Luke 21:25-36.                        Stand up and lift up your heads!!                   2/12/12

 ²⁵ “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. ²⁶ People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. ²⁷ At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹ He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. ³⁰ When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. ³¹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
³² “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
³⁴ “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

 Today, as we are reminded of the inevitability of end of the world, we are encouraged to stand up and lift up our heads: to be ready and prepared with confidence and certainty; but at the same time watchful and cautious, so that we are able to stand in the face of terrifying events.  

 Now I know that this message here does not, and will not, register on most peoples thinking today. We are a society that is simply living for the moment, with very little consideration for the future, far less the end of all things. For many the future is far too uncertain so they refuse to consider what is ahead. So we will simply live from day to day: get what we can, while we can, to hang with the future.

 There are enough anxieties each day without having to think too far ahead. So we find already what Jesus is talking about here: there is much carousing and drunkenness, along with a desire to fill up our time with all kinds of pleasures and distractions so that we can blot from our thinking the realities of a life that disturb us greatly. We seem to think that if we don’t think about the problem it will go away. But it doesn’t. In fact it even gets worse.

For most people, global warming and the financial crisis and more, are insolvable problems. We have all these promises made with regard to them but we deep down know that they are not achievable. It is all smoke screen and mirrors: more spin. No matter what advances are made in our technological world, the problems just seem to be getting worse.

 To add to that, we are here told that we haven’t seen a thing yet: there are yet to come these monumental signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Really scary stuff ahead! Too much to think about. So give us another drink, or another pleasurable moment.

 But, the difficulty in all of this for most of these people is that there is no answers; no solutions; no way out; no hope. Since we have swallowed the lie that we are descendants of monkeys; a product of evolutions, there is no real truth; no master plan; no God over all. We are left to the chances of fate; and the ingenuities of sinful, selfish human beings.

 Also, the education system and the media of our day is controlled by this humanistic thinking and so does all it can to discredit God’s message and to dull the consciences of this adulterous world. It goes out of its way to portray the idea that God and the church are relics of a pre enlightened age of superstitious thinkers who were absolutely stupid. Instead now as we listen to the latest thinking we can finally move forward to this fantastic new era that we are beginning to create for ourselves. However we know that this is just more lies on top of more lies.

 So when the churches speak up to give a real word of hope, they are no longer listened to or trusted. We have been trained to shun all thoughts of God and the reality that this world will finally come to an end. The terrible sins and cover-ups of priests; the faulty teachings of the health, wealth and happiness theologies of the Pentecostal movement; the good works teachings of the self-righteous; the prophecies of another date in a few weeks times of the end of the world, all leave people to not listen to the churches message of the truth and hope that we have in the midst of the terrible situations that we find ourselves.

 As a result there is no hope and no future for these people. There is no truth that can tell us why things are the way they are, and what the way forward is. Instead they are left with their anxieties, carousing and drunkenness. So, as they continue to face the difficulties of a culture falling apart; and as they finally also face the catastrophic events of the end of the world they will find that it will close on them suddenly like a trap. They will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world.

 However, it is here in this situation that we are told: At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Jesus Christ will appear and every knee will bow and every tongue will finally confess that he is Lord: that he is for real, despite the world’s best efforts to rid him from their lives. Those who have chosen to ignore him and reject him, they will then receive the consequences of their decisions and actions, while those who have trusted in him despite all that was happening around them, they will be taken to be with him in glory.

 So yes, we here as Christians can, and need to, already stand up with our heads up, because we know that our Lord has provided a way through for us, to something far better and greater than the situation that we are currently facing. No matter how terrible the situation might be, either currently or the catastrophic events of the last day, we can lift our heads up. We can do this because we know that our redemption is drawing near.

 We know that Jesus Christ himself comes even now to be with us, week in week out, as we gather together in worship. Here he continues to remind us that he is here with us in the midst of all that is going on in this world. He has a message of hope that enables to see our way through all that which is ahead of us. He has good ways for us to live and act in the midst of a wicked and adulterous generation. He reminds of the things that we need to watch out for and be wary of in a world that has no time for God.

 At the same time he comes to be with us in the bread and wine of Holy Communion so that we can know for sure that we are forgiven and so have the assurance of life and salvation as well. There also, in a very practical way, he reminds us that he now lives within us as we live out our lives every day.

 Along with that, we are here reminded that our Lord will again, on that last day, visibly appear in all his power and glory to take us to be with himself in eternity. So even though everything is in turmoil and seemingly being destroyed, we will have our Lord Jesus with us to bring us through to his new and glorious kingdom where will be able to live with him, free of all troubles, heartaches, tears and death. There everything will be laid on for us in the very best way possible. The old is gone and the new has come.

So even now we can stand up and lift up our heads, because our redemption is drawing near. We can stand up, strong and courageous, as we live in the face all adversities now and as our sinful world here comes to end: either soon or in many years to come.

 But at the same time let us be careful, or our hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on us suddenly like a trap: For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that we may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that we may be able to stand before the Son of Man.

 Let us not take our focus away from our Lord Jesus, for he is our hope and our salvation. To him be all glory and honour, now and always. Amen.

 Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish