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11.22.09

Christ the King Sunday

STANDING BEFORE THE SON

JEREMIAH 33:14-16; LUKE 21:25-36

• The End of Days
• The Coming of the Apocalypse
• On November 13, the movie 2012 was released in the theaters
• It’s the blockbuster movie of the fall movie season
• It has been dubbed the number one movie in the world and the biggest adventure in human history
• According to the Los Angeles Times, the movie grossed just over $225 million in box office receipts on its opening weekend
• Perhaps it was no accident that the movie opened on Friday the 13th, a day that is normally considered to be a “bad luck” day, for the movie depicts the “bad luck” of the citizens of the world as the world erupts in cataclysmic disaster
• The movie is based upon an ancient Mayan prediction that the world would end on either December 21 or 23, 2012
• That prediction is based upon the fact that the Mayan Long Count calendar ended with those dates, and since the world is ending, there’s no need to continue making calendars or counting days beyond that point
• While that day may have had significance to the Mayans, there’s no proof they actually believed the world would cease to exist
• The ending of one calendar would start a new calendar, similar to how the current year will end on December 31 and a new year will immediately begin
• All Things Have Become New
• Not to give away the plot for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, 2012 is a modern retelling of the ancient story of Noah and the Great Flood
• It’s a story of judgment and destruction, to be sure, but it is also the story of redemption
• It’s the story of the death of one way of life and resurrection to a new way of life
• It’s the story of a whole new world springing forth and being built up on the remains of the old
• The movie fits into the genre of “apocalyptic,” which means “end times or “the end of days”
• It’s a popular theme in Hollywood revisited often in movies such as Armageddon and The Day After Tomorrow
• It’s a topic we humans seem to be intrigued by, and we Christians more so than others
• Since the beginning of the Church in the first century AD, Christians have been preoccupied with “the end of days”
• We look forward with anticipation to the second coming of Christ, the redemption of the faithful and the destruction of the world as we know it
• And we have even gone so far as to predict when that day will come--we presume to know the mind and the will of God better than Jesus did, for Jesus himself said, “No one knows about that day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 12:31)
• Re-creation
• The Olivet Discourse
• What Jesus describes in Luke 21 is the advent of a new age
• It is not simply the destruction of life and of the world, it is the creation of new life in a new and better form
• Death and resurrection is the foundation of our Christian message; it is our hope and the source of our joy
• Without it, there would be no Christian faith
• In the Sacrament of Baptism,, we commemorate the dying of self to sin and our resurrection to new life through faith in Jesus Christ
• In the Sacrament of Holy Communion, through the breaking of bread and the drinking of the cup, we relive the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ and look forward to the day when Christ will come again when we will feast at the table of new life in the eternal kingdom of God
• In our funeral services—appropriately called “A Service of Witness to the Resurrection for Those Who Have Died”—we celebrate God’s gift of life
• We view death not simply as an ending but as a beginning—the ending of life in its physical form, and the beginning of life in its eternal form
• Death is not a stopping place; instead it is a transition from this life into the life to come, a life we believe is far better because Jesus conquered death and the grave and opened for us the way to God
• These words of Jesus are not intended to frighten us, they are intended to fill us with hope, and hope is ours because of the nature of God
• God is in the business of creation and re-creation
• Contrary to the belief of some, God did not create this world and walk away from it, leaving us to our own devices
• The story of Scripture is the story of God’s involvement in human life and the life of the world God created
• And God is constantly shaping and reshaping this world, and our life in it, until it is once again pleasing to God
• What Jesus is describing is not the “end of days”—the ending of life as we know it
• Instead, he’s describing God’s ultimate act of re-creation, the re-forming of life into its final destiny—the re-creation of the world and human life into Paradise, returning it to its original form and design where the world is perfect and free from corruption, where human beings live together with each other and with God in perfect unity
• It is for that reason that Jesus says that we ought to “stand up and lift up our heads because your redemption is drawing near.” (vs. 28)
• It is for that reason Jesus calls us to “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to endure all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (vs. 36)
• Hope For the Exiles
• This is the same hope that is expressed in Jeremiah’s words to the exiles of Israel
• Their world did collapse, it was destroyed when the invading armies of Babylon burned their cities, executed their leaders, stole their possessions and carried them off as slaves
• Through Jeremiah, God promises new life and new hope through a righteous Branch that will sprout from David’s line who will do what is just and right
• Through him Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety
• This Branch will be called “The Lord Our Righteousness” because he will make right all that is wrong with the world
• That promise began to be fulfilled in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus
• The work of re-creation began with the first advent of Jesus in the world, but God’s work of re-creation is by no means complete
• God continues to reshape and re-form us—and all of life and history—and God’s work will reach its completion at the second advent of Jesus, when Christ comes again to claim us as his own
• The Advent of Our God
• Next week, we will begin the season of Advent, that time of preparation so that we might be ready to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into our life and world
• It’s a time of watching and waiting with hope and anticipation of the new thing God will be doing in our midst
• That first advent was heralded with great signs and wonders—not the least of which was a choir of angels and a bright and shining star—and so many people missed it!
• His second advent will be accompanied by even greater signs and wonders, and Jesus encourages us to watch and wait with just as much hope and anticipation so that we might not miss him when he comes
• Before we can stand before the Son of Man, we must first kneel before the Savior
• The source of our hope lies in recognizing Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords, and bowing ourselves before him in worship
• Only by knowing Jesus for who he is will we have any hope at all when Jesus returns to earth again
• Unless we first kneel before the Savior, we will never be able to stand before the Son
• As Christians, we are in the curious position of living between Christ’s two advents
• The salvation of the world began with the birth of Jesus Christ, but that salvation is far from complete
• The work of salvation is far too enormous for Jesus to have completed it himself in the three years of his earthly ministry
• Knowing that he would need help in fulfilling God’s plan of salvation, Jesus enlisted twelve disciples to teach and train so they might continue his work once his time on earth was done
• Jesus’ final act before his return to heaven was to trust his ministry on earth to his followers
• “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority,” Jesus says. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8)
• With these words, Jesus was taken up into heaven to allow the Holy Spirit to come upon his followers so that they might complete his work, and to await the day that God determined for him to come again
• The first disciples and the early believers were convinced that Jesus would return within their lifetime
• More than 2,000 years have passed, and we are still waiting
• Countless numbers of predictions have been made about the end of days, and they have all been wrong
• In his second letter to the churches, Peter gives us the reason for this delay
• 2 Peter 3:8-13
• Living Between the Times
• We have experienced the first advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we look forward with hope and anticipation for his second advent
• How, then, ought we to act in light of the hope of his second coming?
• What must we do so that we might be able to stand before the Son of Man?
• The Scriptures make it very clear what is expected of us
• We are not to spend our time waiting, looking up into the sky trying to read the signs of the times
• Peter says that we must “live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God,” and Jesus defines this holy and godly living as fulfilling the role of a faithful servant
• Matthew 24:45-51
• Jesus’ words in his “end times” discourse reminds us that horrible things will happen during the normal course of life, but we must not lose heart
• We must continue to trust as we look forward to the hope of salvation that is promised through our Lord Jesus Christ
• Nor must we give up on faithful living and faithful service
• It is God’s desire that none should be lost but that all should come to repentance
• So we must be busy with the work Jesus entrusted us to do, and we must be faithful in proclaiming the gospel in word and in deed
• Those who are busy doing the work of Christ in the world are those who will stand before the Son of Man with heads held high when he comes again