Why Didn't They Tell me Jesus was Coming?

One universal trait of the Christian convert seems to be a belief that sometime in the future, Jesus will come back.  If you read through just about any book of the Bible, his return is either discussed directly, or foreshadowed figuratively.  Jesus himself talks about his second advent with his followers on several occasions.  

The parable of the ten virgins is one such occasion.  This account takes place in Matthew chapter 25.  The first thirteen versus describe a story about a wedding ceremony, and the ancient Jewish tradition of the bridegroom leaving his own house to meet his future wife.  After the ceremony and festivities have completed, tradition has it that the groom would then walk back to his own home with his new wife, being followed by the 'bridal party.'  In this parable, the ten virgins represent the party.

It was customary to bring torches with you to light the path, because the procession usually took place at night.  There were no street lamps two-thousand years ago it would seem.  Jesus then tells us that five of the virgins were wise and brought plenty of extra oil to keep their lamps lit.  The other five, however, were foolish and brought only enough oil for a short period of time.  

Scripture says that because the bridegroom was delayed in starting the processional, half the bridal party had dark torches.  The foolish ones then pleaded with the wise followers who still had oil.  They were told to go back to the store and buy oil for themselves.  Matthew 25:10 says, "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived.  The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet.  And the door was shut.  Later the others also came.  'Lord, Lord,' they said, 'open the door for us!'  But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I don't know you.'"

Oil is often symbolic for the Holy Spirit in the Bible.  The idea here is not that the five foolish people should have become doomsday hoarders and stacked up a closet full of lamp oil at home.  But rather, that the Holy Spirit isn't transferable from person to person like some type of common currency.  It isn't the same idea as asking your friend for twenty-dollars so you can join in the fun.  The foolish virgins were told to 'go back to those who sell oil, and buy some for yourself.'  In the process of seeking out religious justification, the bridegroom returned and took the five who were ready.  The others simply ran out of time. 

The lesson here is relatively simple:  when Jesus comes back at the end of all things, we need to be ready to go.  The church needs to be prepared, the individual Christian needs to be born again, and everyone needs to have plenty of oil (the Spirit dwelling in them).  

It is worthy to note also here, that we humans will not always be able to tell who has enough oil, and who doesn't.  From our limited vantage point, they can often look the same.  Matthew 13:24-30 addresses this and talks about what it's like to plant a field with good seed.  The farmer does his part, but eventually, once the wheat begins to grow, weeds come up alongside the harvest.  We see this in our own gardens and fields today.

When asked about how the field was planted, the farmer responds by telling us that an enemy snuck in and sowed weeds among the wheat.  Matthew 13:28-29 says, "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'  'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.'"

I believe the parable of the weeds acts to buttress the notion that you and I won't know (and cannot judge) who among us will be allowed into the wedding feast when Jesus returns.  We certainly hope that it is us, but the truth of the matter is that Jesus is the final judge.  He is the bridegroom in the parable, and he makes the final call to come in or not.

The door is then shut for good.  

Salvation is offered to everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, and we are currently living in a time of grace.  We have time to weigh the Scriptures and think about the costs of following Christ.  But it won't be like this forever.  There will come a day when it's too late to run after more oil.  Jesus tells us to keep watch, because it can sneak up on us like a thief in the night.  It will happen quickly.  

I want to be part of the bridal party and the evening procession.  I will carry enough oil with me to go the distance, even if the bridegroom takes his time.  My heart belongs to God, and He directs my steps.  I hope the same for all of you.  I want to be called up to the wedding banquet, and if the door is sealed shut, then I want to be on the inside when it happens.  

Use this time that we have been given to seek earnestly after a loving God, to accept the free gift of salvation offered through Jesus, and repent of your sin, so that you might be forgiven.  Keep the lamps clean and the oil ready.  And when the bridegroom does return, it will be natural to follow him to the banquet.   



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The Prayer Warrior's Mantra

My grandmother Kay was a very spiritual person.  She was a lifelong Catholic and Christian, and prayer was her specialty.  She would often pray - as the Bible says - without ceasing.  Grandma Kay prayed for us grandchildren, our families, and her own children as well.  I am certain that this is the reason certain things went well for me over the course of my life.  It makes a difference having a true prayer warrior in your corner.  I believe that one faithful person praying can do more than a military force.  The Bible says that prayer can affect change just as much as any physical action we do.

Some of you may know the parable of the persistent widow from the Gospel of Luke.  Chapter 18 tells us a story about a crooked judge who didn't care about God or what other people thought.  He was in it for himself.  There was also a widow in that same town who kept coming to the judge asking for assistance.  In fact, Luke 18:3 says that she wanted 'justice against her adversary.'

As the story finishes, we are told that because this woman was so persistent in calling on the judge, he eventually got fed up and granted her what she wanted.  Jesus then adds this curious phrase in verses 6-8, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.  And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly..."

What a strange story for Jesus to tell.  Does this mean our prayers annoy God?  Does it mean that in order to get justice in this world, we must bother the Creator in the same way someone might stroll into traffic court and petition a speeding ticket?  I don't think so; not quite.  But rather, it demonstrates how important it really is to pray without ceasing.  To continue to offer up our deepest, most heartfelt desires - even if we think no one is listening.

