Sometimes you and I read the Bible as if it were a blast from the past. In reality, it also sends us future messages about what it means for each of us to be a child of God and a disciple of Jesus Christ. Scripture is often out ahead of us, inviting us to live a richer and nobler life today. In essence, today’s epistle lesson is a fax from tomorrow concerning how Christians are to respond to the great promise of God’s return or reappearance before humankind.

A necessary piece of equipment for many modern offices is a fax machine. A business person conveyed an interesting experience he had with a fax machine. Some friends of his in Australia sent him a fax. As he read it, he noticed the date the fax was transmitted. It was sent and dated tomorrow. The fax was sent to him the day after he h…