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The Son of Man is Coming with Power and Glory

           Cautiously yet confidently, the weather man will predict the arrival of this winter’s first snow storm. He’ll tell it like it will be. Six to ten inches of snow. Take precautions. Get your shovel out of storage and snow blower filled with gas. Be ready for slow travel. But I wouldn’t call his forecast alarming. He won’t appear uncontrollably anxious. Neither will he assume we’ll dismiss his predictions and make plans for a picnic. He’ll be confident that, with the accuracy of his forecast, we’ll be prepared.

            Cautiously yet confidently, Jesus predicts his advent, which means “arrival.” He tells it like it will be. He will return from heaven to put an end to the world as we know it on Judgment Day. Believers and unbelievers separated forever in heaven and hell, respectively. Take precautions. Get your Bible out of storage. Fuel up your Christian living. Be ready for final departure. But I wouldn’t call Jesus’ forecast alarming. He doesn’t appear to be uncontrollably anxious. Neither is he assuming that his followers will dismiss his predictions and make plans for ungodly living. He is confident that, with the accuracy of his forecast, we will be prepared.

            The Son of Man is Coming with Power and Glory. On this first Sunday of Advent Jesus wants to be sure we consider his arrival not with anxiety and alarm but caution and confidence.

After the Son of Man comes … go free!

            To properly prepare us for his arrival, Jesus begins at the end. After he comes. When we will not live here anymore but in heaven forever. Then there will be a new, everlasting order that Jesus describes with the word “escape,” picturing a prison break where his faith-filled followers are sprung out of the imprisonment of death, disease, stress and sin. Jesus also describes it with the word “redemption,” not the usual word redemption that means payment for sin but a word indicating deliverance or salvation. Like Lot’s deliverance from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorah, “So when God destroyed the cities of the plain … he brought Lot out of the catastrophe” (Genesis 19:29). Think of recovering 100% from cancer or recuperating 100% from an injury. Breaking away from an oppressive relationship, losing (and keeping off) that 25 pounds, or quitting smoking or drinking for good. Liberated! A new you! Free at last … after the Son of Man comes.

            Your liberator and Savior Jesus will take you – without your help – to live in heaven forever. You’ll have no stress, regret, or worries. Your body will function perfectly all the time. The devil will be securely locked up in hell forever, and you’ll see Jesus at your side. It will all begin when the Son of Man comes.

When the Son of Man comes … stand up!

            At that time, on Judgment Day, Jesus will momentarily leave his throne in heaven to gather his friends and followers who believe in him and leave those who do not believe to their personal preference of living without him, which means they’ll do that forever in hell. Dead bodies of all people of all time in all places will be resurrected, reconstituted, and reunited with their souls already in heaven or hell. This universal event, Jesus states, will “come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth” and nobody will be excluded, missed, or forgotten. “Heaven and earth will pass away,” meaning that this planet, its natural resources and synthetic materials, and all our possessions will burn up in a great ball of fire. Even the atmosphere, which is what Jesus refers to with the word “heaven,” full of stars and galaxies, will explode with a whoosh louder than a hundred sonic booms. Jesus continues, “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On the earth nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint in terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” Just before Jesus returns the normal order of nature will be obliterated. Many people not ready in faith will faint with terror as they prepare to face their Maker, clueless about the chaos and apprehensive about the dreaded terror that awaits them.

            Jesus, having cautioned us, reassures believers confidently, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” No fainting for those forgiven by Jesus! No burying heads in the sand for believers who trust in the promises of Jesus! No anxiety for those who admit that even our best behavior can’t save us but the blood of Jesus can! When the Son of Man comes … stand up and greet him confidently! Look Jesus in the eye. Give him a firm handshake. Keep your chin high. Don’t be afraid. This is your redemption, he says, so it belongs to you forever. It’s a gift from Jesus and the best thanks you can give him is to take it in faith and enjoy it with confidence. “My words will never pass away,” Jesus emphasizes to doubting hearts. Even if the sun drops from the sky, the mountains crash into the sea, and the earth explodes – even if you sin more than you’d like or have too much acne or too few friends or too much regret or too little time. Jesus will never forget about you and his promises to you.

Before the Son of Man comes … watch and pray!

            Because Jesus knows how quickly we forget about him, how easily we get distracted from our devotion to him above everything else, how conveniently we replace his priorities with our own selfish priorities. He warns, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life.” Dissipation is wasteful self-indulgence and Jesus knows how enjoyably we can load up thousands on credit cards for our own luxury while disproportionately offering a few leftovers to charities and church. Jesus knows that our drunkenness isn’t necessarily a silly goof of too much fun on the weekend but a sin that seeks to avoid and escape responsibilities, relationships, difficulties, and decisions he has placed in our lives for our growth; but we drown them in beer or booze. Jesus knows that the anxieties of this life catch us by surprise because we’re improperly expecting a care-free life of paradise on earth.

            Our careless sinning weighs us down so much it threatens to trap us on this earth to be destroyed in Sodom-and-Gomorah-like fire. Jesus could simply say, “Stop doing those things,” but he also knows we don’t have the will power on our own to stop sinning. Instead, he says, “Be always on the watch, and pray.” Watching is something we can do, especially when Jesus gives us signs to keep us awake. “Nations will be in anguish” and at war, for example. Or natural disaster. Or Christian persecution. “Take a good look at this,” Jesus warns. “When it scares you then come to me. Pray to me. Ask me for my forgiveness and it will be yours. Ask me for my strength and it will be yours. Ask me to save you and I will. Watch and pray.”

            During the early part of the Cold War, when Americans feared a missile attack from the Soviet Union, it was common in schools for teachers to instruct students to “duck and cover.” You baby boomers may actually remember the drills pretending that the air-raid sirens are going off, and ducking under your desk, pulling your knees to your chin, and covering your head with your hands. Today, of course, that seems absurd. If nuclear war ever erupts in your vicinity, a desk won’t save you. Ducking won’t do anyone any good. There’s a better way to prepare for nuclear attack and for Judgment Day alike. That’s why Jesus tells those who believe in him not to duck or to fear but to stand at his arrival. “Stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.” We stand not because we’re so strong, but because Jesus holds our lives safely in his hands. He deserves our attention and admiration. So that we may better stand on the Last Day, and stand up every day for Jesus, we practice standing here in worship. We stand for cross processionals and opening hymns. We stand for the forgiveness of sins in the absolution and for the reading of the gospel. We stand after the sermon, during the Lord’s Prayer, to receive Holy Communion and to hear the benediction. We stand to be cautious and always alert. We stand to show that we are confident. We are ready. For today and for eternity. Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on November 29, 2009

Services

Sundays 7:45, 9:00 & 10:30 am

Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

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