Title: WAITING FOR THE APOCALYPSE

Focus: As the Lord has provided us richly with many of his gifts, we wait expectantly for his final coming in glory.

Function: To encourage the people on this 1st Sunday of Advent to sharpen their awareness and readiness for Christ’s final coming, by using God’s gift and by participating in and observing the Christian feasts and festivals thus marking time.

Text: I Corinthians 1:1-9

 

            When I still lived in the Netherlands decades ago, I remember a particular night, when I drove my car through a huge bank of fog. I had just received my driver’s license and that night I was driving my aunt to her home in the countryside.

Now to get to her home you had to travel narrow roads, which are lined at both sides with deep ditches. Driving on such roads is a challenge any time, but especially on a dark night in the fall, when fog has settled in, and you can’t see a hand in front of your eyes. I don’t know who was more scared—my aunt or I. There were two challenges: stay on the road, thus avoiding the ditches; and anticipating oncoming traffic rising out of the misty clouds of fog. We made it, even though it took us three times longer than normal to get to my aunt’s home.

            Recently, I was reminded of that foggy night. About three weeks ago, Rosanne and I visited my parents in the Netherlands. When we arrived at Schiphol airport, we noticed a thick layer of fog hanging over the countryside and roads. As we drove home, we saw those modern windmills or turbines along the roadside. All we saw was the base of those windmills. The base was wide, suggesting that the windmills must be very big and tall. But we had no clue how tall, simply because the fog enveloped the blades and the entire structure of the turbines.

            The next day was a clear, somewhat sunny day. No fog in sight. We took the same road where the windmills stood. And we were astonished to see the size of these windmills and their blades; and the number of windmills all generating electricity alongside that long road, blew us away. What we saw was an epiphany—an unveiling of windmills that we knew were there, but that we had not seen before because of the dense fog.

            The season of Advent reminds us of what is at the moment invisible, yet sure to come. You and I are living in the fog of time, and can only anticipate the day when the fog of time shall dissipate into eternity. Then, we shall see what has been there all along. And we shall be astonished and delighted at what we shall see.

            Listen to the apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth: “…you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here the Scriptures remind us of Christ’s final coming in glory at the end of time. The resurrected, glorified, Lord Jesus Christ—who is invisible to us today, as he lives and rules in heaven—will come again. And when he comes again, he will be manifested, that is, we will see him with the naked eye, as he is. Then our faith shall turn into sight. Then the fog of time and doubt and unbelief shall be no more.

            On this 1st Sunday of Advent the Scriptures call us to sharpen our awareness and readiness for Christ’s final coming. We are to use our God-given gifts of grace and engage in Christian worship, disciplines, and marking time. Jesus is coming again! Get ready.

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            The apostle Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. Most of the church members are converts from paganism; they are immature in their faith; they have much to learn about living as followers of Christ. Yet, they are God’s people. Paul refers to them as “…those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours….”

            Like so many of us today, these members in the Corinthian church have heard the gospel: “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again!” Moved by the Spirit of God, these people have responded in faith to the good news. They also have received the abiding presence of God; the Holy Spirit indwells these immature believers; and the Holy Spirit gives them grace to grow in knowledge and faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like a blacksmith hammering a piece of hot iron into a tool for the farmer to use, so the Holy Spirit is hammering these believers in Corinth (and us today) into living pure and holy lives, blameless before God, useful instruments in God’s hand. 

            These Christians have every reason to be thankful, because they are in the hand of God, who is faithful. And they have every reason to complete their journey of faith, so that they may stand blameless before God on the Judgment Day, because God’s gift of grace (as found in the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit) is theirs—and ours today.

            And thus Paul says in the text: “Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” Here I want to pause and focus with you on that waiting for Christ Jesus to be revealed. What’s Paul talking about?

            Paul makes use of a key term in this text. He talks about the coming apocalypse. Now the term “apocalypse” usually comes with overtones or connotations of “dread,” “despair,” “destruction,” and “doom.” Movie writers and historians may talk about the apocalypse in the form of a “nuclear holocaust” at the end of history. What happened this week in Mumbai, India, for example, with the horrifying terrorists attacks killing at least 180 people, was of apocalyptic proportions. Horror and total devastation and annihilation are usually in view when people use the term “apocalypse.” But literally, the term “apocalypse” means revelation, an appearing, a manifestation, an unveiling of something that is as yet unseen.

            In this case, Paul is saying that Jesus is “to be revealed.” And that revelation will take place, says Paul (vs. 8) “on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Today, to our naked eye, we do not see Jesus. He is ascended; crowned as Lord of lords and King of kings, Jesus rules while seated in the throne room of heaven, at the right hand of God the Father. Although fully in control as King, Jesus is hidden from our sight. But at the end of time, when He comes again, Jesus will be revealed, manifested. That will be his apocalypse. You and I are waiting for that awesome moment to come.

