I used to see a bumper sticker once in a while that said, “Jesus is coming.  Look busy!”  Good for a laugh, right?  But seriously, What would you be sure to do today if you knew Jesus was coming back tomorrow?

The second coming of Jesus isn’t something we talk about all that often these days, but it was an important topic in the early church.  Many of the first Christians thought Jesus would come back to earth in their lifetimes, and when that didn’t pan out, it was assumed Jesus would be coming back in the fairly near future.  Throughout his letters, Paul wrote frequently about being ready for the day of Jesus’ return.  And he especially talked about it in the two letters he wrote to the believers in Thessalonica.  These two short books of the Bible are known as Paul’s “eschatological letters.”  Eschatology is a fancy seminary word for what we believe about the last things, about Jesus coming again and the climax of human history.

Eschatology has never been one of my big areas of interest.  But I do love that we have two lit candles on our altar at every worship service.  The first candle signifies that Jesus, the light of the world, has come.  And the second signifies our belief that one day, Jesus will come again.  We call these comings, “advents”.  We live in between the advents.  Our lives play out on the altar in between Jesus’ earthly life two thousand years ago, and the unknown day in the future when he will come again.  But in between those two advents, each and every day is filled with his presence.  And that’s good enough for me.

But Paul was writing because he felt it was part of his job to help make sure people were living well, and that they were ready for Jesus to come back.  He believed that Jesus would be coming soon.  1 Thessalonians is believed to be Paul’s earliest letter that became part of our holy scriptures.  It was probably written around 51 AD, not even twenty years after Jesus’ death.  Already a theology of resurrection was taking hold—this belief that there is life beyond our earthly existence, that we will be raised like Christ, that somehow we will all end up being with the Lord forever.  This was a very encouraging teaching in the early church, just as it is today.

Until Christ comes again, though, how are we to live?  What should our priorities be?  In our scripture lesson, Paul gives what my Bible titles as “final instructions” in chapter 5.  He’s already written a lot in this letter about keeping the faith, trusting in God’s goodness, and being ready and prepared for what’s next.  I especially like how he wrote, “let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

But now he’s about to finish this letter, and there are some things he really wants to emphasize.  Things he feels are very important in light of this salvation hope he has just outlined.  He says, we don’t know when Jesus is coming back.  So don’t take even a single day for granted.  Like the bumper sticker, “Get busy!”  Paul doesn’t use those exact words, but he does say to warn those who are idle.  In other words, if you’re not working for the kingdom, why not?  Get cracking!  He also says to encourage the timid, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.  Paul envisions the body of Christ as being productive, encouraging, supportive, and caring.  Every member has a role to play.  Paul wants to see the church help everyone to play their role well.  Help everyone to shine.  Help everyone make the difference they were built to make.

Paul goes on to say, “Make sure nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other, and everyone else.”  Although Paul doesn’t specifically use the word “forgiveness” here, he has talked about forgiveness in numerous other passages.  Last week when we were talking about clothing ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, we didn’t have time to dig down into what Paul went on to say next.  “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”  (Colossians 3:13) Paul envisions the body of Christ as not only being active and at work for justice and the well-being of all, he envisions the body of Christ as being merciful and forgiving and peace-loving.  We are not to be people who seek retribution.  We are not to be people to retaliate.  We are to be promoters of peace.

The scripture lesson last week is still talking to me, as is our passage this week, and the ideas of gentleness and forgiveness keep coming to mind.  Recently I learned about a relief pitcher in the Phillies organization named Andrew Bellatti.  Thirteen years ago, at age 18, he signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Rays and bought himself a red Ford Mustang to celebrate.  He was back home in the San Diego area after playing baseball for the summer when, on January 22, 2010, Andrew illegally passed a car and caused a head on collision with a minivan.  The crash killed the driver of the van, David Reid, a 50 year old husband and father of two.  Garrett Reid, the driver’s son, was significantly injured.  Andrew spent one night in the hospital with minor injuries.  But he was charged with vehicular manslaughter and faced between five and seven years in prison.

Surprisingly, though, Lyn Reid, now a widow and single mom, did not want Andrew to go to prison.  Her friends thought she was crazy for not wanting to see the man who killed her husband face as much jail time as possible.  Lyn Reid had trouble explaining how she felt, but she knew she needed to forgive Andrew so she could move forward, and live in peace.  She also did not want more carnage, she didn’t want another life wrecked from this accident.  So she asked the judge for leniency in sentencing, and as a result of her advocacy, Bellatti spent less than a year in jail, and he was able to go on and have a baseball career.

