All Things End

“ The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ”

All things end. It's the maxim people give each other when something important to them goes away, a relationship crashes down, a man is fired, a house burns to the ground, a loved one dies: something happens where someone's world ends. “All things end.” It says “You don't have anything to cry about. Nothing is forever, nothing ever stays the same, you can't keep anything so why care about it? Let it go. Move on: death and taxes, that's all you can count on. They never go away.” Nice sympathy.

A man stands on a corner, his long, wild mane of hair sticking out, his eyes the only thing you can see in his bearded face. His clothes might be grey, but they may have been some other color once. Maybe those are boots, or his sandaled feet are like leather, the color of steel, the color of his ruined voice that croaks out to you: “The world is ending! The end is near! Repent! Stop your wickedness! It's your last chance! Repent!”

John the Baptist, were he here today, would have looked and sounded something like that. He stood at the turning point of human history and pleaded with his fellow men to prepare for a change. The legacy of the Jews was preparation for the Messiah. They were chosen to receive this greatest of all blessings, and John could see they weren't ready. They weren't ready.

The entire reason for God's Covenant with Israel was to get a people ready for the next thing, the Last Covenant, the relationship with God restored in the Person of His Son. Jesus was the end of the Jews . Here you need a new definition of the word “end.” The end doesn't mean annihilation. It is like saying the end of your shopping trip is that you come home with the food. The end of your dentist appointment is that your cavity is filled and the pain is over. The end of the school year is that you graduate or advance to the next level. The end of your life is not a coffin but your reward in heaven.

Or otherwise.

The end of anything brings a new understanding of what it was all about. The Jews didn't know, in the days of Moses, why they'd been brought together, out of Egypt, to a promised land, and given all those rules. At first they thought it was for a good life here. The Peace of God meant no enemy armies, wild animals, droughts or diseases ravaging their land. It was true, but short sighted. We're all short sighted until we get to the end.

The end of a hard and arduous hike may be the summit of a tall mountain. From the plain you could see the peak and could begin to figure your ascent, the provisions you'd need, the kind of boots, clothing, equipment and food. But only at the end of that climb can you look down and see why you came all this way. And see what you really needed after all.

We act like squirrels most of the time. We gather nuts, berries, acorns, stuff we might need later and we hide them everywhere. We're busy. Ask anyone how they've been since you saw them last and what do they say? What is our expectation of them, seeing they haven't called us, haven't come by? “Man, I've been busy—phshew! Life: it's that way!” And we all nod and understand. That's the right answer. We're busy —therefore, we're good people. Americans are busy. Like squirrels. (No disrespect to squirrels.)

But do we ever stop to wonder why we're doing what we do? What is the end of this rat race? By which I mean, why are we doing it, and what do we expect to have when we've stored all our nuts, berries, acorns, cds, stock certificates, 401ks, life insurance plans and time shares? When we finally get the kids' teeth straight, the house paid off, the boat trailer fixed, the bathroom repainted, and the dog run fenced: what do we get? What did we do all that for? We pop a beer, sit down in our Adirondacks in the shade and say, “Man, this is the life.” We settle for so little.

The end of a cd is 5% interest on your money. The end of Star Wars is a disappointing prequel to the first, which was actually the 4 th . Never mind. The end of religion is a true and reliable walk with God. What is the end of all things?

St. Peter wrote: “ The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever.” 1 Peter 4:7-11

Peter wasn't a nut standing on a street corner crying out. He had seen what the end of all things was. It was Jesus Christ. A man came to earth and was God from the Beginning. Peter knew when all this is over, we face this man again. He is our destiny. What Jesus said and how He lived was the most important message we've ever received: we have to live accordingly. When we die, it's not all over. It's all begun. And what we've done up to that point determines what we'll be and what we'll do ever after. That's not a long way off. Eternity is so close you could reach out and touch it. Peter had touched it, held it, spoken to it, been commended and rebuked by it. Jesus is eternity. Jesus is destiny. Jesus is God. Jesus must be in us, and we must be in Him.

Therefore, our attitude has to change: doesn't it? Sound judgment, clear thinking, true prayers, fervent love, hospitality, service, stewardship, grace-filled speech, and praise: these things we are to be about. To what end? Our own salvation? Sure, and more—Oh, so much more.

About eight years ago I was at Richardson Springs at a pastors' retreat and the leader gave us an afternoon assignment to go away from others and seek what God was telling us was the next thing for us. Pretty open ended, it seemed to me, and I'm not an oracle, getting tablets of stone from the mountain, but I went out and took a little yellow pad of paper. And God spoke to me. “You are to replicate yourself. Build into other men the ministry you've learned, make them able to take over for you, and go out to do some of the things you've done. You need to change some things in yourself to achieve this…” and then He gave me some serious commands.

I'd been a priest then almost 15 years. Nobody had been ordained to ministry under me, from either of my two churches. Immediately, I had two candidates for the diaconate, and in a couple of years they both made it. Gideon Seaman came out of the blue, and we sent him on to seminary, and the priesthood in Oklahoma. Deacon Faith came up the same way, and today David LaBarbera is in training. I am replicating myself. I am creating successors, as Elijah trained and tutored Elisha. That's one end of ministry: to prepare others to do it as well.

What is the end of lay men and women? What is the end of being a baptized, confirmed communicant of St. Augustine's? What is the end of our building projects? Why have we done all this? For ourselves? Peace at home and a comfortable pew? Enjoying a nice service once a week? You see now that the question leads us somewhere. The end of all things is Jesus, but what is your next step?

If I may suggest it to you: replicate yourselves . For five, ten, maybe fifteen years we can't do that. We need to work on us . We need experience. We need deepening in the Word of God and how that works, and time on our knees. But somewhere along we must understand this is not for us —not a reward we just sit in like that Adirondack in the shade and thinking “It doesn't get any better than this.” Oh—it does get better. It gets so much better. There is an end to everything, and it's always better. The end to what you are doing now may be to see others enter those doors, kneel down and get real about their lives, too. Your sons and daughters? Your next door neighbors? Your fellow workers? Classmates? Old roommates? God sends them: don't worry about finding them. If you pray and ask, God will send you someone to replicate your faith into.

That was what the Jews were meant for: to bring God's commandments to others, to change the heathen tribes into more Jews, for welcoming the Messiah to earth, rejoicing when He came for all people. The Jews blew that because they kept being sabotaged by the pagans, and by themselves. But that was their purpose: to spread the news. What is our purpose? To have an historic building and congratulate ourselves for being Anglicans? Where does this all lead? I'm not sure of the answer, but I can be certain we haven't arrived. Not the time to pop the beers yet, not yet.

Jesus was waiting to be arrested. The end of His life was approaching, and He had fearful anticipation. He said, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” John 12:27 Then He cried out to His Father, “Father, glorify thy name!” And out of the heavens the Father answered Him, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” v 28 The people were confused, so Jesus told them: “This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me… Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.” v 30-36

Next Sunday is Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Ghost. It is your assignment this week: prepare for the Holy Ghost to come and empower you, guide you, lead you, excite you and make you fruitful. The disciples received power from on high and the church grew by 3000 in one day. What would that look like? Knowing our end, we might say that was a good start.

PFH+