The Cloud That Hides Jesus. Advent 2, 2021

Populus Zion—The Second Sunday in Advent

Emmaus Lutheran Church

St. Luke 21:25-36

December 5, 2021

The Cloud that Hides Jesus

Jesu juva!

In the Name of Jesus.

1.

Jesus calls the sun, moon, and stars “the powers of the heavens.”  That is because those great lights rule the sky, and they rule over everything beneath them.  When the sun begins to climb up into the sky, people get up out of bed and go to work.  The moon appears, and most of the time we start getting ready for bed.  We have no choice.  We have to work to survive, and for that most of us need sunlight.

And when the sun’s time in the sky is long, that is the time to plant.  When its time is short, that is the time we are supposed to have gathered everything in.  These powers in the heavens had great power over our ancestors.  Because their lives were tied to agriculture in a way ours were not, their lives were governed by the powers of the heavens.

When Jesus says the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and the sea and waves will roar in the days before He returns, He is saying creation itself will appear to be coming apart.  The powers in the sky that rule our lives will be shaking.  The sea that God separated from the land so that there could be life on earth will look as though it is going to overflow the boundaries He set for it and return the world to the formless and empty void it was at the beginning of creation and during the great flood. 

People will be nearly dead with fear, Jesus says.

2. 

But not everyone.  You would think that when creation is shaking on its foundations, everyone would notice.  But you would be incorrect.

You would also think everyone would notice when the Creator came into His creation.  But they did not.  Jesus rebuked His contemporaries: You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?  (Luke 12:56)

So it is at the end of the world.  Some are fainting with fear about what is coming on the world.  But others, most, are weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life” (Luke 21:34).  “Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.  They will say “Where is the promise of His coming?  For ever since our fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4)

When creation is tottering and breaking apart, most people are saying, “Everything is the same as it has always been.  Nothing to be afraid of.” 

Well, it is true that the world has always been evil and unjust.  And since there is a just God in the universe who will judge it, who will right the injustice in the world, then it’s also true that the end has always been on the horizon for this creation and those who dwell in it.

When a house is on fire, there is smoke from the very beginning the fire starts.  As the fire progresses, things begin to collapse in the house.  Windows maybe shatter from the heat, a chandelier falls from the ceiling.  If you were watching the fire from the beginning to the end, it probably would be hard to tell at what point exactly it went from a small fire to a fire that can’t be put out.  And when the house finally began to collapse in the flames, it might come abruptly and even though you had been watching the fire for hours you might not have expected it.  If someone walked up and said, “How much longer does this fire have left,” you would probably say, “I don’t know.  It’s been burning for two hours already.”

That’s the way it is with the end of the world.  Yes, there have been signs in the heavens for thousands of years, and wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, false prophets.  But the house is on fire.  We don’t know whether the house will collapse tomorrow or a century from now.  But we should be able to tell what is coming, and that it is coming any time now.

There are two dangers as we live in this burning house.  The first is that we see the end coming and are full of fear.  The second is that we no longer think the end is coming.  We become so used to the flames and the smoke that we think this will all go on forever.

The end is coming because God is just.  This is a world where dictators slaughter religious and ethnic minorities, where parents abuse children, where lies and injustice are committed every day.  But there is a just God who is going to punish wrongdoing and establish righteousness on the earth.  Pestilences, plagues, signs in the heavens all testify that this day of judgment is very near.

That should frighten parents who abuse their children and dictators who commit genocide.  But it should frighten also everyone who breaks the ten commandments.  Everyone who does not love and trust God with all his heart, everyone who dishonors his parents, everyone who hates, lusts, covets, lies, gossips.  God does not judge as we do, condemning only egregious evil.  He is coming to root out all injustice from the world.

But what possible response can we have to this?  One response is terror, hoping that Jesus will delay coming until we can figure out some way to become just.  The other is scoffing and being asleep, and setting our hearts on the pleasures of this life.  And this is what most people do, because our sinful nature doesn’t want to know God or repent of unrighteousness.

