Ready or Not, Here I Come

A Sermon By Jim Hammond from 2 Peter 3:1-9

Part of the “Make Every Effort” 2 Peter Series

The Phrase

Do you remember this, (closing eyes and counting), “95…96…97…98…99…100--Ready Or Not, Here I Come!”  We used this phrase in Hide and Seek to forewarn all those who might be still hiding.  Some were ready and waiting with anticipation; some were still frantic to get into the right position. 

What about “Ready or not, Here I Come!”…

As it relates to the Iraq Weapon’s Inspection

We hear about a national game of hide and seek, with deadly implications.  Iraq, Ready or Not, Here we Come.  On Tuesday of this past week the president said,

"We're not interested in hide-and-seek inside Iraq. The only question is ... will this man disarm?" President Bush said on a political trip to Louisiana …, "The choice is his. And if he does not disarm, the United States of America will lead a coalition to disarm him."[1]

Do you have the impression even from our current affairs that almost anything could happen and big changes might take place at any time?  This wasn’t the feeling of the “scoffers” we will learn about today.

What about “Ready or not, Here I Come!”…

As It Relates to Christmas Preparation

How does the phrase strike you as it relates to Christmas?  Ready or not, Here I Come.  Are you ready?  Whether ready or not, it’s coming. 

Some go to great lengths getting ready for Christmas. 

And some traditions are very unusual and preparations very elaborate.

“Panting in Anticipation” From Snopes.com, a true story. 

This is a true story how for 25 years two brothers-in-law traded the same pair of gift pants back and forth between them, each time finding more inventive ways to wrap them.

The one present Roy Collette wasn't looking forward to getting for Christmas 1988 was those…pants. Yet he knew he was in trouble as soon as the flatbed truck bearing a concrete-filled tank off a truck used to deliver ready-mix rolled up. Sure as God made little green apples, those pants had to be in there. And he was going to have to fish them out, else declare his brother-in-law the winner of a rivalry that had spanned 20 years.

Being the sport he is, brother-in-law Larry Kunkel thoughtfully supplied the services of a crane to hoist the concrete-filled tank off the flatbed.

What's this game, you ask? What was the significance of these pants, and why were two grown men going to such efforts year after year to retrieve them, only to send them off again?

It all began in 1964 when Larry Kunkel's mom gave him a pair of moleskin pants. After wearing them a few times, he found they froze stiff in Minnesota winters and that wouldn't do. That next Christmas, he wrapped the garment in pretty paper and presented it to his brother-in-law.

Brother-in-law Roy Collette discovered he didn't want them either. He bided his time until the Christmas after, then packaged them up and gave them back to Kunkel. This yearly exchange proceeded amicably until one year Collette twisted the pants tightly and stuffed them into a 3-foot-long, 1-inch wide pipe.

And so the game began. Year after year, as the pants were shuffled back and forth, the brothers strove to make unwrapping them more difficult, perhaps in the hope of ending the tradition. In retaliation for the pipe, Kunkel compressed the pants into a 7-inch square, wrapped them with wire and gave the "bale" to Collette. Not to be outdone, Collette put the pants into a 2-foot-square crate filled with stones, nailed it shut, banded it with steel and gave the trusty trousers back to Kunkel.

The brothers agreed to end the caper if the trousers were damaged. But they were as careful as they were clever. As the game evolved, so did the rules. Only "legal and moral" methods of wrapping were permitted. Wrapping expenses were kept to a minimum with only junk parts used.

Kunkel next had the pants mounted inside an insulated window that had a 20-year guarantee and shipped them off to Collette.

Collette broke the glass, recovered the trousers, stuffed them into a 5-inch coffee can, which he soldered shut. The can was put in a 5-gallon container filled with concrete and reinforcing rods and given to Kunkel the following Christmas.

Kunkel installed the pants in a 225-pound homemade steel ashtray made from 8-inch steel casings and etched Collette's name on the side. Collette had trouble retrieving the treasured trousers, but succeeded without burning them with a cutting torch.

