Advent 2 – Luke 21:25-36 –
December 9th, 2012
In the Name of Christ Jesus
our Advent King +
I tend to like a lot of heroic movies, a lot of the stories
where you have the damsel in distress trapped, hidden away by the evil villain,
but then the hero comes and storms the castle and rescues her. Just fun types of stories – and there’s a
moment that stands out in each often – where the villain is confronting,
threatening the damsel in distress – and they both hear noise, hear a
ruckus. And at that moment, there is joy
and wonderment upon the damsel – she knows the hero has come. The fear and terror melt away from her face,
and she looks up with hope and gladness.
This same set up is precisely what Christ Jesus our Lord is describing
in our Gospel lesson today. We were
captives, fast bound in Satan’s chains, we were spiritual damsels in distress,
as it were. But what happens? Christ Jesus, our King, our hero comes, and
He comes to rescue us. Just as He came
to win us salvation with His first advent, so too He shall come again to take
us from this vale of tears unto His own side for all eternity. Listen.
“And there will be signs in the 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.” The world
should have known what was coming.
Whenever Jesus does something awesome, the world is shaken. Consider Christ’s birth – what do we
see? Signs in the stars – behold the
Wise men have seen it. Distress of
nations – you have Herod freaking out, all Jerusalem terrified with him. Jesus is coming – the signs are clear. And then, when our Lord was crucified, what
do you have? Signs in the heavens – the
sun is blotted out and the day turns to darkness. You have fear and foreboding – the mighty
Centurion falls to his knees and confesses “Surely this was the Son of
God.” Christ came and was crucified,
destroyed sin and death. And it will
happen again – He shall come again. This
season of Advent is not just a time looking forward to our celebrations of His
first coming, but it is the time where we also focus on His second coming – “And
then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Christ the Crucified, God become Man for us
men and our salvation, shall return. And
what is our response? “Now,
when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near.”
We Christians just don’t act or think like the rest of the world. We see signs in the world, reminders that this is a fallen place, that it will not go on forever. Perplexities, violence, terror, weather run amuck – and while we sorrow and grieve for those impacted, we do not give into to utter terror and fear. Why? When you see the news, when you read the papers – straighten up and raise your head – it’s all just a reminder that your redemption is drawing near. It’s all just a reminder that this world is a fallen, sinful place, and that Christ Jesus your Lord and King has promise to return and to pull you out of this life of suffering unto His side.
And no, I’m not exaggerating, I’m not blowing things out of
proportion. Listen. “And He told them a parable; ‘Look at the fig
tree, and all the trees. As soon as they
come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already
near. So also, when you see these things
taking place, you know that the kingdom
of God is near.’” It is obvious, as obvious as the coming of
the summer. There are leaves on the
trees again, I guess it is going to be getting warmer. There is still trouble and chaos in the
world, we see it more and more – I guess Christ Jesus will be coming. As Christians, everything we see in the world,
all the tragedy, all the sorrow, all the pain – it all should be a reminder, it
should all point us and drive us to remember that Christ Jesus, our Redeemer,
shall come again. You see, this is how
and why we rejoice in our suffering, as we are told over and over again in the
New Testament. This is why those who
mourn are called blessed. Not because suffering is fun, not because we like
mourning – but because Christ Jesus has come to you, made you His own in Holy
Baptism, given you life in Him – and all this trouble, all this sorrow, all
this pain… it reminds you that this life isn’t all there is – that this world
isn’t as good as it gets. You have more
– not more now, not some secret bible code to double your income in 2013 – no,
because of Christ you have life in the world to come where there is no sorrow,
you have a resurrection that will undo all mourning. When you see the suffering and sorrow in your
life, it is a reminder that Christ shall come and put an end to that suffering
and sorrow and bring you to His side.
When you hear of wars, that is a reminder that the Prince of Peace shall
come and put an end to all strife. When
you hear of the earth falling appear, that is a reminder that He shall come
again and make a new heavens and a new earth.
When you feel your own body falling apart, breaking down – that is a
reminder that when He comes you will be raised and have a new and glorious Body
that is like His. This is how we see the
world.
Before we move on to the end of a passage, a brief note in
passing. Jesus says, “Truly,
I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken
place. Heaven and earth will pass away,
but My Words will not pass away.”
Sometimes this verse can cause some consternation – Jesus said that that
generation would not pass – well they are gone and where is the second
coming! Part of this is because our text
jumps in the middle of the speech.
