No, I’m not pulling a “Harold Camping.” Though I do believe that Jesus will return to earth literally and physically at some time in the future, I am NOT saying that today is the day.
But I am saying that Jesus is returning today. And tomorrow. And the next day. And every day from now until He actually returns.
Confused yet? I am saying that Jesus returns daily until He actually returns.
The Daily Return of Jesus?
I think that as Christians we have often taught and thought about what Scripture says concerning the future return of Jesus Christ, while ignoring and neglecting what Scripture says concerning the present and daily return of Jesus Christ. If you didn’t know that such an idea is taught in Scripture, then you have proved my point. Most people don’t know it, which is why most people don’t live for it.
Yet the idea of the daily return of Jesus Christ is quite prevalent in Scripture. Jesus talked about it in Acts 1 before He ascended into heaven. Paul talks about in several of His letters as does Peter, James, and John.
During His three years of earthly ministry, Jesus served others by healing the sick, providing for the poor, loving the outcast, teaching the masses, feeding the hungry, delivering the captives, eating with sinners, partying with prostitutes, and in general, showing people what it looks like for God to be ruling and reigning on earth.
And then, after Jesus died and rose again from the dead, He basically told His followers:
You are my witnesses, my ambassadors to the world. The things you have heard my say? You now say similar things to the world. The things you have seen me do? You now do similar things, or even greater things. The people you have seen me hang out with? You now hang out with them.
As you say these things, and do these things, and hang out with these people, know that I am there with you, in you and through you, saying these things and doing these things and loving these people all over again.
If I stay, I am only one person. But if I go, I can send my Spirit into each one of you, so that I can multiply myself in each one of you, and in you, be the voice of God, the touch of God, and the love of God to all people.
Many people today are hoping for change. Hoping for corruption to end. Hoping for greed to cease. Hoping for equality, mercy, freedom, and justice. And a large segment of people who hope for these things believe that such things will not happen until Jesus Christ returns.
Such a view is right, but it is also wrong.
It is true that such things will not be universally practiced upon the earth until Jesus Christ physically returns to rule and reign over the entire earth. But this does not mean that we, as representatives of Jesus on earth, cannot begin to practice equality, mercy, freedom, and justice right now.
We must not wait for governments to enact the change, or presidents and congressman to make laws about it, or bank presidents and company CEOs to suddenly change course. If we wait for that, we will truly be waiting until return of Christ. No, we must get out there and put into practice NOW the things we long for, wait for, look for, and hope for.
We must be Jesus to the world.
You and I are Jesus to the World
We are Jesus Christ to the world, the Body of Christ that is physically present on earth, being the hands and feet and voice of Jesus to a world that without light and without hope.
So this Christmas season, as we remember the first coming of Jesus Christ, and as we look forward to His Second Coming, also remember to look for ways on how Jesus Christ can return today, in and through you, to someone who needs His touch and His voice in their lives today.
Until the day Jesus returns, He returns today in you.
This post is part of the Advent Synchroblog. More links are on their way, but here is the initial list:
- Ron Cole at The Weary Pilgrim – Advent: Reimagining Everything
- Liz Dyer at Grace Rules – Expect the Unexpected
- Sarah Styles Bessey at Emerging Mummy – In Which I’m Expecting Something from Advent
- Miz Melly at Perchance to Dream – Parousia
- Kathy Escobar at The Carnival in my Head – Present, Humble, Vulnerable
- David Perry at Visual Theology – Advent As A Mirror of Possibility
- Christine Sine at Godspace – Jesus Is Coming What Do We Expect?
- Liz VerHage at Living Theology
- Sally Coleman at Sally’s Journey – Come Spirit of Advent
- Glenn Hager – Antithetical Advent
- Tammy Carter at Blessing The Beloved – His Gift … the way of escape!
- Ellen Haroutunian – Remember Our Story
- Carol Kuniholm at Words Half Heard – What I’m Waiting For
- Mihee Kim-Kort – Advent Expectations: Keep Awake
- Wendy McCaig – We’re Expecting A Baby
- John Reid at Blog One Another – Undiscovered Advent: The Second Coming of Christ
- Dave Wainscott – For Advent I’m Expecting What I Desire and What I Deserve
- David Henson – Reflections on the Second Sunday of Advent
A finer piece of writing you have not yet written! You are closer than you think.