As I write this, the entire globe is struggling through a world-wide pandemic due to the almost unprecedented contagious affect of something called the coronavirus (COVID-19).  Even mentioning it out loud in public will draw dirty looks.  It has been (among other things), a time of great uncertainty.  Uncertainty about when life will return to normal, when Spring baseball practices might resume, and about whether or not there will be enough money left in the bank to enjoy anything anyway.

But worrying about the future provides an opportunity also.  It often forces us to slow down and act like the persistent widow.  No doubt some are praying daily now, when before it was only seldom.  People are seeking God, and they are listening for His answer.

I remember a time in my own life when things were looking grim.  I had been assigned a project at work which entailed lots of hours, a fair amount of stress, and an uncertain outcome.  In addition, the people driving the project kept changing the priority list.  I would eventually find out that what I was working on kept getting shifted around, but not until I was almost done each time.  The stress eventually became unmanageable, and I started having heart palpitations and shortness of breath.  

I remember praying at the time what I thought would be an unfruitful request from God.  I simply asked Him to either take this project away from me, or fix it so that things were more organized.  I was certain nothing would happen, because the clients and customers behind this task had sunk thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours into it.  I thought for sure nothing would change, and I would end up losing my job.

About a week later, I received an email telling me that the entire thing had been cancelled, and shelved for a later date.  The stress was gone ... just like that.  I prayed, God listened, and then He answered.  I am still stunned when I think about it, even today.

Prayer pays dividends.  But the problem is that those dividends arrive according to God's timeline, and not ours.  Now we don't like this very much.  In fact, we don't like it at all.  People like to have things immediately, preferably without suffering, and delivered neatly to our door step.  Especially when it comes to watching our adversaries receive justice.  In fact, I think we often want swift justice for them, but a long delay when it comes to us.  This is just human nature.  We want our enemy to get punished, but ourselves to be forgiven. 

So what are we to do with this parable then?  How does it apply today?  We must remember not to give up when it comes to prayer.  We must cultivate our own mantra as miniature prayer warriors.  Although the term mantra does not have Christian roots, I think the affectation still holds.  

Matthew 7:7 tells us, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

The power packed into this sentence of Scripture is incredible.  Are we really asking?  God is listening.  And if we are asking Him for things, what will those things accomplish in our lives for His good purpose?  Do we ask God if we might win the lottery, so that we can buy more empty goods and services?  Or are we asking Him to help shape our character and give us the heart of Jesus?  Trust me, those two kinds of prayers sound very different.  

It is also worthy to note the last verse of the parable in Luke 18.  Verse 8 says this, "... However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

That is a good question for us today.  In the midst of uncertainty, how many of us will continue the prayer warrior mantra?  How many of us will continue to praise God and give Him thanks when a paycheck is in jeopardy, or public hoarding causes nationwide grocery shortages.  Only time will tell.  

For now, just stay in contact with God the Father, even if you are struggling in your life.  He is still listening, and He is a good and just judge.



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Is a Pandemic Panic Spiritually Wise?

I don't often write about the ebb and flow of current events.  News stories seem to come and go, and are so often simply a reflection of the fear that people bring to them.  But I wanted to take a moment to address the concern over the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) outbreak in recent days.  I want to talk about it, because I believe people should have a separate avenue to plug into, when it comes to this type of fear.  News headlines are helpful, but can also be designed to promote fear and emphasize all of the bad things sometimes.  We don't hear as much about the thousands of people who came through this virus just fine ... because it doesn't make headlines.  It doesn't sell. 

Now I do believe we should take this worldwide event seriously (I would be a fool not to).  But I also wanted to talk about some spiritual things going on as well.  Some have argued that these types of things are God's wrath poured out onto a sinful world.  It is true, we do find areas of the Old Testament that describe this type of punishment.  But even so, these pestilences were administered only after repeated warnings from God's prophets, and a stern lack of repentance.  While I cannot strictly speak for God in this sense, I don't think this is what is going on today.  

This leads me to my next point.  Namely, that these types of things are indeed mentioned by Jesus in the Bible.  Luke chapter twenty-one recounts Jesus telling his disciples about what life will be like in the end times.  He says that there will be wars, and rumors of wars.  That nation will rise against nation.  There will be earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

Was Jesus exaggerating here?  After all, this was two-thousand years ago.  But stop and think about the last fifty years for a moment.  Do we not see all of these things occurring together?  Many of us will recall HIV, then SARS, and then Ebola.  Now we have the corona virus.  Though this is simply my personal opinion, I do believe that every day that passes since the death of Christ, we get one day closer to the 'end times.'  

Now the good thing about prophecy is that it can also bring comfort.  Yes, God is still in charge.  And yes, He foresaw many of these things taking place in the future.  There is still an order and a chronology to things.  Eschatology (or the study of final things) always seems to follow a pattern.  

But remember also, that Jesus warned us the world would give us trouble.  In John 16:33 he also told us to "take heart, as he has overcome the world."  Be concerned, but don't panic.  God has a generous heart, and the Bible says He has not filled us with a spirit of fear.  Take necessary precautions, follow safety guidelines, but don't let hopelessness creep into your heart.  Jesus did not die on a cross so that you and I would live in some type of endless fear spiral.  It doesn't feel natural, because it isn't.  

Please remember to take heart ... he has overcome the world.  



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A Spirit Driven Faith

The Holy Spirit is one of those things that sometimes eludes organized religion.  Many of us go to church week after week.  We pray, we sing, we listen to the sermon ... but sometimes, something is missing.  Depending on which denomination you are affiliated with, the Spirit is called upon regularly, some of the time, or maybe not at all.  Instead, it is simply an idea or concept.  It is one part of the Holy Trinity for sure, but not really understood by most people.  If this describes you, then fear not - you are not alone! 

Author Carolyn Moore wrote an excellent essay entitled 'When the Holy Spirit Comes with Fire.'  Half way through this narrative, she says this: "a Christian without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is like deep-sea diving without an oxygen tank.  You can do it, but you'll never be able to dive as deeply as you want to.  Your fear of suffocating will always force you back to the surface."

So what does this mean?  Take for example, the tragic circumstances surrounding the sinking of the Titanic.  Most of us remember this story from grade school or middle school.  On April 15th 1912, the most impressive passenger liner at the time succumbed to an iceberg, and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean.  Since then, many groups have undertaken to investigate the wreckage left behind at the bottom, and a few have even chartered underwater vessels to go down to the bottom and take a closer look.  These underwater crafts are outfitted with lights, manual controls arms, and all sorts of impressive machinery.  

Now imagine for a moment, that our job was to bring back a clear and detailed picture of the wreckage - such that we could help others picture what it must have looked like in its glory day.  With the underwater pod, this would be no problem.  We could look around as long as we wanted to, or at least until our oxygen supply ran out.  But what if we tried to investigate the site without any gear whatsoever?  No SCUBA gear, no oxygen tank; just a pair of swim shorts and goggles.  

I would say that the first dive team would have much better luck than the lone swimmer.  The first group (with the right equipment), would be able to send back pictures and detailed data.  The person with swim trunks and goggles could dive down maybe thirty feet or so, and then would need to come right back to the surface and gasp for air.  No matter how many times they plunged into the water, they would only ever see just a small bit of the wreckage (if anything).  Their picture of the Titanic would be almost non-existent.  

Now try to imagine a church where people were talking about God and trying to describe His attributes, but without the Holy Spirit.  I am betting that the folks sitting in the pews would only ever have a dim vision of what this God was all about.  Certainly not the type of detail that a spirit-filled body of Christ would be able to supply, with an underwater exploration pod and a team of scientists.  This type of snap shot of God would be lacking, to say the least.

And this of course begs the question: is a church without the Holy Spirit creating anything worth exporting to the general public?  Is music, preaching, and a nice building enough to change the world?

Probably not.  It's a rhetorical question, but an important one.  If we are not spirit filled, then we are preaching and teaching 'Christianity Light'.  As John Wesley once said, we would be retaining the form of religion, but not the power.  

Now when we talk about nominal Christianity (religion that exists in name only), we are really speaking about lukewarm living.  This is tempting stuff mind you.  It is always easier to talk about the transformative power of God than it is to walk in it.  Some might even feel that it's safer that way.  Less of this dancing around and speaking in tongues stuff, and more attention to the traditions and rituals.  But I think we would be missing something important.

I once attended a ministry class where we talked at length about how to interpret the Bible.  During the class, I recall that one of my teachers mentioned an analogy about how Scripture is a lot like a phone book.  You can flip it open at any point, and pull random information out of it, but you cannot necessarily assert that it makes any strong cohesive argument one way or the other.  Let this sink in for a moment.

Now mind you, I'm not of the same opinion.  I believe that the Bible does make a strong statement.  It makes a clear case for the resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Trinity, the second coming, etc.  In fact, if you put someone with no religious training whatsoever on a desert island with the Bible and dropped off food and water for a month, they would come back home able to clearly discuss the things I just mentioned. The Bible says things and then backs those things up with historical accounts. It most certainly does assert something. 

But this philosophy is what is out there I think, and it is mixed in with orthodox theology here and there.  Kind of a mish-mash, lukewarm expression of an otherwise powerful faith.  It is like surveying the Titanic wreckage without the right gear, and many churches  are settling for this dim snap shot of God.  

Is there hope?  You bet.  I want to quote something from the 'phone book' for a moment if I can.  Acts chapter 1 talks about what Jesus said to his followers, directly before his ascension into Heaven.  Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Here Jesus was not simply giving his apostles hope, but stating the facts also.  I believe this offer stands for you and I today.  We can receive the power of the Holy Spirit.  And the best news of all, it is up to God to grant us this indwelling.  We can (and should) seek after it through prayer, sacraments, and worship ... but we cannot earn it on our own.  

Time to head back to the sporting goods store and visit the diving section.  If we are lucky, there might be a few oxygen tanks left on the display shelf.  Who cares if they are on sale or not - snatch them up quickly!






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