Sermon and Video for 26th Sunday after Pentecost

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2024 Pentecost 26 
Daniel 12:1-3      
Hebrews 10:11-25          
Mark 13:1-13

I shudder to imagine what horrors that Daniel saw in his vision that he is moved by the Holy Spirit to share with us: “And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time.” 

Daniel has already seen plenty of upheaval. As a young boy he and three of his friends witnessed Jerusalem besieged by King Nebuchadnezzar. In order to get that to stop the king of Jerusalem at the time, hands over temple vessels, parts of the treasury, and promising young people to serve as slaves in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court. Daniel and his young friends are in Babylon, a foreign city and nation, with very different religious symbols, a different language and culture. They were torn from their families and the comfort of all that was familiar to them. They are forced to work for King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon as slaves. This is upsetting and upending all by itself. 

In chapters 10-12, Daniel relays a vision he received from the Lord. In our brief reading, Daniel reports what he sees at the end of time. The Arch-angel Michael comes because of the last and worst conflict. Daniel reports, “And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time.” Martin Luther interprets chapter 12 to be “wholly about the Anti-Christ and with these last times in which we are living.” 

I shudder to image because of what we have lived through already and continue to endure across the world. Violent conflict between nations; civil wars; invasions; epidemics and pandemics; famine and drought. Our own country is on fire on both coasts and has sustained significant damage from tornadoes; wind; hurricanes and floods. We have experienced life altering economic upheaval in the forms of scarcity, supply chain issues, and “market corrections.”  And, lest we forget – nuclear and biological weapons have been used and will likely be used again sooner than later.

Given all of that, you mean, Prophet Daniel, it can get worse? Apparently so. 

Add to this, that what underlies much of the turmoil is first, man’s pride and greed, and second, the workings behind the scenes of the Anti-Christ. Satan and his minions sow their seeds of discord and encourage the imaginations of men to create and inflict ever more insidious harm upon the earth and its occupants. 

Jesus confirms Daniel’s vision. The horror of a world at war has happened and will continue. Jesus’ prediction about the destruction of the Temple happened in AD 70. Now two thousand years beyond Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension – many have come promising various kinds of salvation – both economic and spiritual. War and natural disasters will continue. The Anti-Christ works behind the scenes to keep people perpetually off-balance, fearful, anxious, and untrusting of any truth. God uses these horrible events to drive people to reach for Him and to seek His help and salvation. So the Anti-Christ will do whatever is possible to block people from hearing the Law and Gospel for the gifts that they are.

The Anti-Christ doubles down on his efforts to alarm and make people of faith anxious about the coming persecution. Jesus says that “they” will come for you simply because you confess that Jesus is the Christ. Because your trust is in the Lord, sin and death and the devil no longer have the last word and control upon you.  Because of your faith, you are a threat. 

Despite the threat, we continue to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus is the Incarnate God who dies for our sake on the cross so that we are reconciled to God. We receive Jesus’ forgiveness, and we know peace with God. Regardless of all the turmoil in the world that swirls around us Christ sustains us with His promises. Our faith is strengthened by His gifts of Word, Sacraments, Liturgy, Hymnody, and Community.

Jesus tells us in the midst of all that appears monumental, to not be anxious, but rather, find reason to pray, to rejoice, to love your neighbor. Trust in the Lord. Be faithful and endure to the end. Jesus promises, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” 

What moves us to remain faithful, to endure, to renew each day the confession of Jesus as Christ and to resist the tugs to turn away from the LORD and to enter into the snares and smooth false promises of the unholy trinity of sin, death, and the devil? It is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. 

God’s Word tells us that the only constant, the only thing permanent in this transient realm, the only thing that was and will be forever, is God and God’s eternal dwelling place. The blessed holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit was and is and will be forever. 

In God’s mysterious generosity, He has decided that he wants us with Him for all eternity. He has created a way for that to happen. God abhors imperfection, especially willful imperfection so sacrificial blood must be spilled to make atonement for our sins. First, it was with animals. Their sacrificial blood spilled covered the sins of the priest and the repentant faithful. Now, Jesus is the final and complete sacrifice. He is the perfect God-Man and his sacrifice covers the whole world – then and now. On account of Jesus, we are forgiven, reconciled to God. We are promised that when we repent of our sins, Jesus’ sacrifice covers us, and we are at peace with God. 

Jesus’ sacrifice is perfect and is forever. His perfect grace covers and cleanses us. With the full assurance of faith, we hold fast to our confession. We encourage one another as we watch the awful and great Day approach. On that day, Jesus will take us home to live with Him, the Father, and the Spirit forever. 

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” 

 

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