The Day of the Lord
Via A More Radical Gospel, pp. 218-219
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (II Peter 3:8-14)
The Day of the Lord shall come like a thief! I have always been tempted to think of that as a singularly inappropriate simile for the advent of our Lord! There are, after all, few things so upsetting, outrageous, and sometimes terrifying as the discovery that your home, your turf, your sphere, has been broken into, invaded, even violated by a thief. And most everyone in this evil generation has experienced it at one time or another. The Day of the Lord shall come like that? Surely there must be some mistake. Thieves come stealthily to take things away. Does not our Lord come to give? But before we rush — as is our habit these days — to take this as another instance of the ineptitude of the biblical authors in choosing their metaphors, we should note that it appears several times in the New Testament. Indeed, it is something of a favorite image for the second coming of our Lord. Surely that is no mere coincidence.
And it is not just a metaphor for the suddenness or unexpectedness of our Lord’s advent. Rather, it is a reminder (not to say a warning) that he comes finally to close down the whole enterprise and to take away all that which we have so carefully hoarded, coddled, and tended. The sharp-eyed ones have always known that. The demons knew it: “What have we to do with you, O Holy One?” Satan even tried to give him this world. Imagine that! Herod suspected it and his fear drove him to slaughter the innocents at Bethlehem. He didn’t want to lose his kingdom, after all! The author of our text is well aware of it, as shown in the claim that “the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire an the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.” And we have, of course, already been told: whoever would save his life, whoever tries to hang on to life at all costs, shall lose it. And now we are told that the second time it will be for keeps. One day it has all got to go — al lof it — burned to a crisp! And there is no insurance policy to cover it!
What is that to you? The text is quite explicit: don’t trade on the fact that it hasn’t happend yet. “The Lord is not slow about his promise, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” There is yet time, but the time is now for repentance, for detachment from all your things, yes, perhaps even to think about giving some of it away before it all gets taken away. In some small measure that is what the giving of gifts means during this season.
The day of the Lord shall come like a thief! Ponder that, and repent! Repent even now as he comes to you today in the bread and the wine. There is, you might say, even a foretaste of the divine “thievery” in this meeting as he takes form us all our reliance on our own devices and reclaims his creation: “This bread, this wine, is mine and I mean to have it back. I shall not drink of it again until I drink it anew with you in the Kingdom.” Ponder that and you will begin to see in the offense of this thievery that it is, after all, the gospel. For, after all, will it not be grand? Suddenly it will all be gone: the whole “works,” and all the bitter and the sweet fruit of our need and crazy ambition, the poverty and the riches, the fretting about the economy, the budget, the war machine, even all the hurts, the resentments and bitterness we have so carefully coddled and that in some crazy way keep us going — yes, even this lovely chapel and its magnificent organ — burned to a crisp! Won’t that be grand? There is a real “Bonfire of the Vanities” to end all bonfires! And then there will be a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Is that not really good news?
Yes, indeed, the day of the Lord shall come like a thief! In response, let all God’s people say: “Even so, come Lord Jesus!”
