Scripture text: Acts 2: 1-21
It is probably a safe bet to say that most American Christians are Dispensationalists. Ok, Pastor, that’s a really big word, what does it mean? Fair enough. Dispensationalism is a particular interpretation of the End Times that was developed in the mid-19th century by John Nelson Darby and popularized by C.I. Scofield in his publication of the KJV Bible.
A typical chart of the Dispensations, as one might find in Scofield's Bible.
The rapture, the tribulation, the Antichrist, the battle of Armageddon, and so forth are all drawn from Darby’s picking bits and pieces of Scripture texts here and there to create a reasonably coherent narrative as to how the Last Days will play out. Odds are good you know precisely what Dispensationalism is without ever having heard its scholarly name and odds are equally likely that you believe at least some of what that interpretation teaches, simply because when it comes to the American church, it’s the only story most people ever hear.
Like all theological ideas, it has its strengths and its weaknesses. It does tell an intriguing and exhilarating story. Good vs. Evil. God vs. the Devil. The last holdouts of the Church vs. a viciously hostile World. However, it does also make the End Times into something to be feared. You think it’s bad now. Just wait.
In fact, fear is the primary element of this particular theology. It’s written all over it. Be afraid. Be terrified. You’d better sit up and fly right or Jesus is gonna come back and get ya. Don’t want to be left behind. Don’t want to end up in the Antichrist’s concentration camps. Don’t want to be caught up in the plagues and earthquakes and famines and all the other disasters that are supposed to be coming. Be afraid.
By contrast, it’s interesting to look at how the people of the Bible themselves look at the End Times and the Scripture pertaining thereto. Take Peter for instance in the famous story of Pentecost. He stands up before the befuddled crowd and to help them make sense of what they are witnessing he draws upon an apocalyptic text from the prophet Joel. He preaches on the End Times.
But he does something that is very different than what a modern preacher would do. He does not talk about this text as something that will happen in the future, even the near future. The End Times for Peter on that Pentecost were right now. “In the last days it will be, God declares…” Well, guess what folks, this is now. It’s happening right now.
It’s a strange way for him to approach things. First off, yes, we see the outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh. We have the disciples speaking in all these different languages. But the sun turning to darkness, and the moon to blood. That wasn’t happening.
Or was it? It might be better to say, when is not happening?
I think Peter’s dead on about this. The biggest problem with dispensationalism or any other interpretation of the End Times is how they place everything at some point in the future, one perhaps far away or perhaps near. But Peter recognizes that NOW is the End Times. NOW is the Last Days.
And as it was true for Peter 2000 years ago, so it still is. We’re still there. We’re still in that moment in many ways. We’re still seeing the Spirit being poured out. We’re still seeing the sun turn to darkness and the moon to blood. In what way? California faces a drought of unprecedented proportions. An earthquake in Nepal has slain thousands of people. There is unrest in our cities at the economic and racial injustices of our society.
And on a more personal level, we have families in this very space who are mourning the recent or the imminent deaths of loved ones. We have people, myself among them, who are struggling with health issues. Tell me, when you first heard the doctor say that dreaded word “cancer” or when the hospice nurse said “They’re gone,” that it didn’t feel like the world was ending?
But to that, Peter gives us a word of hope. For the story doesn’t end there. No, these horrific realities of our lives, the metaphorical dark sun and blood moon made oh-so-real in our lives by things like disease, death, tragedy, and trauma, this is just the prelude to the greatest news that any of us could hear. “And then, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
It doesn’t matter how dark life becomes. It doesn’t matter how dreadful our circumstances. God is there to save us.
We wonder how Peter and the other ten disciples were so successful in swaying that crowd to “come to Jesus” that day. How many of them were living in their own personal hells of heartache, illness, and suffering? How many of them were desperate for a word that would tell them that no matter how bad it is, God has not forsaken you. God is with you. God loves you. Forget about the black sun. Forget about the blood moon. God has the last word and his word is salvation.
It’s probably not much of a secret that as a Lutheran pastor, I love the story of our denomination’s founder, Martin Luther. I particularly like the interpretation of his life that was put on screen for the 2003 movie Luther. Early in the film, in a moment of personal crisis, Luther is told by his monastic superior to place his trust in Christ and to repeat a simple prayer. “I am yours. Save me.”
The night after his first day of questioning at the Council of Worms, Luther is infuriated with himself for his fear and inability to answer the Inquisitor’s questions earlier that day. He knows his life is on the line. He believes his very soul is on the line. And after he rants and raves for a bit, he pauses. He gets down on the floor and he begins to pray. “I am yours. Save me.”
His world felt like it was ending. Luther was under threat of death for his teachings. And in the midst of his darkest hour, it’s as if he heard St. Peter on Pentecost. “Then all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
No matter how bad life seems. No matter how painful the illness or the sorrow. No matter how scared you might be. God is still there. He still has the last word. And that word is salvation. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment