Luke 21:5-19

Where is this all going to end? This world? This history? Where are we heading and how will it end? There have lots of ideas thrown out there about how this world is going to end. In the 80’s, we worried about the U.S. and Russia blowing each other up. Through the 90’s, we worried about world wide epidemics, diseases that would wipe us out. Now, the big worry is global warming. We get images thrown at us of huge, super hurricanes, mega tornadoes, earthquakes, flooding, and famine.

Where are we going with all this? How will the world end? Most, I would suspect, would rather that the world didn’t end. That we could figure out a way to just keep this all going, getting better and better, exploring farther and farther, forever.

That’s not going to happen. At some point, in some way, this earth will be done. History as we know it will be completed. We will be able to see the story of the earth, from Day 1 of creation to the Last Day. History is limited. There will be an end.

And we’d like to know what that end will be like. We’d like to have a clue, a little hint, about what is going to happen. We’d really like a heads-up about WHEN this is all going to take place. We’d rather not be surprised. We want to be a little prepared.

And Jesus would like to give us that clue, that hint, that preparation for the end. So He tells us, in Luke 21. Verse 5:

The disciples were impressed, and maybe a little proud. The temple was the most prized possession of the Jewish people. Everything they did centered around the temple, so if the temple was big and beautiful, that reflected on the people.

So when Jesus responds, it’s a little unnerving. Verse 6:

Way to throw cold water on the disciples. Here they are feeling good about their temple, and Jesus says it’s going to be torn down. What in the world? Verse 7:

The temple had been destroyed before, and it was awful. It was when the Israelites were sent into captivity in Babylon for 70 years, and it took 500 years to get back from that. So the disciples are definitely interested in hearing about this destruction of Israel

And Jesus will tell them. He gives signs, hints of what is coming. But He’s telling them more than they think. On one level, Jesus is talking about the destruction of the temple, about the end of Israel. About 40 years after this point, the Roman Empire will have had enough with this troublesome country, Israel. And they would come in and destroy the temple and the city of Jerusalem and scatter the people. In 70 AD, everything that Jesus says here in Luke 21 will happen.

But Jesus has His eye on something a little further out. He’s pointing to two events as He talks through the next few verses. While pointing to the immediate destruction of the country, He’s warning about the end of the world.

And He warns those disciples, and He warns these disciples, verse 8:

Now, some of them look obvious. Most of us are pretty good at recognizing the Jim Jones and David Koreshes of this world. Remember them? The people who literally claimed to be Jesus.

But there are others who are more sneaky. They claim to have the answer to the problems of this world. They say they’ve figured it out, and now this is what you need to do. This is the way to bring peace in Iraq, in Pakistan, in Iran. This is the way to cut greenhouse gases. This is the way to stabilize the economy. This is the answer to health care. They say all these things, but they don’t point to Jesus. They would never call themselves the saviors of the world, but they sure act like it. Don’t follow them, Jesus says. Follow Me. Keep your eyes on Me. They may be saying good things, maybe even right things, but they won’t work, not without Me. These people will come. Don’t be fooled. Just recognize them for who they are.

Which will be more difficult than you think because there will be plenty of opportunities to worry. If it’s not a dreaded disease it’s the content of lead in toys. Right now it seems like every day we hear about another country where the government is either collapsing or it’s trying to make a nuclear weapon, or something else. But, Jesus says, in verse 9:

Do you hear the confidence in Jesus’ voice? I know these things will be happening. We have this all taken care of. We have it all under control. Don’t worry. Everyone else may be worrying around you, but you don’t have to. I’m in control, Jesus says.

Besides, all these wars and revolutions, these are just the beginning. They’re not the end. These are just signs pointing to the end. When you read about another war, another uprising, that’s just a signpost pointing out that Jesus is coming. They’re just reminders that we’d better be ready.

And there are other signposts. Verse 11:

See, we think that an earthquake is just a seismic event involving the movement of tectonic plates. They’re not. They’re signs pointing to Jesus. We think that famines are due to shifts in weather patterns, some of which are caused by global warming. That’s not all they are. They’re also hints of Jesus’ return. We think that pestilence, diseases, are due to new resistant strains of bacteria and viruses, and that’s it. They’re also reminding us, be ready, be ready, be ready.

