The Rapture: In The Twinkling Of An Eye (30 page)

He ran to the stairs and bounded up two at a time. The master bedroom was more than he could bear. His parents’ bed was still made, his mother’s nightclothes draped on one side, where it was obvious she had been kneeling in prayer. How Lionel wished he had been taken to heaven with his family and that he had been found reading his Bible or praying when Jesus came.

Only for an instant had Lionel wondered if he was dreaming. He knew better. This was real; this was the truth. All doubt and question had disappeared. His family had been raptured as his church, his pastor, and his parents had taught.

And he had been left behind.

Everybody in God’s house knew who the young woman who now approached the altar was, and all, including Jesus Himself, rose to cheer and applaud her. As she knelt facedown before the flame, the praise continued as her works were tried by fire.

Irene found it amusing that she felt a kinship with Mary, simply because she also was a woman. There, she decided, any similarity ended. Well, Irene had had children, as Mary had. And she had been married. But clearly Mary had been a young person of such character that God chose her for the greatest responsibility a woman could sustain. Irene was eager to enter that first-century world and get to know Mary as a child and then the young woman so chosen.

As Irene watched, the young Mary was startled to see the angel Gabriel appear to her. Abject terror marred her face, but Gabriel said, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

Mary was speechless, pale, and trembling.

Gabriel said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Mary said, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

Gabriel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

Now, as Mary rose from the altar and approached the throne, Jesus presented her the crowns of Life and Righteousness, embracing her and saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Mary said, “My son has become my Father. My soul magnifies You, O Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For He regarded the lowly state of His maidservant, and all generations have since called me blessed. He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. His mercy fell on those who feared Him from generation to generation. He showed strength with His arm; He scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.”

By the time the plane began its descent into Chicago, Buck Williams noticed that the senior flight attendant looked dangerously shaky. He beckoned her and reached for her wrist, looking again at her name tag. “Hattie, we’re all going to go home and cry today. But hang in there. Get your passengers off the plane, and you can at least feel good about that.”

His words didn’t help. She began to sob. “You know we lost several old people but not all of them. And we lost several middle-aged people but not all of them. And we lost several people your age and my age but not all of them. We even lost some teenagers.”

Buck stared at her. What was she driving at?

“Sir, we lost every child and baby on this plane.”

“How many were there?”

“More than a dozen. But all of them! Not one was left.”

The man next to Buck finally roused and squinted at the early morning sun burning through the window. “What in blazes are you two talking about?”

“We’re about to land in Chicago,” Hattie said. “I’ve got to run.”

“Chicago?” ~

“You don’t want to know,” Buck said.

The man nearly sat in Buck’s lap to get a look out the window, his boozy breath enveloping Buck. “What, are we at war? Riots? What?”

Smoke. Fire. Cars off the road and smashed into each other and guardrails. Planes in pieces on the ground. Emergency vehicles, lights flashing, picking their way around the debris.

As O’Hare came into view, it was clear no one was going anywhere soon. There were planes as far as the eye could see, some crashed and burning, the others gridlocked in line. People trudged through the grass and between vehicles toward the terminal. The expressways that led to the airport looked like they had during the great Chicago blizzards, only without the snow.

Cranes and wreckers were trying to clear a path through the front of the terminal so cars could get in and out, but that would take hours, if not days. A snake of humanity wended its way slowly out of the terminal buildings, between the motionless cars, and onto the ramps. People walking, walking, walking, looking for a cab or a limo.

Raymie Steele was pretty sure he knew who the next man to be judged was, and his suspicion was immediately proved right as a rugged young man fell weeping before the altar. His works shone brightly in the flame, and there was certainly no wood, hay, or stubble. He had not been a perfect man, and he had failed the Lord more than once, but he had been forgiven his sins and had served God faithfully to the day of his death.

When beckoned to the throne for his crowns and his “well done,” Peter hesitated and asked Jesus’ forgiveness “for denying You thrice on Your way to the cross.”

“My friend, you were forgiven the first time you repented, and it was never remembered again—except by you when you confessed it again and again. I commend you for your faithfulness in leading My early church, for your passionate preaching on what has become known as the Day of Pentecost, and for being the first to communicate My truth to the Jews in Jerusalem. And I praise you for your willingness to preach to the Gentiles, opening the door of faith and salvation to millions.

“You never again denied Me following My resurrection and return to heaven. And when you were martyred for My cause, you chose to be hung upside down, considering yourself unworthy to die in the manner in which I did. I welcome you to the eternal joy of My Father and present to you the crowns of Life, Glory, Righteousness, and Rejoicing.”

Jesus placed one of the crowns on Peter’s head, and Peter turned to face the masses with the other three in his hands. Raymie thought he looked embarrassed to be holding them.

Raymie and his mother leaped to their feet with the rest of the endless throng, cheering and clapping as Peter turned and praised Jesus. And as they watched, Peter removed the crown from his head and, putting it with his other three, knelt and placed them at the feet of his Savior.

Thus began a parade of saints doing the same, one after the other in crowds so huge one couldn’t tell where they began and ended. And when the crowns piled so high that they nearly blotted out the view of Jesus, they melted away and became part of the glassy sea and the gold-paved streets.

Christopher Smith had his cell phone plastered to his ear as he helped the rest of the crew get everyone off the plane, directing them to slide down plastic chutes. A few buses arrived for the infirm, but almost all the passengers walked.

Chris was unable to reach Jane or the boys, so he called everywhere he could think of. Finally he reached his local police department and a desk sergeant so harried that Chris was surprised the man would talk to him at all.

