Pentecost 23C

23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Year C

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today is the last day that we will see the color green on the altar. The end of the church year is upon us - that’s next week, when we celebrate Christ the King - and we look forward to his final victory. This whole long season after Pentecost, what we also call “ordinary time” has been building toward this, and the lessons for today have built up to this in anticipation.

What Jesus talks about in today’s Gospel lesson is a vivid description of what’s going to happen before that Last Day - what we know as Judgment Day, when Christ will come back in glory “to judge the living and the dead”. This is one of the speeches that is used to finally condemn him - where he says he will destroy the temple. You know that temple that Herod began rebuilding some 50 years earlier, and had only recently been completed before Jesus made this bold statement. This great temple - the very center and pinnacle of the Jewish culture, tradition, and hierarchy - was going to be destroyed…again.

But it’s more than just the Temple. Jesus is talking about “end of the world” kind of events. And we’ve heard this kind of talk before. I think the most famous recent end-times prophet was Harold Camping, a doomsday radio preacher who “first predicted Judgment Day would descend in September 1994. [In 2011] he invested millions in a campaign that pronounced the definitive end on May 21 [that year]. When that didn’t happen, he revised the date to Oct. 21, [2011].” Sadly, many people believed him, some even selling everything they owned in preparation for the End of Days. Camping later admitted his error and announced he would no longer try to predict the exact date of Christ’s return. [Harold Camping, predicted end of the world twice, admits error – The Mercury News]

Jesus gives some rather specific descriptions of what will happen, and some of it will be unmistakable. But “[m]ore important than knowing when and what to expect is how to remain faithful…” [Diane G. Chen, Luke: A New Covenant Commentary, ed. Michael F. Bird and Craig Keener, New Covenant Commentary Series (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017), 272.] This is what Jesus is telling his disciples, with some guidance: first, that discernment of is of prime importance. Watch out for the false prophets; don’t get lured in by their lies, no matter how tempting it might be (and it will be very tempting sometimes). Second, Jesus’ disciples are not to be afraid. The events we will witness will certainly be powerful and even terrifying, but they “must take place”… that is, they are part of God’s plan. “They include uprisings and wars between nations, natural disasters such as earthquakes, famines, and plagues” and even amazing things happening in the skies above. [Chen, 272]. Third, “the disciples must persevere. Opposition and betrayal will come from all quarters, from the Jewish synagogue to the gentile courts, from family, friends, and foes (12:12, 16–17). The apostles will find themselves arrested and tried before governing authorities, and some will face death. Yet their ordeal is an opportunity to further testify about Jesus, and they will be empowered to speak irrefutable words of wisdom.” [ibid.]

From this Jesus then talks about his return and what that will look like - and it’s more description of calamity and scenes of terrible natural power. And yet with all the description he gives, he tells the people of faith that it will be as easy to know what’s happening as knowing that summer is near simply by looking at a tree and seeing new leaves growing on it. Creation itself will let us know when the time is coming.

Jesus said this 2,000 years ago, and it still hasn’t come to pass. But many in the early church - even some of those who heard Jesus speak in the Temple - thought all this would happen during their own lifetime… but it still hasn’t happened yet. Note what Jesus said: “ this generation will not pass away until all has taken place.” (vs 32) Until all has taken place. All of what he has described must happen. Not part of it. ALL of it. And that hasn’t happened yet. Of course not, or Jesus would have been wrong.

But it’s the last couple of verses that I want all of us to focus on today, and to remember as we leave. Starting at verse 34: “But 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.” This phrase is really describing the way your body feels when you’re hungover - the “vile effects that drag the drunkard down. In all the turmoils and the convulsions of the world, as already in all common distress, men resort to drink to drown their troubles. Others love debauchery of all kinds for its own sake. With these loads Jesus couples the ‘anxieties of life,’ distracting worries about the life we live here... Even disciples are liable to make their earthly affairs supreme, especially when the world becomes disturbed.” [Lenski, 1030.]

Now look at verse 35: “For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.” The word translated here as “dwell” - according to Lenski, it actually means “to sit”. And Jesus point here “lies in this sitting, resting content here on the face of the earth, caring nothing for anything higher.” [Lenski, 1031.] When you’re hungover, you really don’t want to do much more than sit.

Take a look at what’s happened to American culture in our lifetimes. Many of you have shared with me how full and vibrant this very congregation used to be back in the mid-80s. Every Sunday, these pews were full. I’m guessing all the churches in Hickory were like that. It was like that in my town, too. What happened?

