The End of the World is the theme for the coming
Sunday. In the Gospel lesson (Luke 21:5-19) Jesus tells us that we
happen at the end of the age. Judgment is pronounced in the Old Testament
lesson (Malachi 4:5-19) the wicked will be burned up but the righteous
will be saved. Until that end comes, Paul in the Epistle lesson (2
Thessalonians 3:6-13) teaches that we are not to be idle but to work and
provide for our needs.
Today the world is in a terrible mess. Each generation
seems to think that conditions are so bad that the Day of the Lord is nigh.
What is the answer? Can the world be saved from destruction? Is the answer in
an international army, or in strengthening the dollar abroad, or in raising the
economic level of the third world, or in conquest of illiteracy? The lessons
for this Sunday have other options to propose.
Malachi
4:1-6— Think of
the end of the world in terms of the rising sun. It means a new day and a new
era. The Son of God brings light and healing. When you are not feeling well,
doesn’t laying in the warm sun make you feel better? The sun for us in the Son
of God. When He rises in our lives, we can shine with gladness and hope. When
He comes at the end of time, it is the beginning of an eternity of life and
love. The end of the world is not to be feared nor dreaded but to be greed with
the phrase, “Come Lord Jesus!”
Collect for Proper Twenty-eight: O Lord, almighty and ever-living God, You
have given exceedingly great and precious promises to those who trust in You.
Rule and govern our hearts and minds by Your Holy Spirit that we may live and
abide forever in Your Son, who lives, and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. [2]
Collect for Wednesday of the week of Pentecost 21: Enlighten our minds, we pray, O God, by the Spirit who
proceeds from you, that, as your Son has promise, we may be led into all truth;
through Jesus Christ, you Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen [3] -09
November, 2022
[2] Collect for Proper 28, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
[3] Collect for Wednesday of the week of Pentecost 21, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Vol. II © 1995 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY
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