3.

Make no mistake, the judgment of God is coming upon you.  Yet there is the possibility of greeting that day with joy.  In fact, that is Jesus’ will for you.  He says: When these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:28). 

When He preached this sermon, He was in Jerusalem, about to accomplish the judgment of God.  He was about to be condemned for all the injustice of human beings on the cross.  He would die as the substitute for us lawbreakers.  He would provide redemption from sin so that everyone who believes in Him is released from guilt and counted just. 

What is happening to the Creation in the days leading to the end of the world has already happened to Him.  When Jesus was nailed to the cross He experienced the suffering and death of His body.  But His soul experienced the anger and rejection of God that is the eternal torment of the damned. 

At the end of creation, this world will be destroyed and a new one made.  But the demons and the damned will experience eternal rejection and wrath from God.  And Jesus received this wrath that we deserved when He suffered on the cross. 

So everyone who believes this and has been baptized into Jesus has been redeemed from this old world of death and sin.  In reality, even those who have not been baptized and believed have been redeemed by the judgment that came upon Jesus.  But only those who believe receive this redemption.

But since we have already come through the judgment with Jesus, we are only waiting for Him to complete His work and set us free from this age and the bodies of death in which we now live. 

When we look at Jesus nailed to the cross with our unrighteousness, we can’t say any longer, “Everything is the same as it has always been.”  No, God has already judged the world.  He has done away with unrighteousness and redeemed us.  When we receive the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, we are participating in the end of the world, the end of our sins, and the life of the world to come.

When we look at Jesus nailed to the cross with our sins, we also can’t be terrified of the shaking of the powers in the heavens and the roaring of the sea, the destruction of this old world.  It has already happened in Jesus.  The old has gone and been put to death with Him.  So when it appears to be falling apart, that is no surprise.  But we know the One who is bringing in the new world.  He is not a cruel Lord; He is the One who gave Himself for us and who has been with us in the Church all along.

4.

Jesus tells us that when these things happen, they will suddenly see the man appear in the clouds with great glory.

But when Jesus ascended into heaven, it was also with a cloud.  As they were looking on, Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.  And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?  This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way you saw Him go into heaven.”  (Acts 1:9-11)

The cloud represents the glory and majesty of God.  In the Old Testament, God is almost never seen.  What was seen instead was fire or the cloud of glory.  The bright cloud was not God, but showed where He was while at the same time concealing Him.  So when Jesus ascended and was hidden by a cloud, it meant that Jesus’ human nature now is exercising the divine majesty.  When He appears again, His divine power and glory that we cannot see now will appear.

Right now many of us are filled with distress about the way the world is shaking.  It’s not primarily the physical signs that are disturbing us, but the moral and political quakes that make us afraid.  But the fact that Jesus disappeared behind a cloud and will come again with the clouds is our comfort.

He has already redeemed us from the old world of sin and death; He has already judged it.  And now He is reigning in divine majesty until it is time for His majesty to appear.  When the world quakes, it is by His doing.  He is signalling that His return and the appearance of the new world is near, just as buds on the trees announce that spring is inevitable.

‘

This is how fear and sleepiness is replaced with joy and expectation.  We have already been brought out of the old world.  Its end has already come.  We are prepared, because Jesus prepared us.  He was judged for us, and we have come with Him through judgment in our baptismal water.

And while we wait for the joyful day of His return, He is reigning with wisdom and might.  The glorious Lord we cannot see is on the throne.  But He is also with us.  He was with Israel in the cloud and the fire, hidden and yet present.  He is with us in the water and the bread and wine joined with His Word.  His majesty is hidden, but present.  And when it is seen, we will recognize Him who has been speaking to us and feeding us with Himself in His Church.

Amen.

The peace of God that passes understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria

Prayer When A Comet or Other Strange Signs Appear in the Heavens. Ev. Luth. Gebets-Schatz

from Evangelische Lutherischer Gebets-Schatz (Concordia, 1881-15th Ed.)

