26/6/05 6 p.m. BCP Evensong Trinity 5 Luke 17:20-37
Luke 17:20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, `Here it is,' or `There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
22 Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 Men will tell you, `There he is!' or `Here he is!' Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26 "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot's wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. "
37 "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."
Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray once informed a man who had appeared before him in a lower court and had escaped conviction on a technicality, "I know that you are guilty and you know it, and I wish you to remember that one day you will stand before a better and wiser Judge, and that there you will be dealt with according to justice and not according to law." Surprised while burgling a house in Antwerp, Belgium, the thief fled out the back door, clambered over a nine-foot wall, dropped down the other side, and found himself in the city prison. Today's reading is about justice and deliverance. We have a God who is just and who rules the earth.
How do we know about the rule of God on earth? We can see it in the person and works of Jesus. The things Jesus taught. His ability to heal the sick, drive out demons and to raise the dead. His great love shown on the cross. His victory over sin and death through his death and resurrection.
This is what Jesus was referring to when he said, the kingdom of God is within you, verse 21. Jesus was nor suggesting that the Pharisees had the rule of God in them. This might be better phrased "the kingdom of God is amongst you" , referring to Jesus who was amongst them.
Since the coming of Jesus we have tasted some of God's rule in a world that has rebelled against him and is in the grip of sin and death. We see glimpses of miraculous new birth, his healing power, answered prayer, his love shown in and despite the church. We experience some of God's blessings, but there is a lot more to come.
We are in an interim period. God has broken into human history in Jesus, we now wait fro his return. The early church thought that Jesus return was imminent. Perhaps the church today thinks he will not come soon.
When Jesus comes he will judge the living and the dead. People who have a personal relationship with Jesus will be spared the just punishment that their sins deserve. God will not hold their sins against them because they were placed upon Christ so that believers are no longer condemned.
Jesus died, rose to new life and returned to God the Father. Every believer has and will follow that path. We have died to a life of sin, risen to new life with Christ and we will be with God forever.
For the vast majority of people the return of Jesus to judge people will be shocking. It will be just like any normal day when Jesus will appear. Jesus uses pictures of pairs of people being reduced to one as the believer is taken to be with God, leaving the unbeliever to face the consequences of their sin. Eternal separation from God and from all the blessings that He brings.
Jesus return will be seen by everyone like lightning in the sky, but He will not be expected by most people. There will be some signs pointing his return. One we see in this passage. Jesus referred to Noah and Sodom. Both times involved dissolute people who had no regard for God and put pleasure first. Both occasions concluded with God punishing the sins of those who disobeyed him. This even included Lot's wife who underestimated the destructive power of God's judgment and didn't seek refuge quickly enough. Jesus warned that when he returns people shouldn't fall into the same trap, hesitate and look backwards.
Elsewhere Jesus referred to other signs, cf. Matthew 24:3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him 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?" 24:4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. 6 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. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
30 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
The word "apocalypse" comes from the Greek word apokalypto, translated "revealed", literally means "to take off the cover". God revealed himself in Jesus when he came to earth the first time. Jesus' sudden appearing at the Second Coming will constitute the greatest apocalypse in history.
How do we respond to the knowledge that one day Jesus will return?
We are to be ready, spiritually. We should be devoted to Jesus, knowing and obeying his commands, aware of the signs that will precede his return, serving him in our communities and in the church and sharing his love with others. After all, if we do not do this they may be left behind.