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"PUT AWAY THE BOXES" Dr. James
L. Mayfield
Text: Matthew 24:36-44 One of the ancient affirmations of Christians has to do with the second coming of Christ. The liturgy for Holy Communion that is in our hymnal has as one of the congregation's responses: "Christ has died; Christ has risen; Christ will come again." We have some idea of what we are saying when we affirm the death and resurrection of Christ, but what are we talking about when we declare: "Christ will come again"? This affirmation is one of the consistent affirmations of orthodox Christianity from the earliest writings of the New Testament to the present. But what does it mean to affirm Christ will come again? There is strong evidence to support the view that among the very earliest followers of Jesus, there was a strong expectation that within their lifetime, the risen Christ who had ascended into heaven, would return to judge the living and the dead, to separate the faithful from the unfaithful. Eventually that generation realized the second coming of Christ was not going to happen within their lifetimes; however, they did not abandon their affirmation; they continued to believe Christ would come again; they just did not know when. And they began to focus on their memories of Jesus saying something like what Matthew quoted Jesus as saying in the passage we read: "You do not know (when) your Lord is coming; ... therefore, you must be ready (all the time)." Across the centuries, some men and women, have made the second coming of Christ, the central and primary focus of their faith and their Bible study. It appears they have believed or felt that if they could figure out when Jesus would return and what that would look like, then somehow, having that bit of information would enhance their faithful living or improve their relationship with God. It appears that every generation across the centuries has had persons who have treated the Bible as if it were a coded message from God that could reveal all the major events of history to whomever could crack the code. Usually these people have focused on the semi-poetic, obscure passages -- especially in the Book of Daniel and in the Book of Revelation. They have devoted hours, if not lifetimes, to the effort of trying to decode what they are convinced is secret, hidden coded messages from God about the second coming and the end of the world. And within most generations there have been a few individuals who have claimed to have done broken the code and announced a date when Christ would come again and when the world would come to an end. For the last two thousand years, they have all been wrong. I do not view the Bible as a code book from God that we have to struggle to decipher. I understand the Bible to be a library of books written by different inspired human beings at different times and in differing circumstances. These authors and editors tried to express as best they could with their limited vocabulary and their limited concepts, their best understanding of God's activity in life and of our human response. Finally, people of faith from across the centuries have come to discover, through the proof of faithful living, that these writings are "Holy" because they contain "The Word (the Message) of God." Having this view of the Bible, it appears to me that those who treat the Bible as if it were a coded message from God designed to give those who break the code special favor and future telling powers, are, at best, wasting their energy; and at the worst, they are misguided and even arrogantly attempting to do what Adam and Eve tried to do when they succumbed to the temptation to try be like God by knowing what only God can know. But then, who has not been guilty of the same thing? Who of us has not wasted time on efforts that distract us from living as the Gospel proclaimed in the Bible teaches us to live? And who of us has not at some point tried to be like God, and even made claims about what God will do or will not do, as though we really know what God knows and can declare to others what God will do. It is a long standing temptation for us humans to try to limit God to being and doing only what we can understand. It is as if we try to contain God in a little box we have constructed with the words we know and the concepts we have. It is a very ancient temptation, this temptation to tuck God comfortably and safely inside boxes small enough for our minds to handle. But God is too big for our little boxes of concepts to contain. One of the constant revelations about God in the Bible is that God is continually surprising us humans. Throughout the Bible (and throughout our lives, if we have eyes to see) God continually challenges our preconceived notions and ideas about what God will do and when and where and how. I have a friend who says: "Another name for God is "Surprise!" God is more than our minds can contain, and when we try to limit God to what makes sense to us and what we can easily understand, we misunderstand life; we mislead ourselves; and we distort our living. It is time to put away all our little mental boxes when it comes to trying to comprehend God and the ways of God. So, what about the second coming of Christ? Just as there are those who want to work out some type of formula for predicting the day and hour of his coming, there are also those who want to toss the beliefs about the second coming into the same wastebasket we have tossed other beliefs that once seemed relevant but no longer make sense -- such as beliefs that the earth is flat and that the sun revolves around the earth. While I think it is a wrong headed, waste of precious time trying to identify when the second coming will be and what it will look like, I am also unwilling to declare the ancient affirmation that Christ will come again to be an outmoded, irrelevant belief that should be discarded as excess baggage. So, how do I understand the second coming? To me it is an affirmation that the story does not end with Easter or even with Pentecost. There is more yet to come. More of what? More of Christ is yet to come. But what can this be? I assume the second coming will not contradict what has already been revealed in Jesus -- especially the amazing, awesome love of God. This love is a tough as well as tender love. It is a love that expresses itself in both judgment and mercy. And just as it was a surprise for Jesus of Nazareth to have been the long awaited Messiah, the way God's grace enters our lives is often a surprise; in fact it is such a surprise, it is not unusual for not to be able to recognize the activity of God in our lives except in hindsight. All this being the case, whatever the second coming is about, it has to do with the realities of God's love, -- God's judgment or tough love as well as God's mercy or tender love and the unexpected ways God's love comes into our lives. The second coming has to do with us humans being unexpectedly confronted by God's judgment -- God's tough love -- and with our being comforted in surprising ways by God's mercy -- God's tender love. There is a sense in which each time we are unexpectedly confronted by God's tough love or surprised by God's comforting, tender love, we are dealing with Christ coming into our lives once again. But the affirmation of the second coming has to do with more than our experience of the presence of Christ in our lives. The affirmation about the second coming is a affirmation dealing with all of human history. It is an affirmation dealing with God's final acts in the drama of redemption. All of the teachings about the second coming of which I am aware have to do with God's mercy will be extended to all who will accept it, and God's justice will hold accountable all who reject God's mercy and ignore God's will. As I see it, our affirmation of the second coming is our profound affirmation of hope. Our affirming the second coming has to do with our confidence that God will ultimately reign -- regardless of the way things may appear at the present time. Although Easter has happened and victory over sin and evil has been declared, the warfare still goes on. The second coming is the affirmation that one day the war Easter has declared God to win will ultimately be finished. God's triumph will one day be final. Justice will be done, and at the same time mercy will be generously granted. What will all this look like? When will it come to pass? I do not know. And if the passage we read is accurate, no one knows, not even the angels, not even Jesus, only God the Father. And so, we will be wise to follow the advice Jesus gave his followers in the passage we read, and live less concerned about when the second coming will happen or what it will be like, and to focus our attention on being sensitive to the surprising presence of Christ in our lives and responding in faith and faithfulness to God's tough and tender love. God, keep us from the futile effort of trying to put you in a box we can handle. In this Advent season, help us be alert to the surprising ways you confront us with judgment and comfort us with mercy and enable us to respond with faith and faithful living. Amen. Pastoral Prayer: Let us thank God for the gifts and blessings we have received. We have come here with a variety of concerns and problems. Let us ask God for guidance and help. God, help us make good use of this Advent season so that we are able to receive the Christ who came, who comes and will come. Heal our spiritual blindness so that with eyes of faith we are able to see the ways Christ comes into the world and enters our lives. Forgive us when our preconceived opinions and notions cause us to be insensitive to the coming of Christ. Forgive us when we allow our fears and worries to blind us causing us to be unable to see your grace at work among us. Forgive us when we are so focused on what we want, we refuse to pay attention and learn what the Christ who came and comes is trying to teach us. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, make us sensitive to various and surprising ways Christ comes into our lives today. In this special season of preparation, open our eyes so that we see what must be done in our living for us to become the persons you intend us to be. Help us make the changes you see we need to make. This we pray in the name of the one who came, who comes and who will come. Amen.
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