When will the world come to an end? The so-called Doomsday Clock looks at world events and predicts the probability of the world ending. The clock is now set at 3 minutes to Midnight. The poet T. S. Eliot predicted the world would end not with a bang but with a whimper.
Ours is not the first generation to wonder about the future. When Jesus predicted the demolition of the Temple, his disciples asked “When?” If we read closely we hear Jesus responding to two different questions. First, they want to know when the Temple will be destroyed. They also ask about his return and the end of the world. So which question is Jesus answering? On the one hand, he explains the destruction of Jerusalem. This happened in 70 A.D. when Roman armies put down a rebellion. The Temple was destroyed at that time. On the other hand, he is explaining the end of time.
In the last few hundred years, elaborate theories have emerged explaining the events of the end of time in substantial detail. Do we have anything to do with the timing of the end of the world? Yes. The one thing we are sure will happen is the proclamation of the Good News of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world. We may miss this as preachers explain their charts about the sequence of events. Christ will return when his good news goes out to the whole earth. This is why send out missionaries. A hymn captured it, “To worship, work and witness.” This is our calling today and every day until Christ returns. When the world ends, it will not be with a whimper or a bang, but with a trumpet announcing God’s glorious victory, the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of the living.