We see these things happening all around us. But they grab our attention so fully that we can’t see anything else. Jesus is telling us to calm down, not to worry about all these things, but to see them for what they are, mile markers as we get closer to the end of the road.

But now Jesus gets a little more personal. Verse 12:

This is hard for us to understand, living in the country that we do. We love our country and we thank the Lord for the freedoms that we enjoy.

But if we’re talking about Jesus, and we’re supposed to be talking about Jesus, we will be persecuted. Maybe we won’t have to talk to kings and governors, but we’ll have to talk to our neighbors, which in some cases seems even scarier. Or we’ll have to explain to our bosses, and sometimes maybe our customers, why we do the things we do. We will be forced to answer for our faith, and the people who listen to us won’t always like it. We’ll be talking about laying down our lives for Jesus. We’ll be saying things like how we need to die to ourselves and live for Christ. People will want you to be like them, to share their values and priorities, and you won’t do it. And they will be very frustrated with you.

But they’ll have heard the gospel. Verse 13:

They may not like it, but they’ll certainly hear it. They’ll be hearing the good news about Jesus from your lips, and that is reward enough. To know that you’re doing it, you’re living the life and you’re talking the talk, you’re letting your little light shine even when the wind is trying to blow it out. There’s a sense of satisfaction in being obedient. You know you’re doing what the Lord wants you to do, no matter the cost.

Which is why Jesus says, in verse 14:

All of this talk maybe is a little frightening. Talk about persecution and plague and pestilence can really get us down. We’re not sure if we can face all this. We’re not sure if we want the end to come.

But Jesus wants to calm us down. So He says to us, in verse 15, "Don’t worry":

In other words, as hard as the storms rage around you, as fiercely as the enemies hate you, I am in control, and I love you.

Jesus is being real here. If we think that Christianity is just all about feeling good all the time, that there’s something wrong with us if we’re not feeling good, then we don’t understand Christianity. Being a follower of Jesus means that we’re in a war, a war as real as any political war going on right now.

But being a follower of Jesus also means that we win. It’s going to get tough. Verse 16:

That’s reality. We can go try to pretend that the end of time isn’t going to be bad. We can try to ignore this fact. And what we’ll end up doing is switching to the other side, leaving our allegiance to Jesus, because it’s all gotten too hard, too painful. Part of our work as a church is to get ready for this time. To make sure we know what’s coming. To not be surprised by the attacks that come or the disasters that happen. To know where this is all going. To know where this will all end.

And to know who is protecting us the whole way home. Verse 18:

That sounds strange, doesn’t it, to say that some of us will be put to death, but not a hair of our head will perish? Doesn’t that seem to contradict? Unless we remember how real the life after this life is. Unless we remember that this life is just a prelude, the coming attractions, to the life that that we are looking forward to. Jesus gives us these hints so that we’ll hope. He gives us the heads up so that we’ll be strong, so that, verse 19:

Each of these things have happened already. They are happening right now, and they will continue to happen. There have been earthquakes for millennia. Droughts are a part of the world’s history. Christians have died for their faith ever since Jesus. This is nothing new. We wish Jesus would have been very specific about when He was coming back. He wasn’t because He wants us to be ready at any time. But He also wants us calm. He doesn’t want to scare us with these verses. He wants to comfort us.

The comfort comes from knowing that each time one of these things happen, it shows that we are closer to the return of our Lord. We’re getting closer to the end, and that’s a very good thing. We’re one day closer to the end of history than we were yesterday, and we’re seeing the signs. We’re hearing the so-called saviors of the world. We’re seeing the disasters happening in our world. Dean and Grace are down in Texas right now cleaning up after one. This year, we’ve seen fires, earthquakes, drought, floods, and tsunamis. Relations between the U.S. and Iran are worse now than they were a year ago.

But I’m not talking doom. Actually, this ought to kind of cheer us up. Not at the suffering that people have to go through. That should make us sad, and we should be doing whatever we can to help. But with each report comes the knowledge that we’re that much closer to Jesus. With each disaster we’re one step closer to paradise. When we talk with each other about the latest catastrophe, the next sentence should include Jesus return. Did you hear what happened to those poor people? Did you hear about the destruction, the loss, the suffering? It’s sad, it’s so sad. But we’re getting closer, closer to seeing our Lord, closer to seeing our Jesus. Closer to the end.