WEBVTT 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:05.419 Howdy. Well, it's the end of the world as we 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:11.179 know it, and I feel fine. From time to time, 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:13.859 it's important to take a break from all the feel 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:18.500 -good passages in Scripture, you know, beatitudes 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:22.460 and all the cutesy parts in there, and let's 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:25.140 just take time for the intense, cataclysmic, 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:28.780 and terrifying Scriptures, right? Absolutely. 00:00:29.260 --> 00:00:32.899 This is what we have in our Luke passage today. 00:00:33.020 --> 00:00:38.380 Not Revelation, not Daniel, the Gospel. The world 00:00:38.380 --> 00:00:42.560 is falling apart, but in so reviewing, maybe 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:47.320 we can truly understand Christ. Every generation 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:50.880 has its own way of imagining the end of the world. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:53.820 For some reason, our generation loves to put 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:57.759 it on movie screens. We have the film Knowing 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:00.960 with Nicolas Cage, possibly the greatest actor 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:03.439 of all time, I'm just gonna say. I mean, come 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:06.879 on, Con Air? Pretty amazing. But you see, it 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.780 begins with a prophecy of numbers scribbled by 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:13.000 a child, predicting disaster after disaster, 00:01:13.260 --> 00:01:16.500 solar flares, earthquakes, fire from the sky, 00:01:16.599 --> 00:01:19.640 and as every prediction comes true, and people 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:23.760 begin to panic. The world unravels, the sky is 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:27.140 a threat, the sun and its flares are the enemy. 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:30.579 And the adults just hope that the children will 00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:33.700 somehow be rescued from it all. People fainting 00:01:33.700 --> 00:01:35.659 with fear, the heavens are shaken and the world 00:01:35.659 --> 00:01:40.060 comes undone. But then, there's interstellar. 00:01:40.599 --> 00:01:42.739 Matthew McConaughey apparently knows more words 00:01:42.739 --> 00:01:46.590 than just, all right, all right, all right. The 00:01:46.590 --> 00:01:49.170 world is not exploding, it's slowly dying. The 00:01:49.170 --> 00:01:52.730 sky is not on fire, it's filled with dust. The 00:01:52.730 --> 00:01:54.810 crops fail, the nations collapse, the people 00:01:54.810 --> 00:01:57.849 lose hope. And a group of explorers look to the 00:01:57.849 --> 00:02:01.109 stars not with fear, but a longing for another 00:02:01.109 --> 00:02:04.829 way forward. A future maybe in a faraway galaxy. 00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:08.590 The entire story is driven by the fear that our 00:02:08.590 --> 00:02:11.370 world can no longer hold us, but the stubborn 00:02:11.370 --> 00:02:13.469 hope that there might still be a way through. 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:19.460 And just because Aerosmith needed one more hit, 00:02:19.699 --> 00:02:23.639 we got Armageddon with Bruce Willis. So where 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:26.460 the blue collar workers get to save the day. 00:02:27.219 --> 00:02:29.580 The asteroid is coming, the countdown is ticking, 00:02:29.780 --> 00:02:31.759 the world is bracing for impact, governments 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:37.939 scramble, scientists argue, and somehow they 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:43.000 manage to get up to this giant asteroid and blow 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:46.520 it up. It's chaotic, it's dramatic, it's very, 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:49.819 very loud, kind of ridiculous. But beneath all 00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:52.300 the spectacle is the same simple truth. Human 00:02:52.300 --> 00:02:56.560 beings feel very small when the heavens start 00:02:56.560 --> 00:02:59.379 attacking us. Three different movies, three different 00:02:59.379 --> 00:03:02.219 visions of the ending, but the same heartbeat. 00:03:03.340 --> 00:03:07.580 When the familiar sky shakes, people panic. And 00:03:07.580 --> 00:03:10.520 the visitors to church today wonder why they 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:16.840 picked today to visit. But this is why the words 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:20.360 of Jesus in Luke 21 hit so close to home. Deep 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:23.060 inside we have a fear of what will happen if 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:25.400 we look up and discover that the world's fate 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:28.099 is sealed. There's nothing we could do about 00:03:28.099 --> 00:03:31.080 it. Jesus talks about signs and the sun, the 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:33.840 moon, the stars. He talks about nations in distress. 