Ask Pastor Joe: Is God Coming Soon?

Hello Emmanuel,

September has brought a new change to my newsletter.  September will be Ask Pastor Joe instead of Monday Morning Pulpit.  Submit your questions to me via email at pastorjoe@emmanuel-umc.com.  I’ll give you an answer.  Who knows?  It might be a good one.

Is God coming soon?

My first smart-aleck answer is ‘yes’.  My second smart-aleck answer is ‘Isn’t He already here?’

Biblically, we know that it isn’t for us to know about the return of Christ (which I assume is who is meant specifically by the word ‘God’).  However, as many of you know, I’ve not been much on investing on what might happen.  I do invest in what God wants us to do until He decides to take charge of all matters.

We are only told to be ready for the return.  While some apocalyptic writings like Revelation have valuable messages for us to learn, the essence of who we are called to be by God is making sure we are wearing the white robes when it is time to surround the Divine Throne shouting ‘Holy Holy Holy!’.

To be ready means to ask the question, ‘what does God want me to be and do right now’.  My answer?  God wants me to reach way down inside me and choose to be a strong believer---- to believe that God made me a new creation and that, through Christ, I am empowered to do and be and say things that are reflective of the same love and grace I received from God.

To be ready means to then put my faith into action--- to make visible what I believe in my heart.  This means to love my neighbor; to help the needy; to welcome the stranger; to inspire the hopeless; to teach the seeker; to care for the sick.

And if I can believe and if my faith is reflected in my actions (for faith without works is dead), then when Jesus does come back, I can only hope that He will have a white robe for me to put on and a place around His throne so we can have a historic worship service.

Is God coming soon?  Let’s assume He is.  As a result, let’s be ready just in case that assumption tends to be correct.  And if it isn’t correct, then when this life is over at least we can say we lived by faith and hope that God’s grace is sufficient to fill in the gaps.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe