Sermon manuscript:
Our Gospel reading today is Jesus’s prophecy about the
destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. Jesus said these things about 40 years
before it actually took place. This prophecy is also, at the same time, about
the end times and the last day. At the end of our reading Jesus says that he
will come with great power and glory. What I would like to focus on today,
then, is how we should prepare for the end times according to what Jesus says
in our reading.
However, before we speak more positively about how we should
be, it is helpful, I think, to point out two very common false beliefs about
the end times. First of all, there are many Christians who do not believe that
there will be any end times at all, or at least they never wish to talk about
them. We confess in our creeds that Jesus sits at the right hand of God the
Father almighty. From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead. You
heard Jesus say that there will be signs and wonders in the sky and
tribulations on earth. Peter says in his second epistle that the elements will
melt as they burn.
For many people these kinds of things are just too unusual.
We want life to go on as it always has. It is unsettling to think that the
existence of the universe could be so devastatingly altered. Plus, probably in
the back of our mind, we think it is just mythical make-believe anyway. You
know those ancient people. They weren’t too smart. If they knew what we know
they wouldn’t have made such wild and impossible prophecies.
This false belief is common among us Lutherans. We are
pretty staid and steady people. We don’t like to get too worked up about
anything, and, in general, that’s a positive thing. The teaching in the Bible
is clear. If it’s alright to disbelieve in the wrath of God at the end of days,
why should we believe anything that we don’t like?
The other false belief seems like it is almost the opposite.
Instead of despising the end times, never talking of them, there is an
obsession with end times things. This is understandable. The signs and wonders
are stupendous if you are willing to take them seriously. It can be thrilling
to know things that others don’t know.
I remember as a kid sometimes seeing on TV a man named Jack
Van Impe and his wife, Rexella. They would have a stack of newspapers on their
set and they’d go from one to the next, citing bible passage after bible
passage: “This news story fulfills this passage, and this news story fulfills
that passage.” The take-away was always the same: “The end is near. There is
going to be widespread collapse.”
And there was always a kind of glee in the prospect of the
widespread collapse. The TV prophet was quite happy to tell you about it. You
can be happy too if you believe him, because you can prepare accordingly. Make
sure you’ve got food and water in the basement. Maybe these days you need to
make sure that you’ve got some crypto-currency. Be one of the smart ones so
that you can ride out the end of days in style. You can be comfortably sitting
in your bunker, armed to the teeth.
Although these folks seem to be highly believing because
they only want to talk about these conspiracies and prophecies, they, too, are
unbelieving and unprepared. How may anyone escape the wrath that is about to be
revealed? The true and infallible preparations are being baptized, feeding
one’s faith with the Word of God, receiving the Lord’s Supper, praying,
praising, and giving thanks. Repentant faith in Jesus, who has turned away
God’s wrath, is the only way to make it through any terrors or difficulties. As
for what we should eat and drink, or what we should wear, Jesus tells us that
we should not worry about these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you
have need of them.
These two false beliefs look like they are practically
opposites. Some Christians never think or speak of the end times. Other
Christians never stop thinking or speaking of the end times. Neither approach
avails anything. Baptism is our spiritual ark. Faith in Christ is the only
preparation. Flesh and blood cannot see the kingdom of God, but only a new
creation. We must be born again by the water and the Spirit.
As we now turn to Jesus’s words in our Gospel reading, I
would argue that this is Jesus’s concern as well. He wants us to guard our
faith. He forthrightly says that terrors and convulsions are coming. How we are
to be prepared, however, has to do with our faith and the confession of our
faith. So that is what we will turn to now.
Jesus’s talk is begun by the disciples commenting on the
massive and impressive temple. The temple truly was a sight to behold. If
anything seemed permanent, it was this temple, but Jesus said one stone would
not be allowed to remain sitting upon another. Then the disciples asked Jesus to
tell them more about that.
I’d like to you pay attention to how Jesus does not tell
them to form militias or shadow governments. He doesn’t tell them to make any
kind of physical preparations. The wrath of God is coming and there isn’t
anything anybody can do to stop that. Instead Jesus wants to guard their faith.
Jesus said, “Watch out so
that you are not deceived! For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’
and ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. Whenever you hear of wars and
revolutions, do not be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the
end will not be right then.”
As you know there are
many people who rise up all the time, saying that they have their finger on
what is going on. They know the secrets. They know what is going to happen.
Follow them because the end is near. Their exciting messages of doom and
deliverance through prudent preparations stir up those who believe in them so
that they gain their cliques and cadres of people in the know.
