The Coming Of Christ: Salvation Or Snare?
St. Luke 21:34-36 But take heed to 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 snare, of it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the Son of Man.
What a dismal picture and call for preparation during the Advent Season. Our lesson is certainly not designed to build some anticipation of happy holiday cheer. Indeed at first blush, it seems to have very little to do with Christmas, much less some joyful preparation for it. What do you think? Actually, the Advent Season is not just a preparation to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. It is a three-fold preparation to receive Him: In history with his Incarnation, in our hearts by faith, but then also to received Him again when He returns in glory. And this latter element is what this Sunday in Advent focus our attention.
Therefore our Gospel today sounds somewhat like an instant replay of the Last Sunday of the Church Year where we received instruction about the end times on the basis of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25. There we received the advice that we had better keep ourselves alert and rightly prepared for the unexpected time when our Lord will be returning. Our Gospel this morning has the same warning, but with an important twist. In the parable about the foolish virgins, their slumber meant that they would miss out on a great party when the Bridegroom finally arrives. Here is something different; it is the warning is about snares at the return of Christ foolishly designed to prevent us from escaping an incredible wrecking ball that is going to be unleashed on this fallen created order.
The words of Jesus serve to remind us that the Father’s plan to save us from all of the effects of sin and evil is not complete; not yet. The Son is posed to come again to lift the curse, restore paradise, and welcome His people into it as their home.
How about you? Are you ready to go home? In the 21st chapter, Luke tells us that Jesus will not be returning to accomplish this climactic finish to His plan of salvation until some rather frightful things take place first. This fallen world is headed to ruin and the things that must take place which will bring tribulation to God’s people and destruction around the world are signs that our redemption draws near. The world as we know it is not going to get fixed. It is going to get replaced. It will not evolve into the coming Kingdom of God; it will crumble and give way to the new heavens and new earth. For this reason, Jesus warns us not to get lost in a preoccupation with concerns about the course of things here in this fallen creation.
But, the point of this parable is that upheaval and uncertainties are only the half of it. When Jesus speaks of the latter days here on earth, his accent points not only to our frailty, but to the frailty of the world itself. The curse of the ground from Adam’s sin will not only bring death to the human condition; it will eventually claim the entire natural order. We confess with Luther in the first article of the Creed about God’s providential care – his gracious provision for all our temporal needs that sustain our bodily life – with the words, and still preserves them today. The point of today’s Advent reflection is that the day is fast approaching when He will no longer be doing this. The bottom line is that his preservation of this old creation is just a holding action. It has been providing the time to work out His plan of salvation on the plane of human history through the seed of the woman. When he is finished, so also will be this fallen world. It will no longer serve any use.
Yes, says Jesus, there will be signs of God’s providential care letting go. The elements of stability, the underpinnings of this world and all of its orders will come unglued. The temple will be destroyed (and that happened quite some time ago); there will be wars and international upheaval; the fabric of social decency and just order will collapse. As Christians living in these last times we will face enmity, alienation, and persecution within all the social orders we inhabit – from the family to all elements of temporal authority. Far worse than any of today’s claims about global warming and its effects, the entire world will move toward its own ultimate destruction as God’s hand of preservation is progressively removed allowing chaos to overtake its social and natural foundations.
Our Lord instructs us in our text that when these things begin to happen – and we see them now, do we not? – we know that we are living in the last times and Jesus is poised to return. While Immanuel is on His way, it will not be a repeat of Christmas. This time, there will be no silent night nor midnight clear in Bethlehem. When all of this happens, you will not have to figure it all out from rightly interpreting some ancient prophecies.
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Moreover, when the Lord returns this time, it will not be with the splashing of a little water at the baptismal font. The Lord will appear in all his glory and splendor as the roof of all that we have known in this life caves in around us. No angel choirs, just angel trumpets. It will be agony and ecstasy all rolled together – destruction yes, but destruction that leads to recreation; old life that gives way to the new; cross life that transforms into glory; half-empty faith life that gives way to the full and overflowing experience of total and complete redemption.
Christmas makes us merry and joyful because we celebrate that the peace of God came to earth. But with this soon coming of the Lord, we will all be completely fulfilled and satisfied by a permanent peace of God that will reign supreme on the new earth. This is the good stuff in which we place our trust and hope. From the One born in Bethlehem; from the One who suffered and died to atone for our sins in the cross; from the one who splashed us with grace in our baptism; we take heart amid impending tough times as anticipate and prepare for the One who is coming to take us home.
In the meantime, how are we to prepare for living in this world that is poised to fall apart? Jesus tells us in our text not to get caught up or carried away by this coming chaos, but rather to be on our guard. He comes not with a renewal plan for this old creation; He comes to clear it away. The new creation will not dawn, paradise will not be restored, the heavenly mansions will not be finished until all that we have known about this present life passes away and is no more. At that time, Jesus tells is to look up for our redemption is nigh.
In the meantime, let me suggest that we prepare for this third coming by penitential preparation for His first two comings. Let us prepare to go again and again to Bethlehem and receive the babe in the manger. We thrill to the mystery of God becoming one of us to deliver us from the curse of the Law to the freedom of grace, from the death to sin to life with God. We follow the babe to the cross and tomb, to His glorious resurrection. We join Him in our baptism, we receive Him and God’s reconciliation in the forgiveness of sins, and we meet and partake of Him in his Holy Supper. To prepare to receive the baby Jesus and the Savior from sin, is how we prepare for the coming exalted Lord at the end of history. These things keep us strong in the Lord and aware that He is in control of our lives and has them right where He wants them to bring us through thick and thin to our heavenly home.
So, the question we ponder today and every day is this: are you ready to receive this Jesus anew this Christmastide? Not yet? Well that is OK. Not being ready is what Advent is all about. Advent is about getting ready. Don’t become absorbed in making everything better. Don’t get depressed over what you see in the decay and destruction of the world’s order around us. Don’t become absorbed with the worries of this life, for your Savior is coming to claim you and take you home.
So, meet Him where He is already with us and may be found. Get prepared to visit him on that Silent Night. Listen to Him in His Word. Feast on Him in His Supper. Let these be the receptions of your Lord that prepare you and keep you ready to receive Him when He comes to bring all things in this world to their fitting end.
Including you? No, not to bring you to your end, but to your beginning . . . the beginning of that life that He planned for you since before the beginning. And that will be the true end of this and every Advent Season.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
