On Thanksgiving morning 1983, three Baltimore teenagers woke up to a policeman’s pistol starring them in the face. Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins, and Andrew Stewart were arrested and later convicted for the first-degree murder of fourteen year DeWitt Duckett, who was gunned down in the hallway of Harlem Park Junior High—the motive for the murder—Duckett’s coveted Georgetown University Basketball jacket! Although the three teenagers maintained their innocence, they were sentenced to life in prison. They have been serving their sentence for the past 36 years—until this past Monday when Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Charles J. Peters exonerated them.
“On behalf of the criminal justice system, and I’m sure this means very little to you, I’m going to apologize,” Peters told them. “We’re adjourned.” The packed courtroom erupted in applause, and family members began crying and hugging.
The extraordinary exonerations were set in motion through the perseverance of one of the defendants, Alfred Chestnut, now 52, who never stopped pushing for a review of the case. This spring his claim was picked up by the Baltimore City state’s attorney’s office’s Conviction Integrity Unit, which uncovered a flawed case that prosecutors now say encouraged false witness testimony and ignored evidence of another assailant.
On Monday at 5:15 p.m., Chestnut and his childhood friends Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart walked out of the courthouse onto North Calvert Street as free men, into the arms of weeping mothers and sisters and fiancees who doubted they would see this day.
“This is overwhelming,” said Chestnut, surrounded by cameras, lawyers and family. “I always dreamed of this. My mom, this is what she’s been holding on to forever. To see her son come home.”
As the decades passed, two of the men gave up hope of ever seeing the outside world again. But Chestnut kept pushing. In May, he sent a handwritten letter to city prosecutor Marilyn Mosby’s office, after seeing her on television discussing the unit dedicated to uncovering wrongful convictions. Chestnut included new evidence he’d uncovered about the incriminated man authorities now say was the actual shooter. The Baltimore prosecutors dug in quickly, reviewed the case. They were “horrified” to see the amount of evidence that was hidden from the defense team and jury.
Can you imagine what it would feel like to be convicted of a crime that you did not commit and serve a prison sentence for 36 years? How could maintain your sanity in the midst of such insane injustice? How could you hold onto hope in such a hopeless situation? Likewise, can you imagine if your fourteen-year-old son was murdered because someone wanted his basketball jacket—and then the wrong people were punished?
Stories like this infuriate our sense of justice and remind us that every sector of our society is broken. When three teenage boys are falsely convicted and incarcerated for 36 years, we see that our law enforcement and criminal justice systems are broken. When a company CEO rakes in 25 million dollars a year and a hard-working waitress scrapes by on $25,000 a year, we see that our economic system is broken. When a family files for bankruptcy to pay for their son’s chemotherapy, we see that our healthcare system is broken. When good parents are denied adoption rights and children are placed in bad foster homes, we see that our social systems are broken. When politicians abuse their power and refuse to work with colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we see that our political system is broken. I wish I could say that our spiritual institutions were immune to these types of problems, but when bishops cover up child abuse allegations or pastors embezzle money from their churches, we see that even our spiritual institutions are broken.
Now we should remember that all of these examples are exceptions to the general rule. Most cops aren’t crooked, most priests don’t abuse children, and many people do have their basic healthcare needs met. Nevertheless, we have witnessed enough systemic failure to cause a baseline of hopelessness. We see the symptoms all over our society.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 19.7 million American adults (aged 12 and older) battled a substance use disorder in 2017. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 47,173 Americans died by suicide in 2017. An even more staggering statistic is that in just 2017, 1.4 million Americans attempted suicide.
The causes of addiction and suicide are certainly more complicated than systemic failure, but they are major contributors to the sense of hopelessness that encompasses our culture today. What is the common denominator in these broken systems and expressions of hopelessness? It is human sin—pride, greed, lust, envy, and anger. Institutions and systems are comprised of many individual sinners. The old proverb is true: hurt people hurt people! And the vicious cycle is perpetuated.
The Hope of the Second Coming of Christ
Hopelessness—this is why the doctrine of the second coming of Christ is so important for our world today! The Bible tells us that King Jesus will one day return to the earth. He will eradicate sin and establish a kingdom of righteousness. As we learned last Sunday, Jesus will make a new heaven and new earth where there is no more death, disease, tears, conflict, or pain of any kind.
The doctrine of the second coming of Christ offers us hope for a better future—when Jesus returns, he will correct every individual injustice and fix every systemic failure. In the new creation, children aren’t murdered for their jacket and people aren’t falsely imprisoned—the absence of health problems will negate the need for health insurance—everyone will be rewarded equitably for their work—everyone will be treated with love and respect, regardless of race, class, or political affiliation (actually, there won’t be political parties )—there will be no more no more addiction or abuse, no more betrayal or backstabbing, no more hunger or homelessness, no more school shooting, terrorism, or war—there will be no more anxiety, fear, or worry! We will live in perfect peace God, each other, and the world around us!
