Oh Lord, Are things Getting Worse?              Week 5 in series:(Sermon: 2.07.10; Wellspring Church; Rev. J. Moschenrose )

Matthew 24:1-14  

Last week many of us were reassured by the reminder of God’s promise to someday return to earth and bring forth a new heaven and a new earth.  At that time God will dwell with His people, and all people will be reconciled to God and each other in perfect harmony.  God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things will have passed away.  In the book of Revelation, John describes his vision of the mind-boggling beauty of the New Jerusalem – a city in which the roads are lined in gold, the city gates each made out of a single pearl.  The radiance of the city will be like a very rare jewel.

This vision that John describes in his revelation is in direct contrast to life as experienced through much of Biblical times, though.  Today’s reading from the Psalm alludes to this fact.  “Don’t worry about the wicked – don’t be envious of them – they will soon be gone.  Instead, do the opposite – trust in the Lord, take delight in the Lord, commit your way to the Lord, be still before the Lord.  Because the Lord will take great care of you – you will be secure and content.  Don’t fret – don’t be anxious about the bad guys – they will get theirs in the end.  Worry and anxiety leads only to evil – don’t get sucked into and held in bondage to that!”

This Psalm makes us realize that way back thousands and thousands of years ago, just like today in our world, there were people who got away with murder and evil and bad behavior of all kinds.  Life seemed grossly unfair to the righteous people, those who followed God’s ways.  But all along the way, from the beginning to the end of the Biblical narrative we are reminded that someday God will reign justice on all.

Much of what we experience in life does not appear that way though, does it?  Sometimes it seems as though the more conniving, deceitful, manipulative a person is the more they prosper; the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  Bank executives and their affiliates get millions of dollars in bonuses and the poorest nation in the western hemisphere suffers unspeakable tragedy.  And the rich white televangelist stands up there in his expensive clothes and proclaims that justice has prevailed.  Someday it will.  Someday it will.  The Bible promises this, and the Word is trustworthy and true.

Do you think things are getting worse?  Many people think so.  People have always thought things were getting worse, though.  Throughout Biblical times religious people linked wars, cosmic battles, famines, earthquakes, and other catastrophic events with the end of the age. Scholars say that even Jesus thought the end times were near.  In the Gospel of Matthew chapters 24 and 25 and Mark 13 Jesus is quoted as saying, “Keep awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” 

Fortunetellers and fools have been guessing the day and hour ever since!   As Brett Younger notes in a journal article titled, “The End of It All, “William Miller said it would happen in 1843.  His followers, the Seventh Day Adventists, have [since] adjusted their schedule.  Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, predicted the apocalypse would be in 1914.  They also have postponed the end of the world”….1

And remember Hal Lindsey’s 1970-era book, “The Late Great Planet Earth” ?  How about the year 1999 - Y2K?  How much food and water and money did you store away, “just in case…” ?  There are now entire websites dedicated to tracking how close to the end times we are.  I became intrigued with the “Rapture Index” at raptureready.com this week.  According to their website,

“The Rapture Index has two functions: one is to factor together a number of related end time components into a cohesive indicator, and the other is to standardize those components to eliminate the wide variance that currently exists with prophecy reporting.

The Rapture Index is by no means meant to predict the rapture, however the index is designed to measure the type of activity that could act as a precursor to the rapture.

You could say the Rapture index is a Dow Jones Industrial Average of end time activity, but [the author] thinks it would be better if you viewed it as a prophetic speedometer.  The higher the number, the faster we’re moving towards the occurrence of pre-tribulation rapture.”2

 The Rapture Index lists and thoroughly discusses forty-five categories in which they assign a score of one to five.  Topics such as the occult, false prophets, Satanism, floods, earthquakes, plagues, unemployment, interest rates, liberalism and civil rights are some of the categories.  The total score ranges from the “slow prophetic activity” zone of below 85 to above 145 (“fasten your seat belt” – the end time is very near).  This week the index was 164. 

