Luke 21:5-28
13 November 2022
Prayer for the hope of eternal life: Almighty, everlasting God,
Your Son has assured forgiveness of sins and deliverance from eternal death.
Strengthen us by Your Holy Spirit that our faith in Christ may increase daily
and that we may hold fast to the hope that on the Last Day we shall be raise in
glory to eternal life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.[1]
The word Jesus uses to describe the utter destruction of the
temple is the word from which we derive our word Catastrophe.
The days are coming when “all
will be thrown down,” i.e. Destroyed. Torn down. Demolished. Made invalid.
Catastrophe is an apt term for what happens when
that which we have trusted is utterly destroyed. The encouragement for you
today is this – Trust the One who cannot be destroyed – The Risen Savior Jesus
Christ.
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]
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 33 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, 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.
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]
In Jesus, we rejoice and endure.
Passive Sentences -6%
Readability – 80.8
Reading Level –4.0
[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
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