In the Meantime, Pray
a sermon based on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
by Rev. Randy L. Quinn

Even though it took place in the summer of 1984, I remember it like it was yesterday.  Just thinking about it makes my heart race.

I had finished my first year of seminary and was working two summer jobs.  I was working for my parents at their convenience store located across the street from one of the most visited State Parks in Washington and I was working as a Summer Youth Director for the church I had attended as a youth.

On that particular day, I had taken about 15 junior high youth on a bike trip to the State Park across the street from my parents’ home.  Mom was “running the store.”  At that time Dad also had a charter boat and was out fishing for salmon with some customers.

It was one of those beautiful summer days that remind me of God’s wonder and glory.  It was a great day to be out, and everything was going along well – until my sister came running up to me and told me that Mom had had a heart attack and an ambulance had taken her to the hospital.

Everything changed in that moment.

I made sure there was another adult who would take care of the youth and I left.  I went to the store and found a line of customers at the counter wondering who was running the place.  (I have no idea how many had already walked off without paying, but there was some money placed on the counter from some who obviously wanted to be honest but didn’t want to wait any longer.)  I asked everyone to leave, shut out the lights, and locked the door.  (One customer was furious with me, but I didn’t care.  I had more pressing things on my mind.)

I grabbed the keys to the car and my sister and I went racing to the hospital.

Had we called first, we would not have rushed away.  Had we taken time to verify the facts, we would not have closed the store.

But we ran off with the limited information we had.

It turned out that my mother’s blood pressure medication was working too well.  She simply collapsed on the floor behind the counter.  A customer called 9-11 and they rushed her off to the hospital – but by the time she arrived there she was fine.  They changed her medication and it never happened again.

Had we called first, we would not have been in a panic as we raced 20 miles to a hospital in the busy summer traffic.  Had we called first, we probably would have kept the store open and covered for her until she came home.

Our fears, real though they were, were unfounded.  Much like Chicken Little, our actions had been based on our fears rather than the facts.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been frightened by breaking news, only to find that the story had been released before the details were known, but that is what was happening in Thessalonica.  They had heard and begun to believe the rumors that Jesus had come and they had been left behind.  They were in a panic.

Paul writes to comfort them.  He begins by telling them the truth.  Jesus will indeed come, but he hasn’t yet.  There is no need to panic.  His calm assurance reminds me of Mark Twain’s wry remark that the rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated.

But Paul’s response is more like those of the man who invented dynamite.  When his brother died, the papers thought it had been him, and so he read his own obituary in the paper!  What he read, however, terrified him.  He didn’t like being known as the one who invented such a powerfully destructive tool of war.  So he began to build a fund that would promote world peace instead.

Few people today think of Alfred Nobel as a man of destruction; many people recognize the work his estate has done in promoting peace through the Nobel Peace Prizes awarded each year.

Paul says that Jesus will come.  The question is how will we live “in the meantime”?

I suppose some people will give up.  They will conclude that Jesus is not going to come and that nothing anyone has said about him is true.  They will abandon their faith based on the limited evidence before them.

Other people will choose to wait with their eyes toward heaven, fully expecting Jesus to appear at any moment.  They will spend their time reading prophecies and ascertaining the signs around them.  They are captivated by the images found in the Revelation of John and the fictional retelling of those images in books like the Left Behind series.  They stand around and wait.

In the mornings, we know that Melissa’s bus arrives at our house between 7:45 and 7:55.  And it’s tempting to simply stand at the window and wait for it to arrive.  But we know there are better ways to use that time, especially since the bus driver honks the horn when she pulls into the driveway.

So we wash the dishes.  Or we make the beds.  Or we make sure Mariah and Jesse are ready for school.  We find meaningful activities to do while we wait.

Paul says that there will be signs so clear we won’t have to wonder if this is the day or not.  We can wait and watch, or we can find something meaningful to do “in the meantime”.

I suppose you have all seen the bumper sticker that says, “Jesus is coming.  Look busy.”  Some people “busy themselves” and forget to wait.  Paul is suggesting, I think, that we are to allow God’s spirit to lead us and guide as we share the gospel, not just study it; as we live out our faith, not just make an affirmation of it.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked what you would do if you knew you were going to die tomorrow.  Two different people told me that they had no doubts but that they would do what they have always been doing.  So certain are they that they are doing what God wants them to do they would not change a thing.

We can follow their lead.  “In the meantime,” we can be faithful and obedient.  In the meantime, pray.

Amen.