Daily Devotions August 27 - September 2: Last Things
August 27 – The End of the Age - Matthew 24:3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?”

As Jesus comes out of the Temple, his disciples remark on the Temple’s beauty and grandeur. (This is more explicit in Mark 13:1-4) Yet Jesus does not seem interested in its grandeur. He sees the wealth and excess of its leadership, and their Roman collaborators, as a symbol for the entire system of domination and exploitation under which people suffer. He shockingly tells his friends that the whole system will tumble, no stone left on another. The disciples were shocked and disoriented by his words. Yet in their shock they realize that it will all be somehow tied to Jesus’ coming and the end of the age. Do they anticipate a time when Jesus will not be with them in the 􀏐lesh? Probably. Threats are growing daily. Do they think he will escape to some other place and return in triumph with a new army? Maybe. But in either case what is clear is that things are changing. The way things are will not always be. The age of domination and oppression is coming to an end. Everything is going to change, and Jesus is going to be in the midst of it. Without him, it simply will not happen. Even before the cruci􀏐ixion and resurrection, his disciples know that. Understanding of eschatology, or 􀏐inal things, has a deep history in both the Old and New Testaments. It refers to a time in the future when the course of history will change so dramatically that it can only be spoken of as a new reality. It refers to many things, from beliefs about death, judgment, resurrection to a cosmic ending of human history. Despite the fact that Jesus tells us that we will not know the times or seasons of these changes and so we should just relax follow him, do justice and love one another, humans, even people of deep faith, often 􀏐ind ourselves anxious about the future. So did Jesus’ disciples. It is in answer to their desire for a sign that he tells them that there will be wars and disasters but not to be distressed for those are not the end. What is so ultimately hopeful in this passage, is that Jesus promises us that things will change, domination and evil will be overthrown. Not only that, things will change for the better so demonstrably that we won’t even think in the same ways. The old reality will disappear, and a new reality will arrive. He will lead this change and be in the midst of it. That is our good news. Things will always get better. There may be turmoil and confusion, even chaos and suffering, as the change is readied, but the new is on the way, and it will be more than we could hope to dream. Not only will the new age arrive in history at some point in the future. It already arrives daily with each transformed life, soul, heart, and habit. Today, even in the midst of national, or maybe personal chaos, take a moment to remind yourself of this gospel truth: Jesus makes all things new. Domination and exploitation are coming to an end. Even your own life can change so dramatically that you can actually see yourself as born again. Rejoice! This too shall pass!

Prayer: O God of the long view, in times of crisis and chaos, help us to remember your promise that injustice will tumble and that we, even we, can be made anew. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

August 28 Ripping of the Veil Matthew 27:51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split.

The moment of Jesus’ death on the cross, described in this and surrounding verses in Matthew, could not be more dramatic. The curtain referred to here is probably the inner curtain of the Temple that isolated the Holy of Holies, from the rest of the Temple. This was considered the holiest place on earth, where God rested and from which God spoke to people. The tearing of the curtain from top to bottom implies an action taken by God. There are many opinions as to why God did this. Some say it symbolizes God leaving the place due to the people’s rejection of Jesus. Some say that it symbolizes that God is no longer only available to Jewish people and does not have to be mediated by priests any longer. The latter is a more persuasive argument to me, as I do not think that God ever rejects the Jewish people or abandons the covenant. Plus, the splitting of the veil is a symbol of such grace and inclusive love that it leaves me breathless with awe. Seen in that light this verse suggests that Jesus’ death was a cosmic event (the earth shook) that actually inaugurated the new age. We must wait no longer to live in, with, and for God. From that moment on things changed. Attempts to contain God, even for the lofty aims of holiness, could not, and cannot, contain a God of grace who was willing to come, walk, suffer, and die to show who God is and what God does. As Jesus will burst forth from the tomb in three days’ time, God bursts forth from the Temple to embrace a broken and shaken world. Sometimes we may feel that there is a veil hanging between us and God. We may feel that we are too sinful, or that our faith is too fuzzy for us to approach God. We may be afraid of earthshaking changes if we agree to live in the new age of intimacy with God in Christ that scripture offers. That is not surprising. Change is hard. And so is guilt. Still, our faith teaches us that the veil has been split and we are living in ripe times. Today think for a moment about any barriers you experience to your experience of God. Ask God to rip those things from top to bottom in just the right way for all concerned. Take a moment to ponder what it means for you to live life on the other side of the cross and rejoice.

Prayer: God of Power and Love, we thank you that you have removed the containers that people try to put around you. We thank you that you show us that nothing will keep you out of our lives, and nothing will keep you at arm’s length. Help us today to live into the new age you inaugurate in Jesus and rejoice. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

August 29 Death Isaiah 25:7 And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever.
In this prophetic word, the prophet Isaiah envisions a time when death will be ended.

