How the Story Will End

The most important part of any story is how it ends. Lots of stories that start out pretty well are ruined by rotten endings. We probably can all think of a book we read, or a movie we saw, or a TV series that we streamed that started out OK but fell apart by the end. A good story, on the other hand, might start slowly or have some confusing twists or turns in the middle but it ends in a memorable and satisfying way that redeems the whole experience.

The problem, of course, is that we don’t know how a story will end until we get there. Several months ago, I was sitting in a dark theater, kinda squirming in my seat, and just counting down the minutes until the movie I came to see would finally come to an end. I had seen the trailer and thought that the film’s premise looked interesting enough, but halfway through I was second-guessing my decision: the movie was just kind of dragging on, I couldn’t understand where it was going, and worst of all, I wasn’t at all sure the ending was going to be good. At the same time, I was too invested to leave; or better or worse, I had to see it through to the end. Fortunately, on that occasion, I was rewarded for my perseverance – the story picked up and had a good ending that was worth seeing.

Life is not a movie or a TV show, of course, but it is a story, and this is especially true when we think of it in light of our faith. The fundamental claim of the Christian faith is that our lives are part of a larger story – not just the story of the world, but the story of God’s relationship with the world, a relationship that is defined by the person of Jesus Christ. We know the rough outlines of the story: that we have each been created in God’s image and likeness, that by our sins we have fallen short of God’s plan, that we need a Savior and that Savior is Jesus, God-with-us, who died and rose again to save us from our sins, that we now share in his Holy Spirit and in the hope of eternal life with him.

All of that we know, but sometimes we get stuck at that point. We’re not really sure where the story goes from there. How do our lives – with all of their joys and sorrows, their various goals and challenges – how do they fit in to the story? And most importantly, how will they end? In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us some assurance. As the one who wrote the story, he knows how it ends, and he shares with us a glimpse of what the future holds. What we hear may not sound at first very encouraging: nations engaging in violence, natural disasters and famines and plagues, and then perhaps most frighteningly, facing persecutions and even death. In the time of global pandemics, divided politics, even the threat of global war, all of that may hit a little too close to home.

Believe it or not, though, Jesus tells us all of this so that we may have hope. Why? Because he wants us to know what the ending will be. He assures us that in the end, after all these trials, God will save the righteous. All of these bad things will happen and it will seem like the good guys are going to lose, but then – boom, God will come to reward those who persevere in righteousness. As we heard from the prophet Malachi in our first reading, on that day God’s justice will come in an instant to give each their due: for those who are proud and those who do evil, it will be like a blazing oven “to set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch,” whereas for the righteous, that day will dawn like the warm sun “with its healing rays.”

John Martin, The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum (1822)

So, that’s how the story ends generally. But what will our ending be? On the one hand, today’s readings can give us strength and hope – if we find ourselves in the midst of a difficult chapter in life, perhaps confused with the direction we are headed, or being tossed about by the twists and turns in life’s plot. Maybe we are anxious about the storylines we see around us – in our society, in our church, in our personal lives. Maybe even some of us are tempted to give up on our faith. If that’s where we find ourselves, Jesus says, “Take heart! Fear not, for the ending of this story is certain, and though you may be suffering or perplexed now, if you persevere in your faith in me, you will be rewarded.”

On the other hand, today’s readings might be a wake-up call if we’re not perhaps as focused on our final end as we should be. Jesus says that those who share in his identity will necessarily encounter difficulties, sufferings, persecutions, and possibly even death, and we must be ready for those things so that when they come we don’t grow discouraged. The story of life is long and winding, and it has lots of subplots and side stories that can distract us from our ultimate goal, if we’re not careful. If we think that God primarily intends for us to find lasting happiness in this life or in what this life offers – power, pleasures, prestige, possessions – then we should perhaps squirm in our seats a bit because we will be sorely disappointed on the last day.

Friends, a week from now we will celebrate the Feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. That’s the part of the story that we haven’t yet experienced – the ending that awaits all of us. He who will return in glory on the last day, who will rule over all things in the end, is also the One who encourages us to have hope in him today, to stay focused on him, and to persevere in faithfulness to him in all of our joys and sorrows, all of our goals and challenges. If we do so, then on the coming of his day, we will encounter his justice like the healing rays of the rising sun. And that will be an ending worth seeing.