TEOTWAWKI
Commentary
TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) speculation and predictions are nothing new. Charismatic personalities of every generation have been able to convince sober-minded folk to forsake home, family and possessions in preparation for the end of the world, the date for which the leader has deduced with certainty. Some groups, like the Millerites of 1844, were able to transform a series of missed dates into a viable and effective denominational structure, known today as Seventh Day Adventists. For other groups, however, the outcome was much more tragic.
Item -- In March 1997, 37 members of the Heaven's Gate cult took their lives in anticipation of the end of the world as they knew it. Led by Marshall Applewhite, this group interpreted passages from the four gospels and the Revelation as referring to UFO visitations. They believed that the approaching Hale-Bopp comet in 1997 signaled the arrival of a spacecraft that would ferry the true believers away.
Item -- In March 2000, 924 people met their death in Uganda. Part of the "Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God," this group's leader first predicted the end of the world on December 31, 1999. When this date came and went a new date of December 31, 2000, was selected. In the meantime, the followers were told of a vision in which the Virgin Mary would appear on March 17, 2000, to take the faithful to heaven. In anticipation of this event, the 924 deaths occurred.
For followers of Jesus Christ, the end of the world as we know it is not limited to the world-consuming eschaton, but is a matter of daily transformation. Through the grace of God at work in the hearts of believers, the world as we have known it is giving way to the world as God would have it to be. Today's texts give encouragement and vision for this new reality.
Isaiah 65:17-25
Don't Worry -- Be Happy! When this sentiment is put to music in popular songs, it takes on the nature of a casual, que-sera-sera (whatever will be, will be) attitude. That is not the attitude being promoted by this text even though the passage could be summarized as Don't Worry -- Be Happy!
Don't worry! The failures and hardships of the past will not become impediments to the future. The sorrow-sowing and grief-generating events of life will no longer hold sway over the tenderness of the heart. Unfulfilled hopes and dreams will give way to a life full of days and achievements. The work of one's hands will become the bounty of one's life. Ages old enmity will melt into an irenic eternity.
Be happy! Let your happiness plumb the depths of joy. Let your face glow with the gladness of God's new creation. For this is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
The letters to the church at Thessalonica are considered by many New Testament scholars to be among the earliest, if not the earliest, of Paul's writings that we know anything about. 1 Thessalonians was written to prepare believers for the return of Christ, which was thought to be imminent. However, Paul must have done too good of a job in his admonitions, because soon it was necessary to write a second letter (2 Thessalonians) to address certain misunderstandings that the Day of the Lord was already at hand.
Today's passage addresses one of those misunderstandings. Apparently, there were some among the Thessalonian congregation who had decided that since the return of Christ was so close at hand, there was no need to do anything but sit and wait. In time, these "idlers" created a financial burden on the Thessalonian church. Their failure to maintain a sustainable income for themselves and their families caused them to depend upon the benevolence of those who were still working.
We can imagine the game of "spiritual one-upman-ship" that went on in the Thessalonian church as first the idlers and then the workers claimed the moral high ground over which attitude represented a more faithful expression of Paul's teaching. The Apostle, himself, settled the issue by calling upon the congregation to emulate his practice of self-sustaining work, so as not to create a burden for others.
The task for the proclaimer of this text is one of re-education or re-orientation for his or her listeners. Perhaps the first image in the mind of the hearer of this text is that of the modern welfare recipient. From early colonial days in this country, this text has become the theological justification for what is known as the Protestant work ethic. Even today when parishioners discuss among themselves whether and how much to help the local panhandler working the commuters at the corner traffic signal, this text (especially v. 10) is brought forward to justify a limited response.
Without necessarily being critical of its history, it is nevertheless true that if this text is to speak to a contemporary audience in a fresh way, then it must be rescued from its "no-work/no-eat" association. For instance, for the well functioning of congregational life, what are the responsibilities of the individual member? How would a congregation be structured that expected each member to make a contribution to its corporate life? How might a positive version of the negative no-work/no-eat admonition be phrased?
Luke 21:5-19
Between the words spoken by Jesus in Luke 21 and Luke's recording of those words in his Gospel stands the cataclysmic event of the temple's destruction by the Romans in A.D. 70. What for Jesus were storm clouds on the horizon, was for Luke a recent reality. This tension between prediction and memory, between warning and witness, must be kept in the foreground as one works to draw meaning from this text. In fact, it could be said that the purpose of Jesus' utterance and the purpose of Luke's inclusion of that utterance are not the same.
