Proper 29B (Last Sunday of Church Year 2024)

Text: “37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:37)

I think that a good way to wrap your head around this warning from Jesus is to start by imagining Him inviting you to join Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. If you take nothing else from this service, if you only take that understanding, then you’re 75% of the way to understanding what Jesus is saying to you. And, when I say ‘understanding’, I mean more than just knowledge; I mean more than just ‘up here’ <in your head>; I mean true understanding of what Jesus is saying to you— the kind of understanding that shapes your thoughts, that directs your actions, that overflows in what you say and how you say it. So imagine that, this morning, Jesus is inviting you to join Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.

I’m sure most of you know what I’m referring to. Let me quickly sum it up for those who don’t automatically catch the reference. On the night when Jesus was betrayed, He and the disciples had the Last Supper together. That Last Supper was important for several other reasons, but that is not our focus today. After supper, He led His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36, Mark 14:32-42, Luke 22:40-46). He set them there at an appropriate spot in the garden and said to them, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray” (Mark 14:32). Then Jesus took Peter, James, and John a little further, set them in another place, further into the garden, and told them, “Remain here, and watch with me” (Mark 14:34). He went and prayed in great distress because He was about to be arrested and crucified. Twice more, Jesus came back to Peter, James, and John, and found them sleeping. This was the moment when He famously told them, “The spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38). Each time Jesus pleaded with them, “Watch and pray” (Mark 14:38, Luke 22:46).

It was so important that they watched and prayed with Jesus that night because the day of judgment was at hand. The exact same thing is true for you today. Jesus is warning you that the day of judgment is at hand. “33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come” (Mark 13:33). Watch and pray “36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep” (Mark 13:36) and sudden destruction comes upon you and you will not escape (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

Stay awake. The first time, there in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus stepped in front of the disciples and made sure that He was the only one who the soldiers arrested. “8 Jesus [told the soldiers who were looking for Him], “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go”” (John 18:8). He knew very well that they were not ready to face judgment, so He watched and prayed and stepped forward to stand under that day of judgment in their place.

The following afternoon, the day came. The sun was darkened and both Jesus’ friends and His enemies saw the Son of Man lifted up on the cross as Jesus bore the Father’s judgment.

Today, Jesus leads you to the Garden. And He tells you: “Stay awake! Watch and pray!” The day of judgment is coming. Unlike last time, no one knows that day or that hour— not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Mark 13:32). And, this time, Jesus will not stand in the way. Just the opposite, in fact. “He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (Mark 13:27). Then the judgment will commence. “3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

That’s the point of the signs— the wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation; earthquakes and famines; persecutions; false prophets and teachers within the church— what we call the great tribulation. The point of those signs is to wake people up; to wake you up and warn you that the day of judgment is coming. Everything that you see, even the most solid things you know, will be consumed in the fire of judgment. “The heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner” (Isaiah 51:6). The signs are a call for you to repent.

Repent, because it is not only sleep that you are fighting against. It is also drunkenness. How could anyone look at this world and this life and comfortably declare “There is peace and security” (1 Thessalonians 5:3)? It is because their eyes are clouded by the potent draught of sinful pleasure that this world offers up. It is because their hearts are dulled by the strong wine of self-righteousness and the love of this world. It is because their ears are dulled by the false teachers who preach that a loving God would not judge you. That is the sort of drunkenness that will lead them to their destruction.

Do not let that day find you asleep (Mark 13:36). Do not allow that sudden destruction to come upon you (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Repent. Repent of your sinful pleasures; repent of your love for this world; repent of everything that leaves you comfortable, at ease, and at peace in this sinful world.

Repent and trust that the One who is coming to judge the nations still bears the scars from the judgment which you deserved that He took in your place. “36 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” (Luke 21:36).

Let’s be honest: what other option do unbelievers have than to cloak themselves in a thick blanket of spiritual drunkenness? What hope could they possibly have in the face of all the evil— not just the problems and the storms, but the outright evil— in this world? Can you really blame them for distracting themselves from all of it with the Detroit Lions? Could you resist the false teachers crying “Peace! Peace!” even though there is no peace? Can you blame them for diving headlong into “19 sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 …enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, …dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness… and things like these” (Galatians 5:19–21)? What hope could they possibly have?

St. Paul expressed your hope beautifully in his letter to the Thessalonians. Brothers and sisters in Christ, “4 you are not in darkness …for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. [You] are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then [do] not sleep, as others do, but …keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since [you] belong to the day, …be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined [you] for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for [you] so that whether [you] are awake or asleep [you] might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:4–11).

Stay awake. Live each day from now until the angels come to get you filled with faith and love— the faith that expresses itself in hope, regardless of how dark the days may be and a love that patiently endures, caring for the countless people who are so bruised and battered by this world.

Stay awake. “8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Once again this morning your Savior gives you the body and blood which were strong enough to watch and pray in the Garden, which He gave and shed for you, to prepare you and equip you and strengthen you against the devil’s attacks.

Stay awake. No, you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning (Mark 13:35). Stay at your work as faithful servants— faithful disciples— of Jesus Christ. “46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions” (Matthew 24:46–47). “37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them” (Luke 12:37).

This morning, your Lord and Savior invites you to the Garden of Gethsemane with Him. “37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake” (Mark 13:37).