Good morning… welcome to Monday… today’s reading is Matthew 24:1-35. It’s a long passage in which Jesus addresses the ‘signs of the end of the age.’ Or “what will happen before the end of the world and Jesus returns.” I do not have time to even begin to do this passage justice, just to say that the overriding message in a time of chaos is “trust God, stay faithful.” If you stay tuned to the end you can hear the reading in full.

REFLECTION:

In light of the message “trust God and stay faithful” let’s read v12-13 together.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

The truth is that we live in a world that is not the way God intended it to be. It is broken, it is dysfunctional, it is hard and often cruel.

Jesus says that even though he came, he lived, he died, rose again, went back to heaven and poured out the holy spirit on his people… it is not going to get better… in fact it is going to get worse! Wickedness will increase…

Well thanks Jesus! and thanks Alan for your podcast this morning! Very encouraging!!

But here’s where the rubber hits the road. In life there will be battles… but “the one who stands firm until the end will be saved.” This raises one question… how do I stand firm? Do I head out into the street after breakfast, place my hands on my hips, feet shoulder width apart, chest out, stomach in… and stay that way until dinner, standing firm?

No, of course not! So how do I take my stand? Well, v.12 gives us a big hint: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold…”

Jesus is talking about our hearts. Will we let the cold wind of this life slowly turn our hearts to stone or will we stand firm and refuse to let that happen? Will we daily trust God and stay faithful?

You see, God has given us instruction to keep our hearts warm and to stop them growing cold. It’s a simple instruction but it is hard to do and keep on doing… We are to FORGIVE.

When we get bumped, knocked, scolded and bruised, the one thing that stops us from growing cold is FORGIVENESS.

We must FORGIVE. There is no other option, there is no other action or remedy, we forgive.

BUT WHAT ABOUT…

Stop right there kiddo… all of our arguments… all of our objections are answered by Jesus asking one simple question, “do you trust me?” If the answer is ‘yes’ then we will do what he asks us to do having faith that he knows a little bit about what’s best for us.

Let me remind us of the story of Corrie Ten Boom. Her family had hidden Jews in the attic of their family home to save them from the Nazis in WW2. They were discovered and the family sent to a concentration and then a death camp. Miraculously she survived but her father and sister died. After the war she returned to Germany where she spoke powerfully of the need to forgive. And then, one day she came face to face with an extremely mean and brutal member of the SS. After she had spoken he came forward, stretched out his hand and asked for forgiveness… here is her account:

And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion–I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.

“Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

“I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!”

Today I ask that God would search our hearts, to show us where our hearts have grown cold.