Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text: (Luke 21:25-36)
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Today’s gospel reading is a very different gospel reading from last week’s. Last week’s gospel reading tells us of Jesus, the gentle, humble king riding into Jerusalem. We see him come to us, we see him ride into Jerusalem not on his prize stallion, but on a wobbly donkey. And we see the crowds filled with great joy – they are happy – they are overflowing with praises for Jesus, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
And the word Advent means “coming”. Behold your King is coming to you, humble and riding on a donkey.
But today’s reading all has the word “coming” – we read: And they they will see the Son of Man—coming—in a cloud with power and great glory.
In last week’s reading, Jesus gently rides into Jerusalem, welcoming the voices of children crying out to him. We assume it’s a bright sunny day, everything is going right, the disciples bring Jesus a donkey just as he commanded them. People are happy. The city is buzzing – everyone’s in a good mood.
But what about today’s reading?
The heaven’s are in panic, the sea is in panic, earth is in panic, people are in panic, people’s hearts are frightened.
We read: There will be signs in sun and moon and stars.
On the earth there will be distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves.
There will be people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
What’s going on? Why is there such a difference between the way in which Jesus comes in last week’s reading and this week’s reading? Last week’s reading has Jesus come with such comfort, such friendliness, such joy, such peace. This week’s reading has Jesus come with fear, with trembling.
As we prepare for Christmas, in this season of Advent, in a way we put ourselves in the shoes of those people waiting for the Messiah to appear. In the gospel of Luke, we read about the old man Simeon who had the Holy Spirit reveal to him that he would not see death until he saw the Messiah, the Christ. And then he takes the baby Jesus in his arms and he says that great, special prayer which we sing every Sunday: “Now Lord, let your servant depart in peace.”
Imagine what it would have been like for him, waiting for the baby Jesus, waiting for the first Christmas, before there was a baby Jesus.
That’s a bit what it’s like for us in Advent. God our heavenly Father makes himself accessible to us all the time together with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Whenever we call upon God in prayer, we can be certain that he listens to us, and we know that Jesus is praying for us, and we know that we will be given the Holy Spirit. We know that God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – is here with us every step of our lives, and always accessible to us, and always there to be called upon. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”, it says in Psalm 46. He is always ready to help, always ready to listen, he never shuts up his ears and tells his children to shut up and whine to someone else. In fact, he loves to hear our whining, and complaining, and also thanks and praise.
But even more, Jesus says: “Where there are two or three gathered in my name, there I am with them.” He says: “Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.”
Do you remember all those times in Jesus life where he passed through a town and people came to hear him and be healed by him, and even touch the fringe of his clothes, and bring their needs to him? In the same way, when we gather together as a church, this is just like those times when Jesus would pass through Galilee, or Samaria? Could you imagine what it would have been like to live in one of those towns in Israel 2000 years ago, and to be able to see Jesus walk through a town, and to go and hear him preach, and to reach out and even touch him?
That’s exactly what we do on Sundays. We come together to hear Jesus’ own words, not just read out loud as though it were a piece of dead history that is no longer relevant. But he actually comes to be here himself and speak these words into our own ears himself. He actually comes to church with us and breathes out his own Holy Spirit on us when we hear his words, the Words of the Holy Bible, the Holy Scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit himself. Do you hear that? Do you understand that? What a privilege it is to come and join with our fellow Christians on a Sunday and hear Jesus actually speaking his own words to us!
But not only that, we can reach out and touch him, in the Lord’s Supper. We don’t just reach out and touch the fringe of his clothes, and we don’t just put out some clothes on the road for him to walk on. Instead, Jesus actually gives to us his body and blood for us to eat and drink. He wants us to physically take him into our own mouths, and into our own bodies, because he wants to live his life in us, and through us. He wants to glorify us, he wants to strengthen us and comfort us, and he wants to unite us so intimately to himself. He wants us to live in him, and he wants to come and live in us.
As it says in last week’s gospel reading: “Behold, your king is coming to you!”
But today, we read: “They will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
When you come to church and meet your Lord Jesus here, how do you feel? Are you at peace, or are you frightened?
