People of Hope
Luke 21:25-36
December 8, 2019 anno Domini – Redeemer
There are only two kinds of people in the world. Jesus describes them in the Gospel reading. There are people who faint with fear and foreboding at what is coming on the world. And there are people who straighten up and raise their heads as the world crumbles because their redemption is drawing near.
There are those who live in fear. If we don’t do something quick the earth will be destroyed in 12 years. If Caucasians don’t have more children we’ll be in the minority in 20 years. If Donald Trump is reelected it will be a disaster for the United States. If he isn’t reelected we might lose our republic forever.
There are people who live in hope, who see the sky falling and the nations in distress and look to the eastern sky with more anticipation than Minnesotans looking for spring. They look for the Son of Man to come riding on the clouds at the dawn of an eternal and beautiful day.
What is your fear? What is your hope?
Jesus spoke the words recorded by Saint Luke almost 2000 years ago. They were true then and they are true now. All the stars will burn out eventually. Science confirms it. If the sun burns itself out global warming won’t be an issue. Nations are in distress – think Syria, Turkey, Israel, Somalia, and Ethiopia. The sea roars with waves. Everyone used to agree that criminals are bad. Now a segment of the population believes police are bad. Marriage in every civilization was considered to be the union of one man and one woman. Now you can marry anyone or anything you love. The theory of evolution says we are adapting for the better. However, if you look in the mirror you will realize evolution does not have enough time to save you. You yourself are coming to an end.
What is your fear? What is your hope? Do you fear losing everything you’ve put your name on? Do you fear that you will suffer before you die? Do you fear what your children will endure? Do you hope you to just fall asleep one night and not wake up the next morning? Is your hope that you’ll get enough time to enjoy everything you purchased or planned?
Repent. Fear Jesus. Hope in Jesus. When the heavens are shaken for the final time, when the sun fails to give light and the moon goes black, then the Son of Man will come in a cloud with power and great glory.
Now when I say “Fear Jesus” I don’t mean “Be afraid of Jesus coming” I mean “Be afraid of Jesus coming, but not coming for you.” Be afraid of losing Jesus, of not having faith, of being caught unaware when He returns. Be afraid of all your fears and hopes being centered on you and not Jesus.
With Jesus the end of the world isn’t the end of the world. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Luke 21:33, ESV).
With Jesus the end of your life isn’t losing everything you’ve grabbed. It’s Jesus grabbing you finally and forever out of your bondage to sin and death. For when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your head, because your redemption is drawing near.”
With Jesus the signs of the end are not signs of the end, but of a new beginning. “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.”
Baptized Christians have a different view of life and the world, of marriage and family, of work and success, than the world does. Let me give one little weird example I read recently. Do you know that young families in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod are having more children on average than Roman Catholic families? In fact, the only Christian based group having more children in the US is the Mormons. I don’t know why, but I would speculate that those LCMS young couples are not afraid, but hopeful in Christ for their children. The exact opposite view is held by world. Many young people are choosing not to get married and if they get married or live together they choose not to have children. Why? They are afraid. They are afraid they can’t afford children. Afraid that children will get in the way of their plans and goals. Afraid that there is no future.
We do not live in fear of the end of us. We live in hope for the future and that hope is Jesus.
The Son of God came once in the flesh and He came to take away what is the end of you. The end for sinners is death and hell. Since our sin broke God’s good creation the world is coming to an end. That is the reason doctors are busy and drug companies make good money and funeral businesses will never go out of business. Sin leads to our death. When you look around and see death and this week we’ve seen a lot of death, we ought to mourn our sins. The sin of hatred caused a Saudi national to shoot Americans in a classroom in Pensacola. The sin of greed caused a couple of men to rob a jewelry store that cost four people their lives. Sin broke us, the world, and all creation – that’s why helicopters crash and people die in accidents. When you see death see your own sin and repent, but do not despair.
Spring is a long time away, but I’m optimistic because in 13 days the days will get longer. In a far more mysterious and paradoxical way Christ calls us to look on what appears to be the end as the beginning. We should view all death and destruction as buds on a fig tree – a sign that summer is near, that Jesus is near. He calls us not to despair but to hope and the reason is this – He who came once in history is coming again. He came once to be the end of your sin, the end of your death, and the end of your sorrow. The end of sin is death so Jesus became sin for us and then died for our sin. He became our end – going into the hell, the damnation of God’s anger. He declared the end of sin when He said, “It is finished.” We are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. You need not fear death for your sins because Christ has already died that death and His death was made your death in Holy Baptism. You need not fear a future you cannot control, because the risen and ascended Christ controls all things for all who believe, for all who are His and He made you His in your baptism.
The Latin name for this Second Sunday in Advent is Populus Zion – people of Zion. That name is reflected in the Introit – “Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes.” By our baptism into Christ we are Populus Zion. We are the people of Zion. We are citizens of God’s Kingdom, residents of the new heaven and the new earth, living under the rule and reign of Christ our King. With such a King, with such a God, with such a living and risen Savior we are not people of fear, but people of hope, the people of Zion, in the name of Jesus. Amen.