Live Like Today Is The Day Based on Isaiah 2.1-5; Matthew 24:36-44
This is an abridged version of the sermon written By Dr. David Rogne
A man who lived on the coast east of New York, sent away for an expensive barometer. When the instrument arrived at his home he was disappointed to note that the only sector it would point to was the one marked "Hurricane". After shaking the barometer vigorously several times, its new owner wrote a scorching letter to the company from which he had purchased the instrument. The following morning, on his way to his office in New York he posted the letter. That evening he returned to his coastal home to find not only the barometer missing, but his house also. The barometer's needle had been right.
Predictions. Prophecies.
The bible speaks of the end times and of a new heaven and a new earth, of Jesus Christ returning on the clouds and that all people will know who he is and will bow their knee before him - a glorious and concrete return of Christ. That expectation has kept Christians alert when they have been tempted to laziness. It has provided hope when the outlook for people of faith has been grim. Unfortunately, it has also led to date-setting and outlandish claims of knowing more than Jesus himself claimed to know.
It was a real problem in Luther’s time and he wrote that what we Christians need to focus on is what we can do in the present. He gave some advice which I would like to use as the basis of my message for today:
"We are to believe and live and lo
ve and work," he said, "as though Jesus Christ died yesterday, rose today, and is coming again tomorrow."
Firstly to believe as though Christ would return tomorrow. Our belief shapes our attitudes, our thoughts, our actions. It shapes our trust in the present and our hopes for the future. If we believe that Jesus Christ is God’s son, that he was present at the creation of the universe, and chose to come to earth as a baby boy, then died for us and rose again and will return in glory this becomes the rock on which we live our lives.
This Belief can be strengthened and cultivated by working at it. For 444 days Kathryn Koob was held as an American hostage in Iran. In her account of her captivity she tells of a spiritual awakening which occurred during her imprisonment. She writes of her developing prayer life and her increasing ability to rely on God despite captivity and chaos. "During this time I began to learn about joy," she writes. She witnesses to the preciousness of memorized Scriptures and hymns, and of the memory of life in the church, which she felt had prepared her to deal with her situation. She wrote her book, Guest of the Revolution, to show that what we are teaching in our churches is what gives people strength. Belief is not something we either have or don't have. We can take steps now to nourish what we have, whether much or little, so it will strengthen us in the time of testing.
The second thing Luther advises us to do is to live as though Christ were to return tomorrow. That means to live adventurously. Some people search for a placid existence, as though the Christian life is supposed to be a life without challenges. Such a life can become boring and paralyze our potential for zestful living. If life is spent simply waiting for God to act, we may be brought to a standstill. In order to stay alive we need to continue to stir the pot.
To live awaiting the return of Christ is also to acknowledge that our life is subject to review. There is a story of a thief who sat one evening smoking a big cigar in the park. He had swindled a child out of a dollar for breakfast, and tricked a simple-hearted old man out a handful of money for dinner. He was very satisfied with himself. As evening fell he saw a young woman hurrying home. Their eyes met briefly and he knew at once that she was a girl who had thought much of him in secondary school. In her innocent look he felt his whole lifestyle was being judged. He quickly fled down a side street, laid his burning face against a lamp post and murmured, "God, I wish I could die." Meeting up with Christ may be similarly revealing, but living with the expectation that such a meeting is coming can have a profound impact on the way we allow ourselves to live.
The third action Luther advises us is to love as though Christ may return tomorrow. Certainly that means that we need to express love while we have the opportunity. There is a sad story of a funeral in which people were invited to pass by the casket of the deceased. At the end of the procession appeared the adult son of the man whose body was in the casket. The son and the deceased man had fallen out with each other in recent years and had not healed the breach. Now the son stood there sobbing and protesting his love to ears that could no longer hear what was being said. How often we presume that we have plenty of time to tell someone they are loved, and so we put it off. The reminder that Christ could come tomorrow encourages us to do what love requires right now and not to put it off. There may not be another chance.
Finally, Luther advises, work as though Christ may return tomorrow. For some believers that leads to a wearying activism. A favourite hymn of such people is:
"Rise up, O men of God!
His Kingdom tarries long,
Bring in the day of brotherhood
and end the night of wrong."
It is their feeling that if God's will is to be done on earth, it is altogether up to us to do it, and us alone. Ever felt like that?
Others respond to this call to work as though Christ may return tomorrow as a reminder of our powerlessness to accomplish God's will. Such people live as though the hymn read:
"Sit down, O men of God,
His Kingdom he will bring
Just as and when and where he will,
You cannot do a thing."
The truth is that we are called to cooperate with God, we doing our part and God doing his. Wallace Stegner, a California writer, describes how the gifted photographer, Ansel Adams, went about creating his hauntingly beautiful photographs of the Owen Valley in California. "Adams first quietly studied the landscape. He visualized how the finished print would look. He knew what he was looking for. Then he went to dinner and then to bed. In the chilly predawn blackness of the following morning, he came back. As he waited, clear, grey, sourceless light grew until it showed him the meadow with its shadowy horse, the mottled foothill, and the impressive loom of the Sierras. He set up the camera and went under the cloth. Then he came out and waited some more. He waited and watched. The sun moved some. He went under the cloth, came out again and waited. Another beam of light hit the eastern mountains in the background. Adams went under the cloth again, waited for the precise instant, and only then did he click the shutter." God created the mountains, the valley, the horse and the sun, but Adams employed the skill and the patience which captured the scene and made it a blessing for others to enjoy.
To finish with another story of being prepared. While on one of his expeditions to the Antarctic, Sir Ernest Shackleton was compelled to leave some of his men on Elephant Island with the intention of returning for them and carrying them back to England. Through a series of mishaps he was delayed, and by the time he could go for them he found that the sea had frozen over and his men were cut off. Three times he tried to reach them but his efforts ended in failure. Finally, during his last effort, he found a narrow channel in the ice. Guiding his small ship back to the island, he was delighted to find his men not only alive and well, but all prepared to get aboard quickly. They were soon on their way to safety and home. After the excitement ended, Sir Ernest inquired how it was that they were ready to get aboard so promptly. They told him that every morning their leader rolled up his sleeping bag, saying, "Get your things ready, boys, the boss may come today."
The needle on our barometer has been predicting one thing for a long time: the return of Christ. It doesn't say when, or how, or where. It simply reminds us to get things ready. The boss may come for us at any time. So let’s follow Luther’s advice “to believe and live and love and work, as though Jesus Christ died yesterday, rose today, and is coming again tomorrow.” Amen