Proper 28
– Pentecost 23
17 November 2019
Luke 21:5-19
Doing Your
Best when things are at their worst
O Lord, absolve
Your people from their offenses that from the bounds of our sins, which by
reason of our weakness we have brought upon ourselves, we may be delivered by
Your bountiful goodness; Lord Jesus, bless Thy Word, that we may trust in Thee.[1]
The Church year is ending. Next week we proclaim, “Christ is King!” The rule and reign of Christ
is the objective of the entire Christian story. Yet today, the Second-to-Last
Sunday of the Church year, Jesus predicts that the end of days will come. We
are reminded that this reign will come with sure, clear signs.
When will these stones fall? That’s what the apostles wanted to know. The
destruction of the Temple - Will that be the end of the world? Jesus wants to
make one thing perfectly clear. When these things happen. It is not yet the
end. It’s not the beginning. Nor the end. But the beginning - of the end.[2]
The word Luke uses to describe the utter destruction
of the temple (καταλυθήσεται)
is what we derive our word "catastrophe." The days are coming when "all will be thrown down..." It shall be destroyed. Torn down. Demolished.
Abolished. Annulled. Made invalid.
“Catastrophe”
is an apt term for what happens when that in which we have trusted is utterly
destroyed. Breaking someone’s trust is like crumpling up a perfect piece of paper.
You can smooth it over. But it’s never going to be the same again.
In whom do
you trust? Trust not in princes. They are but mortal. Thus says the Psalmist, “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of
man, in whom there is no salvation.” (Psalm 146:3) Trust the One who cannot
be destroyed - Jesus the Risen Savior.
Stones have been tumbling for centuries. This past
week - The world would remember and recall the signing of the armistice. (November
11 1918) Announced as the end of a great and bloody war. – A war to end all wars.
But in no less than twenty years - came Kristallnacht.
("Crystal Night") A pogrom against the Jews throughout Nazi
Germany. (November 9-10, 1938) And another World War would soon come. [3]
We have now commemorated the destruction of the Berlin
wall - November 9, 1989 – just 30 years ago.[4]
Yet stones continue to fall.
In recent years, stones have been dropping in the Middle
East in the streets of Iraq and Afghanistan. This week stones literally fell in Gaza and Syria.
It happens also in the private lives of people today;
who lose jobs, despair over children, become estranged, get divorced, face
medical issues and enter into hospice.
When these things happen. Be not deceived. The end is
not yet. These are only birth pangs. Scripture calls them “labor pains.” When there are labor pains, we know that new life is
near.
Rather than looking for escape into the afterlife,
Jesus calls for us to give birth. In the midst of a world filled with stones
falling, war and earthquakes (Vv.9-11) Jesus points you to cling to Him for
life.
Today you have been put on notice. Turmoil in nature
and amongst people will plague the earth. As a follower of Jesus, do not be
surprised or shocked should you be singled out for persecution, betrayal and
hatred. All because of His name. Yet, not a hair on your head will perish.
How can this be? How can you escape? How do you dodge
the bullet aimed at every Christian? Over thousands of years and countless
generations, Jesus speaks directly to us with the freshness of this morning. By your endurance, you will gain your soul.
You can’t help but feel that following Jesus isn’t
unlike being a turtle without a shell. There is no call to arms. There’s no
warning to stockpile goods. Or food. Or weapons. In preparation for what’s to
come. There’s no command to build a bomb shelter. Or an ark. There are only
three brief commands. Don’t be terrified.
Don’t be led astray. Don’t prepare a defense.
Don’t be
terrified. The old song sing: “Fear not! I am with you, O be not dismayed.
For I am your God and will still give you aid; I’ll strengthen you, help you,
and cause you to stand. Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.”[5]
Don’t be led
astray. False Christ’s and
counterfeit Messiahs are always about. They exist to seduce and mislead. Don’t
follow them. Listen still to the voice of your shepherd Jesus.
When the world around you descends into darkness, you
can still shine with light. Don’t expect society to go your way. Bear witness
to another Way. Look to Jesus. He is the way the truth and the life.
You don’t
need to prepare a defense. You
already have Jesus’ clear inspired word. The reason you were born. The purpose for which God
brought you into this world. Is to bear Christ’s forgiving presence into a
world that is desperate for it.
As a child of God you live your life under the cross of
Jesus Christ. Where? In a school. On a farm. In a family. In a business. In the
everyday moments of this life. Doing what needs doing at the moment. You are
the hands and feet the fingers and toes of Jesus in this world.
Because Jesus loves you, He always tells you the
truth. Even when it is hard to find the good news behind the dire predictions.
These words of the Savior were spoken just before His
Passion. The cross was always before Him. Jesus clearly sees what He must
endure for your sake. He looks beyond His looming agony and foretells what you
must endure for His sake.
To carry you home, Jesus will soon carry His cross. To
follow Him home, you must carry your cross. For some, the cross is relatively
light; minor inconveniences, petty prejudices, snide remarks, negative peer
pressure, constantly navigating a world of vanishing values.
For others, the cross means martyrdom. Either by the
sword or by prejudice. Many face sanctions - ranging from death to
imprisonment, harassment to expulsion. For this reason you are given to pray
for your sisters and brothers in Christ here at home and around the world.
This Christian life is more than a marathon. It can
also be a dangerous obstacle course. Expect to be tripped. Expect to sometimes
fall. Endurance means more than just chugging alone. We must often pick
ourselves up and get back into the race.
Says St. Paul, “We
are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death
of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given
over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our
mortal body. So then, death is at work
in us, but life is at work in you.”[6]
For endurance look not only to the cross, we look to
the Resurrection. That’s because you know how this story ends. Not in tragedy. But
in triumph. Jesus’ cross and empty tomb is the source of your strength. Your
hope. Your joy. Let us run with perseverance. Looking to Jesus. Who endured the
cross. So that you may not grow weary or lose heart.[7]
Thank you, Jesus. In Your love, we rejoice and endure.
Words –1,325
Passive Sentences –8%
Readability – 81.7%
Reading Level –3.9
Image copyright © Google Images
[1] Collect
of the Day, Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year Lutheran Worship copyright ©
1982 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
[2] Reference
the words of Winston Churchill
[3] Almost
100 killed, 30,000 men arrested, over 1,000 synagogues burnt, over 7,000 Jewish
businesses destroyed or damaged.
[4] I
purchase a chunk of that wall for each of my children. It remains in a safety
deposit box. At the time, breaching that wall was such a cataclysmic earth-shattering
event. The wall was erected when I was their age. Now that wall is no more.
[5] How
Firm a Foundation stanza 2 Lutheran Service Book copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
[6] 2
Corinthians 4:8-12
[7] Hebrews
12
No comments:
Post a Comment