Watch and Pray

 

Luke 21:25-36

"And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

And He told them a parable: "Behold the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. Even so you, too, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent 12/06/20

Watch and Pray

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Something is coming. Advent means "coming". Advent means "coming". We talk about it often to re-enforce the steadfastness of faith. We all think we know what is coming. Many of us have been Christians for many years and have heard the sermons. Jesus is coming! Heaven is coming! Something wonderful is coming!

Well, all of that is true. Still, there is something about the way that it is presented to us in the Bible that suggests that it is not all happy-faced and delightful. For the child of God on that day, it will be glorious! The experience of life as we slowly approach that day, however, will not seem or feel so glorious. I suspect that it will be somewhat different than we expect – not because we haven't been told what to expect, but because we don't always take God at His Word, and we sometimes imagine that what God is doing will be done the way we would do it. But God always does things His way.

With that thought in mind, I read the words of our text and my attention was drawn to the warnings, "keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." What is coming is wonderful at the last, but the way it will come, and the days that lead up to it may not be all delightful. They will, in fact, require divine help and God-given strength. So, this morning I want to look at what Jesus said in our text, and talk about the admonition, our theme is Watch and pray

The last day is coming. I wish I could give you the date, but God refuses to reveal that. He even warns us against trying to predict it too closely. He simply tells us that it is going to come and that when it comes it will be awesome! Before the day arrives, there will be specific signs that it is about to arrive. There will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars. They may be the sort of things that only astronomers or astrologers would pay attention to, or they may be singularly catastrophic events. The text doesn't say, but it seems to suggest something widely seen and widely frightening.

Then there are the signs on earth. "Dismay among nations." That one is hard to fix since there seems to be dismay most of the time. The ongoing war on terrorism and fear of how it might impact our lives personally might be what the text is speaking about, or not. The dismay seems to be connected to natural events as well as world events. "and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." This could speak of natural catastrophes, like hurricanes and floods, fires and droughts, and such. We seem to be having a lot of those - and the doomsayers are all busy telling us how it means deprivation and death to us - and it is all caused by us. Mother Earth is getting a little cranky with us. They say she is trying to shake us off like a bunch of fleas!

This prophecy might be talking about the international anxiety over the environment. Some scientists are making frequent statements about climate change and how it will make life so difficult and different. Climate change is always happening, but it is the current buzzword, and there are movies about environmental catastrophes caused by our use of fossil fuels, and such. People are being herded towards fear by the gloom and doom predictions -- at least men and women who don't trust God. Many people could be described as "fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world."

Then again, it could be something much bigger, since it says that "the powers of the heavens will be shaken." This could be speaking about something catastrophic coming from the skies - like that asteroid they keep promising us - you know, like the one that killed off the dinosaurs! On the other hand, it could mean that the very fabric of the universe will appear to begin to unravel. The scene painted here is terrible and frightening and not something that is easily ignored. These signs – political, natural, environmental, cosmic – are the heralds of Jesus' final return. The problem is, they are so ambiguous that they could apply to the world today, or centuries ago, or maybe they still await their final fulfillment. We just don't know. And, by the way, that is just the way God wants it. But those days will be terrible, and wonderful, and frightening to live in! That is in part why we have to watch and pray.

When those signs appear – and I think we can all agree that we may very well be seeing some of them now – we are to "stand up straight, and lift up your heads, for your redemption is drawing near!" These days will be terrible and frightening days - and those who are crushed by fear stoop over, and curl up, and hide. But our response to these things is to know what is happening and to stand without fear — and instead of fear, to look towards the heavens, as the place of God's appearing, and expect our Lord Jesus to come and rescue us! In other words, we are not to be frightened, but to trust God. We are not to curl up, but to bear the good news of God and of our salvation to those who are being crushed by the fears and the trouble of these end-time days! Those people - our friends and neighbors, and perhaps even our own families - are our mission field!

Then Jesus told a parable. The parable was simple – it was the natural course of Spring as it brings the trees to leaf. If Jesus lived in Minnesota, He might have had the parable of the lilacs and the apple trees. When they are in bloom, we know Summer is just around the corner. In precisely the same way, we are to know what to make of the terrible fears of mankind, the political, the military, the natural disasters, and the environmental worries. We are not to get wrapped up in them or terrified by them, but to understand that they are the signs of the coming of the end. They are, in a manner of speaking, the evangelism program of God. The world gets frightened, and we don't, and the difference is so painfully obvious that they want to know why we are different – and then, we get to do what Peter counsels in His first epistle, "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence."

And when Jesus finished the parable, He promised that the signs will be evident and obvious before the first generation of Christians has passed away. In other words, this state of expectation and anticipation and persistent and bold faith and witness is to be the ordinary condition of the Christian Church. But how much more now than two millennia ago? Remember last week's epistle? "For now salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed." That means, of course, closer now than when the first Christians first believed!

Today the Christian Church, so-called, is pretty comfortable. Very few of us actually expect Jesus to return at just any moment now. We have the time, according to our expectations, to make plans a year or more in advance, without ever thinking to add, even in our private thoughts, "God willing". Christians in many congregations today think they have so much time and such security in this world that they can fight with one another, and form parties in the church - against the command of Jesus to love one another. That is what our Epistle lesson spoke about, "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."

Some people feel such a lack of urgency about faith and salvation that they can set aside the Word of God whenever it is inconvenient, or it accuses them of sin, or it makes them uncomfortable about the spiritual well-being of their children or other family members. They make worship, communion, and Bible Study optional activities useful only for those weeks when they have nothing else, nothing they prefer to do. Face it, most Christians today do not really expect Jesus to appear in the skies and to end the world – at least not during their lifetime.

Jesus knew that this was going to happen. That is why He said, "Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

The simple truth is that many modern Christians have been ‘weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life.' Dissipation is wasting your life on things of no significance or value. We probably think of it as living like an alcoholic. Just drinking and wasting life on a grand scale. But dissipation actually is any pursuit that has no real value. Pornography addiction would be one. Just wasting your life watching television qualifies, too. Focusing your life on having the biggest and best toys would be another form. ‘Reaching for all the gusto you can' and making the most of the pleasures of this world could be called dissipation too. And, of course, regular drunkenness is also dissipation.

Another thing that distracts many Christians is the "worries of life". That is what weighs most people down. We worry about all sorts of things: the next paycheck, or the weather, or terrorists, or we worry about our health and Covid. Life is every day, and dangers, threats, worries, and fears are always clamoring for our attention.

Which ones have your attention?

Jesus tells us to be on guard against just such things happening. They are just as natural as can be. They are darned near impossible to avoid. So how can you keep that sense of expectation, and not give in to the worries and temptations of life? By being on guard, and "on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place and to stand before the Son of Man." You do it by vigilance, and prayer; constant, regular, fervent prayer. You do it by remembering that these temptations are coming and that you have no strength in yourself, and so you call on God and trust Him to bring you through.

After all, you didn't become a Christian by your own power or choice. Why would you imagine that you could hold yourself in faith and readiness by your own power or choice?

 

Jesus tells us that these days are coming, and will come upon everyone who lives on this planet. The temptations to surrender your expectation that these days will come soon, and to get busy living like everyone else in this world, is a temptation that will assault everyone. That is why you are called to watch and pray.

The battle for your salvation has already been fought. Jesus fought it on the cross and rose from the grave to declare the victory. Your sins have been forgiven! Jesus has poured out on you the gift of everlasting life and resurre
ction from your grave if the world does not end before your body goes to the grave. He poured those gifts out on you in your Baptism, and He feeds you with the Medicine of Immortality each week in this blessed Sacrament of His body and blood. Jesus said, in Matthew 24, "But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved."

The one thing we want to be sure to do is to stand firm, that is, to be faithful. We want to straighten up and lift up our heads and confidently expect the Lord. We want to do what Jesus has instructed us to do so that He may accomplish through us all that He has planned. Mostly, we want to believe, because "he that believes and is baptized shall be saved." And losing our sense of expectation is a form of unbelief and the beginning of the total collapse of the faith. So, as Jesus said, Watch and pray.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)