In the 4th Ice Age move, Manny the wooly mammoth, Sid the sloth, and Diego the saber-toothed cat embark on an epic quest after a disaster sets the entire continent adrift. Meanwhile, as they fight for their lives and try to save the world, Crash and Eddie, two shallow, escapist possums, are too busy having fun to be concerned about the world's problems. In one scene, Crash and Eddie are each perched atop a tree waiting for a shifting mountain to push against the base of the tree so they can be catapulted through the air. Take a look. (Show video: The Secret to Crash and Eddie’s Happiness, Ice Age 4)
“Wait for it … wait for it,” Eddie says to Crash. Then they fly through the air, laughing, after which they crash-land on their faces at the feet of Louis the mole hog. “That was awesome!” says Eddie as they leap to their feet.
“Can I ask you guys something?” Louis asks. “How are you both so happy? Doesn't it weigh on you that the world might be ending?”
“Can I tell him our secret?” Eddie asks Crash.
Crash grants his permission, so Eddie motions for Louis and says, “Come here. Come here.” As Louis leans in, Eddie gives his secret to attaining personal happiness while the world hangs in the balance: “We're very, very stupid.”
Louis stares in disbelief and asks, “But still, you're not a teensy bit concerned, oh I don't know, say… imminent death?” Eddie simply reaches out his hand and pinches Louis's nose and says, “Beep” (Ice Age: Continental Drift, 20th Century Fox, 2012, Directed by Steve Martino, Chapter 17: 54:15 to 55:57; www.PreachingToday.com).
I guess that’s one way to face the end, but is that any better than sheer panic and the frenetic activity that goes with it?
As I look at the crazy world around us, I’ve come to the conclusion that we are very close to one of two events: the rapture of the church and/or world-wide revival. Either the Holy Spirit is coming to breathe new life into the church, or Jesus is coming to take His church out of this world, both of which may happen one right after the other.
Amir Tsarfati, an Israeli pastor, just this last week (June 16, 2021) said, “The rise of a new world leader (the anti-Christ) must happen in the wake of a lack of leadership worldwide. Netenyahu’s removal from office was a great reminder to me that Israel is part of the game. After all it’s the place for that leader’s false peace and fake temple! Christians,” he says, “please get your life in order! We may be out of here way earlier than you can even imagine. Even the explanation for our sudden disappearing (in the rapture) is being worked on right now with the alien narrative being pushed all around!” (Amir Tsarfati, Telegram Post, 1:21 a.m., June 16)
So how do you get your life in order for what may be the end of this age? How do you prepare for Christ’s coming, which the Bible says could happen at any time? You could be blissfully unaware as Crash and Eddie were, or you could work yourself into a frenzy, living in fear of the times. However, the Bible shows us a better way to face the end. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Peter 4, 1 Peter 4, where the Bible tells us how to face the end.
1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers (ESV).
The original readers of these words were experiencing a lot of persecution. So, to them, the end of all things seemed extremely near! At the very least, many of them expected to die very soon, because Nero was killing a lot of Christians in those days. So Peter gives them and us some very practical advice on how to end our time on this earth well. First, he says...
BE SENSIBLE AND SOBER so you can pray intelligently.
Avoid the stupidity of blissful ignorance or the frenetic activity born out of fear. Rather, “Be self-controlled and sober-minded,” vs.7 says.
Just a few years ago, Fredrik Coltin invented Tikker. It’s a wristwatch that counts down your life so you can make every second count. The Tikker allows you to watch as a dot-matrix screen displays the seconds you have left on earth as they disappear down a black hole. Your estimated time of death is, of course, just that—an estimate. Tikker uses an algorithm like the one used by the federal government to figure a person's life expectancy and then converts that into a countdown of the years, months, days, minutes, and seconds you have left on this earth. The effect is sobering, like an incessant grim reaper reminding you that time is running out.
Fredrik Colting says he invented the gadget not as a morbid novelty item, but as an earnest attempt to change his own thinking. Colting, a former gravedigger, said, “The occurrence of death is no surprise to anyone, but in our modern society we rarely talk about it. I think that if we were more aware of our own expiration, I'm sure we'd make better choices while we are alive.” He calls Tikker “the happiness watch,” because he believes that watching your life slip away will remind you to savor life while you have it (Lulu Miller, “Nothing Focuses the Mind Like the Ultimate Deadline: Death,” NPR, 12-31-13; www.Preaching Today.com).
