For three weeks here in worship, we are considering the Christ of History. Last Sunday I spoke about how Christ was born in ancient Israel in the “fullness of time”; and thanks to the native plant and animal life of that region near the Mediterranean Sea, Jesus’ birth came at a pivotal moment in all human history. Today we remember that the Christ who came long ago has promised to come again. The One whose life, death and resurrection changed history has promised to return and in so doing complete history.
There are several passages of scripture that speak about the Second Coming of Christ, although the message they share does not speak with one voice. The writings of the apostle Paul were the earliest places where Jesus’ return is described, such as in the passage from I Thessalonians, which speaks of the future Day of the Lord marked by the sound of God’s trumpet. Jesus will descend from the heavens to call back to life those who have died, as well as call to him those still alive in the Last Days. About 75 years after Paul, the writer of the book of Revelation chose to use Jewish apocalyptic language to vividly describe the Day of the Lord as a time of destruction and holy wars in which all enemies of God will be destroyed with fire, pestilence and swords.
In between those two clusters of scripture comes a third perspective on this topic from the gospel writer Luke. Remember Luke’s the one who gives us the best version of Jesus’ birth – of an angel appearing to Mary and the humble birth of the Christ child, wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger. At the end of Luke’s gospel, there is this quiet, understated description of Jesus’ ascension into heaven: He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Lk 24:50-52). That’s it. No fanfare. No voices from the clouds, no stars falling from the sky. Just a quiet departure as if Jesus would see them again tomorrow.
Now, when you turn the page and read Acts, the second volume of Luke’s work, the narrative backs up a bit and he describes the ascension a second time. This time we hear a bit of the conversation Jesus had with his disciples on that day. They asked him, “Lord, is now the time when you restore the kingdom of Israel?” In effect, they’re asking is the world coming to an end soon. Will the enemies of Israel finally be destroyed? To which Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods God has set for God’s plans.” That, to me, is a direct rebuke to any radio preacher or television evangelist who insists he knows we are living in the last days. After that comes the ascension. What was described in two verses at the end of the gospel is described here in one simple verse: As they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. (Acts 1:9)
That’s it. Jesus spoke and then Jesus was gone. Now I can well imagine the disciples wanting to build a cathedral on that hilltop, or promising never to move from that spot until Jesus comes again, believing all this would be pleasing to God. Fortunately God sent a couple of heavenly messengers to combat that tendency. You can almost imagine two angels with Brooklyn accents sidling up to the gawking disciples and saying, “Hey, whats youz guys looking up into heaven for?” Startled, the disciples bring their gaze back down to earth. And then the angels tell them a bit of critical information:This Jesus will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. The risen Christ left earth pretty quietly, according to Luke’s gospel. No fanfare; no trumpet blasts; no earthquake tremors. What if Christ’s return is just as low-keyed? What if Jesus’ second coming is similar in style to his first coming?
I want you to hold onto that question for a bit – let it sink in – as I tell a story about some brave explorers in the 1400s. The ruler of the country gave permission for a brave captain to take a group of ships on an ocean voyage of discovery, sailing west into uncharted waters hoping to find new routes for trading and perhaps new lands to conquer. In time they did find new paths across the ocean and new lands on the other side. Who am I referring to? No, it’s not Christopher Columbus who sailed the ocean blue in 1492. I’m speaking of the greatest explorer you’ve probably never heard of – the Chinese captain Zheng He who sailed the Indian sea from 1405 to 1433. His were the voyages of the Chinese Treasure Vessels – fleets of supply ships, patrol boats and huge sailing vessels supposedly five times larger than Columbus’ Santa Maria. Seven times this fleet set off into the unknown, moving from China to the Persian Gulf, to the port cities of India and then over to the eastern coast of Africa. They traded silk and porcelain for spices, ivory and pearls. They battled pirates and established trade routes. And they were well on their way to colonizing the whole Indian Ocean and close to sailing around the tip of Africa going from east to west when suddenly everything stopped.
Zheng He died at the age of 62 and was buried at sea. Back in China’s palaces, the Confucian rulers were worried about the affects of these ocean voyages. In their mind, the barbarian nations had nothing to offer the Chinese homeland. People shouldn’t sail the seas while their venerable parents were alive and needed them at home. And the threat of Mongol invaders meant money should finance the armies at home and not be used to maintain a huge naval armada. So the ships were mothballed and eventually destroyed. In time the entire ship-building industry was totally shut down. China became isolated, inward-looking. Fifty years after Zheng He’s voyages, tiny Portuguese vessels would sail around Africa from west to east and Europeans would “discover” the Indian Ocean.
I share this bit of history to add another image to the range of ways we can think about the second coming of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we believe in the incarnation – that the fullness of God’s will and love resided in Jesus, who, in the fullness of time, came to earth. We also believe that this same Jesus Christ will come again. When will this happen? The exact time is not for us to know, so Jesus’ return will be unexpected and thus to some degree surprising. How will Jesus return? We have a range of possible answers to this question. Some picture Jesus’ return from the heavens as bold and dramatic. Luke suggests that Jesus’ return will be simpler and more straightforward.
To me the question more important than asking “When?” and “How?” is to ask “Why is Jesus returning?” Why will he come back to earth again? The short answer to this question is given when we recite the Apostles’ Creed – Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. But that answer sounds too punitive. It causes us to picture Jesus seated on a throne separating sheep from goats, good from bad, those who are “in” from those who are “out.” There is some bible material to support this view, but it just doesn’t fit with the whole bible message.
Why wouldn’t the second coming of Jesus be modeled after his first coming? Wouldn’t the same motivation, the same desire to heal and offer hope to the world that led God to come to earth in the first place also be the primary reason why Christ will return to earth a second time? I believe so. And for that reason, Paul and Luke are far better resources for this topic than the book of Revelation. When Paul talks about Jesus descending from the clouds and gathering up the living and the dead around him, he prefaces that image by saying to the young church, “Look, I don’t want you to grieve as others do who have no hope” (I Th 4:13). Paul talks about the second coming as a pastor giving hope to his grieving congregation of believers, not as an person waiting for God to inflict punishment on God’s enemies. And when Luke tells the story of Jesus’ ascension, he tells it at the beginning of a whole volume about how Jesus’ spirit is still active in communities of faith – and that we aren’t supposed to stand around gazing into the heavens, but we are to be about the Lord’s work now, even as we await his return and the completion of his plans for all humanity.
That’s why I told you about Zheng He. It’s not a perfect metaphor, but imagine that for a brief period of time, God in Christ dwelt with us and took us on marvelous voyages to new places of the soul – to see real miracles of healing, to hear a wisdom far wiser than the wisdom of the world, to trust in a power of love and justice mightier than hatred, violence and war. But in our foolishness, we killed that captain; we sank those ships; we shut down the shipbuilding and lost many of the skills given to us by God. We trusted the world’s ways, the world’s weapons, the world’s answers. But in time, our captain will return to end our spiritual exile. To take us on voyages of healed life, redeemed life, just and righteous and grace-full life. Whatever we have left undone, God in Christ has promised to finish in time – and to do so far better than we could ever do on our own. That’s the loving promise of the Savior who comes again for the same reason and in the same spirit as when He came the first time.
There are many ways to think about Christ’s return. Know that the Christ who once came is with us now, even as we await his coming again to bring all things to completion. It is the same Lord for both comings. Trust yourself and your deepest hopes to Him for this day and for all days to come.