Do you faint with fear? Even the angels cover their faces before these things. We take them for granted. We think it’s nothing that we just schlep around in church, and get bored during sermons, and take the Lord’s Supper without even thinking about it. Do you know that the Son of Man is here, who will come in a cloud with great power and great glory?
Or maybe we think: You know, a long time ago in the church, pastors used to preach fire and brimstone. Now we’re friendly.
And yes, there was probably a time when there were too many pastors who preached a lot of fire and brimstone, and talked about hell and damnation and all that sort of thing, possibly a bit too much. But also, there have been many pastors throughout history who also preached the deep comfort of the gospel.
But what do we make about our reading today?
We read about frightful things that will come upon the world.
We read: “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the Son of Man will come with power and great glory.”
It says: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation [with wastefulness, splurging] and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.”
We see in our reading today, not just fears outside of us, but fears within.
Even today we look back at the year 2011 and what do we see? A tsunami in Japan and thousands dead – one of the worst natural disasters in Japan’s living memory, an earthquake in New Zealand of similar proportions, devastating floods in Queensland, a crazy madman opening fire on innocent young people in Norway, economic upheaval in Europe, riots in Greece and England, massive protests in Wall Street and all throughout the world, industrial action all over the place – and the list goes on.
As Jesus says: “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world.”
But then there’s not just things out there in the big wide world, but the attack comes right into the centre of our hearts. There is an increased attack against Christianity – people say that religion is the biggest problem in the world. Atheists says that it is abuse to teach children bible stories. People despair of themselves, people doubt themselves, people become fearful at speaking what they know to be true, people find themselves with no courage, no energy, no enthusiasm any more. People don’t seem to be coming to church like they used to in a time gone by. People worry, people are anxious, people are angry. We say with the King David and all Christian people throughout history who have prayed Psalm 13: “How long, O Lord? How long?”
Jesus says: “People fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world.”
What do we make of all of this?
Jesus says: “When these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Lift up your heads, and let the King of Glory enter in! Isaiah 50 says that Jesus can comfort the weary with one word, one single little word. And when it comes to the devil, the old hymn says, one little word can fell him. “Heaven earth will pass away, but Jesus’ words will not pass away.” Jesus is coming on the clouds with power and great glory, but he is still coming to shower us with forgiveness, to defend us, to stick up for us, to join us to himself, to deliver us from evil, and take us from all this suffering and sadness and sorrow which we find ourselves living amongst here on earth to be with himself in heaven.
Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
You may get to a point where you completely despair of everything that you see around you. You may get to a point where you completely despair of everything that you see inside of you. But that is no reason not to despair in God. It is no reason to despair in your living Jesus. We might feel like our cross is too heavy to bear. But we read in St Paul: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
He is near. He is coming. Your redemption is drawing near.
Jesus says: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”
All these things that you see around you, and in within, all these things which you despair at are only the end of the winter. The trees are just coming out in leaf. After that, will come the summer, and there will be fruit on the tree. And there will such a wonderful summer, when there is no need of sun or moon or stars, but the glory of God will be its light. And there will be no more tears and sadness, no more pain and weeping, no more yearning, but only happiness and blessing in the presence of the living God. It will be a great happy summer, where God will shower life and blessing on every thing he sees. A glorious thing it will be when we realise that it not the sun, water, air, and food that has given us life, but that God himself has given us everything and never held back his blessings for a second. The cross which we bear now is just a seed that will blossom into joy – the wounds of Christ on his hands and feet and side before his resurrection and signs of defeat, but after the resurrection he shows them off as signs of victory.
And in the meantime, we are given the forgiveness of sins in advance, we have eternal life and salvation now in advance, we are given the body and blood of Jesus in advance, and we are given the Holy Spirit in advance, as a down payment, to keep our heads lifted high, to keep us straightened up as we wait for that time when we will see out Lord Jesus Christ with our own eyes, in the flesh, who gives us the strength to escape all these things that are going to take place. God in our refuge and strength, a very present help – in – trouble. In you is gladness, – mid – all our sadness, Jesus, joy of every heart!
So straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. What a glorious redemption it will be! What a glorious, brilliant, bright summer it will be!
Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
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