The disciples of Jesus, like most of us, had a tendency to judge matters by their exterior qualities. The temple with its massive stones and eye-pleasing adornments held in awe all that saw it. For the disciples, the grandeur and unassailability of the temple equated with the glory and unassailability of God. But Jesus knew better and he reminded his disciples that God would still be God long after the temple was reduced to rubble.
Jesus also knew that the events leading up to and subsequent to this devastation would be traumatic and faith-testing for his followers. Given their (and our) propensity for surface appraisals, it would be easy and tempting to latch onto any pseudo-savior who happened along, promising what the disciples wanted to hear. It would be easy and tempting to interpret the hardships ahead as abandonment by God. It would be easy and tempting to invest in the coming tribulations more theological significance than was warranted. Jesus knew all of this about them and spoke words to encourage his followers to look beyond appearances to the deeper purposes and reality of God.
Luke and his readers were living in the midst of the very thing about which Jesus spoke. Luke's purpose was to remind the confused believers of his day of Jesus' words, warnings and encouragement. Luke's purpose was an apologetic for his interested Greek friends, that recent events in Jerusalem did not signal God's abandonment of his people. Luke's purpose, in other words, was not so much to demonstrate the prophetic ability of Jesus as it was to remind post-temple Christians to look beyond appearances to the deeper purposes and reality of God.
As Elizabeth Achtemeier demonstrates in her commentary, when handling prophetic material one must not leap-frog the immediate interpretive context in favor of an eschatological reference. Whatever else Jesus may have meant by his warnings in Luke 21, he at least had the interests and life experience of his hearers in mind. And it is in this context that the interpreter is apt to find a contemporary message for his audience.
Application
Speculation about the events surrounding the "end times" has occupied believers since the days of the prophets. In the Hebrew Scriptures the focus was on the "Day of the Lord." The faithful awaited that day with anticipation knowing that it would usher in a great reversal of fortunes. The lowly and the great, the rich and the poor, the mighty and the weak would all trade places even as the rulers of this world gave way to the rule of God.
In the New Testament, a similar curious fascination occupied the attention of the followers of Jesus. From the disciples' questions in Luke 21 to their, "Is this the time...?" prior to the Ascension (Acts 1) to the premature preparations made by some of the Thessalonian Christians, even to today, inquiring minds want to know about the end of time. Simply witness the recent "Left Behind" phenomenon.
Rather than satisfy our curiosity about such matters, all of today's texts speak with a unified voice. Their message: Whatever the future may hold, God can be trusted to see you through. In the meantime, demonstrate your faith and faithfulness by doing whatever it is God is calling you to do.
Alternative Applications
1) Isaiah: In 65:17-25, nearly every verse is a mirror image of a previous pronouncement. A couple of these are mentioned in Elizabeth Achtemeier's commentary. For another, compare verses 21-22 with Amos 5:11. That which is stated negatively elsewhere as a word of judgment is here stated positively as a word of hope and promise. How do the circumstances differ between a pronouncement of judgment and hope? What role does obedience to God play in this equation? Oftentimes God's judgment and promise are proclaimed exclusive of the other. This text offers an opportunity to present both aspects of God's nature in a way that does justice to the biblical witness.
2) Isaiah: Another approach is to address the universal human desires represented in the Isaiah passage: hope for the future; personal fulfillment; goal accomplishment; and peace. What is God's role in meeting these desires of the human heart?
3) 2 Thessalonians: An often-quoted statistic is that within congregations 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work. The consequence of this disparity is a "circular frustration" -- congregations do less than they could do because of a lack of volunteers and volunteers do not step forward because they see the church doing little more than self-maintenance.
This passage offers a unique opportunity for the pastor to "cast a dream" for his or her specific congregation. The dream should be big enough that it cannot be accomplished by business as usual. It should be challenging enough to ignite the imagination of the congregation. It should be "outer-focused" rather than serving institutional needs. It should be bold enough that without God even an army of volunteers would be unsuccessful.
4) Luke: Things are not always as they appear. In a number of instances this passage plays off of the disparity between appearances and reality -- the permanence/impermanence of the Temple; the claim to authenticity of false messiahs; the war to end all wars that doesn't; the dependability/non-dependability of family and friends. What are contemporary allurements where appearance doesn't match reality? How do these allurements tempt us to yield our allegiance to them in a false sense of security and hope? How does one discern God's voice among the siren calls of these pseudo-deities?
5) All the texts: What does it mean to be faithful to God in contemporary society? Each of today's passages addresses the issue of faithfulness from a differing perspective. Among other things faithfulness means (1) believing in a future designed by God (Isaiah); (2) engaging daily in mission and ministry as God gives the opportunity (Thessalonians); (3) trusting God no matter the difficulties and disappointments of life (Luke).
