A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost (LSB Proper 28C), November 17, 2019.
The Day Is Coming
Readings Appointed
(Malachi 4:1-6; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-28)
As I mentioned last week in my sermon, these last Sundays of the Christian Church Year turn our thoughts to what is known in theology as “the last things”. And as strange as some of these things might sound to “modern ears”, for the people of God, these are not just matters that are the things of myth and legend. These are matters which are terribly serious which we by faith take as the truth because the Lord has revealed these things to us in His Holy Word.
Last Sunday, we looked at the truth of the faith we confess when we say in the words of the Creed, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” Today, we look at the truth behind our confession of faith when we profess: “I believe in Jesus Christ…[who] ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.” In these words, we state our belief that we trust the angels’ word to the apostles at Jesus’ ascension: This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go up into heaven. (Acts 1:11b)
This moment of Christ’s return has been anticipated for centuries, and has been identified by many names and titles. The title most often used in Scripture for this moment is “the Day of the Lord.” The only trouble with this is that there have been many “days of the Lord” recorded throughout Scripture. The “Day of the Lord” has been seen when God has revealed Himself as the just God who revealed His righteous justice and wrath upon the disobedient. “The Day of the Lord” has also been seen when God has revealed Himself and His love and grace to the world through His Son, or on that day when He poured out His Spirit, revealing Himself as the Lord seen in the hearts, minds, and souls of His faithful ones.
So, if the “Day of the Lord” has come before, and if it has been either a day of wrath and judgment or a day of grace and mercy, then what are we to make of this “Day of the Lord”—this Last Day—which has been promised that our world is heading toward?
As we sang today in our Hymn of the Day, many look to this coming day as one filled with judgment, hence the popular designation of Christ’s return as “Judgment Day”. This Day is and will indeed be a “Day of wrath and a Day of mourning” as our Lord Jesus returns as the righteous Judge of the world. It is a day which should rightly be feared by our sinful race of mortals as the One who alone is holy and perfect comes to reward us according to our deeds. In many ways, this is a day that we probably would rather not see. And yet, it is a day we all will see as will God bring the whole of humanity—the living and the dead—to stand before Him and receive His just judgment.
So, where is the hope in all of this? At first glance, there is none to be found. All of this is just “doom and gloom”. And in many ways, “doom and gloom” is pretty much what the world is used to seeing. As Jesus’ disciples admired the beauty and glory of the Jerusalem Temple, Jesus predicted its demise and destruction which would happen less than forty years later. He then went on to also speak not just of Jerusalem’s end, but also of the end of the world as well. As we listened today to Jesus’ words, we heard the images of war, destruction, and devastation—all things which we can point to and see as having been seen in past and current history, and also which we can say with some degree of certainty will continue into the days that are yet to come. We know that in every age, the “signs of the end” have been seen and will keep on being seen, and yet we clearly know that the End has not yet come.
And that is exactly where we find hope: in the very fact that the End has not yet come. Yes, the world seems bent on continuing its own course of self-destruction as sinful humanity in thought, word, and deed fails to show any humanity in itself. And to this world of chaos and confusion, God is still speaking His Word of salvation and life in His Son Jesus Christ, who has paid for the world’s sins and gives it freedom from its slavery to sin and sin’s destructiveness.
This is why Jesus concludes our Gospel today with a true word of hope: Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. This coming Day of the Lord is indeed a day that brings judgment to the world. Yet, for us who believe in the Son of God and His work of salvation that He completed for us by His life, death, and resurrection, this is also a day of great joy and triumph. For us who confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we look forward to this Day because, as the Prophet Malachi reminded us: But for you who fear my Name, the Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. The Day of the Lord is the Day of Salvation—that Day when we will be fully and completely freed from the sin which binds us over to death and healed and made new to live the life that God has always intended for and created His children to live.
So, as God’s children who live by faith in Him through His Son, we are called upon to look forward in anticipation and joy for the coming Day of the Lord. We look forward to it just as many generations of our forbearers in the faith have looked for that Day to come. And yet, this fact that we are still waiting also becomes a troubling point for some. If this Day is indeed promised to come, when will it come? And what are we to be doing to prepare ourselves and the world for that Day when it should finally arrive?
These questions are good and right for us to ask, and we would like answers to them. The first question our Lord Himself answers: It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. (Acts 1:7) It is this word of Jesus which should put an end to our guessing and speculation on when we think the End might be. Rather, it is for us to live out the lives that God has given to us to live and to live these lives in such a way that we both show ourselves as those who belong to the Lord and seek to witness to others of the life of hope which they too can have and live in Christ.
Our preparation of ourselves for the End is then in simply living as God would have us live. Until the end comes, life indeed does “go on”. Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians which we heard today bears this point out. Some in the Thessalonian congregation had the thought, which is shared by many since them, that the Lord’s coming was to be soon and seen in their own lifetime. Because they believed this, these Thessalonians decided that there was no point in working or getting married or raising and caring for families. Instead, they just looked for Jesus to come back and give them the life that they really wanted. Paul encouraged those who thought this way that what they needed to be doing was living lives just as they had always lived them, but to the Lord and following His commands for life. And then, when the end would finally come, they would receive that life that God has prepared for those who love Him.
Martin Luther was quoted as having responded to someone who asked him a question about the Lord’s return, saying: “If the Lord were to return tomorrow, I would plant an apple tree today.” It is thought that the planting of the apple tree to which he referred was a task assigned to him on his “honey-do” list given to him by his “Lord Katie”. Yet, in these simple words, Luther showed that he did indeed understand that the Lord could indeed return on any day of His choosing, and that day could quite possibly be tomorrow. So, while we are still here today, we need to be living—doing the things that provide for our life and bring us joy, and continue to spread the Good News of Salvation to souls who still have a chance to turn to the Lord and live with Him forever. That is how we prepare for the Day of the Lord.
So, dear people of God, indeed the Day is coming. Although we do not know when that Day will be, we look forward eagerly for it to be revealed and for us to see the salvation that it brings to all who believe and trust in our Lord Jesus. Until that Day, we prepare ourselves for it by living for the Lord who loves us by living fully in God’s gifts of life and by sharing the Good News of Salvation with those around us, so that the whole world may stand before the Lord forever as His free, forgiven, and redeemed children. We look forward to the Day of the Lord and we pray for its appearing with the saints of every age who look to the Lord in hope: Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come! Amen!
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