Watch And Pray
Luke 21:25-36
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St. Luke 25:36 “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… In 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach, that great Lutheran church musician, wrote a cantata for the end of the Church Year. Last Wednesday I put a link to this marvelous piece of choral music on my FB page. If you get a chance, listen to it; you’ll be blessed. In English it begins with these words: “Watch ye! Pray ye! Pray ye! Watch ye! Be ye ready, ever ready, till the Lord, the heavens rending, maketh of this earth an ending.”
What a beautiful, concise, and accurate summary not only of the end of the Church Year but also today’s Gospel reading from Luke 21. The Lord is most certainly coming with destruction for the earth and for most of mankind. But He is also most certainly coming with redemption for the relatively few who are counted worthy to escape that destruction. So, watch and pray; pray and watch that you may be among those who are blessed and ready.
If you have ever watched and waited for anything, I mean, really and intently watched and waited for something to happen, you know how easy it is to look away and lose interest when nothing happens for a while. So to keep us from looking away, to keep us watchful, to keep us praying, the Lord Jesus has filled the world with omens, signs, and harbingers of His coming, so that, if we ever begin to look away or fall asleep or become weighed down with the things of this life, those signs serve as merciful gifts from God which are intended to shake us out of our slumber, grab our attention once again, jerk our heads back up again, and urge us again to watch and pray, pray and watch.
Matthew’s Gospel mentions all kinds of signs that Luke omits. Matthew talks about wars, earthquakes, and famines. He says that the love of most will grow cold. He speaks of many false teachers and false teachings and many people being deceived by them. He also speaks of Christians being persecuted, imprisoned, and put to death. And he speaks of a great falling away from the true Church. We see these things happening all around us. But instead of becoming depressed by them or angered by them, it is better for us to view them as fulfillments of Jesus’ prophecy, urging us to watch and pray, pray and watch. All these things are signs of Christ’s coming, which is nothing but the greatest news for us Christians.
Luke, however, focuses on things that cause fear in the world, such as signs in the sun, moon, and stars. Now, which things in the sky above are signs of the hastening of Christ’s coming and which things are natural occurrences? Well, it’s not an either/or question. Is the budding of leaves on a tree the sign that summer is near, or is it a natural occurrence? Clearly, it’s both. And many of those “natural” occurrences in the heavens have sparked fear and dread in the hearts of men over the ages, from eclipses to sunspots and solar flares to comets to shooting stars to supernovae.
And if God has planned other more terrifying events to come in the heavens, we really shouldn’t be surprised. God has worked all sorts of unusual occurrences into the universe – things which may be “natural”, or which may be miraculous, but which are also different enough to cause us to say, “That’s right! Jesus is coming soon! I need to watch and pray! I need to pray and watch!”
There will be “distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring.” Distress. Anxiety. Perplexity. Confusion. Those are some pretty good words to describe the state of the nations of the world today, aren’t they? People are wringing their hands over just about everything these days. There is actual perplexity and confusion in the world today about even the most obvious things, like what’s the difference between a boy and a girl, and are boys supposed to fall in love with boys or with girls, or does it even matter?
Not only that, but everything seems to be a crisis. Every election spells doom and gloom for the nation and for the world. Every change in the weather is reason to panic. “Oh no! We’re heading for another ice age! Oh no! The polar ice caps are melting! Everything needs to be fixed! Everything needs to be changed, everything needs to undergo a fundamental transformation! We need to make progress!” But progress toward what? And by what means?
“Men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth.” Did you hear that the average life expectancy for Americans has gone down again? It’s due, in part to deaths by drug overdose, and in part to deaths by suicide. Drugs and suicide, sadly, are two of the most common ways for people to try to escape the despair and the fear that plague them. But most people seem to know that something is coming, something dreadful, something terrible. Is it aliens? Is it an asteroid? Is it overpopulation? Is it climate change? Is it artificial intelligence? No one knows what’s coming, but everyone seems to be growing more and more afraid and anxious.
To clarify, no one in the unbelieving world knows what’s coming. But you know, dear Christian. You know exactly what’s coming upon our world. It is called Judgment Day. It is the second and final coming of the Lord Christ into this world to expose all the wickedness of men, and to condemn every deed and every word and every opinion that goes against His Word. He has announced His coming. He continues to have it announced in the world through His preachers. He has even given signs of His coming to keep men watchful. But the unbeliever is unbelieving, so it will all come as a great surprise and horrible shock to them when they realize too late that there really is a God, and that the Word of Christ was true all along.
The world will melt in fear and dread at the coming of Christ. But Christ does not want that day to be a fearful day for you, nor does He want you to be surprised by it. What does He say in today’s Gospel? “When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” As long as you are in Christ, as long as you are seeking refuge under the protection of His blood, hunkering down in the certainty of your Baptism, as long as you are looking to Him for forgiveness and help and salvation, as long as your faith is being fed and nourished by His Means of Grace, you are safe. You have His forgiveness. You have nothing to fear on the day of His coming.
And that’s exactly how Jesus wants to keep you – safe, covered in His righteousness, justified by faith. He knows that you still have enemies in the world that would remove you from the shelter of His grace, enemies that would entice you away from it, because that’s the only way they can win. No one can snatch My sheep from My hand, Jesus says (Jn 10:29). No one can tear you away from Him or separate you from Him.
But you can be tempted to leave the safety of Jesus, either by conscious choice or by apathy and atrophy. It is against that those things Jesus warns you in our Gospel: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.”
As you know all too well, it is very easy to get caught up in earthly things – fun, family, pleasure, responsibilities. We have a life here to maintain, after all, and we have many things to do. But one of those things – the most important thing, which can easily be lost in the shuffle – is to watch and pray, pray and watch. Have you been doing that regularly? Earnestly? Purposefully? If so, don’t stop! If not, repent!
There is no excuse not to watch, there’s just an explanation: it is because we are wretched sinners who know the good we should do, and yet don’t do it, because evil is always there with us. The Apostle Paul saw and knew this sin and weakness in himself, and it led him to lament, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Let his answer be your answer: “I thank God…through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24-25)
Receive His forgiveness again today – the forgiveness He purchased for you with His own body broken and His own blood shed on the cross to pay for all your sins. Receive His forgiveness, all you who mourn over your sins; receive it as freely as it is given. Receive Jesus in all the ways He wants you to have Him. Remember your Baptism wherein Christ has washed you clean from your sins. Receive Him and eat of His body and drink of His blood in the Sacrament of the Altar for your forgiveness, life, and salvation.
And take comfort, dear Christian. Take comfort that Christ has not given up on you. Take comfort that He will never fail to provide all the signs and warnings you need, both out there in the world and right here in His Word, to keep you watchful, to keep you ready, to keep you penitent, and to keep you believing.
And take comfort that He still calls out to you today to Watch and pray, pray and watch! Faithfully and joyfully use the means He has given you, the very means through which He keeps you safe on that coming Day of wrath, so that you are filled with hope and joy as you eagerly await that awesome and final Day.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
