DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME PREDICTING WHEN THE WORLD WILL END

 

See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name

saying, ‘I am he,” and “The time has come.’ Do not follow them!

Luke 21:5-19 

It had been a very busy week at the parish. I decided to go to bed early, thinking I would get a little rest. Wrong! About an hour after I dozed off, the telephone rang. The caller was a panic-stricken, rural-sounding man with a house full of kids screaming and yelling at each other in the back ground. He had gotten my number out of the Yellow Pages. "Reverend, is the world going to come to and end tonight?" In my groggy state, I presumed it already had and he was simply calling to let me know!"

Well, after ten years in the Bible Belt as a home missionary, I had handled enough of these calls to know that a long discussion on biblical exegesis would not work. This man needed a yes or no answer from an authority - and he needed it now! So without batting an eye, I answered with all the authority I could muster at that hour of the night. "No, sir, the world will not end tonight. Please go to bed!"

He put his hand over the receiver to deliver my verdict to his screaming brood.: "He said it wasn't going to end tonight!" There was a lot of muffled arguing before he came back on the phone. "The kids came home from school today saying some preacher had predicted the end of the world and all the other kids were talking about it. They won't go to bed till you talk to them." Believe it or not, I had to talk to five kids, one by one, and tell them in my most confident voice: "Go to bed, honey! The world is not going to end tonight!" The father came back on the line, thanked me, and hung up. I was so pleased with myself that thought I would never go back to sleep!

See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name

saying, ‘I am he,” and “The time has come.’ Do not follow them!

Luke 21:5-19

Jesus left this earth with a promise he would come back. Ever since then, his followers have become periodically obsessed with predicting "the end time" especially during difficult times. However, I want to remind you in no uncertain terms that of  all the millions of doomsday preachers, with all their claims of having "figured it out" from their interpretation of the Bible, over all the many years, not one of them has been right yet! Some of Jesus' disciples, especially at the time of Mark's writing, were obsessed with the belief that Jesus was come in their life time - any moment now! This gospel passage warns those who were trying to predict the "end time" to go on living and leave the "when" to God.  Even Paul, after he had written to the Thessalonians about the imminent coming of Christ, had to write to them again and tell them to get off their rear ends, get back to work and get on with living. Some had quit working and had sat down to wait for "the end." 

Fellow Catholics! You have no doubt been confronted by some who claim to be able to deal with Biblical “end time” texts! Jesus warns us today not to follow them! He tells us that many will come claiming “I am he” and “the time has come.” He tells us today not to get sucked into their claims of being able to predict even from Scripture. Every time the world gets complicated and events seem to be out of control, a significant number of religious people comb the scriptures trying to find clues to back their dire predictions. It’s almost as if they hope the world is coming to an end! Hoping that the end is imminent is a lot easier, I suppose, than doing the hard work of trying to fix the problems of the world!

See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name

saying, ‘I am he,” and “The time has come.’ Do not follow them!

Luke 21:5-19

In today’s gospel, Luke warns us about two things. He warns us “not to follow" those who would interpret current events as signs of the world's end, but he also warns us to "watch out" for our own behavior in the meantime because we will have to face a lot of disruption and even persecution before it’s all said and done. However, when "the end" comes, it has already been decided that good will triumph over evil! So, it’s not a matter of predicting, but a matter of perseverance. In other words, he tells us to worry about living well and being a good disciples so that we don't have to try to "get ready" whenever the end does comes.

Friends, how do we make sure we are prepared? We hunger and thirst for holiness, we keep our hands to the plow, we live with our bags packed for a great adventure and, most importantly, we "wait in joyful hope" for the return of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We should not fear having to endure eternal misery as much as the fear of regret for having missing out on the opportunity for eternal happiness. We need not live in fear and dread because "eye has not seen nor ear heard the wonderful things that God has in store for those who love him." As the Boys Scouts always say so wisely, "Be prepared!" Be prepared for eternal happiness!