Did you hear that the world was supposed to end May 21st? An evangelical radio pastor put the word out that the world was going to end yesterday. Never mind that he predicted the same thing would happen in 1994. It was reported that even his own assistant was still making appointments for his for the future and planned to be at work on the following Monday. Yet Harold Camping urged all his followers to give all their money to the church or spend it because judgment day was really coming and all real Christians should be ready.
It has been interesting to read and hear what some of the reporters and media people said in trying to understand this prediction. It was clear from some of the reports that the writer had no church experience at all and didn’t understand the concept that Camping’s radio church didn’t represent most or even a major portion of people who consider themselves Christian. Some news items seemed to be more about taking a poke at church than taking it seriously – like the report I heard about a business that sells pet insurance for Christians that believe in the rapture.
The end is coming the billboards and signs said. Be ready! The implication was that anyone who is a believer in Jesus wouldn’t have to worry about anything past yesterday.
I have to say, I didn’t hear a lot of conversation about it around these parts this week.
What I did notice this week was a lot of smiles at the sunny dry days we had. No matter how tired or hard-working they were, I don’t think I saw one farmer without a smile on his face this week. Everyone is so happy to finally be out in the fields. Obviously the concern around here has been more about preparing the fields for growing a new crop than waiting for the end of the world.
So what does that say about faith around here? Are we all a bunch of non-believers?
No. Questions about when the end of the world is going to be have been around since before Christ. In the gospels, there is more than one record of the disciples asking Jesus when the day of judgment is coming.
In all of these conversations, Jesus’ answer remains the same. We are to be ready, we are to live faithfully all the time because it can come at any moment but we are not to know when. In the gospel of Matthew where Jesus actually talks about what signs there might be that the end is near, even there, Jesus says explicitly that not only will we not know when but that even he does not know when. He says, “But about that day and hour, no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36)
According to Jesus, it is not our business to worry about when the end will come. Our job is to live as people of faith. Our worry is to be ready and to tell others about Jesus. Jesus says we have work to do. Martin Luther would have been right out with the farmers. He is quoted as saying that if he knew the world was going to end tomorrow, he would plant a tree today. Our concern is not with tomorrow but with the work to be done today.
The focus of faith is not on ourselves, what we need or want or what happens to us. The focus of faith is on God by living and loving as Jesus did; to welcome and care for the lost, the least, and the little ones among us. The focus of faith is to share the good news of God’s love.
As Jesus says, people of faith live in God’s love. Faith gives us the gift of living right now, today and everyday, of living in God’s love. People who follow Jesus are not people of the end, but of new life and God’s almighty and eternal love. Jesus doesn’t leave us with a threat to hang over the world’s head. Jesus leaves us with a promise – Do not let your hearts be troubled. He gives us peace – rest in God’s love. Read John 14:1-7