Yes indeed, people, things are getting worse, according to those who are keeping close track.  And people have always thought this to be the case.  Younger comments, “The silliness surrounding the Second Coming seems as outdated as hand-written letters and real country music.  Good church members are tempted to ignore the Second Coming altogether.”3 

And yet, Jesus talked about the End Times to a significant extent.  Before we toss out or dismiss the Second Coming entirely, we need to remember that “…while many of the answers we have come up with are foolish, the questions that started it all are not.  [Questions such as] ‘When history finishes, what will be left?’  ‘Will evil continue to win?’  ‘At the end of it all, will God be there?’”4

It was these questions that Jesus wanted to answer.  You see, Jesus knew that his disciples were in for very difficult times ahead.  Between the time of his crucifixion and his glorious final return, his followers would be persecuted, beaten, tortured, and abused in every way, many dying for their faith.  So he wanted to be sure they understood the answers to the questions that would plague their minds and our minds during these difficult times.

Let’s read some of his teaching as it is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24 beginning with verse 1.  As we read, keep in mind that the Temple that Jesus is talking about being destroyed was one that was so spectacular it could have been in John’s apocalyptic vision.  Herod the Great had rebuilt the temple, and it was the most beautiful, magnificent building in the world.  Josephus, an early church historian, wrote that the exterior of the building astounded the mind and the eye.  Josephus notes that the exterior was covered “…on all sides with massive plates of gold, the sun was no sooner up than it radiated so fiery a flash that persons straining to look at it were compelled to avert their eyes, as from the solar rays.  To approaching strangers it appeared from a distance like a snow-clad mountain; for all that was not overlaid with gold was of purest white.”5

So we can imagine how strong and secure the Temple was in the minds of the Jews.  To which Jesus says: (READ MT 24:1-14)

Many of us have lived through wars and rumors of wars.  Just this week we’ve been told repeatedly that AlQaeda will most certainly attempt another attack upon the US within the next 3 months.  How would Jesus respond? He would say, “See that you are not alarmed.  Do not be troubled.  For this must take place, but the end is not yet.”  We’ve also lived through nations rising against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms, famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of what we must go through.

People in Jesus’ time suffered terrible persecution, and we rarely experience anything like that here in America.  However, I receive quarterly reports and frequent email alerts from a group called “Voice of the Martyrs”.  This group defends religious liberties, and according to their records, more Christians have been killed for their faith in the last hundred years than all previous centuries combined.  The stories are frightening – in many countries the mere fact that you are Christian, or have been seen with Christians, are married to a Christian or are caught with a Bible, can result in your being apprehended and raped, tortured, imprisoned, and ultimately, murdered. 

Yes, these are times when all of the things Jesus spoke of have happened and are happening.  Jesus warns that such tribulation will result in some people falling away from the faith.  False prophets will come along and lead many astray.  Because of the increase of lawlessness, the love for God that many have will grow cold, and they will turn away.

The question for you and me today is this: Is Jesus describing you?  When you see or experience bad things, over and over again, and no one corrects the evildoing – when God seems silent, when his protective angels seem to have vanished or turn on you, will you respond by turning away from God?  When false prophets who have endless money reserves, live lavish lives, and sound great on television, promise that if you follow them by sending them your money that you too will enjoy endless prosperity, will you do so?

Or will you follow Christ as written in the Biblical record?  Will you endure to the end?  Will you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength?  Or will you be a slacker and just try to get along?  Will you help to proclaim the Good News of Christ everywhere you go?  Will you put your trust in God, trusting God to take care of the bad guys – we don’t have to worry or fret and be consumed by anger over what they do.  This is what the Bible tells us to do during these times of birth pangs, before the end comes and God reigns fully on earth.  Let’s pray for strength. And perseverance. And love, trust, and hope, so that we might live as the people God has called us to be.  Let’s join together in prayer. 

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