We often need the reminder to make sure we’re living in the present. That reminder can keep us from remaining stuck in the past as we get caught up ruminating on regrets or unfinished business. Such a reminder can also keep us from an unhealthy fixation on the future life we have planned for ourselves that always seems to be just out of reach, always waiting for this to happen or that to fall into place. Those reminders are good for us so that we don’t overlook the blessing of the present, the here and now, the 24 hours that we have on this day, in this place, in this station of life where we find ourselves currently – not dwelling on who or where we were in the past and not pining for who or where we’d liked to be in the future.
Yet, as we live in this time in between Christ’s first and second coming, we can just as easily get stuck with tunnel vision, zeroing in only on the here and now and losing sight of the “not yet” – the future that God holds out to those who are his. There are three dangers of forgetting the future and living only in the present.
First, focusing only on the present can find us unprepared and not ready for Jesus’ return. Jesus even warned against waiting until the last minute because of such an attachment to the here and now in a number of his parables, such as the bridesmaids waiting for the groom who run out of oil because they aren’t prepared (cf. Mt. 25). We want to be ready for that time.
Jesus’ warning to Christians is that it is extremely dangerous to leave our faith always on the “perennial to-do list, ” as if our good intentions to getting around to it after we finish everything else that we’ve prioritized ahead of it. We dare not let faith be our last concern in this life only to find out after it’s too late that faith is the only concern that matters for the next life, for eternal life. It will simply be too late to discover that reality after the fact.
A second danger that arises when we perceive heaven or Jesus’ return to be so far off into the future: we leave ourselves susceptible to being overcome by a feeling of hopelessness. The discouragement, the disappointment, and the disillusionment of the daily here and now can capsize us like a tiny fishing boat being tossed about in the middle of a hurricane. We become convinced that there is no end in sight regarding our financial plight. A toxic relationship will never become healthy. My job will never be fulfilling. The chronic pain or sickness is not going to improve. I can’t fix the struggles I’m having with my child. Without reminders about the eternal hope our future holds, each of these challenges can feel like another fifty-foot wave smacking and swamping us over and over again until we finally sink. It’s just a matter of time.
The third danger that comes when we fail to focus on our future glory may be the most dangerous: instead of holding out for the future glory that is ours in Christ Jesus, we seek out glory in the here and now. For that is what the fall into sin has made us: glory-seekers.
Satan had convinced Adam & Even not to remain content with who God had made them to be in the world God had made for them. They believed there was a level of glory that God was hiding from them, keeping them from attaining a status more in line with his. The fruit was the key. They were deceived into believing it promised them the glory they were seeking. So, unsatisfied with the glory they already had by being created in God’s perfect image, they longed for a greater glory. And the result? The glory they had was smashed to pieces, obliterated into nothingness, gone, along with the gloriously perfect world God had given them.
We daily pick up where our first parents left off, glory-seeking as if on a treasure hunt that promises untold riches and wealth if we can just secure the glory we seek. “But glory is the last thing I am interested in,” you say. “I dread being the center of attention or being recognized. I would much rather defer to someone else more interested in such things. Glory does not interest me.” So you say.
How then do you justify your workaholism? The paycheck that affords you a new _______, or the successful title, promotion, or recognition, or simply the praise others heap on you for being a hard worker – what is that if not all ultimately about serving your own glory? What of your child’s athletic, academic, or extracurricular achievements, diploma from a prestigious university, or high-paying career? Are those things so often the topic of your conversations for their own sake, or are you simply glory-seeking through your kids? Are you early or on-time for everything because you’re so considerate or respectful of other people’s time, or do you glory in that reputation? On the flip side, are you habitually running late for everything because of one excuse or another, or is because self-glory has you convinced that your time is more valuable and important than everyone else’s?
If we aren’t interested in glory seeking and self-glory, why then, is it so hard to pay another a compliment? Because it draws attention away from us (or we’re just naturally better at pointing out others’ flaws). Why are we compelled to identify the tiniest shortcoming in a project or job done by someone else? Because we could have done it better. Why is it so hard to apologize or admit that we were wrong? Because our glory, our reputation, our pride, would be damaged. Do we defer recognition because we’re genuinely humble, or because our glory is in wanting to be known and recognized for our humility?
It is the deceptive nature of this third danger of neglecting to focus on our future glory that makes it such a threat. We actually begin to believe, just as Adam and Eve did, that we can search out and secure some sort of glory this world might offer. But it is nothing more than a mirage.
And if we spend our here and now pursuing a mirage, then the Holy Spirit is being robbed of the opportunities to feed and strengthen our faith. The stronger our faith, the more we yearn to receive a true and lasting glory, a glory that is no mirage, but is a reality secured for us through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He is our glory, and so it is no surprise to see him at the center of the vision shared with us through the eyes and pen of John in Revelation. Do you wish to see what glory looks like? Look no further than the verses from Revelation 7.
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” (vss. 9-12).
Now imagine that right in the middle of this glorious scene, this happens: an individual objects to all of the glory being directed at the Lamb and demands that he, too, be recognized for certain highlights in his own life. Absurd!
But as absurd as that is, is it any more ridiculous than any attempt at glory-seeking right here and now? Why should the here and now on earth be any different than the not yet of heaven? Why should be think ourselves worthy of any glory whatsoever when the only mark we hit consistently in our lives is that of unholiness and imperfection?
What makes this glory depicted in Revelation so remarkable is that it even overshadows and covers our every foolish attempt at seeking self-glory in the here and now. Notice what everyone is wearing: “Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (vss. 13-14).
A white robe. A white robe made pure and clean by the blood of the Lamb. The blood shed on the cross, the blood given to you in the Sacrament – that blood alone cleanses and purifies you. It washed away your sinful glory-seeking and all other pride along with it. That is the only reason anyone is able to stand in the presence of the Lamb and worship him, and that is the reason this whole scene is punctuated with praise and adoration in the first place – because of what the Lamb has done for all people, including you and me.
And friends, we wear that robe not just in heaven, but also here and now, through faith in Jesus. We are righteous right now. We are holy right now. We, to a degree, are covered in this glory right now.
Why should we ever foolishly seek an inferior glory that the world holds out to us when we have the superior glory of Jesus Christ to claim as ours not just in the future, but in the present? Here and now. When we are robed in that glory, we get it. We get that serving Jesus is a joy, not a burden. That’s why we long for this scene: “Therefore, ‘they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence’” (v.15).
Yet even now we have the joy of serving him day and night with our whole lives. While we have to wait for the complete joy and bliss of the full glory that waits for us in heaven, we don’t have to wait until then to experience the joy of serving him and others here and now!
And to spur us on toward perseverance and endurance while we serve here, we take to heart the picture of serving God eternally in a world without the worries or woes that plague us here and now. “‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes’” (vss. 16-17).
Yes, we live in the time in between, but that doesn’t mean we live unaware of what waits for us. Quite the opposite. It is precisely because we know what waits for us that we are encouraged. That is why we continue to focus on a future glory that is ours, spurred on even by a foretaste of that glory in the present, as we are God’s glory-bearers here and now.