Signs to watch and pray

Sermon for Advent 2 – Populus Sion

Romans 15:4-13  +  Luke 21:25-36

Always watch and pray! That was one of Jesus’ final warnings to His apostles during Holy Week, before He died on the cross. He would rise from the dead and go away for “a while,” for this entire New Testament period. But He would return, He told them, and they had to be ready for His return, because, as He warned them, most people on earth would not be. The Lord is coming with destruction for the earth and for the vast majority of mankind, but with redemption for the few who are counted worthy to stand before Him. So always watch and pray, He urged them—He urges us!—so that you may be among the blessed few who are ready.

But if you’ve ever waited and watched for anything to happen, you know how easy it is to look away when nothing happens for a while. And, once you look away toward something else, you get involved in something else, and you may even forget that you were watching for something. So to keep us from looking away for too long, to keep us watchful, to keep us praying, the Lord Jesus has filled the world with omens, signs, harbingers of His coming, so that, if we ever begin to look away or fall asleep or become weighed down with the things of this life, the signs should call us back, shake us out of our slumber, and jerk our heads back up again, urging us again to watch and pray!

Earlier in chapter 21, St. Luke mentions all sorts of signs that to watch out for, to remind us to keep watch. Matthew and Mark also record them. Jesus says there will be wars, and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, and the spreading of disease. He says the love of most will grow cold. He speaks of many false teachers and false teachings and many people being deceived by them; Christians persecuted, imprisoned, and put to death; and a great falling away from the true Church—all things that make up the Great Tribulation. We see these things happening all around us, don’t we? Instead of becoming depressed by them or angered by them, instead of giving up hope when we see—or experience!—these things, let’s view them as fulfillments of Jesus’ prophecy, as leaves on the fig tree, to use Jesus’ analogy, signaling that summer is almost here, as signs for us to watch and pray, that we may be ready for Christ to return.

Then Luke focuses on things that will cause fear and panic in the world. Signs in the sun, moon, and stars…The powers of heaven will be shaken. What are these signs? They’re anything out of the ordinary, from eclipses to asteroids to comets to “shooting stars” to supernovae. And it’s likely, especially from the way things are worded in Matthew’s Gospel, that God has planned even stranger events in the heavens just prior to Christ’s advent. I would say that even the bizarre UFO accounts that keep making the news and making people curious or fearful are among those God-given signs in the heavens that should make Christians stop and remember, “Oh, that’s right! Jesus is coming soon! I need to watch and pray!”

There will be distress and anxiety among the nations, and the sea and the waves will roar. Unbelievers seem to be more and more in “distress and anxiety” over the climate and over the weather (and also over gender, over race, over every little thing). Will the weather get worse toward the very end, causing even more distress and anxiety? Probably. Just remember, these are not signs that mankind has to do a better job trying to “fix” the environment. Let unbelievers rant about such things. For believers, distressing weather patterns are just more signs and reminders to watch and pray, because Christ is coming soon, to destroy the earth with its climate and to bring swift judgment on those who rejected Him as their King.

Men will lose heart from fear and dread of the things that are coming on the world. Everyone seems to know that something is coming on the world, something dreadful, something terrible. That fear and dread will just keep getting worse as we get closer to Christ’s coming. Unbelievers don’t know exactly what’s coming, but the world around us is growing more and more fearful.

Still, we shouldn’t imagine that the world will be in utter chaos toward the end, or that everyone will be sheltering in a bunker. Remember what else Jesus said: For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. In other words, the signs will be there, but they won’t greatly disrupt “life as usual.” It will be “life as usual” for the unbelievers until the very moment when Christ comes again.

But you know something they don’t. You know what’s coming upon our world. It’s called Judgment Day. It’s the second and final coming of the Lord Christ into this world to expose all the wickedness of men, to condemn every deed, every word, every opinion that goes against His Word. He has announced His coming. He continues to have it announced in the world through His preachers. He has even given signs of His coming to keep men watchful. But unbelievers are unbelieving, so it will all come as a great surprise to them when they realize too late that there really is a God, and that the Word of Christ was true all along.

The world will melt in fear and dread at the coming of Christ, as well they should. But He doesn’t want that day to be a fearful day for you! Nor does He want you to be surprised by it. What does He say in our Gospel? When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption is drawing near. As long as you are in Christ, as long as you are seeking refuge under the protection of His blood, hunkering down underneath your Baptism, as long as you are looking to Him for forgiveness and help and salvation, as long as your faith is being fed and nourished by His Means of Grace, as long as you are living in daily contrition and repentance, as long as you are being watchful, you are safe! You have His forgiveness! You have nothing to fear on the day of His coming!

And that’s how Jesus wants to keep you—safe, covered in His righteousness, justified by faith, and growing in love. He knows that you still have enemies in the world that would remove you from the shelter of His grace, that would entice you away from it, because that’s the only way they can win. No one can snatch My sheep from My hand, Jesus says. No one can tear you away from Him or separate you from Him. But they can tempt you to leave the safety of Jesus, either by conscious choice or by apathy and atrophy. It’s against that that Jesus warns you in our Gospel:

But 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 unexpectedly. For it will come like a snare upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.

It’s so easy to get caught up in earthly things—fun, family, pleasure, responsibilities. We have a life here to maintain, after all, and many things to do. It’s true. But one of those things—the most important thing, which can easily be lost in the shuffle—is to watch and pray. Have you been doing that regularly? Earnestly? Purposefully? If so, don’t stop! If not, why not?

Why not? There’s no excuse, just an explanation: because we’re sinners who know the good we should do, and yet don’t do it, because evil is always there with us. The Apostle Paul knew this sin and weakness in himself. It led him to lament, O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Let his answer be your answer: I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Receive His forgiveness again today, all you who mourn over your sins. And take comfort that He has not given up on you, nor will He fail to provide all the signs and warnings you need, both out there in the world and right here in His Word, to keep you watchful and ready, penitent and believing. He still calls out to you today, Watch and pray! Use the means He has given you to stay safe on the Day of wrath, so that for you it isn’t a day of wrath at all, but a day of happiness and relief.

Now, as you diligently watch and pray, 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.