The Big Day Is Coming!
As you prepare for Jesus' first coming on Christmas, are you a Scrooge, a Busy-bee, or a Worry-wart? Also, how are you preparing for Jesus' second coming, when he returns on Judgment Day? In 2 Peter 3:8-14, we find advice on how to get ready for Jesus' return. December 4, 2011.
The countdown is on! The day is fast approaching! How many days are left? Do you have them counted? Have you made all the necessary preparations? Have you got your house in order? Are you sure your plans for that day are going to work out? Are you ready for the big day? Oh, wait! I bet you think I’m talking about Christmas. Maybe I should start over and tell you that Christmas 2011 is not what I had in mind when I said, “The day is fast approaching!” The big day I had in mind is Judgment Day.
Those of you who are alert to the flow of the Christian church year may be wondering, “Why is he talking about Judgment Day? I thought we just got done with the season of the End Time. This is a new church year. This is Advent. We are trying to get ready for Christmas.” If any one of you had that thought flit through your mind, let me assure you that I know that the season of the End Time is over. I know that this is the Advent season. I know that this is the time of the year in which we prepare for Christmas. But I would like you to ponder this thought. There is a very close link between Christmas and Judgment Day. The link is Jesus. At Christmas we celebrate his first coming into this world. On Judgment Day we will celebrate his second coming. In fact, the words of the prophets in the Old Testament encouraging preparation for his first coming are parallel to the words of the apostles in the New Testament encouraging preparation for his second coming.
In the second lesson today from 2 Peter chapter 3, the apostle helps us see that Judgment Day is really second Christmas. In doing so, he offers a very practical message about getting ready because The Big Day Is Coming!
For Scrooges
For the 36th consecutive year, our local repertory company is once again staging “A Christmas Carol.” It’s sad but probably true that some folks have a dickens of a time remembering that the tale about old, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is not on the same plane as the Luke 2 account of the birth of Christ. Nonetheless, we enjoy the story of Scrooge, who couldn’t care less about Christmas. He was all wrapped up in himself and his money. He wanted Bob Cratchit and anyone else who worked for him to keep right on working just as though Christmas would never come. “Christmas? Bah humbug!”
There were Scrooges in the first century in Asia Minor who couldn’t care less about Christ’s second coming. They scoffed at the idea of that “second Christmas.” The apostle wrote, “You must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this coming he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’” As far as they were concerned, God was no more than a distant, sleeping giant. He had done nothing to change the world’s existence in the past and wouldn’t do anything in the future. “Judgment Day? Bah humbug!”
Any Scrooges out here today? Maybe not. Maybe there isn’t even one person here today who is thinking, “I know Christmas will come, but Judgment Day is so far off. Christmas is real, and it’s coming soon. Judgment Day seems sort of unreal and far away. So, I’m going to spend my hard-earned dough on the gifts I want to give and on the stuff I want because it’s all about making myself happy. But spending money on stuff that will make a difference for others so they can stand before God on Judgment Day as his children, being generous so my church and church body can get the good news out to others and get them ready for the ultimate Big Day—Bah humbug!”
The apostle begs to differ. Just because Judgment Day is not fixed on the calendar like December 25 doesn’t mean it’s any less real. The Big Day is coming. When will it occur? We don’t know. God hasn’t told us. But the apostle proclaimed, “The present heavens and earth are…being kept for the day of judgment...The day of the Lord will come like a thief.” He also added Moses’ words from Psalm 90 to help his readers understand that God’s timing is not like ours. “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” But the Big Day is coming. The “second Christmas” is on the way. It’s a day that will happen whether we like it or not, whether we are ready or not. So why not get ready and help others get ready to enjoy it?
For Busy-bees
But how are we supposed to do that? How are we supposed to get ready for Judgment Day, this “second Christmas”? Well, ask yourself, “What does it take to prepare properly for December 25?” If you ask the Busy-bees, they will tell you that first and foremost there’s the shopping, which includes everything from racking your brain to buy for that person who already has everything to shaking your head at how much Christmas shopping is going to ruin your budget. Then there’s the mailing of the Christmas cards, which includes everything from questions like “Should I write one of those newsy Christmas letters?” and “Should I send it snail mail and pay for all those stamps or as a PDF file electronically or should I just sign my name on a card?” to the guilt of receiving Christmas cards from two people on the Monday after Thanksgiving when you just know you’ll end up mailing yours on December 23rd. Next come the decorations. “Should I get a new tree for the apartment?” “Why should I add an extra string of lights to the front of the house when I know that the day four bulbs burn out will be the day of the first bad snowstorm?” Then there’s the decision some folks have to make about who’s going to cook Christmas dinner. “If we go to my sister’s house, she’s sure to invite Uncle Al and Aunt Margaret, and you know I can’t stand her talking on and on about...” Oh, and don’t forget the office party! “You know I hate those things. I never know what to wear.” “Yeah! And that sales guy is such a lush!” “I wish they’d just give us a bonus and forget the party!” When the Busy-bees start buzzing around as they get ready for Christmas, they usually get about halfway into it and find themselves all worn out. That’s when you can hear them say, “I wish Christmas wouldn’t be so hectic. I wish Christmas would just come right now so we could get it over with and get our lives back to normal!”
