Experiencing Shock and Awe from An Unshakable Vantage Point

 

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe -- Hebrews 12:28

  You'd have to be living under a rock for the last few decades to see that we are living in tumultuous times.  When the Lord himself gave us a forecast of the sociopolitical, meteorological and even geological signs of His return, it must have sounded so fantastical to those who first heard the words of His prophecy:  

 

   “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶ men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Luke 21:25-26

  In the words of Jerry Lee Lewis, "There's a whole lotta shakin' goin' on,"  even to the point of the earth is itself shaking with acute intensity.  

  We in the 21st century are well-acquainted with such shaking.  In addition to the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and mega storms, we experience vigorous rumblings in the halls of government and in the very fabric of society.  We see shaking abroad with the daily 'war and rumors of war' being reported, uprisings and anarchy in the Middle East.  There's hardly a place on this planet that we can turn to without seeing foundations undulating and crumbling.  

  And the effect of experiencing this shaking is predictable.  Jesus explained the emotional side affects of such conditions:  men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth(verse 26b).

  This is short of like the 'Shock and Awe' that was unleashed against Baghdad in 2003, when coalition forces, led by the United States, invaded the country of Iraq in order to rid the world of a very real source of antagonistic geopolitical instability.  Wikipedia defines shock and awe "is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight."

  I think this is a good word for us today.  I say that because, in spite of all the shaking, the people of God should be able to process all this with the utmost sense of hope, courage, faith, and especially peace.  Let me explain.

  The first thing I want to offer to us is that Jesus didn't speak these prophetic words with an eye toward creating a fearful, shrinking and cowering people.  In His farewell address to His disciples Jesus said Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid(John 14:27).  And why would He say that?  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world(John 16:33).  Jesus was inviting them(and us) to see all these things from a heavenly viewpoint, a viewpoint which sees all things in the complete and utter absence of fear.

  Secondly these foretold events of the end times, a season and time in which many believe the world is presently in - this is not that last final word on reality.  When Jesus spoke these words, He did so with an eye toward preparing his people for what was coming after all these things.  He instructed us thusly:  Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near(Luke 21:28)  There is a greater reality coming, a reality greater than all the shakings and tremblings being emitted from the planet today.  "Our redemption" is nothing less than the return of Jesus for His people, His church, His Bride.

  Finally, I would like to suggest that we really need to consider the source of all these 'shakings'.  If we shortsightedly attribute them to the devil, then not only will we be, like the rest of the world, prone to fear and terror, but we will completely miss the 'big picture'.  And when we miss the big picture I believe we will be ineffective, as the people of God, in communicating Heaven's message of Good News to the world.  What I mean is that instead of communicating the message of the heart of a loving Father, we will instead construe these signs and portents as being prophetic omens from an angry and vengeful Judge, who never was happy with the world in the first place, and Who is happy that the whole experiment will finally be over and He can throw the planet into the dustbin where is belongs.  Good riddance!

  This is not to say that we should be End Times Pollyannas and ignore the swift, sudden and cataclysmic way in which God will impose His will and power on the planet and its corruption.  2 Peter 3:10 comes to mind, as one of many examples.   But we must not let this be the lens through which we communicate to the world the heart of the Person who is coming to redeem it.

  So what is the source or cause of all the shakings that are happening in the world?  The writer of Hebrews gives us a spectacular clue and insight into the source of all this shaking.  He says,  See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, ²⁶ whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” (Hebrews 12:25-26)   

  Speaking to the audience out of a context of faith(See chapter 11) the author has been teaching as to the revelatory nature of faith and how it allows us to 'see' Jesus "the author and finisher of our faith"(Hebrews 12:2) who is pacing us with a view toward an endurance which finishes the race well.  Without the ability to have a genuine spiritual capacity to perceive the presence of God in the midst of trials, we may succumb to our weakness and lapse into fear and quite possibly unbelief.  Unbelief, the writer explains, is contagious and infectious(verse 15) - maybe even more infectious than faith itself.  

  It is faith that gives us the ability to process trials and events from a heavenly perspective, which, in turn, allows us to partake, on an ongoing basis, the very nature of Heaven itself:  righteous, peace and joy(Romans 14:17)  When we live in this perspective and feed from the resources of heaven, fear is not a consequence or an option, because we see the actual source of all the commotion and turbulence happening on the earth:  the voice of God.  The writer of Hebrews the Voice was the cause of all the tremblings of the earth in the past.  Then he says but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven."  

  What this tells us is that we can trace every instance of sociopolitical, geopolitical, geologic and meteorological instability to the Voice of God.  Not only that, but since God is speaking again, it should not surprise us that his Voice is wreaking havoc on the world today.  And what is the intended affect of God speaking over the earth today?: it indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain(verse 27).

  If it is the voice of God that's causing all this ruckus on the earth, then that begs the question:  what is God saying that is getting the world and all it's human and natural systems so agitated?  Well, we can't know for sure but we can make a reasonable assumption.  In the Book of Revelation, the 22nd chapter and the 12th verse, the writer, John, has the Lord Jesus himself speaking(in red letters): And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.  God is announcing, to the whole world, to kings and rulers, to tectonic plates, to the atmosphere His soon return.  This has the whole world operating in panic mode.

  Except, that is, His Bride, the Church.  When God speaks to those who oppose His rule and reign, His voice causes panic, fear and dread.  However, when God speaks to His people, just the opposite happens:  SHALOM.   His voice inspires and carries with it the infinite peace of the Kingdom of God.  And when God's people experience the shalom of God, then there is a settling, a calming, a divine sense of assurance, and a feeling of solidity where they stand.  

  And that is what the writer of Hebrews is saying in the last part of the 12th chapter.  He says, "SINCE(not if) we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."  It is in the distinct absence of fear that we can explain and communicate to our world, not that something bad is going to happen, but something very good.  And God wants everyone to get in on the secret.  God wants everyone to join the party.  

  So while you and I are out in our 'mission fields' we no doubt will see people whose hearts are reeling around like a drunken sailor on Saturday night.  Their hearts are so unsettled, as they should be, because of all the shaking that's occurring around them.  That's the moment we can, with steadiness and balance and ballast, tell them that there is a way to get some 'solid ground' under them.  And then we can show them how to stand on the Solid Rock, Jesus.