“Come, Lord Jesus!” Our faith is an interesting one in that we walk with one foot in this world, and one in the next. We are a people of the promise of eternal life in the future that persists past this life; and we are people who live eternally now! For Jesus promised us, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b). Yet, too we are believers God’s love through which, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes (trusts in that love) may not perish (once and done) but have (presently and continuously) eternal life” (John 3:16, Pastor Fred’s contextual translation). So, how do I/we live with our feet in two different realms at the same time?

Paul’s letter of 1 Thessalonians is perhaps (very likely) the oldest text of the New Testament. That’s right, that short letter is older than the Gospel Accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), Acts, any other letter of Paul, or any other “letter” in the New Testament. I bring that up, because it addresses just this topic: How do we live in the kingdom of God here on earth? The community in Thessalonica believed in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, and promised return! However, time has passed since Jesus promised to return; and some believers have died since then, what will become of them?

“But we do not want y’all to be uniformed, siblings, about those who have died, so that y’all may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thes 4:13). Paul is addressing the concern that death has happened. In the Greco-Roman world, the common thought was that when you died, your soul then went to the underworld where you could never escape and you were just there; for those who lived/acted with valor and glory would enjoy benefits and pleasure, yet those who did not would simply waste away into nothingness. Now consider the hope that the Gospel brings that Paul and I have described: A life that is not over at all; but everlasting because of God’s work in the love of Jesus Christ. “Because we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For we declare to y’all by the word of this Lord, that we are who alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died” (v14-15).

We are a people who believe in eternal life, and a life beyond the now. So, what do we do? Honestly, a few things:
           1. We live into that hope. We cannot live in the fear of death as those without the hope of Christ. Why? Because Death is not the end! We know that, and trusting/believing that God loves, graces, and embraces us means we do not live without the real hope of eternal life beyond our earthly life.
           2. We live realistically understanding that death is a part of nature. It is part of how God created us! It’s a way in which we remember who the supreme source of life is, God and not us! If it were up to us, then we’d be surrounded by people who escaped death instead of greeting our maker as an old friend we’re seeing face to face again! Steve Jobs in a Harvard Commencement address said, “Admitting that I am going to die helps me avoid the trap of thinking that I have something to lose.” God has already freed us from the fear of the end, so why not live into it? And that is a grace!
           3. We are but stewards of everything, including our lives. Our finances are not the only part of stewardship. We are called to live stewarding what God has given us to look after, and that includes our time and energies. To quote a poet describing the myth of John Henry, “Dying’s not important, everybody does that.  What matters is how you do your living!” This is what, in Paul’s words, is the “ought to live and to please God” (vs1b). If we’re stewarding our time and energies then we’re seeking to help the rest of creation, our family, and friends thrive in this life in relationship with God!
           4. Walk that life where one foot is in the Kingdom of Heaven, and one is here on earth! How? “Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of y’all repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this the will of God in Christ Jesus for y’all. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of the prophets, but test everything; holding fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil!” (1 Thes 5:12-22)

So until the Lord Jesus returns, may we endeavor to these ends. May we endeavor to live faithfully in hope! May we endeavor to do God’s will in Christ Jesus. May we live in two places at once proclaiming in a loud voice: “Come, Lord Jesus, Come!”