This Sunday's Scripture Readings
Eschatology - The part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind.
Two of the readings this Sunday deal with eschatology. The reading from 1 Thessalonians 4 has been the main scripture that many have used to support a "rapture" where believers will suddenly be caught up to meet the Lord in the sky. However we run into problems when we try to make literal sense of out of passages that use word pictures to describe something that we cannot fully grasp. New Testament theologian N.T. Wright likens it to trying to describe the color red to a blind person.
One of the most popular beliefs about the end times held by American evangelicals is in a rapture which will take place before a great tribulation and apocalypse. The popular book and movie series entitled, "Left Behind" is based on that premise. However, there are those, myself included, that tend to think that all believers will be left behind when Christ returns. That is because of what we see in the final part of the Bible and what we pray for in the Lord's prayer (Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on EARTH as it is in heaven) is a joining of heaven and earth. All things will be renewed and the glory of the Lord will fill the renewed creation. Take a look at this interview with N.T. Wright from ABC Nightline where he says that those who believe in a "rapture" and that our final destination is heaven (as a spiritual sky place) have got it wrong.
Regardless of what our end time viewpoints may be, I doubt if Paul's main point in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 was intended to tell us that we will be raptured up to live with the Lord in the clouds for eternity. He is talking about Christian hope! What is that hope? If we back up to verse 14 of the same chapter, we will see it. Our hope is based in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Put that together with the verses that follow and we have the mystery of our faith which we proclaim in worship and communion: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
When we gather for worship Christ is with us. We receive Him and know His presence by faith. But when we say He is present, we don't just mean that He is present because we are thinking about Him. He is present in a real way. All of Christ, including the reality of His death, resurrection, and second coming are with us. This is especially true when we come to the Lord's table in faith with thanksgiving. His death is brought to the present. His sacrifice to cleanse us from sin and to destroy our death is not just a historical event that we remember with strong emotion. The reality of it is brought to us in the now! His resurrection is also brought to us now. We are restored and regenerated by the reality of Christ's resurrection. And finally, as hard as this is to fathom, I believe we receive a taste of our future at the Lord's table. The reality of His coming and the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9) is on our tongues when we take the communion elements in faith. We are in communion with Christ in His death, resurrection, and coming. It is not just something we think about. It is all made reality in the present by faith.
Paul's point in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 is comfort. Our circumstances will change. Death will indeed touch all of us in some way. But suffering and death are not the ultimate reality. What is ultimately real is God and His kingdom. We experience it when we experience the real presence of Christ in our worship and communion. Our God saves! Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again! Have hope and take comfort!
Check out this video of the Charlie Hall song that proclaims the MYSTERY of our faith.
