Not Knowing

"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."  - Matthew 24:36

We want to know.  We can't stand not knowing things.  Jesus says we can't know when the world is going to end and we say, "You want a bet?"  We dig into lore and history and science and try to come up with an answer where God tells us there is none for us to find.

It is difficult for us to get past our pride and our lust for knowledge.  Knowledge is great, but when we think we know all God knows, or even think it's possible that we could know all God knows, we get ourselves into real trouble.  We are trusting the wrong things.

1 Corinthians 13:8 reminds us that "where there is knowledge, it will pass away."  The first part of 1 Corinthians 13:8 says, "Love never fails," and 1 John 4:8 ends with, "God is love."  God will never fail us.  We should trust Him more than any "knowledge" we may possess, especially when we don't see Him coming.

"For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." - Matthew 24:37

No one expected their world to end in the days of Noah, but God told Noah it would, and Noah trusted God.  Noah prepared for the flood, even though no one else outside his immediate family was prepared.  I would imagine people saw Noah preparing and thought he was nuts.  People may think we, as Christians, are nuts, too.  Sometimes I think we are nuts.  After all, 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

The key here is that we are being saved.  We are right to put our trust in God.  God tells us about Jesus - His first coming and His future coming - so that is knowledge we do possess.  And unlike those in Noah's time, there are people today for whom it is not too late.  There are people in our lives who can still know the truth:  God's word (John 17:17).

Our job now is to share that truth of Jesus' comings, past and future, with the world.  Then together we can all joyfully say, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20b).

"The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen." - Revelation 22:21 (the final verse of the Bible).

Inspired by the sermon "Be Ready" by Pastor Kevin Lentz at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Omaha, NE on Nov 27, 2016.