Rapture Ready

On Sunday I mentioned an idea known as the Rapture. You might know about from 1) a church you grew up in steeped in dispensational theology, or 2) popular books and films.

The central text of the Rapture comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, especially this part: "Then we ... will be caught up in the clouds together with [the dead in Christ] to meet the Lord in the air" (17-18). In the charts I saw as a child, there is an actual U-turn that God makes. It was never clear why the U-turn was necessary.

So crucial question is, where is the Lord going?

If the Lord goes back to heaven, then we do indeed disappear from the earth for good. But Paul doesn't say that. He doesn't need to. It was clear what was going on.

When a king leaves a realm, the people await the king's return, and in the meantime prepare the way. "Preparing the way" is common in the Bible. We find it in the prophets, and John the Baptist. And when the king finally does return, the subjects rush out to meet the king and accompany him on the final leg of the journey home.

So what is our Lord doing in the sky? What every king does, returning to his kingdom.
 

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev 11:15)

Here's the source of the confusion. Jesus doesn't almost return, and then say "psych!" When the King returns, he really returns. And the only reason we go up into the air is because we've been waiting so long we can't bear to wait any longer.

So the real question is how we prepare the way. And this is simple. By practicing. By preparing the way for others as if they were the King, especially strangers. This is why the famous scripture in Matthew 25 -- the one where Jesus says, "when I was hungry you gave me something to eat ... thristy... a drink ... naked ... you clothed me ... in prison ... you visited me" -- this is why that passage is a passage about the final judgment.

We will know how to welcome the King because we welcomed the stranger.

There are many ways to welcome strangers. Kids are strangers when they are born. Newcomers to the church, to neighborhoods, are strangers. Unhoused, incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated folks. Immigrants. All strangers.

And these strangers are all gifts from the Lord. They help us get ready to greet him when he comes, riding on the clouds.

Pastor Eddy