Andrew Bellatti is now married and has a three-year old daughter and another baby on the way.  This summer, he got the chance to meet Lyn and Garrett, and 13 years after the accident, express his regret.  He also expressed his gratitude.  If Lyn hadn’t appealed for leniency, his life would have been much different.  He would not have met his wife, he would not have his daughter, he probably would never have played pro ball.  Andrew said after that meeting, “Forgiveness meant to me a second chance.  Forgiveness is something, that if we can somehow find it, changes lives.”

Andrew was not the only one involved in this story to talk about the power of forgiveness.  Garrett, who was in the car when his father was killed, struggled with rage and had revenge fantasies, wanting to take Andrew’s life to even the score.  But gradually Garrett says he realized he needed to forgive Andrew in order to heal from the loss of his father.  But forgiving does not mean forgetting.  He said, “You can forgive someone and still hold them accountable for their actions.  You can forgive someone and still be angry at them.  Forgiving Andrew doesn’t simply fix things.  Forgiving Andrew let me sleep at night.  Forgiving Andrew let me acknowledge his humanity, and the mistakes that he made.”

Lyn and Garrett made the life-saving decision to forgive Andrew for speeding and causing a fatal car accident.  In making the decision to forgive, they allowed Andrew the chance to re-start his life after minimal jail time.  And in making the decision to forgive, they gave themselves the chance to re-start their lives after a tragic loss.  They could go about their lives with no malice, no thoughts of revenge, no desire to get even.  They could move forward in peace.

There’s an old bumper sticker that says, “Jesus is coming.  Look busy.”  But an equally valid bumper sticker might read, “Jesus is coming.  Start forgiving!”  If there is anything we need to be doing when Jesus comes back, it’s working on forgiving those who hurt us.  Forgiveness is one of the hallmarks of our faith.  Right after teaching the disciples the Lord’s Prayer Jesus went on to say, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  (Matthew 6:14-15)  That is a very scary teaching!  I hope there is room for mercy in that statement, because God knows how hard it is to forgive.   Hard, but not impossible.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Again, forgiving does not mean we don’t hold people accountable for their actions.  It does not mean we will never feel anger.  It also doesn’t mean we keep letting people do hurtful things to us time and time again.  But it does mean releasing our desires to pay back wrong for wrong.  It does mean letting go of our revenge fantasies, our grudges, our bitterness, our malice, and our woundedness.

Not sure how to do that?  Paul goes on to give some instructions.  First, be joyful always.  Have you noticed how often Paul talks about rejoicing and being joyful, no matter what your circumstances?  It’s almost annoying!  But we know that focusing on God’s goodness, praising God, rejoicing in God’s steadfast love, has a powerful positive effect on our souls.  When we develop our faithful focus, we find we can go on to do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  Even forgive.

The second piece of wisdom is to “pray continually.”  Again, this is almost annoying because who can argue with this advice?  And yet, it’s so hard to do.  For example, I am still feeling hurt about something someone said to me a couple years ago.  It was during the pandemic, we had limited chances to see each other, and although this comment hurt in the moment, I just let it go.  But it’s still bothering me.  It’s been bothering me for two years!  And I realized this week, I have probably only prayed about this situation two or three times.  In two years!  That is certainly not praying continually.  So I have put this person and the hurtful comment in my prayer journal, and I’m going to lift it up every night for the rest of the month.  And if I need to, the month after that.  I don’t want to have this resentment anymore, but I have barely even bothered to ask God to help me forgive and move on.  That at least is something I can fix.

I am always hesitant to preach on forgiveness because I don’t want to seem insensitive to anyone’s pain.  But I think Andrew Bellatti was spot on when he said, “Forgiveness is something that, if we can somehow find it, changes lives.”  And I think Jesus made it clear that forgiving others is a top priority.  So let’s get ready for what’s next!  Maybe you need to forgive someone who hurt you.  Maybe you need to forgive yourself.  Whichever, if you are finding it hard to forgive, you’re not alone.  But keep working on it.  As Paul says, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.   Do not treat prophecies with contempt.  Test everything.  Hold on to the good.  Avoid every kind of evil.  May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”

Amen.