Malachi 4:1-6/Romans 15:4-13/St Luke 21:25-36
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
From the rising of the sun to its setting, says Asaph the Psalmist, The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth. The world and its fullness are His. He created all of them in the beginning. He spoke and they were. He is the One who gives life to men. He is the true Light of the world.
Thus when Jesus warns concerning signs in the heavenly bodies, in the sun, moon, and stars He is speaking of far lesser lights. He, the Creator, is speaking of the creation, which was subjected to futility by He who made it. He subjected it in hope, says St Paul, in order that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now (Rom 8:20-22).
The whole creation has been groaning already. In other words, when have there not been signs in sun, moon, and stars? When has there not been distress among the nations of the earth? People in perplexity because of the roaring of the seas and the waves? Folks fainting with fear? This past year we have seen some pretty traumatic events in the world. Hurricanes and earthquakes, landslides and draught. Most recently, devastating tornadoes in central Illinois and a catastrophic tsunami in the Philippines. Even tragic deaths in our families.
At the end of the Church Year we heard frequently from St Matthew and Jesus’ warning concerning the end of all things. For several chapters Christ spoke of signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Last Day. He was quite verbose. St Luke is far less loquacious concerning our Lord’s parousia, His advent, that is, His second coming. His words here in chapter twenty-one, are his only remarks. His brevity is a mark of his seriousness. This is important. Catechumens are to sit up and take notice.
For what are the signs of the end, but merely a repeat of the events concerning the Great Sign; that is, the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? When the Son of Righteousness bowed His head and breathed His last, all of creation responded in grief and mourning. St Luke records, It was now about the six hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed (23:44). St Matthew adds, And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what had taken place, they were filled with awe (27:51, 54).
These are but a foreshadowing of what will occur at the End. For He who is risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead. These are the signs of His advent; His second coming. The world is coming unglued. God’s orderly creation becomes unstable and reverts toward chaos as the Creator begins to withdraw His benevolence.
Make no mistake, dear catechumens of our Lord Christ, we are living in the final days. Indeed the Church is perpetually within the last days. Nothing has been the same since the advent of the Coming One. When the Creator of the stars of night took up flesh, the earth greeted her maker and the heavens rejoiced in wonder. The birth in the flesh of the Son of God has set the end of all things in motion. The fullness of time has come, the Babe has been born, the labor pains of creation are not far behind. To prepare for the beginning, we must go back and learn from the end.
And just as the unbelievers marveled at the Sign, so will the unbelievers of this generation marvel at the passing away of heaven and earth. That is, the spiritual heirs of those who rejected the Word of the prophets and apostles are those who rejected Christ Jesus. And their spiritual heirs will continue to reject the Gospel preached by pastors to the present day unto the Last Day. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. At the last all things, heaven and earth, and even the rejecting unbelievers will pass away, but the Word of Christ will never pass away.
And then comes the unexpected. Our Lord tells us to watch ourselves. He says, “pay attention to yourselves.” You would expect Him to say, based on on His previous statements and the indication of the signs, “Therefore watch for these things to take place,” or “Pay attention to when this happens.” He doesn’t. Instead He says, watch yourselves. Why? It seems so counterintuitive.
Recall that creation is already and always groaning. The signs are ever with us. People are always hysterical and panicked. The earth is always in turmoil. The unbelievers are worried about these things. “You, don’t watch them,” He says. Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation, that is, with waste, with excess, with indulgence, decadence, drunkenness, and promiscuity. Pay attention to yourselves, so that you are not weighed down by the cares of this world, by what you will eat or drink or what you will wear or where you will live. Watch yourselves so that you will not be taken by surprise when these things take place.
Be ready. Not just ready, but eagerly awaiting and expecting it, like a kid for Christmas. It is not coincidence that those Advent calendars count up and not down. Its not a countdown to the end, but a joy at the beginning. So too you, as we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus,” we long and yearn for it, so that when it happens we will stand up and look and see our redemption.
Now the only way we are able to watch ourselves, to pay attention to ourselves is to look in a mirror. And there is only one mirror that will not pass away - the mirror of our Lord’s Word. While heaven and earth and all that are in them will pass away, Jesus says, My words will not pass away.
We hear Jesus’ Words in the Divine Service. Here He shows us our sin and the need for a Savior. Here He comforts us with Words of Life. He forgives our sin. He takes away our dissipation, takes way the burdens that weigh us down, and the fear of all those foreboding and terrifying events. He even takes away our sorrow and loss of life by His own death and resurrection unto eternal life.
Here He gives us His yoke, which is easy and light. He refreshed our souls, renews our strength or the day and our courage to face tomorrow. He gives peace and rest.
We watch ourselves by hearing what our Lord has to say about us, and what He has to say about Himself - who He is and what He comes to do. For in His Word His nature is revealed. That when the Son of Man comes to judge the nations, He comes also as the Lamb of God to save all those who trust in Him. We have no reason to fear and every reason to rejoice and to glorify Him for His mercy.
Be gathered to Him, you, His faithful ones. Pay attention to yourselves. Receive what our Lord gives. Hear His Word that gives eternal life. Call upon Him in the day of trouble. He will deliver you. Even now, sit up and straighten your heads, because your redemption draws nigh. Christ is here with His Body and Blood to forgive all your sins, to preserve you in both body and soul, and to strengthen you unto life everlasting.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
From the rising of the sun to its setting, says Asaph the Psalmist, The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth. The world and its fullness are His. He created all of them in the beginning. He spoke and they were. He is the One who gives life to men. He is the true Light of the world.
Thus when Jesus warns concerning signs in the heavenly bodies, in the sun, moon, and stars He is speaking of far lesser lights. He, the Creator, is speaking of the creation, which was subjected to futility by He who made it. He subjected it in hope, says St Paul, in order that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now (Rom 8:20-22).
The whole creation has been groaning already. In other words, when have there not been signs in sun, moon, and stars? When has there not been distress among the nations of the earth? People in perplexity because of the roaring of the seas and the waves? Folks fainting with fear? This past year we have seen some pretty traumatic events in the world. Hurricanes and earthquakes, landslides and draught. Most recently, devastating tornadoes in central Illinois and a catastrophic tsunami in the Philippines. Even tragic deaths in our families.
At the end of the Church Year we heard frequently from St Matthew and Jesus’ warning concerning the end of all things. For several chapters Christ spoke of signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Last Day. He was quite verbose. St Luke is far less loquacious concerning our Lord’s parousia, His advent, that is, His second coming. His words here in chapter twenty-one, are his only remarks. His brevity is a mark of his seriousness. This is important. Catechumens are to sit up and take notice.
For what are the signs of the end, but merely a repeat of the events concerning the Great Sign; that is, the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? When the Son of Righteousness bowed His head and breathed His last, all of creation responded in grief and mourning. St Luke records, It was now about the six hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed (23:44). St Matthew adds, And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what had taken place, they were filled with awe (27:51, 54).
These are but a foreshadowing of what will occur at the End. For He who is risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead. These are the signs of His advent; His second coming. The world is coming unglued. God’s orderly creation becomes unstable and reverts toward chaos as the Creator begins to withdraw His benevolence.
Make no mistake, dear catechumens of our Lord Christ, we are living in the final days. Indeed the Church is perpetually within the last days. Nothing has been the same since the advent of the Coming One. When the Creator of the stars of night took up flesh, the earth greeted her maker and the heavens rejoiced in wonder. The birth in the flesh of the Son of God has set the end of all things in motion. The fullness of time has come, the Babe has been born, the labor pains of creation are not far behind. To prepare for the beginning, we must go back and learn from the end.
And just as the unbelievers marveled at the Sign, so will the unbelievers of this generation marvel at the passing away of heaven and earth. That is, the spiritual heirs of those who rejected the Word of the prophets and apostles are those who rejected Christ Jesus. And their spiritual heirs will continue to reject the Gospel preached by pastors to the present day unto the Last Day. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. At the last all things, heaven and earth, and even the rejecting unbelievers will pass away, but the Word of Christ will never pass away.
And then comes the unexpected. Our Lord tells us to watch ourselves. He says, “pay attention to yourselves.” You would expect Him to say, based on on His previous statements and the indication of the signs, “Therefore watch for these things to take place,” or “Pay attention to when this happens.” He doesn’t. Instead He says, watch yourselves. Why? It seems so counterintuitive.
Recall that creation is already and always groaning. The signs are ever with us. People are always hysterical and panicked. The earth is always in turmoil. The unbelievers are worried about these things. “You, don’t watch them,” He says. Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation, that is, with waste, with excess, with indulgence, decadence, drunkenness, and promiscuity. Pay attention to yourselves, so that you are not weighed down by the cares of this world, by what you will eat or drink or what you will wear or where you will live. Watch yourselves so that you will not be taken by surprise when these things take place.
Be ready. Not just ready, but eagerly awaiting and expecting it, like a kid for Christmas. It is not coincidence that those Advent calendars count up and not down. Its not a countdown to the end, but a joy at the beginning. So too you, as we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus,” we long and yearn for it, so that when it happens we will stand up and look and see our redemption.
Now the only way we are able to watch ourselves, to pay attention to ourselves is to look in a mirror. And there is only one mirror that will not pass away - the mirror of our Lord’s Word. While heaven and earth and all that are in them will pass away, Jesus says, My words will not pass away.
We hear Jesus’ Words in the Divine Service. Here He shows us our sin and the need for a Savior. Here He comforts us with Words of Life. He forgives our sin. He takes away our dissipation, takes way the burdens that weigh us down, and the fear of all those foreboding and terrifying events. He even takes away our sorrow and loss of life by His own death and resurrection unto eternal life.
Here He gives us His yoke, which is easy and light. He refreshed our souls, renews our strength or the day and our courage to face tomorrow. He gives peace and rest.
We watch ourselves by hearing what our Lord has to say about us, and what He has to say about Himself - who He is and what He comes to do. For in His Word His nature is revealed. That when the Son of Man comes to judge the nations, He comes also as the Lamb of God to save all those who trust in Him. We have no reason to fear and every reason to rejoice and to glorify Him for His mercy.
Be gathered to Him, you, His faithful ones. Pay attention to yourselves. Receive what our Lord gives. Hear His Word that gives eternal life. Call upon Him in the day of trouble. He will deliver you. Even now, sit up and straighten your heads, because your redemption draws nigh. Christ is here with His Body and Blood to forgive all your sins, to preserve you in both body and soul, and to strengthen you unto life everlasting.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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