Return of the King

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Return of the King
Burning Questions: Week 3
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Matthew 12:38-40, Matthew 24:35-42, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man.

 Matthew 24:35-42

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

Craig J. Sefa

Return of the King

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Popular modern teachings on the end times center around ideas of “rapture” and escape from this world.  There’s only one problem.  Until the late 1800’s, nobody in any Christian denomination had thought of such a theology. 

Consider Matthew 24:35-42.  The idea is that those who are not prepared for the return of Christ will be “left behind” when the “rapture” comes, while true believers are caught up into heaven.  The misunderstanding here is in the passage itself.  Jesus says it will be as it was in the days of Noah.  Those who were “left behind” included Noah and his family on the ark.  The rest were “swept away” in the flood.  If it is truly like the days of Noah, then we should want to be left behind and not swept away in the flood.  To be left means to be rescued or “saved.”

The problem with modern versions of End Times Theology, Brian McLaren writes, is that they are

 ...desperate, escapist and globally hopeless…. The world is going down the toilet, they say. There is no hope.  It’s all going to burn.  So we should jump into the life rafts and paddle away like mad away from the sinking ship.  We should retreat into our  Christian enclaves, listen to Christian radio, watch Christian TV, pray, study the Bible, tell drivers what we believe with bumper-stickers that say, ‘in case of rapture, this vehicle will self-destruct,’ keep our contact with the world at a minimum, concentrate on our personal righteousness, and anticipate heaven, a supernatural life beyond history - instead of anticipating the just society [of the Kingdom of God fully manifest on Earth as it is in Heaven].

The overarching movement of scripture is toward restoration and re-creation, not destruction, toward a call to building the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven rather than escaping to some other heavenly realm.  Christ will indeed return, and as we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, we have a hope of being caught up with Christ.   But the early writers and hearers of this text would never have considered being caught up to go to another place.  Rather, they had in mind a common military image of going out to meet the King who is coming to rescue their city.  Then together they return to take back the city and restore the throne to it’s rightful ruler.  Christ did not conquer death only to be run out of creation by some devil in the end, taking only a few chosen ones with him.  When Christ returns, he will rule a new heaven and a new earth as one, and he has made us heirs of this kingdom.  More than that, he has given us the responsibility to start building it here and now.

… on earth, as it is in heaven.

Nothing Can Eat God

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Nothing Can Eat God
Burning Questions: Week 2
Sunday, July 10, 2022
Romans 1:20-25, Colossians 1:15-17, Psalm 19:1

Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made. So humans are without excuse. 

Romans 1:20 (CEB)

 Heaven is declaring God’s glory;
    the sky is proclaiming his handiwork.

Psalm 19:1 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

Craig J. Sefa

Nothing Can Eat God

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Ninth Century Irish theologian John Scotus Eriugena describes the entire physical universe in sacramental terms.  Just as God is present in the bread and wine, so “God is in all things, the essence of life.”  In summarizing Eriugena’s homilies, Phillip Newell says that “Christ moves among us in two shoes… one shoe being that of creation, the other that of the Scriptures.”  Scripture and creation are seen as two books of revelation, both declaring the glory and character of God.

Many modern Christians have become obsessed with the so-called contradictions between science and scripture.  Scripture offers only 6,000 years of history in contrast to the 4.5 billion years scientific study has revealed.  If dinosaurs existed, for example, some argue that they must have walked side by side with humans, perhaps even sailing with Noah on the ark.  The fossil record clearly does not align with the biblical timeline.  So we argue about which is more reliable, scripture, or science, and for Christians, scripture will almost always win.

The problem is that scripture is not a science book.  It’s not even a history book.  It is the story of God’s working among God’s people.  Biblical writers could not have accounted for the fossil record anymore than they could have proclaimed a round earth revolving around the sun, a scientific fact that few will debate.

Science is the study of how creation works.  It tells us nothing about questions of meaning and why we exist.  If science is the study of creation and creation proclaims the glory of God, then why are Christians so afraid of science?  Science can show us how creation evolved over billions of years and how humanity, along with all creation, continues to evolve.  Yet it always leaves open the possibility that God is the source of creation and that all things are held together in the Divine being (Colossians 1:17). Any question about the existence or non-existence of God falls into categories of philosophy and theology, never science.

If we are worried that studying God’s creation can challenge the existence or nature of the Creator, we must examine the strength of our faith.  Can we really trust our lives and our eternity to a God who could so easily be disproven by those who study the inner workings of the very world God created?  If God is real, no scientific discovery can change that reality.  If anything, science, or the study of creation, only deepens our awe and wonder at the beauty, creativity and love of our creator. 

Nothing in creation can threaten the creator. 

Nothing science can discover is big enough to eat God.