Sermon
for Last Sunday of the Church Year, November 24, 2019
Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the
hills, ‘Cover us.’ (Luke 23:30)
So declared Jesus about those who rejected Him. As the soldiers led Him to the cross to
redeem us, Jesus soberly and sincerely warned the world about the day He will
return in judgment. Jesus wasn’t
threatening to seek His revenge; He was grieving their rejection of Him, yet warnings
like this should jolt every person on earth out of their stupor. Time and again, the Bible warns about the
judgment that is coming. The signs Jesus
told us to watch for have been evident now for almost two thousand years. Only the foolish would doubt that Jesus could
return at any moment. So, are you ready
to stand before the Lord of glory? Are
you ready to help your neighbor get ready?
Then, Encourage one another, aware of the times.
1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 Concerning the times and dates,
brothers, there is no need to write to you, 2for you yourselves know
very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3When
people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will suddenly come on
them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will certainly not
escape. 4But you,
brothers, are not in the dark so that this day takes you by surprise like a
thief, 5for you are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the
darkness. 6So then let us not sleep like everyone else, but rather let
us remain alert and sober. 7To
be sure, those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at
night. 8But since we belong
to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and
the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9You
see, God did not appoint us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our
Lord Jesus Christ. 10He died
for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with
him. 11Therefore, encourage
one another and build each other up, just as you are also doing. (EHV)
Dear
friends in the living Lord Jesus,
Twice in this last section of his letter, Paul urges us
to encourage one another. Moved by the
Holy Spirit, Paul knew that we would need continual encouragement. He told the Thessalonians that there was no
need for him to talk about when the world would end, because they all
recognized that the signs were already there.
The Thessalonians were actively expecting Jesus’ return, sometimes so
much so that they didn’t think they needed to be at work in the kingdom, but
that is one of the subjects of Paul’s second letter to that congregation. Yet, those people were taking Jesus’ prophecy
to heart concerning the last day.
You and I,
too, can look anywhere around us and see that most people have far more love
for themselves, and their own ideas and desires, than they do for God or their
neighbor. Even we who have been so
richly blessed by our heavenly Father have to fight the temptation to put
ourselves first. And, we have to fight
the temptation to imagine that just because Jesus didn’t return yesterday, or
in the last nineteen centuries, He won’t today.
Because, we just don’t know when God will end the world, but we do know
it will come upon us suddenly, when the world least expects it.
Honestly,
not many people of our day and age really expect Jesus to return. The number of people who reject Christian
faith as outdated, irrelevant, or flat out wrong, seems to be growing by leaps
and bounds. Likewise, even many Christians
are probably hoping Jesus returns simply to see Him judge all those other
people who are so wicked. We might
wonder if they aren’t like the foolish virgins in Jesus’ parable—waiting for
the Bridegroom, but not being at all prepared to meet Him.
So, what
about you and me; should we be trembling in our boots worried that Judgment Day
is imminent? Paul has a much better
answer: “But you, brothers, are not in the dark so that this day takes you
by surprise like a thief, for you are all sons of the light and sons of the
day. We do not belong to the night or
the darkness.” Men, women, and
children who believe and trust in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior and Redeemer
are addressed here with Paul’s full confidence that we can look forward boldly
to Jesus’ return. To the Corinthians,
Paul wrote, “You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.” (1
Corinthians 6:19-20) “Not your own,”
“not in the dark,” but “sons of the light and sons of the day”—what does it all
mean?
It means
that you and I and every person in whom God has staked a claim has been
prepared for Jesus’ return to judge the world.
This morning, we are again shown what God does to bring children into
His kingdom of grace. Washed in the
water and the Word, a little girl is adopted into God’s family, cleansed of her
sin, and given a new heart and new faith preparing her to meet Jesus.
In the
book of the Revelation, St. John reported an amazing vision: “After this I
saw four angels, who stood at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the
earth so that the wind could not blow on the earth, the sea, or any tree. And I saw another angel coming up from the
east, who had the seal of the living God.
He called out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given power
to harm the earth and the sea. He said,
“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have placed a seal on
the foreheads of God’s servants.” (Revelation 7:1-3) We don’t know when the end will come, but we
do know that before He sends His Son to judge, God will place His seal—the sign
of the cross on the head and the heart—on all those He chooses to be His own.
Through
the proclamation of the Good News of all that Jesus did for us, and through the
cleansing flood of baptism, God prepares us to live with Him forever. This is God’s gift of grace to the world. Furthermore, God keeps His people here on
earth for the time being, so that we can share His message of grace, pray for
the lost, and seek those who are hurting from the devil’s lies. “This is good and pleasing in the sight of
God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4) So,
Encourage one another, aware of the times.
