“…to meet the Lord in the air…” (I Thessalonians 4:17)
With Halloween just past, we’re mindful of the phenomenon of people who love to be scared this time of year. Blood and fangs, dark cloaks and pale faces – vampires and zombies – all the rage these days (but not one of my personal favorites, I’m just saying) – people love to be scared.
In the realms of faith, this is also true. The above passage, which is part of this Sunday’s 2nd lesson, is from the famed scripture which is credited with “the rapture.” The rapture is where all the good folks will fly up into the air somehow, and Jesus will meet us there as we head to heaven.
This supposes that if you have been bad, you will miss the rapture. Oops, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (according to Romans 3:23), then shall we figure that we won’t be meeting anyone in the air as I Thessalonians supposes?
However, the fact that we are sinners is a given. No one, no not one, can escape the decadence of sin. We are captive to it; we admit it every Sunday. It is only—solely—by the grace of God that we will meet Jesus anywhere in this life, let alone in the sky! Our Lord’s suffering, death, and resurrection point out for us that He is the surrogate for us; Jesus has taken our place in this process of sin and saved us. Yes, we still sin—we to this very day do fall short—but it is based on the works of Jesus and not us that saves. Thanks be to God.
And, to calm your worries about “the rapture.” Paul is simply urging, encouraging all of us with the promised coming of Christ. God comes to us in this way all the time.
I’m reminded of this in the story of the “Prodigal Son.” When the boy returns to his home, his father doesn’t wait for his return but rather runs to him as soon as he sees him approaching. He doesn’t send out a wagon or horse or camel to bring him in. He runs to him on foot. This is how our God works. He is the one who initiates each day with us. The sun always rises. The day always moves forward. This is the reality of God’s persistence with us.
This is all I think of the “rapture passage.” I don’t take it literally. Whatever direction we head in the end (and the typical direction Christians see for heaven is “up”), Christ comes and meets us. Plain and simple. We shouldn’t add anything to what is written (Revelation 22:18). God is love, mercy, and forgiveness.
Jesus, in preparing His disciples for what was to come (death and resurrection), remember what the Lord taught them: “…I will come again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you will be also…” (John 14:3) Jesus is very personal in our time of departure. He comes. He is present with us. We are never alone. May this bring some sort of peace when those days approach us, or those we love.
God loves you and so do we,
Pastor Jim