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:35.960 He talks about people fainting with fear. He 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:39.240 talks about the heavens shaking. It sounds like 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:42.000 a blockbuster, but it's not for entertainment. 00:03:42.699 --> 00:03:46.800 It's to prepare us. Because in all that imagery, 00:03:47.340 --> 00:03:49.939 Jesus speaks a word that no movie would ever 00:03:49.939 --> 00:03:53.439 dare to say. When these things begin to take 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:57.719 place, straighten up and raise your heads because 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:02.759 your redemption is drawing near. Straighten up? 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:05.620 What kind of words are these? If the world is 00:04:05.620 --> 00:04:08.099 coming to an end, shouldn't we be cowering and 00:04:08.099 --> 00:04:12.039 running in fear? Maybe find as much spam and 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:15.599 twinkies as you can, right? But when Jesus describes 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:19.240 wars, earthquakes, persecution, the disciples 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:22.720 lean in because they want all the secrets and 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:26.019 all the strategies for how to survive. But you 00:04:26.019 --> 00:04:29.019 see, Jesus is not feeding the fear or giving 00:04:29.019 --> 00:04:33.160 them a timeline. He's anchoring them in the faithfulness 00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:35.360 and what it looks like when the world feels very 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:38.839 fragile. And Jesus says there will be signs in 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:41.750 the sun and the moon and the stars. And on the 00:04:41.750 --> 00:04:44.250 earth distress of nations perplexity because 00:04:44.250 --> 00:04:47.589 of the roaring of the sea and the waves. People 00:04:47.589 --> 00:04:49.810 fainting with fear the powers of the heavens 00:04:49.810 --> 00:04:52.790 shaken and then they will see the Son of Man 00:04:52.790 --> 00:04:55.930 coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 00:04:56.610 --> 00:04:59.009 Now when these things begin to take place straighten 00:04:59.009 --> 00:05:01.470 up and raise your heads because your redemption 00:05:01.470 --> 00:05:06.430 is drawing near. Jesus doesn't normally talk 00:05:06.430 --> 00:05:11.399 like this, right? Jesus does not use eclipses 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:14.279 and blood moons and astronomical patterns, right? 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:18.639 But these words are His, mysterious and vivid. 00:05:19.420 --> 00:05:22.319 And so many people try to draw charts around 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:25.120 them and decode them and tie them to the headlines. 00:05:25.420 --> 00:05:27.699 There were weeks before one of the most recent 00:05:27.699 --> 00:05:30.180 eclipses when there were people that were petrified 00:05:30.180 --> 00:05:34.819 that that was truly the end. But with all of 00:05:34.819 --> 00:05:39.480 these, when you just let Jesus speak. He makes 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:43.279 sense, not by forcing him into our modern anxiety, 00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:47.240 but rather something else rises to the surface, 00:05:48.100 --> 00:05:52.519 something deeper, calming, steady, because the 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:56.579 point is not the spectacle. The point is your 00:05:56.579 --> 00:06:00.959 posture. But before Jesus even describes the 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:03.199 shaking of the heavens or the roaring of the 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:05.360 seas and everybody wonders if I'm just referring 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:08.120 everyone to a chiropractor He starts with the 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:11.540 warning that is easy to overlook Right after 00:06:11.540 --> 00:06:13.680 the disciples ask when will these things be? 00:06:13.860 --> 00:06:15.800 Right after they hear that the temple is gonna 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:19.160 fall and their world is gonna crack Jesus doesn't 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:22.519 give them a date He doesn't give them the signs 00:06:22.519 --> 00:06:26.680 to prevent it. He doesn't give them a strategy 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:30.939 to stop it He says, see that you are not led 00:06:30.939 --> 00:06:36.779 astray. Why is that his first response? The disciples 00:06:36.779 --> 00:06:40.480 are not just scared. They're looking to control. 