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

Text: Revelation 7:9-17 May 15, 2011
Theme: The Lord Is Our Shepherd


Dear friends in Christ.

If there is one picture that the Bible regularly uses to describe the relationship between us and our Savior, it would have to be the picture of a Shepherd and his sheep. This is the picture that King David used as he penned the well known, opening words of Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd!” This is the picture that Jesus himself used again and again as regularly called himself the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. This is the picture that Peter used when spoke about how we have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. And this is the description that the Apostle John records for us in our lesson for today. For this morning, our lesson comes to us from some of the most beautiful and most comforting words of the Scriptures. Our lesson comes to us from the Book of Revelation 7:9-17, which is John’s vision of Jesus Christ our Savior—the Lamb of God who will be our Shepherd!

Now, if you haven’t already done so, I invite you to open your Bibles to our Lesson from Revelation 7:9-17. I’ve always felt that Revelation is one of the easiest books to find in the Bible because it is the last book. In fact, I often tease my confirmation students by telling them that if they don’t know where Genesis and Revelation are in their Bibles, then they fail my class. But all silliness aside, the Book of Revelation, and indeed our lesson from chapter 7 bring us some of the most beautiful and comforting words of all Scripture. In fact, as we look at these words, just think about what an incredible picture the Holy Spirit paints for us through the pen of the Apostle John! What an incredible picture for us to see with John as it were; the picture of the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God our Savior serving as our Good Shepherd who will one day call us out of this troubled world so that he might forever shepherd us in his heavenly kingdom where we will finally have rest from all our labors! This is the incredible picture of the Lord our Shepherd that John reveals as he writes in our lesson, beginning with verse 9: “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!” Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:9-17)

How incredible that the Lord recorded this vision for us today! How incredible that the Lord our God knew the comfort we would need and centuries before we were even born he recorded this vision of comfort and assurance for us in the pages of Scripture. How incredible that the Lord our Savior reveals himself as our Good Shepherd who will one day call us out of this sin-filled and troubled world to our life of rest by our Shepherd’s side forever! What greater words of comfort could there be for us today, especially as we look around at the world in which we are living. In fact, with your permission, I would like to take a little informal survey. How many of you have found yourselves cutting back and stretching every single dollar you have? How many of you are trying to drive less or trying to combine your schedules so that you are traveling with more than just 1 person in the car? How many of you have felt the rising costs of prescription drugs or even found yourselves having to decide which prescriptions you really needed to pick up because all of them were just too expensive? How many of you have worried about insurance costs or wondered how you would get along without it? How many of you have found yourselves hoping and praying that the thing that just doesn’t seem to be quite right with your vehicle will go away, because you just can’t afford the time or the expenses of a break down? How many of you have faced unexpected bills that have eaten up more of your paycheck than you expected and have found yourselves struggling to cover all the other expenses while you wait for your next check to come?

If you raised your hand for any one of these questions, you are not alone. You are not alone because my family and I have faced each and every one of these questions again and again over the past 10 years, though in the last three years we’ve faced them more frequently. You are not alone because each and every person in this congregation has faced one or more of these questions on any number of occasions since our economy went sour. You are not alone because Christians throughout the world and throughout the centuries have faced these same frustrations or frustrations like them. Yet, even in the midst of these troubles, hardships and unrest, the Lord our Savior, our Good Shepherd gives us the most beautiful comfort in our lesson today. As John writes: “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."…“Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” (Revelation 7:9-10,13-14).

This is the comfort our Good Shepherd pours out on us today! Though here on earth we deal with all sorts of frustrations and hardships, as Christians, we are even now wearing the white robes of righteousness won for us by Jesus on the Cross. Though we constantly feel the effects of sin in our lives and find that our garments are stained by our sins, each time we turn to our Savior in forgiveness, we are, in effect, washing our robes in his blood and making them clean once again. Though this is our daily practice here on earth, when our Good Shepherd calls us out of this troubled world to our home in haven, we will pass though the river of his blood one last time, and our robes will be made white forever. When the Lord calls us home to his throne in heaven, we will stand before him in eternal righteousness, innocence and blessedness, because Jesus has delivered us from death by his death and resurrection from the dead. There, we will praise our Good Shepherd because he has delivered us from this world of tribulation and sin. There, as we stand around the throne and the Lamb, we will give praise and thanks to our Good Shepherd who will give us rest in his kingdom forever. This is the picture that John paints for us as he records the Elder’s explanation of the great multitude: “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:15-17).

