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02.22.09

Transfiguration of the Lord

SERMON SERIES: QUESTIONS FOR GOD

SERIES 2: WORSHIP, PRAYER & ETERNAL LIFE

PART 4: WHEN WILL JESUS COME?

ISAIAH 2:1-5; MATTHEW 24:36-51

Procrastination

Saint Expeditus

There’s a name of a saint on the Roman Catholic registry of saints that has been little known until recently, but, more and more, he is increasing in popularity

His name is Saint Expeditus
There’s little known about this particular saint, but recently he has been developing a cult-like following
What we do know about him is that he was probably born in Armenia at an unknown date and that he was a Christian martyr

But there’s an interesting legend about him

A shipping crate was delivered from Rome to a convent of French-speaking nuns in Paris
The crate contained a statue and the relics of a saint, but the nuns were uncertain to which saint these relics belonged
Their only clue was a marking on the crate, E SPEDITO, which means “special delivery,” but which translates into French as “expedite,” and into Latin as Expeditus
Assuming that these relics were the remains of this little known saint, the nuns dedicated a chapel to him

An 18th century painting of him depicts him as a Roman soldier holding a palm leaf in his left hand and raising a cross in his right hand

On that cross is inscribed the word “Hodie,” meaning “today,” and his right foot is stepping on a raven that is speaking the word “Cras,” meaning “tomorrow”
Saint Expeditus is the patron saint of procrastinators, invoked to bring an end to their procrastination
He is also the patron saint of emergencies, quick solutions, merchants, and most recently, computer programmers and e-commerce
He is especially popular in Brazil, where there’s a chapel dedicated in his honor, where people go to pray for quick solutions to serious problems
There’s also a famous statue of him in New Orleans, where he enjoys a great reputation for “expediting” spiritual favors

Procrastination and 21st Century Culture

Procrastination is a serious issue in our 21st century culture

While it’s a practice with a longstanding history, it really took root in American culture during the Baby Boomer generation
As a Baby Boomer myself, we have often been characterized as a generation that lives for the moment
We want what we want when we want it; we are constantly seeking instant gratification
And while we have been characterized as people who live for the moment, one of the drawbacks of that has been that many of us aren’t very good at long-term planning
We often focus on the minute details and fail to look at the bigger picture

Baby Boomers have, in essence rewritten the old adage “Why put off till tomorrow what you can do today?” to read “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?”

The focus of that generation, and the generations that have succeeded it, has been on having fun and seeking pleasure rather than planning and working for a meaningful future
By living life for the moment, many have put off important life decisions like planning for retirement, buying life insurance and preparing a will
Many of us are busy trying to get as much pleasure out of life as possible and spending our children’s inheritance

This attitude also significantly influences how people view the church and deal with issues of faith

Church is for people who are getting along in years and who are approaching death
Faith is the means by which old people get into heaven when they die, but there’s no need for faith when you’re young and enjoying life
Since death is a far-off event that we hope somehow we can avoid, there’s no need to think about it or talk about it or prepare for it
So there are many in our culture who put off preparing for where they will spend eternity until the last minute
But sometimes death comes upon us suddenly, and if proper preparations aren’t made in advance, it may be too late to think about eternity
It’s no wonder that Saint Expeditus is growing in popularity since we always tend to look for a quick fix on everything and procrastinate about the important decisions in life

Preparing for Christ’s Return

The Delay of the Second Coming

This issue of procrastination directly relates to the question we are dealing with this morning: “When will Jesus come?”

For centuries, people of both the Hebrew and Christian faiths have found hope in the vision of the prophet Isaiah
This vision is one of what life will be like in “the last days”
For the Hebrews, “the last days” was the phrase used to describe what was so often referred to as “the day of the Lord”
Hebrew theology divides all time into two ages or days: there is the present age and there is the age to come, and in between these two ages there was “the day of the Lord”
That day would be a day of tremendous upheaval when God broke through into human history to destroy the wicked and save the righteous, and it would be a day of earth-shattering proportions
On the other side of that day, there would be this peaceable kingdom which Isaiah describes, and the ones who were faithful to God would live in this kingdom forever

As Christians, we, too, place tremendous value on this vision of the peaceable kingdom

We look forward to the day when everyone will worship and serve God
We look forward to the day when everyone will live together in peace and harmony
We look forward to the day when there will no longer be the necessity nor the desire for war, and instruments of destruction can be transformed into tools of prosperity and peace for all
As Christians, we associate this peaceable kingdom with the second coming of Jesus Christ
It’s Christ’s return that will inaugurate this reign of peace forever

