“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
– 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
If you are reading these words… the rapture did not take place. Jesus didn’t return… despite the predictions by many o’ TV preachers and others. Of course… September 23rd is the Festival of Trumpets on the Jewish calendar… known as Rosh Hashanah… the day tagged in connection to St. Paul’s reference to the last trumpet blast at Jesus’ second coming. But if Jesus did return… we will all have heard the sound of trumpets and these words I’m pecking out on my laptop will matter little. So… take a breath. Close your eyes. Open them… be thankful for a new day and proceed…God is counting on us… faith matters!
This is not a new thing. The disciples fully expected Jesus to return in their lifetime. John the Revelator wrote about it at the end of his life as he was the last of the apostles to die… the only one who did not go to his grave violently… and around A.D. 500 the theologian Hippolytus predicted Jesus’ return to no avail… and even in the 1800’s a preacher named William Miller of NY predicted Jesus’ return on October 22, 1844, and again soon after… via a re-calculation when Jesus did not appear that day… but by 1850 the Rev. Miller was dead and so were the Millerites!
Thus… there will always be prognosticators who refuse to listen to Jesus’ own words saying… “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father…” (Matthew 24:36). Yet… the angels still carry their trumpets waiting for that day… and I believe it will come… someday… any day… maybe today. If not… I know what to do…
We find a clue in St. Luke’s recounting in The Acts of the Apostles… chapter 2:42-44 … “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.” And when they did this… more and more people came to know the name of Jesus and became one of his followers. Modern pastors and church leaders know the importance of this recipe… as these words remain trustworthy and true.
As for me… I’ll listen for the trumpets as I say my prayers this morning… enjoy a cup of coffee and fix breakfast for my wife… reminding her I love her and our five children and their families. I’ll spend the day in Lake Jackson as the part-time interim pastor at the church there and on my way phone my sister to see how her husband is doing post-surgery… and there are others I’ll keep in contact with as well… as every day is unique and each day important… and then what about you?
Hear again… St. Paul… Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain…”
