8 THINGS YOU CAN DO IN LIGHT OF COVID AND THE LORD’S COMING
Yes, another COVID post.
If there are two things that have been brought very closely in this past year, it has been COVID and conspiracy theory. If it hasn’t been how COVID has been a gateway for the new 5G technology, it has been how the vaccines are the modern day, scientific version of the mark of the beast.
Underlying all these conspiracies is our human need to know all things. It was the reason the disciples were so keen to know when Jesus would return. The Olivet Discourse captured in Matthew 24-25 (and also Mark 13 and Luke 21) explores Jesus’ last words to his disciples before his death. We hear their cries, and our cries too, to figure out everything “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Mt 24:3). You would think those two chapters would be enough to transform their thinking but they, like us, are slow to learn. Upon his appearing to them after the resurrection, they still prefer conspiracy - “So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’” (Acts 1:6). Whereas Jesus never answers their longing to know the specifics, he assures them that he will return. In other words, what a Christian can know for certain is that Jesus Christ will return again (Acts 1:7, 1 Thes 4:14) - in fact Paul confidently reminds the Thessalonians that about the times and seasons, “you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thes 5:2).
How do they know? Is it because they are proficient in mathematical and astronomical detail? No, it is because they have spiritual certainty about it. “Fully aware” in the original is in the perfect tense, indicating something like “you perfectly know”! It is the same word used in how Jesus “knows” our thoughts (Mt 9:4, 12:25), how we “know” about the coming judgement (Rom 2:2), how we “know” of Jesus’ power over death (Rom 6:9), how the Holy Spirit “knows” the things of God and makes them known to us (1 Cor 2:11), how we “know” of our spiritual deadness before we came to Christ (1 Cor 12:2), how we “know” that our present life is transient and the coming life is permanent (2 Cor 5:2), how we “know” that people are justified not by works of the law but by faith in Christ (Gal 2:16), among others. In short, our confidence in the things that belong to us are made real to us in a convincing way by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:18, 1 Pet 1:8).
There are not too many certainties in our life - most of our jobs, salaries, dreams, and ambitions have been shifted in the past year. One thing that the Christian can be sure of, is that his or her Lord Jesus Christ will come at some point. How are we then to live inlight of his certain return? Here are 8 things we can do in light of “the coming of the Lord”:
- Pursue sanctification (1 Thes 5:23) As we look forward to our Lord’s return, we have in this passage a promise, actually a prayer, for God to sanctify us through and through, and to be kept blameless on that day. Sanctification means being made holy. Although it is God’s will for us to be so (1 Thes 4:3, Phil 2:12-13), God also calls us to be faithful to the means of grace - that is, the means that he uses to sanctify us, for example, studying the Bible, prayer, fellowship and listening to sound preaching of God’s Word.
- Be patient (James 5:7) The Christian is illustrated here as a farmer who waits for the rain to flower her crop and bear good fruit in the end. Since we don’t know the hour, it is critical for us to remain patient. Jesus may return next month, he may also return in 1,000 years. No one knows. Rather than live in panic, or be filled with worldly anxiety, as we wait on his return, we are called to wait “patiently”.
- Establish (to focus) your hearts (James 5:8) What James is getting at here is similar to Jesus’ command in Mt 24:42 to the disciples to “be alert”. When we are waiting, it is easy to be distracted. It is also easy to lose heart and therefore lose focus. James invites us to “establish our hearts”, literally, “to fix our hearts in one direction” - to FOCUS!
- Grow in gentleness (Phil 4:5) Waiting in a long queue in a government office in Kenya can be an ultimate test of patience. You can then imagine how difficult it can be to wait for a time that you do not know i.e. the Lord’s return. Even flipping through Facebook timelines, as we do when waiting on a queue, cannot quench that longing. The effect of lengthy waiting is that it is the best teacher of patience - you do not learn patience by spelling it in an English classroom, but on practicing it in the Christian life. And in many other places, this waiting can have the fruit of building our character - in the context of this passage, “gentleness”, because the Lord is at hand.
- Tell the "good ol' story" (Acts 1:8) The vision of the disciples was towards Heaven as their Lord ascended on high in all authority. It took heavenly angels to help them come back to reality, and see the urgency of their mission. Now that the Lord had ascended, they needed to realise he had vested them with authority to witness to him. The scope of our Christian witness begins from our homes, to our neighbourhoods, to our country and outward into the global world. What is it we tell others? The good news of the saving work of Jesus Christ, who through his death and resurrection has reconciled sinners to God - Only sinners who will look and trust in him. No more debt to pay! No more enmity between God and them! Peace, forgiveness and eternity with him. This is the “good ol’ story” we can tell as we wait for his return. Let’s tell it with our mouths. Let’s tell it on our timelines. Let’s tell it everytime, everywhere.
- Use your gift (1 Cor 1:7) Part of what it means to be a Christian is to be gifted. Not with natural skills and talents, but with supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul here observes that these gifts begin with “the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 1:4) and thereby being enriched in him “in all speech and knowledge”. Since Paul also teaches extensively on the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Cor 12-14, observing that they are to be used in an orderly manner, we may infer that here Paul invites us to use our gifts as we wait for the Lord. Jesus left so that we could continue his mission through our lifetimes. The gifts we have are not for ourselves or for spectator Christians, they are to be used to advance God’s mission, by active Christians.
- Live like a heavenly citizen (Phil 3:20) Our destination in the Christian life is eternity with God. So in a sense, we are not only waiting to go to heaven, but in Jesus’ first coming, heaven has come down to earth. Thus, as exiles and pilgrims on the way, we hold two citizenships - the citizenship of this world and the citizenship of heaven. Though that is the tension we are called to navigate as we live the Christian life on earth, our primary citizenship is heavenly. As we wait, let us live in a manner that shall be consistent in heaven.
- Hate evil, pursue godliness (2 Pet 3:11) Finally, Peter advises us as Christians who face different kinds of suffering. The prominent form of suffering in this chapter, this “reminder” (3:1), is that there will be false teachers and “scoffers” (2 Pet 3:3). Their main contention is that the Lord’s coming will not happen. What they overlook however is the powerful word of God as the agent of creation (3:6) and also as the agent of God’s providential sustenance of the world (6:7). It is this same word that shall stand to the end, judging God’s enemies harshly. Rather than heeding their “scoffing”, Peter invites Christians to live in light of the Lord’s sure return. How? By hating evil in light of the coming judgement and by pursuing “lives of holiness and godliness” (2 Pet 3:11)
COVID has revealed to us how fragile and transient our lives are. We have likely lost loved ones, family members and friends in the past year. We may have transitioned in and out of work. All of life is always a point of reflection for us. Rather than waste our bundles on watching the latest conspiracy theories, we can use them to dig deeper into God’s Word. God’s Word will not fail because it is tied to who God is. As one who never lies and one who never changes, we can take his Word with our entire lives. Although our circumstances may shift, God’s Word won’t. God’s word is clear that the Lord will one day return. When we consider this, you and I must ask ourselves - upon his return, which side will I be on? Does my conscience condemn me because I live in rebellion to God and his sent one, Jesus Christ? Come to Christ by faith, there is room for more repentant sinners. If I have trusted in Christ in the past, does my life show it? Would my friends say “this one is a true Christian”? Let God search your heart and mine, and consider what ways we may apply this reflection while we still have “today”. God is patient, he tarries a little longer so that we may turn around in the direction of repentance.