            For some the term “apocalypse” stirs up fear; for others it is a term of great hope. The term “apocalypse” pops up in Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica (2Thes.1:7). Speaking about the coming Judgment Day, Paul tells us that judgment will take place “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.”

            Elsewhere in Scripture, we find synonyms for the term “apocalypse.” In Colossians 3:4, for example, we read of Christ being manifested. That is, says Paul, “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Other synonyms or terms that refer to Christ’s apocalypse or appearing are such references or terms as: “the day,” or “that day,” or “the day of the Lord,” or as we see in the text (vs. 8) “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

            The point is this: today we worship the unseen, risen, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus Christ as King; we await the apocalypse, the great day of our Lord, when he will reveal himself to all creation and all humanity. Then our faith shall become sight. Then the fog of history, time, faith, doubt and unbelief—whatever it may be that keeps us from seeing with the eyes of faith—will be lifted. And we shall see Christ as he is!

            On this 1st Sunday of Advent, then, the Scriptures call us to sharpen our awareness and readiness for Christ’s final coming. We do so by using God’s gift and by participating in and observing the Christian feasts and festivals, thus marking time. We should not fall asleep at the steering wheel of daily living; keep your eyes on Christ’s apocalypse.

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            But how? How will we eagerly expect Christ’s final coming? Especially, when it seems such a long wait. Let me point us to the Scriptures.

(1)  First of all, we must work with the signs of which Jesus and the Scriptures speak. In Matthew 16:3 Jesus refers to the “signs of the times.” These signs point us to all what God has done in the past; they also point forward to the end of history, particularly to the return of Christ. These signs also reveal the continual tension in history between the kingdom of God and the powers of evil; and they call for decision on our part and for constant watchfulness (cf. Hoekema, pp. 133 ff).

            One theologian (Hoekema, p. 137 ff ) groups these signs of the times as follows: There are signs which point to the grace of God, such as the proclamation of the gospel to all nations; and the salvation of the fullness of Israel.  Then there are signs which indicate opposition to God; they are tribulation, apostasy, and signs of Antichrist. Also, there are signs indicating divine judgment in our world: signs such as wars, earthquakes and famines.

            Christians must work with these signs. They point to God’s work, God’s sovereignty, God’s faithfulness, and God’s justice. Just as crocuses and tulips in early April are signs of Spring coming, so these signs of God’s grace and judgments as well as signs of opposition to God’s rule—are signs that Christ’s apocalypse is coming. Get ready. Keep these signs on your radar screen of daily living. They inform our faith and God gives them to us to stir up eager anticipation of Christ’s final coming.

(2)  We must make use of God’s gift in us.  God has given us his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit produces within us fruit that show that we have the mind of Christ; And the Holy Spirit gives us charismata or particular gifts, whereby we can serve the Lord Jesus and one another, in such a way that we grow and mature in faith and knowledge. The gifts of prayer, of Bible study, of stewardship and hospitality, the gifts of encouragement and exhortation, the bearing with one another—all of these are gifts that we must learn to use as we await Christ’s apocalypse.

                        These gifts (worked in our hearts by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our hearts) shape us and lead us to live holy, blameless and pure lives. These abiding gifts are our strength, our “spiritual vitamins” so to speak, that prepare us for the great day of the Lord. This is why Paul says in vs. 8 of the text: “(Jesus Christ) will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

            How shall we keep from sleeping at the steering wheel of daily living? How shall we continue to eagerly await Christ’s final coming? Here’s one more pointer:

(3)  We need to participate as much as we can in the feasts and festivals of the Christian church. All throughout the year, we come together for public worship. Each time when we worship, we pay attention to the person and work of Christ; and we give thanks to and pray to the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus God shapes us and forms us to be his followers; and in that way God prepares us for the things that are to come.

            It’s my duty as a pastor to see to it that our worship services are God-centered, and that all the acts of worship, including the preaching of God’s Word, shape us and form us into mature disciples of Christ. That’s a life-long project.

            And that means that I, as a pastor, and you as members of the body of Christ, enter into and engage in the person and work of Christ. That’s why we pay attention to the church’s feasts and festivals. That’s why we do not skip the Advent season and run quickly to Christmas and our favorite Christmas carols. We pay attention to the mighty works of God in the Season of Advent, where we focus on Christ’s final coming in glory, on Christ’s present-day comings in our lives, and on Christ’s first coming in the flesh.

            And that’s why we do not take only one day (December 24, or 25) to celebrate and ponder the mystery of Christ’s incarnation; we take 12 days. And that’s why the church pays attention to the way Jesus manifests himself to the world as he begins his work on earth. Epiphany, the season of Lent, Easter, and the Easter season are all opportune times for you and me to be shaped by the gospel and the riches of God’s Word.

            So, I say it once more: sharpen your awareness and readiness for Christ’s final coming, by working with the signs of the times, by using God’s gift (the presence and workings of the Holy Spirit in our hearts) and by participating in and observing the Christian feasts and festivals thus marking time.

 

            Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.