The Last Sunday of the Church Year – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: Ezra 1:1-7
In Christ Jesus, whose kingdom is not of this world and whose kingdom is not coming with signs that can be observed (Joh. 18:36, Luk. 17:20), but who will take us into His heavenly kingdom when He returns in glory, dear fellow redeemed:
When a team is preparing for a big rivalry game, the anticipation builds as the game gets closer. The players feel a mixture of nervousness and excitement as they imagine how the contest could play out. The same goes for their fans. Some get there long before the game begins, before the players have taken the field. Then more and more arrive, the noise level increases, the players warm up, everyone waits in tension and hope. Maybe today is the day! Today is a time for greatness! Today we go home victorious!
If you are a sports fan, you can appreciate that feeling of anticipation. But there are many other things that “stir us up,” that rouse us from normal, everyday life: things like our wedding day, the birth of a child, the first day at a new school or a new job, an upcoming birthday or family celebration, the approach of Christmas. These are special days, made even more special by the need to wait for them. The things that give us instant gratification are typically not the things we appreciate the most. It is the things we look forward to and dream about, the things that require patience, no matter how hard it is to wait.
When Jerusalem was destroyed and its people were either killed or taken as slaves to Babylon, it was difficult for them to believe Jeremiah’s prophecy that the LORD would bring His people back again. But this is what the LORD promised: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:10-11).
It was difficult to believe it would actually happen while the people were exiled in a faraway land. Psalm 137 expresses their deep sorrow: “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?” (vv. 1-4).
One of our hymns of the month expresses this same sorrow as we live as exiles in this fallen world: “And now we fight the battle, / But then shall wear the crown / Of full and everlasting / And passionless renown; / And now we watch and struggle, / And now we live in hope, / And Zion in her anguish / With Babylon must cope” (ELH #543, v. 4). Zion is the Christian Church, and Babylon is the sinful world. We don’t fit in with the world. We meet disapproval for our beliefs and sometimes persecution. In some parts of the world, Christians are marked for death simply because they acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord.
The LORD has promised an end to these trials, just as He promised an end to the exile of His people in Babylon. But why did He let His people be conquered and taken away in the first place? We heard the reason last week: “they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy” (2Chr. 36:16). The LORD had not acted impulsively or impatiently. He had not wronged His people. He sent them many prophets. They were given many chances to repent. But they chose other gods, false gods. They chose to disobey the God who created them and chose them as His own.
We face the same temptations now, temptations to pursue the pleasures and riches of the world, temptations to follow a self-made spirituality and ignore the called servants of God, temptations to despise His holy Word by choosing to think, speak, and live in ways that we know He condemns. So is it any surprise when God sends us “wake-up calls”? When we experience pain and trouble because of our sinful choices? When He takes away the things we trusted in that cannot save us?
When these sorrows and trials come, we might ask God why He is letting them happen to us. “Have You forsaken me, God? Where are You?” Those questions have us focused in the right direction—not on the empty things of the world, but on God who alone can rescue and save. In our troubles and difficulties, He does not want to push us away from Him but wants to draw us closer. Everything He does is out of love for us. Hebrews 12:6-7 says, “‘For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”
Once He has humbled you and led you to confess your sins against Him, then the LORD stirs up something inside you through the Word of His grace. He declares to you that the sins that separated you from Him and were keeping you from His blessings—all those sins are forgiven. By forgiving your sins, He is telling you that He will not remember them; He will not bring them up again in the future; He will not hold them against you.
That is what forgiveness means: letting go of the right or the desire to punish someone for his wrongs. It is the cancellation of a debt; the removal of sin’s guilt and condemnation (ELS Catechism definition). This would not be possible if Jesus had not paid the penalty for your sins and taken the punishment you deserved. The shedding of His holy blood is the reason why God now freely forgives you, why He operates as though the wrong you did was never done in the first place. The psalmist says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psa. 103:12).
When the LORD forgives our sins, He stirs up in us the resolve to set aside our sinful habits and check our sinful impulses. He stirs up in us the desire to live the baptismal life, walking in newness of life, clothed in His righteousness, and making His glory known. He stirs up in us the hope that one day we will be free of this sinful flesh and our life in this sinful world and will join Him in the place of no sin—His heavenly, eternal kingdom.
“And now we watch and struggle, / And now we live in hope.” Jeremiah said seventy years of waiting. Long before this prophecy, Isaiah gave the name of the people’s deliverer: Cyrus. Isaiah named him some two hundred years before he made his decree (Isa. 44:28, 45:1). As far as we know, Cyrus was not a believer in the LORD’s promise of salvation. But “the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing.”
His decree was that the house of God should be rebuilt in Jerusalem, that His people were free to return to that land, and that all their neighbors should assist in giving them what they needed for their journey and their work. Where else could this come from than the LORD? He also stirred up the spirits of leading Jews to leave their homes of seventy years in Babylon and return to Mount Zion to rebuild the temple and the city. As they prepared to go, they were supplied with all sorts of silver, gold, and costly goods, just like the Egyptians had done so many years before when the Israelite slaves marched out of Egypt.
The return to the Promised Land was not a foolish dream. The LORD had not lied through His prophets. What He says comes to pass. So it is no lie when our Bridegroom tells us He is coming back to take us to the heavenly Zion, to His eternal wedding feast. While we are here, He wants us to keep our lamp of faith burning with the oil He supplies in His Word and Sacraments. He wants us to stay ready for His return (Matthew 25:1-13).
But like all ten virgins in today’s Holy Gospel, we struggle against spiritual drowsiness and sleep. We need the Spirit-filled, life-giving Word of God to stir us up. His Word is what keeps us awake and sober, as today’s Epistle lesson says (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). The Holy Spirit stirs up our spirits, so that our hearts and minds are set not on the passing things of this world, but on the beautiful, joyful, eternal things to come. These things are as sure as our Lord’s promises. He will come again and take us to His kingdom.
Jesus, our heavenly Cyrus, has made His decree: It is time to prepare to enter the eternal holy city and temple. The cry has gone out, “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” The anticipation is building. He’ll be here soon. Our Savior is coming! Could today be the day, the day we go home victorious? In nervousness and excitement, in tension and hope, we worship our LORD, we watch for Him, and we wait.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture of the Judean mountains in Israel)
The Last Sunday of the Church Year – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
In Christ Jesus, the Light and Day, who drives the night and gloom away; the Light of light, whose Word does show the light of heav’n to us below (ELH 571, v. 1), dear fellow redeemed:
In the Scripture readings for today, we get a very strong sense of time—time moving, the days advancing, the sun dropping down toward the horizon as dusk sets in. The Holy Gospel describes a bridegroom delayed, light giving way to darkness, drowsiness and sleep overcoming those who watch and wait (Mat. 25:1-13). These are fitting readings for this time of the year when the daylight is diminishing and we reluctantly head into the cold of winter. They are also fitting readings for this time in the church year as we make preparations for the sunset of our life and for our Lord’s return.
In his inspired First Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul acknowledges what those believers already knew, “that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” In other words, nobody will be able to guess when it is that Jesus will come in glory to judge the living and the dead. That hasn’t stopped some from trying. A simple internet search lists hundreds of predictions throughout history of the end of time. Many of you remember the increase in these predictions leading up to the year 2000 and then again with the Mayan calendar excitement in 2012.
The people who try to predict the end on the basis of the Bible have a way of reading prophecies and adding up dates, so that they think they can discover secrets from God. They are trying to sort out “times and seasons” in a way that God has not invited them to do. Jesus said very clearly, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Mat. 24:36). He said this during His state of humiliation when He was not making full use of His divine powers. Now in His state of exaltation Jesus knows that day, but no one else does know it or can know it.
We can, however, see the signs that the end is near. Jesus prophesied that false christs would appear and lead many astray. There would be “wars and rumors of wars,” “earthquakes in various places,” and “famines” (Mar. 13:6-8). We see these things all around us. They should make us prepare for Judgment Day and look for it. Today’s reading indicates that many are not looking for Jesus’ return. His return will catch them by surprise: “While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
How is it that you can stay prepared, so “sudden destruction” does not fall upon you? Paul writes, “you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.” Being in darkness means living in unbelief. It means going along with the world, whether along with the world’s worries or the world’s sins. It means being spiritually asleep and spiritually inebriated or impaired when we need to be spiritually alert and sober.
