Do the Next Right Thing

Readings:
Malachi 3:19-20
2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
Luke 21:5-19

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We’re nearing the end of the church year. Advent is just around the corner, and the message today is about Christian eschatology, which refers to the final days and the return of Christ. This is a heavy subject, so I will start with some levity. I couldn’t help but think of it, we’re also nearing the end of the semester where I teach. On the last day of class I tell students, “well, I hope you liked this class, but if you didn’t, look on the bright side: it’s over now.”

Christian eschatology, talking about the end times, the final judgment, is a difficult subject. Among different churches and scholars, there are different ways of interpreting the texts in the Bible that describe these events. One thing we know, because it’s part of our faith, is that this will happen. This is something that is going to happen. Our creed, which we will say after the homily today, the Nicene creed, includes the following: “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.” That’s part of our confession of faith. That is part of our faith. Christianity is very much a historical faith, centered around historical events, both in the past and in the future. Every Sunday, we talk about the life, the ministry, the passion, and the death of Jesus. We talk about His resurrection at Easter. We talk about His ascension after that. These are historic events that actually occurred. Today, we’re talking about future historic events, the return of Christ and a final judgment. These are very important things for Christians to reflect upon. I think this is part of the take-away from today’s talk – I get this from a psychologist, Carl Young. He was not talking about the final judgment, but he was talking instead about the end-of-life. We all experienced this and, as we grow older, it becomes more real to us. As I’m in late middle age now, it’s much more real to me, eventually my earthly life will be over. What he said about that was, it’s the end-of-life that gives our lives meaning, because we know we’re not going to live forever. It’s important what we do today. Our lives take meaning in the present, because we know they don’t last forever. I want to think about that in the context of what do we, as Christians, think about eschatology, about the final judgment and the return of Christ.

We hear about this in today’s readings. The first is from the Old Testament. Malachi, chapter 3. Malachi is one of the minor prophets and this is the last book in the Old Testament. He is writing after Jews have returned from their exile in Babylon. They come back to Judah, they’re home again, but the people have lived among pagans for a long time, and they adopted some of their moral laxity. They weren’t following the faith that they had been taught by their ancestors, and by their holy books. The priests were not doing right. They were not leading the people properly. They people weren’t supporting the temple properly. And Malachi writes of a future judgment and he writes of it in very powerful terms. “Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evil evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch.” This very powerful imagery. It means that something really scary is going to happen. Something really terrible is going to happen. What do we take from that? Well, what we take from that – it matters what we do now. That is what God, through Malachi, is telling the people. The way you live now, both the priests and the people, is very important. Think about how you’re living. Mend your ways. Live in accordance with your faith now. That’s what’s important – in the present. But we don’t know when this is going to be. Malachi certainly doesn’t tell us.

And Jesus underscores the fact that we don’t know when this is going to happen. He says this in multiple places in the Gospels. One of them, we look at today. This is from Luke, chapter 21. The people are talking about the Temple, look at all the beautiful things on the Temple, the beautiful stones, and so forth. Jesus says, all of this is eventually going to be thrown down. There will come a day when all this worldly stuff that we’re familiar with is going to be swept away and replaced by something new. The people ask Him when is that going to happen? How will we know when this is going to happen? Jesus doesn’t say. Elsewhere, Jesus says, nobody knows, but the Father. Only the Father knows. He doesn’t give them a direct answer, but He does tell them something very important. He says, there will be bad things that are going to happen. There’ll be wars, and rumors of wars, and insurrections, and all kinds of terrible things, but that doesn’t mean these are the last days. People may say, look at all the terrible things happening, this means these are the last days. Jesus says, it doesn’t mean that. He also says, people will come after Him, claiming to be Him, and claiming these are the Last Days, and that they are the risen and returned Christ. He says, don’t believe that. What He’s telling them is, you’ll know when this happens. You’ll know. You’ll know when this is happening. He does say, too, that you will be persecuted for being Christian. People who are Christians, in those Last Days, will be persecuted for it. But what does He tell us about how to deal with all this? The uncertainty about the future and the potential for being persecuted in our lives? He says the way to handle it is to trust God. He says, “remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself should give you wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” By our steadfastness in our faith, by our trust in God, we will be okay. We will be okay. Even if our bodies are not okay, we will be okay. Our eternal souls will be okay. Jesus will take care of that. So He’s saying, trust God. In all this uncertainty about the future, trust God. We don’t know when, but we do know this from Jesus. He’s saying, trust God.

Our Epistle today, I think, is particularly helpful in telling us what to do now, in view of the fact that eventually there will be an end of time as we know it. The world will someday be vastly different than it is today. This is from 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3. Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica, a Greek city. There the people had become convinced – and this was very common in the ancient church – that the end times were upon them, that this was about to happen immediately, in their lifetimes. Paul is telling the people, you shouldn’t live that way. People were trying not to care. Like, well, the end is here, what should I care? I don’t need to take care of myself. I don’t need to do my duty to anything. I just need to wait for things to happen. Paul says, no! He says, keep doing what you’re supposed to do. In particular, he’s talking about the ordinary business of life. Paul, like priests in the Independent Old Catholic Church, was what’s called a tent-making priest. That is, he had to support himself by ordinary labor, and he always did that. What a great example he set for the people. He could’ve lived off of other people, but he didn’t. He chose to work at a common craft, making tents. He says, that’s what you should do. He says, be productive, keep doing your duty, whatever that is. Do what you’re supposed to do. Live the way that you’re supposed to live. As I reflect on what he says here, overall, his message is this – and it’s a common saying we sometimes hear – keep doing the next right thing. Do what God wants you to do. That’s how you will be prepared for whatever happens in the future. Again, Paul, like Jesus, and like Malachi, is telling us what’s important is what we’re doing in the present. That’s how we can be prepared for anything that comes to us in the future. They’re giving us a guide to life: live in accordance with God’s will for us, do our duty to others, and do the next right thing.

Amen.