"Standing Tall Against the Fear of Gathering Doom"
Sermon Transcript for August 31, 2003Scripture Reading: Luke 21:1-38
By Rev. Dan Sinkhorn
We’ve reached the last of our sermon series of “Standing Tall in the Face of our Fears”; and today we talk about kind of a culmination of fears, the fear of gathering doom. I want to begin by sharing scripture with you from the Gospel of Luke. I’m going to read almost the entire chapter of 21, so I won’t ask you to stand; and the entire text will not be on the screen so listen reverently to God’s word. The passage begins where Jesus and the Apostles have been at the Temple in Jerusalem for some time. They’ve been watching the way people worship and tithe and in verse 5 we hear that, “Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, ‘As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.’ ‘Teacher’, they asked, ‘when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?’ He replied, ‘Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.’
Then he said to them: ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life. When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’
He told them this parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. I tell you the truth; this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.’ Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.” This is the Word of God from the people of God; thanks be to God.
You might remember back near the beginning of the summer as we started this sermon series, Reverend Mike used a phrase that went like this, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!” Do you remember that? He borrowed that quote from Tony Campollo who is a well-known Christian speaker; and I was intrigued to find out the origins of that story and happened across this week a little more expanded version of that. I would like to share that with you now. Tony Campollo was the featured speaker at a graduation ceremony at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. Tony Campollo was not known by all of the people there and so a lot of the young people in particular watched this sort of round, young, old, sort of middle-aged man, balding, looking a little like Don Rickles, walking up to the podium and beginning to deliver what they imagined would be just another dry, boring graduation speech. But they were dead wrong. And I will do my best now to paraphrase what Tony shared with them that day.
He started out by saying, “I was raised in a church in Philadelphia that eventually became entirely African-American because of the changing neighborhood. But my father refused to leave the church, however, because he had donated the offering plates. One week we were holding revival meetings. Campollo says, “In the black churches when they hold revival meetings, they don’t just have one speaker. They have one and then another and then another.” And on a particular night, Tony Campollo was one of those speakers. He got up and gave his message and then dutifully sat down next to the Senior Pastor, Reverend Tucker. And as he sat down he said, “Well, Reverend Tucker, how did I do?” To which Reverend Tucker responded, “Boy, watch this!” Campollo said he hated being called that. But Reverend Tucker got up and did his thing. He said, “Jesus died on Friday, but he rose again on Sunday. In case you didn’t hear me, “Jesus died on Friday, but he rose again on Sunday. Can I get a witness?” he said. And to some of you today is Friday, but Sunday is coming. I said, “Today is Friday, but Sunday is coming!” Friday--because you lost your job. It’s Friday because the landlord wants the money and you just don’t got it. Today is Friday because your husband left you for another woman. Today is Friday, but Sunday is coming. I said, “Today is Friday, but Sunday is coming! Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be downhearted.” Reverend Tucker said, “Don’t look like you just lost your best friend and you are sucking on a lemon. Sunday is coming! Jesus rose again on Sunday. Yes for you and for me today may be Friday, but Sunday is coming.” Now when Tony Campollo told that story, he went to his seat and just before he sat down looked at his audience of graduates and said, “Today’s Friday”. And with a unanimous roar, the entire gathering shouted back, “But Sunday is coming!” Can you imagine that? Can you imagine all of those people agreeing Sunday is coming?
Now I am telling you this story because the passages I just read to you from the Gospel of Luke are really very much Easter passages. They very uniquely tell a different story but yet connect with the Easter story as sort of the next chapter. Jesus died on Friday, but he didn’t stay there. He rose again in victory over sin and death and gives us hope for tomorrow. So thoughts of gathering doom can be overcome by putting our confidence in Jesus.
And what I want us to do today is focus our thoughts on the fact that Jesus is coming again. You see, Jesus told his followers that he would die and rise again. And he did! In fact, everything that Jesus told his followers came to pass. And so we can believe Jesus and take Him at his word when he says that he is coming again, that some day he will come as a victorious king bodily descending from heaven to be with us again and to rule over the entire world. In versus 25 and 26 you heard these words, “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” Jesus was telling his disciples about the time when he would come again. The time at the end of time!