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:44.699 They're looking to prevent it. The temple was 00:06:44.699 --> 00:06:46.600 the center of their identity, their stability, 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:50.439 their world. And if that fell, everything falls. 00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:53.060 So naturally, they want to know how to prevent 00:06:53.060 --> 00:06:55.500 it, how to hold on to the life that they know. 00:06:56.199 --> 00:06:59.720 Jesus knows that when people are afraid of losing 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:02.319 the world they know, losing their comfort, their 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:04.959 security, their control, that's exactly when 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.319 the false prophets show up. It's been two millennia. 00:07:08.459 --> 00:07:12.019 There have been plenty. And Jesus knows something 00:07:12.019 --> 00:07:15.939 about human fear. Fear makes us vulnerable to 00:07:15.939 --> 00:07:18.860 the wrong voices. It makes us cling to certainty. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:21.819 It makes us follow those who promise safety. 00:07:22.269 --> 00:07:25.449 And this is exactly why Jesus adds, many will 00:07:25.449 --> 00:07:29.110 come in my name, do not go after them. Because 00:07:29.110 --> 00:07:31.670 when people are terrified of losing what they 00:07:31.670 --> 00:07:34.449 love, their temple, their community, their comfort, 00:07:35.370 --> 00:07:38.149 false prophets always show up. And the dangerous 00:07:38.149 --> 00:07:41.490 ones are not the ones who come and say, oh, go 00:07:41.490 --> 00:07:45.490 follow Zeus. Oh, go follow Baal. Is that even 00:07:45.490 --> 00:07:50.069 really a temptation? It's the ones who say, I'm 00:07:50.069 --> 00:07:54.220 speaking for Jesus. I can fix it. I can stop 00:07:54.220 --> 00:07:57.019 your shaking. I can preserve what you care about. 00:07:58.300 --> 00:08:01.459 Not everyone who claims Jesus is sent by Jesus. 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:05.220 Not every voice promising safety comes from God. 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:07.959 And Jesus knows that when the world trembles, 00:08:08.100 --> 00:08:10.540 the greatest threat to the disciples is not the 00:08:10.540 --> 00:08:14.199 shaking, it's the seduction in the voice that 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:17.120 tells them exactly what they want to hear. The 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:20.800 wrong voice, the wrong Savior, the wrong fulfillment. 00:08:21.709 --> 00:08:24.670 And so before anything else, Jesus says, do not 00:08:24.670 --> 00:08:29.610 be led astray. But is Jesus then getting into 00:08:29.610 --> 00:08:32.070 literal things that are going to happen? As much 00:08:32.070 --> 00:08:34.730 as we're tempted to look and to say, oh, there's 00:08:34.730 --> 00:08:37.769 an earthquake, oh, there's a storm, oh, there's 00:08:37.769 --> 00:08:40.429 a solar flare, oh, there's a Nicolas Cage film, 00:08:41.289 --> 00:08:44.690 Jesus is looking instead to use the language 00:08:44.690 --> 00:08:47.789 of the sun, the moon, and the stars because scripture 00:08:47.789 --> 00:08:52.159 mirrors what we feel. when the world shakes. 00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:56.240 In the Old Testament, it meant upheaval and turmoil. 00:08:56.789 --> 00:08:59.149 The prophets reach for the sky when the words 00:08:59.149 --> 00:09:01.950 on the ground are just not big enough Amos in 00:09:01.950 --> 00:09:04.549 8 9 says I will make the Sun go down at noon 00:09:04.549 --> 00:09:07.470 and darken the earth in broad daylight Joel in 00:09:07.470 --> 00:09:10.309 231 says the Sun shall be turned to darkness 00:09:10.309 --> 00:09:13.049 and the moon to blood before the great and awesome 00:09:13.049 --> 00:09:17.190 day of the Lord Isaiah in 13 10 the stars of 00:09:17.190 --> 00:09:19.429 the heavens and their constellations will not 00:09:19.429 --> 00:09:21.769 give their light the Sun will be dark at its 00:09:21.769 --> 00:09:25.460 rising and the moon will not shed its light Ezekiel 00:09:25.460 --> 00:09:29.659 32 -7, when you are extinguished, I will cover 00:09:29.659 --> 00:09:33.200 the heavens and make their stars dark. The prophets 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:36.480 are not describing astronomy. They're talking 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:40.120 about the collapse of our certainty. They're 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:43.120 saying that when the empires fall, when the nations 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:46.279 tremble, when the familiar world gives way, the 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:51.279 sky goes dark. Jesus is pointing us to the prophets 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:54.299 who say that when the sky, the kingdoms fall, 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:57.960 the empires collapse, then God intervenes, the 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:01.519 stars are dimmed, the sun is darkened, and the 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:04.320 sky is destabilized because the world no longer 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:09.059 