The Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The rapture. When all Christians vanish in the blink of an eye from this world and are immediately transported to Heaven.

The rapture is a startlingly novel theological innovation that began in the 1800’s. It comes out of a distinctly American theological lens called “dispensational pre-millennialism.”

In this theology, distinct historical periods are known as “dispensations,” like the Old and New Testaments (or dispensations). Christ will come to reign a literal 1,000 years on earth per the literal interpretation from the Revelation of St. John. This is the “millenial” part of the term.

It is pre-millenial because the rapture takes place prior to the literal 1,000 year reign of Christ on Earth.

Hence, “pre-millenial dispensationalism.”

The rapture offers an escape valve from the difficulties and sufferings of Christians on Earth before the trials and tribulations of Revelation take place.

The most recent Rapture speculation came from a South African man named Joshue Mhlakela who dreamt that Jesus would return on September 23, 2025. His predictions soon garnered attention on TikTok and went viral. Many evangelical Christians in the United States, and around the world, recorded their anticipation and excitement for the coming return of Jesus Christ.

Notably, the Rapture did not happen. And the Rapture will not happen, because it is not a thing and never was a thing until very recently.

Contrary to this sudden escape into bliss, Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel that times are always challenging, but that God is with us, that Christ is with us, throughout it all!

Rather than gleefully desiring an escape, Jesus calls us to endurance, especially in the midst of difficult times. Our loving Lord tells us, “By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

Jesus uses apocalyptic imagery in today’s Gospel and warns us of false prophets, of wars, of ecological disaster and abuse and suffering caused by unjust systems.

These warnings, these signs, sounded a lot like the world that the Jewish disciples inhabited 2,000 years ago.

These warnings and signs sound a lot like the world we inhabit today.

And I might even claim, these warnings and signs have been a part of human history since sin entered into the cosmos.

Jesus does not sugar-coat the reality that we exist in a broken, fragmented world. A world where suffering and hardship are par for the course within the scope of our lives.

And, to counter what the popular televangelists of today might claim, this is all the more true for Christians. We do not escape the challenges of life, either.

There is no escape valve. There is no rapture.

Rather, we are called to endure the hardships of this world.

We are called to serve and continue working for the reign of God in this world no matter how hard and challenging things may get!

But how might we “endure” faithfully to be a light to the world?

Jesus specifically tells us to “Prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.”

Jesus tells us to prepare - and then immediately tells us that He will give us the words and wisdom, all that is necessary, to serve as lights to the world.

Now when I am told to prepare - for a test, for a meeting, for a project - it usually means lots of work on my end, lots of discipline and structure and organization and time.

But our preparation here is given by Christ.

It is Jesus who supplies us with the words and wisdom, the hope and knowledge and power, to act as lights to the world. It is not our own doing, or at least, not all our own doing.

To endure, then, is to trust that Jesus will come and support us. It is to understand that Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us. It is to trust that Jesus will give us the words and wisdom and strength to continue serving as God calls us to serve.

Yet the scale of suffering and hardship in this world, even in this country, even in our city, can be mind-bogglingly overwhelming. But to believe that we are impotent in the face of such suffering and hardship, to believe that we cannot do anything, is not of God, but of the dark forces who seek to strip us of hope and agency.

Because to God, every single person matters. One. One person matters infinitely to God. And to give water and food to a single person in need is to give water and food to Christ. To give a few dollars to the person standing on the side of the road asking for support is to give that money to Jesus Christ Himself. And it is to hope that our little act can be utilized by our loving God to bring light to that person’s life.

This then is an action of endurance, with Jesus by our side.

While wars and rumors of wars and plague and pestilence and natural disasters clamor for our attention and fear, Jesus reminds us to endure.

To keep serving.

To keep loving.

To keep compassion and kindness.

To keep mercy and hope.

For it is by our endurance that we will gain our souls.

It is through hopeful endurance that we become who we are meant to be in Christ Jesus.

We do not seek the easy escape of the Rapture despite how trying life can be!

We seek to follow Christ in the midst of hardship and pain, even unto the Cross.

This is where Jesus finds Himself in the Gospel today - his knowing death on the cross is coming quickly. Jesus endures, in the midst of trial and tribulation.

We are called to imitate Jesus in this endurance.

Because as we walk the way of Jesus, we become more like Jesus.

As we behave more like Jesus, we become more like Jesus.

As we pray and do more like Jesus, we become more like Jesus.

And to become more like Jesus is a central goal of the Christian life.

And to become more like Jesus is to endure like Jesus.

We take on the attributes of Jesus Christ: More kind. More caring. More gentle and compassionate. More forgiving.

We become increasingly what the world seeks to drive from each and every one of us.

We become a light to the world, and the darkness does not overcome the light.

We truly take on the name Christian - a Christ-follower.

So we endure. And in enduring, we continue to do the hard work of the cross in this world. May we let go and permit our God to give us the words and wisdom necessary to do so.

And in doing so, may we here at St. Andrew’s continue to embody and live out the mission of Jesus Christ: That all should be saved and loved and welcomed and nurtured in the most holy and powerful name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.