Finding Christ’s Love in Times of Chaos

And another thing!

The political world has been a lot lately. Independence Day was last Friday, a huge bill came through Congress recently, and the usual blame-slinging after a tragedy is in full force, too. Lutherans aren’t big on reading the news for signs of the end times, but we have plenty of neighbors who do.

Jesus might be returning today. That would be amazing. Or Jesus might not return today. That would also be just fine. Jesus tells us that he doesn’t know the time set by the Father (Mark 13:32). I wouldn’t presume to guess, either.

What I would point out, though, is the way that history cycles in the Old Testament.

We see it in Isaiah, but also in the movement from the Exodus to the Promised Land, in Judges, and in the prophets. The cycle goes like this:

1. God’s people get distracted and start worshiping other things. It might be their in-laws’ gods or their own money, power, and pleasure, or whatever.

2. God gets the people’s attention. In Isaiah, it’s being conquered by the Babylonian Empire. Other stories have other unpleasant ways of shaking up people’s lives.

3. The people realize that what they thought they could count on didn’t work out and they cry out to the God of Israel for help. God usually reminds them that they are supposed to love God and love their neighbors.

4. God restores them. In Isaiah 66, God tells the people to rejoice, for the Lord will care for Jerusalem like a mother cares for her child.

This happens over and over again. Jesus is the one who ultimately shakes up the cycle. We know that God has already triumphed over all the forces that distract us and diminish our lives. But we still operate in a world that hasn’t figured it out. The cycle still functions, even though we know that its time is limited.

This moment in history is loaded. When it becomes overwhelming, we know that we can lean on Jesus. When we’re not sure what to do, we can focus on loving God and loving our neighbors. When we cry out, we know that we are part of a tradition of prayer that goes back thousands of years. And when we rejoice, we know that we rejoice in the goodness of a God who has always come through for us and will always be there for us and for the whole world.