Saturday, December 15, 2012

2nd Sunday of Advent


Dec 9, 2012; 2nd Sunday of Advent 2; Texts: Psalm 50:1-15; Malachi 4:1-6; Romans 15:4-13; Luke 21:25-36; Title: If Tempted to Look Down, Look Up to Righteousness.  Rev. Tim Beck

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
He is coming!  Look up, your redemption draws nigh. Do not look down where confusion, anxiety, and troubles lie. Look up, for Christ shall soon return. The Lord your righteousness comes.        This is the Advent message, calling us to prepare for His coming. He is coming for all who look up, who look to the eternal, who look to their God and Saviour; who turn from looking down and look up. His second coming shall surely come as did the first… but in a different manner. Save a handful, the First Advent the world slept. The Second Advent none will sleep; and the dead will wake. Then the judgment where some receive an earned condemnation and others inherit unearned life.
          We, who do not earn but trust, watch; waiting for Him who loves us and does not want us to perish.  He is coming! He tells you that because the end is getting nearer and nearer. Before He comes there shall be fearful signs in the heavens, the world will begin to break apart.           The Creator withdraws more of His hand from sustaining the earth. Why will He do that? He calls our fallen race to repentance most loudly… and purchasing carbon credits will not reverse that day. Because each does what is right in his eyes as in the days of Noah, before the overwhelming flood, God shouts a curtain-call for repentance. It is a final call that makes the world fear. How tragic… They will look unto the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness (Isaiah 8:22). Why are many driven into darkness? It is preferred by those who look down. The unrepentant have no light in them. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20)
          However, all who receive the Word receive light. Those whose faith is in Christ have the light of Christ. Those who hear and believe have hope and so look up, looking to the unseen, to      the promises, to the testimony of redemption, to the living, Saving God.  That’s why you will cling to the living Word. You have reason for the hope that is in you. So if these last troubles come in your day you will continue look to the Lord, your righteousness. Whatever troubles come your way in any day, look up and heed three pairs of commands: Straighten up and lift your heads;  See the budding fig tree; Know that the kingdom of God is near; Beware and Be watchful for that day will come suddenly.  
          Permit me a little doctrinal review.  Are these words law or gospel? And these commands, what kind of law are they? 1. Are they the first use of the law, the law as restraint? The law restrains evil when coupled with the sword. For example, when you see a flashing blue light behind your car, do you slow down? That’s the law as mirror. 2. Are these commands the second use of the law, the law as mirror? Here the law reveals our guilt before God. It incites us to sin and convicts us of sin.  For example, the person who said we shouldn’t teach children the 10 commandments because it puts so many ideas into their heads is ½ right; for the law stirs up rebellion while the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, causing us to fear judgment.  3. Are these commands the third use of the law, the law as a guide for Christians? Although believers are reborn in the image of God our corrupt nature still clings to us. We are often blind to the will of God. So this use of the law teaches us God’s will, even if it returns us to the second use, to repentance.
          So what use of the law are these pairs of admonitions? Straighten up and lift your heads. See the budding fig tree, Know that the kingdom of God is near. Beware and be watchful, for that day will come suddenly. This is the third use of the law, a guide. We are told to remain alert and watchful because these things shall happen.  We are told so that when these things happen we will not fear or faint, but straighten up and lift our heads. How can we do that, if we are only given the law? We can do that because we are also given a promise, a gospel promise. These signs point to the nearness of this promise: your redeemer comes to you, hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. The Lord returns for you, to complete what He began, to fulfill the promises of baptism, to give you the full inheritance, all that He won for you. So be encouraged when you see and know the signs that the end is near. These signs are now, in each generation though not yet complete. Like a 4th of July fireworks show, they’re now, although we wait for the finale. And we now take comfort that all these things shall take place soon. How soon? What does it mean to say “this generation?” What does it mean “This generation” shall not pass away until all things happen? It’s like a 4th of July show – each burst has it all, yet there’s a finale. One scholar says “this generation is the continuing line of all unbelievers… Those who reject God will be present even at the end, when the heavens and earth are shaken violently as God tries one last time to move them to repentance.” (Just, Luke, v2, 804)  The call to repentance continues, since unbelief remains to the end, so each generation is this generation, although there shall be a last generation. Scoffers shall pass away along with the heaven and the earth. They will be present for the judgment, but they will not sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the great (eschatological) banquet in the kingdom of God (Ibid., 805). And that because unbelief remains until the end; mockers will say, don’t lift your eyes; don’t hear, see, know, watch and wait.
          They tempt you to look down. But you do not want to be numbered with the generation of unbelievers, do you? Can you endure? Yes, by the power that cannot pass away.   What shall never pass away?  Christ’s Word, His teachings, His promises shall never pass away. You are promised His righteousness, life and fellowship with God as Father. You are promised to be sons of God, sharing the inheritance of the first born from the dead.  What tragedy many reject this Word and fall into dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life. But you, beware and be watchful, looking into God’s Word, and you will stand. Look to Him and you will “stand in the presence of the Son of Man!”  Look, because He redeemed you with His blood. He carries you with His strength, with words of life.  As the Apostle Paul prayed confidently for the Thessalonians: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love… May he establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus. As the Apostle Paul promised the church in Rome, for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
          You watch for Jesus Christ because He fills you with hope. When at last He returns it is for your redemption! How do you know the church shall stand? And this is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. The Church’s name, your name is “the Lord our righteousness.” He gave us this name in His first advent, by His sacrifice for sinners, justifying sinners. He does not say, “Get righteous by obeying the law”, which is to be named “I am my righteousness.” No, He is your righteousness, naming you with His righteousness. This righteousness stands in the judgment.  It is not from you. It is given you. It is a perfect righteousness that the Almighty accepts as He accepts His beloved Son. This is your Christmas present to sustain you through That Day; for Christ gave you a new name, the name of the Church, “The Lord our Righteousness.”
          He poured that name on you with water and the Word. He pours that name into you with His blood and body. He declares you righteous in His sight. In this name we lift up our heads, seeing and knowing, watching and waiting until the day He returns in glory. In this Baptismal name we stand, named “the Lord, our righteousness.” By this name we boldly pray “Our Father, “Hosanna to David’s Son, come Lord Jesus.” By this name we look up and see the Father’s beaming face of joy.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus our Lord (Amen).