26th Sunday after Pentecost
Nov 17, 2024
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We are nearing the end of the church year. And because everything that we see, say, and do in the Divine Service has a teaching purpose, the Scripture readings for this time tell us about the end. It is in these last Sundays in the church year that we hear the passages that speak of the end times – their sings and the final judgment.
This has most certainly been a hot topic in recent years, though not as much now as it was in the months and year leading up to the year 2000. We all remember the Y2K hysteria. We heard all of the doomsday scenarios and the turmoil and crisis that was predicted. But everything calmed down, the world did not end, and we were ready for our next sign of the end. And for many, politics became the next harbinger of doom. There are controversial and drawn-out presidential elections (as we so painfully know). Then there were the attacks of September 11th and the ensuing war in Afghanistan, the Ukraine, and Israel.
But our Lord tells us in our text for this day that these things are in fact just that – signs. They are not the end. Jesus said, “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places, there will be famines: this is but the beginning of the birth-pangs.
In our day of round-the-clock news coverage and instant information, it’s not surprising that we see the signs of the end with such frequency that many become convinced that Jesus is going to return at any moment. And we even ask how could things get any worse? Surely these are the end times.
But, dear Christians, people were saying this one hundred years ago, even before the atrocities of National Socialism under Hitler, and Communism under Stalin, Pol-Pot, and Chairman Mao, all in the 20th Century – all within the lifetime of many of you here today. People were anticipating the end even a thousand years before Y2K!
Our Lord Jesus preaches about the end not to alarm his people to the point of hysterics, but rather to have them be prepared for his return. And while the Gospel readings for the next Sundays will describe the end times in more detail, He emphasizes in our text this morning the plight of His people as the end draws closer.
The plight of Christians is summed up best by the Lord Himself at the end of our reading: “… you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” This is a solemn promise from your Lord, but there is also the implicit warning that not all will endure. Some will, indeed, fall away and not endure to the end, and thus not be saved.
One need not even look beyond the Old Testament Scriptures to see how this comes about. The people of Israel repeatedly turned form God in their disobedience, in their complaining, and in their idolatry. When God gave His people manna in the wilderness, they complained that it was miserable bread in comparison to the food they enjoyed in Egypt. When God mercifully relented at their pleading of Moses not to destroy the people, they thanked Him by worshipping false gods and killing His prophets. Such is the attitude of unrepentant man against his Maker. And such is the tendency of God’s people in all places as they persist in unrighteousness.
Jesus said, “… he who endures to the end shall be saved.” To endure means the same as to abide or to wait. The Psalms are replete with calls to repentance and to wait on the LORD. In the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks of true believers as those who abide in Him. In a word, the one who endures to the end and is saved is the one who resists the temptations of the world – who looks to the Lord alone for comfort – and who receives the Lord’s gifts for strengthening of faith and protection against the devil and his ways. And it is of the greatest urgency that the Lord imparts such words to His people, as no one on the earth knows the day of His return, when it will be too late to repent and leave the ways of this world. To such as would live in sin and count on recanting at the end, the Lord will say on that final day, “depart from me, ye evildoers, for I never know you.”
But while no man knows the day of the Lord’s return, he nonetheless tells you the signs, therefore, “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
And yet how near we are to the end is not for us to know. Jesus said that we are not to spend our time trying to calculate it, but to watch and be ready. Such waiting upon the Lord is the endurance of which He has spoken, and it involves turning from the life of sin. It includes preparedness for that great and final day in which the trumpet sounds and the Lord returns in full glory – the day on which every knee will bow at the name of Jesus.
Your Lord has told you the signs of the end, but He also says that the end is not yet. The Gospel must first be preached to all nations. Jesus commanded His apostles, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Since our Lord’s Ascension into heaven and beginning with Pentecost, the Gospel has been brought to the ends of the earth. Even though the church has endured persecution and in certain places even destruction, Christ Jesus declared that the gates of hell would never prevail against her. There have always been the faithful who hear God’s Word. There have always been preacher sent to proclaim that Word. And we have the promise that these will endure to the end.
So what does this mean for the Lord’s people here in the middle of Iowa? Well, deal Christians, all that round-the-clock news coverage and instant information that makes us painfully aware of the sorry state of the world also has an advantage. It makes us immediately aware of world events and gives us perspective for our own lives and Christians. We hear what happens in the Christian church around the world and we can take note of the mistakes and errors that lead to a church’s downfall.
If we are to endure to the end, we must be clear in what it is that we believe, teach, and confess. We don’t need clever slogans and gimmicks to proclaim our belief. We have one message and one message alone – Christ crucified. The pure and saving light of the Gospel will be extinguished on the day we begin to emphasize something else.
In our day, numerical growth is an especially popular emphasis. We’ve gotten the idea that we are not healthy as a congregation unless we are growing. What a church believes, teaches, confesses is no longer the focus. In fact, we’ve come to the point even in our Synod that if a church isn’t growing numerically, we need to have an official come in and see what we’re doing wrong. To those who advocate such measures and insist on church growth for its own sake, I have a simple comment – you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. To insist that the church will at all times grow and experience prosperity is to deny what Jesus has been saying about the end.
“You will be hated by all for my name’s sake,” says the Lord. You will face pressure from family, friends, and society in general not to take your faith so seriously. You will be called intolerant, hateful, and divisive when you remain faithful to Jesus’ words and trust in Him as the only way to God. You will be scoffed at when you do not go along with the world – your enduring to the end will be no cakewalk. As David said in the first Psalm, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”
Dear Christians, it is unpleasant to have to talk about division and disagreement among Christians. But Scripture itself says plainly that these things must come about. They appear because false teachers must come about in order to make the truth clearer, and they come because such things must come to pass before the end.
Therefore, take comfort in these times, dear brothers and sister in Christ, your Lord’s Word and Sacraments remain unchanged. Being faithful to God’s Word will only become increasingly unpopular but remember to endure to the end. It is much easier to deny the Lord and go along with the world, but blessed are you when you cling to His Word and Sacrament, there alone has He promised to be found.
Christ Jesus, true God and true Man, who was born of the Virgin, was crucified, and rose again, does not leave you nor forsake you. He has conquered the world, death, and the devil himself, and He is your endurance. It is Christ Jesus who receives your confession and forgives you all of your sins. It is Christ Jesus who tells you not to be dismayed when you see the world deteriorate with its wars and divisions among Christians. For the end will come, but it is not the end for you. It is the end of sin, danger, division, and death. It is the beginning of the new heavens and earth. And whether that is today, tomorrow, or 1000 years from now, He makes you, His baptized people, ready and prepared for that day. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
SOLI DEO GLORIA
Preached to the Glory of God
Rev. Dr. Michael L. Kumm
Unworthy Servant