Marvellous Message

Last Friday was the last Friday of the month and that means Youth Group. We had our youth outing this time. We went to the Hansan Vietnamese Restaurant in Panmure next to the Ten Pin bowling place. The food was very good (and I recommend the place to anyone I know), and after we had eaten we headed to the Church building for our study. We sat in the Sunday school room/Kitchen with the little heater turned on and sang praise and worship songs. Then Pastor Orr started the study.

Pastor Orr had asked us a few weeks ago if there were any topics we'd like to discuss in Youth Group. We gave him a list and at the top of the list was "The Importance of Eschatology". We understood that there are many schools of thought regarding the end times. But are we supposed to follow one of those schools? Which school is right? Why are there so many different views? Is Eschatology, over which people have debated and disagreed, worth the fuss and bother of studying it?

In our last Youth Group meeting when Pastor Orr began our study in Eschatology, he made it very clear that it is a waste of time to fight over which Millenial view is right. But it is also very important to see what the bible says about Jesus' coming since it is a vital part of the gospel.

So this week we went through 1 Thess 4:13 - 5:11 which talks about the hope we have in Jesus' return.

One day, suddenly, Jesus will return. My Ammachi (Mum's mother) who is buried in the cemetery in Madurai and scores of other relatives and friends who have died in Christ will just wake up with glorious new bodies. And I, if I am still around at the time, will be taken up to meet Jesus in the air, with many many others. It is a wonderful thought.

And sadly I didn't feel excited about it at all.

But there was a time I used to be so excited about heaven. I remember singing the Sunday School song "The countdown's getting lower everyday" as a child. I was so excited because I understood that each day is a day closer to Jesus' return. We have this children's book called 'Let's Talk About Heaven'. When I was a youngster, I used to sit with the book on my lap, Old Yeller and The Old Hag sitting on either side of me while I made up a story for them about how we'd go to heaven. It doesn't seem that long ago when I used to look intently at the pink evening sky, marvel at the beautifully shaped clouds and say wistfully to myself, "Maybe Jesus will come on a day like this." Sometimes I'd close my eyes tightly and say to myself, "Maybe Jesus will return by the time I open my eyes." I would image my Aachi (Papa's mother) suddenly dropping her walking stick behind as she is taken up in the air, her old-woman form becoming girlish, her weak limbs strengthened, her wrinkles disappearing as she meets her Saviour in the sky.

But now I fear that if Jesus came today, I would throw up my arms and say, "Wait a minute, please. Can't you give me some more time? A few weeks? A year is even better." Because there is so much I want to see and do. I want to go on a trip to Venice, I want to get married, I want to see what happens in the next chapter of my favourite manga which is being released next week, I want to see the Tintin movie by Spielberg and Peter Jackson. If Jesus came today, I can't do any of that.

When did I become like this? Why am I like Lot's wife, who looked behind longingly at the pleasures of sin and destruction while refuge and redemption was before her. It's as ridiculous as if some of the children of Israel on reaching the promised land say to Joshua, "Aww...is it time already? But we want to wander in the wilderness a little longer."

I know in my head that Heaven will wonderful, amazing and awesome beyond imagination. I know in my head that once I reach there, I'll forget about all the pleasures of the world and will be deliriously happy. After all it wouldn't be heaven if there were sorrow, pain, and tears. But my heart doesn't fully believe or understand it.

I think our study really helped me that day. It helped me remember what the Bible says about the last resurrection. It brought back a part of the excitement I used to have. And I'm now trying to let go of the things that seem to weigh me down to earth.

Do you feel a tad apprehensive about leaving earth and going to heaven? Does the idea of Jesus' return no longer excite you? Are any of you finding that you're laying up treasures in earth and not in heaven? Isn't it time you did something about it?

Because the fact that Jesus is coming is really a marvellous message like the hymn says.

Marvelous message we bring;
Glorious carol we sing,
Wonderful word of the King:
Jesus is coming again!