Sunday November 30, 2008
Advent 1
Brothers and sisters
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today in our Gospel lesson, our Lord Jesus tells us to keep alert for we do not know when the time of His return in glory will come. Indeed we enter today into the season of Advent in the midst of the Advent we live in every day as we await the promised return of our Lord Jesus. We enter into this time of year when we are awaiting and preparing for Christmas which will come in four weeks, while we also await the return of our Lord in glory, which we don’t know when will get here.
And the fact that we don’t know when Jesus will return is only confirmed for us in the Gospel lesson for today. In fact in our Gospel lesson for today, our Lord Jesus tells us that not only do we not know when Jesus will return but neither do the angels in heaven or even Jesus Himself. The Son of God does not even know the day or the hour of His return. Only the Father in Heaven knows when this will take place.
And we also know that when this happens the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give it’s light and the stars will be falling from Heaven. In other words Jesus is talking about the end of the world here people. He is talking about when the old will be done away with and all things will be made new. We know that this day is coming. We read about it in scripture. We hear sermons about it. Some of us even go to Bible-studies relating to it. We know it’s out there. We know it’s coming. But do we really believe it? Do we take all that end of the world stuff seriously? Or do we just go about our daily lives without so much as giving it a second thought?
Then again, why would we want to spend time talking or thinking about the reality that this world that we have invested so much in, placed so much hope in, and it would seem gotten so much from, is going to come to an end? Why think about the fact that this old world will one day vanish into nothingness and be completely consumed?
I mean that’s too much of a downer, especially this time of year when we should be happy and cheerful all the time. This is when we are supposed to be shopping and putting lights up on our houses. Who wants to think about the world coming to and end??
But such reluctance only leads to the sleep that our Lord Jesus speaks of in the Word He comes to us with this morning. Jesus warns us of the danger of being caught asleep, being caught unaware when He returns and so He urges us to stay awake. But we are all far too susceptible to the attempts of sin, death and the devil to lull us to sleep whether it be through busyness or stress or simply an all together collapsing into unconsciousness where all that is left of our faith is ignored, abandoned or at best we simply go through the motions.
But we must talk and think about and be conscious of the coming end of the world, for this is what it means to be a baptized member of the Body of Christ; that our calling is to prepare for the end of this tired old world. Our calling is to prepare for the promised return of Christ Jesus. We are among the slaves that Jesus speaks of who have been put in charge of our master’s house until He returns. He has put us in charge. He has given us authority to prepare for His return.
And so what kind of authority has He given us? Well in John 1 we are told that we are given the power, or some translations say "right" to be children of God. The Greek word translated as "right", exousia, is actually more often translated as "authority." So it essentially means the same.
Your status as a child of God comes to you completely from outside of you. It is given to you and it has to be given to you, such as with any "right" or "authority." It is not something you can work for or choose. It has to come to you from outside of you. And it does in the waters of baptism, and you are baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ and you are given the authority to say that you are a beloved child of God, you are given the authority to say and know that no matter what this old, dying world throws at you, you are a child of God , you are living in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection still to come.
You would not have this authority if Christ Jesus did not lay down His life for you and take the burden of your sin and death upon Himself and claim you as His in the waters of baptism. You have the authority to live in the knowledge that you are a forgiven sinner. But He doesn’t even leave that entirely up to you.
No, for He knows that you are only too willing to be lulled to sleep by sin, death and the devil so He comes to you in His Word, such as He is doing right now through the Holy Spirit in the words of my mouth, calling you to repentance so you can once again hear the promise of the Gospel of the forgiveness of your sin. He comes to you in Holy Communion bringing you the forgiveness of your sin in His body and blood.
Talking about the end of the world may not be pleasant, may not be sophisticated, may not be cool but we must for it is our calling. We must because, were it not for the authority to be children of God in Christ Jesus we would be every bit as perishable as this world. Without Christ Jesus we would remain as Isaiah says "..like one who is unclean. … We would all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
All of this talk of the authority to know that you are a forgiven child of God may sound strange but this old world and the devil will tempt, accuse, delude, deceive and do whatever it can to convince you that you are merely a part of this old, dying world. And on your own you would be defenseless, but your Lord has given you a promise and a Word to fight back. And so in all that the world throws at you, you can look back and say "I am a forgiven child of God and I have been given the authority to know and declare that." And to that, the devil and this old world have no response. And that is how you prepare for the return of Christ in glory or the end of this old, dying world.