I like Colting’s approach to life: savor the time you have left with the sober reminder that time is running out.
Steve Jobs put it this way: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.” Then he said, “I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
He continues, “Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important” (Steve Jobs Best Quotes, The Wall Street Journal, 8-24-11; www.PreachingToday.com).
Living with the sobering reality that the end is near, helps you focus on what is truly important. And what is truly important?
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins (ESV).
The most important thing you can do as you face the end of all things is...
LOVE DEEPLY.
Give of yourself sacrificially. Make a determined effort to demonstrate compassion for others.
The word for “earnestly” in verse 8 literally means “stretched out.” It was used in Bible days to describe the taut muscles of an athlete who strains to win a race. That’s the way we’re to love each other – not just when it’s easy, but also when we have to put forth some effort, especially towards those who sin against us. Verse 8 quotes Proverbs 10:12 where it says, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.”
Kathy Plate from Orlando, Florida, recalls visiting a neighbor home. There, five-year-old Andrew pulled out his kindergarten class picture and immediately began describing each classmate. “This is Robert; he hits everyone. This is Stephen. He never listens to the teacher. This is Mark. He chases us and is very noisy.” Pointing to his own picture, Andrew commented, “And this is me. I'm just sitting here minding my own business” (Kathy Plate, Orlando, FL, "Kids of the Kingdom,” Christian Reader)
Little Andrew exposed the offenses of his classmates, but that could only lead to trouble. Think about it. When you retaliate, or when you tell your friends how someone has wronged you, that only stirs up dissension. On the other hand, love keeps those offenses quiet and addresses them only with the offender.
So if you want to love deeply seek reconciliation with the person who has wronged you. Don’t go telling others about his or her sins. Instead, address it directly with the one who has sinned.
Now, that’s going to take some effort, but it is always well worth it especially as you come to the end of your life. You don’t want to leave this earth with any broken relationships if you can help it.
Not long before his death, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to the congregation at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. He said:
If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize; that isn't important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards; that's not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody” (William Willimon, Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry, Abingdon Press, 2002, p. 53; www.PreachingToday.com).
If anyone had good reason to retaliate for the wrongs done to him, it was Martin Luther King Jr. Even so, he pursued the way of love, and he urged his followers to do the same. You do it too! If you want to finish well, love deeply. That means pursue reconciliation.
Then reach out to strangers. Show hospitality.
1 Peter 4:9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling (ESV).
To “show hospitality” literally means “love strangers.” In Peter’s day, persecution forced a lot of believers out of their homes, so they welcomed the hospitality they received from other believers. Today, even though we don’t experience that level of persecution (yet), God still wants us to show hospitality to those who visit our churches.
Years ago in Philadelphia, an old couple come into a hotel at 11:00 on a rainy night and asked for a room. They had no reservations, and the hotel was full.
Even so, the night clerk told them, “We don't have any good rooms; they're all gone. But I'll tell you what: I have a room here. It's not much, but I'll have Mary, the night housekeeper, clean it up and put some flowers in there. Wait here a few moments. I'm sure you'll be comfortable for the night. I hate to send you out in this rainy night.”
Mary came back and said, “The room is clean.”
Then the clerk said, “Now you two can go upstairs, and I'll have some hot tea sent up for you.”
A year and a half later, when construction workers finished the great Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, John Jacob Astor needed a manager for his hotel. He remembered his late night experience at a hotel in Philadelphia with his wife a year and a half earlier and declared, “I want that night clerk to manage my hotel” (Bruce Larson, "When Your Enemy Prospers," Preaching Today, Tape No. 78; www.PreachingToday.com)
When you show hospitality, you never know who you may be serving. Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
Hospitality is a very important ministry of the church, which just about anyone of us can participate.
A Jewish believer in Jesus, Lauren Winner, talks about her first encounter with Christian hospitality. She says:
“Few situations make me as uncomfortable as being a newcomer in a church where I know nothing and no one. Everyone else knows when to stand and sit and bow and smile, and everyone else has someone to talk to during coffee hour, and there I stand, awkward and ill at ease, my inner introvert yelling at me to go home and curl up with a novel…”
That was how it was her second Sunday in Charlottesville. She was at Christ Church, where she knew exactly two people, one of them being her mother. After the service ended, she introduced herself to a couple sitting in the pew behind her.