As Christians, this is our great hope! Jesus came to the earth in the first advent 2000 years ago and began this great work of redemption. He died on the cross and was resurrected three days later to offer sinners the hope of eternal life in this new creation. And now we look forward to the day when Jesus returns at the second advent to finish what he started! So, even now, we call out, “Jesus, come quickly!”
The Timing of Christ’s Second Coming
So, when will Jesus return? How much longer do we have to wait for the second coming? Well, over the centuries, these questions have perplexed many people. But in Matthew 24:36-44, Jesus tells us explicitly:
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Jesus makes it perfectly clear that only the Father knows when he will return to the earth. This is why it is pointless to try to predict his return. Rather than perseverating on the precise timing of the second coming, Jesus teaches us to simply focus on being spiritually ready for his return. This is why he uses the illustration of a thief breaking into a house—since no one knows when Jesus will return, we must always be ready by faithfully following Jesus at all times!
During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives: On May 19th, 1780 the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, “The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought.” Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful till Christ returns. Instead of fearing the dark, we’re to be lights as we watch and wait.
Colonel Davenport gives us good advice! When Jesus returns, we want to be found doing our duty! Since we don’t know when he will return, we must always be about fulfilling our duty to the Lord! Watch and wait! Work while we wait! May we be found faithful when Christ fulfills our hope and delivers us from the wickedness in the world!
The Hope of Christ’s Second Coming
In addition to the timing of the second coming, people often wonder what the second coming of Christ will be like. The Apostle Paul gives us a glimpse in I Thessalonians 4:13-18, when he says:
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
Unlike others around them, the Thessalonians should not be grieving deaths in their community without hope. Gentile culture, while varied in its beliefs on the afterlife, not only balked at bodily resurrection but also lacked hope for any kind of meaningful and lasting reunion once a friend or family member died. If this life is all one has, its end in death produces considerable grief. Not so for followers of Jesus, Paul says. This is not to say that any grieving is inappropriate, but grief should not have the final word. Paul says that if you believe that Jesus died and was raised (the basic Christian affirmation the Thessalonians had accepted), then you can also believe that God will raise our loved ones. How will that be possible? Here you get a sense of Paul’s grasping of ideas with the prepositions he employs: it will be through Jesus and also with Jesus. The dead ones who also believed in the death and resurrection of Christ are caught up into his eternal life.
So, whether we are still alive on earth or long dead and buried, we will rise with the resurrected Christ when he returns. We will hear the trumpet blast and the archangel’s voice and we will see Christ coming in the clouds. He will deliver us from the power and presence of sin once and for all and we will be with the Lord forever. This is the great hope that sustains us through days of darkness, danger, and difficulty!Conclusion
During the 2008 presidential race, Senator John McCain was asked by Time magazine to share his “personal journey of faith.” In his article, McCain shared a powerful story of something that occurred while he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam:
“When I was a prisoner of war in Vietnam…my captors would tie my arms behind my back and then loop the rope around my neck and ankles so that my head was pulled down between my knees. I was often left like that throughout the night. One night a guard came into my cell. He put his finger to his lips signaling for me to be quiet and then loosened my ropes to relieve my pain. The next morning, when his shift ended, the guard returned and retightened the ropes, never saying a word to me.
A month or so later, on Christmas Day, I was standing in the dirt courtyard when I saw that same guard approached me. He walked up and stood silently next to me, not looking or smiling at me. Then he used his sandaled foot to draw a cross in the dirt. We stood wordlessly looking at the cross, remembering the true light of Christmas, even in the darkness of a Vietnamese prison camp.”Because of Christmas, John McCain had the hope of being delivered from his suffering. The first and second advent of Christ gives us the hope of a better existence! In spite of our present circumstances, the first and second coming of Christ gives us hope of a better life! When we are worried about how we are going to pay our bills, the first and second coming of Christ gives us hope! When our families are frayed with conflict and our world torn apart by war, the first and second coming of Christ gives us hope! When our hearts are grieved by the death of a loved one, the first and second coming of Christ offers us hope. When the doctor diagnoses us with cancer or some other debilitating disease, the first and second coming of Christ offers us hope! When we are the victim of gross injustice and systemic failure, the first and second coming of Christ gives us hope! No matter what tribulation or tragedy we face in this life, we still have hope because Christ came, and he will come again! This world is not our home! We look forward to a much better one. This is the hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ!