Surprising promise
This week's verses are Matthew 24:3-14:
Jesus' disciples ask him what the end of the world will be like. Jesus gives the human angle of what will happen. Have you ever asked a question and then really wish you didn't when you hear the answer? It's a common theme with Jesus and his disciples. Maybe that's why we don't pray as honestly as we could sometimes.
The end of the world sounds pretty awful. There's ethnic conflict within countries, and countries themselves going to war with each other. Famines. Natural disasters. All of the things good Christians pray against, and yet it's on the opening lineup planned for the last days. If you were recruiting for a religion, and you were describing what the results would be after everyone did their thing, you probably wouldn't describe war, ethnic cleansing, famine, and natural disasters. And yet Jesus describes exactly those things and urges us not to freak out, that those things are what are supposed to happen.
And then the things that'll happen to Christians are pretty awful too. We'll be hunted down, tormented, and killed. Everyone will hate us. We'll start sinning and turning on each other and hating each other. People will be so lawless that a lot of us will lose our capacity to love them. Not exactly recruiting materials here either. Why do we never see these promises of God on the nice Christian bookmarks and posters? We see plenty of others lifted out of context when they mention stuff we want, but these are promises too. Would people be as eager to be Christians if the local bookstore was selling the promises poster with a picture of a prison in a developing country and the verses about persecution?
But there's a sort of message within a message here, which is that if we're going to persevere and make it to the end, we have to ask ourselves why it is we follow Jesus. If we're doing it to clean up the world and make it a better place, clearly that's not going to happen in any permanent sense. If we're doing it just for the benefits package, once the pantry is empty, or our cousins start getting kidnapped, or we end up in a makeshift prison in someone's cellar, we're going to fall away. Our devotion has to be based in a love of God, not selfishness or self-righteousness.
It's the classic dilemma a prince has when choosing his companions: "Do they pursue me because I'm rich, or because I'm well respected, or because I am powerful, or do they pursue me because I'm me?" Nobody wants to be surrounded by people who just want to use them for what they have to offer. Eventually you'll do something they don't like and they'll turn on you. If you read history, it's full of cases of betrayal where you would never expect it. Humans are fickle.
God isn't going to always do what we want. Christianity isn't just a cheap ticket to wealth, success, popularity, and all of the other promises we're told to hold out for. Sometimes things will turn in a different direction for awhile, and we have to remind ourselves why we are disciples. If any of those things Jesus mentions would be a deal-breaker for us, maybe our motives are a bit selfish. But he person who endures till the end will be saved, and that's the greatest promise of all.
As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these things are the beginning of birth pains.
“Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. But the person who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Jesus' disciples ask him what the end of the world will be like. Jesus gives the human angle of what will happen. Have you ever asked a question and then really wish you didn't when you hear the answer? It's a common theme with Jesus and his disciples. Maybe that's why we don't pray as honestly as we could sometimes.
The end of the world sounds pretty awful. There's ethnic conflict within countries, and countries themselves going to war with each other. Famines. Natural disasters. All of the things good Christians pray against, and yet it's on the opening lineup planned for the last days. If you were recruiting for a religion, and you were describing what the results would be after everyone did their thing, you probably wouldn't describe war, ethnic cleansing, famine, and natural disasters. And yet Jesus describes exactly those things and urges us not to freak out, that those things are what are supposed to happen.
And then the things that'll happen to Christians are pretty awful too. We'll be hunted down, tormented, and killed. Everyone will hate us. We'll start sinning and turning on each other and hating each other. People will be so lawless that a lot of us will lose our capacity to love them. Not exactly recruiting materials here either. Why do we never see these promises of God on the nice Christian bookmarks and posters? We see plenty of others lifted out of context when they mention stuff we want, but these are promises too. Would people be as eager to be Christians if the local bookstore was selling the promises poster with a picture of a prison in a developing country and the verses about persecution?
But there's a sort of message within a message here, which is that if we're going to persevere and make it to the end, we have to ask ourselves why it is we follow Jesus. If we're doing it to clean up the world and make it a better place, clearly that's not going to happen in any permanent sense. If we're doing it just for the benefits package, once the pantry is empty, or our cousins start getting kidnapped, or we end up in a makeshift prison in someone's cellar, we're going to fall away. Our devotion has to be based in a love of God, not selfishness or self-righteousness.
It's the classic dilemma a prince has when choosing his companions: "Do they pursue me because I'm rich, or because I'm well respected, or because I am powerful, or do they pursue me because I'm me?" Nobody wants to be surrounded by people who just want to use them for what they have to offer. Eventually you'll do something they don't like and they'll turn on you. If you read history, it's full of cases of betrayal where you would never expect it. Humans are fickle.
God isn't going to always do what we want. Christianity isn't just a cheap ticket to wealth, success, popularity, and all of the other promises we're told to hold out for. Sometimes things will turn in a different direction for awhile, and we have to remind ourselves why we are disciples. If any of those things Jesus mentions would be a deal-breaker for us, maybe our motives are a bit selfish. But he person who endures till the end will be saved, and that's the greatest promise of all.
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