“Your wife was involved in a TA, yes.”

“ATA?”

“Traffic accident—sorry.”

“And is she all right? Where is she?”

“I am not at liberty to discuss this by phone, sir.”

“What are you talking about? I need to know if she’s all right and, if not, what hospital she’s in. And my sons. Had she picked them up? Were they in the car yet? We both know you know. Now tell me.”

“You are to call a Mr. Ira Smith. You know him?”

” “Course I know him. He’s my uncle. Why do I need to call him?”

“He can tell you what you need to know.”

Chris was dialing his uncle as he and Rayford and Hattie disembarked. The driver of the last bus insisted that the crew ride with him.

Rayford refused. “I can’t see passing my own passengers as they walk to the terminal. How would that look?”

Christopher said, “Suit yourself, Cap. You mind if I take him up on his offer?”

Rayford glared at him. “You’re serious?”

“I don’t get paid enough for this.”

“Like this was the airline’s fault. Chris, you don’t mean it.”

“The heck I don’t. By the time you get up there you’ll wish you’d ridden too.”

“I should write you up for this.”

“Millions of people disappear into thin air and I should worry about getting written up for riding instead of walking? Later, Steele.”

Only two men remained. When Jesus stood and said, “John,” the masses erupted. The disciple Jesus loved

knelt at the altar, and his works also showed no waste-- no hay, wood, or stubble. He was awarded all but the martyr’s crown, as he was the only one of the faithful disciples who had not been put to death for his faith.

Jesus and John embraced like the old friends they were, and Jesus said, “I commend you for never denying My name before men, for writing your Gospel and the three letters that bear your name. Also for faithfully recording My revelation, chronicling the vision I bestowed upon you. You were a witness for many years as shepherd of many flocks, primarily the church at Ephesus, where you also tutored and mentored so many of those who carried on the work after the deaths of the apostles.

“Thank you for taking care of My earthly mother. Well done, good and faithful servant. Because you have been loyal and trustworthy and dependable in so many things, I will therefore make you ruler over many cities. Welcome into the joy of the Lord forever.”

“Chris, you need to get home,” Uncle Ira said. “I’ll be waiting for you there.”

“No, you don’t! Tell me right now what’s happened to my family!”

“I really need to do this in person. I’m not going to try to get into everything over the phone.”

“Yes, you are! Now I mean it, Ira! I’ll be hours getting out of here and into the suburbs. Don’t make me wait that long. They’re dead, aren’t they? They were all killed.”

“Not exactly.”

“What does that mean? If they’re there, let me talk to them!”

“If you have to know and won’t take no for an answer, I’m sorry to tell you that, yes, Jane is gone.”

“What happened?”

“She was on her way to pick up the boys, and a tractor trailer hit her head-on. The driver was one of those who disappeared right out of his clothes.”

“No! But the boys weren’t with her?”

“No, but, Chris, they’re gone too.”

“Oh no! No! How did they die?”

“Their wallets were found at the church in the parking lot, along with the clothes and personal effects of several dozen other kids and staff from the church. I guess they were out there waiting for their rides when this happened.”

Chris was mentally reaching for anything that would keep him from going over the edge. “Then they’ll find them. The boys will be back. The boys aren’t dead.”

“Nobody knows where these people are, Chris,” Ira said. “There wasn’t one person left at the church. The truth is nobody knows if we’ll see these people again.”

“Don’t say that!”

“You wanted the truth. Now, I’m sorry, but there’s both barrels. You come straight home as soon as you can now, hear? Your aunt is putting together a meal for you.”

“Tell her not to bother.”

“She’s already bothered. We can only imagine how awful this is for you. Get here so we can take care of you.”

“Yeah,” Chris said, letting his phone flap shut. Take care of him? Unless they could bring back Jane and the boys, there would be no taking care of Christopher Smith. That everybody at the church had disappeared told him everything he needed to know. God was behind this. His boys had somehow qualified, and he and Jane hadn’t. In some absurd way, that made sense.

He deserved this.

But he couldn’t imagine life without them. He wouldn’t even consider it. Christopher Smith was not about to go home to an empty house, to be the object of concern and pity by his elderly relatives. As soon as he could find a private place and the means, he was going to make sure he didn’t spend more than ten more minutes on this godforsaken planet.

“Paul.”

There was a reason the apostle who had never personally met Jesus had been saved for last. He was the most well-known person in the New Testament besides Jesus Himself. And he had so profoundly articulated the faith in deep theological treatises that millions through the ages had come to understand and believe the gospel.

What a story, Raymie thought. A scholar who had been so opposed to the Christian message that he had actually killed Christians had become the writer of so much of the New Testament.

Paul seemed eager to meet Jesus, even as he knelt before the flame that left a precious residue of only gems and gold and silver. And when he approached the throne, he dropped to his knees, begging forgiveness for having originally been a persecutor of the church.

“Your sins,” Jesus said, lifting him and embracing him, “have been removed as far as the east is from the west. You came to believe in Me so completely that you offered every fiber of your being in service to Me. Yours was the ultimate expression of a lifetime of worship. I award you all four crowns of reward, good and faithful servant. Thank you for being the first to take My gospel to Europe, which became the gateway to the rest of the world.”

Facing Jesus, with his back to the crowd, Paul was still able to be heard. “I thank You for Your sacrifice, which provided eternal life to all who believed in Your name, for Your finished work on the cross, for Your resurrection. And thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to be our Comforter, who guided and strengthened us through all our trials and sufferings. I will praise Your name forever.”