Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
Rather than offer another sermon on
evangelism – fishing for people – as Jesus puts it in today’s gospel reading, I
decided to talk about the sense of urgency in today’s readings.
Jonah was sent to Nineveh by God to
tell the Ninevites that God plans to destroy the city. For Jonah, Nineveh is
enemy territory, non-Jewish territory, the people are doing a lot of evil and
injustice, and Jonah does not want to have anything to do with this mission. He
resists going there, and starts by taking a ship headed in the opposite
direction; he gets thrown overboard, he is swallowed by a big fish and then is
vomited up onto a beach.
Finally, he realizes that God means
business, and in the end, he does what he has been commanded to do. He walks
about the city giving a very short message. “In forty days, Nineveh will be
destroyed.” Even without Jonah telling the people of Nineveh why it will be
destroyed, they believe the message and repent from their evil doings and the
city is not destroyed after all. They understand the urgency and respond
accordingly.
Reading Mark’s Gospel often gives us
a sense of urgency. As soon as John the Baptist is arrested, Jesus begins
his ministry. He immediately begins to choose disciples; and the first
four follow him immediately. Now, actually, I believe that Jesus knows
these fishermen; they have heard him preach, and they are prepared to follow
him when he gives them the word, “It’s time to go.” The way Mark tells
the story gives it a strong sense of urgency: “Here’s the good news. You should
believe it and believe in Jesus, and you should do it now!”
When we get to the letter from Paul
to the Corinthians, we also find a lot of urgency. In the early church, there
was a lot of anticipation that Jesus would return soon in a sort of cataclysmic
event to change the world. As a result, Paul advises the believers to make sure
their focus is in the right place – on Jesus. Don’t think about your spouse,
your grief, your joy, your possessions, your political influence, or anything
related to this world, because it will be different when Jesus returns.
Paul believes that what we call the
end times were near. There are several passages in the New Testament where this
same message is expressed, but it is not the only view of the end times in
Scripture. The study of the end times is called “eschatology,” from eschaton,
the Greek word for “the end of time.”
There are five basic understandings
of eschatology in Scripture. I have adapted a handy summary of the varieties of
eschatology in Scripture from one of my favorite preaching resources (www.workingpreacher.org ).
The first is Imminent Eschatology. Of the five types of eschatology, this is the
only one with a real sense of urgency. In this understanding, Christ is coming
soon, so believers should watch, be faithful, and be ready for the eschaton. We
see imminent eschatology in today’s passage from 1 Corinthians, Mark 13, 1
Thessalonians 4, and a few other texts.
The second is Realized Eschatology, referring to a belief that the eschaton has
already occurred, and the kingdom/reign of God is already present among us. Believers
are called to seek eternal life through a relationship with God, who is present
with us through Jesus Christ, and to invite others to know Jesus the same way.
We see Realized Eschatology especially in the Gospel of John.
The third is Proleptic Eschatology, and this refers to an already/not yet
understanding of the coming of Christ. There are signs of the kingdom/reign of
God already present in this world, but it is not yet complete. Believers are
called to work to make the reign of God visible through our service to those in
need. Proleptic Eschatology is evident especially in the Gospel of Luke, but
seen throughout the gospels and the letters. Proleptic Eschatology appears
often in Lutheran theology.
The fourth is Prophetic Eschatology, which describes a world in which evil reigns
and we need God to do something about it. Believers are called to allow God to
work through them to establish justice and righteousness in the world. This
form of eschatology is seen in the Hebrew prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Amos and Hosea. In the New Testament, Prophetic Eschatology shows up
in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, the Sermon on the Plain in Luke, and in
Jesus’ parables.
The last form of eschatology in
Scripture is Apocalyptic Eschatology,
which expresses the belief that only God’s action will defeat evil and
establish justice and righteousness on earth. In this eschatology, believers
are to remain patient and faithful in a time of difficulty and persecution. Apocalyptic
Eschatology appears mostly in the book of Revelation, and in Romans 8 (for
example, where Paul writes, “the world groans in labor pains”) and in Ephesians
6. (Put on the full armor of God so you can stand against the devil.)
Each form of eschatology has a
description of the present and/or future and a call for believers to respond in
faithful ways. We can be both comforted and challenged by eschatology: the
thread running through all five forms of eschatology is that we are believers
in Jesus and at some time and in some way, Jesus is going to take care of evil
and bring on justice and righteousness. Believers are called to respond to the
challenges of this world with faith and endurance, and participate in bringing
justice to the world.
Since there are several forms of
eschatology in the same Bible, we cannot say that one or the other is the only
one or the right one. We must consider all of them as valid ways to understand
the end times. Each form of eschatology meant something to the author of the
text and the audience for whom it was written. Each form means something to us,
too, and some of them make more sense to us than other forms.
Of all five forms of eschatology, the
one we are least likely to believe in these days is Imminent Eschatology, the
belief that Jesus is coming really soon. We have become so accustomed to
waiting and waiting– for 2000 years we have been waiting – and we no longer
really expect to see Jesus in our lifetimes, much less in the next few days or
months. Our preferred eschatology wants Jesus to come soon, but not before we
have accomplished certain goals – made a million dollars, baptized our great
grandchildren, travelled around the world, written our first novel, developed a
software program to prevent viruses from invading computers forever, and so
forth. We want Jesus to come, but on our time table.
In truth, Paul’s urgent message to
focus on Jesus’ imminent return and ignore our worldly concerns seems
unnecessary to us. Because we have been waiting for so long, Jesus is often pretty
low on the priority list. We would do well to take note of Paul’s words and
have a better balance between our concerns for this world and our concerns for
our relationship with Jesus.
Even if we don’t believe Jesus will
come soon, the truth is that we will all see him one day, and we never know
just when that will be. It makes sense to have some sense of urgency about our
relationship with Jesus, so that we feel secure in knowing how much he loves us
and wants the very best for us.
Please pray with me. Jesus, you call
us to follow you, and we do, within our own limits. Help us to set aside our
own concerns enough that you can lead us into a more faithful relationship with
you and be ready to do whatever you are asking of us. Amen
