FROM THE SERVANT GENERAL
MODERNISM
(Part 23)
THE DAY OF THE SON OF MAN
November 12, 2021
Today’s readings:
Wisdom 13:1-9
Psalm 19:2-5
Luke 17:26-37
We know Jesus will return, at the end of time. And those days will be like the days of Noah and Sodom, when everything will be destroyed (Lk 17:26,28a). The destruction will not be by flood as in the case of the time of Noah, because God promised never again to flood the whole earth. But it could be by a giant tsunami, caused by giant earthquakes. Or like Sodom when fire and brimstone rained down from the sky (Lk 17:29), the end could come by way of a giant asteroid striking the earth, or by space weapons fired by nations on each other on earth, or by giant eruptions on the sun which send extreme and destructive solar flares and coronal mass ejections upon the earth.
It will be sudden, while humankind goes about its day-to-day activities. People will be “eating and drinking, marrying” (Lk 17:27a), “buying, selling, planting, building” (Lk 17:28b). All of that is fine. But what about people engaging in illicit sex, aborting babies, corrupting minors, desecrating churches, persecuting people? In truth, “so it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” (Lk 17:30).
At that time, “one will be taken, the other left.” (Lk 17:34b,35b). One will be saved, the other left to destruction. Who will be saved? “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.” (Lk 17:33). Here is where today’s modernism and liberalism come in. Liberals and modernists look to the well-being of the human person, often apart from the righteousness of God. But the call to the authentic Christian is to deny himself, to lose his life, to look to God and not to self. In this way he preserves his life for eternity.
Modernists, including Church pastors who ought to know better, oftentimes act as if they are ignorant of God’s ways, as they focus on themselves. They become like secular humanists who live their lives outside of the laws of God. In God’s eyes, they are fools. “Foolish by nature were all who were in ignorance of God.” (Wis 13:1a). These liberals include Church hierarchs, top Catholic politicians, people of great power and position, and brilliant scientists. They all know and experience much of the good things that are in the world. However, they are those “who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing the one who is, and from studying the works did not discern the artisan” (Wis 13:1b). They think their accomplishments in the world are all due to their own intelligence, abilities and resources. They do not see that all good things come from God, and all man’s achievements are due to God’s grace and blessing.
Consider scientists and astronomers and even astronauts that have seen and know a lot about the universe. The reality is that “the heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.” (Ps 19:2). What they see and know should lead them to God. But they still cling to the big bang theory of the origin of the universe, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge a divine Creator.
They still reject faith because of science. They look to an amazing world and miss out on the driving hand that formed all things and put everything in their place. “Instead either fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water, or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods.” (Wis 13:2). How out of touch with true reality they are! “Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these; for the original source of beauty fashioned them.” (Wis 13:3).
The universe in its beauty shouts out the truth. Each and every day, God’s created world points to its Creator and Designer. “Day unto day pours forth speech; night unto night whispers knowledge.” (Ps 19:3). The beauty of the universe should have led learned men and scientists to God, “for from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.” (Wis 13:5). Unfortunately for many, it has not.
But God has done His part, and His created universe has done its part. God has put sight and wisdom into His people, but His people have looked to the culture of the age, which has made them blind and unwise. “For if they so far succeeded in knowledge that they could speculate about the world, how did they not more quickly find its Lord?” (Wis 13:9).
Modernists look to man, to scientific realities that man can explain, ultimately elevating man as a god. It is the oldest temptation in the world. As god, man is at the center, and everything is done for the well-being of man. Modernist pastors are moving our Church in this direction.
As such, much of the world is not prepared for the coming of the Son of Man.
