Rev. Charles Lehmann + Populus Zion + Luke 21:25-36
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
We are one week into December, and, by the way most people count it, we're
about nine days into the Christmas season. Cookies are being baked, and
holiday sweets are starting to stack up on tables everywhere. For many,
December is the month that they put on all the pounds that they resolve to get
rid of once the New Year comes.
But, as usual, the Church isn't in sync with the rest of the world. When
the rest of the world is racking up all sorts of credit card debt and throwing
dietary caution to the wind, the church is in Advent. We are considering
Christ's return at the last day, and because of that, we have heard today, in
our Lord's own words, a stern warning against the excesses and frivolous things
of the world.
There is no “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die” in today's
reading. Instead, Jesus comes to us and says, “But watch yourselves lest your
hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life,
and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.”
The end is coming soon. When we hear these words it's easy to scoff in
unbelief. It's been nearly two thousand years since the Lord spoke them, and
as the years wear on we are tempted to think that Jesus must not have meant it
when He said that His return was near. We tend to judge God according to our
own sin-soaked measuring stick. Sinful man is fickle, changable, and cannot be
depended on. And so, if God waits before He returns in judgment, we can easily
conclude that He's just as unreliable as we are.
If you tell your wife that you're going to take out the trash and she finds
it still in the house an hour later, she might come and take away your chips
and turn off the T.V. She'll say, “You said you were going to take out the
trash.” And chances are you have completely forgotten about your promise to do
it. You're too busy thinking about how Roethlisberger is going to do against
Romo. You're wondering if Ware going to breach the Steeler line and add
another sack to his record.
Each of us has our distractions. Each of us can have our attention swayed
by the unimportant and passing things of this world. The cares of this life
can easily make us doubt the promises of God. But that Christmas sale in
Oakland and NFL football will pass away. There will be no shopping in heaven.
John Elway and Terry Bradshaw will receive no honors for their passing record
in the New Jerusalem. None of these flights of human fancy will endure on the
last day.
On the great and glorious day of the Lord, all the best shops will lie in
rubble and Heinz field will be consumed by unquenchable fire. The world of
distraction will pass away as Jesus ushers a New Heaven and a New Earth in to
take its place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Word of God shall
never pass away.
The Lord is not slow in the way we count slowness. Though He has tarried
for thousands of years, we can still believe His promise. He is coming soon.
He says, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has
taken place.” At these words we might be tempted again to doubt the Lord's
promise. Peter, James, John, and all the rest are dead and buried. If we
wanted to, we could travel to many of their tombs. No one who heard the Lord's
words when He spoke them is still alive. All are in the sleep of death.
But the generation of the Lord is the church. The Lord waits for the full
number of His saints to be revealed. The Lord waits, because the Lord is
merciful. He waits so that all might hear the Word of His Gospel.
For some, however, the day will come like a trap. It will be a day of
wrath and mourning. It will bring terror upon all who fear men rather than
God. It will be as Solomon tells us in the book of Proverbs, “The fear of man
lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is secure.”
Those who have their focus on what the world thinks about them and would
have them do will not endure on that final day. They will be consumed by fire.
They will be raised to eternal death. They will be separated from the Lord's
love forever and live eternally under His implacable wrath and judgment.
But that is not what the Lord wants. The Lord desires that all repent and
come to a knowledge of the truth. The Lord wants heaven to be filled and hell
to be empty.
But some for whom Christ died on the cross will refuse Him to the end.
Some whom He desires to redeem will go to hell anyway. Those who reject His
redeeming grace will live forever without it. Their bodies will suffer where
the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. For them, the Last Day,
the day of the Lord, will come like a snare.
But for you, people loved by God, for you who trust the Lord for mercy, the
day will not be like a snare. The Lord says to you, “Look at the fig tree, and
all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see bfor yourselves and
know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things
taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.” The signs that the
Lord has given are all present right now. Stars fall. The sun and moon are
eclipsed. People tremble in fear at the many evil things that are in the
world. These are the tender shoots and the green leaves that tell you that
summer is near.
The kingdom of God has been upon us ever since God bore your sins to the
wood of the cross. He began His gracious rule among you when He destroyed your
sins. He rules among you even now. You heard it this morning when the service
began in the Name that God gave you in your baptism. God continued to rule
when after you confessed your sins He forgave them through the words He spoke
using my lips. He continued to rule as He taught you in the Scripture that was
read. He continues now as you hear His Word preached in this sermon. He will
do it again when in a few minutes He gives you His body to eat and His blood to
drink.
The Lord's reign is gracious. He rules by the forgiveness of sins. His
reign is hidden among simple things. He uses words, frail pastors from
Montana, handfuls of water, little pieces of bread, and tiny swallows of wine.
He uses His creation that will pass away to give the gifts of life and
salvation that will endure forever.
The Lord's judgment is coming soon. He will come on the clouds to judge
every human creature. He delays it so that more might hear of His gracious
rule. He waits so that the full number of Christians might hear the good
tidings of great joy that are for all people. He waits so that the Holy Spirit
might work faith in those who are consumed by the cares of this life. He waits
so that His Word may have it's way in us. He waits, because He loves you.
And so, dear Christians, lift up your heads. Look with eager expectation
to the sky. Your Lord is coming soon. His rule is for you mercy, love, and
grace. All who trust in Him will receive all that He has promised. The snow
might be on the ground, but the summer is near. Your redemption is drawing
nigh.
In less than three weeks we will consider the Lord's first advent. We will
rejoice that your Savior was willing to humble Himself to be born of a virgin.
Today, however, we look with joy and hopeful expectation for the Lord's final
return. We look forward to the day that will never end. We look for that time
when in the New Jerusalem, we will have Jesus as our light, and darkness will
flee forever.
In that final day there will be no shopping to do because the Lord will
provide us with all we need. And there will be no need for the entertaining
distractions of the NFL. The Lord will be our all and all, and we will lack
for no good thing.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and
minds in faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Charles R. Lehmann
Pastor, Saint John's Lutheran Church, Accident, MD
http://chaz-lehmann.livejournal.com
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