Matthew 24:15-28; Remembrance Day/Third Last Sunday of the Church Year; Nov. 10, 2002

Drawn to Christ Crucified (28)

Tomorrow our nation observes Remembrance Day when we remember and honour all who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation and for our freedom. We are called to remember—lest we forget. Now, I have wondered what is there so important to remember that would cause us great harm if we should forget? A prominent historian observed: "There is one thing that you can learn from history: that people do not learn from history." Another observed: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it!" Therefore we hope that observing Remembrance Day will help us to avoid the horrible suffering and loss of life our nation endured during the Great War(s).

But I still wonder how observing Remembrance Day is going to prevent future wars. Aren't wars usually the result of sinful human pride and greed? Then we must address these root causes if we really want to address the hopes we express on Remembrance Day. As Christians we know that the only effective antidote to sin is the cross of Christ. God sent his Son to take away the sin of the world. As a result, it is not far off the mark to say that the spiritual root of the oppressions, wars and sufferings that plague our planet is the world's rejection of Christ.

Take for example the Jewish leaders who wanted to kill Jesus. One of the reasons they rejected him was spiritual pride: They refused to recognize their sinfulness and need for repentance. This spiritual pride gave rise to political pride: They believed their mission was to be independent of Rome. So for the real Christ they traded a political Christ. Jesus already foresaw where their pride would lead them. In our Gospel lesson he predicts that Jerusalem would be destroyed, saying: So when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation…then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains… there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again (24:15, 16, 21).

The destruction that Jesus predicted took place within 40 years of his resurrection, following a Jewish uprising against Rome. What followed, the horrors and miseries endured by the Jews in that terrible time of destruction exceeded anything recorded in the history of the world. Josephus, the Jewish historian, gives a graphic, detailed account of the havoc inflicted upon the Jewish nation by Titus. Over a million Jews were slaughtered and another 100,000 were carried into slavery. That truly was a time of "great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world."

But when this uprising takes place, Jesus warns his followers to flee! To flee for their lives! The earliest church historian, Eusebius, noted that, because of this warning, the sizable Christian communities in Palestine at that time, left the land before the massacres began. As a result, there were no known Christian casualties among the million who died. Isn’t that amazing? This shows us that God cares about the welfare of his people. He does not wish his people to be deluded by a false Messiah and to share in his ruin. They are to flee.

The message to us is the same: Watch out for false Christs and false prophets. Flee from them! But how are we to recognize false Messiah’s? Who are they? Here we can benefit from advice on how to recognize counterfeit money: The best way to spot a counterfeit bill is to be very familiar with what real money looks and feels like. Likewise, I would suggest that the best way to spot a false Christ is to know what the real Christ looks and sounds like. What does the real Christ look like?

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote: "We preach Christ crucified" (1:23). The real Christ is a crucified Christ. Some Christians object to this, saying they prefer an empty cross or a risen Christ. Is this a valid objection? Is this really a preferable alternative? I think not. For if we should prefer not to see Christ as crucified, then I am afraid, it might betray a reluctance to see ourselves as crucified with Christ and a reluctance to take up our own cross and follow Christ. Make no mistake. There is no following Christ without the cross. And if the Christ you are following is not Christ crucified, I’m afraid you may be following a false Christ, a Christ of your own imagination.

I recently talked with a Christian friend who was excited about a book he was reading that gave him new insights on dealing with difficult personal issues. He recommended I read the book too. Unfortunately, the book turned out to be Buddhist philosophy in the garb of Christianity. While the average Christian might easily be deceived into believing that the message is congruous with Christian faith, because the teachings of Jesus are peppered throughout the book, nowhere in the book was there any mention of or importance placed on the death of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Clearly, the Christ this book professed was not the crucified Christ. One dead give-away of a false Christ is one who is not crucified.

Jesus continues, saying: False Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible (24). Here we have another mark of a false Christ or prophet: Great signs and miracles. "But aren’t signs and miracles supposed to be the mark of a true prophet," we might ask? Not really. Jesus warns us in his Sermon on the Mount: Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:22, 23). Jesus is very specific, that not even driving out demons or using his name is a guarantee that one is not following a false Christ. We must pay close attention to this, because there are many false Christs out there, promising one or the other thing: Promising us healing, personal success, financial security, a more complete experience of God, or perhaps even communication with departed loved ones. Our intentions for seeking these things may all be fine and well, but I have heard it said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Here we come to another important issue: Why do we become prey to false Christs? Often it is because deep down inside, we feel that something is missing or that we want something more. Perhaps we are not satisfied with the answers God has given us. Perhaps we have a longing to have more control over our lives and so we seek guidance elsewhere. Insecurity, fear, hopelessness or pride--in short, our own sinful nature--leads us to seek answers or solutions by means God has not sanctioned. That is what makes us vulnerable to those who promise us what we like to hear and so we are deceived and exploited. You see, the real problem is not with the false Christs out there. The real problem is in here. It is in my heart. If in my heart I feel something missing, I easily become a victim--a victim to a false Christ. On the other hand, if I hold fast to God and his Word, I will be safe. If the true Christ is living in my heart, I will not be looking for another. I will know the voice of my Shepherd and be satisfied. But if I hear a stranger’s voice, I will flee for safety to the sure word and promise of God.

The last verse of our Gospel reading is rather interesting: Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures gather (28). The word for carcass in the original Greek is literally "body." The ancient church understood this "body" to refer to the body of Christ and the vultures refer to those who are drawn to him. The crucified Christ is the magnet that draws us into fellowship with God. It is his body he offers us in Holy Communion that we feed on to nourish our faith. Indeed, his body and blood are the medicine of immortality, granting those who come to him forgiveness and new life.

That is why Jesus tells us that whenever we gather to eat his body and blood, we do this to remember his death on the cross. The cross is the crucial point of contact for us. It determines whether or not we have the real Christ. The Christ who gives us freedom from all our enemies: the enemies of sin, of death and Satan himself. In him they are all defeated and in him we are made blameless, holy and heirs of eternal life. Whenever we gather to remember our crucified Lord, we are drawn into his life and this is the most powerful protection against the false hopes and dreams of our sinful flesh, the world, or the devil would throw at us. In conclusion, let us remember three things: 1) the crucified Christ in whom we have freedom; 2) to flee from those who do not proclaim Christ crucified; and 3) to gather around the body God has prepared for our salvation. Amen.