Chapter 24 has poetically shown the laying waste of earth by God’s judgement against sin and oppression. Chapter 25 is a beautiful poem in praise of God’s deliverance from oppression and all its death dealing horrors. For Christians, we have understood these verses as pointing to the deliverance from death to eternal life that is brought by Jesus Christ. From whatever stand point we read this verse, it is clear that God’s desire is life and not death. Our Hebrew ancestors saw death as the ultimate enemy of God because, they believed, it destroyed creation and stopped people’s ability to praise God. For Christians, death is more of a mixed bag. We don’t exactly love it, but we don’t fear it as an ultimate ending. We know that life wins. Changes, but wins. When I was in seminary, our courses on eschatology (last things) focused 90% of the time on death, facing death, and preparing people to face death with resurrection hope. We spent about 10% of our time focusing on what we might call the apocalyptic end of time. That stands to reason since we will all know death and pass through it to resurrected life. For that reason, eschatology and end times also include the end of our lives here and our move into the nearer presence of God. Here is the simple unimaginable truth of our faith. We are mortal. We will die. Unless something cataclysmic happens, we will all close our eyes on this world for the last time someday. We will release the hands of loved ones we leave behind and clasp the hands of those who have gone before. We are mortal. We will die. We are also redeemed, bought back from sin and death, and we will be raised to new and unending life in Christ Jesus. Nobody can explain this. We haven’t a clue to its mystery. What we have is its model, Jesus who showed us how to live, how to die, and how to rise to new life. What we have is the ultimate hand of Love to clasp as we make that mysterious and glorious passage. In days when death hangs heavily and fear creeps into our hearts, I urge you to remember that though we die, yet will we live. This is true for you, for your loved ones, and even for the whole of God’s creation. Regardless of when or how God sums up life on earth, and when and how Jesus comes again, this remains true: we die to rise. In that alone is a new age.

Prayer: Eternal God of Power and Grace, we thank you that you have defeated death on our behalf, and we can be assured of a hope 􀏐illed future forever. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

August 30 Resurrection to New Life John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

This is a pivotal verse in John’s gospel, and indeed in the entire New Testament! After waiting a few days for reasons of his own, Jesus has come to Bethany at the request of Mary and Martha to attend to their sick brother Lazarus. In the meantime, Lazurus died and was buried. At this point Martha rushes out to meet Jesus to tell him the news. She is distraught and cannot understand why he waited too long. Jesus responds with today’s verse. Astoundingly, once again he uses the Divine Name (I Am) in reference to himself. ‘Resurrection’, anastasis, means to rise up or cause to stand. Here Jesus is not simply asking Martha or us to believe in his resurrection. Rather he is inviting us to trust in resurrection itself as a state of being. This is who God is, the ever-renewing eternal energy of Love that animates everything and will lose or waste nothing. The word ‘life’ is zoe, the life force itself gushing up eternally. ‘In me’ is interesting. It means to live into or within. This is a very strong word. What he is saying is that those who live into their growing trust in who God is as Jesus has displayed, will be unaffected by their death. The tense in the last clause of the second sentence indicates that this is a living reality now, not just in the future. Jesus knows that until we decide to simply trust in this reality for ourselves, signi􀏐icant transformation will be very hard indeed. This does not mean that death has no meaning. It does not mean that we do not grieve the death of loved ones, or even our own when it seems near. What it does mean is that we do not grieve as those who have no hope. Even when we cannot see or imagine the future, Jesus promises that he is it. He is our now. He is our future. He can and does do what he has always done, that is, bring life from death. Today take a moment to sit quietly and praise God for the in􀏐inite future that is front of you, for in Christ last things are never really last things.

Prayer: God of Ever New Beginnings, we praise you for your life-giving grace. Help us today to live as those who are not afraid to die, and to know that whether we live or die our song is Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

August 31 Judgment Day – Acts 17:30-31 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has 􀏔ixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

The prophets of Israel long warned of The Day of the Lord. They believed that, because God is sovereign, just, and good, that God would only put up with sin, evil and injustice for so long. They saw it in military terms. God would raise a messiah who would restore them to a land and to a time of peace and justice. They believed that God took people to court in historical events in order for them to answer charges of unrighteousness. By the time of the events of today’s verses, the early Christians had come to believe that they were living in the end times. Jesus, his radical love and call, and his universe shattering resurrection, had so changed the way they viewed the world that it could only be understood as the beginning of a whole new age which would culminate in Jesus coming to fetch them out of the crumbling world into the joys of a new heaven and a new earth. The Day of the Lord, came to be seen as the Day of Jesus Christ. Even in early Christianity, there were lots of different understandings of what this day would be like. Far more than we can deal with in brief devotions such as these. The shift in understanding of the Day of the Lord as a trial before a righteous God, and the Day of Jesus as a declaration of sentence made by a suffering and risen savior, is an important and mysterious one indeed. When from the cross, Jesus uttered the words “It is 􀏐inished,” he was not simply referring to his physical life, nor to his saving mission. He was also saying that sin and its consequence of death as the end of life, were 􀏐inished. So, on the Day of Jesus Christ, our debt owed to God due to sin has been marked paid in full. In no small way due to 􀏐ictional images, many of us fear the day of Judgment. After all we know that we have not, and do not, lived or live our lives perfectly. Sin has been paid for but not erased. How will all of this spin out? We can’t really say. Righteousness still matters and unrighteousness still has consequences on some level. What we know at the same time, is that the grace of God in Jesus Christ is bigger than anything humans can do or not do, so we can face the future without fear. Today ask yourself if you fear the future? Do you feel that you do not deserve grace, that God is angry and wants to punish you? If so, repent of any behavior that is haunting you, and listen in your heart to Jesus’ words from the cross, “It is 􀏐inished.” And be thankful.