Collette found a 600-pound safe and hauled it to Viracon Inc. in Owatonna, where the shipping department decorated it with red and green stripes, put the pants inside and welded the safe shut. The safe was then shipped to Kunkel, who was the plant manager for Viracon's outlet in Bensenville.

The pants next turned up in a drab green, 3-foot cube that once was a 1974 Gremlin. A note attached to the 2,000-pound scrunched car advised Collette that the pants were inside the glove compartment.

In 1982 Kunkel faced the problem of retrieving the pants from a tire 8 feet high and 2 feet wide and filled with 6,000 pounds of concrete. On the outside Collette had written, "Have a Goodyear."

In 1983 the pants came back to Collette in a 17.5-foot red rocket ship filled with concrete and weighing 6 tons. Five feet in diameter, with pipes 6 inches in diameter outside running the length of the ship and a launching pad attached to its bottom, the rocket sported a picture of the pants fluttering atop it. Inside the rocket were 15 concrete-filled canisters, one of which housed the pants.

Collette's revenge for the rocket ship was delivered to Kunkel in the form of a 4-ton Rubik's Cube in 1985. The cube was made of concrete that had been baked in a kiln and covered with 2,000 board feet of lumber.

Kunkel "solved the cube," and for 1986 gift-giving repackaged the pants into a station wagon filled with 170 steel generators all welded together. Because the pants have to be retrieved undamaged, Collette was faced with carefully taking apart each component.

What happened to the pants in 1987 is a mystery, and their 1988 packaging (concrete-filled tank) was mentioned at the beginning of this page. Sadly, 1989's packaging scheme brought the demise of the much-abused garment.

Collette was inspired to encase the pantaloons in 10,000 pounds of jagged glass that he would then deposit in Kunkel's front yard. "It would have been a great one - really messy," Kunkel ruefully admitted. The pants were shipped to a friend in Tennessee who managed a glass manufacturing company. While molten glass was being poured over the insulated container that held them, an oversized chunk fractured, transforming the pants into a pile of ashes.

The ashes were deposited into a brass urn and delivered to Kunkel along with this epitaph:

The urn now graces the fireplace mantel in Kunkel's home.

Barbara Mikkelson [2]

This might be a lot of fun, but are we missing the point of Christmas here?

What about “Ready or not, Here I Come!”…

As It Relates to the Very First Christmas

Ready Or Not, Here I Come.  Think of the phrase as it relates to the coming of the Messiah the first time, what is now the first Advent, or the first Christmas. 

“Grandpa, when will the Messiah Come?”

“Soon, son, very soon.  We have been told now for 1,000 years that he is coming, but I think the time is soon, very soon now. 

“Why do you think so Grandpa?”

“Well, the prophets have told us this.  The 70 weeks of years have come to pass.  The time for the Messiah to come to rule the nations has come.”

Simeon’s Prayer:

Simeon must have prayed over and over and regularly, something like this:  “Lord, the Gentiles rule over us.  King Herod is wicked.  Your promises are sure.  When will you give us the consolation of Israel?  When will you send us the mighty deliverer, the Messiah?”  I imagine it was in one of those prayer times that the Spirit of God came over him and it was revealed to him that he would meet the deliverer before he died.  I’m guessing it was a vision.  He saw a young couple in his vision.  He saw them in the Temple in a vision of what was to come.  So he recognized them right off, and the Spirit confirmed it again.  We read about it in Luke.

Luke 2:25-35 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you now dismiss your servant in peace.

30For my eyes have seen your salvation,

31which you have prepared in the sight of all people,

32a light for revelation to the Gentiles

and for glory to your people Israel."

33The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

“Ready or Not, Here I Come”

Little did the Israelites know that the great and glorious coming of the Messiah was in two parts, the coming in humility, and then after this, the coming in Glory.  Many would stumble over his humble coming because they were expecting his glory NOW.  Both his humility and his coming glory are prophesied in scripture.  Little did we know that the “last days” described in these prophecies would stretch into a long period of time encompassing his humility and his coming glory.

For the Next 3 Sundays (till Christmas)

·       Ready or Not, Here I Come (Part 2) Recovering the Hidden “Y” throughout the Holidays

·       Ready or Not, Here I Come (Part 3) The Power of A Promise

As It Relates to Us Today & 2 Peter 3

We will be continuing our study of 2 Peter this morning.  When we read 2 Peter 3 look for the theme of “Ready or Not, Here I Come”.  Notice that in the text there are some who are ready and some who are not.  Also notice that Peter gives answer to why we are still waiting. 

2 Peter 3:1-18 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8But 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. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10But 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 in it will be laid bare.

11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as 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. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.  

Focus:  Scoffers mock the very idea of Christ’s second coming and a cataclysmic end of the world as we know it, but ready or not, here He comes.

I.  We are In the Last Days (3:3)

In the last days scoffers will come  (3:3)

Peter used this phrase “last days” in his sermon in Acts 2 as referring to the days he was living in way back then.  He saw his day as the last days in fulfillment of the prophecies and he quotes the prophecy in Joel. 

Acts 2:17     " 'In the last days, God says,  I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy,  your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

“The Last Days” refers to the time frame between Christ’s first and second coming.  The last days of earth, the last era began when Christ finished his act of redemption, his atoning death, burial, and resurrection.  The last days are the days of the overlapping of the ages.  The kingdom of darkness continues, though the kingdom of light, God’s kingdom has been established.  Though we know Christ’s glory, we are still in the period of Christ’s humility.  His glory is still hidden to the world.  The last days are over when His glory will be revealed to all at his second coming.  Then we will have a new order of things.

A.  There are Scoffers:  (3:3-7)

There will be “scoffers” regarding the second coming in the last days, following their own evil desires.  We need to understand first of all that the question in verse 4, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation,"   is not an honest inquiry but an attempt to mock the faith. Honest skepticism isn’t the problem; it is deliberate unbelief that is the problem.  We can see this deliberate attitude described by Peter in verse 5.   5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word…

Honest skeptics can be given answers.  Deliberate hardened skeptics willfully ignore any answer you give.

Religious Scoffers

From the website of an Unitarian Universalist preacher: “Well, I was a lot more comfortable with Advent before I really started thinking about the theology behind it. You see, I have a problem.

While I have a great deal of respect for my Christian friends and neighbors who believe otherwise, I don't see Jesus as God. At least, no more inherently god-like than any of you. So the advent of Christ 2000 years ago just doesn't resonate with me. And I don't believe in any pre-ordained apocalypse and associated Day of Judgement. There may be a destruction of the earth one day, but I think it will be through folly or misfortune and not by cosmic design. So, the idea of a Second Advent . . . a return of God . . . doesn't speak to me either. And, for that matter, my whole concept of the eternal, unknowable mystery that I call God is undoubtedly far different from the understanding of God that is implicit in this particular theology of incarnation, resurrection, and return.

Scientific Scoffers

‘Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation

  In Science this is called “uniformitarianism”  It is the presupposition that everything that currently exists can be explained by processes that are now taking place. For example:  The layers of geology can be explained by seeing what currently takes place and adding enough time to the formula to explain how layers formed over billions of years of time.  According to uniformitarianism, given enough time, the shape of continents, the height of mountains, the depths of the sea, can all be explained by erosion, volcanism, earthquakes, etc., the phenomena that occurs now.

This theory is based on the sentiment expressed here , everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.  But it fails to take into account catastrophic events like the world flood of Genesis, or the tremendous demonstration of God’s power in creation.  It fails to take into account the powerful God who is behind the scenes, who created the scenes, or who brings catastrophe to the scenes.  The “nothing has changed” argument fails to take into account the interruptions of “creation” or “catastrophe” where God takes power outside of the normal frame of reference and applies it rapidly.  Things can and do change in an instant.  Don’t count on things remaining the way they are.  They don’t.  The theory of catastrophe is counter to the theory of uniformitarianism.

