12-21-2012

12, 21, 2012. The end of the world is coming. It has been predicted by various people, cultures, and religious fanatics. Some people have based if off the Mayan Calendar which ends on December 21, 2012. I researched the Mayan Calendar a little bit and here is what I found. It was created back in 3114 B.C. After 13 b’ka’tuns or about 5,125 years the Mayan long count Calendar ends. Some think this will cause extreme environmental changes or a global apocalypse. There are websites I have found that even have an “official” countdown to the date 12, 21, 2012. Some think that the end will come by earthquakes or meteorites that will destroy the earth and the world.

In the 50’s and 60’s the idea was made popular by Scholar Michael Coe when he connected the Mayan Calendar with the well know event called Armageddon- the epic battle between good and evil. From that point on there have been songs and movies depicting the end of world. R.E.M., a popular band has a song entitled “It’s the End of The World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” In this song there are images of earthquakes, hurricanes, combat sites, renegades and the mention of a rapture. Even the music video pictures the world being destroyed.
There are also those religious fanatics who believe that Matthew’s gospel depicts a rapture at the end of the world. Their beliefs come from reading our text this morning where Matthew states: “Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

Now I’m not one that buys into these beliefs. People are entitled to their own beliefs, but my research of the Mayan Calendar and my knowledge about the Gospel of Matthew paints a different picture.

I have found that the majority of Mayan Scholars argue against apocalyptic predictions based on the Mayan Calendar. They say these doom’s day scenarios are contemporary inventions and that it misrepresents Mayan history. Carlos Barrios is a historian, an anthropologist and investigator who studied with traditional Mayan elders for 25 years since the age of 19. He claims that the inscriptions found on the Mayan Calendar are misread. He states, and others agree that, the Mayan elders and Mayan inscriptions do not predict that the world will end on 12, 21, 2012, but that the world will be transformed. As Barrios lays out what he thinks lies ahead he makes a very poignant remark. He states that “humanity will continue, but in a different way. Material structures will change. From this we will have the opportunity to be more human.”

As we look to the gospel writer of Matthew we find that only God knows the exact day and hour of Christ’s return. If the Son does not know, what makes us think we can predict the time much less how it will occur? Matthew’s point in this verse was to discourage us from speculations. We are good a letting our imaginations run wild about things we have no control over and things we can’t know.

Moreover, the beliefs about the rapture that some people project into the Gospel writer’s message, was a foreign idea to Matthew. The use of the verb “taken” in the verses about the two people in the field and the two women grinding meal actually has a different meaning in Matthew’s Gospel. Here “taken” more closely refers to those who are “received”- those who are ready are received into the kingdom of God.

Matthew’s Gospel is not about the end of the world or about a rapture of certain people leaving others behind. No, it’s about remaining alert and ready for Christ’s return that will happen at an unexpected time in the future. Jesus tells his disciples earlier in chapter 24 to remain alert for those false Messiahs who will try to lead people away. Christ says to his disciples in verse 5: “Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah! And they will lead many astray.” Again in verse 11 Christ warns against false prophets who will arise and lead many astray. This continues into verse 23 where Christ again warns about those people who say “Look! Here is the Messiah! Or There he is!” Christ tells us not to believe them “for false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead people away.”

The predictions about the end of the world based on the Mayan calendar and the rapture are the false prophets and false predictions of our own day for which we must remain alert. We don’t know when or how Christ will come again, but we must remain alert. As in the days of Noah that Matthew eludes too, we must remain alert and ready for Christ’s return. Before the flood the people in Noah’s day were drinking, marrying and giving in marriage and they did not remain alert and were unprepared for the day Noah entered the ark. They were not prepared to be received into the kingdom of God. They were consumed with their own daily lives, living for themselves and not for God.

In our day Christ will return with as much unexpectedness and glory as the flood. When Christ returns we will know it, the Messiah will not be hidden, but will be as visible to all nations as lightening or the flood waters of Noah. When Christ does come again, Christ will bring a new heaven and a new earth. Revelation 21 speaks of a New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, and a loud voice from the throne saying “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his people and God himself will be with them, he will wipe very tear from their eyes. Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” God will make all things new and reconcile everything to God.

To be God’s people who know that Christ’s return will occur at an unexpected day and hour, we should motivate each other into active engagement in our mission and prayer and worship of God, spreading the news to all, we should motivate each other to live our lives for God and not consume our lives with trivial activities such as Christmas shopping or parties. This in-between time is not a time to passively wait, but a time to do the job of being the church in world and to do so with urgency. We should seek to do the deeds of mercy, forgiveness, and peace that characterize those who are ready to be received into the kingdom of God.

Carlos Barrios quotes a Mayan elder who he believes “delivered a simple, direct message. He called for human beings to come together in support of life and light. Right now each person and group is going his or her own way. The elder of the mountains said there is hope if the people of the light can come together and unite in some way.”

As we start this Advent season today let us remain alert for the true Messiah’s coming as we celebrate the birth of Jesus and as we actively wait for Christ’s second coming by continuing the work of reconciliation, mercy, forgiveness and peace. Let us come together as the body of Christ, not as separate persons going about our own way. Let us be those people whom Isaiah 2:4 speaks of: “those who beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations who shall not lift up sword against nation, nor learn war anymore.”

As we have light the candle of Hope, we do so because we believe and hope in Christ’s continual return as we celebrate his birth every advent season and as we wait in hope for his second coming that will transform the world. Christ is the light of the world and Christ is whom we put all our trust and hope in as we continue to do his work, hoping to become more human and persons who are ready to receive the Kingdom of God when it comes.

Amen.