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
Isaiah 65:17-25
If we ever doubt that God is good, or if we ever wonder what the Lord wants for human beings, then we should study this passage from Third Isaiah. Here is laid out a description of the future that God plans for those who love him, a future so full of good that it is almost overwhelming.
Third Isaiah, which is made up of chapters 56-66 in the Isaiah corpus is a collection of oracles gathered together by Levitical priests sometime after 538 B.C., when some of the Israelites returned from Babylonian exile to their homes in Palestine. The book mirrors the bitter contention between the Aaronite priesthood and the Levites, who had been relegated to servile duties in Israel's worship. There was a great deal of oppression visited upon the Levites by the Aaronites, and the Levites were sure that their cause would be vindicated by God. Thus, in the passages preceding our text (65:1-7, 11-12, 13-15), God's judgment is pronounced upon the Aaronites' injustice and idolatry. The glorious future that is described in our passage is therefore intended for the faithful Levitical party. Much of that future is said in the New Testament to be planned for God's faithful people everywhere, however, and so we may take our text as a universally intended divine promise.
Verse 17 opens with God's announcement that he is creating new heavens and a new earth. The verbs are participles, and so God's restoration of his cosmos is already underway, a fact affirmed by Jesus' announcement that the new age begins in his person (cf. Mark 1:15). God is at work right now, bringing in the new age of his kingdom on earth, in which all of human life and nature will be transformed. Many have reasoned that this marks the beginning of apocalypticism in the Old Testament, comparable to that found in 2 Peter 3:11-13 and Revelation 21:1. If that were true, the thought would be that the present age has become so evil that it must be replaced with a totally new creation. But Third Isaiah deals with the facts of this life, with Jerusalem, houses, gardens, childbirth, and prayer. The view is, therefore, that God is at work in this present world of ours to make all things new. Unseen and silently, behind the events of our time, God is working his recreation of our troubled human life and world, and we can take heart despite all the trouble and evil we see around us.
So what are the goals toward which God is working in our world? First, says our text, God aims for joy, for the rejoicing of those who love him. No longer, when God's kingdom comes, will there be the sound of weeping and cries of distress (vv. 18-19). The figure of Rachel weeping for her children who are gone (Jeremiah 31:15) will be a sorrow of the past. No child will be abandoned or lost in crowds of refugees, none will die of abortion or malnourishment or abuse, and no one of them will fail to live out his or her days. (For the Jews, a lifespan of 100 years was incredible). Sinners, on the other hand, will live 100 years under the curse of God, which is as good as living death (v. 20), because God is a God of justice who will make all things right.
Verses 21 and 22 imply that God's faithful also no longer will suffer the effects of military invasion and war. When Israel was exiled to Babylonia, her houses and vineyards fell to her conquerors, just as so much Jewish property fell to the Nazis in World War II, and just as invaded people have so often experienced the loss of everything. But God's coming kingdom will know no armies. There will be universal peace (cf. Isaiah 2:4), and everyone will sit "under his (own) vine and (own) fig tree, and none shall make them afraid" (Micah 4:4).
When God works his full transformation, no one will labor in vain. Wherever labor or life takes on futility, there the Old Testament sees a cursed existence (cf. Genesis 3:17-19; Deuteronomy 28:30-31), and we all know such despair, don't we, when we work and work, and nothing seems to bear good fruit, when all our efforts seem to account for nothing worthwhile? Rather our days become just one futile routine after another, and life loses all its purpose. But in God's kingdom, work will be blessed and yield its rewards.
Most important, however, in God's realization of his final results for his creation, he will be there for his people. When we pray, the Lord will answer, and even while there are still words on our lips, God will hear and respond (v. 24). That is an exact reversal of what we find in 65:1, which indicates that 65:1-24 is intended as a complete unit. Verse 25, therefore, is very similar to what we find in Isaiah 11:6, 7, 9 and probably belongs there.
Such is the joyful future that the Lord holds out to those who trust and love him. Such is the future that he is right now working toward in our lives. Such is the good God's goal for his creation. And such is the promise that God will fulfill in his good time. Is he good? Is he loving? Does he wish only well for his faithful followers? And will he bring it to fruition? Oh yes, good Christians. Oh yes.
Malachi 4:1-2a (Lutheran Option)
"Behold, the day comes." What day? Both Old Testament and New are very sure that there is coming a day when God will work his final judgment in the earth, to do away with those who have opposed him and to bring blessing on those who have trusted him. That day is known throughout the Bible as the Day of the Lord. It is predicted, for example, by the prophets Zephaniah (1:7, 14-15) and Joel (1:15; 2:1-2). It is expected by Jesus (Mark 13 and parallels; Matthew 25:31-46) and Paul (2 Corin-thians 5:10; Philippians 1:10). In Amos' words, "it is darkness and not light" (Amos 5:18), or in Zephaniah's, "a day of wrath," "a day of distress and anguish," "a day of ruin and devastation" (Zephaniah 1:15).
Thus, what we find in our text for the morning is the destruction of the wicked on that day. They will be burned up as the stubble in a field is dried out and scorched and finally ignited by a furnace-hot, blazing, unrelenting summer sun. (Cf. Jesus' prediction of "eternal fire" in Matthew 25:41). In Malachi's book, the sins of the wicked have been principally pride (cf. 3:15) and self-will (4:1), their failure to bow before their divine King and to cleave to his will and sovereign mercy.
By way of contrast, our text says that the very sun and its rays ("wings") that will burn up the wicked will prove to be healing warmth and light and morning joy for the righteous, who have placed their lives in the hands of God (v. 2). "The sun of righteousness" in verse 2 is not a personal name in this text, but a metaphor for God's salvation of his faithful remnant. In the Day of the Lord, they will not be destroyed, but will enjoy the freedom and joy and warmth of the love that God will pour out on them.
When we modern folk hear such passages about God's judgment, we are inclined to take them all with a grain of salt, as ancient views that no longer apply to our age. So many of us think that God judges no one. In secular understandings, he is only kindly, loving and forgiving, and so anything goes. What we are saying with such views, of course, is that there is no God of justice who will make a final reckoning with his creation. The world in the end will be no different than it is now, and God will not vindicate the good nor judge the evil. The scales will never be balanced. God will do nothing. Our destiny is totally in our own hands.
But is it? Is that the goal we desire, that evil is never overcome and that we all are at the mercy of mere human wisdom and desire, that there is no God who rules over all? Or is it so that Jesus Christ is truly King of kings and Lord of lords? And that finally, because of his cross and resurrection, in the Day of the Lord, you and I can be counted righteous in God's eyes and through faith, find joy and warmth and salvation in his everlasting love? This passage from Malachi is not intended to frighten us but to point us toward the One through we can indeed be found "pure and blameless" in the Day of the Lord (Philippians 1:10).
THE POLITICAL PULPIT
Isaiah 65:17-25; Luke 21:5-19
With Christmas on the horizon, our thoughts turn to children, and the lectionary supports concern about them through the End Times theme. As one considers the future to which these texts direct us, we should also reflect on the state of our children. If we mess them up, there's not much hope for the future. And we are messing up.
The most recent U.S. government statistics (released in 1999 by the Census Bureau) tell some of the story. Granted, the number of children in poverty has actually decreased since 1960. However, those gains seem negligible when we take into account the improved standards of living in the last 40 years. Since 1970 the plight of children has worsened statistically, as more of America's children are in poverty than 30 years ago. Sixteen percent of children live in such conditions, while only 13.3 percent of the adult population endures such poverty (only .7 percent of an increase since 1970). You have a statistically significantly better chance of avoiding poverty in America if you are an adult than if you are a child.
Things are no better for children in 1998, as 14.8 percent of our children were born into families with incomes of under $20,000 (7.3 percent were born to families with incomes under $10,000).
These glum economic statistics are related to other factors that also influence child poverty. Births to unmarried women nearly doubled between 1980 and 1997. Although the divorce rate has leveled off since its peak in late 1970s, the most recent U.S. government statistics (for the year 1997) indicates that a divorce is almost twice as likely to occur as it was in 1950. It's a lot tougher for kids to grow up than it was for us.
Let us not imagine that the problems that these statistics highlight only pertain to other people's kids. The divorce rate, the rise of single motherhood, and the two-income family have had their impact on children, even for those raised in middle-class and affluent homes.
There are more latchkey kids than ever before (between 7 to 15 million by latest government estimates). Though it may be "cool" to spend time with your kids in public, coaching them or chauffeuring them off to the latest organized activity, the culture of American daily life devalues the attention parents give children in private. Consider how in the debate over welfare reform everyone assumed that it was essential to put single mothers into the work force, while nary a voice was heard in the public sphere about what might happen to the children if Mom was not home when they got home from school. Most teen-age pregnancies begin these days while the adults in the family are at work. Also consider how the hectic lifestyle of today's middle-class family has more and more surrendered family meals as quaint traditions of the past.
