"A peace no thief can steal"

November 14, 1999 message
Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Glen Arm, Maryland  USA
based upon  1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 &  Matthew 25:14-30

            My mother was the youngest of four children growing up in Vermont. Her parents intended to help all four go to college. Aunt Jean and Uncle Pete made it through with no problem, but then something got in the way of Oscar and Esther Peterson’s plans for their children. The stock market crashed. It became hard enough just to make ends meet. There wasn’t enough money to think about helping the younger two children through college. Times were rough. Some of you can remember what it was like, for you lived through it.

            This summer I enjoyed Tom Brokaw’s book, The Greatest Generation. It’s a collection of personal vignettes of individuals who came of age during the Great Depression, who then went on to face the potential ending of the world as they knew it, when fascism threatened to engulf the globe. As Brokaw looked at the generation of his and my parents, he saw greatness of character, forged in what must have felt somewhat like "apocalyptic" times. Indeed, hard times often have the effect of making us stronger, even as they threaten to tear us apart.

            Now, it may seem strange to start out a sermon based on a forward looking scripture by talking about the past, but there’s a reason. While there is great prosperity abroad in our land, with a stock market that seems to go up and up, there is also a general sense of dis-ease with the times. People don’t feel all that secure. Add to that the fact that in a month and a half our calendars will flip over to the year 2000, and most folks aren’t all that sure whether to whoop and holler or be just a bit anxious.

            Now, if you’re like most of us, you’re sick and tired of hearing all about this "Y2K" stuff. Am I right? A touch of caution is in order as the world’s computers flip over from ‘99 to ‘00, and we hope that ‘00 means 2000 and not 1900. It’s important to remember, though, that life goes on, as it always does - even in the worst of times. Wasn’t that true during the Depression of the 1930's? Some of you know that much better than I. While we might not choose tribulation, it’s possible to survive. Not only that, but often we come through our struggles stronger than we were before they arrived on our doorstep. That’s a perspective we all need, don’t we?

            However, the perspective that helps us the most in facing into whatever troubles may come our way is not a backward glance. I doubt if those whom Tom Brokaw called "the greatest generation" made it from 1929 to 1945 by facing backward. There were a lot of risks along the way, some of which were pretty big ones, with awesome consequences. Backward leaps just don’t get you across such a chasm, do they?

            As we approach the second millennium, there are a lot of people looking back. All the time I hear folks talking about how bad things have gotten - especially in the area of morality. And, y’know, I have to agree. Even in the short time I’ve been around I’ve seen big changes. It seems like our society keeps pressing the envelope of what is acceptable. Having said that, however, the historian in me also knows that we’ve been here before many, many times. We just forget the bigger picture of the past. We sugarcoat it with the flavor of "nostalgia," ignoring the corruption and immorality that have always been around, even in this great country of ours.

            We also forget the bigger picture of the future. That’s what the apostle Paul, and his co-workers Silvanus and Timothy were trying to lift up in their letters to the believers in Thessalonika long ago. In the section just before the part that Esther read, Paul and his cohorts wrote some words I speak every time we gather at the grave side of a departed loved one. "We don’t want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as those who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died." (4:13-14)

            These were forward looking words, in answer to questions about the hope proclaimed by the early church, the hope that Jesus would return in their lifetime and usher in the kingdom of God. What happens, many wondered back then, to those who die before it all takes place? They wouldn’t be among the living when Jesus returned. Would they then be lost? A loud and clear "NO" was the answer of this letter. Why? Because when the day comes for the new to replace the old, those who have died with their eyes focused upon God’s future will be gathered by Christ together with the living - they will rise from the grave. Together, it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, we will be caught up into God’s tomorrow, to be with the Lord forever.

            If that were the case, Paul and his friends would not have then written, "now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." (5:1-2) What an interesting way of describing the coming of God’s kingdom! These images don’t seem to fit together - the day of the Lord and a thief in the night. The latter is precisely what we don’t like about our present age. Of course, it all depends upon how you look at things.

            Eugene Peterson prefaced his creative translation of 1 & 2 Thessalonians with these words: "The way we conceive the future sculpts the present, gives contour and tone to nearly every action and thought through the day... The Christian faith has always been characterized by a strong and focused sense of future, with belief in the Second Coming of Jesus as the most distinctive detail... The practical effect of this belief is to charge each moment of the present with hope. For if the future is dominated by the coming again of Jesus, there is little room left on the screen for projecting our anxieties and fantasies. We’re far more free to respond spontaneously to the freedom of God." (The Message, Navpress, 1993, p.428)