"the stars of the sky fell to the earth…"

I keep thinking of the different types of attitudes and reactions that are happening in Christianity today concerning the return of our LORD. It feels as though the words “no one knows the day or hour” is as overused and misunderstood as the scripture “Don’t judge”. As all Christians know there is more context to “Do not judge”. There is nuance. The lesson was “the measure by which you judge will it be given back to you”. With “no one knows the day or hour” we have the type of Christian who appears too comfortable in the world. The type of Christian that mourns that the LORD would return, that is saddened by what is being lost in their lives. From a human perspective it is understandable to be afraid of the unknown, just as little children are afraid of the dark but when you flip the light switch the fear goes away. So too right now most Christians are afraid of the dark, they are afraid to leave their earthly lives behind and enter the unknown, even if the unknown is the LORD’s.

I get it, I am not innocent. You will often times find my type swimming in the pools of apathy. Unable to ever completely mend into society or into norms. This reminds me of John 12:25.

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” – John 12:25

It is understandable to love your life when the LORD has blessed it. However, there is another type of personality that is blessed by God and it is those who hate their life to some degree. They hate that sin is everywhere and in all of us. They hate their own sin, their own failure, their own imperfection and they dream mostly of a new body and a new Earth where they exist as incorruptible. These type of people are especially loved by the LORD, for He himself was one of them. Although Jesus defeated sin and death and is forever incorruptible, on Earth Isaiah 53 says he was “A man of sorrow acquainted with grief”. “One from whom men hide their faces.”, “He was despised and rejected by men”.

The way the LORD is describing this paradigm of different believers can be seen in the book of Job. Job lost virtually everything in his life, he went from the richest and most loyal servant of God to one who only a few would dare show their faces to. He was approached by his peers of faith where they offered him everything of wisdom that was “always too neat and clean to be real and genuine” as A.W. Tozer puts it. So also in Christianity today we have this “neat and clean” Christianity which praises those who fit the pattern yet still despises those men of sorrow like Christ. It is filled with Christians who can barely be told apart from their Earthly neighbors. They are the same as the world but painted with Christ and colors of Christianity. The rule followers, the nice dressers, older brothers in the story of the Prodigal’s son. It is these type who dress down their peers, who judge most and walk into rooms as Job’s companions, filled with bible verses but empty of real world empathy, love and compassion. It is those type who threw Mary Magdalene before the LORD’s feet having found her guilty of adultery. They quote the law of Moses but not the part God tells Moses “I will have mercy on whom I will.” It was Mary of Magdalene who was with the LORD’s mother Mary at the cross. They read this now and they say in their hearts, “who is this one who authors?” “What sin has he committed? What training has he received? “Under who’s authority does he speak?”. As the Pharisee’s questioned the LORD, so modern Pharisee’s now question those for whom the LORD is speaking. The LORD gives one a dream, they dismiss it. The LORD gives one a prophecy, they ignore it. Everything must be fit nice and neat into our new corporate Christianity where we all must fit the mold, play by their rules.

The way the LORD is describing this to me is with the story of Mary and Martha. We have the Martha’s of the church who all they can see is the physical work that must be done. They know the table must be set, the meals must be prepared and served, the wine glasses must be poured. They abhor the dreamers and the prophets as being out of touch with reality. They cringe as Mary bends down at the LORD’s feet when there is work to be done. They are embarrassed that Mary is in tears before the LORD washing his feet and wiping them with her hair. This is how I envision what is going on with Christians today. As some experience visions and children dream dreams, signs and prophecies are being fulfilled and there are the Mary’s who are in tears searching for the signs of the LORD’s return. For every Mary there are 100 Martha’s who all they can see is that the bills need to be paid, the laundry needs to be done the children need to be fed. They have no time or energy or thought as to the return of the LORD. “I do not care”, “it’ll happen when it happens”, “Noone knows the day or hour”. They continue their lives oblivious to the signs and the excitement of their sister Mary.

It is true, not one person knows the day or the exact hour the LORD will return. We should be careful and discerning but we shouldn’t put our hands over our ears and eyes. This is no normal time. It isn’t like any other moment before it. We do not have merely “war in the middle east” and “rumors of war in the world”, we do not merely have floods, earthquakes and natural disasters happening at an alarming rate. We have everything. Not some prophecy but every end time prophecy concerning the hour of the Anti-Christ and return of the LORD Jesus Christ is being prepared at this moment. It is not far off, it is no longer down the road, it is no longer what we thought it would be. It is what it is but it is now.

I am reminded of John the Baptist while in prison asking the LORD Jesus through messenger, “Are you the one we have been waiting for?” Even though John heard from the Holy Spirit and from God the Father’s audible voice at Jesus baptism and although Jesus healed the sick and fulfilled the prophecy’s he asked “Are you the one?”. Jesus responded by quoting Isaiah and the prophecies of the Messiah He has fulfilled. As the Christ was different than anticipated, so is the Anti-Christ. He is not European, he is American. He’s not Muslim, he claims to be Christian, he’s not middle eastern, he’s Scottish born in Babylon New York City. He’s not a leftist democrat communist, he’s a conservative republican. I understand how difficult that pill is to swallow as a former republican myself who voted for him but brothers and sisters, all of the signs of the end times are happening as we speak. The stage is set for the tribulation, not later but right now. At this point I understand Martha’s of our day that things need to be done. We shouldn’t abandon our duties or lives or acts of service but do not begrudge your brothers and sisters, do not rebuke Mary for having her moment before the LORD in tears. This is a call for unification, for mercy and understanding. This is a call to look up, to remove the hands over the eyes and see where we are as a Church. To live as the virgins of Matthew 25 with our oil filled in expectation of the LORD’s return. Our eternal husband would have his betrothed waiting and ready, looking for the signs of His arrival. Let us all look, repent, forgive and welcome the call of the Trumpet of God and enter the wedding halls of Heaven rejoicing. Amen.