The Rapture
I am now home (briefly) and slowly getting back to some writing projects. I am currently working on a number of things, the most exciting being a series of seven short books. The working title for the series is ‘Dis-courses’ as each will offer an incisive discourse on a theological idea that is intended to send the reader off course and onto a new course.
However I am also writing new parables. Here is one that I wrote this morning, it probably still needs some work but I thought I would share it anyway. It is called ‘The Rapture”.
——
Just as it was written by those prophets of old, the last days of the Earth overflowed with suffering and pain. In those dark days a huge pale horse rode through the Earth with Death upon its back and Hell in its wake. During this great tribulation the Earth was scorched with the fires of war, rivers ran red with blood, the soil withheld its fruit and disease descended like a mist. One by one all the nations of the Earth were brought to their knees.
Far from all the suffering, high up in the heavenly realm, God watched the events unfold with a heavy heart. An ominous silence had descended upon heaven as the angels witnessed the Earth being plunged into darkness and despair. But this could only continue for so long for, at the designated time, God stood upright, breathed deeply and addressed the angels,
“The time has now come for me to separate the sheep from the goats, the healthy wheat from the inedible chaff”
Having spoken these words God slowly turned to face the world and called forth to the church with a booming voice,
“Rise up and ascend to heaven all of you who have who have sought to escape the horrors of this world by sheltering beneath my wing. Come to me all who have turned from this suffering world by calling out ‘Lord, Lord’”.
In an instant millions where caught up in the clouds and ascended into the heavenly realm. Leaving the suffering world behind them.
Once this great rapture had taken place God paused for a moment and then addressed the angels, saying,
“It is done, I have separated the people born of my spirit from those who have turned from me. It is time now for us leave this place and take up residence in the Earth, for it is there that we shall find our people. The ones who would forsake heaven in order to embrace the earth. The few who would turn away from eternity itself to serve at the feet of a fragile, broken life that passes from existence in but an instant”.
And so it was that God and the heavenly host left that place to dwell among those who had rooted themselves upon the earth. Quietly supporting the ones who had forsaken God for the world and thus who bore the mark God. The few who had discovered heaven in the very act of forsaking it.
Tags: Peter Rollins, Rapture, second coming
December 15th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
So Pete, God would rather spend time with those who are depraved and selfish rather than the self-righteous? Is this the point you are making? If so, i LOVE it! i am posting this on my blog. Keep up the good work and looking forward to your seven book series called Dis-Courses!
Adele
December 15th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Pete,
Here’s the link to my blog referring to your new parable, ‘The Rapture’:
http://www.existentialpunk.com/existential_punk/2008/12/the-rapture.html
A.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Wow! Just about choked on my lunch when I read that last bit. Very effectively done… definitely looking forward to the books.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Could you please get some more rest?
December 15th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
It seems to me that the point you are trying to make is that the Spirit of God is found in those who would forsake heaven for the world, just like Jesus did. Not longingly looking forward to a better place, huddling together praying for the rapture to come quickly, but instead actively giving their lives for the world, serving ‘at the feet of a fragile, broken life that passes from existence in but an instant’. In this parable both groups seem to get what they want. the one group gets taken away, are not ‘left behind’, while the other group stays behind but lives and works in God’s presence. Well done!!
December 15th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
First of all, I like what you’re getting at here (or at least what I think you’re getting at). But here’s what I’m wondering (and maybe I’m thinking too much here), are those who turn away from God necessarily the same people as those who “forsake heaven in order to embrace the earth”? Could this merely be an elevation of a romantic idea that those who reject God are really doing it for a greater purpose of embracing this world? (a notion I find myself thinking from time to time) What about those who, as Caputo says, only care about their stock portfolios?
I’m just wondering what you think about this. I don’t mean to pick apart your parable. And I think you know I’m not trying to declare some people to hell or anything, I’m just concerned (mainly for myself) that I have a tendency to romanticize non-Christians/non-believers/non-theists.
Peace.
Adam
December 15th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Hey Adam… thanks for the thoughts. I had these concerns when I wrote the parable and so changed some stuff around. To try and get beyond that problem I made it so that God was only addressing the ‘church’ rather than all people. This itself causes problems, however by doing this I wanted to hint that God was speaking to those who were attempting to live the way of Christ… in the church there were then two types of people, those seeking to escape the world and those embracing it. The other way I attempted to overcome the problem was to make God say “it is there we shall find our people”, rather than simply saying, “the people who remain are our people”, i.e. those who remain on the earth are not all the selfless ones. I too love Caputo’s caustic comments in the excellent ‘On Religion’!
Thanks to everyone for the positive comments so far!
December 15th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
[...] via PeterRollins.net » Blog Archive » The Rapture. [...]
December 15th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I like it. I’m pretty sure there’s a bunch of people who will have their nose put out of joint by this, so I’ll make sure I let them know
December 16th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Hi Pete,
Thanks for the parable. I have a question. In fact, it’s probably not a question, it’s probably more of a “look here, this is what I think” sort of thing, that I pretend is a question to make me look better. But please, don’t make me drop the pretence. Anyway…
Should we embrace the earth as earth, or embrace earth as heaven?
Which comes first, the rejecting of heaven so that one can embrace the earth, or the perception that heaven is (or will be) on earth?
Did the chosen few love earth because it was the earth, or because it was secretly heaven? What did they love, when they loved the earth?
December 16th, 2008 at 7:19 am
More importantly:
Do these questions matter?
If one embraces the earth, believing that in time, or some strange variant of time, it will become clear that earth is heaven, is one likely to be shocked, like those in parable, to find that one has still, somehow, embraced the wrong thing?
Is there anyway of preventing eschatological shock?
Might the rejection of commonly accepted patterns of religious behaviour be one way of trying to do just that – to avoid being caught out by some unforseen divine reversal, to ensure that one is, definitively, on the winning side?
December 16th, 2008 at 9:55 am
[...] Rollins’ post called “The Rapture,” reminding Christians that God really cares about the earth and [...]
December 16th, 2008 at 11:07 am
This is all getting a bit scary…
December 16th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Great story!
People who have problems with these kinds of stories are simply trying to take the metaphors too far. The key points are clear but when we try to tease out all the details and force this simple story into an intricate systematic theology, then the metaphor breaks. A single metaphor cannot exhaust all truth. This is why we need lots of stories.
I suspect the holes that some might see in this story are simply due to the fact that ANY story using anthropomorphic symbolism about God is going to break down. Any time we tell a story that has God talk or think or have human concerns and human emotions is going to create logistical problems if we take it too literally. This is why there are so many arguments about biblical stories as well.
Just let the story be what it is and live within the metaphor long enough to be changed a bit. Problems only arise when we try and force Peter’s story to be about what will happen in an actual physical “end of days”. We sometimes make the same mistakes with Genesis and Revelation (as well as the gospels).
rock on Pete!
December 16th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
As a Christian who loves the Earth (talking to trees on a regular basis, who, its nice to know are also given a nice spot in Revelation
), this story made me smile. Thanks Peter.
Of course, there’s always the challenge if I’m truly loving it as God loves it…
December 17th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Fantastic, Pete. I’ve been cogitating on it all night. Besides being a good illustration of theme of the Fidelity of Betrayal (which, by the way, was well received by my class this fall) you have offered some deconstruction of the unbiblical evangelical theological tradition of the rapture (or as a friend puts it, “(c)rapture theology”!).
If you read Matt. 24 and Luke 17 in context, the plain meaning of the text indicates that those taken away are taken away, like those in the flood of Noah’s day, to judgment and destruction. Or as Jesus so eloquently answers the disciples, they will be taken to the place where the “vultures are circling the dead body.” In that case, leave me behind!
. As much as I like the late Larry Norman, “I wish we’d all been ready” missed the mark.
Keep the parables coming. Several have been used in our chapel services by students who were part of the group that met with you last March and attended ikon. Many thanks!
December 17th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Hi peter
Fab parable, great ending and loved it.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
hey pete,
i appreciate you’re back writing again.
from my lutheran lens, this sounds like a helpful narrative approach for framing a theology of the cross. nice! i also like “The Rapture Exposed” idea from Barbara Rossing suggesting it’s actually God’s rapture to earth that’s of greater hope and importance rather than somehow humanity’s insane and ill-conceived notion for leaving. it’s all one and the same and integrated i believe.
December 18th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Pete –
I have read and enjoyed both your books (and blog) for a couple of years now. I was sorely disappointed when circumstances prevented me from hearing you speak in person at The Great Emergence conference earlier this month. Perhaps I will have better luck catching you the next time you take a swing through the U.S.
I continue to enjoy your efforts in the creation of new parables. Your work in this provocative and creative form should introduce a whole new audience to your ideas/theological reflections. Speaking from my own experience, your symbolic tales have inspired and refreshed my own experiments in this meaningful format.
Your work consistently encourages me in ways large and small, particularly in my work as a hospital chaplain who serves others in ways that are true and accessible. I look forward to more new stories posted on your blog, as well as the printed compilation being released next Spring.
Blessings to you this holiday season; Merry Christmas!
- S.
December 21st, 2008 at 8:34 am
“Brother Rollins;”
I just discovered you and your blog from reading Terry Martin’s post.
I think you’ve “got” it absolutely right. Thank you!
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:31 am
No matter how good your thoughts are, they aren’t biblical. We are specifically commanded not to love the world (1John 2:15)
Matthew 24 also warns us of false teachers emerging in the last days. We no doubt are in the last days. This theology is not the gospel of Jesus.
1 Thesselonians 4:17 says that we (those who believe in Jesus as their Savior), should be cought up (greek word being “rapturos’) should forever be with the Lord.”
Read matthew 12:33-36, and take heed brothers. The wisdom of man is vanity
December 22nd, 2008 at 3:45 am
Hey Anna
Thanks for the comments. I thought that loving the world was a good thing and central to Christ’s mission. Where I live street preachers love telling people that and writing it on their sandwich boards. However, I would say that if it isn’t in the bible then we should put it in there
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:07 am
Thanks everyone for your comments. Some great and very insightful thoughts. I have particularly enjoyed peoples reflections on this parable in relation to the biblical text itself. In http://www.geoffreport.com/wp/2008/12/16/pete-rollins-the-rapture/#disqus_thread Geoff explicitly connects this parable with Matthew 25. Something that I love. You can hear an audio file of the parable at the ikon advent blog (until Christmas), mentioned in the most recent post
December 22nd, 2008 at 6:11 am
[...] an interesting way, Wright’s whole argument relates to a parable that Peter Rollins has recently written, for his forthcoming book The Orthodox Heretic [...]
December 24th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I loved this parable. Read “How Not To Speak Of God” and have your follow-up on order. Have recently been branching way out from my fundamental upbringing, thinking that about 3 people including myself of course would be with God in heaven someday. NT Wright and Rob Bell and yourself have really reframed my thoughts on God’s kingdom coming to earth and how I am to be a part of that. This really hits home with me, and I love it. Would like to check you out when you are in the US again if I can.
December 26th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Rapture….seems so science fiction. Do I have a choice to be raptured or not…? I am an Evangelsit….my heart is for the ‘left behind’. Lord I pray that if you do ‘rapture’, leave me behind too, that I may continue to shine for those in darkness.
December 28th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
[...] December 28, 2008 by Mel http://peterrollins.net/blog/?p=118 [...]
January 20th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Interesting….. Its very counterintuitive. On the other hand I think we need to be careful not to label people or sift through them. The heart is not something we can see. Our motives are key to what our spirituality is really about. If its selfish, even serving the world is not loving. Our hearts motives are to be of pure loving reasoning. Longing for heaven in the pure form (truly wanting to be with God) will lead us to the earth.
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I find something incredibly subtle about your post …On the face of it, it seems very right on, so very noble, but there’s also a undercurrent of self righteousness as if you’re saying “look at me I want to stick around, but them terrible fundies just want to leave” ….
How do you know their heart ??? I don’t personally believe in the rapture, but nonetheless I wouldn’t be so bold to just presume they’re uncaring because they believe in it.
What part of “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him” is so complicated??
January 26th, 2010 at 11:50 am
Wow, I love this. It reminds me of the story about the man who wanted to take his dog into heaven. http://www.tuffydog.com/dogs12.html which has a similar moral.
My spirituality is about embracing life on Earth, so I really like this story.
February 15th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
I would really love to get a copy or two. If I need to donate to the cost I would be happy to. Please let me know when they are available. Brya