Honest scientific atheists themselves believe in a catastrophic event called the “Big Bang”.  Scientists have no ability to explain where the energy came from that caused the bang, or how from nonintelligence, intelligence was born, or how from non design, design was born.  I like Frank Peretti’s description of the Evolutionary theory he calls, “From Goo to You, by way of the Zoo.” This theory does not adequately answer the questions.  It cannot answer what was before “the bang”, or what caused “the bang.”  If the universe is viewed as one large box and science is described as observing what is in the box with tools available to us from within the box, science then cannot explain the origin of the box itself.  The “Big Bang” theory has in effect opened the lid to the box and begs people to ask questions science cannot answer because science can only describe what it sees in the box with tools from the box.  What is sad is that many deliberately avoid these questions altogether.  What was before the bang?  What caused it?

Deliberately Forget = ignore

Like the scoffers of Peter’s day, these scoffers also “deliberately forget” the cataclysmic events of the flood and creation.  It is not intellectual honesty that causes people to scoff at Christianity.  People become scoffers not for intellectual conviction, but in order to avoid the conviction of sin.  What is another word for “Deliberately forget”?  Ignore is a good word for this.  There are believers who also “ignore”.  Those who ignore the truth are in danger.  The Devil tempts us with the notion that we have time, lots of time.  Things never change, things will go on.  Will they not change?  Things can change very quickly.

When Is Hide and Seek Not Fun?

Hide and Seek is not fun under two occasions.  1) When you want to be found and nobody is looking, and 2) when you REALLY don’t want to be found and somebody IS looking.  Hide and Seek is really frightening when it isn’t a game.  Some are hiding from the law, or just hiding from the truth, or hiding from their past, or worst of all, hiding from God.[3]

Rev. 6:16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!

I want you to know you cannot hide from God.  When Christ says, Ready or Not, Here I Come, it will take but a twinkling of the eye to find you!  That’s no time at all.

II.  How To Be Sure We Are Ready

2 Peter 3:1-2 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

A.  Stimulate Wholesome Thinking (3:1-2)

What stimulates wholesome thinking?  Recalling the words of the prophets, and commands of Christ, and teachings of the Apostles. 

What are you doing to Recall the words of the Prophets, Christ, and the Apostles?

Daily Bible Study helps us pay attention to what’s important when the distractions come.  Distractions will come in the form of false teachings from within and without.  Our culture constantly teaches us the values of the world instead of godly values.  There are constant distractions that pull at our attention, draining our lives of the awe and attention God deserves. 

Application pause:  How might I stimulate wholesome thinking?

How might I recall the words of the Prophets, Christ, and the Apostles this week?  How might I develop habits that stimulate wholesome thinking?  What do I need to eliminate from my lifestyle (daily routine)?  What do I need to add to my lifestyle (daily routine)?

Before I bring the last point home let me summarize the first 7 verses.  You look to the verses as I summarize.

This IS Peter’s Summary of Wholesome Thinking: (Review first 7 verses)

1.     Verse 1 reminds us to stimulate wholesome thinking.

2.     Verse 2 tells us it is to our benefit if we regularly recall the teachings of the Prophets, and the commands of Jesus through the Apostles.

3.     Verse 3 tells us that in the last days Scoffers will come (motivated by their own evil desires).  We are in the “last days.”

4.     Verse 4 tells us that things can and have changed in an instant and they will again.  Don’t count on things remaining the way they are.  They won’t.

5.     Verse 5 tells us we better not IGNORE GOD, or God’s truth (5)

6.     Verse 6 tells us that God has judged before (6) and He will bring judgment again. (7)

7.     Verse 7 tells us how.  This time it will be by fire.  Verse 7 also tells us that reservations for judgment have been made for the world and the ungodly.

Would you like to know how to make sure your reservation has been cancelled? 

B.  So that We Can Repent (3:9) and Commit to Wholesome Living

2 Peter 3:8-9 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. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

It’s not Santa Claus who is Coming to Town; it’s Jesus.  The only time we have to get ready is till he comes or till we die, which ever comes first, and there is no telling whether that will be today, tomorrow, or years from now.

If you have not surrendered to Jesus, you are NOT READY, watch out, because Jesus is saying, “Ready or Not, Here I Come”.

It’s NOT Santa Claus who’s coming to Town.

 Would you please write on the bottom of your notes the beginning of your prayer of repentance this morning, indicating how you will respond to God.