(Adapted from a sermon preached on 12/02/18)

I heard a story not too long ago about a man who was driving through a wooded area – and he was really speeding along. At some point, he came into an open patch, and he saw two men standing by the side of the road holding a sign. He slowed down just enough to read the sign, which said “The End is Near.”

“Typical religious nuts,” the driver mumbled to himself, and sped off – right off a cliff into a river!

At this point one of the guys holding the sign said to the other, “Maybe we should have just used this sign,” – and he picked up another sign they had made which said “Bridge Out.”

The truth is that a lot of people like to talk about the end times – so many, in fact, that when we read a passage of Scripture like today’s gospel reading (Luke 21:25-36), it’s hard not to have a million different end-times scenarios racing through our heads. But are any of these ideas what the biblical writers had in mind? It can be hard to tell sometimes.

One thing that does seem clear from today’s gospel reading is that the coming of Christ shakes things up – especially in the political arena. This was true of His first coming, and it will be true when He returns.

In verse 25, Jesus tells His disciples that at the end of the age, “there will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves” (Luke 21:25).

Contrary to what many preachers would have us believe, I don’t think Jesus meant these words to be taken literally. At the time when this text was written, such things as signs in the sky and the roaring of the sea were common symbols for political unrest or upheaval.

The point is made even clearer when He says “People will faint from fear and foreboding from what is coming upon the world” (Luke 21:26), since the word translated here as “the world” literally means “the empire.”

The most central political symbol in this passage comes in verse 27, when Jesus says “They will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27).

The phrase “son of man” literally means a human being; but Jesus often uses this term to speak of his own human nature.

So when He speaks of the son of man “coming in a cloud with power and great glory” I don’t think Jesus means He’s coming back on a literal cloud; I think what Jesus means is that the political upheavals that happened just after His death and resurrection would ultimately result in His victory over Roman oppression.

What does this all mean for us?

In order to understand the second coming of Christ, we need to understand the first coming of Christ – for the second will be much like the first.

You see, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus set in motion a series of events which ultimately led to the fall of the Roman Empire; and His return will mean the fall of all empires – including the one we’re living in now! It will indeed be a great shake-up!

We need to be prepared for this, for as Jesus says in verse 35, “Like a trap, this will come upon all who live on the face of the earth” (Luke 21:35).

There’s no “Rapture,” in other words, to take believers out of the world in the great day of tribulation!

It wasn’t like that the first time. and it won’t be like that the second time. Everyone who is alive at the time of Jesus’ return will be here to see this all of this world’s political structures come crashing down.

This is why Jesus warns us, in verse 34, to “be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly” (Luke 21:34).

Everyone will go through the time of trial; but it will be much easier to bear if we’re ready for it!

The good news in all of this is that for those who are ready, Christ’s coming is a great day of liberation.

“When these things take place,” Jesus tells us in verse 28, “stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

The word translated here as “redemption” literally means “release from bondage” – that is, being set free from oppression of any kind.

While many people like to say that “the end is near,” the truth is that for those who are oppressed or marginalized, the coming of Christ is not just an end, but also a beginning – the end of bondage, and the beginning of freedom; the end of injustice, and the beginning of equality; the end of fear, and the beginning of hope!

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away,” Jesus tells us in verse 33.

Actually, a better translation might be, “The earth and the sky will pass away, but my divine purpose will not pass away,” since the words translated as “my words” can also mean “my reason” or “my plan.”

Even if the whole world seems to be falling apart, in other words, God’s plan (to liberate the oppressed and reconcile all things in Christ) cannot fail!

I’m reminded of a story I once heard about two twin sisters. Though they were raised together, one was always an optimist, and the other was always a pessimist. One always saw the best in a situation, and the other always saw the worst.

Frustrated by this, the parents decided to play a little trick on the girls one year at Christmas. They got the sad girl a nice, new train set; and all they got for the happy girl was a big pile of manure. They thought by doing this, maybe they could even things out a little.

But when the sad girl saw her new train set, she wasn’t very happy about it. “It’s nice, but not as big and fancy as the one I saw on TV,” she said.

Meanwhile, the happy girl discovered the pile of manure and came running into the house with a big smile on her face.

“What are you so happy about?” her parents asked her.

“Well,” the girl said, “with all this manure, there has to be a pony around here somewhere!”

Now to a certain extent, our temperaments may be inborn; and many have used stories like this to prove that point.

Even so, I think that as Christians, we can be optimists, knowing that God’s plan cannot fail. Just as surely as God spoke this world into existence, God can speak new realities into our lives if we’re open to it.

Yes, the world may throw a lot of injustice at us, but as the optimistic girl said, there’s got to be a pony somewhere!

The world may throw racism at us, but there’s got to be a pony somewhere!

The world may throw sexism at us, but there’s got to be a pony somewhere!

The world may throw tyrannical dictators at us, but there’s got to be a pony somewhere!

The world may throw violence at us, but there’s got to be a pony somewhere!

The world may throw disease at us, but there’s got to be a pony somewhere!

The world may throw death and destruction at us, but there’s got to be a pony somewhere!

In short, the world may throw all sorts of crap at us, but there’s got to be a pony somewhere!

And not just a pony, but a beautiful white horse carrying our Lord and Savior! We can have this hope because we have already seen Him at work in our lives now.

For those of us who know Jesus now, the day of His return is nothing to fear – and much to be celebrated. For when He comes, Jesus brings liberation and peace and joy.

Let us take heart, then, and wait for Him expectantly; for while there’s a lot of suffering in this world right now, our redemption is close at hand – and the beginning is near!