The Truth About "2012"

If you watch any television at all, then you have probably seen the trailer for a movie called “2012,” featuring famous landmarks crashing down as the world apparently comes to an end. Hollywood has mined this territory for decades, but this film has a pretty savvy gimmick; it is piggybacking on already existing speculation about the year 2012 as an end-of-the-world date. Why 2012? It seems that the ancient Mayan civilization had a calendar that stops at the year 2012, which has led some to suggest that the Mayans knew something the rest of us don’t. But let me draw a parallel, if I might.
The Lutheran Hymnal of 1941 had a chart on page 158 entitled “Table of the days on which Easter will fall from 1941—2000.” Pretty self-explanatory. Now, did anybody look at this chart and say, “April 23 of the year 2000 is the last Easter EVER!” No Easters are listed after the year 2000!” No, I don’t think so. But that’s what some people are doing with the Mayan calendar, so expect to hear a lot more 2012 talk in the years to come.
Human beings have always been fascinated with the idea of this world’s ultimate destruction. “2012” the movie is just one in a long line of “the earth is on the brink of destruction” films that have entertained audiences for years—but they also speak to a deeper concern we have. It is a concern expressed in many ways—from movies and T.V. shows to social movements attempting to “save the earth”—but it all circles back to this: we have a deep-seated suspicion that this world is going to end someday. There’s a good reason for that. The Bible says that’s precisely what is going to happen. It doesn’t give out dates like 2012 (although some Christians try to use the book of Revelation that way), but it does tell us, point-blank, this world will end. Jesus is coming back. And our Lord Jesus even gives us the signs to look for—you heard them in today’s reading from Mark’s gospel. Civil unrest. Natural disasters. The persecution of Christians. You might look at the list Jesus makes and conclude that all these things are happening now, today, in our generation, and you would be right. We can rightly say that we are living in the end times. We can’t throw out dates because Scripture doesn’t do that. But the Christian can properly come to a realization that, as far as the history of this world is concerned, we are rounding third base and are heading for home. And one of the most relevant questions you could ask about all this is: “So what?” Knowing that the Biblical signs are all there; Knowing that Christ Jesus could return at any time; Knowing that it is pointless and even counterproductive to try to pinpoint that time; so what? What are we, as Christians, supposed to do with this knowledge?
The writer of the book of Hebrews has some ideas, and I would like to share them with you today. He very clearly lists some things that Christians are to “be about” as we see the Day—the Day of Jesus’ return—drawing near.
These ideas for living in the end times all begin with Jesus. In Hebrews 10 verse 19 and following it says: “Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us…and since we have a great high priest over the house of God…” We start by acknowledging that we have been granted access to God Almighty through the blood shed by Jesus—that he is, in a very real sense, a new “high priest,” who, unlike the high priests of old, offered His own blood as a sacrifice for all sins, including yours and mine. Without Jesus’ mediation, we would have no business being in God’s presence—but with the price for sin paid in full, we are allowed and invited to enter into close contact with our Father. Since that is the case, we are invited to live in a certain way in these uncertain days.
First, the writer of Hebrews says, since Jesus has opened the way to his Father, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Because of Jesus, we are invited and enabled to draw near to God in full assurance of faith. We can approach God with a clean conscience because we have been washed. We have been cleansed in the saving blood of Jesus, and purified in the sacred washing of baptism. This has happened to us, and we believe that because God has acted in mercy, we can approach him without fear. Faith in Jesus drives out worry and fear, especially regarding our eternal well-being. Faith in Jesus means I believe He has done everything necessary for me to be saved—so that I can answer confidently, “I will go to heaven, not because I’m a good person (I’m not) but because Jesus did the work on my behalf.” The world is a scary place, and getting scarier by the day. In the face of war, murder, disaster, or the end of the world itself, you can have the full assurance of faith—absolute confidence that death, for the Christian, is merely a transition from life in this world to life in heaven with Christ.
Next, the writer of Hebrews says, since Jesus has opened the way to the Father, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” For Christians living in the end times, this is a sizable—but not impossible—task. To “hold fast the confession of our hope” means to remain faithful to Jesus in what we do and what we say. It means that we “stick to our guns” and we do not depart from the faith that has been created in our hearts by the Word of God and His Spirit. In the modern era there has been an unholy exodus away from the truth of Holy Scripture. Churches that once confessed the Bible as the inspired, mistake-free Word of God have allowed worldly wisdom to erode their confession. In American culture it has become socially awkward and nearly unacceptable to mention the name Jesus as anything other than a curse word. Far too many good Christians—and we might even look in the mirror on this one—have gone with the flow, not wanting to rock the boat. We need to repent, wake up and speak out! What are we worried about? Who are we afraid of? It says right here and we know it’s true: “He who promised is faithful.” He’s got us. He’s got our back. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus—so let’s talk about him while there is still time!
Finally, the writer of Hebrews says, since Jesus has opened the way to the Father, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” God’s Word says something so important right here. It says that when you take a look around and see the signs that the end is coming—keep doing what you’re doing. Keep doing what Christians do. Don’t change your approach. Keep thinking about and praying about ways we can “stir up one another to love and good works.” We’ve been trying to do that with our Faith Forums—looking at all the ways we can to stir up our love for Christ and one another and our love for those who are without Jesus—and what good works we can do to reach them and touch their lives with His grace. God’s Word says here that when you take a look around and see the signs that the end is coming—don’t neglect to meet together. God’s people need to come together around His Word and Sacrament and simply be together. The idea that we can just be a bunch of roving free agent Christians simply isn’t Biblical. We need the strength that we get from one another—sharing our burdens and our joys as a new kind of family—truly, brothers and sisters in Christ. We need this encouragement. We need to know we are not alone. There are others who share in our confession of faith. There are others who are willing to share the love of Jesus with us. As we get closer and closer to that day, it’s not going to get any easier to be a sincere Christian. So let’s walk together as a family of faith.

If it’s not 2012, the world and the devil will throw other fears your way, trying to terrorize you into dropping your faith and hope in Jesus. When that happens, may the Holy Spirit help us to calmly remember that because Jesus suffered and died on the cross for us and rose again from the grave, opening a new and living way to the Father, we can:

· live in the full assurance of faith, because Jesus did it all
· hold fast to our confession of Jesus as Savior without wavering
· encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to live their faith
…and in doing so, may our Lord Jesus Christ find us faithful whenever he returns. Come, Lord Jesus!