Where are the prophetic voices in the public sphere to say "no" to these trends? It will not come from the business community, which needs this kind of labor-force flexibility. And it will not come from our politicians as long as they need big money for their campaigns from the business community and the media. That Word will have to come from our pulpits. Are we ready to be child advocates?
Item -- In March 1997, 37 members of the Heaven's Gate cult took their lives in anticipation of the end of the world as they knew it. Led by Marshall Applewhite, this group interpreted passages from the four gospels and the Revelation as referring to UFO visitations. They believed that the approaching Hale-Bopp comet in 1997 signaled the arrival of a spacecraft that would ferry the true believers away.
Item -- In March 2000, 924 people met their death in Uganda. Part of the "Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God," this group's leader first predicted the end of the world on December 31, 1999. When this date came and went a new date of December 31, 2000, was selected. In the meantime, the followers were told of a vision in which the Virgin Mary would appear on March 17, 2000, to take the faithful to heaven. In anticipation of this event, the 924 deaths occurred.
For followers of Jesus Christ, the end of the world as we know it is not limited to the world-consuming eschaton, but is a matter of daily transformation. Through the grace of God at work in the hearts of believers, the world as we have known it is giving way to the world as God would have it to be. Today's texts give encouragement and vision for this new reality.
Isaiah 65:17-25
Don't Worry -- Be Happy! When this sentiment is put to music in popular songs, it takes on the nature of a casual, que-sera-sera (whatever will be, will be) attitude. That is not the attitude being promoted by this text even though the passage could be summarized as Don't Worry -- Be Happy!
Don't worry! The failures and hardships of the past will not become impediments to the future. The sorrow-sowing and grief-generating events of life will no longer hold sway over the tenderness of the heart. Unfulfilled hopes and dreams will give way to a life full of days and achievements. The work of one's hands will become the bounty of one's life. Ages old enmity will melt into an irenic eternity.
Be happy! Let your happiness plumb the depths of joy. Let your face glow with the gladness of God's new creation. For this is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
The letters to the church at Thessalonica are considered by many New Testament scholars to be among the earliest, if not the earliest, of Paul's writings that we know anything about. 1 Thessalonians was written to prepare believers for the return of Christ, which was thought to be imminent. However, Paul must have done too good of a job in his admonitions, because soon it was necessary to write a second letter (2 Thessalonians) to address certain misunderstandings that the Day of the Lord was already at hand.
Today's passage addresses one of those misunderstandings. Apparently, there were some among the Thessalonian congregation who had decided that since the return of Christ was so close at hand, there was no need to do anything but sit and wait. In time, these "idlers" created a financial burden on the Thessalonian church. Their failure to maintain a sustainable income for themselves and their families caused them to depend upon the benevolence of those who were still working.
We can imagine the game of "spiritual one-upman-ship" that went on in the Thessalonian church as first the idlers and then the workers claimed the moral high ground over which attitude represented a more faithful expression of Paul's teaching. The Apostle, himself, settled the issue by calling upon the congregation to emulate his practice of self-sustaining work, so as not to create a burden for others.
The task for the proclaimer of this text is one of re-education or re-orientation for his or her listeners. Perhaps the first image in the mind of the hearer of this text is that of the modern welfare recipient. From early colonial days in this country, this text has become the theological justification for what is known as the Protestant work ethic. Even today when parishioners discuss among themselves whether and how much to help the local panhandler working the commuters at the corner traffic signal, this text (especially v. 10) is brought forward to justify a limited response.
Without necessarily being critical of its history, it is nevertheless true that if this text is to speak to a contemporary audience in a fresh way, then it must be rescued from its "no-work/no-eat" association. For instance, for the well functioning of congregational life, what are the responsibilities of the individual member? How would a congregation be structured that expected each member to make a contribution to its corporate life? How might a positive version of the negative no-work/no-eat admonition be phrased?
Luke 21:5-19
Between the words spoken by Jesus in Luke 21 and Luke's recording of those words in his Gospel stands the cataclysmic event of the temple's destruction by the Romans in A.D. 70. What for Jesus were storm clouds on the horizon, was for Luke a recent reality. This tension between prediction and memory, between warning and witness, must be kept in the foreground as one works to draw meaning from this text. In fact, it could be said that the purpose of Jesus' utterance and the purpose of Luke's inclusion of that utterance are not the same.
The disciples of Jesus, like most of us, had a tendency to judge matters by their exterior qualities. The temple with its massive stones and eye-pleasing adornments held in awe all that saw it. For the disciples, the grandeur and unassailability of the temple equated with the glory and unassailability of God. But Jesus knew better and he reminded his disciples that God would still be God long after the temple was reduced to rubble.