And so indeed, in the forgiveness of our sin we have been given much, so indeed we also have much to give. For as Paul says in our second lesson, the testimony of Christ is strengthened among you so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. For in giving us the authority to know that we are forgiven children of God, our Lord Jesus has also given us the authority to share that forgiveness with those around us.
This is called the ‘office of the keys’ and it is the authority to declare forgiveness to those who repent and withhold it from the unrepentant. It is not we who do the forgiving but God in Christ Jesus, through the laying down of His life.
As we think about the Advent story who was the most prepared for the coming of Jesus in Bethlehem?? Mary was. Joseph was. The shepherds were. One thing that they all have in common is that they all believed God’s Word. Likewise you are prepared for the return of Christ in glory because you have heard the Word of forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, and you believe it.
In addition to knowing that you are a child of God forgiven of your sin and given an eternal place in God’s eternal kingdom through the death and resurrection of Christ so that you will be prepared for the return of Christ Jesus, you are also given other responsibilities. The Almighty God has blessed you with the gift of vocation. If you are a parent you are given the authority to raise your children. If you are an employee He gives you the authority to serve your employer. If you are a student He gives you the authority to study and learn. And to all of us He has given the authority to love and serve our neighbor, feed and clothe the hungry and naked. And these and other things are all good and right things to do, and they are good and right things that can be done by believers and non-believers alike.
But none of that, as good as it is will make you any more prepared for the end of the world. If you take lightly the need for repentance and forgiveness, you may just be found sleeping. But because you do believe. Because you daily hear the call to repentance and forgiveness you have the authority to know and believe that you are a forgiven child of God. You are given the authority to be forgiven and set free from sin.
The end will come, Christ Jesus will return in glory, but you are prepared because you are forgiven. You have been freed from the burden of trying to find any hope in this old world, and freed to share the forgiveness you have been given in Christ with your neighbor, that they might be prepared also.
Amen
Brothers and sisters
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today in our Gospel lesson, our Lord Jesus tells us to keep alert for we do not know when the time of His return in glory will come. Indeed we enter today into the season of Advent in the midst of the Advent we live in every day as we await the promised return of our Lord Jesus. We enter into this time of year when we are awaiting and preparing for Christmas which will come in four weeks, while we also await the return of our Lord in glory, which we don’t know when will get here.
And the fact that we don’t know when Jesus will return is only confirmed for us in the Gospel lesson for today. In fact in our Gospel lesson for today, our Lord Jesus tells us that not only do we not know when Jesus will return but neither do the angels in heaven or even Jesus Himself. The Son of God does not even know the day or the hour of His return. Only the Father in Heaven knows when this will take place.
And we also know that when this happens the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give it’s light and the stars will be falling from Heaven. In other words Jesus is talking about the end of the world here people. He is talking about when the old will be done away with and all things will be made new. We know that this day is coming. We read about it in scripture. We hear sermons about it. Some of us even go to Bible-studies relating to it. We know it’s out there. We know it’s coming. But do we really believe it? Do we take all that end of the world stuff seriously? Or do we just go about our daily lives without so much as giving it a second thought?
Then again, why would we want to spend time talking or thinking about the reality that this world that we have invested so much in, placed so much hope in, and it would seem gotten so much from, is going to come to an end? Why think about the fact that this old world will one day vanish into nothingness and be completely consumed?
I mean that’s too much of a downer, especially this time of year when we should be happy and cheerful all the time. This is when we are supposed to be shopping and putting lights up on our houses. Who wants to think about the world coming to and end??
But such reluctance only leads to the sleep that our Lord Jesus speaks of in the Word He comes to us with this morning. Jesus warns us of the danger of being caught asleep, being caught unaware when He returns and so He urges us to stay awake. But we are all far too susceptible to the attempts of sin, death and the devil to lull us to sleep whether it be through busyness or stress or simply an all together collapsing into unconsciousness where all that is left of our faith is ignored, abandoned or at best we simply go through the motions.
But we must talk and think about and be conscious of the coming end of the world, for this is what it means to be a baptized member of the Body of Christ; that our calling is to prepare for the end of this tired old world. Our calling is to prepare for the promised return of Christ Jesus. We are among the slaves that Jesus speaks of who have been put in charge of our master’s house until He returns. He has put us in charge. He has given us authority to prepare for His return.
And so what kind of authority has He given us? Well in John 1 we are told that we are given the power, or some translations say "right" to be children of God. The Greek word translated as "right", exousia, is actually more often translated as "authority." So it essentially means the same.
Your status as a child of God comes to you completely from outside of you. It is given to you and it has to be given to you, such as with any "right" or "authority." It is not something you can work for or choose. It has to come to you from outside of you. And it does in the waters of baptism, and you are baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ and you are given the authority to say that you are a beloved child of God, you are given the authority to say and know that no matter what this old, dying world throws at you, you are a child of God , you are living in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection still to come.
You would not have this authority if Christ Jesus did not lay down His life for you and take the burden of your sin and death upon Himself and claim you as His in the waters of baptism. You have the authority to live in the knowledge that you are a forgiven sinner. But He doesn’t even leave that entirely up to you.
No, for He knows that you are only too willing to be lulled to sleep by sin, death and the devil so He comes to you in His Word, such as He is doing right now through the Holy Spirit in the words of my mouth, calling you to repentance so you can once again hear the promise of the Gospel of the forgiveness of your sin. He comes to you in Holy Communion bringing you the forgiveness of your sin in His body and blood.
Talking about the end of the world may not be pleasant, may not be sophisticated, may not be cool but we must for it is our calling. We must because, were it not for the authority to be children of God in Christ Jesus we would be every bit as perishable as this world. Without Christ Jesus we would remain as Isaiah says "..like one who is unclean. … We would all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
All of this talk of the authority to know that you are a forgiven child of God may sound strange but this old world and the devil will tempt, accuse, delude, deceive and do whatever it can to convince you that you are merely a part of this old, dying world. And on your own you would be defenseless, but your Lord has given you a promise and a Word to fight back. And so in all that the world throws at you, you can look back and say "I am a forgiven child of God and I have been given the authority to know and declare that." And to that, the devil and this old world have no response. And that is how you prepare for the return of Christ in glory or the end of this old, dying world.
And so indeed, in the forgiveness of our sin we have been given much, so indeed we also have much to give. For as Paul says in our second lesson, the testimony of Christ is strengthened among you so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. For in giving us the authority to know that we are forgiven children of God, our Lord Jesus has also given us the authority to share that forgiveness with those around us.
This is called the ‘office of the keys’ and it is the authority to declare forgiveness to those who repent and withhold it from the unrepentant. It is not we who do the forgiving but God in Christ Jesus, through the laying down of His life.
As we think about the Advent story who was the most prepared for the coming of Jesus in Bethlehem?? Mary was. Joseph was. The shepherds were. One thing that they all have in common is that they all believed God’s Word. Likewise you are prepared for the return of Christ in glory because you have heard the Word of forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, and you believe it.
In addition to knowing that you are a child of God forgiven of your sin and given an eternal place in God’s eternal kingdom through the death and resurrection of Christ so that you will be prepared for the return of Christ Jesus, you are also given other responsibilities. The Almighty God has blessed you with the gift of vocation. If you are a parent you are given the authority to raise your children. If you are an employee He gives you the authority to serve your employer. If you are a student He gives you the authority to study and learn. And to all of us He has given the authority to love and serve our neighbor, feed and clothe the hungry and naked. And these and other things are all good and right things to do, and they are good and right things that can be done by believers and non-believers alike.
But none of that, as good as it is will make you any more prepared for the end of the world. If you take lightly the need for repentance and forgiveness, you may just be found sleeping. But because you do believe. Because you daily hear the call to repentance and forgiveness you have the authority to know and believe that you are a forgiven child of God. You are given the authority to be forgiven and set free from sin.
The end will come, Christ Jesus will return in glory, but you are prepared because you are forgiven. You have been freed from the burden of trying to find any hope in this old world, and freed to share the forgiveness you have been given in Christ with your neighbor, that they might be prepared also.
Amen
posted by Steve at 6:52 PM
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