Advent 2 Populus Zion

Luke 21:25-36 - Advent 2 - December 4, 2016
Your Redemption Draws Near
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As darkest night must fade and die before the sun’s appearing,
So fades my grief away, when I think on these tidings cheering,
That God from all eternity hath loved the world, and hath on me
Bestowed His grace and favor; I’ll ne’er forget the angels’ strain:
Peace–peace on earth, good will to men, to you is born a Savior! Amen. 

In Jesus’ final beatitude, he said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:11-12).  Of all persecutions that we suffer as the children of God, I think about the most painful is when we hear people lie about Jesus – and then by extension when they revile us as well for believing and confessing the truth.  What can be worse than to hear evil spoken against us falsely because of Jesus?  What can be worse than to hear others twist our motives of love and concern as though we were judgmental and hateful bigots when really we just want what Jesus wants: for them to repent and believe the good news that their sins are freely forgiven for Christ’s sake?  What can be worse than when people fundamentally misrepresent this message of the gospel that saves them by adding in false human opinions that rob God our Savior of the glory that belongs to him alone — and then when others for whom the gospel is intended actually believe their lies to the eternal detriment of their souls?  What can be worse?  Yet Jesus says to us who must bear this sorrow, “Blessed are you.” 

Advent 2

Luke 21:25-28 - Advent 2 - December 7, 2014
Signs in the Sun and Moon and Stars

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

The day is surely drawing near
When God’s Son, the Anointed,
Shall with great majesty appear
As Judge of all appointed.
All mirth and laughter then shall cease
When flames on flames will still increase,
As Scripture truly teacheth. 

Let us pray:

O Jesus, who my debt didst pay
And for my sin wast smitten,
Within the Book of Life, oh, may
My name be also written!
I will not doubt; I trust in Thee,
From Satan Thou hast made me free
And from all condemnation. Amen. 

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“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.”  So said our Lord, Jesus Christ.  His warning is earnest, because he loves us.  Let’s begin this morning by considering why we take heed, how we take heed, and what we take heed of. 

Advent 2

Luke 17:20-30 - Advent 2 - December 8, 2013
The Kingdom of God is within You

Solomon says that there is nothing new under the sun.  From the first day that Adam and Eve disobeyed God and fell into sin until the end of the world, all things on earth remain essentially the same.  We are born; we die.  In between is a whole bunch of joy and a whole bunch of sorrow.  I suppose the race is on to make the former outnumber the latter.  But what a futile race, because ultimately it doesn’t really matter.  We are born; and then we die.  And for a thousand generations the same mundane thing takes place.  Our place, our thoughts, our accomplishments, and even our hopes and dreams are forgotten.  That’s what Solomon says, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”  (Ecclesiastes 1:2).  Kind of a depressing picture to paint, isn’t it?  But it’s true.  And I think everyone knows it. 

Many people respond to this unavoidable fact by living for the moment.  They try to experience as much pleasure as they can before it’s too late.  This is known as hedonism, or Epicureanism and has gone in times past by the motto: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”  A modern equivalent to this is what kids say these days: “YOLO – you only live once.”  Obviously such an outlook on life is incredibly selfish.  It encourages young people to measure the value of life by how much enjoyment they can pack into it rather than by how much good they can do for others.  This flies in the face of what St. Paul tells us in our Epistle lesson: that we should not aim to please ourselves, but to edify our neighbor.  It is true that we only live once.  But what life are we living?  Are we animals seeking carnal pleasure for some small window of time?  Or are we children of God who live forever seeking that which is above? 

Hedonism wares on you. 

Advent 2

Luke 21:25-36 - Advent 2 - December 9, 2012
Our Redemption Draws Near

In the news lately, I’ve read, and maybe you’ve read also, that there’s been some roused concern over the end of the world (as we know it) supposedly predicted by the ancient Mayans.  Maybe you haven’t noticed the stories.  It’s not like it’s really big news.  After all, how many kooks rise up here and there claiming to know when the end of the world will be, even being so bold as to set dates and times?  We know it’s a hoax every time.  Doesn’t Jesus Himself tell us? “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”   Now if not even Jesus, according to His humbled human nature, is privy to the knowledge of that exact day, certainly no other man will be either. 

This Mayan prediction, though, is a little different from that.  It’s no less ridiculous – don’t get me wrong.  But it doesn’t really predict the end of the world per se – it doesn’t say that judgment day is coming or that Jesus is returning.  It’s just that their calendar, prepared centuries ago, which spans 5,125 years from beginning to end suddenly, on December 21, 2012, just stops.  Why?  Why so precise?  Weird, huh?  It’s allure, I suppose, lies in the fact that so much is left to the imagination.  Could it be the end … of something?  Could it be a meteor?  Could it be economic collapse?  Could it be the fall of America?  Could it be the rise of another superpower?  Could it be some sort of catastrophe that the devil has been brewing up and saving for December 21 of this year for a really long time now?  Could it be?   It doesn’t matter.  And there’s a couple of reasons why it doesn’t matter. 

Advent 2

Luke 21:25-36 - Advent 2 - December 4, 2011
My Words Will Not Pass Away

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD” ^{(Job 1:21)}.  Amen.  These familiar words from Job exhibit what it means to have unwavering faith in God in the face of loss.  God gives us good things.  When good things happen, we rejoice and thank Him.  But God also allows bad things to happen by permission of His fatherly care.  Everything, from war abroad to sickness at home, affects our lives in a negative way.  But when they do, we do not despair or become cast down as though God had abandoned us, because these are not signs of our destruction.  These are signs that our redemption is near.  So instead, we lift up our heads and focus our gaze on Christ whose return is imminent. That’s what He promised.   Job didn’t trust in the material things that God gave him; that’s why he didn’t despair when God took them away.  We don’t trust in the temporal blessings that God gives us either.  Instead, we hold fast to His word which will never pass away. 

The Bible was written to teach us.  St. Paul says in our Epistle lesson, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” ^{(Romans 15:4)}.  The reason Scripture is able to bestow such great benefits is because it is the word of God Himself.  By holding onto what the Bible teaches us, we are able to persevere through all trials, because the word of God promises us much more in heaven than what we can possibly lose here on earth.  This is the certain hope that we have in Christ.  And by it, we are comforted.