will I be surprised?

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

This section continues on from the last part of chapter 4: talking about the return of Christ and the end times. Here, Paul exposits (I don't know if that's actually the right word but as long as no one else does, I think it makes me sound smart!) on another statement of Jesus about the end times: the return of Christ will be like a thief who comes in the night - no one is expecting him, otherwise people would have been ready. He also references another statement that Jesus made that the signs of the end will be like labour pains. I don't know how far to take the comparison. At the very least Jesus and Paul are saying that out of the pain, something great will come (a baby for the woman, the return of Christ for the Christian). However, he could also be saying that the pains and trials will increase in frequency and intensity until the end.
Paul indicates that as children of light we who follow Jesus should not be as surprised by the return of Christ as the rest of the world. I don't think he's saying that we will know exactly when Jesus is coming back but that we won't be as surprised because we should not be asleep and unexpectant. We are awake, alert and watching. We live our lives in faith, love and the hope of salvation as if Christ could actually return at any moment. This doesn't mean that we won't be surprised. It's sort of like playing "peek-a-boo" with Zach - he knows I'm going to stick my head around the corner but he's not sure exactly when so he waits with a huge grin on his face and light dancing in his eyes and if I delay my peek he calls for me. When I finally do poke my head around the corner it is a delightful surprise to him. That's how I should be waiting for Jesus - eager anticipation, light dancing in my eyes. Someday I am going to see Jesus - it doesn't matter if I die (am asleep in verse 10) or am still alive (awake in verse 10)! No wonder Paul tells us to encourage each other with these words.

Paul's take on the end times

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Paul's concern here is that the Thessalonian church had some wrong beliefs about what would happen to those who were disciples of Christ but died before Christ's return. It is not indicated exactly what they believed but from the fact that they were grieving like everyone else, they probably believed that the dead ceased to exist and only those who were alive at Christ's return would live with him forever.
The key phrase in this passage is "according to the Lord's word." This means that Paul is taking his teaching on the return of Christ from Christ's teaching on his return. The place we find this teaching is in Matthew 24 and it is easy to see the parallels: there are clouds, there are angels and there are trumpets. Paul, through the inspiration of the Spirit, has passed on some further insight: the dead in Christ will rise first and we will go up to meet Jesus in the air, joining his army as he returns to take his rightful place as king.
The point of Paul's teaching isn't so much to explain everything that's going to happen when Jesus returns but to comfort and encourage the Thessalonians who believed that they would never see their dead relatives again (and that once they died, they would never see the fulfillment of the kingdom). The end of the paragraph is the key: encourage one another with these words. What an encouragement these words are: someday Jesus will return but if I should die before then, not even death can prevent me from seeing the fulfillment of Christ's kingdom. Lord, come!

Just be patient...

James 5:7-12

I remember when I was younger and all those speakers would pull out their charts and talk about how soon Jesus was going to come back. They wouldn't specifically state a time but they were pretty sure it was going to be right away. I don't hear that kind of talk anymore. It's been a long time since I've been filled with wonder at the idea that Jesus could come back today. I wonder what happened to all those guys and their charts?
Maybe people got tired of waiting. Maybe the reason that I haven't been stopped short is because all those times I was, Jesus didn't come back. James tells his readers to be patient. He uses a very vivid word picture of a farmer waiting for the harvest. I think this word picture is very appropriate: the farmer doesn't just wait idly for the harvest - he works the soil, maybe even irrigates, fertilizes and weeds but all his efforts don't hurry the harvest. The harvest will arrive in the proper time. As we wait for Jesus and the coming kingdom, we don't sit idly by. We work hard but all our work will not hasten Jesus' return. Jesus will come in the proper time.
James compares our waiting for Jesus with the prophets' waiting for the fulfillment of prophecy. I wonder what they were thinking after they made their bold predictions and faithfully spoke the words that God had given them. I wonder if they were ridiculed when their words didn't prove true right away. I wonder if they argued with God and questioned him. I wonder if they felt like fools. James says that we regard those prophets with honour because they persevered i the face of delayed fulfillment and in the face of persecution. James calls us to be as patient as the prophets.
He also uses Job as an example which is kind of weird to me. Job isn't someone that I would immediately describe as patient. He complained bitterly. He questioned God and demanded that he come and defend himself. He did not exhibit the characteristics of a patient person and yet James calls him patient because he did not abandon his faith in the midst of severe pain. James is calling me to do the same. Don't give up. Don't let the circumstances of life dictate what I will believe. Don't let Jesus' "delay" cause me to stumble. Yes, I should be longing for and looking for the return of my King but in the mean time I must continue to patiently work. The harvest will come in its proper time.