Sermon for 12/10/23: Second Sunday in Advent

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Christ Is Coming!

Luke 21:25-36

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

It probably seems illogical that the Gospel readings for Advent say very little about preparing for the birth of Jesus. The Church has always held that there should be a three-fold focus to the Advent season: the coming of Jesus in His birth at Bethlehem, His coming to us now in the Gospel, and His coming at the Last Day. When you look at the appointed Gospels for the Sundays in Advent, you find quite a lot is said about our Lord’s ministry, His Passion, and, especially in today’s reading, His coming again to judge the world. On top of the last few Sundays of the Church Year that just ended, you have several weeks in a row devoted to the End Times and the glorious return of Christ to judge the living and the dead.

So why all this fuss over the end times? Why don’t we spend more time preparing for Christmas? Yes, it’s important to prepare ourselves again for the birth of Christ; it is one of the most wondrous events this world has ever seen. However, it has already happened. We can remember and celebrate it, which are good and godly things to do. But the event itself has already taken place.

So we prepare for Christ’s final Advent among us now—and not just in the manner of remembrance or hope, but in reality. Christ comes to us now through the Gospel; He continues to do so; and He will continue doing so in the future. This present and daily Advent of our Lord is part and parcel of the life of faith.

But the Advent of Christ when the time of this world has run its course is something that obviously hasn’t happened yet. It is still a part of the future, a day and hour unknown to us. And yet, we must be prepared for that day. And this preparation is no less important than the daily preparation we make to receive our Lord now. Jesus Christ is coming again, and we must be found worthy to escape the wrath that will accompany His judgment.

But for the one who is prepared, the day of the Lord’s return will be a day of joy and salvation. While it comes as terror to unbelievers, to Christians it is a day of promise. Jesus says: “When these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Your redemption draws near! This is not something to be afraid of, but to anticipate with joy! And so we prayed in today’s Introit: “Restore us, O God; let your face shine, and we shall be saved!” All who are found with faith in Christ on that great day will be gathered to Him and will never again be parted from Him. But those who are found without faith in Christ on that day, who have either never believed in Christ, or who once looked to Him in faith but have since fallen away into unbelief, will be forever confirmed in their unbelief. There will no longer be an opportunity for repentance, no more opportunities to hear the Gospel and come to faith. His coming will have shown them the truth at last, but it will be the truth that condemns them.

So both the faithful and the unbelieving are urged by this Gospel reading to repent of their sins and put their trust in the grace of Jesus Christ. After all, the forces arrayed against us are powerful and unrelenting. The devil seeks our demise; the world wants to lure us away from Christ; our sinful nature even desires those things that lead to our destruction. So often these enemies attack by stealth; they use the ordinary circumstances of life that lull our souls to sleep so that the urgency of faith is dulled. Really, how often do you really consider the end of things and the return of Jesus? So Jesus warns us, “Watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly, like a trap.”

Listen to the call of the Scriptures to prepare yourselves faithfully, and take that call seriously. St. Paul reminds us in today’s Epistle: “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.” And those Scriptures point to Christ. They point us to His first Advent among us, when He took on our flesh that we might be rescued from all that our sins have deserved. They point us to His Advent among us now as He comes to us in the Gospel to give us His grace and to fill and strengthen our hearts with faith. And by receiving that Advent now, and by trusting that Advent long ago, we are doing the best thing we can do to prepare for that Advent yet to come.

But that is the beauty of faith: it always looks to Jesus. Truly, that is the only way to be prepared for that day described in today’s Gospel: by the grace of Jesus Christ. And so the call has come again this Advent to prepare for the coming of Christ. Recall with joy that your received Him as He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary to win our salvation; receive Him now as He comes to you in His Word and in His body and blood; and prepare to receive Him as He comes again on the Last Day. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.