1 Thessalonians 5:1-10

            {Prayer}

            Here we are the weekend before Thanksgiving. Many people across our nation, including my family, we will be traveling. With that thought in mind … have you ever been in an airline terminal when the plane you are waiting for is late? Once that announcement comes across the intercom, people tend to break out into at least one of four different groups.

            First, there are the pushers. This type of person who pushes for information. They go up to ticket counter asking questions like, “When is the plane going to be here? I’ve got to know now! When is it going to be here?” Pushers are the type of people who demand information as if knowing the exact time when the plane is going to arrive is going to cause their plane to fly faster.

            Then, there are the doubters. Doubters will sit down in defeat saying, “It’ll never come! It’s hopeless. Even if it does come, there’s going to be something wrong with it. They’re going to have to get another plane. We’re all stuck! We’re doomed! We’re all doomed!”

            Then, there are the players. Players will say something like, “The plane’s late? Sweet! Let’s go down to the bar and have a few more drinks, watch a few more games, and eat a few more of those amazing chicken wings! As long as we’re here, we may as well have some fun!”

            Lastly, there are the encouragers. Encouragers say, “Okay. The plane’s late. We don’t know when it’s going to get here but at least it’s on the way. The airline has never let me down before. We can wait, but we need to stay alert because the plane could show up at any time.”

            A few years back when I was flying from St. Louis to Omaha, the announcement came over the intercom that the boarding of our flight was delayed because we were waiting on another flight to land which was connecting with our flight. As the announcement was given, I got to witness these different types of people from behind my laptop screen. But I want you think … which person are you when it comes to waiting for a delayed plane to arrive? More importantly though … what kind of person are you when it comes to the waiting for Christ to return?

            Pushers want information. They want exact dates and times. NASA engineer Edgar Whisenant used his mathematical skills to set a date for Christ’s return. He wrote a book called 88 Reasons Why the Rapture will take Place in 1988. He was so certain that Jesus would return on September 10, 1988 that he said, “If I’m wrong, then the Scripture is mistaken.” He knew for certain that Jesus would arrive on that exact day.

            Jesus says in Matthew 24:36 that the angels don’t know and even Jesus doesn’t know the date and time … but yet, amazingly enough, Edgar knew. As we can see by our presence here today, September 10, 1988 has come and gone. But the old saying held true, “If you first don’t succeed, fail and fail again.” Edgar wrote a second book the very next claiming that he forgot how the calendar didn’t start with year one but with year zero, so he said he was off a year. Needless to say, he failed again. No one knows the day. Even Paul says it in the opening verses of this chapter.

            “Now, brothers, about times and date we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:1-2).

            The only other time in the Bible that these two words, “times and dates,” appear together is in Acts 1:7. Jesus says to his followers there, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority.” You see, in Acts 1, the disciples were asking Jesus for details about the future. Jesus makes it very clear to them that they are not suppose to know, but to always be ready.

            And there are things which we are not meant to know about it until they happen. Things like when we will pass away, surprise birthday parties, when babies are born, and when your mother-in-law is coming over. Add to the list, the day of the Lord.

            Paul says the day of the Lord is like a thief in the night. Nobody knows when a thief will come and break in. It’s not like the Home Alone where they dress up as an officer and find out when people are leaving for vacation. Thief’s don’t call in advance to see when you aren’t going to be home. They come completely unexpected. So we need to be ready.

            Paul goes on to say in the next verse, “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (5:3). When it time for the baby to come and the pains of labor begin, there’s no turning back, there’s no escape. And just like a pregnant woman can’t change her mind about having the baby or not, Paul says to the doubters out there … you will not escape the end.

            Once, and only once when I was growing up, my dad told me that if I touched an electrical fence that it would shock me. So what did I do … I walked away from it. No! Of course not! I continued to stand there and look at the animals. As I was looking at the animals, I might have touched the fence and I might have gotten shocked. My dad said, “I told you that it would shock you.” I said, “Yeah, but I didn’t think you meant it.” Here’s the thing, when God says something, He means it. When He says that Jesus is coming back someday, He means that Jesus is coming back.

            So Paul in verse six says, “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.”

            It’s easy to become complacent, to become self-satisfied, to become content while waiting for Christ to return. If are complacent and content long enough, we can easily become spiritually asleep. These last Sundays of the church year are all about getting us ready, getting us prepared for Christ’s second coming. Some people just need a divine wakeup call in order to be ready.

            But while some sleep, Paul says that there are “those who get drunk, get drunk at night” (5:7).

            You know … Abraham Lincoln … he died. So did Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, John F. Kennedy, Princess Diana, and Queen Elizabeth. It’s inevitable. We all will die. For every person born, someone dies. There about two people who die every second. More than 6,000 die every hour. More than 155,000 people die a day and about 57 million people die every year.

            But player type of people, they deny this fact. They run off to have fun because they think they are immortal, they think they will never die. And so they ignore the biblical warnings. And so for now … they have a great time as they live their life like a never ending party.

            “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as in fact you are doing” (1 Thess. 5:8-11).

            Using the armor imagery, Paul shows us what’s essential for our “Day of the Lord Preparedness Kit.” He says nothing about canned food, rice, purified water, a generator, or a handgun. Instead, we’re to put on faith, love and hope. This is the same trio of character qualities Paul mentioned earlier in his letter to the Thessalonians. He also says in 1 Corinthians 13 that when life is boiled down to its absolute essentials, these three remain: faith, hope, and love. Living this way encourages others, it gives them credible hope in Christ’s return.

            Carl McCunn moved to Alaska in the late 1970’s where he got a job, made some friends and planned an adventure that still has people talking about him. Carl planned a five-month photography expedition into the Alaska wild. He checked the details and prepared for everything he would need. Then, in March of 1981, Carl was dropped into a remove place near the Coleen River, seventy miles northeast of Fort Yukon. He had two rifles, a shotgun, fourteen hundred pounds of supplies, and five hundred rolls of film. He began his adventure, completely unaware of an overlooked detail that would cost him his life. Carl had made no arrangements for anyone to pick him up. In August of that year, he wrote in his diary and understatement the size of Mt. McKinley. “I think I should have used more foresight about arranging my departure.” By late November of 1981, Carl was out of food, strength, and hope. Isolated with no one to rescue him. Trapped with no exit plan. Carl McCunn died in the Alaskan wilderness.

            Every trip comes to an end … and so will ours.

            Encouragers want people to have an exit strategy. They say to their loved ones, their friends, co-workers and anyone who will listen … “We don’t have an arrival time, but Christ is on His way. He won’t let us down. Don’t be afraid. Be alert, though, because he could show up at any time! And when He comes … He will take us home!” Amen.

            The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.