Third Last Sunday of the Church Year, 2009
Midweek Service
"Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!' And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:
'We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.'" Revelation 11:15-12:6
This is the third to last week in the church year. The calendar is signaling that time is running short – T-minus three and counting down to the fulfillment of all things and the great final reckoning for us all. This is the time on the Church’s calendar when we focus on the end, when the heavens and the earth and all creation will be shaken by the voice of God, when Christ will appear in great glory and might to judge the living and the dead, when the dead will rise form their graves – believers to everlasting life, and unbelievers to everlasting contempt and condemnation.
It is the time of the seventh angel blowing his trumpet. It’s time for God to settle up. It’s been taking a long time. It looked like He didn’t care about evil spreading everywhere. Many have been wanting to ask what the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God are asking, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before You will judge and avenge our blood?” The martyrs have been told that the time isn’t right, however. It is still the time of sacrifice. There are still those who must die so mercy and forgiveness can be available and someone who is lost can be saved.
But tonight we reckon on the end time. The day is coming soon when everything has been done that could have been done. Then, it shall be time for the great reckoning.
Everything is ready for that day. The Temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed. It’s not likely to come back. At least, God has made no promise that He will be there if it ever does.
And now there is the destroyer’s mad wrath. He has turned his attention to the Church. He is trying to destroy all the good God has done. He is trying to destroy the woman who has given birth to a boy who has given her agony. The woman is a picture of God’s faithful people, pregnant with the promise of a savior. The boy child is Christ himself. The agony is the persecution the Church must undergo if she is to be faithful.
John the Apostle’s vision pans back and forth in time like the camera on a movie set. His attention is now focused on the Virgin’s son, Christ Jesus. We see through John’s view how the dragon, Satan, wants to destroy the Son of God by temptation, threats, and torture.
The dragon wanted to devour the baby, but he failed. Christ performed his duty and was taken up to heaven. The church has to flee into the wilderness, go underground. For the early Christians this meant secret worship services in dark catacombs. Faithful Christians always must reckon on some sort of persecution, whether it be at the hand of Roman soldiers, Nazi leaders, or Soviet Police. The criticism of family and friends is even more painful. The temptation to fall away from Christ for the careless life is even more dangerous, because it sounds good to hear that we are accountable to no one but ourselves.
From the destroyer has come everything that is evil, everything that breaks down our love for God and each other and destroys them. It is he who is behind the love of so many growing cold and lifeless. It looks as if he is going to win.
That is when the end time comes, the great final day. Just when it appears the powers of destruction and arrogance and self-love are victorious, God intervenes. Christ returns. The end of the destructive powers is on the horizon. You have been given to see it coming.
Most will not. Life will go on pretty much as always. Marriages, business deals, lunches, and mortgages. People posting letters, buying stamps, driving their kids to school. And then, unexpectedly, like a flash of lighting across an inflamed sky, the destroyers of the earth will be condemned.
The murder, the drunkenness, the greed; sodomy, heartlessness, adultery; the cheating at work, the pollution, the fruitless wars; oh, and the pious and profound lies about God and the specter of Death – all gone, judged and condemned in a moment. All those who love them and have based their faith and lives and confidence in them – wiped out. The impenitent begging the mountains to fall upon them rather than standing before God as guilty, shamed men and women on the final day. The Christian church won’t need to lift a finger against the destroyers. God Himself will wipe out everything that has been making this world lousy.
Tonight’s Good News? You now know how the story ends.
You can approach all the decay with confidence and patience. You don’t need to rage against it as someone who is fighting a losing battle. There is no need for cynicism or bitterness. You can stop complaining now. The Lord is already aware that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. That is why He is come to redeem it on the cross, and that is why He is coming to restore it on the final day. Destruction will be destroyed. Decay will be reversed. Trust Him. He wants it back, pristine, in harmony with Him. He has a personal investment of blood and suffering in all of this.
It is enough to keep you away from the things that destroy a man, a woman, or a child. And where you have not kept away, repent, and live at the feet of a God who is constantly forgiving, so that you can be purified for the final day. It is His blood that will make you ready. Let the world rage against you. God will take care of it. You’re with Him now.
Jesus is ascended to heaven in glory, not to be far away, but to be near. The chalice and paten carry Him to us so that we may have His life coursing within our veins. Our hearts now beat with His Body and Blood. Together we are moving toward THE DAY.
There is only one order in these last days: rejoice. Rejoice when things are crumbling and everything looks hopeless. Rejoice in patient and faithful endurance. It is a sign that your reward as His servant is about to be bestowed. Our Christian joy is the warm-up chorus to the praise of heaven. We can add our voices to this praise:
We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty . . . the nations were angry and Your wrath is come. The time is come for judging and rewarding and for destroying those who are destroying the earth.
Thank you, Jesus. We are ready. Come soon.
To which He replies, “Behold, I am coming quickly.”
Amen and Amen.
The Reverend Sean M. Smallwood
cruxprobatomnia -- the cross tests everything
The opening is taken from Bill Cwirla’s sermon on Matthew 24:15-28. The middle is from a devotion by the late Bishop Bo Giertz. What can I say? I needed to come up with a sermon in a hurry. Credit should go where credit is due. I’ve added, changed and expanded throughout. With thanks, also, to Bill Norwood, translator of Bo Giertz’ work.
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