Jill Minnich                                                                          11/18/2001

“What’s Next?”
Isaiah 65:17-25
Luke 21:5-19

What’s next?  I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. How far will things go?  Where will they strike next? I have heard many people utter these and other phrases indicating a deep sense of insecurity in our country.  And that is only to be expected.  An enemy has attacked us on our own soil for the first time in half a century.  There are many unanswered questions about both the attack and the attacker.  Uncertainty is only natural.  And interestingly enough our lessons this morning are about insecurity and uncertainty.

Jesus opens the conversation by responding to those who were praising the beauty of the temple by predicting its destruction.  “Teacher, when will this be?  And what will happen in order to show that the time has come for this to take place?”[1] People haven’t changed much in two thousand years.  We still trying to figure out the signs so that we can predict when disaster is about to happen.  Jesus begins by saying, “Watch out; don’t be fooled.”[2] There are always unscrupulous people who wait to prey on others in times of insecurity and uncertainty.  They make many claims and promises.  Two thousand years ago they may have addressed the crowds in the synagogues and marketplaces. Today they are interviewed on the TODAY show, make infomercials or use the Internet.    Using doomsday phrases that draw upon the language of the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel (Biblical shorthand for “the end is near!”), Jesus is not in any way giving detailed directions for predicting when exactly the end is coming.  Time and time again, Jesus tells us that not even He knows the date or time of the end of the world.  Terrible things may happen, but they do not necessarily mean that the end of the world is near.  Jesus is not so much concerned with when these awful things will happen as He is with how we will handle them when they do occur.  How do we cope with insecurity and uncertainty?  How do we respond when our faith is called into question?

I have seen people respond in three different ways to the national uncertainty after the events of the last nine weeks.  Some have lived in fear—buying gas masks, avoiding large gatherings of people, going to their physicians for Cipro prescriptions.  They jump at every loud noise.  They have forwarded every wacky Internet warning.  They have been seeking after signs and following every false messiah.  This might be understandable were they living in the shadow of the World Trade Centers or in the heart of our nation’s capitol.  But they live in Utah and they have already fretting about what may happen here during the Olympics.  Now, I believe in planning ahead and calculating risks as much as anyone, but there is a difference between taking reasonable precautions and these fearful preparations for disaster.

The second response to the events of September 11^th is “what me worry?”  Some people believe that what will be, will be.  Being fatalists, they don’t try to change the future.  They live for today—eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.  They escape the cares of current events by immersing themselves in the pleasures of the moment leaving the future to take care of itself.  It is sometimes tempting to take this “Who cares” attitude.  It looks so easy and so pleasant.

Jesus tells us to stay awake and to stay smart.  We are called to stay secure in times of insecurity.  “This will be your chance to tell the Good News.  Make up your minds ahead of time not to worry. . .”[3]   Difficult times, disaster and tragedy will come.  Friends will sometimes betray us.  Family members will not understand our faith. We need to decide ahead of time how we choose to act.  That is the whole point of First Aid training. If you know ahead of time what you need to do in a moment of crisis, then you will not panic, but you will be able to act decisively and helpfully.  Make up your minds ahead of time not to worry and trust God to provide whatever you may need. Through it all we can put our trust in Jesus who “will give you such words and wisdom that none of your enemies will be able to refute or contradict what you say.”[4]  Corrie Ten Boom, a concentration camp survivor put it this way, “Never be afraid to trust and unknown future to a known God.”[5]

We humans are remarkably poor fortune-tellers:

“Theoretically, television may be feasible, but I consider it an impossibility—a development which we should waste little time dreaming about.  Lee de Forest, 1926, inventor of the cathode ray tube.
I think there is a world market for about five computers.  Thomas J. Watson, 1943, Chairman of the Board of IBM.
We don’t think the Beatles will do anything in their market.  Guitar groups are on their way out.  Recording company executive, 1962.”[6]

We humans are remarkably poor fortune-tellers, but some of us serve a God who says ‘stay awake.’  Terrible things may be happening all around us.  Not one stone of the glorious temple will be left standing upon another.  The World Trade Centers will topple to the ground.  “But not a single hair from your head will be lost.   Stand firm, and you will save yourselves.”[7] How can Jesus say this?  We all know that many faithful Christian brothers and sisters did not return to their homes from the destruction of the World Trade Center, from the Pentagon, or from those doomed airplanes. But Jesus tells us that not a single hair from their heads was lost.  “Never be afraid to trust and unknown future to a known God.”[8] 

What’s next?  We don’t know and our predictions are often inaccurate.  There is One who does know the future.  Therefore, we should not be panicked by terrible tragedies or by those who preach the end of the world.  The same dangers exist today, as did two thousand years before.  Jesus never promised that we would escape the consequences of human life—accidents, illness, terror or tragedy.  Jesus simply promises that we can use these occasions to tell the Good News and that He will provide the wisdom we need during uncertain and dangerous times.  We must live out our lives depending on the wisdom that God gives.  We, Christians, act upon the guidance of God’s Spirit and not out of panic or fear.  Keeping the Spirit at the center of our lives, we are in constant touch with the Spirit who reminds us who Jesus is and how He would have us live.  Love is an irresistible force even when it is on the cross. 

We don’t just have the wisdom of the Spirit of God to rely on in times of insecurity.  We also have the promises of God.  God may not provide a detailed description of the future, but He has painted a broad picture for us in many different places in the Bible.  One of them is in Isaiah 65, where God describes the new creation He is planning.  “I am making a new earth and new heavens.  The events of the past will be completely forgotten.  Be glad and rejoice forever in what I create.”[9] God promises a new beginning when the present world will be entirely transformed.  The new Jerusalem will be a place of joy and all her people will be happy.  “There will be no weeping there, no calling for help.  Babies will no longer die in infancy and all people will live out their life span. . .  The work they do will be successful and their children will not meet with disaster. . . Even before they finish praying I will answer their prayers.”[10]  This is what Jesus meant when He said that: “not a single hair from your heads will be lost.”  Just as our trust in God will be our security in times of insecurity, God’s promised new creation can give us hope even when the future seems dark and dangerous.

What’s next?  I don’t know and I am not about to predict.  I only know that I need to stay alert so that I won’t be fooled.  I need to make up my mind ahead of time what I am going to do and believe that God will provide the wisdom I will need.  This will be my chance to tell the Good News.  And the Good News is that we may not know exactly what the future holds, but we know the One who hold the future.