Last Sunday of the Church Year Mark 13:32-37

 He Who Loves Us

Isaiah 51:4-6 Revelation 1:4b-8 Mark 13:32-37

Have you ever driven through a large city that has one of those housing developments where all of the houses look the same?  At one of those houses, a family has been waiting for their father to return home from work.  The father has a job that requires him to work all kinds of hours and the family can never be sure when he will show up. This day however is very special and they have planned a surprise party for him. The hour is growing late and the youngest one has grown sleepy.  Even so, in eager anticipation, she keeps asking if her daddy is really coming home tonight. Suddenly, mom shouts out, “Get ready, everyone, he is right at the door.” (Mark 13: 29)   How excited and eager the family has been.  And now, they are all in for a joyous and happy time.

A few houses down however, are a group of people who are not supposed to be there. The parents are gone and the teenage son has invited a lot of friends over to party. The house is a mess; actually it is more of a disaster area.  The smoke filled rooms echo with the sound of loud and vulgar music and the neighbors have been complaining.  The use of drugs and alcohol has caused fights and many things are broken.  Some of the walls have holes knocked in them, but no one seems to care. Most everyone is falling down drunk. Some are even passed out on the floor, oblivious to all that is going on around them.

Car doors slam outside, but no one hears them. Suddenly a girl yells out, “Hey, your dad is right at the door--with a whole bunch of cops behind him.” How dreadful they feel as sudden panic sets in knowing that it is too late to clean up or repair the damage!  How sad that many of them are too intoxicated to even know what is happening as they are arrested and carted off to jail! 

Which house would you want to be in when Jesus returns? Are you living out your life in constant preparation, anxiously expecting Christ to return at any moment?  Or are you taking a calculated risk, gambling that Jesus will not return today or even in your lifetime? 

If you only knew the exact day and hour, you could plan accordingly. You could live your life for yourself and do whatever you please.  Every day could be one big party until the end was near. Do you think you could get your life in order and be ready in plenty of time before the Lord showed up? Suppose that Jesus was going to return at next week’s worship service, right here in Our Savior Lutheran church.  Once He appeared inside the Church, the doors would be locked and the celebration would begin. Would you be here early that day?  Or would you find yourself left locked outside like those who delayed in the days of Noah?

Jesus will not return in secret or inside a building, however. Rather Jesus will return visibly and suddenly to all the people in the world. The house that Jesus is talking about having in order is a spiritual house made up of members of His church.  His church consists of all individuals who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. The house of God is where His family resides in faith awaiting the celebration, which will begin when He returns as opposed to the house of the world that live in sinful and destructive celebration until He returns.

Let’s face the fact that most people are not in the habit of taking our Lord and Master’s return seriously.  If they were, they would be looking for a Church home where the Word of God is preached rightly and the means of forgiveness are given abundantly. And they would be there at every opportunity so they would not miss out on any of the love and forgiveness that He offers. Those who wait to the last minute will find that there will not be enough time to get their house in order.

Knowing that Jesus is coming should change your lives in a significant way. You should live your lives in watchful expectation of His return, making the most of the time you have to get His house in order.

How do you get His house in order? First of all, you join with your family in doing the work of the Church, working together to proclaim the Gospel. You live out your life in faith that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. You gladly hear His Word at every opportunity. You worship by confessing your sins, remembering His baptism where you are made children of God and you receive His very body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you tell others about “Him who loves us and had freed us from our sins by His blood.”  

You witness the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others. You speak to those around you about Jesus Christ by your words and deeds. You tell them that Jesus Christ died for the sins of all mankind and all those who truly believe in His work of salvation will have everlasting life. Good works flow out from the faith that God has given us, and those that do His work belong to His everlasting Kingdom.  His children serve Him as priests by happily offering up their time and talents not only to keep God’s house in order but also to prepare others for His imminent return.

 And you know the hour is growing late because you have seen the signs.  Saint Paul tells you, "But as to the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape.” 

Paul goes on to say, “But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we wake or sleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11) 

Are you watching for a Father to return and punish you? Or are you watching and excitedly waiting for a loving Father to fill you with joy and eternal happiness? We are approaching Advent where we will be watching for Jesus, who in loving grace and compassion came into the world humbly to save us. That same Jesus hung on a cross carrying our sins and rose from the dead to give us His victory. We know Jesus baptized us into His death and raised us to new life in His resurrection. We know this same Jesus, who fills our ears and our hearts with His words that forgive and cleanse us. And we know Jesus, through His Supper who comes with His very Body and Blood to unite us with Him.

We do not watch and wait alone. He is watching over us even now. Christ is always with us. He is with us in a very special and comforting way in Baptism, in His Supper, in His body. He is here with us today, on this Lord's Day, preparing us for His Day of Fulfillment. The One who is coming is the One who comes to us now in His Holy Word. He is not some stranger that we will meet for the first time on the Last Day. He has revealed Himself to us at our Baptism. We meet Him every Sunday in the Liturgy.

We watch and wait in the presence of His fellow servants here in His body of believers. We watch and wait as members of His Church, with angels, archangels, and all of the company in heaven. And when He comes back on that very special day we will give Him honor, praise and glory because we will see Him for who He truly is-- He who loves us.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.