Your Redemption Is Drawing Near!

Your Redemption Is Drawing Near!

Luke 21:25-36 The sun came up this morning just as it always has-- and it will go down tonight just as it always has—and the moon will rise just as it always has.  The earth is beneath our feet, the sky is above us, and the oceans are kept within their boundaries.

That’s the way it has always been and even the chronic worry warts among us never give these astronomical and geographical facts a second thought.  But what we take for granted in the heavens and on earth-- won’t always be that way.  Jesus says: 

“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

What has existed in the natural world from the very beginning of time--what countless generations have experienced to be true and constant--will change as the broken-ness of creation that is due to human sin reaches its final, horrible conclusion and the heavens and the earth and the oceans will begin to come apart at the seams. 

In the midst of these signs in the physical world, Jesus will return and all people will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

When Christ ascended into heaven, he promised his disciples he would come again exactly as he left.  And so he will return again–down to the last detail–just like he promised—and if this is the faithfulness with which Christ will fulfill his promise to return, we can be confident that Christ is faithfully fulfilling his other promises to us: promises to bless us and forgive us–promises to abide with us and provide for us.

When Christ came the first time, he came in the meekness and humility of a little baby.  But when he comes again, he will come in power and glory–everyone will see him, know him to be the King of Glory, and bow their knees in either in faith or in fear.  Everyone!

During Jesus’ life upon this earth it was possible to ignore him.  He never preached to great crowds.  As hung upon the cross outside of Jerusalem, people turned their heads away--glad that some criminal was getting what he deserved.  As he comes today through Word and Sacraments, we know how often he is ignored, scorned, and ridiculed.

But when Christ comes again, he will come with power and glory–the fullness of his divinity shining through his human flesh and everyone in the world will see him and know him for who he really is: the living God of the universe who brings judgment and redemption.    

On that day, there will be distress among the nations and people will faint with fear.  And why not?  Everything that unbelievers have lived their lives for–everything that they have trusted in–everything that has filled their lives to the exclusion of Christ, will pass away.  Everything that has taken the place of Christ in the lives of unbelievers will be destroyed. 

In God’s perfect judgment, their empty way of life and foolish thinking will be shown for what it is.  Can you imagine it?  Everything gone in an instant and the only thing that will have ever mattered is what their relationship was with Jesus Christ--and then the horrible realization that they had traded it away for things that no longer exist. 

I can not imagine anything more horrible than to stand in the presence of the Son of Man knowing that I had rejected him in life.  No wonder they will be filled with fear and distress!

But for the believer, just the opposite is true.  In the midst of these frightening signs, even with the world crashing down around us, we don’t have to be afraid, we don’t have to run and hide.  We can lift up our heads-- and see our redemption draw near as Christ returns.  He says:

Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 

On the day of our Lord’s return, we won’t have hide our face in shame or cower in fear.  We will stand in his presence blameless and holy–not because we are perfect--but because, through faith in Jesus, the Lord is our righteousness and his perfect righteousness avails in the time of trial and judgment.

When Christ returns in glory and power all that we know and believe and hope for and trust in by faith will be proved true for the world to see and we will be vindicated for having put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

All of the blessings that Jesus earned for us in his perfect life, bloody death, and glorious resurrection will be ours for eternity.  Our full redemption will be at hand.

Of course that begs the question, if Christ brings full redemption at his second coming what is it that I have now by faith?   Well, redemption!

Christ has redeemed us, that is bought us back with the price of his own shed blood on the cross from slavery to sin, death, and the devil.  These evil foes that he has redeemed us from have no right to us at all–we are God’s own children through faith in Jesus and we live in the power of his resurrection life.

And yet in this sinful broken world we still feel the painful attacks and effects of our spiritual enemies: we are tempted by the devil, the effects of sin batter us about as we become sick or suffer some other misfortune, and one day, unless the Lord comes first, we will die.

But when Christ comes again, the fullness of our redemption will come with him.  We will see with perfect clarity what Christ has redeemed us for.  On that day, we will no longer struggle under the burden of our sinful flesh.  No longer will the hateful effects of sin bring disease and disaster and heartache into our lives.  No longer will we stand beside the grave side of a loved one and mourn their passing.

When Christ comes again, it will be a day of rejoicing for all who have received him in faith and trusted in him for salvation.  Not a time for fear or worry or anguish–not a time to run and hide-- but a time to look up and see our Savior who comes to us with all the blessings of Almighty God.

Knowing this and looking forward to it in faith, how then are we to live our lives as we look forward with joy to that day?  Jesus says:

“Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

As we wait for the Lord’s return, we are to be careful so that we don’t let our hearts get weighed down by drunkenness and the anxieties of this life.  Jesus warns us about this because even we Christians are susceptible to this temptation.