And his words don’t offer encouraging signs—but they are! I remember when I was a kid my dad was transferred by his company from southern Indiana to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Now at that time, Pittsburgh was just emerging from its reputation for being a filthy city. You see Pittsburgh was surrounded on the three rivers around it by steel mills that belched out black, thick smoke all day long. And in downtown Pittsburgh it was not uncommon, even on the brightest and sunniest of days, for the city streets to seem like the middle of the night. It was eerie and frightening, especially for a child. I wonder if some of those signs that Jesus talks about will be like that. Jesus said, “On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.” Perhaps that means that the oceans will spill over their banks and the coastal areas will be flooded, that perhaps ships will not be able to navigate the oceans because of the terrible turbulence in the water.
Jesus said, “Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world.” The great doom and fear that is predicted may cause men to faint. Men and women of great strength will grow weak in the knees. Have you ever been so afraid you thought you might faint? Have you ever had such a frightening experience? I think that probably the most recent example that I can come up with is sort of a vicarious experience, but we were watching a movie about young men going in to battle. And it was so convincing and realistic that I became engrossed in it so that as those men faced certain death in the hail of fire from the enemy, I could identify with them. So that even as I was watching this film, I felt my knees begin to go weak. And I imagine that were it real, and not just imagined, I probably would. The Bible tells us that during that period things will be so fearful that we can’t even imagine what it will do to strike fear in our hearts.
This time of dread that Jesus spoke of brings up in us feelings of dread and doom and many of us are feeling that today as we look at the world around us, as we are reminded by the nightly news and the papers and the Internet and all the other information sources that there is war, famine all around the world, there is terror, there is unspeakable cruelty, there is sorrow and sadness. We’re fearful here in this country because we are afraid of being attacked by terrorist again. We’re afraid of war on many fronts. Our economy has stricken us with fear. How are your stocks doing? How many people have we prayed for this summer and throughout the last year to help them find new jobs after they lost their jobs? People have good reason to be worried about these things.
Have you ever worked somewhere where there was an attitude of negativism that just pervaded the place? Where fellow employees were constantly complaining and voicing their concerns about the future? Concerned that the management didn’t care that the working conditions were lousy, that the low wages would never get any better, that they’d be lucky if they could even keep their jobs? Have you ever been in a setting like that? I have. I remember back in the early 80’s working in a Peterbilt Truck dealership that was just like that. And the truth is, the place eventually went out of business. But, I hated going to work because there was such a negativism in the place, such a hopelessness, and I had caught that. And if it was not for my friend, Joe Gambil, you might remember me mentioning him a couple of weeks ago, I think I might have caught a permanent case of it. But Joe helped me to keep my head up in the middle of that time. But you know what happens after you hear enough negativism; you begin to get downtrodden and depressed yourself, don’t you? And it’s hard to pull yourself up out of it especially in these days when you have so much information coming at you from so many directions. You can watch CNN; you can watch MSNBC, Fox News, all the networks. Any time day and night if you need to be depressed, all you have to do is turn on the TV or the computer. When you wake up in the morning sitting on your doorstep ready for you to indulge—bad news!
But listen to these words! I’ve painted some awful pictures—listen to what Jesus says. “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV) You know, now that we have reached these words, I think that we should say them again together to be encouraged and strengthened. So join me now. “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Say that – Jesus has overcome the world. Jesus has overcome the world! Thoughts of gathering doom are overcome by putting our confidence in our Lord Jesus. Thoughts of gathering doom are overcome by putting our confidence in our Lord Jesus. So it may be Friday, but Sunday is coming!
Versus 27-28 tell us this, “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” As I read that passage, I am reminded of the images that I’ve seen on the news and I think about those scenes that you see all too often now where someone is trapped in a flood. And hovering overhead there is a helicopter with a rescuer hanging out the window looking down. And you see this person down there in the midst of mud and current and you see their desperate situation and know they are not going to make it without being saved; and they look up. And looking down at them is their rescuer, their savior. When I hear that scripture passage, that’s what I picture. I see us in the midst of the doom that is to come, in the midst of all our troubles, and the things that are going to get even worse, and I imagine us lifting our heads from the middle of the current and I imagine the joy we feel when we see that our redemption is near. We see Jesus descending like that helicopter to rescue us.
