

The day of Christ's return will be a day of rejoicing for those who have sought to do justice in the world. In a day when the problems of war and racism and hunger seem so large and our ability to change things seems so small, knowing that Jesus is coming back gives the assurance that things will finally come out all right.

At the beginning of this sermon I asked the question: 'If you knew for a certainty that Jesus Christ was going to return at 12:01 this January 1, how would you live between now and then?

The second question is : "Why should we be living any differently now?"

When John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church was asked how he would live if he knew that Jesus was coming back the next day, he responded by outlining for his questioner his schedule for that evening and the next day. He would have dinner with so-and-so, preach in such-and-such a place and read such-and-such a book. Wesley answered this way because he was comfortable that he would not have cause to be ashamed by what he planned to do if Jesus returned and found him doing it. He realized that it was much more important for Jesus to find him at his work than to find him on a hilltop in a while sheet.

The Bible actually has relatively little to say about the mechanics of the Second Coming. But it has much to say about how we should prepare our lives in anticipation of the event.

The first action to be taken in preparing our lives is to know Jesus Christ. The Bible says "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." If we want the day of Christ's return to be a day of light and not a day of darkness, we must know Jesus in this life.

The second element of our preparation for the second coming is to use the gifts God has given us for ministry. God has given each of us talents and abilities to use in His service. It is not a matter of little consequence to God or to His church if you do not exercise the gifts God wants to give to His church through you. To the extent that we fail to use our gifts in the ministry of God, we harm our fellow Christians and weaken the ministry we have been given.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a parable of a man who goes away and gives gifts to his servants to be used for the Master's benefit. Two of the servants make wise use of their gift but the third servant does not invest it at all. When the master returns, he calls the third servant a "Wicked and lazy slave. He takes away the gift he had been given and throws him out of the house into the

darkness.

The Holy Spirit gives each of gifts. He does not give abilities for no purpose. They are there to be used. If you knew that Jesus was coming back tomorrow, how would you use your gifts? Why should you use them any differently now?

The third element of our preparation for the Second Coming is to expect it -- not to be like the servant in the parable from Matthew 24 who said to himself: "My master is not coming for a long time -- so he began to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards." Jesus declared that the master of that slave will come on a day when he doesn't expect and at an hour he does not know and shall cut the wicked slave in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. Jesus said several times, "be on the alert for you do not know the day or the hour."

There was a song recorded years ago by the rock group "Chicago", which asked the question: "Does anybody really know what time it is?" The answer to that question is "No." Even if Jesus were not to return for a hundred years or for another thousand years any one of us could experience our personal end of the world at any time.

One trouble with waiting until the eleventh hour to make a radical commitment of discipleship is that we never can know which hour is the eleventh hour Don’t assume that just because the calendar roles over to January 2 without incident that you are home free. And this is completely apart from the fact that we miss the abundant life Jesus came to give us on earth. We might think that the world has a long time left or that we have a long lifetime left but we can never know. We might think that its 9:30 in the morning when it's really 30 seconds to midnight.

Jesus is coming back. May He find us ready.