"Be Always Ready for Christ's Surprise Arrival!"
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. [Amen.]
"Rise, my soul, to watch and pray; From your sleep awaken!
Be not by the evil day Unawares o'ertaken;
For the foe, Well we know,
Is a harvest reaping While the saints are sleeping.
"Watch against the devil's snares Lest asleep he find you;
For indeed no pains he spares To deceive and blind you.
Satan's prey Oft are they
Who secure are sleeping And no watch are keeping."
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
663:1-2)
Gospel Reading...................................... St. Luke 12:35-40 (esp.
35 & 40)
35[Jesus said:] "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning . .
40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not
expect."
Prologue: Let's see, now. We're not in the last three Sundays or the first
four Advent Sundays of the church year all of which deal with eschatological
concerns . that is, the end times. In so doing, both of them point our
attention to Jesus, as the One who is coming to judge the living and the
dead. As such, they're opportunities to review and rehearse repentance and
vigilant readiness for that awesome event about the timing of which Jesus
declared, "But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the
angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Mark 13:32 ESV)
In just a few hours we will switch from this present old year 2011
about to complete its course to the New Year 2012 that will make its grand
entrance at midnight. Perhaps our minds are wondering at least a bit about
what lies ahead for us. Perhaps our attention is dominated by things like
an ever-increasing and nauseating political campaign by presidential
wannabes vying for the leadership of our nation, social disorder that's
fueled by an attitude of entitlement that continues to erode our society,
cultural confusion and disarray brought about largely by moral decadence due
to moving away from and opposing the Christian religion, economic
instability that threatens everything from present financial security to
future retirement survival, concerns at least and worries at most about
physical health and wellbeing, and, well, as we've done on previous
occasions, each of us can continue that list for ourselves.
The point of all this is simply distraction. You see, all too
often we allow Satan to distract us by so many mundane things that we then
neglect regular and faithful reading and hearing of God's Holy Word,
confession and absolution, and proper partaking of the Blessed Sacrament of
the Lord's Supper. Such neglect can easily lead to spiritual weakness,
apathy, and even disconnection from almighty God that then results in a
distorted or loss of proper perspective on life and death . and our
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many of us subsequently keep on wallowing in our cesspool of
self-centered delusion. No matter what we think about or believe regarding
the end times, the truth is that Jesus Christ, whose incarnate birth we once
again formally celebrated last Sunday, will come again in glorious array to
judge the living and the dead. The problem is that, as stated earlier, we
don't know when He will return to do so. In light of that lack of
knowledge, we hear Messiah's message in today's Gospel Reading telling us
to .
"Be Always Ready For Christ's Surprise Arrival!"
That means, quite simply, be always nurturing the faith in Jesus
that the Holy Spirit gave us in our Baptism. That means to confess all
known and unknown sins of the past year and beyond (as we do in the Lord's
Prayer) and bathe in the blood of Christ that He shed on Calvary's cross
that "cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7 ESV) That means to be always
"looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 12:2 ESV) That means
to realize that .
I. Christ Will Bless All Who Are Awake and Ready for His Return.
(36-38)
36. and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the
wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes
and knocks. 37Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when
he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have
them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38If he comes in
the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those
servants!
Many people use this transition time to languish in the miseries
of the past year. It's an all-too-familiar activity that most, or all, of
us do to one degree or another. In fact, we could write our own book of
Lamentations that would rival, if not surpass, that which Solomon wrote. We
lament the weather conditions that were rainy when we wanted dryness and dry
when we wanted rain. We lament our financial situations that never seem to
meet, much less exceed, what we desire. We lament our physical, mental, or
emotional health that seems to be deteriorating as we grow older. We lament
relationships that are strained at best and broken at worst due to death,
divorce, squabbles, or who knows why . if we even remember why! We lament
declining congregational resources, increasing seating availability at
worship services, paid and volunteer workers who seem to not do what we
expect them to do, and an ever-shrinking pool of volunteers who are willing
to be part of the solution instead of just griping, complaining, and
condemning. It's certainly easy to enumerate the negatives, anticipate more
and greater of the same, and forget the positives.
But what about the many blessings that God showered upon us in the
year about to end? There are so many things that we so easily overlook such
as "body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my
senses . . . also . clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home,
wife and children, land, animals, and all I have." In thought-provoking
summary, "He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support
this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and
protects me from all evil." (Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation.
Copyright © 1986, 2008 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Pages
15f. & 108.) In fact, life's necessities are often referred to in the Lord's
Prayer as "daily bread" which "includes everything that has to do with the
support and needs of the body such as . [in addition to the previous items]
devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather,
peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful
neighbors, and the like." (Ibid. Pages 20f. & 189f.)
