End Times Prep?

My mom is profoundly faithful. She struggles with Parkinson’s, her body has gotten weak, her frame as skinny as can be, her muscle control very limited. But her faith, it is as strong as ever. Her life of prayer as alive and as potent as ever. Her love of God as real as ever. 

There’s something else that hasn’t waned as a result of Parkinson’s. Her belief in the reality of the end times. Almost every time she sees me, she’ll say the Lord’s coming back soon, implying that I be ready. Now, she’s been saying this since I was 5 in 1976! And folks like her have been saying it since the beginning of time. But that we be spiritually ready whatever the case may be – that is always good advice.

Jesus, Paul, and the early Christians all believed the Kingdom was coming very soon, at any moment. 

In our gospel reading Jesus is pointing to the end times when he will return again to forge God’s kingdom. What my mother makes indirect – you better be ready – Jesus makes direct. 

"Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit,” Jesus quips.

In fact, this is Jesus’ main message in our passage. You never know when a new world will break into time and change everything. It’s best to be ready for the unexpected. It’s best to be flexible and adaptable to big change. It’s best to cultivate a mindset that says come what may, my heart is good, all is forgiven, and I’m ready. 

Now, for many of us, change is really hard, to be feared even. Jesus knew this. 

Luke 12 is all about changes to come and how we need to be ready. Accompanying Jesus’s urge to be ready is a refrain that Jesus says more than anything else in the gospels. Before our passage in verse 35, Jesus repeats that refrain a lot. Fear not. 

Verse 4 – “do not be afraid.”

Verse 7 – “do not be afraid.”

Verse 11 – “do not worry.”

Verse 22 – “do not worry”

Verse 26 – “why worry?”

Verse 29 – “do not worry”

Verse 32 – “do not be afraid.”

At the same time, scattered in with the “fear not” refrain is the “be ready” refrain. 

Verse 15 – Be on your guard.

Verse 35 – Be dressed for action

Verse 40 –  “you must be ready”

Fear not but be ready. Don’t worry but be prepared. It's an early version of a saying my father liked to repeat – hope for the best, plan for the worst. Don’t fear the worst; plan for it. 

It seems to me not being afraid and being ready for the return of Christ are related. To not be afraid means to rest and trust in Christ. And to rest and trust in Christ means to be ready for his return.

Maybe you ask, what do you, Rev Don, think about the end times? Do you believe it is real? Are we in them?

First of all, I don’t contemplate or worry about the end times. Jesus himself urges not to worry about it. You don’t when, so why worrisomely ponder it? But do seek to be ready by resting in Christ.

A couple weeks ago I talked about the kingdom of God and how it’s both a future reality that is coming, yet already right here and now, within us.

I think this principle applies to Christ’s second coming. Christ is coming again but at the same time is here and now within us as his followers.

What’s more, each time we touch base with Christ, each time we rest in his love as we live our lives, Christ returns again to us. We actualize Christ’s second coming when we truly see his presence in our lives and live our lives on that basis.

The more we do this, the more we as the church actualize Christ’s life here and now, the more Christ’s return is realized.

I’m sure you’ve heard the term, critical mass. Well, the term comes from a theory, the critical mass theory. 

Critical mass theory, in social sciences, describes how a small number of individuals or groups can trigger significant change within a social system. It's rooted in the concept of a critical mass in nuclear physics, which refers to the minimum amount of fissile material needed for a chain reaction. When a certain threshold of participation or representation is reached, it can lead to a tipping point, causing a major shift in social norms, policies, or institutions. 

As I near a close, let me share what I believe about Christ’s second coming, what I believe about the end times. 

When the church as a whole, and we as members of the church, truly live out the life of Christ, when we as a whole touch base with Christ within us and embody Christ in the world, we will reach critical mass and nudge the world to the tipping point and over, shifting the world into a new way of being. At this point, Christ will be fully in our midst, leading us.

Being ready, being prepared for Christ’s second coming means the church being the church and we as Christians being Christ-like. 

In other words, Christ’s return waits on us and our readiness. When we’re ready, Christ will come.

Now, how will we know we’re ready? How will we know when we reach that critical mass that gives way to the new world?

We won’t know. That is the unknown Jesus is referring to. We won’t know when the critical mass is reached. But here’s the thing – being ready and the tipping point of Christ’s full return are somehow connected. 

2 Peter 3:11-12 says, “live holy and godly lives  as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”

We have the perfect model of a holy and godly life – Christ. The more we are like Christ, the speedier Christ’s return becomes.

The more we’re ready, the more likely that tipping point has been reached. The less ready we are, the less likely we’ve reached that critical mass, that tipping point. 

And for Christians, the goal is the tipping point, the ushering in of Christ’s complete return and a new world built on godly love where equality, justice, peace, and well-being will reign on earth as it is now in heaven.