The End Is Near. . . Or Is It?
Rev. Eugene N. Nelson, Jr.
The Community Church of Sebastopol
April 27, 2003
Luke 12: 35-40; 17:20-24
Following World War II, a most curious religious expression developed among primitive peoples in the South Pacific, most notably in New Guinea. Anthropologists have called it, “the cargo cults.” During the war, once isolated jungles were briefly touched by modern civilization. Military access was necessary. So temporary landing strips were carved out of the jungle, supply depots erected, and there was a great influx of men and equipment.
As you can imagine, it was all a great wonderment to the people who lived in these obscure regions. They had never seen anything like it – great noisy birds with men inside, descending from the sky and delivering the most glorious of gifts. The military personnel, in order to insure tranquility and maintain good relationships with the various tribal groups, shared food and material with these people. Imagine if you had never before looked through binoculars or listened to a radio. Needless to say, the life of these native peoples was profoundly changed, their expectations awesomely enhanced. Then, as fast as it had come, it was over.
The great birds from heaven went away and never came back again. The men and the wondrous gifts they brought came no more. The jungle quickly began reclaiming the brief marks of western civilization. And before long, a new religion began spreading among the jungle people – the cargo cults. They venerated the relics of the great heavenly birds, turned broken aircraft parts into shrines and worshipped them. They worked diligently at holding back the jungle from the now deteriorating landing strips. An entire liturgy of prayer and theology of expectation was created.
Marvelous stories were told about how the gods once brought wonderful gifts from heaven. Stories were passed on to children and then to grandchildren. And they were taught to live in anticipation of that day when the great birds would come again, for surely they would. The present was irrelevant. They lived for the future, each day praying, “Come again, come again.”
Let me ask you this: is it too wide off the mark to compare the curious religion of the cargo cults with those Christians today who are insisting that the end of the world is near, that we not far from Armageddon, the final violent struggle that will precede the second coming of Jesus, who will punish the wicked and snatch his followers up into the air to be with him for all eternity? None other than Jerry Falwell has said, “I do not expect my children to live out their full lives.” And indeed, the war with Iraq seemed to spark new interest in predictions of the end, even within the White House.
Not long ago here in Sebastopol there was a heavily advertised series of presentations that promised to describe in detail how the world is going to come to an end…sooner rather than later. And I am sure that many of you are familiar with the hugely popular Left Behind series of novels, whose basic plot is that true believers will be taken from earth in a “rapture” that precedes seven years of suffering – the great tribulation – for those left behind, a suffering that will continue until Jesus returns to establish his 1000 year reign on earth. For you “Startrek” fans, sort of a “beam me up, Scotty” theology. But very popular. The tenth volume in the series – The Remnant – picked up 2.4 million orders in the two months before its release last July. Indeed, a few months after 9/11, a poll found that 59% of Americans believe that the prophecies in the Book of Revelation will come true and nearly a fourth thought that the Bible specifically predicted the terrorist attacks.
What are we to make of all this – all these predictions, indeed detailed descriptions of the end? Are they to be taken seriously or are they simply another form of cargo cult, a fixation on some unseen future that distracts us from very real issues in the present? A more basic question: Is it possible to use the Bible to predict the future – as some kind of divinely-inspired crystal ball?
First let me say that all this – even the theme of the Left Behind novels – is nothing new. Over the last 21 centuries, thousands of persons, many presumably very knowledgeable about the Bible, have insisted they could read the signs of the times and put dates on those times. Using the Bible as a crystal ball to predict the future has long been popular. You may recall the name, Hal Lindsey. In the 1970’s and 80’s, he wrote the best selling books, The Late Great Planet Earth and The Terminal Generation, precursors to the Left Behind series. Around 1983, Lindsay said, “I am absolutely convinced: Jesus will come again before the end of this century.” Oh well, nothing new there. One thing all these predictions of the end share is that each has been absolutely wrong. But even this dismal track record has not slowed the flow of books, films and lectures. Again, what are we to make of it?
A young man was rushing to his plane and had only seconds to pause in the airport bookstore in order to purchase something to read on his flight. He hurriedly scanned the shelves until one title caught his eye: HOW to HUG. Sounded good to him, so he grabbed the book, paid the clerk, and dashed off to catch his flight. Finally airborne, he settled back to read his new book, only to discover that the book he had so hastily purchased, HOW to HUG, was actually volume five of an encyclopedia!