makes any sense. We've seen the nations in distress, 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:13.330 haven't we? We've seen perplexity. We've seen 00:10:13.330 --> 00:10:15.889 the sense when leaders don't know what to do 00:10:15.889 --> 00:10:20.090 and people do not know who to trust. We've seen 00:10:20.090 --> 00:10:22.929 fear so thick that we feel it when we walk into 00:10:22.929 --> 00:10:26.549 a room. Jesus is speaking the language of people 00:10:26.549 --> 00:10:29.590 who watch the sky and feel the ground shift beneath 00:10:29.590 --> 00:10:34.789 their feet. He's speaking to us. Have you ever 00:10:34.789 --> 00:10:37.090 had that moment when your world suddenly felt 00:10:37.090 --> 00:10:41.049 unfamiliar? When something that had always been 00:10:41.049 --> 00:10:45.250 stable suddenly wasn't. Maybe a marriage that 00:10:45.250 --> 00:10:48.990 cracked. A diagnosis that came out of nowhere. 00:10:50.110 --> 00:10:53.370 A job that vanished or a career that disappeared. 00:10:54.389 --> 00:10:57.909 A friend who walked away or managed to betray. 00:10:58.830 --> 00:11:00.909 A new story that made you wonder what the future 00:11:00.909 --> 00:11:04.820 was going to look like for your kids. The world 00:11:04.820 --> 00:11:07.519 feels like what Jesus is describing, that the 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:09.460 sun is dimmed, the moon is out of its rhythm, 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:13.360 and the stars are moving the wrong way. But the 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:18.279 world didn't actually end. It felt like the world 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:22.799 that you knew was falling apart. That's the space 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.480 where Jesus is naming. Because He knows what 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:28.539 it's going to feel like when the temple is destroyed. 00:11:29.419 --> 00:11:31.259 And the Jewish people are going to be exiled 00:11:31.259 --> 00:11:33.679 out of Jerusalem. It's going to happen in the 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:36.820 next few decades. As much as we like to talk 00:11:36.820 --> 00:11:39.460 about Israel being eternal, the nation of Israel 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:43.299 as a physical place has never been eternal. It 00:11:43.299 --> 00:11:47.139 was shattered in half after Solomon. It was overthrown 00:11:47.139 --> 00:11:51.899 and destroyed in 722 and 586 BC. The temple was 00:11:51.899 --> 00:11:55.100 destroyed a few decades after Jesus spoke in 00:11:55.100 --> 00:11:58.460 70 AD. And the Jewish people were ejected in 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:03.759 135. Israel as God's people are eternal. But 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:06.399 as a nation, by definition, it never has been. 00:12:07.059 --> 00:12:09.659 And the people were going to experience that 00:12:09.659 --> 00:12:13.899 very soon. Jesus says one of the strangest things 00:12:13.899 --> 00:12:17.980 though, your redemption is drawing near. The 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:19.679 world is falling apart and people are supposed 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.620 to be positive? How does that make any sense? 00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:26.120 Are we supposed to be happy about all the terrible 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:27.440 things that are going on? Are we just supposed 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:30.700 to be in denial? about what's happening all around 00:12:30.700 --> 00:12:36.340 us. Everybody gets your floaties. But it's tempting 00:12:36.340 --> 00:12:38.860 to think that danger is always going to come 00:12:38.860 --> 00:12:42.259 from the outside. From the armies, from the disasters, 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:46.220 from the enemies, from the unknown. But sometimes 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:48.659 the world's upheaval, it comes to us through 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:50.940 the very people and relationships that we trust 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:54.860 the most. There was a man, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:59.460 He was a man of deep faith, a pastor, so clearly 00:12:59.460 --> 00:13:04.259 a troublemaker, a theologian, a resistor of tyranny. 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:08.279 He was part of a circle within the German military 00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:11.120 intelligence to overthrow the dictator. He was 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:14.639 cautious, careful, devoted, and he trusted his 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:18.360 closest friends like Hans Oster, implicitly. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.759 And yet, in a twist of fate, it was Hans' diary 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:25.980 that recorded all the resistance work that betrayed 00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:30.580 Bonhoeffer. to the Gestapo. It was not because 00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:34.440 he meant to. He never meant to betray him the 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.759 way that Judas betrayed Jesus. But the very thing 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:40.519 that symbolized trust and connection, purpose, 00:13:40.980 --> 00:13:44.740 became the instrument of vulnerability. What 00:13:44.740 --> 00:13:49.340 was closest to him became what led to his downfall. 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:52.950 And there's a parallel here. When we look at 00:13:52.950 --> 00:13:55.690 someone like Judas, who was one of the 12, one 00:13:55.690 --> 00:13:58.970 of the closest ones, the inner circle, Jesus 00:13:58.970 --> 00:14:01.769 was wounded and handed over, condemned not because 00:14:01.769 --> 00:14:05.090 of a stranger, but by someone who was closest 00:14:05.090 --> 00:14:11.809 to him. The lesson for us is sobering. Even the 00:14:11.809 --> 00:14:14.490 things that we treasure the most, the people 00:14:14.490 --> 00:14:18.610 we hold dearest, The ones who we believe to be 00:14:18.610 --> 00:14:22.730 faithful and safe can be the very ones that bring 00:14:22.730 --> 00:14:26.830 about our harm. Even what seems like loyalty 00:14:26.830 --> 00:14:29.610 in the grand cosmic scheme of things can play 00:14:29.610 --> 00:14:33.629 a role in the trials that we face. Sometimes 00:14:33.629 --> 00:14:36.710 the ones that we care for are the ones who mock 00:14:36.710 --> 00:14:41.309 the very torment we experience. And this is where 00:14:41.309 --> 00:14:45.769 Jesus comes alive when he says, do not be terrified. 00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:48.139 He doesn't say everything's going to be fine 00:14:48.139 --> 00:14:50.720 as long as you pick the right friends. He doesn't 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:55.340 say your trust will always protect you. He says 00:14:55.340 --> 00:14:58.799 your redemption is drawing near. The platform 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:02.440 for the gospel is not stability or safety. It's 00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:05.039 not being perfectly aligned with the people around 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:09.059 you. It's built on the faithfulness in the midst 00:15:09.059 --> 00:15:13.000 of uncertainty. It's built on enduring in the 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:15.840 suffering. Because suffering, whether it's from 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:19.500 the enemies outside or from a twist of faith 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:23.899 in the closest allies we have, it doesn't just 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:29.080 lead to the platform for the gospel. That is 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:32.860 where the gospel is found. See, Bonhoeffer's 00:15:32.860 --> 00:15:37.059 courage in prison, his witness, and even his 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:39.620 death became testimony to God's work in the midst 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:43.460 of the collapse. Like Jesus facing betrayal in 00:15:43.460 --> 00:15:45.460 the garden like the early church scattered in 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:48.860 persecution What looked like defeat became the 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:53.220 stage for God's redemption revealed? so when 00:15:53.220 --> 00:15:57.639 we see Everything falling apart in our lives 00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:00.820 That's exactly when God is saying to lift up 00:16:00.820 --> 00:16:04.139 your head Because that's when Jesus is coming 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:09.659 near The kingdom of God is always advancing but 00:16:09.659 --> 00:16:13.120 just not always in the places we expected. You 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.039 see, the Son of Man is coming in a cloud with 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:20.519 power and great glory. When the world feels like 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:23.259 it's falling apart, that's not the moment when 00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:28.539 God disappears. It's the moment God draws near. 00:16:29.580 --> 00:16:35.340 Not to crush, not to punish, but to redeem. He's 00:16:35.340 --> 00:16:39.259 not telling us to run, to hide. to hoard, to 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:41.759 build bunkers, or to try to figure out the news 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:47.000 cycles. He's not even saying to figure out exact 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:50.220 meanings of what every sign is. But he's saying 00:16:50.220 --> 00:16:53.799 to take a posture that doesn't make sense to 00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:59.679 us. Look up and hope. Because the one that we're 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:03.919 looking for is coming. He's not leaving. See, 00:17:04.019 --> 00:17:07.630 the signs, they're... meant to tell us that Jesus 00:17:07.630 --> 00:17:10.990 is still on the way. The more everything is falling 00:17:10.990 --> 00:17:16.049 apart, the better it is. Because it means that 00:17:16.049 --> 00:17:24.349 God is coming even faster. You see, as much as... 