How does it all end?
Sermon Notes
BIG IDEA: Jesus has empowered you to live for him here and now. We must resist the temptation to following Jesus as means to an end.
Welcome to Canopy Church! For those I have not met, my name is Mike and I am one of the pastors around here.
We are right in the middle of collection of messages called, I HAVE A QUESTION?
If you have missed any of the past weeks I would encourage you to go back and listen to them. You can find them on our YouTube channel or over on our podcast.
WE ARE TACKLING QUESTIONS THAT PEOPLE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE OF THE CHURCH ARE ASKING. We have asked you to submit question via our app and you have done so!
The point of these messages is centered around our belief that the church ought to be a safe place for questions. Whether you follow Jesus or not.
Jesus isn’t afraid of our doubt as much as we are. Jesus isn’t afraid of our questions as much as we are.
It is in my belief that one of the major pillars the church will need to stand on moving forward is its ability to allow space for doubt and questions and allow people to be on their journey and not rush them out of it.
I say all of that to arrive at this: Canopy is a place where you can freely doubt. Canopy is a place that welcomes all your questions, big or small. Canopy is a place that recognizes that life is a long journey and that there is still time to see Jesus for who he is.
Jesus loves you so much. It’s his love for you that allows you to be honest with him and bring whatever questions you have to him. Jesus can handle your questions. Jesus wants you to bring your questions to him.
Not that you will get the answers that you want. You might. But I am convinced that in your seeking you will get what ultimately matters. JESUS. An awareness of His presence in your life.
Jesus said, “if you seek me with all your heart you will find me.” When we get his presence often times becomes more meaningful than our unanswered questions.
I HAVE A QUESTION
So today I get to wrap up this questions series with a question about end the end of the world.
The question is: HOW DOES IT ALL END?
This is a really important question for us to wrestle with. If you have your bible head over to Luke 17. If not, no worries we will have it up on the screens.
READ LUKE 17:20-37
OPENING STORY: ACCEPTING JESUS FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME AT YOUTH CONVENTION.
I have been going to church my whole life. Very rarely can I remember missing a Sunday. Church was important in my family and it was something that was a priority.
So, church is something that I am very comfortable with and have grown to love.
But just because I was in church since I was a baby doesn’t mean that I was following Jesus that entire time. I would actually say that I didn’t make the decision for myself to follow Jesus until I was in 7th grade, which happened when I was away at a youth conference.
(EX). It was the last night and the pastor was preaching his guts out to a room of thousands of junior highers and high school students. I don’t remember what he was teaching on or even what he was saying. I just remember his passion and it seemed to me that he really believed in what he was saying. I had never heard someone talk about Jesus the way he did. I found that to be pretty inspiring and I wanted what he had. I wanted to love Jesus as much as he did.
At the end of his message he ended up giving an opportunity to say yes to Jesus and to make him the leader of your life. That’s where I gave my life to Jesus and since then I have been doing my best to follow Jesus. It hasn’t always been pretty, but that day changed my life forever.
But looking back now, I see that day a little bit differently than I did then. My motivation to follow Jesus didn’t really have anything to do with Jesus. It was more about me and my future. Where I would spend eternity.
He said it this way, “if you were to die tonight on the way home would you go to heaven? If you don’t know the answer to this question than you need Jesus in your life right now because tonight is the night of salvation!”
Looking back at this now I can tell you that I said yes to Jesus out of fear! He scared me to death! Obviously being a 7th grader I had no clue where I would go if I died that night so I accepted Jesus based on the fact that I didn’t want to go to hell for the rest of my life!
Now, I not here to condemn this tactic maybe this is how you came to faith as well. The important thing is that I accepted Jesus! For that I am grateful.
But what I do want to say about this is that experience, that one night in 7th grade, impacted the way of view life, faith, and God for many years after that.
In other words, my theology (meaning, the way I view God) was largely rooted in fear of going to hell and not so much on how I would live my one life here on earth in the power of the Holy Spirit.
My motivation to read my bible, go to church, pray, to go on missions’ trips, and whatever else I did, was rooted in wanting to make sure God was pleased with me so that I could get to heaven.