I believe that many of today’s self-styled prophets come to the Bible with that same incomplete understanding. They draw cosmic conclusions using only one book of the encyclopedia, only a very select reading of scripture, particularly the Book of Revelation. For me, the basic question when it comes to the last book of the Bible is this: is it prediction or promise. I would argue that it is promise.
The Book of Revelation is a letter. To whom is it addressed? In Revelation 2 and 3 John makes it quite clear that he is addressing the churches in western Asia Minor at the end of the first century, churches with issues specific to their time and place. At this time, in this part of the world, the future of Christianity was very much in doubt. In some areas, churches were being pressured, even persecuted by Rome. To be a Christian was quite literally to take your life into your hands. Much safer to renounce Christianity and embrace the gods of Rome.
Also this was a tough time economically for Christians, even those not facing persecution. In many areas they were disenfranchised, rejected by both Jews and Gentiles. It was tempting just to pack it in – to embrace other gods or no god at all. So John is writing to a church in crises, to a church losing hope and faith. What is he to say?
I believe his basic message is to stand fast, to cling to their faith, to endure, even to resist during this time of trial. For this present reality will be transformed. The key to all his fantastic imagery is the assertion that God is in charge of history, no matter how unlikely that appears in the present. God is in control of things, even if things seem out of control. Don't accommodate, he says, resist. Rev. 1:3 – “Blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written…” Rev. 22:7 – “Blessed is the one who keeps the words…” Why? Why take this risk? Because God in Christ will win in the end. You are on the winning side.
In his book, So Well Remembered, James Hilton has one character say, “I don’t ask what’s in the future, but I would like to know who is.” That is essentially what the Book of Revelation is all about: not what is in the future, but who. And that is what makes it relevant in any age. Not because it is pointing to events in the 20th and 21st centuries and making predictions based on those events. There are no references to the Common Market or European Union, the former Soviet Union, American political events, or the War in Iraq in the Book of Revelation. None! But it does point to the triumph of God in Christ. If you must have a prediction, take that one. We too can take heart, can persevere, because in between the already and the not yet, God is making all things new. And in Christ, we have seen the face of God’s future.
All this, however, leads us one step further and prompts us to ask, “What did Jesus have to say on this subject? For these predictions of the end were as common in his day as ours. His remark in the Gospel of Luke is instructive. Don’t look for signs, he says, for the “Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed…” Later, in the book of Acts, the Risen Christ tells the disciples, “It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.” Clearly Jesus did not get into the prediction game. So what makes us think we have some special information that even Jesus did not have?
But in our other text from Luke, we hear Jesus speak of readiness. “Be dressed for action…You must be ready.” His emphasis here and elsewhere is on readiness, not prediction. Jesus says in effect, “Don’t wait until you think you see signs of the coming Kingdom. Those signs will probably be false. God will choose God’s own time. Rather, be ready at every moment by living a life which is commendable to God. Then, whenever God calls, you will be ready.” Jesus emphasis is not on last things as much as on next to last things, on what is happening in life here and now. After all, he says, it just might be that the Kingdom is in the midst of you.
The sadness of the cargo cult people is not that they were wholly mistaken. Yes, great birds did once come out of the heavens with wondrous gifts. And they could come again. But in their waiting, they had really stopped living – had stopped caring or working or striving.
And to a certain degree I see the same thing happening to people of faith when they get so preoccupied with the end of the world, with signs and predictions. It is so easy to lose sight of right now, with its tasks and challenges and responsibilities. For Jesus never said, “Sit and wait.” He said, “Go and do likewise.” Be ready, live each moment fully and decently, hopefully and humanly, care about your world and the people in your world. Make each moment a slender and splendid bit of eternity, never forgetting that how we live today may very well shape tomorrow. And know, whatever the shape of that tomorrow, God will be there.
Mark Twain, for all his cynicism, was perilously close to the Gospel of Jesus Christ when he wrote these words to Walt Whitman on the occasion of Whitman’s 70th birthday: “You have just lived 70 years which are the greatest in the world’s history…You have seen so much. But tarry for awhile, for the greatest is yet to come.”