Imagine that you are in the midst of a war.
And you are hearing and seeing all the frightening noises of war.
Bombs are going off. Guns are rapidly firing. Airplanes are flying overhead and you hear the roar of the tanks.
These will always be frightening noises, but I ask, when, will these noises also produce hope in you?
When will these sights help you to look forward to something?
When will these noises comfort you?
The answer, I think is, when these are signs that your rescuer is coming.
The bombs are the bombs of your comrades, coming to save you.
The guns are the guns of the elite special forces coming to deliver to you.
Your rescue is coming. Your enemies will be defeated and release you and you will be home, sweet home, soon.
This is the picture that our Gospel reading is giving us today:
And 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 they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
The signs themselves are frightening. But they are just that, they are signs, pointing to something coming up –
“Road construction ahead.
Sharp curve ahead.
Jesus will say:
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. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will not pass away.
It is this truth the brings the Christian to church.
You are hearing Words that will not pass away. You are receiving eternal life today because the living and eternal God is present to speak to you His Words. Alleluia, to whom shall we go, You have the Words of eternal life.
You are receiving Food, the body of and blood of Christ, that endures. In this meal you are in Communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God now and forever, with the gift that you will be forever with God.
Now, there are certainly signs among the nations that could frighten us. You don’t have to be a news junkie to know there’s some bad people out there and bad things happening and it seems that one of the marks of our nation is fear:
fear of the other side,
fear for themselves and their families.
Fear is a powerful motivator that will tend itself to selfishness, violence, lying, and general disdain for people who don’t agree with you and lots of other bad virtues.
The Christian is not motivated by fear, unless it’s fear, love and trust in God alone. The Christian, hearing and receiving eternal Words and eternal Good, is motivated by faith, hope, and love. And that motivation tends itself to accepting and having mercy on others, trust that all things work together for the good, giving and expecting nothing in return, continuing to do good even when the bad things are happening to them.
So, what are you afraid of?
There are scary things happening in the world. There are scary things happening in your family. There are scary things perhaps happening in your own body.
But the world has a rescuer.
Your family has a Savior!
You have a Redeemer and you know that He lives to come and get you to bring you home sweet home.
When Jesus talks about the End, He mentions signs happening in the skies (sun, moon, stars), the sea, and the land. He intentionally mentions these, I think, to remove from His disciples the temptation to fear, love, and trust in these things.
For it is from the skies and sea and land.
Our food, our heat, our water.
Our oil and coal that power our iPhones and TV’s and cars and hospitals.
Our medicines, our homes, gravity, and the atmosphere – all these things we depend on seem to come from the skies, sea, and land.
But Jesus wants us to be reminded that when all these things are destroyed, we will see the Son of Man, coming in the clouds, who was the creator and preserve and Person who used the skies, sea, and land to provide for us.
And the Christian gathers to hear directly from the Son of Man
Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
Your rescuer is also here today. Using His Words and His Sacrament