WORSHIP VIDEO LINK (linked after 10:45 AM Service)
WORSHIP AUDIO LINK
SERMON AUDIO LINK
BULLETIN
SERMON TEXT BELOW
Advent 1 2023
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
December 3, 2023
Isaiah 64:1-9, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Mark 13:24-37
Sermons online:
Text and Audio: immanuelhamiltonchurch.com click “sermons”
Text: pastorjud.org
Audio: pastorjud.podbean.com
itunes: bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio: bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship
In 1968 there were dire predictions of a population bomb that would cause 100 – 200 million people to starve to death each year over the next 10 years.
In 1970 there was a prediction that pollution particle clouds would block out the sun and make the air unbreathable by the mid-1980s.
Also in 1970 it was predicted that 75% of all the earth’s species would die off by 1995.
In 1975 there were predictions of a global, catastrophic Ice Age coming by the year 2,000.
In the 1980s there were predictions of nuclear holocaust.
There have been numerous religious leaders over the years predicting the end of the world on a certain date. Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted the end in 1878, 1881, 1914, 1918, 1925, and 1975. December 21, 2012 according to a Mayan calendar. Sept. 6, 1994 according to Bible teacher Harold Camping and then May 21, 2011 and then October 21, 2011. The end came for Camping December 15, 2013.
Today we hear dire predictions of climate emergencies, financial meltdowns, all sorts of existential threats within the next 10 years and then the next 10 years, then the next.
After a while all the end times alarmism starts to lose its urgency and just gets lost in all the background noise of life; oh, it is just another nut job trying to scare the world.
And here we find ourselves this morning at the beginning of the advent season with another warning about the end times. Mark 13:32–37 (ESV) 32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
It is easy for this warning about the last day to also get lost in all of the warnings about coming apocalyptic disasters. Is there anything that makes this warning different?
As end times warnings go, this one is actually pretty frustrating because one thing that this warning explicitly states is that no one knows when the time will come. This warning is different because it is not trying to predict when the end will come, only that the end is coming and you need to be ready. The other thing about this warning is that the source of the warning is reliable. Prior predictions made by this person have happened just as He said, so we can trust that this prediction is also reliable.
Three times Jesus said, Mark 8:31 (ESV) 31 … that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” And it happened just as He said. Now He warns you… Mark 13:33 (ESV) 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.” Jesus said it and you need to listen.
It is the last days for Jesus before His arrest and crucifixion and resurrection. He has been teaching in the temple and as He leaves the temple area with His disciples Jesus teaches about the coming destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. And indeed, the temple is destroyed by the Romans 40 years later in 70 AD.
After leaving the temple area they sit on the Mount of Olives overlooking the temple and Jesus teaches also about His return on the last day. The temple will be destroyed and the world will be destroyed. Stay ready. Our Gospel reading for today is Jesus’ warning about the last day. Be on guard, keep awake.
What does this mean? How do you stay on guard? How do you keep awake? How do you stay ready for Jesus to return? What do you need?
Our Epistle lesson today shows us the way. St. Paul writes to the church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 1:4–9 (ESV) 4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The church in Corinth is not lacking in any gift and what do they have? They have the grace of God given to them in Christ Jesus. You have the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus. You are not lacking in any gift as you await the return of Christ on the Last Day. You, Christ’s Church on earth, have the grace of God and that is what you cling to in order to remain ready for Jesus’ return. In Christ, you are ready for Jesus’ return. Stay ready.
So, if you were the devil, what strategy would you use to separate a follower of Jesus from Jesus? How would you get someone to give up on the grace of God in Christ Jesus?
Perhaps you could sow division in the Church. Get the fellow believers in Jesus to fight amongst themselves and let it grow into hatred -- and the more mundane the issue the better. Get them to be angry about the color of paint or carpet. Stir up trouble so that when the congregation gathers for worship there is a sense of hostility so everyone is thinking about that and not thinking about the grace of God.
Or, you could try to lead believers away from Jesus by appealing to their desire to be seen as wise in the eyes of the world. Get them to admire and listen to those who believe the Bible is nothing but an old book written by men trying to oppress others. “How can anyone be so stupid as to believe in the Bible and God and in heaven and hell and a judgement day? Everyone knows that when you die that is it. Besides, how can someone as smart as you actually believe that God would sacrifice His own Son on a cross in excruciating agony? That is divine child abuse. It is so bloody and awful. How can you believe in a God like that? That is utter foolishness. How can you believe in a God that does things that you don’t understand?”
There is the devil’s tried and true method of pulling sheep away from their shepherd. Just get them to indulge in sexual immorality. It is too easy to let sexual immorality become your lifestyle and when the choice is the immorality or Jesus… so many will choose immorality and give up on Jesus.
You might try the devil’s strategy of getting individuals and churches to move Jesus out of top priority and make Him more of an afterthought. Get something else, anything else, to become more important than Jesus. In churches this is very effective especially when the new focus is something where you are serving others such as feeding the poor, providing low income housing, or medical care. It is good to serve others but not if it becomes more important than Jesus.
The devil has a lot of strategies to separate people from Jesus, but in this case of waiting for Jesus’ return I think the most insidious and perhaps most effective way to get people to give up on Jesus over the long term is by showing them how boring it is to be a Christian. Church is boring. The Bible is boring. Waiting for Jesus to return is boring; just the same thing over and over.
It is a common excuse as to why people don’t attend worship. Church is boring and to be boring might be the worst sin you can commit in our age of constant entertainment and social media scrolling. Church is boring. There is some truth to this. Staying on guard is boring. As followers of Jesus you are instructed to stay ready and it is your duty to gather together to receive the gifts of forgiveness and return thanks each week. We do this over and over and over. It is what we do as Christians. And really, most of life is doing the same repetitive things over and over at home, at work, at school. Doing what you have been given to do as a parent, child, worker, employer, student, citizen is all pretty boring. Just so, being a follower of Jesus is not the promise of endless entertainment.
Perhaps, if we were not such boring people continually needing forgiveness of our sins, we could move on to something else, but as long as we are a gathering of poor, miserable sinners we need to keep doing what we have been given to do.
Congregations have tried to answer the objection that church is boring by trying to make worship more entertaining by trying to figure out what the people want. But what people want is a constantly changing target. It is a fool’s errand to try to determine what people think is entertaining this week. Worship is not supposed to be entertaining. It seals you as a child of God in the waters of Holy Baptism as we got to witness this morning with little David. Worship returns you to your baptism each week in confession and absolution. Worship delivers to you Jesus’ forgiveness in His words and in His Body and Blood. It brings to you the Word of God in readings and liturgy and hymns. It is Christ-centered and cross-focused to give you the grace of God through Christ Jesus. When the grace of God is delivered to you, worship is faithful and effective and meaningful but not entertaining.
Perhaps, if we were not such boring people continually needing forgiveness of our sins, we could move on to something else, but as long as we are a gathering of poor, miserable sinners we need to keep doing what we have been given to do.
In our Gospel reading today Jesus is on the Mount of Olives teaching His disciples about the destruction of the temple and His return on the Last Day. Six weeks later Jesus ascends into heaven from that same area. He promises to return one day in power and glory. He will return. Stay ready.
It is very difficult to wait not knowing how long you will need to wait, but that is what you have been given to do by the Lord Jesus Himself. Mark 13:33 (ESV) 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.” It is difficult, but you have everything that you need during your time of waiting. You have the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Stay ready. Amen.