Ever since the fall into sin and Man’s mind was darkened so
that he could no longer believe in or worship the one true God without the
almighty aid of the Holy Spirit, he has been choosing other things to believe
in and worship. Chief among these things
have been the heavenly bodies—the sun, the moon, the planets, and the
stars. It has not been unusual for
societies to worship the sun as the greatest among the gods, and this is
understandable. The sun is hugely
powerful and our life on this planet is sustained by its power. If the sun would not shine, or even shine as
powerfully as it does, then everything would fall apart. The wind wouldn’t even blow, to say nothing
of grass and trees and all the food that sustains us.
The moon, also, is quite impressive. It reflects the glory of the sun. Its regularity and predictability makes it
well suited for marking time, and the variability of it with the different
phases might have been one of the reasons why it was preferred as the basis for
calendars in ancient times. The movement
of the planets, also, is wonderful as they do not rotate exactly with the rest
of the stars in the night sky, but will move in strange loops as they shift in
their orbits relative to the earth’s orbit.
These celestial powers are extremely regular and predictable in their
movements—something quite different from the changeableness of our lives. This has made them worthy of Man’s
wonderment, and for the unbeliever’s devotion.
They are some of the high and exalted things. Ancient Man, in particular worshipped these
things.
It might seem as though we modern people are totally
different from them. We do not have
extensive lists of different gods. We do
not have temples with priests and priestesses to offer sacrifice, sing, and
dance before the many gods. Those in
academia believe that this is a matter of historical development and
sophistication. Primitive people were
thought to be stupid and so they didn’t know any better than to think that life
was full of gods wanting to be worshipped.
Monotheism, or the belief in one God, instead of polytheism, or the
belief in many gods, is thought to be a matter of applying our reason to our
situation and discovering that having only one God is more reasonable than
having several.
For the past couple hundred years many people have believed
that we have become yet more sophisticated.
By applying our reason even more, people believe that they have
discovered that no god exists. The only
things that exist are matter, time, and energy.
These basic things interact with one another and are capable of
explaining our existence from the Big Bang onward until now without needing to
“cheat” by adding a god or many gods into the mix to explain stuff.
But this movement towards an imagined sophistication is
nothing other than the high and mighty getting lost in the imagination of their
own hearts, as St. Mary says in her Magnificat.
It is an imagined sophistication, because there is nothing sophisticated
about ignoring God, ignoring our responsibility towards him, ignoring the way
that we are going to be judged by him for the way that we have lived our
lives. It’s childish and selfish. It also is nothing new. Adam and Eve tried their hardest to forget
about the God who had warned them not to sin.
They got busy doing other things.
This is exactly what modern Man does as well when he busies himself with
trying to fix all the effects of the fall into sin while ignoring the God who
has placed this curse of death upon us.
Modern Man believes that he will be better blessed by devoting himself
to all the various causes out there, rather than turning in repentance to the
God who smites us and saying, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Because modern people still believe that they are going to
be blessed by devoting themselves to this or that, it is also clear that people
still believe in various high and exalted things as gods beside the one true
God. Among us it is unusual to find
people who worship the sun, the moon, or the stars like many of the ancient
people did, but you can easily find that everybody believes in something. Some people believe in silly things like the
Iowa Hawkeyes or Minnesota Vikings. You
know the kind of devotion some people have in that kind of thing. They might even get buried in the uniform to
show their loyalty. Other people are
devoted to high and noble-sounding things like curing cancer, conquering outer
space, eliminating poverty, or bringing about more peaceful conditions in
societies and families.
Contrary to what is commonly believed, we aren’t that
different from the primitive and ancient people. Their cities were full of different gods and
people would pick the ones that they were especially devoted to. That’s how it is with us today too. People pick the different things in their
life that they love and worship and believe that they are blessed by. They are very busy as they pursue these
things, and so it helps them forget about the God to whom we all must give
answer. What good will curing cancer do
for the person who must give answer before God for how he or she has lived his
or her life? As Jesus says, “What
good will it do a man to gain the whole world, but to lose his soul?” Death and God’s judgment have a way of
exposing the smallness and impotence of all false gods—no matter what they
might be.
Our Gospel reading today so very powerfully depicts the
failure of all false gods that will be made manifest on the last day. Feeble and near-sighted modern man believes
in technology and other manmade trinkets, but what good will it do him on that
day? Even the more robust and
far-sighted ancient man who believed in the sun, the moon, and the other great
and constant powers will see these magnificent things go wobbly and turn
unpredictable.
Fear will seize the whole earth, including even believing
Christians, because we all still have a good bit of idolatry that clings to our
flesh, and there is nothing so painful as being stripped of your idols. The loss of idols—the loss of things besides
God that we put our hope in—this loss is the blackest of all black thoughts for
our Old Adam. This is the kind of
thought that Adam and Eve had when they heard God making his way through the
Garden towards them. The word, “In
the day that you eat of it, you will surely die,” was screaming through
their heads, and all the hopes and dreams of making some clothes and a little
home for themselves died away. The only
course of action that seems reasonable to our Old Adam in such a situation is
to tuck tail and run—head for cover—maybe, just maybe, there’s some way to
survive.
But I don’t think it is possible to emphasize enough the
difference between that reaction of fear to what Jesus says in our Gospel
reading. Jesus is speaking to you who
believe in him—even if that faith in him is very weak—and this is what he says:
“When you start to see these things begin to take place—when you start to see
the false gods failing—then straighten up, put those shoulders back, strong and
tall, and look up for your redemption is drawing near.” These words are so wonderful—I hope that they
can be deeply planted within your soul so that you can remember them at the
proper time.
There is such confidence and strength to be drawn from them,
for this is what Jesus is saying: “When the world is falling apart—when either
it is the end of the world and the sun and the moon and the stars are doing
such strange things, or else the world of your own in your own body is falling
apart, that is, your heart is pitter-pattering, and your brain is foggy, and
death is at your door—when you see these things of the end of the world or the
end of your life beginning to take place, then don’t tuck tail and run in the
imagination of your foolish heart. Also,
don’t cling to these false gods that are showing you their true colors and are
failing. Stand up straight and tall and
proud, spiritually speaking, and be at peace, because your Jesus is coming for
you.
Do not fret about what might be failing with your body or
what powers might be shaken in the world.
Jesus has shown his mastery and power over all these things. There’s nothing whatsoever that can possibly
go wrong that Jesus cannot set right.
That is what redemption means.
When Jesus says that your redemption is drawing near he is saying that
everything is finally going to be set right, once and for all. The work that was done on the cross, and the
work that was begun with your baptism, is about to come to its completion, and
you will be set free from the bonds of sin, death, and the devil, to live in
happiness together with Jesus forever.
I can’t think of any more practical advice when it comes to
the end of the world or to the end of our lives, than what Jesus says
here. Do not be afraid. Remember who your God is—the Lord Jesus
Christ—that he loves you and has powerfully redeemed you. No matter what might happen, he’s coming for
you and will set all things right.
This is old Christian wisdom that can be heard in hymns
like, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” where it says to Jesus, “Be Thou my consolation,
my shield when I must die. Remind me of
your passion, when my last hour draws neigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, upon They cross shall dwell, My heart
by faith enfold Thee. Who dieth thus
dies well.”
Or, perhaps a hymn that is more familiar to you, “Abide with
me,” the last verse: “Hold Thou they cross before my closing eyes. Shine through the gloom, and point me to the
skies. Heaven’s morning breaks and
earth’s vain shadows flee. In life, in
death, O Lord, abide with me.”
I want you to take this very practical and important advice
about the end of the world and the end of our lives very seriously. You must really think through it, because it
is not the standard practice when it comes to caring for the dying. The standard practice for those who are dying
is to be engaged in a kind of busyness that promotes a kind of forgetfulness,
that plays directly into the desires of our Old Adam to tuck tail and run. What I mean by busyness is the way that all
the different options and possibilities are explored, and what might be done
next is the only topic for discussion.
The forgetfulness is losing track of the one true God, who alone won’t
fail. It is at the same time putting out
of mind sin and its wages, but also the gift of God that is in Christ
Jesus—eternal life.
Thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified at the
end of the world and at the end of our life forces us to take sin and death
seriously. The anguish of our Lord on
the cross is no laughing matter. But it
also powerfully recollects the love of God for us sinners—that he goes to such
lengths to redeem and save us. It is
only by the assurance of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness—that the cross
proclaims to us—that we can face absolutely anything with confidence—shoulders
back, head tall—knowing that God will set it right, perfectly right. The happy joy, the heart-pounding joy, of
fellowship with almighty God is ours already, and the fullness of it is just
around the corner.
But again, you must carefully consider this way of handling
the end of the world or the end of our life or you won’t have the strength for
it when the time comes. The frank talk
of Jesus the Savior from sin and death is not welcomed at many, perhaps most,
deathbeds. I can understand why, in a
way, because I also have an Old Adam. I
also would just like to forget about my sins and have my mind occupied with
anything else besides the one true God.
It is stressful to fight against the powers and principalities that
would like the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to never be proclaimed, and nobody
likes stress or awkwardness.
But if you want to do a truly good deed for someone, then
hold before their closing eyes the cross of Jesus Christ that saves. Forget about all the philosophies or other
high and exalted things. These will all
fade and fail. Assure your loved ones of
the confidence that they may have with their approaching end and judgment. This confidence is not something that I’ve
cooked up in my own head—it comes directly from our Lord Jesus Christ, as you
yourself heard in our Gospel reading today.
He says, “When you begin to see these scary things take place, do not be
afraid. Don’t tuck tail and run. Stand up straight, shoulders back, and look
up. I’m coming for you, and I’m taking
you to your true home where you will be your true self and I will be your true
God.”
This message meets opposition, and it always will meet
opposition from those who prefer busyness and forgetfulness to the truth. That is why you must think about these
things—not just during the twenty minutes or so of this sermon, but afterwards
as well. But this message will not just
be met by opposition. It will also be
met by indescribable joy by others. If,
for some reason, you should be around me and I am meeting the end of the world
or the end of my life, then I want you to talk to me about Christ on the
cross. That would be an eternal gift
that I could never repay. On the other
hand, if I should be around you, then I will do my best to return the
favor. Both of us must ask our God of
grace to give us the strength to do so.
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