Dear friends in Christ.
What did you do on Thanksgiving Day after you had
enjoyed a great meal? Did you visit more
with family or friends? Did you simply
relax and try to ignore the mess of dishes in the kitchen? Did you sit down to watch some TV, or some
football, or a movie? Well, after we
were finished with our holiday feast and had cleaned the kitchen, we sat down
as a family to watch the movie Captain America. Now this movie was set during the days of
World War II, and as it opens , we met the main Character, Steve Rogers,
attempting to serve his country by joining the Army. Even though he was not able to serve because
of health issues, he constantly felt the call to service, as everywhere he
looked he saw posters of Uncle Sam pointing at him and declaring, “I want you!” So strongly did Steve Rogers feel the call to
service that he tried enlisting in the army on five different occasions; he
felt compelled to serve because he knew that Uncle Sam needed and wanted him. Well, in our lesson today, our Savior is
doing the exact same thing. Though he
may not be appearing on a poster and pointing his finger directly at us, he is
telling us exactly what he wants of each and every one of us. For as we take a look at our lesson in Mark
13, we will hear our Savior speaking with great urgency and declaring that he
wants each and every one of us to be alert Christians. He wants each and every one of us to be
responsible Christians. He wants each
and every one of us to be expectant Christians.
Take a look at what Jesus is telling us in Mark 13,
beginning with verse 32: He says, 32 “No
one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,
but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will
come.(Mark 13:32–33, NIV84)
Now, I have to admit that these words seem more like
a warning for the season of End Time than words of preparation for the first
Sunday of Advent, but in either case, the message is clear. In either case, as Christians, our Savior
wants to be alert as we prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christ’s birth
as well as the day when he will return.
For just as no one knew exactly when Jesus would be born, no one knows
the day or the hour when he will return, and if we are not ready, we will be
caught off guard and miss out on our salvation all together.
That’s what happened to Colonel Johann Rall,
commander of the Hessian forces, during the Revolutionary War. For during the war, a loyalist spy appeared
at the Hessian headquarters carrying an urgent message for the Colonel. The message stated that General George
Washington and his Continental army had secretly crossed the Delaware River
that morning and were advancing on Trenton, New Jersey where the Hessians were
encamped. The spy, however, was denied
an audience with the commander and instead wrote his message on a piece of
paper. A porter took the note to the Hessian colonel, but because Rall was
involved in a poker game he stuffed the unread note into his pocket. When the
guards at the Hessian camp began firing their muskets in a futile attempt to
stop Washington's army, Rall was still playing cards. Without time to organize,
the Hessian army was captured. (adapted Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991,
p. 21.)
Because Colonel Rall ignored the message the spy had
brought him and was not alert to the possibility of attack on the day after
Christmas, he lost an important battle and the Hessian army eventually lost the
war as well. The same thing is true for
you and me, if we are not alert Christians, as our Savior wants us to be, we
will not be prepared for his return.
Then, when we hear the blast of the trumpet, we will find it that is too
late to prepare ourselves for our Savior’s coming. Thus, our Savior says to us today: “I want
you to be alert Christians so that you are ready for my return. However, until I do return, I want you to be
responsible Christians. I want you to
continue in the duties, which I have given you.
Yes, because we do not know when the end will be,
our Savior wants to find us responsibly carrying out the tasks, which he
himself assigned to us. In fact, as he
speaks in our text, he explains it to us in a way that illustrates the
situation in which we are living today.
For Jesus tells us, “It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and
puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at
the door to keep watch.” (Mark 13:34, NIV84)
There can be no doubt that this is the time in which
we are living. For today we are living in
a time when our Master has returned to his Father’s side in heaven. We are living in a time when our Savior wants
us to be diligently waiting at the door watching for his return. We are living in a time where it is extremely
important for us to be responsible Christians as Christ wants us to be. For even though our Savior is away from us in
the body, we know that one day he will return just as he has promised, and
until that time he has given each of us a special assignment to carry out while
he is away. Though we all have been
given different gifts, our Savior wants us to use those gifts as we responsibly
carry out the duties ascribed to us in our station of life. As Luther writes in
his table of duties: Are you a husband or wife?
Then love each other faithfully as Christ loved you. Are you a Father or a Mother? Then bring your children up in the training
and admonition of the Lord. Are you a
Son or a Daughter? Then obey your
parents in the Lord, for this is right!
Are you an Employer or Employee?
Then serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord. Obey your earthly masters with respect and
fear, and do not treat your workers with contempt, but with the same respect
that you deserve. Are you a
Christian? Then love your neighbor as
yourself.
These are the responsibilities our Savior wants us
to carry out while we are awaiting his return.
For just as he came once as a little child, born in a stable at
Bethlehem, we know that he will return one day just as he has promised. But since we do not know when that day will
be, our Savior wants us not only to faithfully carry out our responsibilities,
but also to live in the expectation of what is to come.
Though we do not know the day or the hour when our
Savior will return, we know that he will return one day, just as he ahs
promised. We know that he will return
one day just as he has told us, and this is why we need to live lives expecting
his return. This, in fact, is the very
point that Jesus himself was seeking to get across when he said, “35 “Therefore
keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come
back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at
dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say
to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”(Mark 13:35–37, NIV84)
Watching is exactly what we as Christians have been
doing since the day that Christ ascended into heaven. For throughout the centuries, Christians have
eagerly expected the return of their Lord and Savior. They have anticipated his return as they
lived through the dark days of World Wars.
They have anticipated his return at momentous events in history as one
millennium became another. But today, we
are all the more expectant of his return because of the great evil in the
world. Today we as Christians not only
expect our Savior’s return, but we also find ourselves craning necks as we look
into the sky wondering if today will be the day. We find ourselves hoping that this will be
the day when we hear the reverberating blast of the trumpet call of God and
know that all our expectant waiting has paid off.
But even though we are living as expectant
Christians, we still continue on in our lives waiting for the day to come, as
did Colonel Davenport during a session of the Connecticut House of
Representatives. For on May 19, 1780,
there were many people who received a foretaste of the Last day. For at noon
the skies turned from blue to gray and by mid-afternoon had blackened over so
densely that, in that religious age, men fell on their knees and begged a final
blessing before the end came. In side the chambers of the Connecticut House of
Representatives there were even some men who fell down and others who clamored
for an immediate adjournment. But when the
Speaker of the House, Colonel Davenport, came to his feet, He silenced them all
and said: "The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it
is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing
my duty. I wish, therefore, that candles may be brought." (adapted Robert
P. Dugan, Jr., Winning the New Civil War, p. 183.)
Though Colonel Davenport didn’t know if that would
be the Last Day or not, he was indeed prepared for it and was expecting
it. Though he did not know if this event
would mark the last day, he was ready to be found carrying out his duty. May we, like him, always live expectant lives
faithfully carrying out our duty as we look forward to the last day.
Though its very seldom that we see the picture of Uncle
Sam pointing his finger and telling us that he wants us to join up, in our text
today we have seen our Savior doing just that very thing as he calls us to
ready ourselves for the day of his return.
So, let us do just that! Let us
listen to the call of our Savior who wants us to be alert, responsible and
expectant Christians as we look forward to the day when he will return.
Amen.
Pastor
David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical
Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN
