Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28C)

November 17, 2019

Text: Luke 21:5-36

            Suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, like an unexpected thief in the night, it will happen.  The trumpet will sound and the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will come down on a cloud, in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels.  He will raise all the dead, believers and unbelievers, and all of us, including those left alive on that Day, will be gathered before His throne, where He will judge.  The believers will be judged righteous, having received the righteousness of Christ by faith, and so they will receive eternal life, in their bodies, in the New Creation, the new heavens and earth.  The unbelievers will be judged unrighteous, having only a righteousness of their own, which is, in fact, wickedness and sin, not having received the righteousness of Christ by faith, and so they will receive eternal death, in their bodies, in hell.  See, the Lord has told us beforehand, lest that Day take us unawares.  It could happen at any moment.  It may not happen in your lifetime.  But then again, it may happen this very day.  So be ready.  Stay awake.  Be prepared by being in Jesus, lest you be found naked on that Day.  Jesus is coming.  He is coming soon.  He is coming to judge. 

            In our Holy Gospel, Jesus is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Last Day at one and the same time.  When He talks about fleeing for the mountains when Jerusalem is surrounded by armies, He is prophesying precisely what happened to Jerusalem in AD 70, the Gentiles trampling the city underfoot, the Romans sacking Jerusalem and destroying the Temple.  The great Temple, a wonder of the ancient world, the dwelling place of God with His Old Testament people… not one stone left upon another.  Well, that has come and gone.  We don’t have to worry about pregnant women and nursing mothers having to run for the hills, because that particular episode has already happened.  This was the judgment for Jerusalem’s rejection and murder of our Messiah, Jesus Christ.  But it is also one sign among many of the Judgment that is to come upon the whole earth.  And just like we know that summer is coming because the fig leaf sprouts, so we should know the Day of Judgment is coming by the signs.  Wars and tumults.  Man-made and natural disasters.  Earthquakes.  Famine.  Pestilence.  Terror and great signs in the heavens.  The persecution and martyrdom of Christians.  9/11.  The war in Afghanistan and the possibilities of a nuclear Iran or a missile from North Korea.  Civil unrest.  Global pandemic.  Bird flue.  Swine flue.  A cancer diagnosis.  The death of a loved one.  These are signs.  Things cannot go on this way forever, calling evil good and good evil, trampling the poor and slaughtering the unborn, worshiping the creature rather than the creator, embracing every perverted fleshly pleasure while denying the one true God.  The End is near.  The Judge is at the door.  Read the signs.  Repent of your sins.  Jesus is coming.

            We’re very good at reading the signs simply as further proof that the world is going to hell in a handbasket.  Well, it is, but God doesn’t give the signs simply to lead you to despair so that you’ll give up.  No, He’s warning you.  Look at yourself.  Examine yourself.  Repent.  Turn.  Stop living for the flesh, which will be destroyed, along with the whole universe, which will be burned up with fire (cf. 2 Peter 3:8-13).  Those things will pass away.  But God’s Word will not.  Jesus will not.  Live for the New Creation which will appear on that Day, the resurrection universe, where you will live forever in your resurrection body, your body, but risen and made perfect, like Jesus’ resurrected body.  We live for that Day, for that reality. 

            In fact, Jesus says, when you see these signs, all these things taking place, straighten up!  Raise your head.  Your redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:28).  It’s a good Day for you.  It is the Day of your deliverance from all that afflicts you.  We often think of the Last Day as something scary, to be feared.  And in one sense, that’s right.  We should fear it with a godly fear, lest we be lulled into spiritual sleep by the seductive whispers of the devil, the siren song of the world, and the passions of the flesh.  We should always keep awake and alert, which is to say, we should always be repenting of our sins and clinging to Christ in His Word and Sacraments.

            But in another sense, this is not a Day for us to fear.  It is a Day for us to rejoice.  Think again of the signs.  In the very midst of the chaos and destruction, when all appears hopeless and lost, when it seems like evil has won decisively and forever, and God’s wrath has been justly unleashed in all its fury, then, suddenly… Jesus.  All at once, there is Jesus.  Then you will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory (v. 27).  And that Day is the Day of your deliverance. 

            This is the way God works in the matter of our salvation.  It is the way of the cross.  Think about that Day, Good Friday, which is really the beginning of the Last Day.  That Day is our judgment and the punishment of our sins.  There in the darkness, as the crowds jeer and God bows His bloodied head in death, all appears hopeless and lost.  It seems like evil, the very devil, sin, death, hell, have won decisively and forever.  And it is certain that there, in that place and at that moment, God indeed unleashed His righteous wrath in all its fury.  The Son of God, buried in the earth, a great stone rolled over the tomb to keep Him in it.  But just then, suddenly, and wholly unexpectedly… Easter.  Jesus.  In His death, He was accomplishing His victory over all our enemies, releasing us from slavery.  And now His tomb is empty, the stone rolled away, and there He stands.  Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. 

            That is God’s verdict.  That is the result of Judgment Day.  The sacrifice has been accepted.  Your sins are forgiven.  The gavel falls as the Judge declares you… not just “not guilty”… not just “innocent”… but righteous!  The Judge declares you righteous.  Sinless.  Holy.  Not with a righteousness, sinlessness, or holiness of your own, but with that of Jesus Christ, whom He has raised from the dead.  The resurrection of Jesus is the justification of the whole world for the sake of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  The resurrection of Jesus is your confidence and joy when Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead. 

            So that being the case, how should we now live as we wait for that Day?  St. Paul tells us in our Epistle (2 Thess. 3:1-13).  What you don’t do is just sit back and wait for the world to end, as though you don’t have work to do.  Don’t give up.  Live each day fully, in Christ, who has redeemed your life.  Pray and labor for the preaching of the Gospel, that more may be rescued and come into the Kingdom before that Day (v. 1).  Rejoice that God is faithful, and will establish and guard you against the evil one (v. 3).  Do not be idle, for the one who is not willing to work shall not eat (v. 10).  Love your neighbor and serve in your vocations.  You have responsibilities to your family, your congregation, your community.  Fulfill them.  Serve, as serving the Lord, for that is what you are doing.  Do not grow weary in doing good (v. 13).  We should always live as though the Lord were coming back tomorrow, and at the same time as though He will not come back for a thousand years.  We should be ready for Him now.  But so also, we should love and serve as an investment in the future.  We do not know when He is coming again, and that is the point.  That isn’t our business.  What is our business is the welfare of our neighbor.  So get to work.

            And Jesus adds, watch yourself, lest your heart be weighed down with dissipation (that is a heart scattered in various directions by the passions of the flesh) or with drunkenness and the cares of this life (Luke 21:34).  Don’t be distracted by the stuff of this life and this fallen world.  Cling to Jesus and His Word.  Be in Church, always, receiving the gifts by which Jesus sustains you in the holy faith.  Remember your Baptism.  Hear and believe the Absolution and the Preaching.  Read the Scriptures.  Eat and drink the body and blood of Jesus.  He is faithful.  He will always give you His Spirit in these means of grace to keep you safe for that Day. 

            And never lose heart.  Straighten up.  Raise your head.  Whether Jesus comes back in your lifetime, the plain fact is, at maximum, you only have a few years until He comes back for you.  In other words, you never know when you’re going to die.  Your redemption is drawing near.  And that, my friends, is reason to sing a hearty Alleluia.  Be warned, but even more, be encouraged.  Jesus is coming back.  He is coming back for you.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.