The world happened. Back then, you went to church on Sunday. You didn’t question it. It’s what you did. You didn’t make other plans. You didn’t schedule other activities. There weren’t weekend sports for the kids or school functions or anything else to compete on Sunday morning except the urge to sleep in. Most of the time, people just went. But the world convinced many people that the world had better things to offer. So, stores started to stay open. Sports leagues started to offer weekend tournaments. And if little Johnny or little Susie want to go to school on an athletic scholarship, they better be a part of these traveling tournaments. They can go to church next weekend; this weekend is for your flickerball tournament.

And so what happened? Our culture started to become completely absorbed in the things of this world. How’s that working out for us? As a country, are our hearts weighed down? As a society, are we at peace with our neighbors? Are we filled with the joy of Christ? The less Jesus we have in our day-to-day lives as a country, the less of His peace we will have…the less of His joy we will have. We will be prone to fear and we will likely fall for false teachings, because we’re not leaning on Him…we’re not taking shelter under his wings.

For those of us hearing this message today, we have “persevered” (at least so far!), and not given in to the temptations the world throws at us. Or, if we have, we have repented and come back. “Through vigilance and perseverance, Jesus’ disciples will persist to the end. One can lapse into spiritual stupor by living an undisciplined life of dissipation and drunkenness. A preoccupied life, dragged down by daily worries and concerns, is not enlightening either. Both extremes blur [our] vision of what God is doing in the world. When the final days catch unbelievers off guard like a trap, prayer is the only way to build a hedge of protection against apostasy.” [Chen, 274.]

Brothers and sisters: Jesus has made known God’s plan of salvation for everyone. We are not promised an escape from any and all suffering. Some of us *will* suffer. But we know how the story ends - Jesus wins! And as he has claimed us as his own, we know that we can enjoy that eternal victory with him. If we suffer, he tells us that it will be an opportunity to bear witness to him. Of course, we don’t need to suffer to bear witness to Jesus - we can do that any time we want. I encourage you to do it today. We’re going to face some tough times before Christ returns. But we don’t have to be afraid. When the great signs and powerful events begin, we can look at this as our final liberation from suffering, and tribulation and sin. We should feel “as the captive does when he hears men coming to unlock his cell and to give him the liberty for which he longs.” [Lenski, 1025.]

And finally, when we are “to stand before the Son of Man” - this means to stand unharmed in his judgment. To stand by his grace. We are able to stand before him only because of what he has done for us. When that day comes, those of us who have persevered will have nothing to fear. We will hold our heads high because victory is at hand. Malachi describes this in his prophecy: “They will go out like calves from the stall” - “leaping from the stall” as one translation puts it. Listen to what Luther said about this verse: “Here is the fruit of faith and of the kingdom of Christ, a happy conscience, a public confession of faith, thanksgiving, joy in affliction, preaching and the conversion of others to salvation.” [Luther’s Works, Vol. 18, 418.]

If we conducted ourselves like this in public, how radical would we look to the rest of the world? Have you converted anyone to Christ recently? Could you witness to Christ in the grocery store? The hardware store? The gas station? How about at your child’s sports event? Could you talk about Jesus to someone if you had the opportunity?

We know how the story ends. Yes, there are some tough times that come before Jesus’ return, but let’s be very clear: as bad as things have been in the world in the last couple of years, we’re not there yet. It will be UNMISTAKABLE when these things that Jesus describes start to happen. There just won’t be any question. So until then, let’s not be weighed down by the things of the world. Why not have a happy conscience, knowing that we are forgiven in Christ and saved for his sake? Why not publicly confess our faith, in the hope that sharing the Good News might save someone else and bring them to Christ? Why not conduct ourselves with thanksgiving more? We all need a little more Jesus, don’t we? Sometimes, it just may be US who God is using to spread that Good News. Don’t resist His ability to use you for that purpose. You’ll never know when you might get the opportunity to preach.

Brothers and sisters: stay awake at all times, and watch yourselves, so that your hearts are not weighed down with the hangover you can get from the cares and worries of the rat race. Keep your eyes, your ears, and your hearts on Jesus, and remember all that He has done for you and continues to do for you. This is how we will persevere as his disciples, and this is how we will stand before him when he comes again in glory. And we who fear him can all look forward to that day.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.