Hmmm… Now you’ve got me thinking.
“And she is such a very Narnian ship…the ship looks like it is really moving.” Now, does it?
What a puzzle! It’s like an itch in the back of my brain that I cannot reach!
We’ll continue the conversation elsewhere until I write a post or two on the topic. In the meantime, if you can locate the quote, read that section of the story (about four or five pages).
I’m looking forward to your posts!
He returns today in us! So hopeful! Thank you.
And inspiring for us to actually live like it. We truly and literally are Jesus Christ in the world.
I to know when He is coming back, It’s when we stop evangelizing, “how do you figure that Clive” because he wants none to be lost and we know his mercy is infinite, so, don’t hold your breath. Does it not say somewhere that not even Jesus knows. Matthew 24 v 36.
Second guessing God may be interesting, but a waste of the precious time we have been given. Forget it, get living and giving. Lets party.
Love Clive.
Clive,
I like the way you put that: “Forget it, get living and giving. Let’s party.” Yes, Jesus showed us that the Kingdom of Heaven is filled with giving, truly living, and parties.
Jeremy,
I have to agree with Sam, this is really one of the best posts you have written to date. We as Christians can get so caught up in spiritualizing things, and looking for hope in the future, that we forget to be living right now. We go about our day looking at injustice and poverty, and suffering, and we pray for it to change, for God to send someone who will change it, and we even get out and mobilize voting campaigns to elect those who may change it. In the end, we lose sight of the fact that we are called to be the agents of that change, every person who believes in Christ is called to be acting out the reconciliation of the world to God each and every day. This is the message that needs to be heard and understood in so many of our “churches” today.
Your Brother In Christ,
FedEx,
President,
Men of Praise Motorcycle Ministry
FedEx,
We’re on the same page. We’re all called to do our part. For us, the big questions are not “Should we?”, but “How far do we go, and how are the best ways to do it?”
We figured out that lots of money given to missions, homeless organizations and so on never makes it to the people in need, but gets used to pay for office rent, salaries and so on. Yes, some of this is necessary, but often it is almost impossible to get these groups to give an honest answer to “What percentage of the money you receive is actually used for food, shelter, medical needs and other items that go directly to the people you’re helping?”
When we can, we try to give need items directly to those who are in need. Usually, we ask them exactly what they need. How do you handle this?
Sam,
We have also found that direct distribution is one of the most effective ways of getting the needed items directly to those in need. We bring the coats, hats, gloves, backpacks and blankets with us and give them directly to people on the street, particularly to those we know are living outdoors. Another thing we do, is bring a notebook each week and take down specific requests for items along with the name and any contact info we can get for the person. If we have funds we buy the item and arrange to bring it to them later, if we do not have the funds, we pray for the need, and pass the need along to our network of friends and partner ministries to see if we can find someone to meet it. We find this to be empowering, because it allows the homeless person to identify their most pressing needs for themselves. While no method is perfect or can meet every need, we try to make as close to 100% of our donations go to those in need. To do this, we do not have facilities, we use donated space in members garages or homes and facilities donated by partner ministries and churches. Not having a facility of our own has some drawbacks, but the lack of overhead more than makes up for it.
FedEx,
President,
Men of Praise Motorcycle Ministry
FedEx,
Thank you for all the information. I admire what you’re doing, and think you have a good plan, especially the part about most of your donations going to those in need.
A few ideas that sometimes work – When people are having garage sales, go just before they close. If they still have items that the homeless could use, sometimes they will donate the items or sell them very reasonably if they know we will distribute them to people in need.
We tell friends and neighbors that if they have need items, we will distribute them to the homeless. Sound like you probably already do that. Also, sometimes the thrift shops get more donated than they have room to store and they will sometimes sell extra items very reasonably (or give them to you) if they know the items will be given to the homeless.
FedEx and Sam,
My wife and I recently had several conversations about this. We have decided to pull back some of the money we tithe to organizations (as wonderful as they are), so we can use that money to meet tangible needs in our own community. I am glad to read that both of you are doing this.
Great suggestions from both of you!