Sermon for midweek of Advent 3
Isaiah 25:6-10 + Luke 12:35-59
My son asked me the other day why we light a pink candle on the 3rd Sunday in Advent. The candles are supposed to reflect the liturgical colors themselves, which go back only about 800 years or so, and even then, they weren’t fixed and firm throughout the Christian Church. The minister was to vest in Black, the color for mourning, for days of fasting and of repentance. But during the seasons of Advent and Lent, which are seasons of repentance, the darkness of black was mitigated—softened or lightened—to purple. Because there’s just too much hope in those seasons, too much focus on the good news of Christ’s salvation to remain as dark as black. And then, on the third Sunday in Advent and the fourth Sunday in Lent, even purple is mitigated—softened or lightened—to pink or “rose.” There’s an extra ray of hope during these weeks of the Church year, as you heard Jesus reach out to John the Baptist on Sunday and assure him that Jesus was the promised King who was already making all things right one thing at a time, and would eventually make all things right.
Our lessons this evening, especially the lesson from Isaiah, point to the day when all things will be made right. In Luke 12, Jesus sternly warns His disciples about watching, about being ready for the Last Day when He comes, whenever it may be. He leaves the hour intentionally unknown. He has filled His Church with light and knowledge about God and about our salvation, and He has given us signs to watch for that point to His coming. But on the one issue of when He will come back, He wants His Church to remain in the dark, so to speak, so that we are always watching, always ready, never becoming complacent about hearing and following Him, never becoming secure enough to go ahead and indulge our sinful flesh, because “well, we know He isn’t coming back today.” The fact is, we don’t know. That’s why the Church, in practically every age, has assumed that He’ll be returning during the lifetime of the people of that age. Maybe even today.
The signs have notably intensified, especially the apostasy—the rebellion—within the visible Christian Church itself. Never has the external Church been more divided. Never has it been more corrupt and even blasphemous on a worldwide scale. Never has it been harder to find the holy catholic faith once delivered to the saints, a church that teaches the old, reliable doctrine of the prophets and apostles. The apostasy within the visible realm of Christianity is a sure sign that Christ will come soon, and more likely in our lifetime that it was in the lifetime of our parents or of previous generations of Christians.
Why is Jesus so adamant that we be ready when He comes? Isaiah reveals that in chapter 25: It’s because He so longs for you and me to join Him on that mountain of the Lord Isaiah talked about. And in this mountain The LORD of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well-refined wines on the lees.
“This mountain” is none other than Mount Zion or Jerusalem, as we learn at the end of Isaiah 24. Isaiah 24 paints a very vivid picture of the judgment, of the ruin and destruction of the earth that will take place on the Last Day, and of the fear, terror, and despair of the inhabitants of the earth. That, by the way, is another reason Jesus keeps urging His Church to watch and to be faithful until He comes, because He doesn’t want us to be destroyed in that final destruction, to then go and spend eternity in hell. But at the very end of Isaiah 24, together with the judgment of the fallen angels and of the unbelievers in the world, the Holy Spirit paints the picture of the Lord God gloriously reigning on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, in the presence of the hosts of holy angels and in the presence of His elders, His holy people: It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, And on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together, As prisoners are gathered in the pit, And will be shut up in the prison; After many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be disgraced And the sun ashamed; For the LORD of hosts will reign On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem And before His elders, gloriously.
The contrast between chapters 24 and 25 couldn’t be greater. The destruction of the Last Day is described this way: The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For the LORD has spoken this word. The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left. The new wine fails, the vine languishes, All the merry-hearted sigh. But then you heard in chapter 25 of the bounteous feast that God is preparing on the mountain. A feast of the best foods and the best wines. This mountain, of course, is not old Jerusalem, but New Jerusalem, the one that will come down from heaven on the Last Day. And it’s all picture-language. Picture the best gathering of family and friends, with the best foods prepared for you. By someone else. You don’t have to make anything. You don’t have to bring anything. You don’t have to heap stress on yourself getting ready for this gathering. Christ Jesus has purchased everything for you with His holy, precious blood. The Father is preparing everything for you. The Holy Spirit is sending out the invitations and providing the transportation to this feast.
Jesus spoke about it in slightly different language: Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Mansions in a great house. Fine banquets. New Jerusalem. A city on a hill gleaming with gold and precious gems. They’re pictures of what awaits God’s waiting people on the Last Day. And the most glorious picture of all is this: And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.
The swallowing up of death. Forever. No more corruption. No more decay. No more sickness. No more sadness. No more separation of body and soul. No more separation of those who stand at the graveside from those who lie in the grave. Just life, and life to the fullest for God’s faithful people.
So if life here and now isn’t the fullest, doesn’t seem very meaningful or joyful or happy, it’s OK. You can live with that. Because this life isn’t all there is. Your place in this life, your “role in this play,” if you will, is temporary. You’ve been given a part, whatever it is. God thought it was important enough to include it in His grand design, so it must be worth something to Him. But whether your part is pleasant or unpleasant or probably some of both, it has an end. And after that end, a new beginning on the mountain of the Lord, at His feast, in the new creation, for all those who believe in Christ Jesus. And the long wait will be over. And the long wait will be worth it, because all things will be made right. Amen.