Because we look forward to this glorious day—a day when all of our problems, sicknesses, and even death itself—will instantly disappear, it’s no wonder that we are anxious for this day to arrive

The second coming of Jesus has been a popular debate topic ever since the day of his resurrection into heaven
The disciples believed that Jesus would return during their lifetime
When that didn’t occur, the first century church believed that his return would occur during their lifetime
Yet, here we are, 21 centuries later, and we’re still waiting

As a result of this long delay, there have been many over the centuries who have accused God of being guilty of procrastination

In light of the many horrific events that have occurred in human history--the warfare that continues to rage, the illnesses that have claimed the lives of so many of us, the natural disasters that have ravaged this planet time and time again, and the violence that continues to erupt all around us--many of us wonder why God doesn’t step in and fix everything that’s wrong with our planet
In light of all that has happened, we rationalize, “If God really cared—or if God really existed—God would do something to clean up the mess we’re in”
How often we pray that God would step in and clean up the mess we’ve made of human life
How often we tell ourselves that life would be so much easier for everyone if only Jesus would return

Even the apostles had to deal with this charge that God was slow to respond to the needs of humanity

They were the ones who heard Jesus make this promise, and they looked forward to his second coming with great anticipation
As the days and weeks and months and years drew on, and Jesus didn’t return, they were left to deal with people’s rising doubts and fears
In response to this grave concern about the day of Christ’s return, Peter has this to say: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9)
In these words, Peter tells us most clearly why Jesus has not yet returned: God is delaying Christ’s coming again for as long as possible so that everyone has the opportunity to believe and be saved

Another common reaction to this delay of the second coming is to try to predict when that day might finally occur

There have been multitudes of “prophets” over the centuries who have predicted that Jesus would return on a specific day and at a certain time, based upon their limited understanding of the Scriptures and their inaccurate reading of “the signs of the times”
Each an every one of those predictions has been wrong, confirming the words that Jesus himself spoke in our Gospel lesson today: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
How blasphemous it is for us to claim to know or even presume to know information that even Jesus wasn’t privy to himself

Preparing For The Second Coming

Jesus’ words in this passage have several things to say to us regarding his second coming

First of all, Jesus says very emphatically that it is not our place to know what God has planned, nor is it our place to worry about when his return might occur
Earlier in this Gospel, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us about the folly of worry: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25)
Since he has instructed us not to worry about life in this world, it also makes sense for us not to worry about life in the world to come
As an antidote for worry, Jesus admonishes us to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6: 33)
In these words, Jesus gives us the proper attitude we must have as we look forward to his return: We must seek God’s kingdom and righteousness above all else

Secondly, since Jesus tells us it’s not our place to speculate or worry about when he will come again, he also tells us what it is that is our place to do

What we must do is live each day as if Jesus is coming today
We must always be prepared for Jesus to return at any moment
In the days of Noah, the population of the earth perished because they did not expect the flood to come
Only Noah and his family were prepared because they lived their life in expectation, and they took the time to prepare before the flood waters began to rise
They were spared because they lived seeking the kingdom and righteousness of God

So Jesus’ words to us to “keep watch” are prudent ones, but he offers this advice not for us to sit idly by and do nothing

Instead, we are to be like a wise servant who is diligent in doing the work of his master while the master is away so that there is nothing left undone when the master returns
In other words, rather than worrying about when Jesus might return, or waste our time trying to predict when he might return, we must busy ourselves with the tasks Jesus gave us to perform during his absence
We must busy ourselves with loving others as he loves us, with showing compassion for the weak and needy, ministering to the sick, working for justice, proclaiming the good news to all, training others in discipleship
All of the things that were important to Jesus must be important to us as well, and if we are busy doing the work of the Lord on a daily basis, we will have no need to worry when the time finally arrives for Jesus to return

We cannot procrastinate about making the decision to follow Christ ourselves

We cannot procrastinate about doing the work Jesus has commissioned us to do
If we put these things off, then we won’t be ready when Jesus comes, but if we are diligent and faithful, Jesus could come today and we would be ready

For centuries, people waited for God to send the Messiah into the world at his first advent

For centuries, they prayed for God’s salvation
Yet, God waited until the time was right, and when all was in readiness, Jesus was born
The same is true with the second coming
When the time is right, Jesus will return, according to God’s time, not ours
When the time is right—when God has allowed ample time for all peoples to believe, and we have done our part in spreading the Good News of Jesus so that all might have the opportunity to believe—then and only then will Jesus return
In the meantime, we must be busy doing—we must be busy living faithfully—we must be busy living as if today could be the day