Thursday, August 8, 2013

The Thief In the Night (Reflections on Pentecost 12)


But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’ (Luke 12: 39-40)



Do you remember that old movie A Thief In the Night? It's considered to be a landmark flick in Christian movie-making. Combining an almost sci-fi style plot with a rock music score, A Thief In the Night has been seen by an estimated 800 million people worldwide since its release in 1972. It's about this chick who wakes up one morning to discover that her Christian husband and millions of other Christians have suddenly vanished off the face of the earth, caught up in The Rapture—the miraculous rescue of Christ's Church predicted to occur before the time of the Great Tribulation preceding the End of the World and the Last Judgment.

Now, speaking as a former SAG member who once acted with Tom Hanks, I think I'm qualified to critique this film on its artistic merits.

(Okay. I didn't really act with Tom Hanks. I sort of acted behind him—I was an extra in one of his early films. But I still think I'm a good judge of movies!)

Let me just say that, as a piece of cinema, A Thief In the Night is a piece of crap. The dialogue, direction, acting, and cinematography are of an embarrassingly amateurish level which makes the film almost laughable. But, speaking as a theologian, I don't feel the film should be dismissed until we've looked at its Christian message.

Then we should dismiss it. The basic premise of this turkey is that believing in certain doctrines will save you from the Day of God's Wrath. Okay. Maybe that's true, but I'm not sure that the Bible actually bears this out.

(By the way, the entire doctrine of the Rapture is a masterpiece of bad Biblical study and poor theology. I urge any serious Bible student to check out Barbara Rossing's wonderful book, The Rapture Exposed (2004 Westview Press). Just click on Barbara's name for a review of the book.)

Speaking as one who has had his home burglarized, I'm pretty glad I wasn't around when the thief came. Can you imagine what that would be like? It's 2:00 AM. You and your loved ones are safe in bed—or so you believe. Suddenly, you are thrashed from a peaceful sleep by the sound of breaking glass! Your heart thunders in your chest. PANIC! There is a horrifying sense that you are in danger. You are prepared, though. You holler to your wife or child to call 911 and lock the bedroom door. You step out into the corridor and begin switching on every light in the house. “Whose there??!!” you demand. You search for some kind of weapon—a knife, a baseball bat, an umbrella—anything which will protect your family. In the glare of a streetlight through your broken rear window you catch the silhouette of the thief fleeing into the night.

You ask your family, “Are you alright?” They answer, “Yes,” but all of you are scared and shaken. The police arrive and take your statement. This takes time. None of you will get back to sleep that night.

Maybe, as you lie back down in your bed again, you whisper a prayer of gratitude that you have been spared. You pray, too, for safety for those nice police officers who came to your door. And perhaps you even pray for the soul of the man who violated your home and left this night scarred by the knowledge of a shadowy malevolence waiting somewhere in the darkness.

No amount of “correct” doctrine saves us from the time of tribulation. We all ride on the roller coaster of daily challenges. The Bible never claims that we don't. I love that this week's Revised Common Lectionary readings include the passage from Genesis 15: 1-6 in which God's chosen, Abram, wails in despair that, even though he has done everything God has demanded, he still has not received the desire of his heart. God has promised Abram children, but has not delivered. Abram fears God never will make good.

So what does God do in the story? He calls Abram outside and asks him to look up at the stars. Then this good man, so filled with disappointment and worry, views the power, the majesty, and the beauty of God. He unfolds his focus from his own fears and opens himself to the universal and the eternal. And his faith and relationship with God are restored.

In the lesson from Luke's gospel, Jesus exhorts his disciples not to fear for the necessities of life. He urges us to unclench our grasping fists and be open to the needs of others. After all, you can't put anything new into a closed hand.

I'm too old now to think of God as some kind of cosmic Santa Clause who grants protection and blessings to those who obey Him. I know that the Day of Tribulation—or, I should say the Days of Tribulation, as there are many in a lifetime—will come unexpectedly whether I have been pious in my faith or negligent. But the faith which sustains me is the knowledge that I am God's child, baptized into God's beauty and majesty, and that God's desire for me is abundant life.

Tribulation has the power to lead us into despair or deeper faith. It is always around the bend in life's road, and none of us are ever 100% ready for the danger of being a human being on planet earth. But we walk forward calmly with our hands open to each other, our eyes focused on eternity, raptured by the day-to-day hidden goodness of God.

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Hey! The 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation is just a little more than three years away. If you're Lutheran or Roman Catholic don't you think it's time we patched things up?Please sign my petition asking Pope Francis to approve open communion between our denominations. It may not help, but it couldn't hurt! Just click here.


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