Jesus is Coming

“This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” —Acts 1:11

Many of you have heard some version of the Chicken Little story. A small chick becomes fearfully obsessed that the sky is falling after an acorn falls on its head. Chicken Little sets out to tell the King that the world is about to end and gathers animal friends to join the journey. The story ends as a fox invites them to his home and eats them all. There are other versions with happier endings, but the moral of the story remains the same. Don’t be a chicken about everything or don’t believe everything you are told.

I lived my own version of Chicken Little, and it completely changed my life. In my faith journey at around age 17, I was seeking to find what it truly meant to live the Christian life. Previously, I thought believing God existed and trying to live a good life and going to church qualified as being a Christian. My girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, described a Christian as someone who had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who had asked Jesus to come into their life and forgive their sins. To her (and Biblically I came to discover), a Christian lives everyday with God in their heart and life.

My Chicken Little story continued as I attended a service at her church where a preacher from Asbury College was sharing about the 1972 revival that had occurred at the college. He also talked about the Second Coming of Jesus. Having never heard about a “Second Coming,” I became very excited. As I left the church that night, I greeted the preacher, “My church doesn’t know that Jesus is coming back, but I’m going to tell them.” So, similar to Chicken Little, I headed off to tell the priest. After church the next Sunday, I went to my priest and tried to warn him about the second coming of Jesus. His response, although caring, honest, and probably truthful, did not meet my expectations. I never went back.

I went off to college that Fall knowing that Jesus loved me and wanted to have a personal relationship with me. I now knew that believing there was a God up there somewhere was not enough. I needed to walk and talk with Him everyday, but I was going off to college. I didn’t think this was a good time to make a religious commitment. So I postponed any decision on my part and ran from God my first three months at school. Running from God is never a peaceful journey (Ask Jonah). So after I returned to college the Sunday night following Thanksgiving break, I knelt at my dorm bed and asked for God’s forgiveness and prayed, “Lord, I’m done running. Come into my heart.” My life has never been the same since that day.

As I think about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. I definitely don’t want to be a Chicken Little. I don’t want to be the guy who carries the sign, “The end is near.” But, as Christians, we believe that Jesus arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will return to judge the living and the dead. Jesus is coming back. There is a judgment day in everyone’s life when we will face God.

A challenge for Christians today is to be truthful without being judgmental. How would you or I respond to a young Chicken Little today? Would we share his/her enthusiasm about Jesus’ return? We must share the love of God and warn people of the coming judgment of God at the same time. Holiness and grace, love and justice go hand in hand. Jesus loves you. Invite Him into your life today as Savior and King. He is returning someday, maybe soon, as King and Judge.