"Ready or Not" based on Mark 13:24-37
The Last Sunday of the Church Year -
Pastor Troy Slater -
Our
The universe is of course a really
big place. So big in fact that I don't think we can really even begin to
comprehend its vastness. When you
consider the fact that the planet earth is but a small pebble in our solar
system; when you consider the fact that our own solar system is but one of hundreds
of billions of solar systems in our galaxy; and when you consider that it is
estimated that there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the known universe;
it's really all just so much bigger than our minds can even begin to
comprehend.
The reason I bring all this up is
that I want you to have some kind of a feeling for today's Gospel when Jesus
teaches us that some day it will all simply … go away. Jesus said, "The sun will be darkened, and the moon
will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the
powers in the heavens will be shaken." Some day, the entire
universe, with its hundreds of billions of galaxies each holding hundreds of
billions of stars, will simply no longer be there. It is as if God has a
great big switch labeled "universe" and He is going to turn it off.
The sun, the moon, all the stars, will simply … stop. …
Hard for us to
imagine, to be sure. Hard for us to
imagine the end of everything on the Last Day. Of course
But such disasters fall far short of
the end that Jesus describes for us. The
End, the Last Day will be entirely different than these portrayals. The
Holy Spirit once inspired Peter to describe it this way: "The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the
elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be
laid bare." In other words, the universe will go back to the
beginning when the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the
face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the
waters.
And in a way this is a terrifying
scene. But to be honest with you, for
those who live to see that day, the destruction of everything won't be their
focus on that day. For rather on that
day, they will also see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and
glory. And that returning Lord will totally occupy all our
thoughts. Nothing else will matter. Nothing else will matter except the returning
Lord in all power and glory. Nothing
else will matter.
And there will be but two responses
to Jesus' return. Two responses. There will be those who are not ready and who
will thus be terrified as they see this Jesus whom they rejected return to
judge and to condemn. And then there will be those who are ready and who will
view Jesus' return with joy as they see their Savior and Redeemer coming to
take them home. Two responses. And those who are not ready will have nothing
to look forward to except an eternity of punishment for their sin and iniquity.
But those who are ready will have nothing to look forward to but an eternity of
joy. Joy or fear. Heaven or hell. Ready or not, Jesus will return. Ready or not. And of course it's always much better to be
ready, isn't it?
Much better to be
ready for Jesus' return which could be at any time.
Jesus once told His disciples that even He, in His state of humiliation at
least, when He did not fully use His Divine power, but even He did not know the
day or the hour that He would return to judge the world. That is the
reason Jesus taught His disciples and us to be ready for His return at all
times - it could be any time.
Now, certainly there are many who get
all hung up on Jesus' return. They try to predict the political situation
on the Last Day. They say, "this conflict
in the middle east, this is what is going to usher in the Last Day." Or "what about this comet or this leader,
do they signal the end?", they try to figure out. Even though Jesus specifically said that no
one knows the day or hour, people try to guess anyway. They try to
construct an itinerary for Jesus on the Last Day. But really, none of
these things are important. They are but
endless, worthless speculations.
For today Jesus tells us what is
important. And so instead of wearing ourselves out on useless speculations,
why not listen to the Words of Christ. Of course last week Jesus
encouraged us, "The one who endures
to the end will be saved." This week Jesus tells us to "Be on guard, keep awake." He
says. "For you do not know when the time will come. … Therefore stay
awake … lest [the master] comes suddenly and finds you asleep." And then He concludes by saying, "What I say to you I say to all: Stay awake."
"Be on guard, keep awake. … stay awake …
stay awake," He
repeats. And when someone repeats
themselves like this, it means that what they're saying is very
important. And so here, where Jesus tells us to "be on guard" or to "stay
awake" four times in just a few short verses, how important this
teaching must be. Yes it's always
important to be ready. In fact it's
eternally important to be ready for Jesus' return. For ready or not, as the Lord of creation, as
the one who holds this world and even the furthest star in His hands, He is
coming to judge the living and the dead.
Ready or not.
And so how can we be ready? How can we be ready for our Lord's return? How can we "stay awake"? Well, certainly our material wealth can't help
us. Fattening our IRA or taking out life insurance will be of no
help. When the sun
darkens, when the moon fails to give light, when the stars fall from the sky,
our material wealth will be long gone. Our Social Security check
will be burnt up, our silver and even our gold will be incinerated. All our stuff, all that we fill our houses
with will disappear with the rest of the universe in a flash. And so material wealth -
worthless in the end. …
Okay, so what about our good
works? Well, what about your good works?
I mean, consider your life in the light of the Ten Commandments and then
answer if you are ready to stand before your Creator. For, have you loved God with all your
resources? Has God's name always been holy to you and have you used it only
to call for help in times of trouble, for prayer, for praise, to give thanks?
Have you gladly heard and learned God's Word or have you despised God's Word by
making Sunday School and Divine Service a low priority
in your life? Have you loved your neighbor as yourself? Have you
always respected your parents and other authorities? Have you respected
other people's life, property, and reputation? Have you kept your
thoughts pure?
The truth is that if we rely on any
of our own resources on that day, we will be like the ungodly whom we read
about in the book of Revelation. For
they wished that the earth was still there so that they could hide and call to
the mountains, "Fall on us and hide
us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and
who can stand?"
Who can stand? On that day, the only true God will
stand. In fact He alone will remain.
All the false gods will pass away with the earth. Whatever we may trust
in other than Him, will be gone. The
only way of salvation that will remain will be the very one who reveals Himself
in power and glory and who will be coming in the clouds. And that One is
Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can give us salvation. He is the only one who can shelter us from
the judgment of a holy and just God. The only one.
And how does He do this? How
has He sheltered you? .. This Jesus, the
one who will come in power and glory, He has come once before, hasn't He? He has come once before - not in power and
glory, but in poverty and humility. Although He is the master of all, He
became the servant of all. Although He lived the perfect life that we can
never live, He allowed sinful men to crucify Him so that He could offer Himself
as a sacrifice for our sin. In His
death, He conquered death so that the grave could not hold Him in. On the Sunday after His friends laid Him in
the tomb, He rose from the dead to live forevermore.
And now, today, that same crucified
and risen Lord, He comes to us with His life and His forgiveness. He comes to take away our sin and to cover us
in His righteousness. He comes to restore our broken relationship with
God. He comes not to judge and to condemn, but to shelter and to forgive.
Today He comes and gives these things to us as He comes to us through His Word
and His Sacraments.
And with that, we are ready, aren't
we? We are ready for that great and
final day that will come like a thief in the night. Trusting in Jesus, the Judge who is also the
Lamb who was slain, trusting in Him we are ready, we are on guard, we are awake. Trusting in our Lord Jesus we are prepared for
the end of our time on earth no matter how or when it may come. After
all, many will not see that last day before they leave this earth through
death. And of course death comes to young and old, rich and poor, athlete
and couch potato alike. And just as no one knows the day that the world
will end, so none of us knows if he or she or you or me will be around when it
comes; we don't even know if we'll be around when tomorrow comes. Death may come first for us - like a thief in
the night. But that same faith in Jesus
Christ that keeps us ready and watchful for the Last Day, also keeps us ready
and watchful for death. And so we are ready, aren't we? We are ready for Jesus has lived, Jesus has
died, Jesus has risen again, Jesus will come again for
you. And so, "ready
or not"? … With Jesus, we are ready. Amen.