That the only way to please God is to withdraw from the normal functions of society and culture – to be good and do good.
But as I got older and got to know Jesus something very different had happened in me.
I began to discover that God is not a God of fear, manipulation, or death BUT he is a God of love, freedom, and life.
And I began to see that the very first time I said yes to Jesus came from a very distorted view on who He actually is.
It was in college that I got to know the real Jesus and truly fell in love with who He is and my relationship with him began to transform my worldview and I began to see that this world is not entirely bad.
Yes, it’s broken and yes there is evil but God is doing stuff everywhere all the time and Jesus has empowered us to partner with him as he renews, restores, and redeems all things.
In this passage the Pharisees are more concerned about the end of the world than the life God has given them on earth.
It is out of this place that Jesus sets out to correct a mentality that means well… but is off track of what matters most.
Jesus has empowered you to live for him here and now. We must resist the temptation to following Jesus as means to an end.
HOW DOES IT ALL END?
The Pharisees (who are Jewish religious leaders of the day) ask Jesus when will God’s Kingdom come? IN OTHER WORDS, How will the world end?
The real question they were asking is this: “When is the Messiah going to come back and rescue us and elevate us into power?”
The Pharisees theology and so many others theology today view life as a means to the end. Meaning, life happens and some point the Messiah is going to come back putting an end to this world and will take them back to heaven with him.
Jesus responds by telling them 2 things:
ONE: It’s not going to be that way. The Kingdom of God isn’t a place you go to and it doesn’t come with your good behavior.
TWO: You will not need to rely on someone else to tell you that it is here.
Jesus is saying something revolutionary to them that shakes up everything they have been taught about how the world will end.
Jesus says, the Kingdom of God is within you. Now, Jesus’ isn’t saying heaven isn’t real. It is real. But, he is saying that heaven isn’t the end all be all. That it ought not to be the reason you follow him.
Then Jesus turns to look at his disciples and gives them some insight on what that day will be like when He comes back again for the second time.
Jesus wants to clear up any confusion and wants to give his followers understanding of what to expect so that you can recognize the truth and not live your one life here on earth deceived.
Because remember, Jesus believes that how we live our lives here on earth matters greatly - we are to take on his mission in the world.
So, Jesus says to his disciples, a day is coming where people will try to tell you that the Messiah is here or there, don’t believe it! Because you will know when I come back. That day will be like a flash of lightening. It lights up the dark sky and everyone knows what they just saw! The same thing will happen when I come back.
Then Jesus goes on to remind them of 2 well known STORIES in the OT. It’s the story of Noah and the story of Lot.
I don’t have time to do a lot of work on those 2 stories but the point in both of these stories is that God destroys and God saves.
Now, knowing what you know about those 2 stories, have you noticed what happened to the people God destroyed? They were removed from the earth.
What happened to the people who God saved? They were left on the earth.
Jesus says in verse 30, “it will be just like this when I come back again.” When Jesus comes back he will not return and take his followers back to heaven with him. He will return and by doing so will bring heaven to earth – and with his coming a new creation will be established.
RAPTURED or EMPOWERED?
That leads us to quickly address something that particularly the Evangelical church has taught for the last century on how it will all end. What I am referring to is the rapture.
I understand that there are many different views on this doctrine. So many (my myself included) came to Jesus based on it. I want to be sensitive to your situation. I would love to sit down with you over a coffee and discuss more in detail if you would like.
Raptured Theology in short believes that when Jesus comes back for the second time, he will gather all those living on the earth who follow him and will resurrect all the believers who have died and will snatch them into the sky to be with him in heaven forever.
This interpretation of the end of the word originated in the 1830’s and gained more momentum with the book and movie series Left Behind.
If you have seen these movies or read these books they are absolutely terrifying. When I first saw it as a kid it kept me up all night! I think I gave my life to Jesus 100 times that night just to be sure I wouldn’t get left behind!
I couldn’t get the image out of my head of all the cars crashing into each other because the drivers were taken or the scene where the pilots were taken out of the cockpit and all those left in the plane crashed and died. Just horrible.
