A bit of foolishness

One of my churches lost a saint yesterday. She died after a massive heart attack at the age of 89. She was fine on Saturday morning, on her way out on Saturday evening. I thought much of how quickly she passed, without much suffering, and I'm thankful to God for that.

I've had that on my mind since, and a little of it mingled into my thoughts about the "end of the world."

It's Tuesday, and by now we've all had our fun with Rev., Mr., Sir, Harold Camping, who now has a new prediction for the judgment day. By the way, most folks said that was to be the end of the world but the "Rapture" isn't the end of the world but the beginning of the end. Just saying.

That Camping would do this astounds me for he simply puts the very little that is left of whatever passes for a reputation at risk. No one will believe him this time, and even the ones who laughed should have noticed that Camping had followers, believers, misguided though they were.

I was pondering this this morning, and thinking of what it means to evangelicals to be lumped into a category with Camping (Stephen Fry called them, er, us “imbeciles") when I came to the conclusion that won't meet most folks standards. If Camping really believed in what he was saying, what should he have done? Should he have kept quiet if he thought souls could be changed, saved?

I then thought of what the writer of Revelation wrote early in his work: "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid..." The him, of course, was Jesus.

I'm not putting Camping into the category with John the Revelator, but I ask us all, should John have kept quiet because of possible laughter of those pagans who had placed him on Patmos? Should he have been afraid of being thought a fool? Of looking stupid in public?

Tim Stanley, a writer for The Telegraph, said this: 'Across the United States, atheists are gathering at Rapture parties to celebrate another day of life on this corrupted Earth. Their joy as Camping’s error is plain mean. While they knock back cheap imported beer and make-out in hot-tubs, thousands of evangelicals will be providing care and love to prisoners, homeless people, drug addicts and the poor. It is a noble calling worthy of a little tolerance."



The Apostle Paul wrote something of a like mind: "For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."

The object of all this discourse is to get someone to understand, we are not to think the end of the world is now coming on Oct. 21. We are to live as if the end of our world might come before the end of this sentence, and be ready to fall at his feet as though dead.

Foolish? Not hardly