Jesus says to beware people like that. Why? Because they are
worthless. You already have all that you need in the true Jesus. If you have
Jesus you don’t need some guru to read the tea leaves or the newspapers. Gurus
might tell you all kinds of secret and exciting things, but their wisdom is
nothing compared to the wisdom even of our humble little Catechism. If you want
to know what you are to do, turn to the Ten Commandments—and you won’t find
anything about crypto-currency or bunkers in there. If you want to know what
you are to believe, consult the Creed. These truly make you wise for salvation.
Let us turn again to Jesus’s
words, and he goes on for some time: “Nation will rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and diseases
in various places. There will be horrifying sights and great signs from heaven.
But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will
persecute you, handing you over to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before
kings and governors for my name’s sake. It will turn out to be your opportunity
to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand how to defend
yourselves, for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries
will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents,
brothers, relatives, and friends. They will put some of you to death. You will
be hated by all people for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will
perish. By patient endurance you will gain your lives.”
Jesus lays out frightening things: wars, earthquakes,
famines, and diseases. Perhaps the most frightening things, though, are the
personal betrayals and tests of one’s confession of faith. It’s like it was
with Peter on the night when Jesus was betrayed: “Are you one of them? Are you
one of Jesus’s disciples? Are you an enemy of enlightened progress or an enemy
of the state?”
But, again, notice where Jesus directs us—not to swords or
guns. We are to maintain our faith in him. If we have faith in him, then we can
even rest assured that we will say what he would have us say before those who
persecute us. The one thing that Jesus tells us we should make our mind up
about beforehand is that we are not going to defend ourselves. The kingdom of
God is not the product of human cunning, logic, or political manipulations. The
kingdom of God is the testimony of Jesus, the one who has overcome this world.
And if you have him, then not even a hair of your head will perish. Even if you
are put to death for our faith, not one hair of your head will perish. By
patient endurance in your faith you will be saved.
One outward action that Jesus does recommend is the fleeing
from Jerusalem. He told his disciples that when they see the armies coming upon
Jerusalem that they should get out. Forty years later it appears that the
Christians remembered Jesus’s prophecy. They fled before Jerusalem was
surrounded and hemmed in on every side.
So also we Christians may flee from danger. You see this in
the book of Acts. When Jerusalem was thrown into an uproar with the stoning of
St. Stephen the Christians fled to other lands and cities. This was, in fact,
how the Gospel came to the Gentiles. The Christians who fled Jerusalem preached
the Gospel to their Gentile neighbors and by the power of the Holy Spirit they
were converted to faith in Christ.
You also see in Acts that St. Paul did not purposely hand
himself over to those who were wanting to put him to death. Once he escaped
under cover of night, being lowered down from the city wall in a basket. When
he was arraigned in Jerusalem he appealed to Caesar, which was his right as a
Roman citizen. So we do not need to go looking for trouble and martyrdom.
However, if we are called upon to make the good confession, then we must do so
regardless of the consequences.
I can give you a contemporary example. Years ago a militant
Islamic group called ISIS rose to power in the Middle East. They conquered some
territory in Syria and Iraq. There are some towns in that area that have
Christians in them. When ISIS would come to a town they would round up the people
and ask them if they were Christians. If they said they were, their heads would
be chopped off. They would do this even with Christian children.
If you were one of those Christians, you would need to
continue to confess Christ, come what may. If you confessed Christ and your
head was chopped off, ultimately not even a hair of your head would be harmed,
for you will live again. It is not optional for us to confess Christ. If we
deny him we would be like faithless Simon Peter. As the Scriptures say, “If
we deny him, he will deny us.”
However, on the other hand, if you know that ISIS is heading
towards your village, you do not need to stay there. You do not need to hand
your children over to be slaughtered. You should try to go where you will be
safe. However, if you end up before the executioner for your Christian faith,
or if you should be fired from your job for your Christian faith, or some other
persecution comes upon you, then you should know that this is God’s will. He
will keep you safe even if your head gets chopped off. It is your opportunity
to testify of this hope that is within you.
So, to sum up: The only true way to be prepared for the end
times is always internal. Being prepared for the end times is a matter of
repentance and faith. If we fear God’s wrath for our sins and believe in Jesus
Christ who has saved us from our sins, then we are in good stead. With such a
faith we are in good stead even if the earth gives way and the mountains go
crashing into the sea. Jesus has reconciled you to God. All things, then, must
turn out for the best for those who trust in him.
So when you see Jesus coming on the clouds with power and
great glory, do not curl up into a ball or put your tail between your legs.
Straighten up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near.
No comments:
Post a Comment