The more I studied scripture and the more I have understood the teachings of Jesus, from what I can make sense of, Jesus never taught Raptured Theology!
In fact, early Christian followers and theologians didn’t teach it either. It is a relatively knew doctrine and it is based off of passages found in 1 Thessalonians 4 and Matthew 24:40.
Interestingly enough, when we look at the gospels and the entire New Testament, the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles were the exact opposite of raptured theology.
Many have called it EMPOWERED THEOLOGY.
In the Gospels, instead of teaching us to long for a day of removal from the earth we see Jesus giving us the authority of the kingdom to cast out demons, heal the sick, and to preach the gospel because this is a part of Gods plan for the RENEWAL OF ALL THINGS.
We see heaven and earth coming together not becoming separated. We say the Lord’s prayer every Sunday together.
Jesus said, “your kingdom come your will be done ON EARTH AS IT IS IT HEAVEN.”
Jesus is opening up our eyes to the truth that his Kingdom is here and it is now. Jesus is telling us, “You don’t have to wait for me to come back! If you are waiting for me to come back then there is a good chance you won’t notice what I am doing now, or even worse, you won’t be ready when I do!
As far as I can tell, I think Jesus is far more concerned with how I live my life today rather than where I am going tomorrow. Not that tomorrow doesn’t matter. It does. But all I have is today.
The reason I think this question, “how does it all end?” is so important for us to wrestle with because I think the way the Evangelical church has answered it - has potentially done more harm than good. Am I saying that as someone who would identify as an evangelical pastor. So, I am including myself in that statement.
Fear is not a good approach for introducing people to Jesus. We have to tell people how loved they are and show people that life today is so important. That God has a purpose for your life today.
That the kingdom of God is here. Not fully but it is here and there are so many signs and wonders pointing us to it.
What I think the church needs to be awakened to it is the realization that God loves the world so much so that he sent his Son here and his plans are not to destroy it but to renew it. His plans are new creation. And we get to help him do that now.
This is how we introduce people to Jesus. This is how the church can revitalize culture and bring light to a dark world.
I could spend so much more time discussing this but we don’t have time. I will recommend 2 resources to you that I think are worth your time if you want to do more thinking around the rapture and the Kingdom of God.
SURPRISED BY HOPE: NT WRITE. It’s very good. One of my favorite books of all time. Beware, it is not a page turner so be prepared to read through it slowly!
PODCAST: Ask NT Write Anything: Episode 3. He talks all about rapture theology, The Kingdom of God, heaven, and new creation.
Whatever your position is on end times I am sure that WE CAN AGREE ON ONE THING.
JESUS IS COMING BACK AGAIN. That’s all we know. We don’t know how, where, when, or what. All we know is that it will happen.
Jesus said, “no eye has seen, ear has heard, or mind can conceive what God has prepared for those who love him.” New creation is beyond what we can fathom.
THE INVITATION
What I particularly love about this passage and what I want us to walk away with is this: JESUS IS PERSONALLY INVITING YOU TO HELP HIM PUT THE WORLD BACK TO RIGHT.
So, the question transitions from How does it all end? TO, how can I participate in the Kingdom of God right now?
So, after Jesus shares all of this with his disciples they ask him a question. Remember, Jesus loves our questions!
It is found in verse 37: They ask, But where Lord? To which Jesus replies: “where there is a dead body the vultures will gather.”
What Jesus is saying, is that the kingdom of God is obvious to those who are paying attention. You don’t have to look very far if you desire to partake in it.
His kingdom is everywhere for those who have eyes to see, ears to hear, and for those motivated by love and compassion for the people around you all the time.
WHAT DO I DO NOW?
Participate in it! Begin and end your day in the presence of Jesus. Show up for life! Strive to not be easily distracted. Pay attention to how Jesus is speaking to you and how he is leading you. There are no days off when following Jesus.
WORSHIP/RESPONSE
Is there anyone here that hasn’t said yes to Jesus and would want to?
Because of busyness or distractions, is there anyone here that wants to recommit their lives to partnering with the kingdom of God here on earth?