Matthew 24

Keep Love Warm

Posted on by Betsy

In Matthew 24, Jesus was being grilled by the disciples about his promise to return after his death. Like hungry children, they demanded to know the signs and the timing of his Second Coming. We can’t fault them for being anxious. If we’re honest, we’re anxious too. We’re confused by the many depictions of what the End Times will look like and we want reassurances. And we want them now.

Jesus wasn’t interested in describing the signs. He was more invested in making sure his followers were prepared spiritually for the parousia. He was much more interested in the condition of their love and encouraged them to endure to the end and continue to proclaim his Gospel.

Matthew 24 (Common English Bible)

4 Jesus replied, “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the Christ.’ They will deceive many people. 6 You will hear about wars and reports of wars. Don’t be alarmed. These things must happen, but this isn’t the end yet.7 Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in all sorts of places. 8 But all these things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end. 9 They will arrest you, abuse you, and they will kill you. All nations will hate you on account of my name. 10 At that time many will fall away. They will betray each other and hate each other.11 Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

12 Because disobedience will expand, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.14 This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all the nations. Then the end will come.

I believe it is incumbent on us, too, to be ready to meet our returning Savior whenever that happens. This passage demands two questions of us today. First, verse 12 speaks of “love growing cold.” How can we prevent that from happening? 

Cold love will not convert the world, and that is our task. When we realize that our light brings no heat, our preaching brings no conviction, our music has become performative rather than soul-stirring, our prayers have devolved into repetitive, empty ritual, and our worship focuses on outward appearance rather than inward transformation, we know we are in jeopardy of being exactly what Jesus cautions against. True, deep, and honest self-examination and reflection are needed to right this wrong from the preacher and the pews. We remember what Paul said to Timothy: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:6-7, New International Version). Love stays warm when you fan the flame with God’s power, with acts of love, and with self-discipline that keeps Jesus the focus in all aspects of living. After all, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.This passage begs the question: Has your love for God gone cold? How can the church reignite its passion for God?

Proclaim the Gospel

The second question comes out of the 14th verse where Jesus says, “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all the nations.” Even through all the hardship, distress, natural catastrophes, and everything else that is present during these times, Jesus contended that the Gospel will still go out to the world. 

This is our job, friends. This is the only thing we need to concern ourselves with as we contemplate Jesus’ return. You see, it’s not just about being ready ourselves, but helping all of humanity get ready. As individuals and as the church, we need to continue to preach Christ crucified to a disbelieving world. 

It can start as simply as an invitation to a church event. It can be as easy as calling on a neighbor with a casserole in your hand. (We’re Methodist. Casseroles are our love language.) It can be as small as offering to pray for a stranger that you notice is in distress. It can be a little gesture of comfort to a colleague who is having a bad day. Anything done in the name of Jesus advances the kingdom. When our actions speak louder than our words, people notice.

What one small gospel-sharing thing will you do today? Let’s get ready together.

Fan Into Flame the Gift of God by Michelle Robertson

People Get Ready

Posted on by Betsy

The recent solar eclipse raised a lot of interest in the apocalypse. Some folks thought that it might usher in the Second Coming, as Scripture talks about the world going dark just before Christ returns. As you can see by the fact that we’re all still here, that didn’t happen. My running partner and I were speculating about what might happen if it had. We decided that being ushered into the heavenly realm would certainly mean that we would be eternally located in our happy place, which for us involved being the caretakers of all the dogs who have gone to heaven before us. The idea of running a Celestial Doggy Day care was very appealing to us. People could drop their dogs off with us on their way to their choir practice and harp lessons. Doesn’t that sound heavenly??

In the fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians, Paul addresses the Second Coming head on:

13 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about people who have died so that you won’t mourn like others who don’t have any hope. 14 Since we believe that Jesus died and rose, so we also believe that God will bring with him those who have died in Jesus. 15 What we are saying is a message from the Lord: we who are alive and still around at the Lord’s coming definitely won’t go ahead of those who have died. 

16 This is because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with the signal of a shout by the head angel and a blast on God’s trumpet. First, those who are dead in Christ will rise.17 Then, we who are living and still around will be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet with the Lord in the air. That way we will always be with the Lord. 18 So encourage each other with these words.

Paul paints images of signals, shouts, head angels making proclamations, and trumpet blasts, which raise goosebumps on our arms and causes feathered hope to rise in our hearts. Not to be confused with Scriptures on the “rapture,” this passage falls in line with our expectations from the book of Matthew which describes it this way:

“Then the sign of the Human One will appear in the sky. At that time all the tribes of the earth will be full of sadness, and they will see the Human One coming in the heavenly clouds with power and great splendor. 31 He will send his angels with the sound of a great trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from the four corners of the earth, from one end of the sky to the other” (Matthew 24:30-31).

Paul clarifies that the Lord will come down at the sound of the trumpet and those who are dead will rise, joining those who are still living. This last bit of encouragement about the Second Coming was precious to the church, and it is precious to us as well.

Christ’s triumphal return is reminiscent of the royal processionals of earth’s great kings. Even in our lifetime, we experienced the pageantry and pomp of King Charles III of Britain when he took the throne in 2023. You may remember the tens of thousands of people who lined the street to welcome their new king that day as he was driven by eight white horses in a centuries old Gold State Coach surrounded by over 4,000 members of the Royal Navy, Royal Army, Royal Marines, the Tri Service Guard of Honor, and the Royal British Legion. It was spectacular and as some would say, “fit for a king.” How will we welcome our King when his time comes to return? Will it be a big and noisy spectacle of crowds cheering and trumpets blasting, or will we groan in sorrow because we aren’t ready? 

 Paul envisions Jesus coming from heaven to earth on a kind of celestial highway that will lead him straight to the graveyards in order to resurrect the dead. This offers a word of hope that when we die in Jesus we will arise in Jesus and never be separated from him. Matthew 25 explains what will happen next: 

Matthew 25:31-33 (Common English Bible)

Now when the Human One comes in his majesty and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his majestic throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right side. But the goats he will put on his left” (Matthew 25:31-33).

Understanding that the judging of the nations is coming should serve as a wake-up call to us today. Where will you stand at the end? If Jesus were to return tomorrow, would the church be ready? Are you living your life everyday with the expectation that Jesus’ return could happen at any moment?

People get ready! Jesus is comin’.

Celestial Highway by Michelle Robertson