Sermon - Populus Zion 2018 - Luke 21:25-36

How do you know when summer is approaching? Do you need to go to the calendar and see how far away it is and count the days until it’s officially summer to know that it’s summer? No, of course not, you see the signs of summer coming and know that summer must be near. “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near.” 

You know that summer is coming by the signs of the seasons. So around here the snow melts, the days are longer, the grass begins to green, the daffodils bloom, trees put on leaves, these are the signs that summer is coming. We use signs to help us tell the seasons of the year, and so Christ instructs us also to use signs to tell when He’s returning. He says, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Don’t be foolish, the signs of Christ’s second coming surround us, and the day will soon be here; be ready and rejoice, your redemption is drawing near. Look around you, the signs of Jesus’ second coming are everywhere. “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars.” Have you not heard, the sun is aging, and will one day grow too hot and destroy life on earth. We know this because because the stars themselves are suns which will occasionally die and cease to shine in the night sky. Even the sun knows that this age will only last for so long. 

“On the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves.” Already there are great tsunamis, great waves, great hurricanes which overcome entire cities and kills thousands of people. “The powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Just the other week there was a serious earthquake in Alaska. At other times the earth itself opens up and swallows that which sits on the land above it.

We have severe droughts and floods, tornadoes and fires, plagues and diseases that bring distress to peoples across all nations. These things are all signs that this world isn’t going to last. These are signs that at the last this world and the heavens above will be burned up to nothing. “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze.” “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.” 

I know, there are natural scientific explanations for all of these things taking place. But a natural explanation doesn’t change the fact that God is allowing these things to take place so as to be signs for us of the coming of the Son of Man. God usually works within the natural boundaries of His created order. So when fires burn, tornadoes tear, floods drown, and earthquakes swallow be aware that these are signs of Christ’s second coming!

This world is not fine and it’s not going to continue forever. It will one day end and Christ will come again. That’s a good thing! It’s like the end of winter, when summer finally comes life can return to this barren landscape! Look around outside right now during winter, everything looks dead! The days are so short, the sun is rarely seen, it feels like nighttime by 5. During winter seasonal depression sets in and the drive for living is definitely weakened. 

But when spring comes, when the buds begin to fatten, and the grass begins to green, the sun shines brighter and longer, finally there is hope and life in the air once again. That’s how the last day will be for us my friends. Finally, the long dark winter will have ended, and we “will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

So don’t be foolish, instead “straighten up and raise your heads… watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.” Pay attention to the signs, Christ is coming and coming soon. We need to live as if each could be the last and Christ returns. You know that is a reality that Christ could come again today or tomorrow. 

Jesus tells us to sober up. We shouldn’t be weighed down by dissipation, or quite literally a headache from drinking too much, we need to stop being so hungover from the cares in this life. We have become drunk on frivolous living and behaving as if nothing mattered besides eating, drinking, and being merry. Instead of spending Advent in repentance and increased prayer, we’re spending it by buying a bunch of stuff and eating a ton of food and drinking ourselves silly. If we do bother to take a care, we get bogged down in little details that don’t much matter anyways instead of looking at the bigger picture of Christ coming again.

So be ready and prepared for Christ’s second coming, which could be at any moment. That day will “come upon you suddenly like a trap.” That day will come like a hunter in the woods, silently stalking its prey, waiting from afar for its unsuspecting victim to unwittingly walk into its line of sight. The prey is eating and drinking and dreaming of tomorrow when Boom! In the blink of an eye, the bullet tears through the heart, leaving the victim kicking on the ground while the hunter comes to carry it away. 

Watch yourselves lest that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. “Stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” You don’t need to be caught by surprise. Jesus tells us how to prepare and be ready. He tells us to pray, He even teaches us how to pray and gives us the words to pray. Therefore, we should be found diligently praying. Praying for strength to escape the hunter’s sights and flee from his trap. 

God gives you the strength to endure. He gives you the strength to stand before the Son of Man. He strengthens you and empowers you with the Word of God and the Sacraments. God doesn’t want you to be like the helpless animal murdered in the woods, instead He wants for you to be watching and waiting so that when He comes you might greet Him. He prepares you for His final coming by His coming to you in His powerful Word and saving Sacraments regularly. 

Have you been baptized? Have you heard the Word of God? Have you received the sacrament? If so then Christ has already begun preparing you for His second coming. He has given you the one thing needful and the one thing that will endure beyond this earth: His Word. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”  

In this ever changing world where nothing ever stays the same, one thing remains. The signs of Christ’s second coming reminds us constantly as we watch ourselves age and our loved ones die that this world will not last. As the depression of the season sets in, and as the dull-aching pain of missing someone in our hearts ensues, see that Christ is coming and coming soon. We don’t want this world to last forever, it’s too sad and lonesome for that to be the case. But Christ will come. Jesus’ arrival is drawing near.

“Your redemption is drawing near.” You will soon be redeemed from this world of death and sin. Your sins of drunken care for this world? Jesus forgives them, and they will soon be forgotten. The deaths of loved ones that haunt your mind? The death will soon be forgotten as it’s swallowed up in Christ’s victorious return and all are raised from their graves. 

The winter of this life will soon end, and summer is coming. “You who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” Christ is coming. He’s coming soon. Come quickly Lord Jesus, come quickly.