August 18, 2024 The King is Coming! | 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

Today we will begin a 2-week series on Eschatology. We will begin our series by reflecting on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, The King is Coming! This is the passage where the Bible talks about the rapture, in Greek the word is “Parousia”. But rather than coming to take us away, Paul tells his readers that when Jesus comes as King, we will go out to meet him to escort our king to his kingdom!

Transcript

1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11                  The King is Coming

There are a lot of strange ideas out there about Jesus' return. Some believe that Jesus is coming to take his people out of the world for a time and then let the world destroy itself over 7 years before Jesus comes back again. If your faith isn't strong enough, you’ll have to survive those years of tribulation. If you've read the Left Behind books or seen some of the movies, you know what these Christians teach and believe. I call this second chance theology; if you miss out on being with Jesus the first time, you get seven years to get it right. 

Jesus has gone back to heaven and Paul doesn't want them to grieve without hope like the pagans do because in Jesus there's great hope, even when death comes, and our loved ones are taken to heaven. Paul takes them back to the cross where Jesus died, but then he reminds them that that Jesus rose again. Death is not the last word; God is. Jesus has returned to heaven and he's preparing to return to earth again as her king. This is all the Day of the Lord imagery from the Old Testament; the day when the Lord comes to claim his people and punish those against him. Paul’s telling the people that those who follow God and died will be with Jesus when he returns. Jesus is coming back as king. 

Paul uses the picture of a king coming to visit one of his cities. Notices would be sent to the leaders of the city that the king was planning to come visit his subjects. Time is given so that the leaders can mobilise the citizens to clean up the city and prepare for the king's arrival. The streets are cleaned up, the buildings in the city are repaired and whitewashed so that as the sun is rising or setting on the city, it gleams and shines and sparkles. The king will time his arrival for sunrise and approach from the west so that the rising sun shines on the city, making it beautiful. This is where we get a lot of our images of the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven; gleaming in splendour. Watchers are set outside the city and on the city walls to let everyone know as soon the king comes into sight so everyone can get into their finest clothes to greet the king as he approaches. 

As the king and his entourage come closer, the king's trumpeters sound their trumpets to let everyone know the king is close. The nobles of the city quickly gather all the citizens together and go out of the city to meet the king, kneeling before him and acknowledging him as their king. Everyone then escorts the king with honour, fanfare, and celebration into his city. The word Paul uses here is 'parousia' which has often been translated as 'rapture.' The goal of the parousia is not to escape and leave the world to its sin and suffering, but the people loyal to the king come out to meet him in order to escort the king into what belongs to him. After everyone enters the city, all those who had stayed behind are rounded up and thrown out of the city since they’re considered traitors for not coming out to acknowledge the king as theirs.

Jesus is coming back. He’s the king Paul’s referring to. Luke tells us that when Jesus left, that afterwards, as everyone has their eyes glued to the skies trying to get that last glimpse of Jesus before he disappears out of sight, two angels are suddenly standing there beside them, “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” The problem is that it happened so long ago that we really don't let this promise affect how we live anymore. We have the same priorities as everyone else; get a job, pay our bills, save a little so we can retire, make sure our kids get a decent education so they can get good jobs, help out others when we find some time or a few extra dollars, try to be good people, and so on. We might do a bit more since we try to get some devotions in each day, pray over our meals, and come to church on most Sundays. All good things, and yet I wonder if we took Paul and Luke more seriously if our lives might not look different from what they do right now.

Paul encourages the people in Thessalonica, and this means us too, to live like Jesus is coming back soon. This is all about preparing yourselves, getting dressed in your best. Make sure you're sober, this isn't about being dour and grim, but being awake with all your senses tuned to Jesus and his presence and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Put on faith and love as Paul encourages us a few verses later, let these two virtues shape who you are and how you live with each other because this is who God is. Faith is about trusting that the way of life Jesus has laid out in his teaching and life is really the best life for you, and then walking it. Love is about how we treat each other. This is about grace in our words, peace in our actions, patience, self control and kindness towards others, especially towards those we often find hardest to be nice to because they know how to push our buttons in all the negative ways. Paul adds hope to the list of things to shape our lives with. This is about confidence that when we live as disciples of Jesus, the Spirit will mold us into the image of Jesus which should be the goal of every disciple. 

Paul reminds us that we belong to Jesus, we’re his subjects, we are not our own, but belong, body and soul to our Saviour Jesus Christ as the Heidelberg Catechism reminds us in Lord's Day 1. Our king cares about his subjects, loving you so much that he died for you so that, whether you are awake or asleep, you may live together with him. Nothing can separate you from Jesus' love; nothing can tear you away from him, not even death. One of the most promising scenes in Scripture is Jesus' conversation with the thief on the cross who asks, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom," and Jesus tells him, "Today you will be with me in paradise." 

Your life belongs to Jesus and he wants you to keep an eye out for his coming back, he wants you to be with him in paradise. It's like the teenage girl who stands by the window desperate for that first glimpse of her boyfriend's car coming down the street to pick her up. Paul wants you to have that same sense of anticipation as you walk through each day, making yourself as beautiful or handsome as you can for when Jesus shows up; building each other up so you all can be who God has created you to be as you get ready to greet his Son. This reminds me of what Paul talks about how a husband should love his wife in Ephesians 5:25–27, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Jesus is working to make us beautiful, but we need to accept the work of the Holy Spirit in us that guiding and shaping us into a radiant church and people.

But there's that second part; getting the city ready for the arrival of the king. You do this work because the king’s important to you and you want to honour him. This is about putting your beauty, putting your life at the service of the city to get everything ready for the coming of the king because the king is your king and he means everything to you. You can go back to the beginning of time and God's call on us to take care of creation and to discover and develop the potential and wonders in his creation to God's glory. 

This means getting involved in a deliberate way in the world, in our culture and neighbourhoods as part of developing creation. It's not just the physical creation you're called to be part of and develop, it's the arts, it’s culture, it's music and business, and sports, politics, and more because these are all aspects of how God has created us to be as humans in relationship with him and each other. God has given you skills and abilities to develop your family, your church, your community, your workplace, your places of play and he calls you to invest in these things as part of preparing for Jesus’ return. 

What we believe matters. The Reformed view of Jesus’ return is about hope for the future with a call to be deeply invested in the day to day living out of our faith in Jesus, good news that can shape our lives, the lives of those around us, and the health and relationships of the communities we live in.