Here on earth, we have the exact opposite of rest. We feel the empty space between our ribs and hear the angry complaining our stomachs make when we don’t take time to feed them. We taste the clay of our cheeks and feel the crumbs of dirt that stick in our throats as our parched tongues cling to the roofs of our mouths. We are baked in the summer oven of this river valley as the flames of the sun descend upon us and the ever increasing humidity seeks to cook us from within. Though we seek the cooling shade of the trees where we might relax and find a cool glass of water, we know that that this rest will not last long. For before we know it, we will be forced back into the kiln of life where satan kindles the fires of temptations hoping that he might harden in our sins before he glazes us for eternal death and destruction in hell. But when our Good Shepherd delivers us to the rest he has promised us, we will know peace. When our Shepherd calls us home to his heavenly kingdom, 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 streams of living water, and God himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Though we cannot fathom the beauty that heaven affords, or even begin to comprehend the rest that heaven offers us from the trials, temptations, and hardships that we face each and every day of our lives, we continue to follow our Good Shepherd as he leads us on the path to eternal life. Though we may not know exactly what we will do in heaven, or exactly what is waiting for us there, we do know one thing for sure. We know that heaven is where our Shepherd is, and heaven is where we will live with him forever. We know that in heaven, we will no longer have to deal with all the trials, and hardships that this earth affords. We know that satan and his evil angels will no longer be able to tempt us or lead us astray. In heaven, we will be free from sin forever, and we will live with the Lord our God, our Savior and our Shepherd who will spread his tent over us.

What better picture could there be for us than the picture our Savior uses of himself as our Good Shepherd. For in the same way that shepherds care for their sheep, Jesus, our Good Shepherd cares for us. Though here on earth we may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we need not fear any evil because our Shepherd is with us. He is the one who leads us to quiet waters, makes us to lay down in green pastures, and restores our souls. He is the one who gives us his comfort and his assurance in this life, and he is the one who will give us rest forever in his heavenly kingdom. What a day it will be when we join that multitude from every nation, tribe and people; a multitude that cannot be counted. What a day it will be when we stand before the Lamb, our Shepherd and serve him day and night in his temple. How amazing it will be when he spreads his tent over us, leads us to springs of living water, and wipes away every tear from our eyes!

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN

Serve the Lord by sharing your faith (Luke 10:1-12, 16-20)

Dear Friends in Christ

The story has been told about the great violinist, Nicolo Paganini, who willed his marvelous violin to Genoa, the city of his birth. The only condition he applied to this bequeathal was that his violin was never to be played. This was a very unfortunate condition because as long as wood is handled and used, it shows little wear, however, as soon as it is discarded it begins to decay. Today Paganini’s beautiful, mellow-toned violin has become a worm-eaten, useless relic in a beautiful case. Well, in the same way that Paganini’s violin fell apart because it did not continue in the service of making beautiful music, so also as Christians, if we do not continue on in our Christian Service, we might find that our capacity for usefulness in the Lord’s kingdom has been seriously hampered if not destroyed. It is because of this very reason that the Lord Jesus our Savior is calling on us as his servants to serve the Lord by sharing our faith.

Now, if you think about it, sharing our faith is the very thing that we were born to do. After all, we are all experts on the subject of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Savoir. For the truth is, most of us, if not all of us, have been Christians since the day that we were baptized as little children. Our parents first taught us about Jesus through songs like, “I am Jesus’ Little Lamb.” As we grew, our faith in Jesus grew right along with us as our parents first brought us to church, and then, when we were old enough, sent us to Sunday School. Our knowledge of salvation through faith in Jesus continued to grow as we continued on in Sunday School or as some of you continued on in Lutheran Elementary School. We learned even more about Jesus our Savior when we came to church week after week to study the Catechism under the direction of the Pastor. Even after confirmation our faith continued to grow as we gathered for worship each week and had opportunity to gather with others to Study the Bible every Sunday morning. Whether we’ve been on this earth for a mere 8 months or 80 plus years, we are all experts on the subject of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. We all know everything we need to know in order to go out and serve the Lord by sharing our faith with others.