While those material blessings are wonderfully beneficial, what's
really awesomely fantastic are the merciful and gracious spiritual blessings
of forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life that God gained for us
through His dear Son's holy life, innocent suffering, crucifixion death, and
majestic resurrection from the dead in victorious triumph over sin, death,
and the devil. Those most wonderful of all blessings are summarized for us
by the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther in his explanation to the Second
Article of the Apostles' Creed, which I invite you to read with me at this
time. So, please turn to page 322 in the Lutheran Service Book hymnal .
page 322 . and let's read together the meaning that begins in the lower
right corner of that page. "What does this mean? I believe that Jesus
Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man,
born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and
condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from
the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious
blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and
live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness,
innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, live and
reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true."
The most wonderful blessing of all that's now our present
possession but a future reality is glorified life with Jesus in the heavenly
mansions that He's right now preparing for all who cling to Him alone by the
faith that the Holy Spirit gave us in our Baptism and preserves in us by
Word and Sacrament. The grand and glorious purpose of Christ's work of
redemption was and is "that I may 'serve Him in everlasting righteousness,
innocence, and blessedness"; that is, that I honor God with my whole life
and rejoice in Him now on earth and forever in heaven." (Luther's Small
Catechism with Explanation. Pages 146f.)
With all that in mind this New Year's Eve, let's pay attention to
the practical warning that tells us, .
II. Be On Guard Against the Devil's Cunning Ways. (39)
39But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the
thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.
Yahweh issued a severe word of warning about Satan-led false
prophets to His beloved children, the Israelites, through the prophet
Ezekiel telling them, "The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a
roaring lion tearing the prey . ." (Ezek 22:25 ESV) St. Peter, who himself
fell victim to Satan's temptation to deny Jesus, wrote, "Be sober-minded; be
watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith . ." (Peter 5:8-9
ESV) That's very wise advice in view of the fact that the devil "is a liar
and the father of lies" (John 8:44 ESV) and "the deceiver of the whole
world." (Rev 12:9 ESV)
So, how do we successfully combat this seemingly overwhelming
enemy? To borrow from a popular marketing slogan, "That was easy!", all we
need do is follow the counsel of the apostle James, who wrote, "Submit
yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." (James 4:7-8 ESV) Why is
that counsel easy . and how do we do it? It's easy because Christ, the Son
of God and Son of Man, has already done it when He defeated the devil for us
and the Holy Spirit made His victory our victory in our Baptism, about which
St. Paul wrote, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with
him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Rom
6:3-4 ESV) And, that same Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, has
provided the weapons we need to wage successful warfare against the devil,
the world, and our sinful flesh. St. Paul revealed them to us when he wrote
to the Christians in Ephesus, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the
strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against
the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and
having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet,
having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all
circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all
the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the
Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all
perseverance . ." (Eph 6:10-18 ESV) Hey! It all boils down to faithfully
hearing and reading God's Holy Word, faithfully participating in Holy
Absolution, and faithfully partaking of Holy Communion.
In conclusion, we earnestly prayed in today's Collect, "Eternal
God, we commit to Your mercy and forgiveness the year now ending and commend
to Your blessing and love the times yet to come. In the New Year, abide
among us with Your Holy Spirit that we may always trust in the saving name
of our Lord Jesus Christ." We also prayed in today's Gradual, "Teach us to
number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Satisfy us in the
morning with Your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our
days." (Ps 90:12 & 14 ESV)
Those prayers are simply begging God to help us .
"Be Always Ready for Christ's Surprise Arrival!"
As we do so, let's also always keep in our minds and on our hearts
the wonderfully reassuring message from today's Introit that "Our help is in
the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Oh sing to the Lord a new
song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made known his salvation; he
has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has
remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All
the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." (Ps 124:8 &
98:1-3 ESV)
So it is that we don't need to fear what lies ahead in the New
Year nor allow what happened in the past year to prevent us from functioning
effectively. After all, we have God's blessed assurance given in today's
Epistle Reading that "in all [tribulation, distress, persecution, famine,
nakedness, danger, and sword] we are more than conquerors through him who
loved us. For [we can be] sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor
rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:37-39 ESV)
With that in mind, let's boldly enter the New Year and move
forward in eager anticipation of the Last Day, knowing that .
I. Christ Will Bless All Who Are Awake and Ready for His Return.
(36-38)
At the same time, let's rest confidently in Yahweh's promise
contained in today's Old Testament reading, "In returning and rest you shall
be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." (Isa 30:15 ESV)
In the comfort of that blessed assurance let's end this year and begin the
New Year by constantly striving to .
II. Be On Guard Against the Devil's Cunning Ways. (39)
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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