Prayer: God of Grace we thank you for your saving grace in Jesus Christ that allows us to face the future with con􀏐idence and hope. Help us today to take honest looks at our hearts and if there is need for repentance and repair, help us to do both. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

September 1 Final Battles Rev. 16:16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Harmagedon.

The Book of Revelation is a long and wild ride of a vision written for us by John of Patmos from prison. It is a poetic vision of hope and encouragement that many scholars believe was intentionally written in code, some of the keys to which have been lost to us, but not all. Please hear me on this: it was never ever intended to be taken as a kind of literal Hollywood guidebook for the end times. Rather it is much bigger and deeper than that. It is a beautiful poetic promise that right, and justice will win in the end and evil and injustice will lose in the end. The Battle of Armageddon appears only once in the Bible and refers to the place where the 􀏐inal battle between good and evil will take place. The Biblical location of this battle is in dispute and scholars believe that it was originally intended to depict the 􀏐inal fall of Babylon and the restoration of Israel. In some circles this battle is seen as the de􀏐initive battle that concludes earth’s history. However you interpret it, one thing is clear. It refers to a massive show down between good and evil in which good ultimately wins. Remember that those to whom John offers this vision are living in times of chaos and oppression. God gives him a vision of hope and encouragement. I often say that apocalyptic literature is the child of hope and despair. It gives us a vision of an ultimately glorious outcome not just to human history but to our own life struggles. Yes, good and evil struggle together in our world, and even sometimes in our own hearts. But there is hope! A good God will never let evil ultimately triumph. Just as Babylon eventually falls, so will all that is death dealing and oppressive on the earth, in our society, and in our own lives. The battle may be hard, but the outcome is assured. In what ways do you see battles between good and evil in the world today? Do you ever struggle internally between contradictory allegiances? Take a moment in prayer to think this through with the Lord. Ask for insight, strength, and an extra measure of hope and encouragement. Remember that in Christ you are equipped to face anything that comes your way, so rejoice.

Prayer: God of Every Time and place, 􀏐ill us with courage for the battles we must face. Help us today to trust in your goodness and power so that we may choose the right 􀏐ights to 􀏐ight, con􀏐ident in your goodness and love. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

September 2 Completion and Perfection Rev.21:4 And he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more, for the 􀏔irst things have passed away.

The scriptures, and Jesus himself give us no de􀏐initive picture of what life after death will be like. Jesus does say that some of the hierarchies and customs of this life will not operate in the next. (Luke 20:34-35) Still, we can gather clues from many passages, not the least of them being Jesus’ own resurrection body. Many of our images of the next life come from the poetry of Revelation with its pearly gates, streets of gold, endless worship, and proximity to God. Perhaps my favorite evocative verse is the one we consider today. This verse comes from the prophecy of a new heaven and earth that is inaugurated after the last things of the age and the 􀏐inal defeat of Satan. Earlier in this chapter we are told that the sea will be no more. In Biblical poetry the sea is often a symbol for danger and chaos that is unpredictable and untamable. Then one of the heavenly beings, like a sentinel or worship leader, declares the new reality: that God is among mortals, will wipe every tear away and will make all things new. There are no more gulfs between us and no more divisions among us. God has spanned all of that. This is an image of extraordinary intimacy and parental tenderness. God is wiping the tears of a hurting humanity and declaring that all of the old enemies of the human family are powerless and of the past. Whether we think of this as the experience of heaven after we die, or also the experience of the heavenly that we live now in
Christ, the point is the same. God’s desire is our completion and perfection. God’s desire is for chaos and division to end. God desire is for death to be forever behind us. God’s desire is to comfort us, to dry our tears and show us a new way. And. God accomplishes what God desires. It cannot be otherwise. So today, imagine what completion and perfection might be like. Look to Jesus for inspiration. If there is chaos in your life, or tears, close your eyes and let God dry your tears. Here the whisper of God, “The worst is over. The healing has already begun.”

Prayer: O God our Parent, we thank you for your tender care and your beautiful plans for us on earth and in heaven. Help us today to live into hope and make gratitude our 􀏐irst response to every breath. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.