If you don't think this is a big deal, let me take you back a bit into the Phillies' archives. On July 15th, 2007, the Phillies did something no other sports team has ever done - they lost their 10,000th game. At that point, the Phillies baseball organization had been around for 125 years and only had one World Series Championship in 1980 to show for it (Not to mention the 14 seasons of 100 losses and the awful 23 game losing streak from July 29th, 1961- August 20th, 1961). Did it hurt? Absolutely. Ashamed of my team? Never. However, I am still haunted by past failures like the World Series collapse in 1993 against the Blue Jays. I can still hear those words 'Touch 'em all Joe' which is in reference to Joe Carter hitting a 3-run homerun off of Mitch Williams (aka Wild Thing) in Game 6 of the Fall Classic. But that is just in my lifetime; can you imagine the heartache of the diehard eldery in the City of Brotherly Shove. Yeah, year after year - disgrace and failure. Nobody wanted to come to the Phillies except washed-up, overpaid veterans and half-decent rookies. In fact, when we did have a good player (e.g. Curt Shilling) we were ecstatic when they were traded to a good team. It was like we were comforted vicariously through them leaving. We thought if we couldn't escape, at least they could.
Are you starting to understand the awe of such a decision? Here the Rangers and Yankees have been fighting over him for months and then all of the sudden - boom, a Phillie once again (Don't even get me started on how we lost him)! Who would have ever thought the top free agent in this year's offseason would want to come to Philadelphia, and moreover taking over 30 million dollars less then he would have made with the Yankees. It was truly a surprise. And as for Philadelphia fans reaction when Cliff Lee made his first start this past Saturday? They couldn't stop giving him applause. Even when he struck out at bat, everyone rose to their feet and applauded him. Cheesy? Not if you understand our history. I mean, come on, Veterans Stadium was the first stadium to put a courtroom and a jail in it and our native sports teams rarely give us anything with batteries anymore.
Besides a few insiders, no one saw this coming. Even the so called baseball experts were in disbelief. Could this actually have happened? It was truly unexpected and it reminds me of the return of Jesus Christ. We refer to this as the Rapture. The word rapture in itself means "snatching" and though not used in the Scriptures the teachings of it are found throughout the New Testament.
Jesus promised the Church He would return. The Bible states in John 14:1-3, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to preapre a palce for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." In this passage of Scripture, Jesus Christ is comforting his disciples hearts by giving them a wedding promise. In the Jewish culutre, after a couple was espoused, the groom would go away and start building and preparing a place for his future bride. The bride never knew when the groom was coming, but she probably knew when he was getting close. When the groom was finished and at the right time, he would gather the townspeople together and they would walk towards the future bride's home. The music would be playing and shouting would be in the streets. It was a great and joyous time. The bride, when she heard the music and saw the groom coming, would go to meet him, they would have a ceremony, and then the groom would take his bride back with him to their newly prepared home. This is the wonderful promise that Jesus Christ gave the church. He is currently preparing a place and at just the right time, He will come to claim His bride, the Church.
The Bible tells us exactly how it will happen in I Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the coluds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
His return is imminent. This means that it could happen at any time. There is nothing that has to happen before Christ can come back. In the Father's (God's) timing and at His good pleasure, He will send His Son to claim us. The Bible says in I Thessalonians 5:2, "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a theif in the night." It also says in I Corinthians 15:52, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." It is true there is great diversity on how long a "twinkling of an eye" will be, but we know for certain it will be quick and when Christ does come, it will be unexpected.
For Christians, His return meets all needs. I Thessalonians 4:18 when stating about the rapture tells Christians to "comfort one another with these words." Heartaches will be turned to joy, misunderstandings made right, and dissapointments forgotten. The Early Church was under great physical persecution when the books of Thessalonians were written. The Rapture, though never happening in their lifetime, brought great comfort to their hearts.
His return helps us remain focused on eternal things. II Timothy 4:6-8 states, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. During this life, we need to remain focused on important things. Technology has offered many benefits, but one of the downsides is the distractions they can create in our lives. We, as Christians, are exhorted to watch for his appearing every day. When you live your life in light of Christ's imminent return, you value more the sacred things of life. One of the biggest lies we could ever believe is there is more time. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. We must focus on eternality.
Today, I am excited about Christ's return. I want Him to come back. I can't wait to see Him face to face. He has promised to and I hope the Rapture occurs during my lifetime. The point is...if I can get excited about a pitcher returning, how much more about the imminent return of Jesus Christ?
In Christ,
Pastor John
Philippians 2:15
Follow-up question - Home many times does Christ say He is returning in Revelation Ch. 22, the last chapter in the Book of Revelation and in the Bible?
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