9th November 2008 (Remembrance Sunday)
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13
In many cultures important visitors are met while they are still some way from their destination, and escorted the rest of the way. This seems to be the picture behind both our readings.
Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Thessalonica not long after he had visited them on his second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-10). A number of people, some of them Jewish, had become Christians and that had roused strong opposition against Paul and his companion Silas, so that they had to leave in a hurry. After visiting Berea and Athens Paul went alone to Corinth while the Timothy and Silas went back to Macedonia. This was probably when Timothy visited Thessalonica again. He and Silas joined Paul in Corinth, and they stayed there for at least a year and a half. This letter was written in response to the news Paul had received from Timothy.
The Christians in Thessalonica knew that Jesus was expected to return to earth to begin the new age of peace and freedom from all evil. However, some of them had died. Would they miss out on the age to come? This passage, and the beginning of the next chapter, were written to allay their fears. The picture Paul paints is of Christ returning in all his glory, and being met by his welcoming people and escorted to earth in triumph. He tells the Thessalonians that first in the welcome line-up would be those who had died, but who would be raised to life at the time of his coming. Those still alive would then join them. (In his letter to the Corinthians he says that the living will be changed, given resurrection life without having to pass through death).
The meeting place will be ‘in the air’ – between earth and heaven, a place in those days regarded as the abode of demons, but obviously at the time of Christ’s coming part of God’s kingdom. We don’t have to worry about whether it will a Harry Potter style aerial meeting; I expect the reality will be very different from anything we can imagine. The main point is that we will be meeting our Lord to escort him to earth, where the new age will be established, and we will never be separated from him. We will be with our Lord for ever.
In the reading from Matthew, Jesus is answering a different question: when is all this going to happen? He deliberately gives no answer, partly because it’s up to the Father to decide, and partly because he wants his people always to be ready for his return. The story of the ten maidens was set in a typical wedding scene (though we must not press the details – where could they buy oil at midnight?). The point is obvious: if the Bridegroom is delayed by a few hours – or a few millennia – the welcome party must still be ready!
These days many Christians doubt whether Christ will return in the way that the first Christians believed. We have a different understanding of the structure of the universe, and find it as difficult to imagine Christ’s return as we do to imagine his ascension into heaven. Details such as clouds and angels and trumpets add to the sense of imaginative fiction. Many either look to science for salvation, or believe there is no salvation for earth, only hope of a better life in a different dimension. That is not the Christian good news. Jesus will return in person, and in glory, and all will be well on a renewed earth and in heaven.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Questions:
1) If you knew Jesus would return next week, what would you do differently?
2) How can we maintain a readiness to meet the Lord?