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JJ
St. Luke 21:5-36
Divine Service
Pentecost 25 (Proper 28)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
The end of the year is quickly
approaching. No,
I’m not all that confused – I’m not talking about the
calendar year but the Church Year!
Most people simply ignore the Church Year, and some may
not even know that such a thing exists. Today is listed at the top of your bulletin as the
“Twenty-fifth Sunday After Pentecost.”
It is also known as the Second Last Sunday of the Church
Year. If you were to look in the front of your hymnals (Lutheran
Service Book) on page ten
– Roman numeral ten – there is a table there that describes
the Church Year, followed by the list of Feast and Festivals,
Occasions and then a list of Commemorations.
You would notice that the Church
Year begins with the season of Advent – and that begins on the
first Sunday after the Feast of St. Andrew on November 30th.
The first half of the Church year concludes with the
Easter Season and Pentecost Sunday.
The longest season of the Church Year is the season of
Pentecost. Each
season has its own unique characteristics and signs.
The season of Pentecost begins with Pentecost Sunday and
runs for between twenty-three and twenty-eight weeks.
During the final month of the season of Pentecost the
assigned readings for each week focus our attention on the
second coming of our Lord, and the days leading up to the end of
all things.
Both Malachi and Jesus present
very disturbing signs, indicators that the end of all things is
drawing near. Malachi presents a very vivid depiction of how
those who are not among God’s people will be dwelt with when
the last day comes. He says, “For
behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the
arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble.” The burning oven Malachi speaks of isn’t your basic pizza oven.
This is a blast furnace like the one we hear about in the Book
of Daniel. Malachi is describing an oven intended to consume and
destroy everything that goes into it, leaving only ashes behind.
And what goes into this all consuming oven? – “all
the arrogant and all evildoers.”
The arrogant referred to by Malachi are those who are living
according to their own selfish will, their own self-interests.
He is speaking of those who do not humble themselves before the
Lord and do not submit to God’s will. They are doomed to be
burned up in the all-consuming fire in the oven of hell.
The “evildoer” refers to those who follow after the
sins of the Edomites. Among the evil sins of the Edomites was
worshipping of all manner of false gods. But this was nothing
compared to the evil of the rest of their sins, especially their
sexual immorality. You name it and they would do it.
Now, before anyone closes their
ears and thinks none of this applies to them, let’s take a
look at the Edomites tendencies in us. First, let us consider:
when do people have others gods besides the one true God?
When do they worship false gods?
This comes about so naturally, so easily, that most of
the time we don’t even know when we are doing it. We have and
worship false gods when we put our fear, love, and trust in
anything, or anyone, other than the one true God; Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. When the accumulation of wealth, for example,
becomes the primary focus of our lives, we are worshiping a
false god. When our leisure time, or the activities of our
children are given priority over being in the Lord’s house
worshipping Him, we are worshiping false gods.
When we neglect to give back to the Lord with our tithes
and offerings in gratitude for the blessings He has given us, we
are worshipping other gods. When we use any excuse we can find
to justify avoiding Bible study or the proclamation of God’s
Word, we are worshiping false gods. And the false god we
arrogantly worship the most is named “Me, Myself, and I.” So
often we put ourselves and our sinful lusts and desires ahead of
God. And whenever anything, or anyone, is given a higher
priority in our lives than God, Himself, we are guilty of the
sin of arrogance which leads to the all-consuming fire of hell
spoken of by Malachi.
To those who repent of their sin
of arrogance, who turn from their sinful ways and fear the name
of the Lord, Malachi speaks God’s message of hope and
salvation. For them the sun of righteousness shall rise with
healing in its wings. Those who fear the Lord, and have Him
alone as their God, they will not experience the Lord’s decree
of utter destruction. Instead, they shall see the Son of
Righteousness, even Jesus Christ, who comes with healing in His
wings. They will know the overwhelming joy that comes to those
who, by faith in the Son of Righteousness, have amended their
sinful lives, and seek to do that which is pleasing in God’s
sight.
It is this same Son of Righteous
who walked from the temple with the disciples as they admired
its grandeur and beauty. As we examine the Gospel reading we
note that even those who walk with Jesus can be distracted from
the primary purpose for the church’s existence. Like the
Disciples, we can get so caught up in the things going on in and
around the church, the things that we think defines the church,
that we loose sight of what the church really is and the purpose
for which God has established it.
As Jesus points out, the church is
not about beautiful buildings, embroidered paraments, or gold
and silver vessels. The church isn’t about organs, pianos, or
guitars. The church isn’t about pews or chairs or logs around
a campfire. These things will all pass away, not a single one of
them will remain. They will all be cast down and destroyed, and
the time of their destruction is coming soon. How soon? That’s
what the disciples wanted to know over two thousand years ago.
The Christians in Thessalonica were asking that question when
Paul wrote to them telling them to get back to work. They had
stopped working because false teachers had told them that Jesus
had already returned. So they stopped going to work and were
sitting around waiting for Jesus to show up.
