Advent 2 December 5, 2021 The Sunday of Jesus Coming Again

Advent 2

Luke 21:25-36

December 5, 2021

“Hope”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Signs in the sun and moon and stars. Distress of nations in perplexity. Roaring of sea and waves. People fainting with fear and with foreboding. Powers of the heavens shaken.

What do you think when the Bible speaks like that? Like Jesus in our Gospel reading today? How do you tend to react to those parts of the Bible that describe these various end signs? Sadly, many of us Christians shy away from those parts of the Bible. Perhaps we’re even scared of them. We avoid them. Books like Ezekiel and Daniel, for instance. And especially a book like Revelation. That book we tend to avoid as a matter of course.

But there’s nothing spoken anywhere in the Bible that you need to be scared of. Not if you believe in Christ. Yes, there are some scary prophecies given in God’s Word. They’re meant to be scary to those who don’t believe in Christ. They’re meant to turn them to repentance and faith. But to those who believe in Jesus they all give hope. We hope ultimately for an end to the evil of this world and the perfection of the new world.

A perfect example is the ten plagues in Egypt before the Israelites left. Now those plagues were scary. No doubt about it. Water turned to blood? Swarms of frogs, flies, gnats, locusts? Animals dying? Boils? Hail? Darkness? Death of all the firstborn? That was a scary time with great signs. Much like Jesus describes the times before the end. But the Israelites weren’t scared. The ones who were scared were the Egyptians. In fact, many of the plagues didn’t even affect the Israelites but only the Egyptians. For the Israelites, it was a time of hope. God was setting them free from their slavery and evil.

It’s the same for us with all the signs of the end. The signs give us hope. Because we know God is going to set us free from the slavery of this world to evil. As Paul says today in Romans 15, these Scriptures are all written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. It all gives us hope.

The Bible speaks very candidly, very truthfully, of the evil that we live in. The Bible doesn’t shy away from the evils as we might like to do. Doesn’t avoid speaking of the evil of Satan and all his demons. Doesn’t avoid speaking of the evil of earthquakes and famines and wars to name just a few. Rather, the Bible faces these evils head on and calls them what they are—signs that this world is passing away. Dying.

I wanted to give you a clear example today from the book of Revelation. Yes, the book of Revelation speaks of some very scary happenings. For instance, one of the more famous is known as “the four horsemen of the apocalypse”. It’s Revelation chapter 6 and we just finished it this week in our Wednesday morning study. John sees a vision of four different men on horses riding over the earth with various evils. First is the white horse whose rider has a bow and crown and is bent on conquest and power. This horseman represents all the evil and corrupt rulers of the world who have oppressed and murdered people in their quest for power and glory. So Revelation speaks clearly of evil, corrupt, murdering rulers and leaders. The world has had many of them.

Second is the horse of warfare. A bright red horse whose rider was given a great sword that men should slay one another. So Revelation speaks clearly about all the dreadful wars our world has seen. Third is the black horse of famine. In the rider’s hand are scales to measure out the price of food. And because food is so scarce it costs seven times its normal cost. So Revelation speaks clearly of the horrific evil of hunger and starvation.

And fourth is the pale horse whose rider’s name is Death and Hades follows him. And he kills with sword and famine and pestilence and pandemic and by wild beasts of the earth. So the Bible speaks very clearly about death and plagues.

Should we shy away from the four horsemen of the apocalypse? Should we avoid talking about them? No. Because they speak the truth. This world is full of evils—corruption, power-hungry rulers and governments, famine, wars, bloodshed, plagues, death. God doesn’t shy away from speaking of all of it.

But He also doesn’t shy away from speaking of the great and blessed hope that we Christians have in Christ. Because what comes after the four horsemen in Revelation? There are three more seals opened after the four of the horsemen. The fifth one shows the souls of those in heaven begging and praying to Jesus that He would come again in glory and make all things right again. And He says to them, paraphrasing, “Just a little while longer.” And then the sixth seal is opening and we’re given a picture of the Last Day, very similar to what you heard in the Gospel reading today. Earthquake. Sun becoming dark. Moon a blood color. Stars falling. The heavens being shaken.

And then what? Then one of the most glorious and comforting pictures given in all the Bible. Revelation chapter 7 which we’re going to study this coming Wednesday morning. Then John sees all the saints in heaven standing before the Lamb with white robes and palm branches. He sees them singing and rejoicing in the Lamb. In Jesus. And we hear how all the saints are before the throne of God. How they won’t hunger any more. Nor thirst any more. The sun won’t strike them. They are sheltered in the presence of God. The Lamb will be their shepherd and guide them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

That’s the way the whole book of Revelation is. It doesn’t shy away from describing the terrible battle going on between good and evil in this world right now. It doesn’t shrink from picturing how ugly and desperate this spiritual battle becomes in the world. But then Revelation is always showing us Jesus who is sitting on His throne. It’s always giving us hope. Telling us to believe in the Lamb who shed His blood for us sinners and now reigns in victory.

So should you be scared of any parts of the Bible? Parts like Revelation? Parts like Luke 21 today where Jesus describes the signs of the end? No, don’t shy away from them. It’s the reality. This world is evil and there are signs everywhere that this world will pass away. But all those parts of the Bible lead us to hope. Hope is the end game. We who believe in Jesus Christ have a blessed hope of a world without sin and evil. When Jesus comes again.

Now this hope is all over our Scripture readings this morning. When Jesus describes the signs then He immediately says to us, “When these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” In other words, get excited! When you see the signs, get excited! Look up! Because your hope is coming. Jesus is coming with full and complete redemption from evil. No more evil. Get excited! Lift up your head!

Then in the Old Testament reading today from Malachi we get the same thing. First he speaks of the scariness of the day for those who don’t know Jesus. He says, “Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and evildoers will be stubble.” But then comes the hope for us, “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” I’ve said many times before that this is one of my favorite illustrations in the Bible. I remember so clearly as a kid in the spring when you’d open up the gate to the pasture and those younger cows would run out there jumping around, kicking their legs so high in the sky. They were so excited! And so are we. We’re excited. God is setting us free in Christ. All the evil will be done for. All the corruption, bloodshed, warfare, power-hunger, illness, hunger, death. All of it done and gone!

And then one more image – Jesus tells us to look at the trees. This time of year they look so dead and scary. The “dead of winter” we call it. And so we see in the trees. They’re a picture of the evil of this world. But in a few months those trees will come out in leaf. And Jesus says that when you see that then you know summer is coming. “So also,” He says, “when you see these things taking place, you know the at the kingdom of God is near.” Hope. Jesus is coming. We have hope.

The last word that Jesus gives, then, is a word of warning to you. Make sure you’re awake and clear-sighted to see what’s going on around you. Don’t go blind to the evil around you in this world. See it for what it is. Whether it be covid or cancers or evil governments or wars all over the world or earthquakes or hunger. Jesus warns you not to get weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness. Losing your head. But rather—stay awake! Pray! And hope. Hope in the Son of Man—your Savior Jesus Christ. He will come and you will see that all He has promised to us is truth.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.