Which Way Do We Go?

GATHERING & ANNOUNCEMENTS Rob

OPENING PRAYER Chris

Lord, we are always seeking guidance for the journey you have placed us on. We would like it if everything was spelled out so that we knew what to expect. But that’s not the way life works. You remind us, in the story of the 10 bridesmaids, that we should always be ready to seek you and to serve you. Open our hearts today and remind us of your awesome love for us throughout all the generations, for we ask these things in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.

MUSIC

PROCLAMATION AND PRAISE

PASTORAL PRAYER WITH LORD’S PRAYER Chris

Remind folks to put concerns and celebrations in comments

Each morning we arise, O Lord, wondering what the day will bring. For some of us there are many wonderful things to anticipate; new opportunities to celebrate. We smile at the sun and revel in its warmth. Even in the midst of this trouble, your love comes through to us in the most amazing ways. For our friends and family who experience great joy at this time, we offer our prayers of joy! Let us pray.

Lord of mercy and hope, may the warmth of your restoring and transforming love flood over them and through them to others.

For many people, pain and hurt seem to be the daily encounter with life. Hope for something better is a distant vision. Lord, be with our sisters and brothers in their pain. Lord, we ask for your healing love to surround them as they journey through life. Give them courage and peace. We name, with our words, and in our hearts, those who struggle and suffer.

[Offer a few minutes of silence.]

For all your healing mercies, we gratefully thank you. Lord, for all anywhere, we offer prayers of healing and hope that their lives may be filled with your love and peace. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.

SCRIPTURE

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 NRSV

For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

SERMON

Introduction

Well Jesus has been crucified, dead, and resurrected. We read about his ascension last week and today we look at the first scripture about his return to us. Jesus’ return to us is a much misunderstood doctrine. This misunderstanding has been largely attributed to J.N Darby one the Plymouth Brethren. Essentially, this misunderstanding involves the belief that we are in the end times where all the great prophecies will be fulfilled. The central aspect to this belief is the return of Jesus snatching away the true believers (also known as the rapture) taking them out of this evil world to heaven which leads to a period of ungodliness while those left behind are left in a great blood bath and death filled world till Jesus comes again with the saints to set things right. Our fascination with this misinterpretation has lead to the best selling book in the seventies by Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth and then of course the 12 volume Left Behind Series.

The reason I bring this up, and I don’t want to dwell on this, but we have to deal with this rapture thing. There is no such thing. I am not going to go into detail here, but I do want to appeal to your common sense for a moment. First this scenario has Jesus returning twice, not once. Second, this theology of the rapture shows God to be capricous and blood thirsty. Think about this for a second God is going to allow a plane load of folks to die just to rapture the pilots? Or the driver of a car is raptured and it kills a family of unraptured folks? God does not cause traffic accidents or airplane crashes now, why would God do such a thing ever?

Does this mean that my life as a believer has more value than a non believer to God? So this makes God’s love conditional then, right? In other words God only loves those that love him? if this is the case how can John make the case that God is love? You see what I mean? Why would God destroy the world he called good and very good?

This scripture by Paul says nothing of the sort. Why then would he say “use these words to encourage each other” after he describes Jesus’ return?

Let’s dive into these often misunderstood verses and see what we can learn.

Exegesis

In order to understand this scripture we must put it in context.

First Thessalonians is our oldest scripture in the New Testament. It predates Mark’s Gospel, the first gospel, by some 20 years! Paul is writing this letter with Silvanus and Timothy to answer some theological questions and correct some moral problems at the church he and Barnabas had planted.

The scripture we are looking at this morning was written to reassure the church that their friends and relatives that have died before Jesus return would be resurrected to be in Christ’s kingdom as well. They were afraid that those that had already died would just remain dead.Paul begins to correct this misunderstanding of the resurrection and Christ’s return in verse 13 of this chapter.

Paul had taught them and Paul also believed that Jesus’ return would come during their lifetimes. So there is an urgency here that Paul correct their misunderstanding.

In verse 15 which we did not read, there is an important Greek word that Paul uses: parousia. Parousia has become a theological buzz word for Christ’s return.

1 Thessalonians 4:15 NRSV

For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.

Parousia is translated as “coming.” It has two meanings in Greek. The first is the mysterious presence of a divinity, especially in healing. People were made aware of this supernatural presence that the Greeks called parousia.

The second meaning is, frankly political. It is used when a person of high rank, a King or emperor visits a colony or province. NT Wright explains Paul’s use of the word this way:

“The word for such a visit is ‘royal presence’: in Greek, parousia. In neither setting, we note, obviously but importantly, is there the slightest suggestion of anybody flying around on a cloud. Nor is there any hint of the imminent collapse or destruction of the space-time universe.”

Also the words “meet in the air” was a Greek metaphor for emissaries from a city going out to meet a dignitary and escort them into the city. They literally did not meet them in the air.

Paul is doing the best he can, using the metaphor of the arrival of a King, to describe how it will be when Jesus returns. This is not literal, he did not mean it to be literal. And you can see, how it can be misunderstood if you do not know how these words were commonly used!

The trumpet blowing, the shout, the archangel all come from extra biblical descriptions of the final battle. Michael was considered Israel’s guardian Angel and figures in extra biblical texts about a great final battle of good and evil.

So you can see that the church in Thessalonica would have understood what Paul was saying much differently then what we have done with this. In fact the word rapture is not even here. The Greek word for caught up is harpazo, which literally means snatched, and is most often used in Greek as a euphemism for death. Paul is actually talking about overcoming death here. Those that are “snatched” are snatched out of the jaws of death and will never die! This is also figurative language on Paul’s part.

Paul ends this description by telling the church to encourage one another with these words. Wait, I thought this was a scary time! Not at all.

Application

Paul was writing to bring the church hope! Here

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NRSV

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

They were worried about what happens to us when we die. They did not understand the resurrection. So they had no resurrection hope. Paul was writing primarily to give them hope in that they will see their loved ones again in the day of the resurrection. In fact, the dead will rise first to see Jesus! The those left alive will welcome him too. They will be emissaries that will “meet him in the air.”

Presence is an important word as it relates to the second coming. Remember what I said about parousia? last week we talked about Luke’s ascension of Jesus in Acts not being literal. Heaven and earth are intertwined and closely related. Jesus returns to us the same way he left, bodily. He is now made present to us in his body. This is what Paul is saying and he is using metaphorical language to describe a supernatural occurrence that is really beyond description. How can you describe something that hasn’t happened yet?

The Thessalonian church is not much different than us today. We live in a time of turmoil where it is hard for us to see dawn’s light in Jesus return. Like them we are anxious for Jesus return, but the realities of today confuse us.

Paul was writing to encourage them, to take hope in the resurrection. death has no hold on us, ever. He is encouraging the Thessalonians in the midst of grief over their lost loved ones to believe in the depths of God’s power to raise the dead and for Jesus to return.

This is not so much about us flying up to heaven, but heaven being made present here. The ultimate reunion of heaven and earth in a new creation, a new age.

Encourage each other with these words. Nurture each other. Theologian Jurgen Moltmann commented that this is not about an end, but about a beginning, the new creation of all things.

We are hearing a lot about a “new normal” that will be coming. Is this so called “new normal’ that is coming a beginning or and end? It is all in perspective and attitude. If you dwell on the past, the way it used to be its an end and we grieve. This is why the Thessalonians were grieving. They though that death had the final word. Paul, who believed the resurrection changed everything knew that death was but a transition to eternal life. It’s a matter of perspective and faith. One dwells in the past and is hopeless, another dwells in the future where hope is found.

We can do the same thing here, we can grieve a temporary loss of a lot of our freedoms or you can look at it at an opportunity to grow and change. Growth and change is living into the future. Growth and change is a beginning that brings hope. Hope always is in the future. The past is forgotten as the future becomes reality in the present.

as One theologian writes:

“What Paul says about our future as believers is not a matter of baseless speculation, but is grounded in God’s resurrection and exaltation of Jesus the Messiah. Our confident outlook towards the future is grounded in our knowledge of the past. What God has already done—rather than human speculation, unfounded optimism, or sheer wishful thinking—is the foundation on which our genuine hope for the future rests.”

We’re to encourage each other with these words. Who have you encouraged lately. Take a minute to look at who is on line with you. Give them an encouraging word. Go ahead, I’ll give you a minute or two to do that. I am watching by the way. You become the sermon for a minute or so.

You see, you have already embraced the hope that is in the future. The Jesus that is in you and you in him has shared Jesus’ hope and encouragement for all of us.

In a way Jesus has already returned, because we embrace his presence and live into his return. Jesus offers us new life and a new beginning. Are we born again? We certainly are, everyday when we wake up in the morning, remember our baptisms and decide to live with and for Jesus.

My parent's used to own a house in Panama City, FL and after Sherry and I were married we would take off on a Friday night after work and spend the weekend there. I remember one Friday night that on the road we always traveled that they highway department had installed these bright reflectors on the centerline. They were so bright that they seemed to be more than reflectors, they seemed to have a source of light all their own. Those lights guided us all the way into Panama City. Same thing last night on 211 . . . It is funny, now that I think about this. We weren't looking for those light to guide us, but they were there and a pleasant surprise that made our journey much easier and stress free. It seemed like those lights knew what we were really looking for, which was not a house on the beach, but a safe, stress free relaxing weekend.

The lights left Georgia behind and guided us to our destination in the future.

In the same manner You and I are to be those guiding lights on people's journey toward the light. Toward Jesus Christ

The Nicene creed says this about Jesus:

  For us and for our salvation            he came down from heaven;            he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,            and was made human.            He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;            he suffered and was buried.            The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.            He ascended to heaven            and is seated at the right hand of the Father.            He will come again with glory            to judge the living and the dead.            His kingdom will never end.

He will come again with glory. His bodily presence will return home to us in a new heaven and a new earth. This is hope and encouragement. Therefore, as Paul instructed the Thessalonians, encourage one another with these words.

Come quickly Lord Jesus!

MUSIC

SENDING FORTH

BENEDICTION Chris

Hold back and wonder what might have been; choose God and rejoice in the many ways you will see God’s love in the world. It’s all about perspectives— which is yours? This answer can make all the difference in your life.

Go in peace to Love Christ Love People and Help People Love Christ

AMEN.