Yet, how often don’t we simply fail to do this? Though we know the joy that fills our hearts because our sins have been forgiven, how often don’t we hide that joy deep within our hearts and only take it out to look at when we are in the safety of the church or maybe the safety of our own homes? How often haven’t we run across someone who absolutely needs us to hear the good news of salvation, but we chicken out and don’t say anything about the hope that we have? How often haven’t we seen the sorrowful eyes, the pained expressions, the slumped shoulders as a co-worker trudges through life, looking for the answers he just simply can’t seem to find anywhere and wondering how in all the world he’s going to make it through today when another day just as bad filled with just as many stresses is coming tomorrow, yet we can’t seem to work up the nerve to tell him about the joy we have in Jesus? How often hasn’t it happened that a perfect opportunity to share our faith with a classmate passed us by because we simply didn’t feel prepared to share our faith by in school with so many other people milling about; people who might hear what we were saying and ask us questions we didn’t feel ready to answer? How often haven’t we had a dear friend, maybe even a fellow believer in Jesus, open up to us and emotionally fall apart because so many worries of life had weighed them down, yet rather than encouraging them and building them up in their faith by talking about your Savior, rather than taking time to pray for them that the Holy Spirit would strengthen them and comfort them with the comfort that Jesus himself offers, all we do for them is pat them on the back, offer encouraging sounding words, and tell them, “I’ll be praying for you.”

How many times haven’t we simply failed to serve the Lord by sharing our faith with others? If we’re honest, we have to say that we don’t know. We don’t know because we’ve failed to share our faith on so many different occasions that simply cannot count them all. Though I hate to admit it, I am just as guilty of failing to share my faith in the Lord with others when opportunities came my way. To this day there are faces that haunt my thoughts because I failed to serve the Lord. I was too afraid to share my faith with them, and I still pray that I was not their last or only opportunity to hear the message of salvation. As Don Piper writes in his book, 90 Minutes in Heaven, “If you saw a little kid run out in the street, you’d dash out there and try to save the child’s life. Human nature is like that. We try to preserve life, and I will do that any time I get the opportunity. So would you. Yet, here we are sitting in this [restaurant], surrounded by people, many of whom are probably lost and going to hell, and we won’t say a word about how they can have eternal life. Something is wrong with us…We’re willing to save someone in a visible crisis, but a lot of folks are in a spiritual crisis and we don’t say a word about how they can get out of it.” (Piper, Don. 90 Minutes in Heaven. p. 131)

But even though we may have failed at serving the Lord and failed miserably at sharing our faith, there is hope even for us. In fact, it was just last week that we heard how Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. It was just last week that we heard how Jesus had entered into the last six months of his earthly ministry, and he was heading to Jerusalem where he would step up to the plate of the cross and belt our sins out of the park with the cry of “It is finished!” It was there, in Jerusalem, with the soldiers nailing him to the cross that Jesus prayed, “Father, forgiven them. They do not know what they are doing.” It was there in Jerusalem that Jesus showed how much he loved us. Though people taunted him and tempted him to come down from the cross, it was his love for us that caused him to remain there. It was on that cross that Jesus stretched out his arms and died in our place. For in the same way that the Mighty Mississippi begins as a small trickle from Lake Itasca, so also the river of Jesus’ blood that has washed us clean of every spot and stain of our sins began at that cross in Jerusalem! Though we don’t deserve it by any means, it was the Holy Spirit who immersed our heats in the river of Jesus blood on the day that he called us to faith. It was the Holy Spirit who sealed us as members of the Father’s house through the forgiveness that Jesus won for us. Even now, as we sit here in worship, it is the Holy Spirit who is assuring us that our past failures have been forgiven. Those missed opportunities have been washed away, even those times we were too afraid to speak up or simply didn’t feel prepared enough to speak; they have all been forgiven by through faith in Jesus Christ who now calls us to go out and serve him once again by sharing our faith.

