Midweek Advent Vespers
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
“Waiting for the Day of the Lord: He Will Surely Do It” (1 Thessalonians
5:16-24)
This has been an Advent series about the Second Advent, the Second Coming, of
Christ. Each Wednesday we have looked at the Epistle reading from the previous
Sunday, since the connecting theme that runs through them all is the idea of
“Waiting for the Day of the Lord.” We began two weeks ago by unpacking the
biblical teaching of the Day of the Lord as “A Day of Judgment and Salvation.”
Last week we saw that when the Day of the Lord comes God will bring about “New
Heavens and a New Earth.” Now today we close out this little series on
“Waiting for the Day of the Lord” by focusing on how God himself will sanctify
us as we wait and keep us blameless at Christ’s coming. Yes, God is faithful,
and “He Will Surely Do It.”
Our text is the reading from 1 Thessalonians 5, picking up on the words, “Now
may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit
and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
But this verse comes at the end of 1 Thessalonians, and St. Paul has had a lot
to say about the second coming of Christ prior to this in his letter. Let’s
review that a bit first, to see how it deepens our understanding of “Waiting
for the Day of the Lord.”
In chapter 1 Paul recalls how the Thessalonians “turned to God from idols to
serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he
raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” Like the
Thessalonians, we too are waiting for God’s Son, the risen and ascended Lord
Jesus, to come from heaven and to save us, deliver us, from judgment at the
Last Day. He will make it for us a day of salvation instead.
But now how to live in the meantime? In chapter 2, Paul reminds the
Thessalonians how “we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged
you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and
glory.” How we live while we wait--that’s important. We have transferred
kingdoms. We have come out of the domain of darkness and sin, and God has
called us into his kingdom of light and life. So let us live like the children
of God we are.
To do that we need God’s help. And so in chapter 3 the Apostle Paul breaks
into a prayer for the Thessalonians that also is a fitting prayer for God’s
people in every age: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for
one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts
blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord
Jesus with all his saints.” We grow in love for others and in holiness of life
throughout our days until that day when Christ comes again.
In chapter 4 Paul encourages us to set our hope on the coming resurrection and
rapture--the “rapture,” properly understood, not the “rapture” falsely taught
by the millennialists--the rapture of the living and the resurrection of the
dead that will happen on the one and only Last Day: “For the Lord himself will
descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and
with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the
Lord.” My friends, this is our great hope, both for our loved ones who have
died in the Lord and for us who may be alive on that day when Christ comes
again with glory to judge both the living and the dead.
As we come to chapter 5, then, at the beginning of the chapter, Paul alerts us
to be ready and prepared for the day of Christ’s coming, lest it catch us
off-guard: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While
people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will
come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not
escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you
like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are
not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do,
but let us keep awake and be sober. . . . For God has not destined us for
wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us
so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”
This gives us perspective now, to hear these closing words from Paul’s epistle:
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole
spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” This verse includes both setting our sights on the great hope to
come, at the Last Day, and living as God’s people now, as we wait for that day.
Here’s the “living now” part: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you
completely.” What does it mean for God to “sanctify” us? It means to make us
holy. It means that God will help us to live as his holy people, set apart to
live for him alone. That’s a tall order, isn’t it? For as I look at my life,
I see that I am not sanctified completely. I am still a work in progress, with
unsanctified thoughts, unholy words, and ungodly deeds. I need God’s
forgiveness, first of all, to cover all of my unholiness.
And that is just what Christ has won for me, by his holy precious blood, shed
for me on the cross. Forgiveness, righteousness, holiness--his holiness
covering my sins. That is his gift for you, too, my friends. The blood of
Jesus forgives you all your sins and cleanses you from all unrighteouness.
For God to sanctify us means not only that he forgives our sinfulness but also
that he enables our living in holiness. That is the work of the Holy Spirit in
your life, the Spirit you received in your baptism. God made you his new
creation in baptism, giving you a new will, new life, new impulses: a desire
to live for God--to live not according to the ways of the world but to live for
God--and the power to love other people. That is who you are now, baptized
child of God. This sanctification is already in work in you. It is the daily
life of the baptized, dying to sin and rising to righteousness each new day.
The power, the nourishment, comes as you feed on his Word and Sacrament
constantly, to strengthen you in faith toward God and fervent love for one
another your whole life long.
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.” That is his will
for you, my friend. And notice that it is God who will do it. You can’t do it
yourself. You do not have that power. But God does. This ongoing
sanctification rests on God’s power and promise. “He who calls you is
faithful; he will surely do it.”
And now for the other part of the equation, the “waiting for the Last Day”
part: “And may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Blameless”? Me? Yes, you! Blameless!
There will be nothing in you to blame on that day, the Day of Judgment. No
guilt, no accusation, no condemnation. That’s how great God’s forgiveness is.
He remembers our sins no more! But not that the blame and guilt did not have
to be dealt with, as though they could just be swept under the rug. No.
Indeed, it cost God greatly to remove your guilt and to free you from blame.
It cost the life of his own dear Son, Jesus Christ, who let the blame fall on
him on the cross. By Christ taking the blame on his shoulders and suffering
the righteous judgment against sin you deserve, the holy Son of God atoned for
your sin and freed you from the burden that you would never be free of on your
own.
And now God is committed to keep you in that faith, in Christ your Savior,
strong and secure until that day when Christ returns. This is how you will be
“kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Again, it all rests
on God’s power and promise: “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do
it.”
Dear friends, if there’s one thing I want you to remember from this series
about “Waiting for the Day of the Lord,” it is this: Christ’s First Coming,
the Babe of Bethlehem going to the cross of Calvary to win your salvation--it
is Christ’s First Coming that will enable you to stand on the day of his Second
Coming, and in the meantime, as we wait for that great day, our faithful God
will sustain us in the faith and help us to live as his holy people. That’s
it, as briefly as I can state it.
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole
spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
Charles Henrickson
4749 Melissa Jo Ln
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 845-8811 (home)
(314) 779-8108 (cell)
henricks...@yahoo.com
___________________________________________________________________________
'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise
noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such
gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_
_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as
for quoting or use in a congregational setting
_with_or_without_attribution_.
Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list.
Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster.
Subscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons...@cat41.org
Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons-...@cat41.org
Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/sermons@cat41.org/>
For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach
For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at:
Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <m...@cat41.org>
