{"id":6503,"date":"2017-11-07T08:12:39","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T13:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=6503"},"modified":"2017-11-03T15:41:03","modified_gmt":"2017-11-03T20:41:03","slug":"november-11-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/november-11-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"November 11, 2017–It’s the End of the World as We Know it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Danny Stone, Marion, IA<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warm-up Question<\/strong><\/p>\n

Share a story about when you were late, unprepared or procrastinated.<\/p>\n

It’s the End of the World as We Know it<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ever listened to REM\u2019s 1987 classic, \u201cIt\u2019s the End of the World?\u201d\u00a0 Playing it now prompts listeners to ponder recent disasters.\u00a0 Texas was battered by Harvey.\u00a0 Irma devastated the Caribbean Islands and rolled across Florida.\u00a0 Hurricane Nate made landfall in Mississippi.\u00a0 Puerto Rico is coping with the overwhelming effects of hurricanes Irma and Maria.\u00a0 Forest fires burned more than a million acres in Montana and scorched California\u2019s Napa Valley.\u00a0 The Vegas gunmen opened fire from his hotel suite. World leaders threaten annihilation, and you cannot even talk about football without starting a fight.\u00a0\u00a0 Are we watching the end of the world?\u00a0 What\u2019s next?\u00a0 Elvis is still dead, right?\u00a0 Will The Walking Dead <\/em>become a reality show?<\/p>\n

Infamous televangelist, Jim Baker, sells a wide variety of food and gear for those anticipating an epic cataclysm.\u00a0 You can enjoy a king\u2019s breakfast while the world dies around you.\u00a0\u00a0 You can get 31,000 servings of food for $4,500.\u00a0 National Public Radio\u2019s food critics called it \u201cApocalypse Chow\u201d and found the meals were far from a royal feast.\u00a0 However, if you are worried about the Yellowstone super caldera volcano, a meteor from space, or civil collapse, Rev. Baker is hawking the grub you need.<\/p>\n

The National Geographic Channel and the Discovery Channel feature end of the world enthusiasts in their shows Doomsday Preppers<\/em> and Apocalypse Preppers.<\/em>\u00a0 Families detail their preparations, training, and weapon mastery.\u00a0 Viewers get tips on how to purify toilet water, \u201ctoilet water on the rocks.\u201d\u00a0 You can learn how to make a bug-out bag, properly store gasoline, and escape cities when society collapses.<\/p>\n

People have been anticipating the end for a long time.\u00a0 The early Christian church anticipated the return of Jesus in 365, 400, 500 and 800 AD.\u00a0 Expecting the end of days, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III dug up long dead Charlemagne in the year 999 AD.\u00a0 Because Otto expected the dead to rise at 12:00 am on January 1, 1000, Charlemagne was propped up in the corner, ready to walk again.\u00a0 Y2K was going to destroy our modern world with a computer glitch crashing the power grid and financial markets.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the question is not, “When will the end come?” but “How should we live in the meantime?”At various points in Martin Luther\u2019s life, he was convinced the end was near.\u00a0 He felt the church was ruled by the \u201cAntichrist,\u201d Ottoman Turks threatened the West, plagues swept the land, and peasants rose in revolt.\u00a0 Luther faced these challenges by getting married and worked to reform the church and society.<\/p>\n

Discussion Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n