Jesus also knew that the events leading up to and subsequent to this devastation would be traumatic and faith-testing for his followers. Given their (and our) propensity for surface appraisals, it would be easy and tempting to latch onto any pseudo-savior who happened along, promising what the disciples wanted to hear. It would be easy and tempting to interpret the hardships ahead as abandonment by God. It would be easy and tempting to invest in the coming tribulations more theological significance than was warranted. Jesus knew all of this about them and spoke words to encourage his followers to look beyond appearances to the deeper purposes and reality of God.
Luke and his readers were living in the midst of the very thing about which Jesus spoke. Luke's purpose was to remind the confused believers of his day of Jesus' words, warnings and encouragement. Luke's purpose was an apologetic for his interested Greek friends, that recent events in Jerusalem did not signal God's abandonment of his people. Luke's purpose, in other words, was not so much to demonstrate the prophetic ability of Jesus as it was to remind post-temple Christians to look beyond appearances to the deeper purposes and reality of God.
As Elizabeth Achtemeier demonstrates in her commentary, when handling prophetic material one must not leap-frog the immediate interpretive context in favor of an eschatological reference. Whatever else Jesus may have meant by his warnings in Luke 21, he at least had the interests and life experience of his hearers in mind. And it is in this context that the interpreter is apt to find a contemporary message for his audience.
Application
Speculation about the events surrounding the "end times" has occupied believers since the days of the prophets. In the Hebrew Scriptures the focus was on the "Day of the Lord." The faithful awaited that day with anticipation knowing that it would usher in a great reversal of fortunes. The lowly and the great, the rich and the poor, the mighty and the weak would all trade places even as the rulers of this world gave way to the rule of God.
In the New Testament, a similar curious fascination occupied the attention of the followers of Jesus. From the disciples' questions in Luke 21 to their, "Is this the time...?" prior to the Ascension (Acts 1) to the premature preparations made by some of the Thessalonian Christians, even to today, inquiring minds want to know about the end of time. Simply witness the recent "Left Behind" phenomenon.
Rather than satisfy our curiosity about such matters, all of today's texts speak with a unified voice. Their message: Whatever the future may hold, God can be trusted to see you through. In the meantime, demonstrate your faith and faithfulness by doing whatever it is God is calling you to do.
Alternative Applications
1) Isaiah: In 65:17-25, nearly every verse is a mirror image of a previous pronouncement. A couple of these are mentioned in Elizabeth Achtemeier's commentary. For another, compare verses 21-22 with Amos 5:11. That which is stated negatively elsewhere as a word of judgment is here stated positively as a word of hope and promise. How do the circumstances differ between a pronouncement of judgment and hope? What role does obedience to God play in this equation? Oftentimes God's judgment and promise are proclaimed exclusive of the other. This text offers an opportunity to present both aspects of God's nature in a way that does justice to the biblical witness.
2) Isaiah: Another approach is to address the universal human desires represented in the Isaiah passage: hope for the future; personal fulfillment; goal accomplishment; and peace. What is God's role in meeting these desires of the human heart?
3) 2 Thessalonians: An often-quoted statistic is that within congregations 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work. The consequence of this disparity is a "circular frustration" -- congregations do less than they could do because of a lack of volunteers and volunteers do not step forward because they see the church doing little more than self-maintenance.
This passage offers a unique opportunity for the pastor to "cast a dream" for his or her specific congregation. The dream should be big enough that it cannot be accomplished by business as usual. It should be challenging enough to ignite the imagination of the congregation. It should be "outer-focused" rather than serving institutional needs. It should be bold enough that without God even an army of volunteers would be unsuccessful.
4) Luke: Things are not always as they appear. In a number of instances this passage plays off of the disparity between appearances and reality -- the permanence/impermanence of the Temple; the claim to authenticity of false messiahs; the war to end all wars that doesn't; the dependability/non-dependability of family and friends. What are contemporary allurements where appearance doesn't match reality? How do these allurements tempt us to yield our allegiance to them in a false sense of security and hope? How does one discern God's voice among the siren calls of these pseudo-deities?
5) All the texts: What does it mean to be faithful to God in contemporary society? Each of today's passages addresses the issue of faithfulness from a differing perspective. Among other things faithfulness means (1) believing in a future designed by God (Isaiah); (2) engaging daily in mission and ministry as God gives the opportunity (Thessalonians); (3) trusting God no matter the difficulties and disappointments of life (Luke).
