Luke 21:25-36

November 28, 2021

The Rev. Todd R. Goddard, Pastor

Rush United Methodist Church

Luke 21:25-36

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 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, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

| Centering Prayer |

Happy New Year!

Woot! Woot!

Of course,

I’m not speaking about the calendar year

Which will refresh all on its own

In a mere 33 days.

I’m speaking of the Liturgical Year,

The Church’s Worship Year,

Which begins fresh and new on the First Sunday of Advent.

On this date,

The Gospel centric focus of worship pivots.

We leave Mark behind.

Don’t worry, we revisit each Gospel every third year.

Today we bring focus on the Gospel of Luke.

We will ride Luke this coming year like a pony,

Interspersed with a dash of seasonings from the Gospel of John,

Over the next 365 days.

(With Irony)

Let’s start this New Year off right with the Gospel of Luke

By starting with the 21^st chapter …

Right? Right.

What genius thought of that?

Actually,

Allow me to begin in the first chapter of Luke

Where the Gospel author,

Tells his friend Theophilus the reason for

Dictating this orderly account of the life of Jesus.

This witness is

“so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.”

(Luke 1:4)

Theophilus had been learning about the life of Jesus.

Now, he needed to know

The truth behind the experiences of Jesus the Christ,

The Son of God.

Truth is a common thread picked up from Christ the King last Sunday;

Where Pilate was interrogating Jesus about his kingdom.

What is truth? Pilate asked.

What is truth? First century disciples of Jesus asked,

Even as they eagerly awaited Jesus’ imminent return

On a cloud, from on high.

What is truth?

Those same disciples asked about truth when Rome destroyed the Temple and the few survivors were flung to the far corners of the Empire and earth;

Thrown as if they were rag dolls with their hair on fire.

Where is Jesus?

He said he’d return.

Yet, he hadn’t.

Why?

What is the truth?

Thus, Luke authors his Gospel and the sequel, the Acts of the Apostles,

For the benefit of Christ followers,

So they’d know the truth about Jesus and how to wait with faithful anticipation for his return.

In many ways,

Our religion is one of waiting,

… and how we spend our time while we wait.

I hate waiting, especially if it has no purpose.

Too long of a check-out line and not enough people working the registers?

It drives me nuts.

It’s pointless.

But if waiting has a purpose,

A reason,

Waiting can become a spiritually refreshing posture of faith.

We wait for Christ to return.

In the meantime, what are we to do?

…

First.

When we wait for Christ to come

We are to watch for signs,

Because when he comes

The day will catch us unexpectedly

like a trap.

(Luke 21:35)

Luke promises signs of persecution and destruction.

The first century disciples of Jesus would have nodded their heads with understanding.

Jerusalem had been destroyed.

Nero was crucifying our ancestors and

Lighting the corpses of Christian martyrs on fire to illuminate his path.

Our first-century sisters and brothers

Were living firsthand the promise of Luke.

In today’s Gospel,

Luke points us to cosmic powers and signs:

The sun, the moon, and the stars.

He cites the roaring of the sea and the waves.

The nations of the earth will be distressed.

People will be filled with foreboding.

Even the power of the heavens will be shaken.

These are signs of Christ’s imminence in that first century,

And every generation since.

Our generation is no more exceptional than any other.

What gives us the pride and hubris to believe

Our generation is suffering more,

Is facing greater persecution,

Is in greater peril,

Then our ancestors who were martyred in the Colosseum

Or during the Inquisition, the Napoleonic wars, in Nazi Germany, or occupied Syria?

The alarm has been raised with every prior generation,

Even as it is raised with us today. 

What we are to take away from this posture of active watching

Is Luke’s promise that

The power of God

Far exceeds the disturbed cosmic powers being replaced.

All familiar powers of the universe will be shaken and lost.

Power that is familiar …

… think about it …

Power that is familiar will be lost.

Terror has the potential to grip even the strongest of Christian

When conventional powers are shaken

And when cosmic powers fail.

Be assured, Christ’s power exceeds

All that has come before.

Christ’s power and authority surpasses all cosmic powers,

And it certainly eclipses all mortal, earthly powers.

When Christ returns,

So, too, will order.

Order will return to all things.

And God’s kingdom shall reign forever.

…

Second,

Luke reports that

Jesus doesn’t tell us to run like hell when we witness these signs.

Jesus doesn’t tell us to be terrified.

He doesn’t tell us to lash out with kneejerk anger or vengeance.

Instead, Jesus tells us to stand up and raise our heads.

Beloved friends,

Let us temper our words and our behaviors.

I, too, feel the primal, emotional need to lash out to those

Who seek to destroy this world,

And to do it with unspeakable, brutal violence.

Let you and I discipline our behavior.

Let our Christian training kick in.

Take a moment to catch our breath.

Return to the Gospel and be refreshed by its Good News!

Be filled with confidence!

This is God’s kingdom and Christ is returning.

Standing up and raising our heads means

We refuse to submit to fear.

We refuse to be a victim.

We refuse to allow ourselves

To be used as a proxy for

The Devil’s message and a motive for sin and temptation.

Standing up and lifting our heads means we bear testimony

To our loving God,
And the gift of his Son,

To redeem and save the world.

When we stand and lift our heads

Others rise with us.

We stand in unity, encouraged by each other’s confidence.

Nothing builds confidence like the confidence of others.

Let us stand up and raise our heads

Because we will not be shaken or lost.

God is present.

God is active.

God is in control.

With confidence we are able to proclaim to a world awash in sin

That Christ is returning.

The days when false prophets were listened to and followed are over.

The days we surrendered the return of Christ

To people hawking crazy “rapture” theology to whoever would buy it, are over.

We can confidently turn our backs

On millennialists and numerologists

Who claim insider-knowledge

about when and where the world is coming to an end.

We can stand together and lift our heads

With confidence and faith,

In spite of the Devil and all his evil designs.

Christ is coming again.

Period.

…

Third.

We stand confident in our faith

in the promise of judgment.

The Lord is our judgment;

It is on the Lord’s terms

and in the Lord’s time

That God pronounces judgment and executes justice

For every one of God’s children.

We are not called to judge others.

We can only judge ourselves.

God is the final arbitrator for each of us.

God may employ anyone to execute justice,

Or not.

We don’t know.

It isn’t our place to question or interfere.

It isn’t up to us to decide

Who God chooses

To pass judgment and execute justice.

Neither do we know

God’s will for any of God’s chosen;

How judgment will be adjudicated or how justice will be carried out.

We can volunteer.

Thankfully, many do.

But judgment and justice is the

White hot iron of Christianity that might be tempting to touch,

But is retained exclusively by God.

Pity the poor fool who doesn’t get the message

And attempts to take the law into vigilante hands. 

…

Stand and look up.

Watch.

Wait.

Redemption is drawing near.

Stand up and raise your head with confidence

Knowing that God is in control.

Do so with anticipation of Christ’s coming again.

This is what we do during Advent.

This is who we are as Christians.

Amen.