386.  Prayer When a Comet or Other Strange Signs Become Visible in the Heavens

(from Michael Cubach’s Grosses und vollkommnes Gebetbuch [1655])

Great God, You do wonders in heaven about and on the earth beneath.  You number the stars and give them all their names, and do marvelous things that are past searching out.  O hidden God, You who made the eye, open our eyes, that we may behold this present wondrous sign with amazement, and consider that it has not happened by chance, but through Your divine providence, to terrify the godless and to comfort the pious.  O Lord Jesus Christ, through this sign we are reminded of Your return and our promised redemption, that the last day is at the door.  O God the Holy Spirit, since the signs in the heavens preach repentance to us, help us, that through such signs we remember our sins and amend our lives in accordance with them, through Jesus Christ.  Amen.

386.  Gebet, wenn ein Comet oder andere wunderlich Zechen am Himmel sichtbar werden.

Großer Gott, du thust Wunder oben im Himmel und unten auf Erden, du zählest die Sterne und nennest sie alle mit Namen, und thust große Dinge, die nicht zu forschen sind.  O verborgener Gott, der du das Auge gemacht hast, öffne uns die Augen, daß wir das gegenwärtige Wunderzeichen am Himmel mit Verwunderung ansehen, und bedenken, daß es nicht ohngefähr, sondern durch deine göttliche Vorsehung geschehe, die Gottlosen zu schrecken und die Frommen zu trösten.  O Herr Jesu Christe, hierdurch werden wir deiner Zukunft erinnert und unserer Erlösung vertröstet, daß der jüngste Tag vor der Thür sei.  O Gott Heiliger Geist, weil die Zeichen des Himmels unsere Bußprediger sein, so hilf, daß wir uns unserer Sünden dadurch erinnern und nach solchen Zeichen uns bessern, durch Jesum Christum.  Amen.

 

Devout Sigh for the Last Day–Luther

Devout Sigh for the Last Day

Martin Luther, 1483-1546

from Ev. Luth. Gebets-Schatz

Lord Jesus Christ, please hurry and bring the blessed day when the hope of our glorious redemption shall be fulfilled.  For you have called us to pray for this in the Lord’s Prayer: Thy Kingdom Come!  Then, since you have commanded us to pray this, so also give us grace and help that we do pray it and in addition that we firmly believe that we will finally come to such glory.  Grant also that the same joyful, blessed day of our redemption and glorification come soon, and that we may experience all that we now hear and believe in the Word.  Amen.

Prayer to Christ Jesus about His Appearing on the Last Day

This prayer was written in the 1600s, but it sounds like someone wrote it yesterday.  From the Gebets-Schatz.

Prayer to Christ Jesus about His Appearing on the Last Day

Lord Jesus Christ, though no one knows the hour of your appearing, not even the angels in heaven, but only the Father, who has reserved it for His power—still there will be an end to this world and its form will pass away.  You will come with flames of fire to take vengeance on those who do not know You, God, and are not obedient to Your gospel.  And so that we do not doubt this, You have allowed faithful hearts to know the signs of Your appearing and identified them.  The world is now pregnant with these signs, giving certain proof that the end of all things is near.  Great signs happen in the sun, moon, and the stars, which fall from heaven and lose their light.  One hears of wars and rumors of wars.  One nation is incensed with another and kingdom rises against kingdom.  There are earthquakes in various places.  It is a time of rising prices and famine.  Unrighteousness more and more gets the upper hand.  The brotherly love of many has grown cold.  The times are so terribly wicked that the people are fearful and anxious.  They faint and almost perish because of the tribulation and distress that is in the world.

In the church many people have risen up who speak perverted doctrine and falsify Your Word, and Your Word must still endure being called heresy by many.  In the secular government power often passes for righteousness.  Right is turned into gall and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood; evil is called good and good evil, black must be called white.  In the household estate is great unfaithfulness, disobedience, disunity, discord, quarreling, and strife.  Even though everyone in common leads a godless life, no one regards it as sinful.  These are all signs of the approach of the last day.

Since these are all now hanging before our eyes, graciously help us, Lord, that we take it to heart, and not be secure, or be rash and have our lamps fail like the foolish virgins.  Grant instead that we always be brave and pray, do good and not grow weary, that we might thereby escape Your strict judgment and sentence, and might be worthy to stand before Your holy face, when You will come in the clouds with great power and glory, and send Your angels to gather Your elect from the four winds, and from the end of the earth to the end of the heavens.  Lord, we wait daily for Your salvation.  Come now, O Lord Jesus.  Make an end of all our misery and take us poor wretches, together with all believers, to paradise.  Come, Lord Jesus, come.  Amen.  _{Georg Schimmer, 1652-1695}

This Burning Light–Last Sunday of the Church Year Sermon

 

Jesu Juva

Last Sunday of the Church Year

St. Peter Lutheran Church

St. Matthew 25:1-13

November 25, 2012

“This Burning Light”
In the Holy Name of Jesus.

 

“Receive this burning light to show you have received Christ, who is the light of the world.  Live always in the light of Christ, and be ever watchful for His coming, that you may meet Him with joy and enter with Him into the marriage feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom, which has no end.”

The pastor hands to your sponsor the little baptismal candle which has been set on fire by the flame from the Paschal candle, the large candle by the baptismal font. 

 

That large candle symbolizes the light and life of Jesus Christ, which burst forth from the tomb for us on Easter.  The flood of death and sin has been dried up by the consuming fire of the love of God.  “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.”  (Revelation 21:1)

 

That fire burned a bush in the wilderness but did not consume it, and drew Moses to its flame and sent him to tell Pharaoh to let the Lord’s people go.  Then it went as a pillar leading the Israelites through the Red Sea and into the desert.  It fell on Mount Sinai and set it on fire, and the people heard God’s voice thundering, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.  You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.  Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…”  The Lord God is love; and He is a consuming fire.
That fire was hidden in the body of Jesus, who is the Lord God of Israel.  It appeared only as light to men, but it did not burn them.  But when the lamp of Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb and descended into hell, it burned death to ashes and set Satan on fire forever.  When He rose and ascended to the Father, the fire of the Lord transfigured His body the way earthly fire transfigures metal and makes it glow red or white.  That same fire burns within the members of His body.  It began to burn in Your body when the pastor splashed water on you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—our God, the consuming fire.

 

So they handed your sponsor your little candle lit from the fire of the Easter candle, but that was only a symbol. 

 

The water they poured on You, joined with the Lord’s command and name, was not just a symbol.  It was reality.  Before that you were the offspring of adulterers—not physical adulterers, but worse—spiritual adulterers who had gone whoring from the Lord.  You were born with the stain of their adultery and with the same adulterous, faithless heart. 

 

But then you were dipped in the water joined with the Holy Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  You were immersed in the fire, born again into Jesus as He died bearing Adam and Eve’s impurities which had to be burned up before the holy face of the Lord.  With Him you were doused in the flood of death.  But with Him you leaped out of death, leaving Satan burning in eternal fire and death scorched to ashes. 
You arose with Jesus.  No longer an adulterer or an adulteress; but a virgin going to meet the bridegroom.  You were made pure and holy, unspotted, unstained.  You were born again in Christ.  And though the unclean flesh of Adam and Eve remained, inside burned consuming fire: the Holy Spirit—giving light to the world through you, but burning away the uncleanness of sin from within. 

 

Outside you wore virgin’s clothes marking you as belonging to the wedding party of the bridegroom, Jesus Christ.  You wore the clothes because Jesus was Your purity; His suffering and death and His blood shed in payment for Your sin washed away all uncleanness and covered you with righteousness.  Over your innocent skin was the garment of Jesus’ perfect obedience to the law of God.  He dressed you and called you a virgin—pure, untouched, reserved.

You were not afraid to meet the bridegroom. You were in the wedding party.  You ran out into the darkness with joy, your lamp burning.  There was nothing to fear.  The bridegroom was coming to bring you to His wedding banquet.

 

How wonderful that wedding feast will be, for which all of Jesus’ wise virgins have waited so long!  It will be in a city with 12 foundations, and each foundation will be made of precious stones.  To get into the city we will have to pass through gates each made of one massive, costly pearl.  And all the people at this feast will be like Jesus; they will be transfigured by the consuming fire of God’s love like metal glowing red or white with earthly fire.  All of them will have all evil burned away, and so there will be no one to insult, or injure, or defile, or shame us.  The consuming fire of God’s love will not burn us.  Nothing evil will be able to come near us.  Words fail to describe the glory that will be revealed there.

 

Of one pearl each shining portal, where joining with the choir immortal, we gather round Thy radiant throne.  No eye has seen the light; no ear has heard the might of Thy glory.  Therefore will we eternally sing songs of praise and joy to Thee.

 

We were perfectly ready to meet the bridegroom when we were baptized.  When did that change?
So soon after that momentous day you lost your first love. My two year old godchild likes to run around the house and pull everything he can off shelves onto the floor.  But at bedtime he wants his mom to sing “Jesus songs.”  That’s not hypocrisy; that’s the fire of the Holy Spirit burning within the jar of clay.
Just a few years older than that and you already had other priorities that made you less eager to run out and meet the bridegroom.  It was more conscious then.  The bridegroom has taken a long time to come bring us to the wedding.  We fall asleep.
Looking and waiting for Jesus to come doesn’t mean going out to the edge of town and standing with a candle.  It means letting your light shine before men so that they see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5).  We go out to meet Jesus by faith, believing that He has made us ready for His coming.  By faith we follow Him into the place where He has called us and we meet Him there in our neighbor.  People see Christ, the light of the world, whom you have received, in you, as you go about your tasks.  As a hearer of the word your light shines when you gladly receive Scripture and faithful preaching not as the word of men, but as the word of God, and you joyfully support the preaching of the Word with your offerings and prayers and by showing love and honor to the office Jesus set up for the proclamation of the Gospel.

 

As a father and mother your light shines when you gladly meet Christ in your children, provide for them, and train them in the Lord’s teaching. 
As a child your light shines when you meet Jesus in your parents and honor and obey them as gifts which He has given to you.
As husband Christ’s light shines in you when you love your wife and lay down your life for her, when you do it gladly because Christ did not come and condemn you for your sins and weakness but washed you with the water by the Word after carrying your sins on the cross.  As a wife Christ’s light shines when you gladly honor your husband as your head out of love for Jesus whose love, a consuming fire, caused Him to leave His own comfort and pleasure and take death and shame for you. 

 

As an employee your light shines when you work for your employer not only when their eye is on you, but you serve him or her gladly, knowing that it is really Jesus you are serving.

 

We go out to meet Jesus by faith that when He comes He will take us to His wedding.  Faith shows itself in the daily tasks to which Jesus has called us. 

 

To serve gladly and sacrificially in those daily tasks, always looking for Jesus and not looking to enjoy ourselves in this world requires a steady source of oil to keep our lamps burning.  The oil is the Holy Spirit.

When you were baptized, you were given a little flame from the consuming fire that is the life and love of God, which has burned up death.  Your lamp was lit from the fire of life that burned gloriously in the body of Jesus.

 

This little flame is so precious that nothing in the world can compare to it.  Our greatest concern in life is to not let that light burning in us—which is God Himself, the Holy Spirit—go out. 

 

Keep your lamp burning and be dressed for service like a man waiting for His master to come home.  It will be well for the servant who the master finds doing so when He returns.  He will gird Himself for service and wait on them.  And He is almost here!  That is why we light the candles on the Advent wreath in the days ahead.  Our greatest joy is nearly here.  Whatever else we are occupied with, nothing can compare with the joy of meeting Jesus the bridegroom when He comes and entering His eternal feast.

