Luke 21:25-36
One year ago, we had a veritable mini-building erected within this very space—the scaffolding for the renovation project. It was its own structure—solid, sturdy, supportive, four levels tall, immovable by us, and, well, kind of ugly. And the whole space was quite messy much of the time. Yet we knew that state was only temporary. We knew that the scaffolding would come down. We eagerly anticipated the new space to be revealed when the scaffolding would be removed. So it is with everything we see around us in this fallen creation.
This is why our Lord invites us to straighten up and raise up our heads, and even our hearts: “Because your redemption is drawing near.” This is why we spend four weeks preparing to celebrate our Lord’s Birth. It’s not Christmas yet; but that day is coming. As is our Lord. So we let Advent be Advent, and we make our Advent cry: “Come, Lord Jesus!” But be careful what you ask for! You just might get it. He may just come. As C. S. Lewis quipped, “Aslan is not a tame lion!”
How did Jesus say it? “There will signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves.” Our Lord gives us ominous signs of the end of the world. His good creation—created very good by Him but disfigured by us and our sin—will come unglued. Despair and anxiety over what’s happening in the world and to the world. We get anxious over matters of politics and the economy. We despair over crises and inconveniences that happen at home or down the street. Can you imagine the fainting with fear and foreboding when the world literally comes apart at the seams?
There are only two reasons for the world to come unglued. One is God withdrawing His benevolence. His patience with corrupt and perverse humanity can and will indeed come to an end. That’s what happened in the days of Noah and the worldwide flood. The second reason the world comes unglued is God Himself stepping onto the world’s stage. That’s when He comes to rescue His faithful people. That’s when “the mountains melt like wax before the LORD” and “the heavens proclaim His righteousness” (Ps. 97:5-6). When God comes into His creation to rescue His people, the mountains skip like rams, the hills like lambs (Ps. 114:4).
So your Lord Jesus exhorts you to raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near. Remember that as you ponder the image of Jesus coming on the cloud at the sound of the trumpet. For the unbeliever, that day and that coming spark fear and foreboding. But for you who look to Jesus for forgiveness, life and salvation, that day and His coming give no reason to fear. No, that’s time to stand tall, look to the heavens, and get ready for life—real life, true life that never ends, life with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
When we ponder “the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory,” we do not ponder a doomsday. Instead, we anticipate a regeneration—the rebirth and refashioning of us and all creation. It’s what you can see in the fig tree and all the trees in the springtime, Jesus says. “As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near.” When springtime comes, you know that summer is just around the corner. When the “blossoming” of signs in the sun, moon, and stars comes, you know that the kingdom of God—your true, abiding, permanent residence—is near.
So lift up your heads and hearts because your redemption is drawing near. It’s the same redemption—the same ransom and release—inaugurated and set in motion when the Son of God first set foot on the world’s stage. He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary. He was made man. And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. So straighten up, raise your heads and your hearts to look upon the Man upon the tree. There He dies with your sin, your shame, your death, and your hell. Look upon the crucified One who is now risen and reigning in endless glory. He has promised to come again and bring full redemption for you.
When the children of Israel lived in tents and wandered in the wilderness, they had a nasty habit of complaining. One time God sent fiery snakes for punishment. The people cried out. God told Moses to make a serpent of bronze and put it on pole. Anyone who would raise their head and look at that serpent would be healed of the burning snake venom and live (Num. 21:4-9). Jesus applied this account to Himself. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn. 3:14-15). Raise your heads and look upon Him lifted upon the pole of the cross. As you do, you have life—not just biological life, but life with God. And with your heads raised, you also get to confess: “I LOOK for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.”
Jesus then turns from the worldwide scope to the narrow, individual, and personal focus. “Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.” The usual pattern is this: indulge, then watch out. Enjoy the holiday goodies, then worry about getting in shape and shedding pounds. Jesus reverses that pattern. Watch out first, so you won’t over-indulge…and then regret. You see, all that indulging weighs you down. And still you want more. That’s what happens when you focus on the visible world, the cares of this life. The worries and anxieties come flooding in, especially this time of year. And the day of Jesus comes suddenly, like a trap.
How do you combat that? Raise your heads and hearts by staying awake in prayer. “Stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” The word for “praying” suggests begging in response to an urgent need. Your need is your own sin and sins that weigh you down. So you beg and cry out: “Lord, have mercy!” “Come, Lord Jesus!”
How do you prepare for such praying? By living a life and a lifetime of liturgical prayer. Such praying includes your prayer life at church and your prayer life at home. At church, lift up your hearts as your Lord comes to you in His Supper. You do not go up to Him; He comes down to you. And He brings your redemption near in His very Body and Blood actually present under bread and wine. How near your redemption is as Jesus puts it right in your mouth and down your gullet!
At home, lift up your hearts as you set aside time and place for reading, hearing, praying, even singing Jesus’ words that will not pass away. Dust off that Lutheran Service Book and Treasury of Daily Prayer, with their treasure troves of readings, prayers and hymns. And keep those appointments with your Lord just as sacred—no, more sacred—than you would an appointment with your doctor. All of this is how you persevere with patience, how you stay awake, how you raise your heads and hearts.
“Raise your heads [and hearts], because your redemption is drawing near!” Your Lord Jesus “advents”—He’s coming. Now He comes to bring comfort in the tent and scaffolding of this world. Then He will come to rescue you and bring you home to His eternal dwelling. Amen.
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