Millenarian Fantasies

Understanding the end of the world as we know it

10/20/2021

Lk 12:39-48 Jesus said to his disciples: “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Do you think the world is about to end? When you hear about floods, and earthquakes, wars and famines, does that sounds like signs of the end times? I get that question a lot. Well, Hal Lindsay thought so and why he wrote his best-seller, “The Late Great Planet Earth.” It was the best-selling nonfiction book of the 1970’s, almost as popular as my books.

Lindsay argued that current events in the 1970’s were foretold in the Bible and by the 1980’s, Jesus’ second coming would occur and he would establish his 1,000 year reign called “millennialism.” Lindsay insisted that “the decade of the 1980’s could very well be the last decade of history as we know it.” But the only thing that ended with the eighties was big hair bands (thank goodness).

A better way to look at history, both its beginning and its end, is through the eyes of Pope St. John Paul II. On January 6, 2001, he wrote an apostolic letter called “Novo Milennio Ineunte” meaning “on the beginning of the new millennium.” There he cautioned Christians, “the coincidence of this Jubilee with the opening of the new millennium (the year 2000) has helped people to become more aware of the mystery of Christ within the great horizon of the history of salvation, without any concession to millenarian fantasies” (NMI, n. 5).

Does that phrase “millenarian fantasies” sound like a shot across the bow to Hal Lindsay and his like? Instead, the pope-saint invited us “to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm, and to look forward to the future with confidence: ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever’ (Hb 13:8)” (NMI, n. 1).That, in other words, is how we Christian face the end of the world: with our confidence in Christ.

In the gospel today, Jesus also speaks about the end of time and his second coming. He urges his disciples: “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” If you read the New Testament carefully, you will hear this sense that the early Christians believed Jesus would return in their life-time, kind of like Hal Lindsay did. And that hope and expectation was not entirely unfounded. Why not?

Well, when the Roman Army under General Titus marched on Jerusalem and destroyed the magnificent Temple, it truly felt like the “end of the world.” Indeed, it was the end of the Old Testament world whose religious, political, economic and cultural center was the Jerusalem Temple. The end of the Temple signaled the end of the world in their eyes. So, the early Christians and New Testament writers were not wrong that their world would end imminently, within their own generation.

And yet, in Hb 13:8, we hear the same bright-eyed confidence in Christ of Pope St. John Paul II, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” And therefore, when we are rooted in him, it does not matter if this world passes away, we will enjoy the eternity of Christ. In other words, as the pope urged us, do not give “any concession to millenarian fantasies.” Our confidence – that is, our peace, joy, enthusiasm, and optimism – is in Christ.

My friends, there is another sense in which we must worry about the end of the world. I don’t mean the end of the whole world like Hal Lindsay falsely predicted, but the end of our individual world, the end of our personal life. This week I have two funerals. On Monday I had the funeral for a 22 year-old man who died in a tragic motorcycle accident. And Thursday I will have the funeral for a 77 year-old lady who died after a battle with cancer.

Their individual worlds have come to an end, even if no one will make millions of dollars writing a book about them. We pray they did what John Paul advised and kept their eyes on Jesus, who is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, no matter how long or short one’s life is. And that is how we, too, will enjoy eternity whenever this world comes to an end.

Praised be Jesus Christ!