May 28, 2001

Lesson for June 10


FAMILY BIBLE STUDY:
Don't be caught sitting, watching and waiting
___ Mark 13:1-37
___By Bobby Dagnel
___First Baptist Church, Nederland
___Something apocalyptic and cataclysmic was suppose to unfold that day. The only thing I noticed on Jan. 1, 2000, and more especially the week following, was our waste disposal service was disrupted. Curbs were stacked high with newspapers rolled into logs, empty containers used to store water and the unfulfilled predictions of millennial fatalists and survivalists. I must confess, even I considered saving newspapers just in case Y2K disrupted our utility services. The last thing you want to face during times of upheaval and anarchy is the frigid 70 degree winters of coastal Southeast Texas.
___Entering the third millennium of the Christian era, the church found itself beset by a barrage of apocalyptic sky watchers and doomsday predictors. Those with the keenest of skill in reading the signs-of-the-times made a mint off millennium madness. The 1999 Christian Bookseller's Convention in Orlando saw publishers release as many as 100 non-fiction and fiction books about end-time prophecies, the Second Coming and apocalyptic interpretations of the year 2000.
___The nation of Israel even created a special task force, informally known as the Millennium Unit. The force is working with psychiatrists to deal with what has become known as "Jerusalem syndrome"--delusions often suffered by pilgrims who are overwhelmed with emotion.
___Interest in the endtimes is not a recent phenomenon. The history of the church is littered with the tombstones of last-days prognosticators. Even the disciples of Jesus expressed curiosity (Mark 13:3-4; Matthew 24:3). While the disciples' question in Mark 13 is asked in the context of Jesus' prediction regarding the eventual destruction of the temple--long a source of pride and security for the nation of Israel--the parallel passage in Matthew 24 includes further inquiry relating to the signs of his coming and the end of the age.
___The promise of our Lord's return is something we as the community of faith look forward to with a great sense of anticipation and expectation. It is our blessed hope. It is among those promises of Scripture to which we cling for comfort and encouragement. It's unfortunate that this eschatological expectation has, through the ages, resulted in reactions of such extreme proportion--from obsessive sky watching that ignores appropriate calls to activism to lax complacency and indifference.
___A more appropriate and balanced response is to cling to the certainty of his coming and serve diligently until then. The tension of not knowing should not distract or detract us from the life of active engagement. Jesus said, "No one knows about that day or hour" (Mark 13:32). The angels do not know. The televangelists do not know. There is no seminary professor who has it figured out. Strange as it may seem to us, Jesus said he didn't even know.
___Those who would disregard the warning of Jesus in trying to fix a date do so on many fronts. Some play the numbers game, basing their calculations upon obscure passages found in the books of Daniel and Ezekiel. Surely none of this honors God. Do we truly believe the mysteries of God can be predicted with slide-rules, calculators and crystal balls?
___Others try to fix a date by playing the signs of the times. Every reading of the morning paper brings further speculation as to how current events might fit into the last day's jigsaw puzzle. All such attempts to establish a date for the Lord's return have failed, and every prediction of man will continue to fail.
___During all the hype relating to Y2K, I received a phone call from a concerned grandmother. It seems a rumor was going through one of our local elementary schools that the Second Coming was going to take place on Jan. 1, 2000. Her grandson was somewhat disturbed by this, and she was struggling with what she should tell him. I shared with her two thoughts she might pursue.
___First, she needed to reassure her grandson that the second coming is something that we, as believers, look forward to with a sense of anticipation and excitement.
___The second thing I offered was that while I do not know the day he will return, I can tell you when he will not return, Jan. 1, 2000. How did I know? Jesus told us 2,000 years ago no one knows the day, only the Father. Until that day we are to be about our appointed task (Mark 13:33-37).
___From my own pastoral experience, I have come to recognize that those individuals obsessed with "last things" are doing the least things for God's kingdom today. Make an announcement you are going to have combined study of the books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation, that some supposed code has been broken, and you will fill the room. Announce that you are going to do a study on the cost of discipleship, and you can meet in a phone booth. We have become captivated by the minutia at the expense of the most important.
___The parables in Matthew 25 (the 10 virgins and the talents) warn us not to be caught sitting, watching and waiting, but to be diligent in the doing of our appointed task.
___Be prepared.

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