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
Isaiah 65:17-25
If we ever doubt that God is good, or if we ever wonder what the Lord wants for human beings, then we should study this passage from Third Isaiah. Here is laid out a description of the future that God plans for those who love him, a future so full of good that it is almost overwhelming.
Third Isaiah, which is made up of chapters 56-66 in the Isaiah corpus is a collection of oracles gathered together by Levitical priests sometime after 538 B.C., when some of the Israelites returned from Babylonian exile to their homes in Palestine. The book mirrors the bitter contention between the Aaronite priesthood and the Levites, who had been relegated to servile duties in Israel's worship. There was a great deal of oppression visited upon the Levites by the Aaronites, and the Levites were sure that their cause would be vindicated by God. Thus, in the passages preceding our text (65:1-7, 11-12, 13-15), God's judgment is pronounced upon the Aaronites' injustice and idolatry. The glorious future that is described in our passage is therefore intended for the faithful Levitical party. Much of that future is said in the New Testament to be planned for God's faithful people everywhere, however, and so we may take our text as a universally intended divine promise.
Verse 17 opens with God's announcement that he is creating new heavens and a new earth. The verbs are participles, and so God's restoration of his cosmos is already underway, a fact affirmed by Jesus' announcement that the new age begins in his person (cf. Mark 1:15). God is at work right now, bringing in the new age of his kingdom on earth, in which all of human life and nature will be transformed. Many have reasoned that this marks the beginning of apocalypticism in the Old Testament, comparable to that found in 2 Peter 3:11-13 and Revelation 21:1. If that were true, the thought would be that the present age has become so evil that it must be replaced with a totally new creation. But Third Isaiah deals with the facts of this life, with Jerusalem, houses, gardens, childbirth, and prayer. The view is, therefore, that God is at work in this present world of ours to make all things new. Unseen and silently, behind the events of our time, God is working his recreation of our troubled human life and world, and we can take heart despite all the trouble and evil we see around us.
So what are the goals toward which God is working in our world? First, says our text, God aims for joy, for the rejoicing of those who love him. No longer, when God's kingdom comes, will there be the sound of weeping and cries of distress (vv. 18-19). The figure of Rachel weeping for her children who are gone (Jeremiah 31:15) will be a sorrow of the past. No child will be abandoned or lost in crowds of refugees, none will die of abortion or malnourishment or abuse, and no one of them will fail to live out his or her days. (For the Jews, a lifespan of 100 years was incredible). Sinners, on the other hand, will live 100 years under the curse of God, which is as good as living death (v. 20), because God is a God of justice who will make all things right.
Verses 21 and 22 imply that God's faithful also no longer will suffer the effects of military invasion and war. When Israel was exiled to Babylonia, her houses and vineyards fell to her conquerors, just as so much Jewish property fell to the Nazis in World War II, and just as invaded people have so often experienced the loss of everything. But God's coming kingdom will know no armies. There will be universal peace (cf. Isaiah 2:4), and everyone will sit "under his (own) vine and (own) fig tree, and none shall make them afraid" (Micah 4:4).
When God works his full transformation, no one will labor in vain. Wherever labor or life takes on futility, there the Old Testament sees a cursed existence (cf. Genesis 3:17-19; Deuteronomy 28:30-31), and we all know such despair, don't we, when we work and work, and nothing seems to bear good fruit, when all our efforts seem to account for nothing worthwhile? Rather our days become just one futile routine after another, and life loses all its purpose. But in God's kingdom, work will be blessed and yield its rewards.
Most important, however, in God's realization of his final results for his creation, he will be there for his people. When we pray, the Lord will answer, and even while there are still words on our lips, God will hear and respond (v. 24). That is an exact reversal of what we find in 65:1, which indicates that 65:1-24 is intended as a complete unit. Verse 25, therefore, is very similar to what we find in Isaiah 11:6, 7, 9 and probably belongs there.
Such is the joyful future that the Lord holds out to those who trust and love him. Such is the future that he is right now working toward in our lives. Such is the good God's goal for his creation. And such is the promise that God will fulfill in his good time. Is he good? Is he loving? Does he wish only well for his faithful followers? And will he bring it to fruition? Oh yes, good Christians. Oh yes.
Malachi 4:1-2a (Lutheran Option)
"Behold, the day comes." What day? Both Old Testament and New are very sure that there is coming a day when God will work his final judgment in the earth, to do away with those who have opposed him and to bring blessing on those who have trusted him. That day is known throughout the Bible as the Day of the Lord. It is predicted, for example, by the prophets Zephaniah (1:7, 14-15) and Joel (1:15; 2:1-2). It is expected by Jesus (Mark 13 and parallels; Matthew 25:31-46) and Paul (2 Corin-thians 5:10; Philippians 1:10). In Amos' words, "it is darkness and not light" (Amos 5:18), or in Zephaniah's, "a day of wrath," "a day of distress and anguish," "a day of ruin and devastation" (Zephaniah 1:15).
Thus, what we find in our text for the morning is the destruction of the wicked on that day. They will be burned up as the stubble in a field is dried out and scorched and finally ignited by a furnace-hot, blazing, unrelenting summer sun. (Cf. Jesus' prediction of "eternal fire" in Matthew 25:41). In Malachi's book, the sins of the wicked have been principally pride (cf. 3:15) and self-will (4:1), their failure to bow before their divine King and to cleave to his will and sovereign mercy.
By way of contrast, our text says that the very sun and its rays ("wings") that will burn up the wicked will prove to be healing warmth and light and morning joy for the righteous, who have placed their lives in the hands of God (v. 2). "The sun of righteousness" in verse 2 is not a personal name in this text, but a metaphor for God's salvation of his faithful remnant. In the Day of the Lord, they will not be destroyed, but will enjoy the freedom and joy and warmth of the love that God will pour out on them.
When we modern folk hear such passages about God's judgment, we are inclined to take them all with a grain of salt, as ancient views that no longer apply to our age. So many of us think that God judges no one. In secular understandings, he is only kindly, loving and forgiving, and so anything goes. What we are saying with such views, of course, is that there is no God of justice who will make a final reckoning with his creation. The world in the end will be no different than it is now, and God will not vindicate the good nor judge the evil. The scales will never be balanced. God will do nothing. Our destiny is totally in our own hands.
But is it? Is that the goal we desire, that evil is never overcome and that we all are at the mercy of mere human wisdom and desire, that there is no God who rules over all? Or is it so that Jesus Christ is truly King of kings and Lord of lords? And that finally, because of his cross and resurrection, in the Day of the Lord, you and I can be counted righteous in God's eyes and through faith, find joy and warmth and salvation in his everlasting love? This passage from Malachi is not intended to frighten us but to point us toward the One through we can indeed be found "pure and blameless" in the Day of the Lord (Philippians 1:10).
THE POLITICAL PULPIT
Isaiah 65:17-25; Luke 21:5-19
With Christmas on the horizon, our thoughts turn to children, and the lectionary supports concern about them through the End Times theme. As one considers the future to which these texts direct us, we should also reflect on the state of our children. If we mess them up, there's not much hope for the future. And we are messing up.
The most recent U.S. government statistics (released in 1999 by the Census Bureau) tell some of the story. Granted, the number of children in poverty has actually decreased since 1960. However, those gains seem negligible when we take into account the improved standards of living in the last 40 years. Since 1970 the plight of children has worsened statistically, as more of America's children are in poverty than 30 years ago. Sixteen percent of children live in such conditions, while only 13.3 percent of the adult population endures such poverty (only .7 percent of an increase since 1970). You have a statistically significantly better chance of avoiding poverty in America if you are an adult than if you are a child.
Things are no better for children in 1998, as 14.8 percent of our children were born into families with incomes of under $20,000 (7.3 percent were born to families with incomes under $10,000).
These glum economic statistics are related to other factors that also influence child poverty. Births to unmarried women nearly doubled between 1980 and 1997. Although the divorce rate has leveled off since its peak in late 1970s, the most recent U.S. government statistics (for the year 1997) indicates that a divorce is almost twice as likely to occur as it was in 1950. It's a lot tougher for kids to grow up than it was for us.
Let us not imagine that the problems that these statistics highlight only pertain to other people's kids. The divorce rate, the rise of single motherhood, and the two-income family have had their impact on children, even for those raised in middle-class and affluent homes.
There are more latchkey kids than ever before (between 7 to 15 million by latest government estimates). Though it may be "cool" to spend time with your kids in public, coaching them or chauffeuring them off to the latest organized activity, the culture of American daily life devalues the attention parents give children in private. Consider how in the debate over welfare reform everyone assumed that it was essential to put single mothers into the work force, while nary a voice was heard in the public sphere about what might happen to the children if Mom was not home when they got home from school. Most teen-age pregnancies begin these days while the adults in the family are at work. Also consider how the hectic lifestyle of today's middle-class family has more and more surrendered family meals as quaint traditions of the past.
Where are the prophetic voices in the public sphere to say "no" to these trends? It will not come from the business community, which needs this kind of labor-force flexibility. And it will not come from our politicians as long as they need big money for their campaigns from the business community and the media. That Word will have to come from our pulpits. Are we ready to be child advocates?