 

Yet we do.  We fall asleep.  We forget about our calling to meet Jesus in our neighbor.  We forget about the wedding feast.  We wander from Christ and our lamps grow dim or they go out.

 

But some day soon we will be startled awake.  “The bridegroom is here; come and meet him!”  It may be the day of your death.  It may be the moment of Christ’s return.  At that time your only concern will be to have your lamp lit and be ready to meet the bridegroom.

 

It’s not a good thing to fall asleep when we should be watching for Christ to come.  On your wedding day, you want your bridesmaids to share in your joy.  If the maid of honor rolls out of bed and just barely gets to the church on time, you would be grateful that she made it, but not exactly pleased that she didn’t take more care to be ready for one of the biggest days of your life.

But if she doesn’t show up on time because she has to run out to the store to get makeup or something for her hair, you’d be furious.  Of course, we all make mistakes.  But your wedding is too big a day for your guests to be foolish and unprepared. 

 

That’s how it will be on the day when Jesus returns for many who were baptized.  There will be no baptized Christians who will be able to say that they never fell asleep looking for Jesus the bridegroom to come. 

 

But those who are wise will have oil with them.  “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you,” Jesus said.  Now is the time to ask, seek, and knock—not the day of death.  He says, “If you know how to give good gifts to your children, though you are evil, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”  (Luke 11).  Today is the day to pray, “Thy Kingdom Come.”  “The Kingdom of God comes when our heavenly Father grants us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His Holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.” 

We pray daily for the Holy Spirit, so that we may lead godly lives, awake, looking for Jesus’ return, with clear consciences, letting the light of Jesus shine in us through love toward our neighbor in our callings. 
If you find yourself neglecting your calling and serving yourself; if you frequently forget about Jesus’ return and find your heart set on the world, whether by falling into sin or simply by neglecting His Word and prayer, now is the time to ask and seek and knock, that God give you His Holy Spirit, so that you believe the gospel and lead a godly life, looking for Jesus’ return.

 

We pray for the Holy Spirit, and seek the gift of the Holy Spirit where the Lord promises to give Him.  That is in Scripture, in faithful preaching and teaching, in absolution, in the Lord’s Supper.  In that way we carry extra oil with us so that we are prepared.
We also do it because it is in hearing the word and serving in the callings He has given us that we are with Him and are prepared for Him. 

 

The joys of eternal life are great and no one is able to speak about them properly.  But one thing is certain.  Those who dislike Christ’s word now and who find no pleasure in serving their neighbor in love would not like eternal life either. 
No one knows the day or the hour of Christ’s return, and so trying to predict the day is sinful—then you could postpone repentance until the last minute.  Instead, Christians live as if every day is the day of Jesus’ return.  And they do it not out of fear only, but out of joy, because Christ’s return is the joy of their hearts.
We have divided hearts.  Our flesh wishes that Jesus would never come back so that we can go on serving ourselves.  In Christians the flesh which does not want Jesus to return is still very much present.  That is why daily we need the Holy Spirit.  We pray for Him in the Lord’s prayer.  And the Lord has promised to give Him to us.  As often as you see your flesh not wanting to hear the Word of God, not wanting to serve your neighbor, not wanting Jesus to return, that is the sign that you still need to knock and ask for the Holy Spirit, and seek His Word, praying, “Lord, let me not be among the foolish virgins who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ but do not do the will of Your Father in heaven and so do not enter the Kingdom of God.”
If you have been ill prepared, begin to pray this way now, but also rejoice.  Whether your faith is weak or strong, you have received Christ, the light of the world.  His light shines upon you and lifts up your eyes to the cross, where the darkness of sin died, and to His resurrection, where eternal life and righteousness dawned for you.  The Sun rose upon you in your baptism.  And now the bridegroom comes to give you a taste of His wedding feast in His body and blood, which cleanse you inwardly, make you holy, and pour out the oil of His spirit on the flickering lamp of your faith in Him, so that you may go forward with joy and confidence to meet Him when He comes again.

 

Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.
SDG