"The Calm in the Midst of the Storm" Second Sunday in Advent Populus Zion Commemoration of Ambrose of Milan, Pastor and Hymnwriter December 7, 2014 Luke 21:25-36
Perhaps you've experienced it. The calm before the storm. It is calmest right before the fierce storm hits. There is an overwhelming quiet, a strange sensation that everything has slowed down. But then it hits and all hell breaks loose. There was that calm on the island of Oahu exactly 73 years ago. It was a Sunday. Before 8:00 a.m. all was well at the Naval Base in Honolulu. But when the Japanese planes struck there was a deluge of bullets and bombs. Many of the U.S. naval ships were damaged, including two of them that sunk. The men who were stationed there didn't know what hit them until it was hitting them. This must have seemed like the Apocalypse to them. One moment everything is quiet, the next chaos. The very heavens must have seemed to be shaken. The tumult of the sea from the bombs was enough to frighten the toughest of soldiers and sailors. The attack lasted only about two hours but it was devastating. Two thousand of our service men were killed in this onslaught. Those who survived it would never forget. Sometimes there are storms in life but we have warning. Sometimes we can flee to safety before a natural disaster. Sometimes, though, there's a calm and then the disaster strikes and we're caught in the tumult. Of course, we're never prepared for an attack such as the attack on Pearl Harbor or the one on the World Trade Center. We go about our lives not knowing that on any given day we may be struck by some horrific disaster. The thing is, these things are not the big thing. They are signs. They are events that have been taking place for thousands of years. We should never minimize them, otherwise we would ignore that they are signs. But as horrible as these things are, they are nothing compared to the big thing. Our Gospel reading today comes toward the end of chapter 21 of Luke's Gospel account. Through most of the chapter Jesus describes things that are like Pearl Harbor and 9/11. There are things like earthquakes and famines and wars. There are things like persecution of Christians. Jesus tells us that these things will happen. He warns us of them and they ought to wake us up. But instead there is a calm. People go about their daily lives never giving thought to Jesus' warning. They get caught up in the pleasures of this world thinking that they are more satisfying than the gifts Jesus freely gives them. And so while there is much strife in the world and things seem to be getting worse there is an unsettling calm. There is a discomforting deafness to the words of God. If people continue in their ways they will be caught off guard like those stationed at Pearl Harbor and those who went to work in the Twin Towers on September 11. People scoff at the notion, but the end of the world is coming. We don't know when but it's coming. When it happens all will know. There will be no mistaking it. No longer will people be able to say, as Peter reports it in his second letter, "Where is the promise of His coming? How long will you wait? If He hasn't come yet, why do you believe He still will?" All will know. The inhabited world will be in terror. This is the kind of spectacle that is depicted in movies, where it seems over the top. But the signs that are prevalent now, earthquakes, wars, rumors of wars. Those are signs telling us that we're in the End Times, that Jesus may return at any moment. The signs Jesus is talking about in the Gospel reading today are what will occur at that moment, when He returns in glory. Everyone will know, there will be no mistaking it. And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. What would you like, calm now, or to be able to get through the storm of the Last Day when Jesus returns in a cloud with power and great glory? It appears most people will take what they have now. Most people hear Jesus' words of the fierce storm of the Last Day and His coming in Judgment as the words of a fanatic. Jesus isn't involved in a bit of dramatic hysteria, though. His warning isn't to get us all worked up, but rather so that we know what's coming. And while things may be bad now, the amazing thing is that when the storm of the Last Day hits, there will be no better time for you. It's counterintuitive, but listen to how Jesus compares you with how the world will react. While they are in dread and will know that they are dead in the water before the Almighty Judge, Jesus says to you, "straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." On the Last Day when world is fainting in fear, you can look up and greet your Lord who is coming to you. This is the calm in the midst of the storm. When the heavens and earth are raging you may stand in the calm of eternity. All will be passing away before your eyes but you will live forever. Think of it this way, Jesus says, when you look at a fig tree, and all trees for that matter, you see that there are certain times when they grow their leaves. You look at this and you know what season it is. You know it's not winter or fall. You know it's spring. In the same way, "when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near." Don't listen to those people who scoff at your belief that He is returning in glory. They scoff now but they will see. We pray they don't see too late. Jesus gives the warning ahead of time. So you know. You know now what will be when it happens, whenever it happens. You know something else because Jesus doesn't give only a warning. He gives a promise: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." When everything is in tumult, when the sound of the seas and waves bring tears to men's eyes and they cower in fear, you have this promise. Though all is passing away, your Lord's words will not pass away. This is the core promise of Jesus' exhortation of when He will return. That's really where the rubber hits the road. Jesus has given us His word. The world hears it and scoffs at it. We hear it and treasure it. We take it for what it is, it is the word of God and it stands even though all else falls. If He says He's coming again in glory, then He's coming again in glory. You can count on His words. Sometimes we fall into a malaise though. Now why do we need to know what will happen? Why does Jesus need to make us aware of what will happen? Couldn't we just go about living godly lives and then when Jesus in His eternal wisdom wishes to return, He just returns and takes us home to heaven? It would be nice if it could be that way. But we're just not so trusting are we? We're just not so content with how things go in our lives, are we? We often treat God's Word as if everything else so precious to us must stand at the expense of His Word. But Jesus' warning to us is telling: "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." We are the ones who know that when Jesus returns it will usher in the new Kingdom. It will be the end of all the sorrow and sin and evil of this world. But what happens to us? We get weighed down. We turn to the pleasures of this world for our satisfaction, we get caught up in the cares of this world. Jesus gives the warning and much of the world turns a deaf ear. We hear. We believe. But we are weak. The logic of the scoffers can drown out the words of our Lord. Jesus goes back once again to His warning and, as He always does, to His promise: "But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." The end has not come but it will. The signs are taking place as He said they would. He has given us the promise that when all else fails His words will stand. So we prepare. We rely on those words of His so that we may stand before Him. So that we may live forever with Him. So that when the storm hits it will be nothing more to us than calm. Eternal calm from the one who went through the storm of hell at the cross. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