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:36.279 As much as this microphone is annoying me to 00:17:36.279 --> 00:17:42.819 no end, the cosmic signs do not show anything 00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:47.119 being calm, predictable, or neat. It's neither 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:50.200 hopeless, and it's not out of control. Jesus 00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:52.019 wants us to know that the shaking of the world 00:17:52.019 --> 00:17:56.400 is not a failure, it's the beginning. It's the 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:58.400 same way that the labor pains are not the death 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:00.839 of a child, it's the signal that the child is 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:04.160 about to be born. And Jesus says, when these 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:08.660 things begin, straighten up, because you are 00:18:08.660 --> 00:18:12.460 people expecting redemption. See, God is not 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:16.400 done. Christ is not gone. Redemption is not just 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:19.799 a metaphor. Bonhoeffer lived through one of those 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:22.980 moments when an entire nation was terrified of 00:18:22.980 --> 00:18:25.579 losing its identity, its sense of stability, 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:28.819 its place in the world. And into that fear, There 00:18:28.819 --> 00:18:31.779 were loud and confident voices that claimed to 00:18:31.779 --> 00:18:34.759 speak for God, promising to restore order, strength, 00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:39.640 pride. And Christians followed those voices because 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:43.000 they sounded like hope, though it was counterfeit 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:47.299 and wrapped in religious language. But Bon Hafer 00:18:47.299 --> 00:18:51.700 echoed Jesus' words. He said, the great masquerade 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:54.339 of evil has played havoc with all our ethical 00:18:54.339 --> 00:18:57.519 concepts. We must learn to regard people less 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:01.079 in light of what they do or fail to do, and more 00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:05.579 in terms of what they suffer. Bonhoeffer led 00:19:05.579 --> 00:19:09.480 with long obedience in the same direction. Because 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:13.339 when evil tries to take everything, faith stands 00:19:13.339 --> 00:19:16.279 up. When the world is on fire, disciples lift 00:19:16.279 --> 00:19:20.779 their heads. When fear says hide, Christ says 00:19:20.779 --> 00:19:27.619 hope. The thread is not fear. or anxiety or speculation. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:31.680 Because the Christian posture in chaos is not 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:38.240 to collapse, it's to hope in Christ. As Bonhoeffer 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:41.660 said, the church is the church only when it exists 00:19:41.660 --> 00:19:46.460 for other people. In a world full of earthquakes 00:19:46.460 --> 00:19:49.759 and headlines and shifting empires, in a world 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.960 where the sky sometimes feels dark, Jesus doesn't 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:57.220 say, be afraid and run away. He says your redemption 00:19:57.220 --> 00:20:02.299 is near. The world is not stable because Christ 00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:07.259 is. You cannot control the shaking, but Christ 00:20:07.259 --> 00:20:11.279 redeems it. The world may look the least like 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:14.759 it should, but that's often when God is closest 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:18.579 to revealing Himself. So the end of our world 00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:21.700 is not the end of God's work. Whatever it may 00:20:21.700 --> 00:20:24.660 look like, whichever actor may be portraying 00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:28.910 it. Jesus is the true temple. And when that temple 00:20:28.910 --> 00:20:31.869 was destroyed, salvation was not stopped. It 00:20:31.869 --> 00:20:35.109 was unleashed to the ends of the earth. So when 00:20:35.109 --> 00:20:39.390 the world breaks, grace leaks out to all people 00:20:39.390 --> 00:20:43.369 in a way that we have not figured out yet. And 00:20:43.369 --> 00:20:47.509 when our safety dissolves, Christ is more easily 00:20:47.509 --> 00:20:51.390 seen. So don't look for escape. Don't look for 00:20:51.390 --> 00:20:55.740 weapons. Don't look for false saviors. Look up, 00:20:56.420 --> 00:21:00.180 because when our world finally ends, that's when 00:21:00.180 --> 00:21:04.000 the kingdom of God truly begins. Thanks be to 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:04.200 God.