Read Luke 21:25-36
Nothing says Christmas more than cosmic disturbance. People are trying to sell everyone on some fat man in a sled pulled by reindeer and I throw in this stuff about great distress.
People are trying to make sure their Christmas tree doesn’t fall over, and I am reading a warning about the heavenly bodies being shaken. You had better nail that sucker to the floor.
The kids want to sing Frosty the Snowman, but Tom is talking about a time that is so bad that people just faint from anxiety. We are not talking about someone fainting from the sight of blood, or an attacker, or spiders and snakes. We are talking about the day-to-day circumstances of the world being so stressful that fainting becomes a common sight.
We look around at the world today and think, that time has got to be near.
Some believe that we will all be caught up—raptured if you must—and miss the whole tribulation bit.
Some believe that we will be here for part of this thing called the Great Tribulation. Yes, some think that we will be witnesses on this earth for the whole thing.
There is a lot of discussion to be had there. It makes for good conversation and Bible Study and contemplation. There are three things that I can say about these last days.
1. Only the Father in heaven knows the day and the hour.
2. We who belong to Christ will not know God’s wrath.
3. We should actually be looking forward to this time because we are told that our redemption is drawing near. This is the Grand Finale for this age.
We may know the season but not the moment. Jesus told us to consider the example of the fig tree. When its leaves bud and sprout, then you know that it’s almost summer. So too, should we have an idea of when the kingdom of this world will fully give way to the Kingdom of God.
We are not oblivious to the state of the world, but we must understand that our purpose is not governed by it.
We are charged by God to be good stewards of this planet. We are supposed to take what he gave us and make it better, bring it under our control, and do good things with it. We want to be good stewards.
We want a better world for our grandkids than we have known. We work hard to leave a better world for those who come after us.
But, and this is a big but, the whole world is not onboard with this. Greed and selfishness and a covetous spirit prevail in much of this world. The world is growing farther and farther from God.
Love is not the universal language of our planet. The love of many has grown cold.
We could throw in the towel. We could become bitter. We could become cynical. We could faint.
We could be people of desperation, but we are counseled to be people of anticipation.
Advent is a season to prepare for the coming of the Lord. He came as Messiah. He became an atoning sacrifice for our sins. He rose from the grave. He is at the right hand of the Father.
We celebrate holidays that we call Christmas and Easter because of these things. We celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Christ entering the world in the flesh. It is good to celebrate what we know about our Lord.
But we who have professed Jesus as Lord not only celebrate what has come to pass but that which is to come. Jesus is coming.
Jesus is coming!
Other than shout Hallelujah, Amen, and Praise the Lord, what should we do?
Jesus counseled to be careful. Don’t use the worldly remedies to escape the distress and confusion.
What worldly remedies? Drunkenness for one and I am sure than includes all manner of substances when used for the purposes of escape. You don’t have to go exclusively to the liquor store. The pharmacy or corner drug dealer provide the same effect with their wares.
Carousing for another. This usually involves some level of drunkenness but adds the element of seeking some mischief for entertainment and satisfaction.
And there is also anxiety. How can this be an escape? People retreat so far within themselves that they are not really living anymore.
Our counsel is to be careful as to how we respond to the distress and confusion of the world.
We are to be alert and to pray.
We should know what is happening around us. We are not consumed by it but we are aware.
We continue in prayer as always but as the time grows near, we should ask God for his protection in the worst of times. The world is going to be a very bad place to live, but for as long as we remain, we ask God to protect us in the middle of distress and confusion.
In the middle of distress and confusion, we seek the Lord’s protection on this planet during the worst time it has seen since Noah and the flood.
There is one more thing. We put everything that we have into being faithful to God.
Faithful in our thoughts.
Faithful in our actions.
Faithful in our tithes and offerings.
Faithful in our witness and testimony.
Faithful in being God’s light and love in this world, all the way until we are here no more.
We are saved by the blood of Christ Jesus but we will stand before him knowing that we have done the things that he has called us to do through our last day on earth.
That may come as with most, by death.
Or it may come because Jesus has come once again. Either way, we will stand before our Master knowing that we have responded to God’s great love by being love in this world and fulfilling our commission to take the gospel to the world.
But what if I have not been faithful to put the words of my Master into practice?
Then, this is your wakeup call. The blood of Christ Jesus has saved you from sin and death, but don’t you want to see the One who gave everything for you smiling when you stand before him?
Don’t you want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”
Don’t you want to be the choicest of fruit as you present your life before him?
Don’t you want to rejoice in his presence not because you escaped the torment of hell, but because you gave your entire life to him? You were truly a living sacrifice.
Don’t you want to have a little smile on your face knowing that you were faithful to the end, however long that might be? Knowing that your faithfulness has put a smile on your Master’s face as well.
During Advent, we prepare to celebrate the birth of our King. During Advent we prepare ourselves to receive him once again.
As the world approaches a time of distress and confusion, we are people of sound minds, pure hearts, and love for one another. We are people not distressed by the signs of the times. In fact we know that these times must come.
We look forward to what will interrupt the worst of times—the return of our King, our Savior, our Great Priest, our Master, and our Lord.
Jesus is Lord and he’s coming back for you!
The world is distressed and suffering in confusion. We are ready. People get ready, Jesus is coming, soon we’ll be going home.
Amen!
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