Sermon December 2, 2012   Jesus is Coming Be Ready

How can we participate in the coming reign of Christ?  That is the challenge of Advent.  God promises a new order, the birth of a world in which justice and righteousness rule.  The promise is irrevocable – the birth will come.

Whether we  are among those who will be reborn with that world depends upon our commitment and allegiance, in each moment of our lives, to the one true God rather than the false gods we so often honor.

God shows us the way in the life and words of Jesus, and gives us companions – our sisters and brothers in Christ.

Old Testament  Jeremiah 33:14-16

Jeremiah presents God’s promise of hope for the future of Israel.  Not only will Jerusalem be restored, but there will be a restoration of leaders who are faithful and just. Unjust and ungodly leadership has always been the beginning point for the defeat of the nation.  Wicked and unfaithful leaders beget wickedness and unfaithfulness in the lives of those they rule.  Influence runs downhill.

Jeremiah does not offer prophecy as a kind of magic that spells out dates and times and specifics.  The Word of the Lord is not to be understood as human discernment, but as divine decision to make known God’s plan for the future.

These are not manipulative claims that enhance the public stature of the messenger.  It is God’s announcement that “the days are surely coming when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (V.14).

When it is understood that this is God’s promise, specific details are not needed. Help is on the way.  It sounds like messianic talk.  If God says so, you can count on it.

Psalm 25

One of the fundamental questions of life is this:  in whom or what can we trust?  It is a question about people, politics, the economy, and ultimately about life itself.  The question of trust is certainly relevant to the question of truth in advertising and political speech.

Can I trust the advertisements that I read in magazines or view on TV?  Can I trust our elected leaders to tell the truth about what is happening?

The question of trust is also about life itself: to what extent can I trust that I am secure in life, amid terrorists threats, tsunamis and earthquakes, and news of shootings at places thought to be peaceful, like college campuses or high schools? 

In light of these threats, science has become the trusted resource for sorting out how to secure our families and ourselves.  For many science has become a savior.

Long before Jesus Christ was called Savior, the Roman Emperors had adopted the title for themselves. In fact, Luke’s Gospel draws a contrast between Jesus as Savior and August Caesar as savior.

So it is rather striking to read Psalm 25 and note the utter confidence and trust that the psalmist places in God for his or her salvation:  “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  O My God, in you I trust…Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long” (v.1,5).

This psalm points us to the God in whom alone is our help and salvation.. The implication of the psalm is clear.  We are not God.  We are not saviors. Neither does our salvation rest in economics or politics.

The psalmist directs us to a practice that can be called “soul lifting”, that is, the practice of placing ourselves, our families, friends – and , indeed, the world – into the very hands of God.

Epistle- I Thessalonians 3:9-13

Paul was a role model for an itinerant pastor.  He wanted to be everywhere at the same time. He prays for God to open a way to get to the church that needs him most. The letters he wrote became the substitute for his presence. What could he have done with Internet? I recently started using the internet blog system to post my previous sermons. http://pastorcleve.blogspot.com

Paul stays busy praying for churches he has started but at which he cannot stay. Very much like Bro. Van. Where would we be if it had not been for someone like Bro. Van.

Paul was concerned for the welfare of each church. Just think of all of the New Testament we would not have had it not been for these letters that Paul wrote to the various churches that continue to uplift us and keep our eye focusing on the return of Christ.

Gospel  Reading Luke 21: 25-36

The concept of the coming of a messiah, an anointed one, permeates the message of the Hebrew prophets.  From the time of the fall of the kingdom of Israel, when the nation lost the stature experienced in the reign of David, the prophets spoke increasingly of the coming of a representative of God to restore Israel to its former glory and bring Israel home form exile.

The idea of a messiah seemed to grow in intensity in direct proportion to the depth of despair in the nation.  While the concept was not uniform in detail, it was somewhat institutional and universally religious.  The primary theme of apocalyptic literature was messianic in nature. The concept was not only religious but also political and cultural.

Think about our time now. There is political and cultural upheaval. Times seem uncertain. Many have talked about the coming of the Lord. The Time is near. Jesus is coming: Be Ready.

There has always been useless speculation about the Second Coming. Many books have been written.  There are those who have set dates and given unwarranted descriptions of what the end will be like.  AS dates and times expire, new calculations are made.  Whole groups (denominations or cults) have beguiled thousands of people with such vain specifics concerning matters about which it is not ours to know.

The apocalyptic passages some of which were spoken by Jesus speak of a day in the future when Jesus will return. These passages call us to be always alert and ready.  Clearly the end comes for all of us at some time.

That fact should lead us to value the significance of each new day.  There is an expiration date on our lives. The clock is ticking. The hours and days are passing by.  We do not know when and how it will come, but it will come. We were born to die.

Two thousand years have come and gone, and Jesus has not yet returned. But as Jesus said the signs will point to his soon reappearance. Just as we know summer is near or any other season by the signs we see.

In our most reflective moments, we know we are not here to stay, and we should make the most of the time we have. When the end comes, or when we reach the end of life’s journey, we will give an account of our stewardship of life.

While we may think we are indispensable, we should note that we are surrounded by cemeteries filled with indispensable people.   STAY ALERT! Be ready to leave on the journey, at the end of which there will be “a book” that is all about us.

A young girl looked in on her busy father one day and put a sign on his door that read:

Jesus is coming, Look Busy.

To that we can add- BE FAITHFUL.

God is our hope. He has provided a way of escape known as salvation.

We must recognize that we are sinners and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

If we repent or turn around- he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

He promises that if we call upon the name of Jesus we shall be saved.

He gives us a formula:  Ask, Believe, and Receive.

This morning as we share in Holy Communion we are reminded of what Christ has done for us to prepare the way for our salvation. Amen.

Prayer:

Dear God in these days of Advent, when our expectations begin to rise, we invoke your blessings on our time of worship.  You came once in time and history in the life of Jesus to set all humankind free for all time.  Come again, Lord Jesus, to set us free from all the entanglements and conflicts we brought with us today when we walked through the door of this place of worship.  Hear us as we confess our sins before you -   Forgive us, restore us, and set us free in the name of Jesus. Amen.