Christ has talked about many things, about the destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple – indeed, things that many there lived
to see. But what it really boils down to
is this – everything gets done and wrapped up when our Lord is Crucified. What does our Lord proclaim – IT IS
FINISHED. It’s all accomplished, it all
has taken place. The sin of the world is
atoned for, death is swallowed up in death.
Everything is done – now we are just waiting for the passing away of
heaven and earth so that we can get the new one, the new one promised by His
Words which do not pass away. It is all
finished.
But Satan tries hard to make us forget this. Satan tries hard to rob us of the comfort we
have in Christ. Instead of seeing all
these things as signs and reminders of Christ Jesus and His promises to you,
Satan will try to use this world to distract and terrorize you, to rob you of
your comfort in Christ. Listen. “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be
weighed down with the dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and
that day come you like a trap.” This
actually is one of my favorite verses – it is just dense and drives to
things. Satan will try to trip you up,
he will try to mess you up, he will attack you in three ways. He will attack you with dissipation. Well great Pastor, if we knew what in
tarnation “dissipation” was we would take the warning to heart. The Greek word is “Kraipale” – it’s the
running around after stuff, after things, after riches. It’s the frantic worrying of trying to make
everything just so and trying to get everything in order and keep up with the
Jones’ – it’s running after mammon that we hear about so often just summed up
in one word. So yes – this Advent
season, do not be frantic trying to make this world perfect, to make the gifts
and dinners and such be just so perfect and wonderful. Why?
They won’t be – we live in a fallen world, things will go wrong. And this isn’t me being a Bah Humbug Scrooge
– no, simply this. Don’t dissipate,
don’t run around so frantic worrying about everything and spread yourself so
thin that you are robbed of joy and comfort.
You are blessed, and when you see things get messed up, remember that in
Christ you have more blessing to come – even if you burn the cookies or so and
so doesn’t really like their gift. Life
is more than this.
And then there is the warning against drunkenness – another
temptation that we can face when confronted with the world. Instead of trying to perfect things, we can
just want to tune everything out – be it getting blottoed or be it what ever
other forms of escapism that we might like – diving into work, into the bottle,
into drugs, into whatever. We can be
tempted to flee from the trials of life.
No, that’s not the way – because again, those trials remind us of what
is to come, point us forward to Christ and His return. And then of course, the cares of this life –
where we see trial and trouble and we get so focused on how they aren’t going
to be fixed now that we despair. The
simple, blunt, honest truth is that in this life, some things are never going
to be fixed. Just the way it is. That sorrow – a piece of it will still hang
with you, even as you get used to it.
The body that’s failing – well, even medicine only goes so far. Heartache, pain, suffering – they are going
to be around us always. Fears and
troubles and tribulations – Satan will send those your way in spades, because
you are a Christian, and he will attack you.
He wants these to overwhelm you – do not let him, do not listen to the
prince of lies – rather remember what Christ Jesus has promised you. He is with you, and you will endure in Him,
even until He comes again. That is His
promise to you – don’t let Satan lead you astray.
“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.” Again, one final bit of comfort. Pray that you may have strength to escape –
let me ask you one thing? Where does
your strength come from? Where does your
escape come from? Is this a matter of
you having to become spiritually buff and clawing your way out? Do you have to take spoon of super-holy good
works and dig your way to freedom? No,
the Son of Man will come with… power and great glory. He is your strength, He is your hope, He is
your escape. That’s why you pray –
because it’s God’s strength that He gives to you. The simple fact is that one day, you will
stand before the Son of Man – and how will you stand? Not on the merit or basis of what you are and
have done – but you will stand as His own beloved whom He has come to rescue,
whom He has sacrificed all for, whom He has come to give the new heavens and
the new earth to. Your King, your
Champion is coming – keep your eyes open, be awake, do not worry about the
rantings and the ravings of that villainous snake – do you hear the sounds of
trouble and strife in this world, do you see the toil and fighting? Satan’s kingdom is crashing down around Him,
and your Lord and Savior is coming to you, to pull you out of Satan’s kingdom
unto His own. Straighten up, lift up
your head – your redemption is drawing nigh.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus! In the
Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +
2 comments:
Which is why we should reject popular culture. But what a chore, and what a way to marginalize oneself from society.
I wouldn't say completely reject it -- but simply recognize it for what it is. Moderation.
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