112606 Last Sunday in the Church Year

Last Sunday in the Church Year: Sunday of the Fulfillment, November 26, 2006

Watch and Keep Watching!

Text: Mark 13:32–37

Other Lessons: Psalm 130; Isaiah 51:4–6; Jude 20–25

Sermon Theme: Watch for the end by receiving Christ’s promises today.

Goal: That we, as the Church Year ends, confess failing to heed his warnings for these last days, yet look to the Christ, who sustains our faith to the Last Day.

Introduction: Advent is that season of the church-year when we recall the promise that the Lord will return. When he does return it will mark the end of all things as we currently know them. So, at the end of the church year, the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent, we are reminded of those things that will occur as that great and glorious day comes ever closer. Given the way godlessness seems to rule the day now in our time, doesn’t that make you curious to know when Jesus will return?

This natural desire among the Christian community gives many Book-writers a chance to exploit it, and fill book-store shelves with all kinds of books claiming to be interpretations of biblical signs through current events. However, such books do not help the believer deal with current reality. They often do not give a clear and accurate representation of Christ the King and the fulfillment of the age. Regardless of all such prognostication and false prophesies, the bottom line is this: no one knows the time when the Lord will return. That’s the scriptural truth.

So, what are we to do? Let’s consider again Jesus’ warning of things to come—things that are even now, here. Let us …

Watch for the End by Receiving Christ’s Promises Today.

  I.     Christ warned us to watch because He knew we will all be tempted to fall away before he returns.

        A.    So, he warned us about apostasy (falling away).

               1.   An example of how we might recognize apostasy came to me several years ago—in the 80’s. One of the members of a congregation I served on a summer vicarage said they had been invited to a friend’s baptism. But, they were shocked to see the baptism without water. Instead, rose petals were used.

                     Another example is seen as some so-called Christians reinterpret Jesus into a Christ of their own human making. Now some churches baptize in the name of Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, but not as Scripture and Christ himself says: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

               2.   We need to be aware that the battle over Jesus’ words like those just mentioned is a fight for the faith. Jesus wants us to watch the Word of God to keep our faith to the end. Jude said,

" Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 3-4, ESV)

          And this was happening already in the first century. So let’s not to be fooled! Let us watch for the end by receiving Christ’s promises today. As we do …

         B.    Christ’s warning about persecution will not be so fearful. After all, “What can man do to the body?”! Whatever they can do, they cannot destroy the soul that is kept safe in Christ Jesus.

               1.   I know! We get scared when people challenge us, and we try to fortify ourselves against it by quietly shrinking away, instead of witnessing to it. So, if someone would say something like: “Don’t be talking about Christ here!” we would probably just shut up. We might not even consider that persecution. But, if someone said to us, “Renounce Christ or die!” as is actually happening in all parts of the world, we might consider that persecution. Now listen, there is no real difference between these two comments considering that God has called us to be witnesses to His Son Jesus Christ, not just when we are allowed to speak, but especially when those around us do not want us to speak.

          2.      Are these not the kind of things that discourage us in the fight for the faith? The point of course is that persecutions do occur all the time. And that shouldn’t surprise us. Nor do we need to shrink from it. Jesus said it would be that way. But, that is all the more reason to watch. Watch for the End by Receiving Christ’s Promises Today.

         C.    Christ warned us not to wonder whether or not he will return.

                    1.    What Christ has done is bestow on us the authority to speak in His name and work until He returns. We have the authority to do just that because through the means of Grace—through the written Word, through Baptism, and the by means of the Lord’s Supper we are strengthened in that authority. Therefore, the people of God never declare the Word in vain.

                    So I encourage each and every one of you who bear His name to “Stay awake!” to “Keep Watch!” And, if for some reason we have been enticed away from the truth—to accept what is false as true—then, let us turn from our false hopes and dreams and return to the pure Word. If any among us are too fearful to bear a cross, let us confess our cowardice, and be strengthened again by the means of Grace. If urgency to hear and study Christ’s Word falters, then, let us confess our failure to watch. Watch for the End by Receiving Christ’s Promises Today.

II.     We do watch as the Lord Jesus Christ commanded. We keep watch by keeping ourselves connected to the Scriptures.

        A.    They point to Christ! And when our focus is on Christ and the Cross, we don’t need to fixate on the signs of apostasy, persecution, catastrophes, or trying to calculate the day of our Lord’s return. We just simply “Keep watch!” knowing that He is coming—and coming soon!

         B.    You see, the victory is already ours, in Christ. And here is how. He remained faithful to God in the same kind of trials and temptations that we face. He suffered the greatest form of apostasy when His own people nailed Him to the cross.

               1.   But, there, on the cross, he fulfills God’s unchangeable word. There, He fulfills the burden of receiving God’s wrath for all our sins. And, there, He opens the gates of heaven for all who will trust in Him.

               2.   Not only did He endure the cross, clinging only to the promise of the Heavenly Father. He also waited for the Father to hear him, and He was heard. The empty tomb on Easter morning is God’s answer. Now, having ascended into glory He makes intercession for all who believe in the promise of his salvation.

         C.    Therefore, we look to Christ by receiving his promises today.

Conclusion: The bottom line is this. We don’t need to worry about the end. We keep watch for the Lord’s return by receiving his gifts given to us even now, today. Amen.