One of our local television stations called me on Friday to get a local take on the impending rapture, which had been predicted for today. I told him that I was planning to be in church on Sunday and back in the office on Monday. It was not exactly the theological insight he was seeking. He asked if the bishop might have a comment. I informed him that the bishop was not in the office at the moment. He asked, “Is he out digging a bunker?” As I understand popular rapture theology, I couldn’t imagine what good he thought a bunker might be under these circumstances. I simply told him the bishop was spending the day with his brand new grandson. That news was just too good not to share!An awful lot of people have had a fun time with Harold Camping’s prediction. So have I. We, as Lutherans, understand that there are no timetables in the Bible. We don’t subscribe to rapture theology. In fact, encountering the “Left Behind” books and films, many Lutherans in recent years have studied the apocalypse making good use of resources such as Professor Barbara Rossing’s The Rapture Exposed.
The abundance of humor has stirred up a concern within me. As we laugh at we believe God won’t do, are we minimizing what we believe God can do?
Sometimes I think we have minimized our concept of God to a point at which we do not believe that God has the power to intercede in anything.
In the past generation, we have cheapened the value of much of our language. The superlatives that were once reserved for rarities are now routinely used. For example, “awesome” once described things that are truly awe inspiring, those things that would create an overwhelming sense of reverence or possibly fear. Now, a fast-food burger might be described as awesome. So, when we sing, “our God is an awesome God,” do we really get a sense that God is the almighty? Perhaps the Hebrew people had it right when they did not speak the name of Yahweh. They constantly reminded themselves that God was all-powerful.
I don’t think it helps that Christians are laughing at other Christians, misguided though they may be. What kind of witness is that? It seems that lately we have too often had to distance ourselves from what some other Christians, mostly those on the fringes, believe. Why didn’t the TV station call me last week? Is what we believe only of interest when offered in opposition to the sensational? We should offer our own voices to the world because we have a Word that brings comfort, hope and salvation.
God truly is awesome in every sense of the word. God does save us. God can intercede for us. And, someday, on a day we cannot predict, we believe that Christ will come again.
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