Now, if you haven’t already done so, I invite you to open your Bibles to our Gospel Lesson today in Luke 10 beginning with verse 1; Luke chapter 10, which begins on page 1027. Last week we heard how Jesus set out on his way to Jerusalem, how he was refused lodging in a Samaritan village because he was headed to Jerusalem. We also heard how he spoke to three different people along the road whom either expressed a desire to follow him or whom he invited to follow him. Now, after all those events our text opens with Luke writing in chapter 10 beginning with verse 1: “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’ (Luke 10:1–11, NIV)

Now, when Jesus sent these 72 disciples out to share their faith and proclaim the kingdom of God, Jesus had only 6 months left in his earthly ministry. Jesus didn’t have much time left and he passed that urgency on to his disciples. Their mission, in fact, was so urgent that Jesus wanted them to leave from right where they were. They didn’t have time to go home and grab extra money, pack an overnight bag, grab an extra pair of sandals, or even greet people on the road because that could easily suck them into a long conversation that would delay their mission. Rather Jesus wanted them to simply go and preach the message of salvation showing their complete dependence on the Lord in what they said and how they lived.

The same thing is true for each and every one of us. As Jesus disciples, he is sending us out to serve him by sharing our faith, and just like the mission was urgent for the 72, the mission is urgent for us, because we are living in the last days. We are living in a time when Jesus could be returning at any time. We are living in a day and age when satan seems to be winning the battle and more and more people are falling away from the faith every day. We are living in a day and age where each and every one of us is standing guard on the front lines of the kingdom of heaven as we advance together into a sinful world to share our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Though we still may not feel ready, we are ready through faith in Jesus. Though we may be worried about what to say, Jesus has promised to give us the words. Though there may be times when we are afraid to go on, Jesus has not sent us out alone, for just as he sent out the 72 in pairs of two, so also Jesus goes with us wherever we go. Though we might be afraid of rejection, well, Jesus covers that as well. Jump back up to verse 8 and we’ll continue from there:

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. (Jump down to verse 16) 16 “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:8–12, 16, NIV)

Though the disciples could have faced some rejection as they shared their faith in Jesus, Jesus assured them that the rejection they faced was not a mark against them, but a mark against Jesus and his Father. The same thing is true for us today. Though there may be times when people laugh at us or ridicule us when we share our faith, their laughter and ridicule is actually against Jesus. Though we might have to bear the physical brunt of their rejection, the truth of the matter is that they are not rejecting us, they are rejecting Jesus as their Savior and God the Father as their God. Though it may pain us to do so, shaking the dust off our feet and walking away will serve as testimony against them that they had the opportunity to hear the Word and the rejected it. It may even serve as such a testimony that one day they turn from their ways and repent at a later time. But just as time was short for the disciples whom Jesus sent out, time is short for us. As we share our faith in the Lord’s serve, we simply don’t have the time to fool around with those who don’t want to listen, be they friends, relatives, neighbors, or even members. There are so many millions of people who need to hear the Word of God that we simply have to keep going and pray that those who reject today may come around tomorrow.

What else can we learn from Jesus sending those 72 disciples out? Look at verse 17: “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:17–20, NIV)

When they returned, they were overjoyed because the demons had submitted to them in Jesus name. Though this was indeed an amazing thing, Jesus immediately refocuses them on what is most important. He tells them to rejoice that their names are written in heaven. As we serve the Lord and share our faith with the people around us, this also is our comfort. Our names are written in heaven and no one can change that. Though we may be mocked, ridiculed, and rejected by those with whom we share our faith, our names are still written in heaven. Through faith in Jesus our names are written in heaven. Our sins have been forgiven by Jesus our Savior. Eternal life is waiting for us when the Lord Jesus calls us out of this life. Until then, we have been given the opportunity to serve him by sharing our faith.

So dear friends, as you leave here today; continue on in your Christian service. Take your personal sermon study sheets with you and during the week consider answers for the last two questions that I chose not to answer today. I’m sure that I could have answered them if I kept on preaching, but I can tell that I’ve already spoken long enough and you are not ready for me to go another 20 minutes or so. But take those with you, continue on in your Christian service, always looking for ways to serve the Lord by sharing your faith.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN