Look forward to the Day of the Lord's Appearing! (Daniel 12:1-3)

November 18, 2012

 

Dear friends in Christ.

For some reason it seems that it is about the third week in November when we start to look forward to Christmas.  I don’t know why it is, exactly.  Perhaps it is the fact that by this time many of the malls have at least started, if not finished decorating and putting out their Christmas inventory.  Perhaps it’s the fact that so many advertisers have been airing commercials that make us think more concretely about the coming Christmas holidays.  Or perhaps it simply comes down to the fact that by the third week of November, most of us have our Thanksgiving plans well in hand and we can actually start looking ahead to Christmas time.  But whatever the reason might be, our looking forward to celebrating holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas can serve as a lesson for us today in the way that we as Christians also look forward to the day of the Lord’s appearing.  For the truth is, in the same way that we look forward with excitement to upcoming holidays, we can look forward to the Lord’s appearing with confident expectation, excitement and joy.  We can look forward to the Lord’s appearing, because we know that on that day we will be revealed as the Lord’s triumphant saints who will live with the Lord in heaven, forever.

This, in fact, is the very message that the Lord conveyed to his servant Daniel, in our lesson today.  Through the angel that appeared to Daniel the Lord revealed the time of his appearing, when he said, “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." (Daniel 12:1–3, NIV84)

Now, when the Lord revealed these words to Daniel, Daniel was a captive in Babylon.  He was serving King Nebuchadnezzar as a governor of the Babylonian Empire.  He was looking forward to the end of the 70 years of captivity when the Lord would allow his people to return home to the Promised Land, and now, because of these words, he was looking forward to the day of the Lord’s appearing.  Well, as Christians who are looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving in just a few days and Christmas a little more than a month later, we are also looking forward to the day of the Lord’s appearing, because we know that we belong to the Lord.  We know that on the day we came to faith in the Lord Jesus, he wrote our names in to his book of life.  In the same way that I have books in my office that have the names of previous owners written in above my own, so also our names have been written into the Lord’s book of life.  Whether it happened on the day that we were baptized and called to faith in Jesus through the Water and the Word, or it happened when we were called to faith later in life when we learned that Jesus is our personal savior from sin; on that day, when the Holy Spirit created faith in our hearts, Jesus took the quill of his love, dipped it in the inkwell of his blood, and tenderly inscribed our names in his book—marking us as his children through faith in him.

It is because our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, that we, like Daniel, are looking forward to the day of our Lord’s appearing.  We are looking forward to the day when our Savior will appear in the sky in glory and judgment, because we know on that day, our Savior will publicly proclaim us to be his children, and he will deliver us to everlasting life, were we will live in his heavenly home by his side, forever more.

Yes, we are looking forward to the day of our Savior’s return with confident expectation because we know what our Savior did to make us his own.  We know how he sacrificed himself on the altar of the cross to pay for the sins of the world.  We know how he rose again from the dead to prove that he is our all powerful Savior.  Now, through Jesus’ triumph over death and hell we have been made heirs of eternal life through faith in him.  We have no reason to be afraid of anything, because Jesus has saved us.  We do not need to fear the day of our death, because we have been cleansed of our sins by Jesus’ blood.  We do not need to fear the Day of Judgment or worry that we will not be worthy enough to enter heaven, or worry that we have not done enough to gain God’s favor, because Jesus has made us worthy.  We know that Jesus himself has already delivered us from death to life, and when he returns on the last day, he will once again deliver us to eternal life.  This is exactly what the Lord is revealing to Daniel this morning when he says: “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." (Daniel 12:1–3, NIV84)

On the last day, when our Savior returns, all who sleep in the dust of the earth will be called forth by the Lord Jesus Christ.  Our souls will be reunited with our bodies.  We will stand before the Lord as he pronounces his judgment on all people.  But we do not need to fear that day.  We do not need to worry about what will happen, for when Jesus looks at us, he will say to them, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world,” (Matthew 25:34).  Then he will take us to live with him forever in his heavenly kingdom. Not because of anything we have done, but because Jesus himself has washed us clean with his blood. This is why we are looking forward to the Lord’s appearing, because we know that through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be delivered to eternal life.  Though we are living in the last days, and we are beginning to feel the love of the world growing colder; though we are beginning to feel indifference toward God move to hatred of God; we do not need to fear.  Though we may be facing hardships on every side, financial burdens, business problems, health concerns, we are able to rejoice.  Though it seems that the only thing we hear on the news is sad and depressing news, we do not need to be troubled.  Though each day we deal with our own mortality as we grow older, we have nothing to be concerned about. We have nothing to be concerned about because Jesus has already delivered us to eternal life.  What a comfort it is to us that Jesus himself will deliver us to eternal life.  For heaven is our true home and there we will shine like the stars just as the Lord prophesied to Daniel: “Those who are wise  will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever,” (Daniel 12:3). 

What an amazing promise!  When the Lord calls us home, we will go to live with him forever and ever.  We will live with him in his heavenly kingdom and we will shine like the brightness of the heavens!  How amazing it will be on that day when the Lord returns, as he takes us to live with him forever in our new homes in heaven.  But what will it be like on that day when he calls us home?  Can you even begin to imagine the glory that we will see?  Can you even begin to conceive of what heaven will be like?  Though none of us can even begin to contemplate the glories of our true home, we are able to perceive a small part of that glory now, and picture what it will be like.  In fact, each and every one of us holds a different idea in our minds of what heaven will be like, just like Miss Kaltin’s kindergarten class.  One day for art class, Miss Kaltin asked her students to draw a picture of what they though heaven would be like.  Some of the children drew pictures of Jesus and angels living in the clouds, others drew big walls and golden gates, but Hannah drew a big golden castle with towers and spires and battlements, which she covered with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and many other precious stones.  That was her picture of heaven, a huge fortress where she would be safe with God forever.

So, what is your picture of heaven?  What do you see when you think about it?  What would you draw if I asked you to draw a picture of it?  We all have a different idea of what heaven will be like, and nobody knows exactly what the Lord has in store for us.  But I can tell you, heaven will not be a boring place.  It won’t be a place where we stand before St. Peter making excuses for each of our sins as he reads them out of a great book.  It won’t be hectic and frustrating like Wal-Mart, packed with panicky shoppers two days before Christmas.  It won’t even be a place where we are issued a pair of wings and a harp, escorted to our own personal cloud where we are expected to remain all day long singing praises to God every fifteen minutes. That’s nothing like heaven will be like.  For when we are called home we will be carried to our Lord’s side where he will greet us with open arms.  Jesus himself will place a crown on our heads and show us the place he has lovingly prepared for us.  We will be reunited with all our loved ones who have been called home to heaven before us, and indeed all believers.  We will see the river whose streams make glad the city of God.  We will see the tree of life, we will see the multitudes from every tribe, people, and language, and we will live with the Lord in the city of God, where He will spread his tent over us.  Never again will we hunger, never again will we thirst, the sun will not beat upon us nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be our shepherd.  He will lead us to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.  This is what heaven is all about, and this is the reason we are rejoicing today, because when the Lord calls us home, we will shine like the brightness of the heaven in our glorified bodies.

Yes, one day soon, we will see our Savior returning in the clouds and all the angles with him.  But we do not fear that day.  Rather, we look forward to that day knowing that our names have been written in the Lamb’s book of life.  We look forward to that day knowing that our Savior will deliver us from this life to his side forever in heaven.  We look forward to that day knowing that when we are with the Lord we will shine like the brightness of the sun in our Father’s heavenly kingdom.  So, as you leave here today looking forward to both Thanksgiving and Christmas, continue also to look forward to the day of your Savior’s returning.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

The Righteous will live by his faith (Habakkuk 1:1-3; 2:1-4)

November 4, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

If there is one question that all of humanity has in common, that question may well be, “How am I going to live?”  For, if we listen closely, we hear people constantly asking this very question: “How am I going to live if I lose my job?”  “How am I going to live if I don’t get the job I’m after?” “How am I going to live without that special ‘someone’ in my life?”  “How am I going to live until retirement with all these bills?”  “How am I going to be able to live in retirement if I can’t afford to save?”  “How am I going to live in retirement when I’m on a fixed income and nothing else stays fixed?”  For many people, this is an all consuming question.  It is one that keeps them up late in to the night.  For others it is a question that they seldom worry about.  But for the Prophet Habakkuk, it was a question that he may not even have realized that he was asking.  Yet, it was a question that the Lord answered when he told him, “The Righteous will live by his faith.” 

Now, when we meet Habakkuk in our lesson this morning, he has a serious problem.  He is frustrated and upset by all the wickedness and evil that he saw around him day after day. He couldn’t understand why he saw violence, destruction and corruption everywhere he looked.  He couldn’t understand why the Lord seemed to allow the wicked to prosper while the righteous were struggling to get by.  But on top of that, he was tired.  He was tired of living in a nation that had kings who continued to do evil in the eyes of the Lord by actively worshiping false gods and goddesses rather than worshiping the true God, and in his frustration he cries out to the Lord. “How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? 3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds." (Habakkuk 1:2–3, NIV84)

Though it may have seemed to Habakkuk that the Lord was no longer listening, the Lord heard Habakkuk’s complaint.  But when the Lord answered and revealed his plans for Israel to Habakkuk, Habakkuk was quite surprised; for the Lord’s answer was to prophesy that he was going to do away with the wickedness in Israel by sending the Babylonians.  He was going to send the Babylonians, a people who were known for their ruthlessness, a people who were know for their wickedness, a people who were known for their destruction.  The Lord was going to send the Babylonians in to conquer Jerusalem, destroy it, and take the people off into captivity.  This didn’t make any sense to Habakkuk, because he didn’t understand how the Lord could do away with the wickedness and evil in Israel by sending a nation that was even more wicked and evil to conquer them, destroy them, and lead them off into captivity.

Yet in the midst of Habakkuk’s confusion, the Lord takes an opportunity to teach Habakkuk a very important lesson as he says, “‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. 4 “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous will live by his faith—" (Habakkuk 2:2–4, NIV84)

When Habakkuk heard this prophecy, he knew that it would come true, because the Lord had declared it. Most naturally, Habakkuk would have been afraid because the Babylonians were the most feared nation on the earth.  He knew that they would destroy the city of Jerusalem just as they had destroyed every other city.  But the lesson that Habakkuk learned through this prophecy gave him strength and comfort; for he had learned that no matter what happened, the righteous would live by his faith.  Though the times were evil and they would soon be getting much worse, Habakkuk had learned the lesson that the righteous will live by his faith, and now that Habakkuk had learned this beautiful lesson, his mission was to spread the news to the rest of the Israelites.  It was his job to let them know that they did not need to fear the coming destruction because God himself had promised that the righteous will live by his faith.

Well, that lesson, which the Lord taught Habakkuk so many years ago, is the same lesson that he is teaching us today, and what a beautiful lesson it is for us to learn in these last days.  Even though we might be separated from Habakkuk’s time by nearly 3,000 years, the times in which we live in are not much different than Habakkuk’s day.  No matter where we look, we see the results of sin on every side.  We see violence and destruction and corruption wherever we look.  Like Habakkuk, we are living in a nation that is falling farther and farther away from the true God each and every day.  We are living in a land where many of our leaders have openly lived immoral lives and yet received overwhelming support from their continuants.  We are living in a land that has been actively pushing God out of the picture every chance it gets. 

We are living in a world where Evolution is taught as a fact.  We are living in a world where absolute truth is no longer valued as more and more people seek to find their own truth in this world.  We are living in a world where more and more people are claiming to be Christian, yet fewer and fewer of those claiming to be Christian see any value in growing in their faith or even revealing their faith through their lives.  We are living in a world where we are continually seeing an increase in the number, scope, and ferocity of violent crimes.  We are living in a world whose lust for blood is on the rise, as movies add bloodier, gorier, and more horrific scenes than ever before.  We are living in a time when violence is a way of life, because it is all around us!  Even here in Le Sueur, there are certain times when we would do better to stay off the roads because of the violent ways in which people drive!  Add to that the fact that we are only days away from election day and candidates and their supporters are fighting tooth and nail to discredit their competitors and gain as many last minute votes as possible.

Just like Habakkuk, we are living in troubled times that often caused us to cry out with Habakkuk, “How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? 3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds." (Habakkuk 1:2–3, NIV84)

Just like Habakkuk, there are many Christians, even faithful Christians who have been tempted to give up, throw in the towel, and simply live like the unbelievers.  Just like Habakkuk, each and every one of us has found ourselves at the end of our rope, angry with God and crying out to him, asking him why he allows the wicked to get away with so much while we who believe in him have to suffer and endure so much.  Each and every one of us has been to that point that we were ready to simply throw our hands up to God and say, “I give up!”  Yet it is in those very moments when the Holy Spirit whispers to us those beautiful words of comfort: “Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. 4 “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous will live by his faith—" (Habakkuk 2:3–4, NIV84)

Though at first glance these words might not seem all that comforting, when we take even just a slightly closer look at them, we realize that with these words, the Lord is reminding us of all that he has done.  Though we are not waiting for the judgment of the Babylonians against the sinful nation of Israel, we are waiting for the judgment of the Lord Christ against the sinful-unbelieving peoples of this world.  For on that day, our Lord Jesus will separate the believers from the unbelievers as easily as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.  On that day, we who have believed in Jesus Christ as our Savior, will be recognized as his people made sinless through faith in the one who gave his life to free us from our sins and evil.  On that day, we will hear our Savior welcome us to the kingdom he has prepared for us—not because we had earned it in any way, but because he loved us and freed us from our sins by his own blood.  On that day, the Lord our God will declare that we are his holy and righteous people through faith in Jesus Christ, and will lead us to his heavenly home were we will live with him forever because of the faith instilled in our hearts by his Son.

Though it may linger, wait for it, because through faith you have been declared righteous.  Through faith, you will live.  Though it may be a long time in coming, know that the Last Judgment will come.  Though it may not appear during our lifetime, we can take comfort that we, who are righteous by faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, we will live at our Savior’s side for all eternity.  Though we have all had days like Habakkuk, we can take comfort in the life of righteousness that is ours through faith.  Though it still may seem that the Lord is doing nothing to hinder the evil of this world, we know that he is prolonging this world so that even those who are evil might have ample time to turn from their evil ways and live.  Thus we can take comfort in the Lord’s promises and our knowledge that once made, they will be kept!

What a comfort!  What a comfort, indeed, to learn the lesson which the Lord is teaching to us as he taught to Habakkuk nearly 3,000 years ago.  What a comfort it is to know that the Righteous will live by his faith!  For it is faith in Jesus Christ our Savior through which we live as his children here on earth, and will live as his children forever in heaven. Though there may still be some in this world who think of this kind of living as difficult as living on a fixed income, we know that it is the richest living in all the world.  Though here on earth we may seem to be the poorest of the lot, as we look forward to the day of our retirement, we take comfort in the wealth of the riches of our Savior’s home of glory, in which we will live forever through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN