Eyes looking up instead of hearts weighed down

Sermon for Populus Sion – Advent 2

Romans 15:4-13  +  Luke 21:25-36

Christmas is coming! Or maybe it isn’t. The Advent season is meant to remind us in the Church that there may be no Christmas this year, not because of COVID, but because Christ may well come back before December 25^th. While the world around us focuses on worldly things, Christians spend these weeks prying our eyes off of earthly things and turning them to Christ’s advent at the end of time—time which is quickly flying away.

In order to keep us looking heavenward, in order to keep us from focusing too heavily on earthly things and focused instead on His return, Jesus spoke to His disciples during Holy Week and gave them a number of signs to watch for, letting them know that His coming was just around the corner.

Let’s begin with the signs mentioned in Luke’s Gospel: There will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars. Do you remember all the reports of the “near misses” of asteroids hurtling toward earth this year? There have been a few. We’ve watched Jupiter and Saturn travel across the sky together this year. Have you heard that they’re going to be aligned as one big “Christmas star” by Christmas time, which hasn’t happened in some 800 years? Interesting! Sun spots. Solar flares. Solar or lunar eclipses. All these have been happening. Whether greater signs than these will appear in the heavens or whether these are the ones Christ was referring to, signs are already there. We do well to be paying attention to anything “out of the ordinary” up in the heavens as a sign of Jesus’ coming.

On the earth there will be distress and anxiety among the nations, and the sea and the waves will roar. And men will lose heart from fear and dread of the things that are coming on the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. I know I haven’t been alive as long as some of you. But I have never in my life seen such distress, anxiety, fear, and dread among the nations as I have in the past nine months. Not isolated incidents, but anxiety accompanied by mass delusion and irrational fear on a global scale that impacts the basic functions of our daily existence because of the “pestilence,” or “disease” which Matthew lists among the signs of the end. Spreading diseases have always been with us. But never in human history has the reaction of the world been this fearful—and, perhaps, this arrogant.

Let’s mention the rest of the signs St. Matthew had already written about in his Gospel, before Luke published his: Many will come in My name, Jesus says, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. Everyone claiming to represent the Christian Gospel while actually misrepresenting it fits this bill, from the pope to the televangelist. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. North Korea? China? Iran? Syria? ISIS? The rumor of impending civil war within our own country? But in spite of all this, Jesus stirs up courage within us: See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Perhaps the signs will become even more obvious and things will get even worse in the world before Christ comes again, or, may God grant it, things are already bad enough to hasten His arrival, because, honestly, which of these signs is not taking place around us at this very moment? Or which has not already taken place?

The leaves are surely budding on the fig tree. The winter is almost over. Spring is almost here. When you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all this takes place. There are three ways we can understand that saying of Jesus. “This generation” could refer to the Jewish people. That’s how Luther understood it. The Jews would continue to exist as a distinct people until the end, and so they do. Or, “this generation” could refer to humanity itself. The human race will continue to exist on earth until Christ comes; we won’t completely destroy ourselves or be wiped out. Or, “this generation” could refer to the people who were alive at that time, and if we look back in history, we can see that all the signs Jesus mentioned were already taking place in the first century, which would mean that the signs were always meant to repeat themselves throughout history, as constant signals for Christians to look up and be ready, whenever the Bridegroom appears.

Regardless, when you see any of the signs Jesus foretold, when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption is drawing near! Yes, but the signs themselves are often so disheartening! The turmoil in society touches our lives, too, and makes it often miserable to live in this world. The Lord knows that. He sympathizes with us in our weakness. And if this earthly life were the whole story, with all its unfairness, with so many things that don’t go right, then despair would be appropriate. But all the tragedy and turmoil, all the sins committed against us and by us, all the miserable consequences of sin that affect us and hurt us, are passing away to be replaced by something so much better—by your redemption, in the fullest sense. Already Christ has redeemed you from sin, death, and the devil by paying the price of His precious blood on the cross. Already He has claimed you in Holy Baptism and forgiven you for your part in the mess humanity has made of this world. But look up at the signs Jesus talked about and see them for what they are! They’re reminders that the redemption of your bodies is coming soon, messengers preparing the way for Christ to come and put an end to suffering.

But to reach that day in faith, you have to put up with some misery here. That’s OK. It’s to be expected. The danger for Christians is not the misery. It’s the mindset that views earth as our home. Home is where the heart is, as they say. The danger is for your heart to be here, for your heart to be set on living a nice, comfortable—if not luxurious—earthly life, for your heart to be set on the fulfillment of earthly goals and the indulgence in earthly pleasures. What are we all longing for after nine months of COVID madness? We’re longing for a “return to normal,” aren’t we? But that’s the danger right there. That “normal,” American, middle-class, quiet, comfortable life can become just as much of a god to us as a statue of Baal.

Hear Jesus’ warning at the end of today’s Gospel: Be on your guard, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly. For it will come like a snare upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. You see, for as vivid as the signs are that Jesus gives us, they won’t be recognized as signs by non-Christians. People will go on eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage right up until the day of Christ’s return. Only Christians—waiting and watching Christians who are paying attention—will be ready, living in daily contrition and repentance, and longing for Christ to appear.

So always watch and pray, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the Son of Man. Watch and pray. The God who became incarnate and who loved you all the way to the cross now calls on you to watch and pray. To set your sights beyond the pleasures of everyday life on earth and beyond the misery that often accompanies this life on earth, and to watch for His coming and for the much better life He’ll bring with Him. And pray that you may be counted worthy to escape “all these things.” Not to escape all trouble—no one living on earth will escape the signs leading up to Christ’s coming—but to escape the desperate distress and anxiety, the unbeliever’s fear and dread, the impenitence of hearts that love our lives here so much that we’re unwilling to lose them for Christ’s sake. Pray that you may escape those things. Pray that you may escape being surprised by the Lord’s coming and the unpreparedness that leaves one living in sin and devoid of faith, and thus ripe for judgment together with the perishing world.

Watch and pray! And don’t forget to look up and hope! And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.