Stay the Course. Don't Freak Out. The Sky is NOT Falling -- Jesus

 

During Jesus' final days in all of the gospels, he warns his disciples about earthly political and physical turmoil. 

"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars...nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom..." (Matthew 24:6-7 / Mark 13:7-8)

"...there will be earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues (pandemics)...." (Luke 21:11)

This is interesting because most earthly kings in Jesus' context were pronounced "king" and given the mantle of authority because they had brought political and national peace. They conquered. They brought war to an end. Wars and conflict were no longer something to fear, at least for the ruling kingdom. And if they truly were appointed by God's authority, then the God/Gods would honor them and not allow things like earthquakes, storms, famines, or sickly plagues. 

If the ruler couldn't secure peace politically and nationally, then they weren't worthy of the title or the job. If the created world continued in chaos, then obviously they weren't actually approved by God.

But Jesus goes on telling his disciples that wars and violence and struggle, famines and pandemics, would continue and even increase. What's going on, Jesus?

We often have the same concerns, don't we? If Jesus is really God among us, if this is all real and true, then why haven't things changed? Shouldn't all of the bad stuff stop?

On the one hand, it's clear that Jesus is saying he's not going to bring and end to all of the human mess. On the other hand, he's challenging the common understanding of how people thought God operated. 

Maybe it's a fools logic to think that for God to be God, God must bring an end to suffering, war, and violence. Could it be that God is willing to let the world go on as it does, and to offer hope and a way to live in the midst of it?

The big point here is that Jesus' salvation is not about escapism and comfort. While Scripture points to a God of renewal and hope, it does not point to a God of escapism and simple answers to the questions and dilemmas. It points to a God of realism for living in a real world. 

All of the claims of peace in Jesus' world were set in terms of violence: peace for our people and nation, but not necessarily for another one. Jesus isn't interested in that game of peace. Stability for one nation, but not for the world is not Jesus' agenda. 

And the famines and plagues would have been understood as symptoms of a world not yet right. Jesus concedes the point: this world is not yet right.

In the midst of all of this, Jesus' main message is that when you hear of this stuff and when you encounter it, "Don't be alarmed" (Matthew 24:6). 

He also says don't get caught up in the stuff, in the rumors and chasing after other popular figures or claims about greatness. He doesn't say to take a side. He doesn't say to fight. He also doesn't say to check-out and not be engaged. 

Stay the course. Don't freak out. The sky is NOT falling. 

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In Matthew's gospel Jesus gives a parable of what he's talking about, the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). The point of the parable is that the way to engage in this world of chaos is to let acts of mercy and love be what we're known for: feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, tend to the sick, care for offenders. The opposite of these things would be to just continue to play the game of the world's rulers and kingdoms fighting one another for space on this planet. 

Instead, Jesus says, after I am crucified and raised, let my way become yours. Be busy. Be at work. You are the seedlings of something new. In the midst of "the desert of the real," as it is put in The Matrix, you are to be evidence of hope, not part of the crumbling brokenness.

It doesn't seem like God is in charge sometimes. Answers and explanations are not what Jesus came to give this world. He came to bring forgiveness and new hope for living in this world of chaos. In his life he charted a way to truly stand out in this world, to be witnesses to something better, to what actually gives life to all people and all things. Wars and violence and strife and pandemics will go on. It's part of the ways of this world. All of that will end one day. Just not now. 

But make no mistake, the evidence that Jesus is truly God's savior is not in the fact that all of the troubles go away. The evidence is in the way we allow the way of Jesus to become our way and point to something better.