All throughout my career as a pastor, something has happened in the world and people ask me if these are the end times? It was bar codes in the 1980’s and people were convinced the numbers were the “mark of the beast.” Y-2-K was a thing, until it wasn’t? As we grow older, we seem easily convinced that the world is going to “you-know-were.”
Side story; at one church I served, the custodian loved to wear t-shirts with funny saying on them. One shirt said, “Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?” He wore this shirt one Sunday and I asked him maybe not to wear that particular shirt on a Sundays. Well, that was the wrong thing to say, as he wore that shirt, and only that shirt, every Sunday from then on.
We tend to think that what is happening today is worse than World War I or the Black Death or the Holocaust. This is because it is happening to us and seems to loom large in our minds. Well, when people ask me, “are these end times?” my first reaction is always to say, no. Because the Bible says it will come like a thief in the night and no one will be looking for it.
“Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:1
The idea is that we should always be prepared for end times and Jesus returning and, that no matter when “the end times” come, Jesus will take care of us. We should live our life as if Jesus is coming back tomorrow and then we will always be OK. In the next couple of weeks I will be preaching on Jesus as the Bright Morning Star in Revelation, and Saving the Best for Last out of Hebrews.
Another thing I always say is: “When Jesus comes back, the first thing he has to do is clean out the church refrigerator and update the church bulletin board!