This is a difficult world we live in. There is so much fear and uncertainty that plagues our lives at times.  The devil offers us an easy solution: drown your sorrows with alcohol or some other substance or thing like drugs or pornography.  Even Christians have to be on guard so that we don’t fall victim to the devil’s lie that these are easy ways to deal with the pain of living in a broken world.

These things do not offer freedom and relief but an ever deeper slavery and addiction to the things of this world and ultimately to the prince of this world.  Satan uses these things to delude us into thinking that the emptiness that we feel in our lives can be fixed by something other than God.

That is a lie-- and to continue on in a satanic delusion that anything other than God is the way to feel better about life will lead to the death of our soul.  When we are imprisoned by these Satanic shackles, the day of judgment will fall upon us like a trap and then it will be too late.

Jesus does not want this to happen to anyone and so he tells us ahead of time to be watchful for the signs of his coming—which are as clear as the signs in nature.  He says:

“Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 

According to the Lord’s own promise, the generation of those who know the signs of his coming and look expectantly and faithfully for the coming of the Son of Man has never passed away.  The gates of hell will not prevail against us!

To make sure that we remain steadfast, Christ tells us that we are to strengthen our hearts by watching and praying and making use of God’s Word which endures forever. 

That means that we are present at the Divine Service when the Word is read and preached and that we receive Holy Absolution.  It means that devotions and prayers are an important part of our life at home.  It means that we receive Christ’s true body and blood in the Sacrament-often- as God’s own promise that the blessings of Jesus’ death and resurrection are for us personally and individually.

Amidst all the uncertainty around us, we don’t have to be apprehensive or fearful.  Even when the world itself comes to an end we don’t have to be afraid.  God loves us.  He has sent his Son into this world to live and die for us.  And he is coming again to bring us the fullness of our redemption–a life of peace and joy and blessing that will never end.  Amen.

The Righteous Branch

The Righteous Branch

Jeremiah 23:5-8 What does the future hold for us and our nation?  We don’t really know, do we?  But as we look forward there is much to be concerned about. 

We have powerful enemies throughout the world who hate us and would destroy us if they could.  Our own leaders don’t come close to measuring up to those godly men who guided our nation at it beginning.  And even the visible church is torn apart by faithlessness and the rejection of God’s truth.

Looking towards the future, given what we see right now before  our eyes, it is hard for us to hope for better days.

That was the situation in Jeremiah’s day as well.  Josiah had been a great king who followed after the LORD and ruled his nation wisely but the men who followed him abandoned the LORD. 

Assyria and Egypt and finally Babylon were the great empires on the world stage and all of them stood against Judah and finally would bring it to ruin. 

And God’s ancient people abandoned the LORD again and again and followed in the ways and thinking of the pagans around them.

The days in which Jeremiah was called by God to speak his Word were—like our own days—very dark indeed and hope was in short supply.  In the midst of that seemingly hopeless situation, the LORD spoke these words of better days to come when he would raise up the Righteous Branch to save and rule his people: 

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

            Despite living in dark days, or perhaps, because of it, we need to be reminded that Advent season is a season of hope.  The LORD points us to better days to come and we trust his promise that even in the midst of hard times and dark days he always has the well-being of his people at heart and is working for our good.  This promise of better days gives us the encouragement we need to face the future unafraid—whether it is dangerous enemies; or faithless leaders; or churches who have lost their way. 

And so then, as bleak as the situation is on the world stage—as faithfulness as is many part of the visible church—as lacking are our leaders—God has promised that we can look to the future with hope. 

That was the promise the Lord made to the people of Jeremiah’s day as well and the fulfillment of this promise for God’s people of the past -and God’s people of today-is found in exactly the same person and that is Jesus Christ.

He is the Righteous Branch from David’s line Jeremiah promised would rule God’s people in wisdom and justice in a kingdom of grace and peace and truth.

The northern Kingdom of Israel would be destroyed and lost to history; the southern Kingdom of Judah would go into exile and never again be a political power; but God’s kingdom and his righteous rule would go on forever as Jesus Christ took his rightful reign in the human hearts who trusted in the promise of a Righteous Branch and now know its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

That is what the Kingdom of God is:  the reign of Christ in our hearts and it is mightier and more wonderful than any earthly kingdom or empire that has ever existed-- for it is not bound by space or time but is found wherever there are people whose King is the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Our king rules his kingdom with wisdom and justice and grace and mercy and he rules all things in heaven and earth in such a way that it ultimately benefits his people and works for our salvation.  God promises us that:

In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.  And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ 

When the Holy Spirit gave Jeremiah these words to preach and write, Israel had already been overcome by Assyria and their people carried into slavery.  The same judgment was about to befall Judah at the hands of the Babylonians.  And yet the LORD promised salvation and security to God’s people—all of them.

That is what the LORD meant when Jeremiah promised that both Israel and Judah would be saved—this was the biblical way of speaking of the fullness of God’s people in the Old Testament. 

But that fullness of salvation and security that the Righteous Branch would accomplish, God intended would include people from every place and time who are brought together by faith in Jesus Christ.

1. He is the one and only one who is our righteousness in God’s sight.  2. He is the LORD—the Savior God who has always come to the aid of his people.  3. He is the Righteous Branch who is the true Davidic King. 

He is the one who took on our flesh and bore our sins and fulfilled all righteousness in our place so that believing in him—his own righteousness and holiness and goodness becomes our own and we take our place in his kingdom.

Judah and Israel and believers in every time and place including us here today have been saved by his work on our behalf. 

Judah and Israel and believers in every time and place can know that their life with God right here and now --and their eternal future-- rest safe and secure in his nail-scarred hands.

These things are true for all of God’s people because they are built on the foundation of the accomplished facts of salvation history.  Jeremiah wrote: 

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’

            When we think about the future, particularly given the direction that the world is going right now—it is hard to see how things will get better—it is hard to have hope.  And so we are always tempted to look back—to long for what are called “the good ole days”—to believe that God’s saving work for us is only in the past

That’s where the people of God found themselves in Jeremiah’s day.  They looked back to God’s mighty deliverance of their forefathers from slavery in Egypt with a kind of nostalgia that robbed them of hope in the future. 

They believed that the LORD was a Savior God—they trusted that he really had delivered and cared for his people—but they thought that that God’s mighty saving works were all behind them. 

But Jeremiah assured them (with the same certainly with which they could look back in salvation history and see the mighty saving acts of the LORD) that in the same way they could also look forward into the future with hope-- and know that the LORD was still the same mighty, loving God he had always been and could be counted on to deliver his people from their enemies just as he had in the past.

Judah would go into exile in Babylon but just as prophesied by Jeremiah they would also come out of Babylon and return—and this promised deliverance would also be an accomplished fact of salvation history just as certainly as their forefathers walked out of Egypt.

So it is for us.  Jesus Christ has redeemed us at the cost of his life’s blood upon the cross and set us free from our enemies of sin, death and the devil.  He was raised from the dead to give us a hope that transcends death.  His death and resurrection are the accomplished facts of salvation history.  They happened in a particular moment on a particular day in history—a day that is now 2,000 years in the past.

But this same living, ascended, reigning King assures us that his mighty saving works are not all in the past—that he will come again in glory and stand upon the earth and bring us to our heavenly home.  That is the promise that has always sustained God’s people.  Jeremiah promised:  Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

            God kept that promise and brought them home to the land he had promised to give them many years before.  Despite the dark days that were before them; despite the fact that they would go through years of exile; God would bring them home.

So it is for us.  We are strangers and exiles in a dark and dying world.  We are a pilgrim people far from our true home.  But God is faithful to his promises and he will bring us to himself in our true fatherland of heaven. 

That is our hope and the Righteous Branch, Jesus Christ—who has set us free from slavery to sin and death at the cost of his own life’s blood—will rule our live in such a wise and gracious way that he will bring us to the home he has prepared for us.  Amen.

The Day Is at Hand!

The Day Is at Hand

Matthew 13:11-14 “Well, it’s about time!”  You thought for sure that the kids would have been out of bed and ready to open presents at the crack of dawn but here they are rolling out of bed at nine.  “Well, it’s about time!”  You’ve finally gotten around to that home repair that your wife has been talking about.  “Well, it’s about time!”  They call your name at the restaurant, telling you that your table is ready.  “Well, it’s about time!”

We all know what it meant by that phrase—that the time is right—in fact, it’s almost past time—time is as full as it can get leading up the event we’ve been waiting for.

That’s the sense of what we hear today from God’s Word.  It’s about time that we wake up from our spiritual slumber.  It’s about time that we make a radical break with sin and turn to Christ.  It’s about time that we begin to live as the Christians that we say we are.  Paul wrote:

You know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

            In the beginning, when God called the universe into being and made the lights of heaven to rule the day and night, he created time.  This world had a beginning and it will have an end and the course of the world and the lives of men have been swept along by the march of time and the tides of history.

The manger and cross and empty tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ stand at the very center of human history.  There is nothing that came before and nothing that has come after that does not draw its meaning and purpose from those places and events and that man.  The Bible says that

When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

That is what Paul is talking about when he says that we know the time—that the saving purposes of God have been accomplished by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit calls every person to wake up from their spiritual slumber and receive him in faith.  And there is even more.

Since Jesus Christ has entered into human flesh and human history in the fullness of time, we know that, day by day, the end of time draws ever closer.  Just as there was a particular moment when the world was created that marked the beginning of time, so will there be a particular moment when this world comes to end and time is no more.

