No One Left Behind ! (Thessalonians 4:13-18)
Written by Pastor Fausel   
Grace, mercy and peace …

Well, it’s been a week in the life of our country, hasn’t it?  An Historic Presidential Election.  As well as elections for Congress, Local officials, judges.  As a church, and as individuals … however we might judge the outcome of the election … we pray today, and always, for God’s continued rule … over both His Kingdom of the Left, His kingdom of power and authority here on earth … as well as His Kingdom of the Right … His kingdom on earth under the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And, as you may know, besides those two kingdoms of His here on earth, there is a third one … God’s Kingdom of Glory … which is our focus for these last Sundays of the Church Year.

God’s Kingdom of Glory.  We’re talking about heaven … and our being prepared for the time when Jesus will come and take us all into it.  We’re going to talk about that today… going to heaven!     

Now, you may have seen the bumper sticker:    “Come the Rapture, this car will be empty.”   Or it’s reply, “Come the Rapture, may I have your car?”

The Rapture.  In the 70’s it was the basis for a number of books by Hal Lindsey.   And about 10 years ago, for the series of books “Left Behind.”   

The Rapture, as such, is a rather modern concept embraced by a fairly small segment of the entire Christian Church.   Many trace its popular beginnings to the Scoville Study Bible published in the early 1900’s.

You see, The Rapture was not something the church taught before that, not at the time of the Nicene Creed, nor at the time of Luther and the reformers.  

And the only passage in Scripture to substantiate the idea of a secret rapture, of the taking of Christians out of the world before the final judgment, is found in our Epistle reading for today … and no where else in the Bible.   And there we read again:

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

Now, St. Paul’s reason for giving this description was the apparent misunderstanding of the Thessalonians that those who had died in faith before Christ’s second coming … were going to miss out on the resurrection to Glory.  The church there was thinking that only those who were alive when Christ came again would be physically taken into glory.   

But, God through St. Paul here assures his faithful that both groups, the ones whose spirits had already gone on to be with the Lord, and those who were still alive at His coming, would both be with him, resurrected, “in the air” at the sound of the last trumpet.

Notice that this text hardly portrays a secret coming.  It’s visible and audible to all, and indeed really something that’s part of the final act … Christ’s coming again in glory at the end of time.  Something the Scriptures picture as being visible from the east to the west like a flash of lightning.

So … is there a Rapture?  Yes.  But Scripture paints it as something that will include all believers of all times, both living and dead … and it will occur with great fanfare at the Blast of the last Trumpet, heralding the end of time.   

St. Paul wrote these words to assure the Thessalonians, and us … that no one, absolutely no one … would be Left Behind.

What’s the great implication of this? … The same point Jesus was making in our Gospel reading about the 10 virgins… When He comes there is, there will be, absolutely … no second chance.

And the implication of that is:  Be prepared for His coming, even now!
Let’s talk about an illustration of how we might think about that:

A story goes about a tourist who wanted to visit an old Italian castle, quite off the beaten track in Northern Italy.  He made his way there and was greeted at the entrance gate by a friendly old gardener …

The Old gardener became a tour guide and showed the tourist the grounds around the castle which he kept in perfect order.  

“How long have you been here?” The tourist asked.
“Twenty-four years,” The gardener replied.
“How often has the owner of the castle come and visited you during that time?”
“Four times”
“Oh, really?  And when was last time?”
“Twelve years ago.”
“Not since then?”
“No, just 12 years ago.”
“Does … he write you?”
“No”
“Then … who gives you instructions?”
“His agent … in Milan.”
“How often does HE come?”
“Never”
“Who … then, comes here?”
“I’m mostly alone.  A tourist, like you, comes once in a great while.”
“But, you keep the gardens and grounds in such perfect condition, as if you expected the owner to come … tomorrow.”
“Today, sir.  Today.

That picture of being prepared, as the gardener kept those things which had been entrusted to him, is very much like Jesus’ lesson in the parable of the 10 virgins.

The time of the visit will come when you will least expect it.  We know not the day nor the hour.  But, Jesus IS coming back.  And all the signs are in place.   

Both the parable of the Virgins and the story of the gardener would have us not be neglectful of that which God has put into our care … namely, that which saves us, our faith.

And the point the story and the parable make is that it may seem to us like the Lord is a long time in coming.   And with that, we live in danger of letting things go … relegating them to tomorrow.

“I’ll trim that hedge tomorrow, I’ll let the grass grow another couple of days.”  “I’ll have enough oil in my lamp, he’ll be here any minute.”

That kind of thinking takes us into the realm of what Pastor Kuder spoke to us about last week … about the fact as we live in this world as both saint and sinner at the same time.  

Sinners, because that’s what we are, and sin is what we do … and yet saints, because in faith, our sins, as well as our inherent sinfulness, is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ by faith.

And so, as we are in faith … we are prepared.  Let Jesus come today, during the day, or even tonight while we’re sleeping.  Our faith still stands.  Our Salvation in Him is secure.  

So what’s the problem?  God’s given us faith.  He’s even given us the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us steadfast in that one true faith.

The issue is … and the danger is … it’s not just God and us in the world.   The enemy is at work day and night to steal that gift God has given us. Do not doubt it.  And don’t try the excuse, the devil made me do it.  He’s already condemned … he just wants you to join him.

He does his work by trying to drive a wedge between you and God.  Between you … and your faith.  And He uses this world in which we live and our sinfulness as his tools.

The sinfulness of this world leads to a lot of heart rending problems.  And so the devil speaks in our ear … how can there be a loving God and yet He lets all these terrible things to occur.   We see them every night in the appalling horror suffered by the innocents caught in the crossfire of war.

Or in the loss and devastation caused by natural disasters.  The ruin of lives and families by the sinful greediness of people and institutions.  Lives of lived ones snuffed out by accidents, illnesses, and disease.

“How could a loving God allow those things happen??”  The Devil asks.   

Now.  Ask yourself this question.  Has the Devil ever incited you to be mad at God because of what’s happened to you, or to those you love or to those around you?  

We, as Christians don’t like to admit that we might be mad at God, even to ourselves.  Maybe we don’t even realize that we really are.   But, our actions will belie our hearts.   Where do we go when we’re nursing a grudge?

Anywhere but in God’s presence.   Worship no longer is something we feel joyful about.  We’re not interested in reading His word.  We fall out of our routines that used to keep our relationship with God fresh and vital.   And when we do that, our faith suffers.

And when we no longer take care of that most precious gift that He has entrusted to us, our faith, it becomes like a lamp … without any oil, no fire.

And the danger is: no relationship with God on earth translates directly to no relationship with God for eternity, and the Devil has won.

Now, being angry with God doesn’t mean that faith is gone.  God has big shoulders … and He forgives even our judgment of His ways … His ways are not our ways.  But, abandoning Him out of spite, and living in careless ways that would make a shipwreck of our faith do lead to dire consequences, as Jesus’ parable makes clear.

And so, today we also pray that He would keep us from that, as we do in the Lord’s prayer.   We pray that He would lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  That none of us, not one of us … will be left behind.
 
In Him.  Amen.
 

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