This is what the scholars and theologians of old refer to as “our blessed hope”, the second coming of Jesus. And because Jesus came the first time, just as predicted, because Jesus was all that he claimed to be, as predicted, because Jesus died and rose from the dead, as predicted, I believe Jesus will come again, as predicted! I accept this difficult image because I have seen the witness of countless thousands of saints who have gone before me. And among them many intelligent and thoughtful people who came hard to their faith just like me, but began to know that things that were beyond their comprehension could come to pass. So I believe that even when the worse is yet to come, even when it looks like all is lost, Jesus will come again. I believe this because on the day he died, his Apostles, those who knew him best, those who had given up everything to follow him, saw him die and thought it was all over for them too. And they anticipated the worse only to witness his resurrection again on the third day, on Sunday. And to have their lives transformed so permanently and to make their witness so convincing that for generations and generations after them people have believed no matter the cost. People have witnessed, have proclaimed Jesus alive and coming again no matter the cost. And so I believe too.
In the last days it will seem like they are at their absolute worse. When heavenly bodies do frightening tricks in the sky and strong men faint with fear. And then Jesus, the victorious king, will come again and will reign over the earth. It may be Friday, but Sunday is coming! It may be gathering doom but the King is coming again! And so there are three ways that we can try to prepare to maintain this Sunday’s coming theme.
1. Think in terms of salvation and receiving eternal life. For those who have accepted Christ as their Savior, it’s easy now to look back and see that you were lost, you were drowning, you were abandoned in the cold, muddy waters of a raging current. And if not for your rescuer, Jesus, if not for your Savior, you would surely perish. But many believe that they can be saved by their own works. When you ask people why they think they will go to heaven, many will tell you “because they’ve been good, because they are doing things that they consider good.” But the truth that we have to accept is that no matter how good that we think we are, God sent Jesus to die and rise again. And I don’t think God would have done that if there were a way that we could do it ourselves. And so we must accept that in order to be saved we’ve got to, in faith, receive the gift of salvation through Jesus by praying a simple prayer that sounds something like this, “Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I ask you to forgive me for my sins and to save me from eternal destruction. I put my faith and trust in you and in your work. I ask you to come in to my life. I receive you as my Savior.”
2. Think of our sin and deal with it honestly. Secondly, as we try to apply these Sunday’s coming themes in our lives, we need to think of our sin and deal with it honestly. For even those who have been saved have come to the conclusion that we still sin--and me chief among them. And that there are just some sins it seems like we can’t overcome. And yet we need to understand that not only is Jesus coming again bodily to join us again and to rule over the world, but he has sent his spirit to be in us even now so that as we have accepted that gift of salvation, we have also accepted his spirit within us. And it is that power that we tap in to to overcome our weakness and stand tall against our fears. And so we need to daily ask God to renew that spirit within us and fill us with a burning flame of faith that is God’s Spirit given to us by Jesus.
3. Think of adversity. The last thing we can do as we try to be Sunday’s coming people is to accept the adversity that comes in to our lives because Jesus said that it will be that way. The Scripture makes it very clear that we should not be shocked that bad things happen to us despite our salvation and the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. We should not be surprised that our lives are full of tribulation. Jesus told us that for his namesake we would suffer. And so we should count it as a blessing. It doesn’t make it easy, but it reminds us to keep the proper perspective because despite the troubles in our lives, the king still reigns Lord of all creation. Despite the difficulties in our lives, the truth is, Jesus would not allow anything to happen to us without his permission.
Today you may be going through some difficult times. I suspect every one of us could claim some difficulty. I want to remind you that the King, Lord Jesus, is in charge; and that if you ask him to change your circumstances or to at least change your attitude, he will. He’ll act out in faith because Jesus can enable you to overcome all that bears heavily upon you. Peter, who had seen Jesus many times, wrote early Christians living in various places that “even though you have never seen him…you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy” Now he was talking to people who for Jesus’ namesake were being tortured, hunted down like wild animals, put to death in horrible ways all because they claimed Jesus as their Lord. And yet, he had witnessed their joy in the midst of their persecution.
So I think that in the midst of our sorrows, in the midst of our tribulations, we should be willing to be at least as joyous. And we should keep our heads up for our redemption is drawing near. Sometimes when it seems like everything is bad or getting worse every day as you read the headlines or watch the news, it’s good to think about how wonderful it will be that day when Jesus comes again. And maybe what you need to do is make notes and write to yourself a little message of what you will say to Jesus when he comes. Maybe you can write something like this, “As a follower of Jesus Christ, I stand tall against the fear of gathering doom. I joyously anticipate that when Jesus is revealed to the whole world …” and then you fill in the rest.
Yeah, it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming. I said, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming. Can I get a witness?” I said, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming. Sunday’s coming! Amen, Sunday’s coming!” God’s word for us is good news that saves us and gives us hope.
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