Sermons from Moorpark Presbyterian Church

We’re Still Here! Now What?

By Dave Wilkinson

Matthew 24:1-14

January 2, 2000

We have a tendency to fall in love with anything new. We forget there is a downside to everything -- even exotic technology. Take computers. It’s not just Y2K. The magazine, The Lutheran, tells about a church secretary in Ohio who was preparing a funeral service for a woman named Edna. The previous funeral at the church was for a woman named Mary. So the secretary simply called the earlier worship form onto the computer screen and used the search and replace function to substitute "Edna" for "Mary." Imagine how disturbed the pastor was when he noticed that the Apostles' Creed, which the congregation recited during the funeral liturgy, now included the line "...born of the Virgin Edna."

We like just about anything new -- and that includes a New Year -- and a new millennium. This is my first new millennium and so far I think it’s neat.

I understand that the Japanese have an interesting way of keeping track of the passage of time. Each time a new emperor takes the throne, the calendar starts all over again at "Year One." For example, in 1990 Japan's emperor Hirohito had been in power for 66 years, so it was year 66 on the Japanese calendar. That's not true, of course for the West. The coming of Jesus Christ signaled a break with the past -- darkness became light, despair became hope, condemnation became grace. As William Barclay puts it, "Even the calendar tells us that with the birth of Jesus Christ history started all over again." So this is not "year one" or even "year one hundred." Rather it is the two thousandth year of our Lord.

And yet there is a sense in which, because Christ has come into the world, this year is potentially "year one" for each of us -- year one of a new life -- year one of a new beginning -- year one of a new creation. A new year offers the promise of starting over. That's a word of hope.

In Matthew 24 is Jesus teaching about the end of the world. All we can say for sure at this point is that yesterday wasn’t it. In His teaching, Jesus doesn't give the disciples what they or we want -- a neat time table or check list by which they can calculate either the time of the destruction of the temple or the time of the end of the age. Instead Jesus gives them, and us through them, a baffling list of signs which tell us He is on the way but which do not allow us to fix the time He will return.

By this list of signs, Jesus calls us to a way of life -- a lifestyle.

This life style is expectant. We should be aware that our Master is returning and, in that awareness, seek to carry out His will. This obedience will involve us in the great work of evangelism, the ministry of social justice and in the great fellowship of His body which is the Church. And in our obedience we will find ourselves becoming more and more, as Paul says, "conformed to the image of Jesus Christ." Since we are to be like Christ when He returns, we are exhorted to get about the business of becoming like Him in the here and now.

As Ray Stedman puts it in his work on Matthew 24, "The intensity with which we love His promised coming is the revelation of the degree to which we are now experiencing His presence. The hunger you feel to see His face is directly proportionate to the present enjoyment you have of His presence."

That is certainly a good summary of the lifestyle for the end times -- or for any time. But in Matthew 24, Jesus calls us to more. He calls us to endure and to do much more than endure. He says: "But the one who endures to the end will be saved and this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come."

Do you see what Jesus calls us to? In the face of trouble — as we see things falling apart — we are not to withdraw into our foxholes and cover our heads. We are to go on the attack. We are not called to just react to the future. We are called to take charge of the future in the name of Jesus Christ in the confidence that He is winning the victory.

When Mike Kollin was a linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, his former college coach, Shug Jordan of Auburn University asked Mike to do some recruiting for him. Mike said, "Sure coach. What kind of player are you looking for."

The coach said, "Well Mike, you know there's that fellow, you knock him down, he just stays down?" Mike said, "We don't want him do we, Coach?"

"No, that's right. Then there's the fellow, you knock him down and he gets up but you knock him down again and he stays down."

Mike answered, "We don't want him either, do we Coach?"

Coach said, "No. But Mike, there's a fellow, you knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up."

Mike said, "That's the guy we want, isn't it Coach?"

The Coach answered, "No. We don’t want him either. I want you to find that guy who's knocking everybody down. That's the guy we want."

That's the guy God wants -- not a person who goes around knocking people down but the person who takes charge in a time of turmoil in His name — not just a survivor but a doer.

At the age of twelve, Robert Louis Stevenson was looking out into the dark from his upstairs window watching a man light the street lanterns. Stevenson's governess came Into the room and asked what he was doing. He replied, "I’m watching a man cut holes in the darkness."

In Matthew 24 Jesus speaks a lot about darkness -- false prophets, falling away, wars, famines, increasing wickedness and fading love. Then, at the climax of all of this He says: "And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world; and then the end will come." As the darkness gathers, Jesus promises that the Church will carry forth the great job of cutting holes in the darkness.

One of the themes of this year’s Fifty Day Spiritual Adventure that we begin seven weeks from now is how we can make our lives and our homes into lighthouses for sharing the good news of God’s love. That’s a very important emphasis for us to have. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3 , "Every person' s work will become apparent in the day of Christ's return because "the day will disclose it. "We need to be aware that history is heading toward a destination and that we are called to make the most of the time and the place in history we have been given -- cutting those holes in darkness.

A poem by a woman named Annie Johnson Flint expresses the perspective of the New Testament people of God.

" It is not for a sign we are watching...

For wonders above and below

The pouring out of vials of judgement,

The sounding of trumpets of woe;

It is not for a day we are looking

Nor even the time yet to be

When the earth shall be filled with God's glory

As the waters cover the sea;

It is not for a king we are longing

To make the world-kingdoms His own;

It is not for a judge who shall summon

The nations of earth to his throne.

Not for these, though we know they are coming;

They are but adjuncts of Him,

Before whom all glory is clouded,

Besides whom all splendor grows dim.

We wait for the Lord, our beloved,

Our Comforter, Master and Friend,

The substance of all that we hope for,

Beginning of faith and its end;

We watch for our Savior and Bridegroom,

Who loved us and made us his own;

For Him we are looking and longing;

For Jesus and Jesus alone."

Jesus said, "therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming -- for this reason, you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Keep ready!

To be ready for the coming of Jesus means to be growing close to Him. When He comes, will you be meeting Him as a virtual stranger or as a close friend? When He comes, will he find you seeking a more intimate relationship with Him? It may be presumptuous for us to consider that we might be the last generation. But, then, it may not be. After all, some generation will have to be the last. A long time of preparation may be followed by a sudden fulfillment.

But until that day, whenever it comes we wait. And in our waiting Jesus has given us this table — this bread and this cup -- as a foretaste of the fellowship we will one day enjoy with Him and with each other in the age which is to come. In a very real sense, this table, and our presence here together is a dress rehearsal for eternity.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that we do not need to wait until some future day to know the glory of Your presence but can experience it during every day that we live. But we pray in this time of waiting and watching that you will teach us how to cut bigger and bigger holes in the darkness. In your Name, amen.