Preaching about the Second Coming

Dear JimBob,

Why don't we hear more sermons about the second coming of Jesus and His Return being very near? I’m not necessarily talking about your pulpit, but speaking in general. However, why don’t you talk about it more?

Waiting

Dear Waiting,

            Obviously, I can’t really speak to why you don’t hear many sermons about Jesus’ coming. To tell you the truth, I hear it mentioned often, especially from TV preachers. Maybe you’re just not listening to the right programs or going to the “right” churches. J By “right,” I don’t mean if the minister frequently speaks about the second coming, the church is more spiritual than churches that do not. I simply mean that there are denominations that emphasize certain aspects of Christianity more than others, and there are certainly groups and denominations that focus a great deal of attention on Christ’s return. You may not being hearing a lot about it because you’re not tuned into the right channel. The implied question is: “Why do some churches focus on the second coming and others don’t?” You’ll need to talk to the other churches (and pastors) to find an answer to that.

            However, since you asked me why I don’t preach on it often (or ever), my Reader’s Digest response is twofold: 1) I try to be sensitive to what I feel the Spirit leads me to preach on. I pray and earnestly seek to not get in the way of God’s leading, and hope that I don’t. But the Spirit rarely leads me to preach a full sermon on Christ’s return. 2) People have been standing on rooftops for 2000 years pointing to the skies and talking about Jesus’ immanent return, yet, still no second coming. Simply put, though I may be wrong, I’m just not convinced Jesus is about to return, so I don’t make a big deal out of it.

If you look back over Christian history, about every 40 or so years, there was a renewed emphasis on Christ’s return. It seems every generation believes that surely the world can’t go on after they’ve left, so Jesus must be coming in order to bring all of this to a close. It also seems that every time a major crisis occurs (world war or series of natural disasters), people start talking about the end of the world. Even Paul thought Jesus’ return was just around the corner (1 Cor 7:27).

My first exposure to a significant emphasis on Christ’s return was in the early 1980’s. The logic was that since Israel was made a nation in 1948, Jesus was going to return in 1987 or ‘88 (depending on how you counted 40 years from ’48). Either Jesus didn’t return, or the rapture (an event that some believe is supposed to accompany Jesus’ return) was very quiet. The next big focal point was 2000 since it was 2000 years after Christ’s birth. But most scholars believe Jesus was actually born in 4 BC, which means the 2000 year anniversary of Jesus’ birth was 1996. Either way, even Y2K was a bust, much less the advent of the end of the world as we know it.

Personally, I think it’s important to realize that eventually Jesus IS going to return. The Bible is clear that at the close of the ages, Christ will gather his people to him and we will spend all eternity in heaven. I’m a huge fan of being a part of “in crowd” in that particular scenario. However, I feel God’s clear call on my life to be helping people fall in love with the God who loves them now rather than spend an inordinate amount of time emphasizing a day that may be another 2000 years in the future. It’s not that either emphasis is right or wrong, but a personal preference based on the path I believe God’s Spirit has called me to walk.

JimBob

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