Bethlehem Lutheran Church & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Second Sunday in Advent + December 10, 2017
Text: Luke 21:25-36
Let’s be honest, the things described in the end times are scary! They make even the worst terrorist attack seem like a hiccup, because it’s not just going to be in one city or a few cities. It’s going to be worldwide, with even frightful signs in the heavens above.
Then, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Game over. No more second chances, no more putting off turning to Jesus. For those who have despised the Lord Jesus as Savior, they will say to the mountains, “Cover us,” and to the hills, “Fall on us.”[1] Yet, for those who love the Lord, “Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Fear about the Lord’s second coming is a real thing. Here are some things we’re afraid of:
We want there to be a easier way. When we go to Portland, and there’s a big line of cars backed up, we want to be in the car with that person who knows a back road. If we’re buying a car or a TV, we want to be that guy who gets a great deal on it. Perhaps the end times is something like this. Maybe there’s a secret code to unlock that will help us sail through without batting an eye. What’s the significance of “the time of the Gentiles” in verse 24, or maybe there’s a special sign of the fig tree that other people will miss. When it comes to tribulation and distress, we want to have an exempt card. This is the method of the apocalyptic cults who gather around their leader, hoping the Lord will notice their astuteness while the rest of the world burns.
Well even if there isn’t a secret code of the end times to decrypt, we’re still afraid that faith won’t hold out. After all, life is long and the end of the world seems so far off. Everyone so far who has hoped for a short period until Jesus’ return has been disappointed. We fear for our children as they grow up, that they would persevere in the faith. We fear for those who we know used to go to church but now have more pressing things to do with their life. We fear for the countless numbers of souls who have never heard the Gospel—even in our own country. Out of fear, people come up with complicated scenarios about the Last Days.
It’s also possible you’re afraid you don’t have what it takes to make the grade in the end. Are you afraid that faith is not enough? It sounds too easy to say that a person is “saved by grace through faith and this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God.”[2] It sounds too simple, too easy. It must take something more! After all, your eternal destiny rests on whether you’ve got this right. Maybe we should take a popular vote, and see what the majority of people think (kind of like we depend on star ratings for buying products). The trouble you’ll find is the majority of humanity agrees faith isn’t enough. The majority say you must add some effort of your own on the road to salvation. But what could be better than a fellow sinner’s opinion? God’s Word, and He would not and will not deceive us.
What would be most helpful is to read this as a believer and child of God. Listen to how your Lord speaks of nearness: “Your redemption is drawing near…you know that the kingdom of God is near.” The nearness of the Son of Man and His Kingdom is good news, right? He is near, not in the sense of time or distance, but of divine presence. He is intimately joined to His people on earth: He shares your flesh and He knows your weakness. He has made the all-atoning sacrifice on the cross, so that He, though holy and exalted, can dwell with you and bear you up. The children of Israel in the wilderness had God’s presence in the glory cloud, but a believer has His very Spirit dwelling within their body! He is near to you with His creative, renewing, and sanctifying Word. He is near you with the assurance of grace and sonship that He made to you in Baptism, and He is near you when you eat and drink His Holy Body and Blood. Truly his last words in Matthew’s Gospel were not a lie: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”[3]
Here’s an interesting observation: Those who are most afraid and fixate the most on the End Times are those who also reject the power of the Means of Grace. Along with a lopsided view of Revelation as the code to world history, not one of them teaches the efficacy of Baptism. Not one of them confesses the authority of the Absolution for forgive sins on earth. Not one believers in the bodily presence of the risen and ascended Lord in the Sacrament. For many, the Bible is more information about God than the realized story of God dwelling with sinners and making them His children. But where the Sacraments are, there is the divine presence of the Lord with His people. And where the Lord is, there is freedom, and there is His abiding peace—even in the midst of turmoil in the world.
But there is a warning for believers, lest they wrap themselves up in a warm blanket of delusion. 34 “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.” There is a very real danger for Christians to grow indifferent while we wait for the Lord’s return.
Certainly it could come in the form of drifting away from church and losing your faith. That’s the obvious one that we can see with our eyes. Plus, it makes us more comfortable to think that we can draw lines on where Jesus is going to find His sheep versus His goats.[4]
But even more dangerous is the unbeliever who sits in the pew every Sunday! This is the Christian who comes to church and goes to Bible study just out of habit. They listen for the pastor to say the right things—Ah! There he talked about sin! Wow! I’m glad he mentioned that one! Oh good he ended by talking about Jesus, so I can go home with a happy heart. This secure churchgoer is more interested in the social benefits that church membership gives—a shoulder to cry on, group activities, and a discounted rental hall.
But when the Lord comes back in glory, these people will be caught off-guard because it will become shockingly apparent that their life of repentance and faith was only lip service. The Word of God did not touch their hearts so that they felt true terror over their sins and instead took the cross as God’s free pass.
If that scared you, Good! It should. Each of us should look in the mirror of God’s Word and be afraid of persevering in the faith. Remaining a Christian in these Last Days is no human accomplishment. We cannot do it, but for God’s grace through the Holy Spirit.
“36 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.”
As we approach Christmas, we ought to all live in a healthy fear of God. The God who came in the flesh is not the mild illustration which adorns our Christmas cards. He is almighty! He Is holy! But it is His will for you to stand before Him redeemed on that Day. Pray that your almighty, holy Savior would give you strength, purge away your sloth, and keep His Word in your heart throughout this life. This is a prayer He delights to answer, because it is the very reason He came in the flesh.
Will it be easy or smooth? Not likely. Will there be scary moments as time draws to a close? Definitely not. But your God and Savior loves you and He is faithful. “23 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. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”[5] Amen.
[1] Luke 23:30
[2] Ephesians 2:8-9
[3] Matthew 28:20
[4] Matthew 25:33
[5] 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
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