Do you have questions about the meaning of some of the terms and teachings of The United Methodist Church? In this series, we ask clergy to share their understanding of topics. No preaching, just conversation.
In this episode, we asked the Rev. Alfred Day to talk about the Biblical idea of the end times. Day leads the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church.
Transcript:
The Rev. Alfred Day: “Rapture, a word that makes Christians think about the end of time, the culmination of the world, the second coming of Jesus. For United Methodists it’s really been much more simple than reading tea leaves and prophecies and televangelists’ complex charts about when Jesus is gonna come again on a certain date at a certain time. It’s really been more about understanding the end, not in terms of, it’s over, it’s finished, roll the credits; but much more in terms of end as Christian people living into God’s intention for the world and life. We used to say ‘living the Kingdom now.’ But I like the phrase that says ‘our living into the world of God’s imagining in this moment and time.’ And it’s that end and it’s that fulfillment and it’s that purpose that things like the Second Coming and the rapture have really tried to point Christians to and get them thinking about. For United Methodists understanding that end is far less about what’s way off in the future, and predicting that future, and far more about living the gospel of God’s love and bringing people to an experience of God’s love that transforms their lives and drives them out into the highways and the byways to express that love for others, to be the world of God’s imagining in this moment, right now.”
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View the entire series of Reflections on our Faith.
This video was produced by United Methodist Communications in Nashville, TN.
Media contact is Joe Iovino.
This video was first posted on February 16, 2018.
