What We Believe: the Second Coming

18 August 2019

Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56

The Revelation is filled with all sorts of what can best be described as incomprehensible images.  What St. John wrote is as mysterious as it is often confusing.  There are probably scads of books one can buy to “decode” the Second Coming as described in The Revelation, but at best these “decodings” are speculation based on individual interpretation. 

It has been suggested by some that if I were to draw a picture of these images according to how I understand them, it will likely look nothing like what someone else may draw according to their own understanding.  It is the same thing with sermons.  A Methodist perspective may vary greatly from a Baptist perspective on any given subject.  It isn’t about who is right or wrong.  It is entirely about approach and, perhaps, expectation.

The “Left Behind” series was popular among certain Christian groups and it was fascinating for me, but the books were the authors’ imaginations according to how they interpret The Revelation.  Whether events will unfold exactly the way they are described in the books and movies remains to be seen. 

Oh, we can argue endlessly about a particular passage and its meaning, but in the end the best we as the United Methodist Church can offer is this: “We believe all stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ, both now and in the Last Day.  We believe in the resurrection of the dead; the righteous to life eternal and the wicked to endless condemnation” (2016 Book of Discipline, Article XII, ¶104, pg 76).

Very generally speaking, then, the United Methodist Church does not devote too much attention to what the Second Coming will look like; we only know it’s coming.  And though it will certainly be the Day when the “sheep are separated from the goats”, as our Shepherd has taught us (Matthew 25:31-46), the United Methodist focus is more on the here-and-now, inviting people into the flock, teaching them to trust the Good Shepherd.   This is so when that Time is upon us – and it may already be - we may navigate it faithfully and fearlessly … together.

Referred to as “practical divinity”, we believe Divine Grace can be experienced, understood, and reckoned now in the several means of grace so we may enable others to share that experience and so order their lives.  It is that experience which is truly transformative, life-changing.  It is when we learn to “die to self so we may rise in Christ” – NOW, not later.

So the United Methodist emphasis is not on what will be, just as Jesus taught that “tomorrow will have enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).  We believe the Gospel of The Lord and the grace which flows freely through Christ is what is now and which gives meaning and Divine purpose to everything we do. 

Even in the early days of the Methodist movement, the emphasis was on Christian living.  Though one could enter into a Methodist society simply by a desire to “flee from the wrath to come”, the emphasis was – and still must be – on living a life devoted to holiness, growing in faith and in love, “going on to perfection”.  Following and imitating Christ the Shepherd.  Building communities of righteousness by holding one another accountable.  Doing no harm.  Doing good.  And staying in love with God.  

This may all be part of the reason why I have a particular disdain for wanna-be-clever church marquees that express such thoughts as, “If you think it’s hot here …”, or “Stop, drop, and roll won’t work in Hades”.  Some have expressed concern that the Church does not talk about Hades enough or sin enough, that we have become too tolerant and lax to the point of giving license, or at least tacit approval, to careless and haphazard living. 

I may be inclined to agree … but only to a point.  And when that point becomes more about living in fear of the future than about living in faith in the present day, we’ve taken it too far.  Many of the so-called “nones” and “dones” have said as much; hearing very little of Promise but plenty of threats.

This leads to the Church’s perpetual dilemma.  How can we talk about the practical usefulness of a disciplined approach to Christian living through the Means of Grace (prayer, fasting, Scripture study, worship, Sacraments) without talking about consequences?  Our readings for today (Isaiah 5:1-7 & Luke 12:49-56) seem to be entirely focused on consequences, on what some have called “or else” theology; i.e., “Get right with God or else …”  The consequences of failing to heed The Lord’s Word.

Yet when reading our passage from The Letter to the Hebrews, particularly verses 35-38 with graphic illustrations, much of what this “great cloud of witnesses” had endured is not only unspeakable horror; it is also unimaginable that we should aspire to live as they did. 

Yet not only did the “pioneer and perfecter of our faith” live under that dark cloud of mocking and threats of violence until the violence finally caught up with Him, our Shepherd saw through all that; and “for the sake of the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God”.

It is a quandary, to be sure.  When there are the promises of blessings in the midst of such violence, it is very hard to make sense of “present salvation” when our surroundings never change.  Jesus spoke often of the intense and often extreme challenges of following Him, yet He also invited us to trade our own self- and culture-imposed yokes for His and receive “true rest”.  What I think our Lord is inviting us into is that certain and steady Path, “the Way” to the Father which is not subject to varying interpretations.  It is an invitation to be certain that come what may, our Shepherd has already been there and done that, and is now sitting in Glory.

A lot had to happen before Jesus was compelled to make that long walk to Calvary; so it must be that a lot must happen for us AS we make our own long walk to our own Calvary.  Yet we are assured that, even lacking “perfection”, the blessing is found in the earnest effort.  For it will be that when The Lord returns to restore His Kingdom and gather His people unto Himself, even if His faithful are found face-down in the mud and being trampled by the world, He will draw us up.

The Second Coming is not a threat; it is a Promise, an assurance to those who freely choose to follow Him.  Come what may, it is our Lord’s invitation to trust that He is “with us until the end”.   Amen.