Thursday, May 7, 2020

Can Knowing the End of the Story Change Your Story Now? It Can. And Here's How


Has it begun to hit home with you yet, that these challenging days could be going on a lot longer than anyone likes?    Sure, things will reopen. But, even then, everyone will be using their trusty masks for quite a while.   Lots of folks will still be out of work for a good stretch and that’s going to be hard.  Businesses we know and love might not be able to make it.   And let’s not even talk about a second wave of this thing in the Fall.   

Ok, you might be thinking.  I come here for you to encourage me not depress me.  But I bring those things up just to set the scene.   All of those things I just shared could very well be true.  In fact, let’s be honest, they’re quite likely to be true in the coming days.  And because of that likely reality what we’ll be celebrating in the next few minutes has more importance than ever. 

When the days get dark, you need to celebrate more not less.  And why?  It reminds you that the dark will never be the end of the story.  The light will be.  But on certain days during these challenging times, it can be hard to see that light.  But here in these words, for when the light gets hard to see, God points the way.  Let’s hear what God has to say.


In these words, God is giving you the end of the story, and not just any story. God is giving you the end of the whole story, humanity, the universe, the entire shooting match.   When it’s all over, God is saying, here’s what happens.  I win.   Love wins over hate.  Life wins over death.  Good wins over evil.  Joy wins over despair.   And when you know how it ends that changes everything.   It gives you a power right now to live your life that nothing can shake.  

Heck, that’s why God shared these words in the first place.  Christians faced a dangerous world, one becoming terrifyingly hostile to them.   And over the next two centuries after this vision was shared, they would live at the mercy of a world that veered from bare toleration of their existence to campaigns to wipe them out completely.   Yet in the midst of that, what happened?   Followers of Jesus grew into the millions, until their presence transformed the Roman empire.   They changed a cruel and brutal culture, into one that began to care for the most vulnerable.   Where did hospitals and orphanages come from?  Christians created them.  Before Christianity, they didn’t exist.  And what enabled the revolution to happen?  The Christians had this.  They knew the end of the story.   And, knowing that future it gave them the power to change their present.   

Think about it.   When you know your future, it doesn’t simply affect you in the future, it affects you right now.   Imagine this. Two people get a job, some mundane job like fitting widgets into wodgets.  But one person gets told that in one year, he’ll get a raise from 20 grand a year to 25, but the other gets told that in one year, he’ll get a raise from 20 grand a year to 20 million.  Who do you think is going to come to work every day with more enthusiasm, the 25 grand guy or the 20 million one?   But get this.  They are both experiencing the same circumstances.  But they are experiencing those same circumstances in two very different ways.   Why?   Because, what both believe about their future is changing the way they live their lives right now.  
 
And that’s why Christians celebrating communion in these days has such power.  You see.  At that table, you are not just celebrating what God did for you in Jesus.   No, you are reminding yourself of the end of the story, of what is still to come.  

When I was growing up, I had a pretty dreary idea of what taking communion was all about.  I thought it meant feeling bad that Jesus gave up his life to save me.  But I was missing the whole point.   When you give someone a gift, do you want them to feel bad?   I hope not.  No, you want them to feel good, to be touched and moved, to feel valued and loved.   And at this table, God yearns for you too experience all those things and more.  But this table goes even beyond that. At this table God is getting you ready for what is to come. 

This week, I was listening in on a conversation with a preacher I admire.  He was talking how lots of folks have what he called a Looney Tunes version of the soul.  Do you know what he means?  Have you ever seen in those old cartoons how when a character dies, a little ghost sort of floats out of the body?  But in the Bible, the soul isn’t that at all. It’s all that you are, your mind, your body, everything.   And if anything, these weeks apart have showed the truth of that.  Yes, you see folks on a screen.  You may even see and talk to them in real time.  But it doesn’t satisfy at all.  Why?  They are not all there.  Virtual can never be the same as the real ever.   

And that’s why we yearn for a day, when we can be together, really together, not just virtually but really.   And that’s why God came in Jesus, not as some spirit, but as a body, a real flesh and blood person.   And that’s why in the end all of us, bodies and all, will be together in a way more wondrous, more beautiful than we could ever imagine.

Think about the most joyous moments you’ve had in love.  Think about a great party, an amazing meal, a piece of music that rocked your world, the joy you felt.  Think about the wonder of a stunning waterfall, or a breathtaking mountain or the sea, the joy that gave you.  In what is to come, you will experience THE waterfalls of which all other waterfalls are just hints and echoes.  You will experience THE party of all parties, THE song of all songs, THE family of all families, THE joy of all joys.   And when you know that, it doesn’t just give you hope and joy in the future.  It gives you joy and hope right now. 

It’s why the Bible calls this feast at the end, a marriage feast.  When my wife and I were planning our wedding, I experienced joy just anticipating that day, imagining all the friends and family gathered there, seeing my beloved walk down the aisle, dancing with her for the first time as my wife.   And at times when things got a little tough, looking to that day, to all that joy to come, it even held us together.

So, coming to the table of communion, celebrating at this table, especially in these challenging days reminds us.  This virus will not be the end of our story.  Christians will celebrate this mean virtually now, but at some point, we'll celebrate it in person once again. And on that day when Christians gather, they will be looking to an even greater day, to the party of all parties, the feast of all feasts, a time when we will gather under trees whose leaves heal the nations, in a place where God wipes away every tear.  And when you know that, when you know what’s coming, well, it changes everything not just in the future but right now.  So, find a church sharing communion and celebrate at that table.  And as you do, don’t just remember what God has done or even just celebrate what God is doing now.  But look with joy, with excitement, for the best, for the best is still to come.                   

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