That is the day of our Lord’s return in glory to judge the living and the dead.  Though it lies sometime in the future, that day is a historical certainty as much as the days of our Lord’s birth, death, and resurrection.  The march of time is carrying us ever closer to that day when the fullness of our salvation will be revealed.

When Paul says that salvation nearer now than when we first believed, he is not saying we are not saved right now!  We are!  We are forgiven and right in God’s sight and at peace with our heavenly Father because of Jesus Christ.  But there is even more to come!

There is coming a day when death will be destroyed.  There is coming a day when the enemies of Christ and his people will be punished.  There is coming a day when there will be a new heaven and a new earth unbroken by sin.  Each day the fullness of Christ’s redeeming work comes closer and the dawn of that new, eternal day draws near. 

The Bible says that:  The night is far gone; the day is at hand.  So it is in history and so it is in our lives. 

For thousands of years the people of God hoped in a simple promise:  that God would raise up the seed of a woman who would destroy Satan.  That is all they knew.  It is what they believed.  And it was enough to save them. 

But the fullness of that promise was hidden in prophetic shadows.  Periodically God would raise up a man who would reveal a bit more:  that the Savior would be born of virgin—that he would be born in Bethlehem—that he would be crucified to bring peace.  All of it in the future.

But in the fullness in time, on a dark night---God opened the heavens and caused a star to shine upon a manger and sent angels to proclaim the Good News that the day of salvation had dawned. The world can never return to the way it was before for the light of the world has been revealed.

As it was in the course of history so it is in men’s lives.  All of us are born in the darkness of sin and unbelief.  But God has graciously shined the light of his love into our hearts and we must not return to the dark shadows of spiritual slumber.  The Bible says that we are to:  cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

There are all kinds of sad, unpleasant spectacles to be witnessed at Walmart but one of the worst is seeing a young woman, dressed in her pajamas, with house shoes on her feet, shopping in the middle of the day.  Somehow, someway she never got the message to:  get up, get dressed, and get to work. 

But no matter how sad and unpleasant it is to see an adult out in public in the middle of the day dressed in their pajamas, it is much worse to see those who confess Christ as Lord and Savior continue to dress themselves in the works of darkness.

The day of salvation has dawned, the light of Jesus Christ has shined upon us, sin and death have been defeated but too often we continue to live in their dark shadows.  We make room in our lives for some pet sin.  We convince ourselves that this sin or that is no big deal.  We tell ourselves God always forgives-- but we use that Good News as a cover for our sins.

Rather than the works of darkness, we are to put on the armor of God—clothed from head to toe with truth and righteousness and peace and salvation.  This armor has been given to us by the Holy Spirit through the word of God--the sword of the Spirit, the tool that God uses to clothe us with the garments necessary for the spiritual battles we face as Christians.  The Bible says that we are to:

walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

            These sins may seem far removed from our lives, but there is no reason for this warning if it were not possible for us to be tempted. 

We are still burdened with a sinful flesh.  The world calls us to take part in its evil ways.  The devil still prowls about as a lion, looking for those he can devour.  And the sins that Paul lists are still prevalent and accepted and even mainstream in our culture today.

When it comes to quarreling and jealousy, a recent poll has come out that said two thirds of Americans don’t trust their fellow citizens.  It seems like every other program on TV features a bunch of so-called housewives pulling each other’s hair.  Political and civic discourse is more toxic than they have been in decades.   

Countless people are addicted to drugs and alcohol and pornography and how can they not be when alcohol and sex are glorified and pharmaceutical companies advertise a pill for every ailment.  Sexual immorality.  Substance abuse.  And simmering anger.  This is the culture of our day.  We Christians are to have no part of it.

The difference between the Christian’s life and that of a person who does not know Christ is to be as different as night and day.  But where does that strength come from when we have fight against the devil, the world, and our flesh?  It comes from Christ.  The Bible says:  Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

This is baptismal language and it speaks to our connection Christ and our identity as his people—that we are members of his body and our lives are to look like his life.  This is the purpose of baptism and we can return to it again and again!

The Bible says about baptism that we have died with Christ and been raised with Christ so that we would walk in newness of life—that we are no longer slaves to sin—that we must not let sin reign in our mortal bodies so as to obey its passions.

In fact, the Bible says that we must make no provision for the flesh whatsoever. 

That means that we avoid those places and people and circumstances where we know we are tempted to sin.  It means that we keep up with our devotional and prayer life so that we stay close to God.  It means that we worship regularly and receive Christ’s forgiveness in Word and Sacrament. 

The message that we have from God today is this:  It’s about time!  It’s about time that we wake up from our spiritual slumber.  It’s about time that we make a radical break with sin and turn to Christ.  It’s about time that we begin to live as the Christians that we say we are.   It’s about time.  May God grant us his grace and the help of the Holy Spirit!  Amen.

Watching and Waiting for the Lord's Return