St. Luke 21:25–36 – Advent 2 – 2016
Zion Ev. Lutheran Church, McHenry, IL
December 3-4, 2016
Watch Here
In the Name of Jesus, Who is coming soon! Amen. When you you see these things beginning to happen, lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near!
My son Thomas hit the nail on the head a few weeks ago with an observation: “This whole Last Day things seems so surreal, Dad. It’s like, the fire and the destruction and all that is like a movie. And Jesus, if He’s coming, has taken an awful long time. It’s like He’s not coming at all.”
It does seem like a movie: “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
That just doesn’t seem to fit today. Maybe back in the 80’s when we were expecting thermo-nuclear destruction when another actor was at the helm of our nation. But now we’ve progressed. We’ve moved past all the Santa-Clause type stuff of talking of world destruction to world-destroying talk of climate change. We’ve got a routine, a schedule, to occupy our time with: We get up in the morning, we check the news on our phones, we text or Facebook, get everyone to where they need to go, we go to work, we text and Facebook some more, we get off work and get everyone and do everything for the kids that they need to do, eat, watch a little Netflix and then it’s off to sleep and to rinse and repeat the same thing tomorrow.
And secretly we kind of want it to be that way. Because if the world is going to blow up then we are gonna blow up and we don’t really want that.
We want a Jesus to save us from blowing up by keeping us and the world from blowing up. For if He’s going to get some naughty people for not being nice, He’s probably going to get us, too, on the Last Day. Lord, save us.
Not to mention, the Lord does seem late. He says in today’s Gospel that this generation will not pass away until all these things take place — and like 100 generations ago.
But, all of this talk misses the point of today’s Last Day Gospel. It is the Gospel — it’s the good news! St. Luke is pointing you to Jesus coming to you, to save you, to redeem you, and to rescue you. Saving you is really what the Last Day is all about it — it’s not about a melting earth and people hiding from the fear of what’s to come — it’s about Jesus saving you from what you have, are, and will do by His Cross. It’s about His coming to you in His gifts — water, word, bread and wine. His redeeming you from your sins. His rescue of you.
That’s why you are given to pray for the Last Day. You pray every meal. Come Lord Jesus! Don’t you want Him to come?
For the End is Save-me Day. It’s Jesus-really-was-born-and-died-for-me day. It’s Redeem-me day. It’s Christmas. It’s my Birthday! It’s New Year’s. It’s Epiphany. It’s Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter and the Ascension all rolled up in one.
For when He comes in the clouds, there will be no more doubting, no more pain, no more suffering. No more sadness. God Himself wipes tears from our eyes. For God Himself in Christ has done what He’s been trying to do since Creation: He has Himself a people in Christ.
Repent today of making the Last Day about everything but Jesus saving you. Turn from making it about what you have and haven’t done, about whether you are naughty or nice.
No, Jesus comes to save you from what you are doing now, what you did in the past, and what you are doing when He comes. He comes to show you that everything has always been about Him, not you. About his saving you, and not you saving you.
And so that you wouldn’t lose sight of this, Jesus did everything that He said would happen on the Last Day in His generation: The earth shook, the skies got dark, the rocks split. The nations got distressed and the seas got foamy. His generation saw it all. They saw Calvary. They saw Good Friday. They saw God die on the Cross for you. They saw Jesus save you just as He said.
And if the bad of the Last Day was taken by Jesus on Good Friday, you’ve got nothing to fear. Not from Today, not from tomorrow, not from another actor in the White House, not from climate change, or from any other thing that is in this world.
In fact, when that moment happens when the universe seems to be coming apart, when stuff happens that you’ve never seen before and you think that everything is falling apart, in that moment when things are the worst Last-Day-like, lift up your head and look up. Your redemption will draw near. Your Jesus will come. And He will save you — in His gifts, in His forgiveness, in His mercy, and one day soon – in the clouds of heaven.
For how the Last Day is for you is how Jesus is for you. If He’s was all about judging you for what you have and haven’t done, then that would make for a bad Last Day. But, He says – He promises — He’s about saving you. So, look up, pray for the end, for in the End you will be saved.
When you you see these things beginning to happen, lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near! In Name of Jesus, who is coming soon! Amen.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
In the name of Jesus. Amen. And He said to them, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered Him, “You are the Christ.”
Merry Christmas!! In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Merry Christmas!!! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen. The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.
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