There were Busy-bees in Asia Minor in the first century, people rushing around, trying to do and do and do and finding themselves spinning their wheels in the mud and muck of their crazy schedules. Some of them took a look at their fast-paced lives and thought, “Why doesn’t God just end it all right now?”
Any Busy-bees here today? “I’m so busy cooking, cleaning, baking, buying, planning parties, visiting, studying, traveling for Christmas that I wish it would just come right now so I can get my life back to normal. And now, as if Christmas preparations aren’t enough, the pastor says we should be preparing for Judgment Day! Hey! If I have to think about Judgment Day, here’s a thought. Why doesn’t God just end it all right now and save us a few headaches?”
The answer? The apostle says, “Take a deep breath. Slow down, and prepare your hearts for Jesus’ coming.” How do we do that? Peter put his finger on it: The Lord “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance…What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming...So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” Preparing our hearts to celebrate his first coming is the same as preparing our hearts for his second coming. God wants people to repent, to believe what he says about us in Scripture, to believe him when he says that our sin is so bad that he ought to damn us and to believe him when he says that Jesus washed all our sins away with his blood. That’s what really counts. That’s how to get prepared for the Big Day. There is a reason why we don’t just jump from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas Day. There is a reason for the season of Advent. It’s not primarily so we can do all the shopping, card writing, decorating, dining, and partying. Advent is a season for preparing our hearts for the ultimate Big Day. And preparation of the heart means making room for Jesus.
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled
Within my heart, made clean and new,
A quiet chamber kept for you. (Christian Worship 38:13)
For Worry-warts
I don’t want to harp on the subject of bad news too much, but a person would have to be an ostrich with your head buried in the sand not to notice the downward spiral of the sad effects of sin in our society. How many more scandals will we hear about going on in high school hallways and in major university locker rooms and in the homes of people we know, breaking our hearts? It’s enough to turn any of us into Worry-warts. Sometimes even the most faithful Christians cry out, “Lord, I’m hanging on by my fingernails, and I don’t think I can hold on much longer!”
There were Worry-warts in Asia Minor during the first century. Just read the two letters of the apostle Peter. It will take you about 11 minutes and 25 seconds. Those people were under persecution—big time. If anyone had reason to turn into a Worry-wart, they did. They were crying out, “Lord, how can we hang on?”
Any Worry-warts here today? Will we have enough in the checkbook after the holidays to pay the full balance on the credit cards so we don’t get socked with interest? Will our kids finally get over the stuffy nose and hacking cough? What if the Badgers defense can’t keep up with the Oregon fast-paced offense in the Rose Bowl? What if the Packers get knocked out of the play-offs? I’m so worried! What if our plans for the wedding or for a family don’t turn out the way we wanted?
To calm our worries and fears, the apostle points not to a specific date but to what is going to happen on that second Christmas, the ultimate Big Day. “The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare...That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.” On Judgment Day the world as we know it will no longer exist. It makes no sense to debate what exactly it will look like. God doesn’t share those details with us. But that’s OK because God does not want us to be overly concerned about what will happen to woods and wildlife, fish and stream, and all the other things he allows us to enjoy in this world. He has something far better in store for us. “In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” Take heart, Worry-warts! Here is a message for your comfort and courage. The Big Day is coming, and that means we are going home.
Which are you—a Scrooge, a Busy-bee, or a Worry-wart? Maybe like me you’re all three, sometimes switching from one to the other in one day. All the more reason for you and me to get ready for Christmas the right way. Christmas is a special time of the year. Preparation is important, even necessary. But as you prepare for the celebration of the first Christmas, get ready for the “second Christmas,” because Jesus has come and will come for you! Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on December 4, 2011
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