This is a continuing problem in
the church today. Far too many people are sitting around doing
nothing as they wait for Jesus to return. We all wonder when
Jesus will come again, but this is not something God has chosen
to reveal to us. Jesus Himself says, “But
concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels
of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only”
(Mt 24:36). So how are we to know when the end is coming, and what are we
to be doing in the meantime?
Jesus
tells us that as the time draws near for His return there will
be wars and rumors of wars. There will be earthquakes and other
natural disasters, including famine and pestilence. Jerusalem
and her temple have already been destroyed. The forces of nature
are raging like we have never seen before. Nations are awash
with giant waves from the sea. This summer hundreds of square
miles of timberland were destroyed by uncontrollable fires.
Mountains are exploding and the earth is opening up to swallow
villages and homes. The groanings of creation are increasing as
the final days are accomplished. There are wars and battles all
over the world, And Christians are being beheaded, imprisoned,
tortured, and starved all over the world for the sake of
Jesus’ name. Everything that Jesus said would happen before
the end would come is happening today, and it will continue to
happen until Jesus returns.
But this does not mean that we are
to go hide in a cave, or withdraw from the world until Christ
returns. Jesus tells us plainly that these disastrous and trying
times provide us with the opportunity to bear witness to Him.
THAT is what the church is about. Not camps for kids, or fancy
buildings with stained glass windows or donated furnishings
appointed with the names of sainted friends and family members.
Such things can become idols in the Lord’s house. Bearing
witness to Christ, in a world that is falling apart because of
sin, is what Christ’s church is to be about. Don’t
misunderstand what I am saying. There is nothing wrong with
camps or beautiful houses of worship, especially when they are
used to prepare God’s people, both young and old, to be
witnesses to the Gospel. That is what Christ has called us to do
in a world that is literally dying of sin.
Look at this wonderful building!
Look at these beautiful paraments and banners! None of it is
going to last. We can keep making repairs, but we can’t stop
the affects of living in a world that is broken by sin. We are
living in the last days, right here, right now. We do not know
the day or the hour of Christ’s return, but all of the signs
of the end are evident.
Therefore, every day is a critical
day to tell someone about Jesus and His saving work on the
cross. Like Malachi we are called to clearly warn the
unbeliever, and the fallen believer, that there really is a
consuming fire awaiting those who do not repent of their sins
and who arrogantly continue to place themselves, and their will,
ahead of God and His will.
Christ has called each of us to be
watchful for every opportunity to bear witness to Him. Everyone
gathered in this place today knows someone who either doesn’t
know Christ, or who has fallen away from His saving grace. Many
of them are right in your own families. Some of them are former
members of this very church who have fallen away. This is your
opportunity to bear witness to Jesus. This isn’t just the
Pastor’s or the Elders job. These are your friends and your
family members, and they are walking straight into the
all-consuming fire in the oven of hell. But with the Lord’s
help you can bear witness to them.
Jesus speaks plainly to us as He
uses the second person possessive pronoun. “This will be your opportunity to bear witness…”
And so it is. Today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the
next, is your opportunity to tell them about Jesus and His work
of salvation for them and for you. I know what you are thinking,
because I also have had the same thoughts: “But what do I say,
pastor?” We
don’t have to worry about that. Jesus knows what we are to
say, and He will give us the right words at the right time, even
if we don’t think that they’re right!!! He comforts us, as
He did the Disciples, with the assurance that we don’t not
have to wonder and worry beforehand about what we will say when
the opportunity to witness comes. He tells us: “for
I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your
adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.”
You are here today in the Lord’s
house, on the Lord’s Day because Christ gave the words and the
wisdom to someone who cared enough to witness to you about
Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for your sins. You may
not even remember the day or the words that were spoken to you,
but they were just the right words at just the right time to
save you from the consuming fire of hell.
As the Church Year draws to a
close our attention is focused on the coming of Christ, just as
it is as we enter the beginning of the new Church Year with the
season of Advent; Advent which means “coming.”
At His first coming, Christ came into the world to save
sinners like us from the all-consuming fire of hell. The Son of
Righteousness came with healing in His wings for our sickness of
sin as humbled Himself to be born of the virgin Mary, and died
and rose again for the sins of the world. He came to give you
eternal life by giving His life as the ransom for your sins. He
was raised to life, so that you may have new life in Him.
This is the wonderful message of Christ’s first
coming to which we bear witness, even in these turbulent and
troublesome last days. For those who believe in Jesus as their
Lord and Savior, the all consuming flames of hell have already
been put out. They were extinguished in the waters of Holy
Baptism. Through the water and the Word, the flames of perdition
have been beaten back, and now, by the power of the Holy Spirit,
within you burns the flame of saving faith in Jesus who gave
Himself for us. This is our witness as we stand up straight with
heads held high, joyfully awaiting our Savior’s return,
knowing that redemption is at hand, for you have been forgiven
all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit. Amen
The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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