T Minus Time

On Sunday Pastor Benji shared with us the first installment of his sermon "The Time Is Now: Time for You To Be Changed". It is a most apropos title, as the ministers of Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene have spent this summer urging congregants to be sure of their decision for Christ and their right standing in Christ. Autumn is beginning, and BBCN continues this plea for all of you to obediently submit to the rule and sovreignty of Jesus Christ.

One of the images in the sermon referred to the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43). This parable reminds us that God divides people into two categories: those who are "sons of the kingdom", and those who are "sons of the evil one" (13:38). Jesus says He will send angels to weed out "everything that causes sin and all who do evil" (13:41).

For those of you who have never pulled weeds, I'd like to share a quote from Pastor Benji's sermon that is crucial to understanding the gravity of this weeding process: "Weeding is not a gentle activity." The strength and swiftness of the weeding process is our example and warning of the speed with which Jesus will execute righteousness on behalf of those who love and obey Him. It is a violent and sure and permanent removal of those who seek to hinder the plan of God.

The Matthew 13 passage informs us that it is not pastors or prophets who remove evildoers, but that Jesus will send His angels to uproot and throw out those who have planted themselves among the people of God but are in fact "weeds"- agents of Satan who seek to engage in the things which are contrary to righteousness. What is contrary to righteousness? Jesus gives us a list in Revelation 22:15. "Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolators and everyone who loves and practices falsehood."

Pastor Benji's warning towards the close of the sermon is reminiscent of Psalm 1: "Don't be a part of anything that goes contrary to righteousness." Some of you have been enjoying short-term profits from industries and ideologies that stand in opposition to the desire of Christ. We are asking you, in the interest of saving your soul, to abandon those things that in the end will result in your destruction.

The title of today's blog refers to the traditional countdown before a rocket or space shuttle is launched. But, I cannot give you an exact countdown time. I do not know the day when Christ will send His angel to purge unrighteousness from Bronx Bethany, and according to Scripture our task is not to determine dates, but to be ready at all times for the return of Christ (Matthew 24:36-44). But we do have this statement from Jesus: "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots" (Matthew 15:13).

I encourage all of us to read and meditate on Psalm 1 during this week. Tomorrow we will take a closer look at "chaff" as a metaphor for ungodliness (Psalm 1:4).