No question about it, these are interesting times (to say the least). Wild weather, eye-popping disasters, erratic economies, wide-spread disease and the constant metamorphosis of ideas, traditions & practices that once seemed unchangeable - you can no longer be completely sure of what the world will look like when you get up each morning.
As you might guess, in an era marked with such transition & change, I am frequently asked about what I think is going on. Questions like, "Is this the End Times?" "Do you think so-and-so the antichrist?" "Aren't you worried about the world your kids will live in?" are regular conversation between my roles as Pastor of a local church & Chaplain of a regional retirement community.
The truth is, I'm not exactly sure what all the turmoil, confusion and reorientation means. From day to day I have my thoughts, but I'm not prepared to say "Thus saith the Lord" about any of the particulars. What I do have a certainty about comes from Jesus' own words to us in the Gospels (you know: Matthew, Mark, Luke & John - His good ol' boys while on the earth).
Look at what He has to say about these types of times: "The disciples came to Jesus privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Matthew 24, New International Version).
Now, you'll probably draw your own conclusions from this, but I'll tell you what I do know. Take a look at the world around you...see how it matches up with what He has said here...and know that at the very least, Jesus is saying to us today, "PAY ATTENTION!!" He gave us His Word so that we'd never have to be surprised by what's going on, and so we could face each day with a sense of expectation, not fear. May He find each of us ready for whatever tomorrow may hold; not because we're "super Christians" but because we paid attention and made Him our immovable anchor.