“Hi,” they said. “So pleased to meet you.” She complimented the wife's shoes, and the husband asked if she enjoyed the sermon. Then they said, “If you don't have plans for the Fourth of July, please come to our party.”
Growing up Jewish, Winner had already experienced hospitality in Judaism. Now, as a new Christian, her Christian brothers and sisters showed her what the church should look like: a community of people practicing hospitality towards guests, strangers, outsiders, and the poor and vulnerable. (Lauren Winner, Mudhouse Sabbath, Paraclete Press, 2003, pp. 40-43; www.PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, you do a great job at this! Keep up the good work at making strangers feel welcome, even to the point of inviting them to dinner after worship.
If you want to finish well, love deeply. That means #1, pursue reconciliation. #2, reach out to strangers.
And #3, serve each other. Use whatever gifts and abilities God has freely given you to wait on each other, to minister to each other, to help each other in whatever way you can.
1 Peter 4:10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace... (ESV)
God has graciously given every believer the supernatural ability to serve. It’s a free gift He has given every one of us along with the free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). Now, there are a vast variety of ways we can serve. The New Testament lists at least 14 spiritual gifts in various places, but Peter classifies them all into two categories: speaking gifts and serving gifts.
1 Peter 4:11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (ESV).
If God has made you a preacher, preach God’s Word. If God has made you a helper, help with His strength, so that He gets all the credit.
The speaking gifts include abilities like teaching, exhortation, and prophecy. The serving gifts include abilities like showing mercy, helping, and giving, along with the gifts of leadership and administration.
No one has ALL these gifts, but everyone has at least one of these gifts. So find out what God has given you and use it to serve His people for His glory in His strength, which He abundantly provides.
The word for “supplies” in verse 11 was used in Bible days to describe paying for an entire chorus of professional musicians at public events (Strong, Lidell & Scott). This was an extravagant expense, so the word came to describe extravagant, lavish and abundant provision.
Well, that’s how God gives you His strength – not just a little bit, no. God abundantly and extravagantly provides the strength you need to do what He has gifted you to do. So there is no excuse for any of you not to be serving in some way in the Body of Christ, the church.
Dr. Scott Kurtzman, chief of surgery at Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut, was on his way to deliver an 8 a.m. lecture one day when he witnessed one of the worst crashes in that state’s history. A dump truck, whose driver had lost control, flipped on its side and skidded into oncoming traffic. The resulting accident involved 20 vehicles; four people died.
Thanks to years of emergency-room experience, Doctor Kurtzman immediately shifted into trauma mode. He worked his way through the mangled mess of people and metal, calling out, “Who needs help?”
After about 90 minutes, when all 16 victims had been triaged and taken to area hospitals, Dr. Kurtzman climbed back into his car, drove to the medical school, and gave his lecture – two hours late.
This kind of thing is typical for Dr. Kurtzman. He says, “A person with my skills simply can't drive by someone who's injured. I refuse to live my life that way.” (Hal Carp, Readers Digest, August 2006; www.PreachingToday.com)
You’ve got skills, my dear believing friend. You’ve got skills freely given to you by God Himself, so stop driving by those with needs. Refuse to live your life that way, and use the skills God has given you to serve Him in His strength for His glory.
Even if you are coming to the end of your days here on this earth, don’t just coast to the end. Instead, go out in a blaze of glory (His glory) and finish well.
For if you want to finish well, love deeply. That means pursue reconciliation, reach out to strangers, and serve each other with the gifts and strength God abundantly and extravagantly provides to every believer. Freely, freely you have received. Freely, freely give! Sure it’s scary especially when times are tough, but it’s the only way to finish well.
I close with these words from C. S. Lewis. He says, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to be sure of keeping your heart intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safely in the casket of your selfishness. And in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will not change, it will not be broken. It will become unbreakable, impenetrable and irredeemable. The only place outside of heaven where you can be perfectly safe from the dangers of love is hell.” (C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves; www.PreachingToday.com)
Please, don’t end your life that way. Instead, love deeply so you can finish well.