Now you are not unbelievers, dear friends, but you are tempted. You are tempted to look out into the world’s darkness and think that is actually light. We like the idea, for example, of unchecked freedom, freedom to say whatever we want, do whatever we want, use our bodies however we want, satisfy our every desire with food or drink or fun. It looks like freedom, but it is actually slavery—slavery to sin, slavery to the devil, and ultimately slavery to death. If freedom to do whatever we want is the recipe for happiness, then why are so many people so hopeless?
We do not live for this day, for getting as much as we can in the present. We live for that day, for Jesus’ return, when all our present sadness and trouble and pain will come to an end. We look for that day with eyes wide open. “For you are all children of light, children of the day,” writes Paul. You can see everything clearly. You can see how empty the world’s promises are. You can see how much damage the devil has done to families and friendships. You can see your own weaknesses and failings.
But you also know what God has done to rescue you from the darkness. God sent His Son to shine the light of His forgiveness and life into the deepest, darkest corners of the earth and into the deepest, darkest corners of your heart. He willingly accepted every sin done in the dark and suffered the eternal agony of hell for them all. He died on the cross as the sacrifice for your sins, and then He rose from the dead on the third day in total and complete triumph over your death.
You have His light and life in you by faith in Him. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me—believes in me—will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Joh. 8:12). At another time Jesus said, “You are the light of the world” (Mat. 5:14). His light of love shines in you, and it shines through you. “[L]et your light shine before others,” He said, “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (v. 16).
The light of faith that shines in you, connecting you to the true Light, is why our reading refers to believers as “children of light, children of the day.” Children of the day stay awake and sober, alert and clear-minded. They put on “the breastplate of faith and love,” so they are ready for the devil’s accusations and the attacks from the world and our sinful flesh. They wear as a helmet “the hope of salvation,” which means minds that are filled with the promises of God, with His holy Word, which assures us that we will be kept safe until the day of our Lord’s return.
But what if you don’t feel completely confident about this? You don’t feel like you can see clearly to the last day. You have doubts. You have fears. Will you be accepted by Jesus when He comes? Will He look on you with grace or with anger? Will He judge you favorably or unfavorably? These are common questions and concerns that Christians have. We are always anxious about things in the future that we have never experienced, things that are out of our control. And we know how often we have sinned against God’s Commandments.
The best way to address these questions and concerns is to pray for God’s peace in your mind and heart, and then to listen to His Word where He delivers that peace. This is exactly what happens each week in the Divine Service. We confess our sins and pray for God’s mercy, and then we hear His Word of grace, His absolution, which frees us from our sin and strengthens us. Through the Word and Sacraments, God pours His light into us. It flows in and searches out the darkness of our doubt and despair. Like good medicine, His Word brings us healing. It improves our spiritual health, so we lift up our eyes and look forward with eagerness.
We have heard the cry go out, “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” (Mat. 25:6). We know Jesus is coming. He tells us He is coming soon (Rev. 22:20). It is not for us to know more about it than that. We wait with our lamp of faith burning brightly, and we supply fuel to it through our continued hearing of God’s Word. We prepare for the last day especially on the Lord’s Day, when we gather together at church. This is what God teaches us to do. Hebrews 10 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (vv. 24-25).
“The day is surely drawing near / When God’s Son, the Anointed, / Shall with great majesty appear / As Judge of all appointed” (ELH 538, v. 1). We don’t need to know exactly when He is coming; we just need to recognize that He is. We have hope even as darkness settles in around us. We believe what God says to us, that He “has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him.”
We don’t need to despair in the darkness of these days. We don’t need to be afraid at what the future holds. Our Lord Jesus is with us always, “even to the end of the age” (Mat. 28:20), through His Word and Sacraments. And He promises that He will come again in glory on the last day to take us to be with Him. The Bridegroom is coming. The marriage feast is prepared. This feast is for you and me and for all the children of day.
The day of our Lord’s return is a day worth waiting for. It is a day to watch for and stay awake for. “‘Wake, awake, for night is flying,’ / The watchmen on the heights are crying, ‘Awake, Jerusalem, arise!’… The Bridegroom comes, awake! / Arise! Your lamps now take! / Alleluia! / With bridal care / Yourselves prepare / To feast with Him, your Groom most fair” (ELH 544, v. 1).
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from 11th century painting from the Rossano Gospel)