Jesus
said, “I am the Light of the World.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life.” (John 8:12) Dear friends,
having been brought to faith in Jesus, we are no longer in the darkness of sin
and Satan’s deceptions. Yet, we dare not
take that safety for granted. Paul
wrote, “So then let us not sleep like everyone else, but rather let us
remain alert and sober. To be sure,
those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.”
Now, Paul
isn’t warning us against having a drink.
Rather, he is urging us not to let anything, intoxicant or otherwise, not
success or failure, wealth of poverty, get between us and the faith that was
instilled in us at our baptisms. The
world around us slyly entices with temptations of every kind of sin. The pagan world screams at us all kinds of
warnings that we must do this, or that, or another thing to escape
environmental destruction. We are
continually assaulted with the opinions of people who have no faith in Christ
as Redeemer and Savior. Social media and
pop culture cry out that we must vote for this party, or that one, lest all
hope be lost. However, all the
unbelieving world can really do is numb our minds to the truth and put us in
spiritual slumber.
Now,
certainly, we should be active in the concerns of the world. We were given the task of the stewardship of
the planet God blesses us with, and we are to be lights to the world around us. At the same time, we need to remember that it
is God who directs all things for our eternal good. As much as we can do in the little things,
the big things are still only under His control. So, don’t be disturbed. Even if the enemy should seek our physical
lives, we have a home in heaven, and no matter what hardships we might yet face
as we get closer and closer to Judgment Day, in the end, we are meeting, face
to face, the One who cleansed us of all sin, who says, “My sheep hear my
voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never
perish.” (John 10:27-28) This same
Lord also declared, “Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)
Paul
wrote, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith
and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. You see, God did not appoint us for wrath,
but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us, so that whether we are awake
or asleep, we may live together with him.” By
bringing you and me to faith in Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit in Word
and Sacrament, God appointed us to live—with Him—forever. Jesus lived on earth and died on the cross to
win our freedom from sin, death, the devil, and eternal condemnation. Furthermore, God has provided protection for
His people like soldiers in a battle for their lives.
God gives
us the Means of Grace—the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. Through Paul, the Holy Spirit pleads with us
to keep using these gifts He has provided to keep us strong and safe in
Jesus. Paul wrote, “Let us be sober.” He wasn’t talking about joining Alcoholics
Anonymous. Rather, he is encouraging us
to keep our thinking clear of anything that would put us in danger of
forgetting what we have in Christ. He
wants us to be dressed in the confidence that Jesus has taken all our sins, and
the sins of our neighbors, away. We
should let that light shine in our world and demonstrate the love of God in us
by helping our neighbors see Christ’s love in everything we do.
Mostly,
we wear the hope of salvation as a covering over us. This is the sure and certain confidence we
have, that because Jesus lives, we will live also. Because Jesus has risen from the dead, He
will raise us also to life everlasting, just as He promised. All of this is gifted to us by the Holy
Spirit through Word and Sacrament. Yes, this
is the why the Lord our God wants us to come into His presence often and
regularly so that He might keep us strong in faith, hope, and love.
Still,
notice that the Holy Spirit doesn’t work alone in the believer; He says, “Therefore,
encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are also doing.” When you and I gather around God’s Word—in
worship and Bible study, in prayer and repentance, we are alive together as the
body of Christ building each other up in the one true faith. The writer to the Hebrews said, “Let us not
neglect meeting together, as some have the habit of doing. Rather, let us encourage each other, and all
the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25) Here, in every worship service, we remind
each other of the forgiveness and salvation Jesus won for us all on the
cross. We do that also every time we
forgive a brother or sister who causes us harm, every time we assure the
repentant sinner that he, or she, is truly forgiven. As we share the Good News of God’s
forgiveness, we Encourage one another, aware of the times.
To the
Colossians St. Paul wrote, “Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, to
which you were also called, in one body.
And be thankful. Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all
wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your
hearts to God. And everything you do,
whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:15-17)
Dear
friends, the Lord Jesus is coming soon, but we won’t have to hide, because
while He is coming in all His glory to judge the world, He will also take home
to heaven those who have followed Him, who have believed and trusted in Him for
life and salvation. As He has made you
clean of all sin, given you a new heart of living faith, and made you holy in
the eyes of His heavenly Father, believe it!
And, Encourage one another, aware of the times. Amen.
The peace
of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
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