David Bahn - Reflections

THE END has not yet come...or at least it hasn't come if you are in fact reading this now. Paul has just laid out the calling to love sincerely, speak truthfully, and serve faithfully. Now he says, say awake the whole while. Don't go to sleep at the wheel. The End will come. We wait for it not in a sad attitude of fatalism, but wide awake with anticipation and hope. We wait for it anticipating a glorious day when we will be with Jesus forever. Come, Lord Jesus!

One day Jesus will return, with all his angels. The "cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God" signals his return in victory over all the forces of evil. Immorality will see it's sad, sad end. Slavery of every kind will be abolished. Forgotten and ill-treated will be restored. Those who suffer will be comforted. Those who have held true to the faith will be vindicated. The dead will be raised. We, too, will be caught up into the clouds. We will all be with Jesus in eternal joy, praise, glory, celebration, and delight.

We may face fears as well. Who gets in? How will I survive the Last Day if I'm still alive? How will I die? How will I make it through this valley of the shadow of death that I'm walking because of the loss of my spouse? How will I ever be forgiven for succumbing to temptation? These are all real fears. But Jesus has promised to be with us through them all. He died for our sins. He was raised for our justification. And because we believe we can take hope and comfort in being with him now and forever, and with our loved ones who have died in the faith when Jesus returns on the Great Last Day.

Truth be told: death hurts. Truth be told: death does not have the final say. Truth be told, we'll likely need to relearn this again and again until we are with Jesus and all the saints. Truth be told: Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4). Truth be told, Jesus will never break that promise.

Paul urges us to comfort one another with these words. Sometimes we may wonder whether or not we will make it into the presence of God almighty. We may carry great loads of guilt over past sins. We may struggle against formidable temptations as we seek to live faithfully under Christ in his kingdom. We may wonder whether we're worthy of joining all the saints.

Recently a friend forwarded a link to a sermon clip by Alistair Begg. It's a real winner. It's a clever portrayal of a supposed interview between the angels in heaven and the thief on the cross. They are questioning him about how it was that he would come to be with them in heaven. After some questioning the thief finally says, "The man on the middle cross said I could come." Jesus has said we can all come through faith in him. That's our entry into the glory of all the saints. We're all there on the basis of his righteousness, not our own. We will be with the Lord forever.

We don’t live with the same sense of the imminent return of Jesus. It’s been so long now, many of us can’t imagine it being that close. This afternoon at 3:24? Next Friday at 1:00 AM? Whenever it will be I want to be ready. I take comfort that I don’t need to imagine it all. I just need to believe in Jesus. And I do.

Jesus calls us to abstain from sexual immorality, love one another near and far, and to live quiet, respectful, and productive lives. Such lives would stand out against the ways of the world in Paul's day. They would make us stand out today as well. Jesus has saved us so that we can stand out, and by such a life gain a hearing by others.

What might we tell them? That God is love. That he has saved us. That he wants us to live in love toward him and one another. And that an eternity of joy awaits those who put their faith in him. So says Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world. His word is gold.

Our lives as followers of Jesus is to be different, but not merely otherworldly. We are to be good citizens. We are to add value to our neighborhoods. We are to bless our friends. We are to attach our hearts to the hope of the life of the world to come. But this is not to be at the expense of living life fully engaged in this world.

It doesn't have to be heroic. But we are called to be faithful in common ordinary ways...to the praise of God and the blessing of our neighbor, and in anticipation of being able to give witness to God's love for us and for all people in Jesus.

If we are doing what God calls us to do we will live differently from the world. Our love will look different. We will refrain from sexual sins. And for that we may be ridiculed. Others may take advantage of us. In those moments we may be reminded of Jesus' life, suffering, and death.

And when we encounter people who are not living in that way, we can point them to Jesus, his love, sacrifice, resurrection and promise of forgiveness. That is a remarkably different kind of love, thanks be to God!

You are not called to do or don't so that you're good enough to be saved. You're not. Neither am I. But God is gracious enough to save us. And he has. Jesus has come, forgiven our sins, and promised us eternal life. When we sin we repent. But we live this kind of life so that..."people who are not believers will respect the way you live." We do that so that we might gain the opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus with them. And that good news isn't do or a don't. It's a done. It's all been done by Jesus. And we do need to share that with others.