Last Sunday of the Church year Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Come, our David! Come, Good Shepherd!

Come, Lord Jesus!”

Text: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Matthew 25:31-46

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land.

How good the words of the prophet Ezekiel must have sounded to the people of Israel. For they had been scattered. Babylon had come in and trampled them and their country. The Temple had been destroyed, Jerusalem burned to the ground, and its walls lay in ruins. And the people? A few had been left behind, some had fled to Egypt, but many had been taken as prisoners to Babylon. It was, as Ezekiel said, a time of clouds and thick darkness for the people. A time when it seemed as if God didn’t see and didn’t care. That God had forsaken them.

And while Babylon may have been home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, it was not a place Israel wanted to be. It was a strange land, with a strange culture, a strange language, and strange gods. They were like fish out of water there. It was uncomfortable. Maybe they were even repulsed by what they saw.

Maybe like you. For maybe your life has gone places this year you didn’t want it to go. Or maybe it didn’t go where you hoped. Maybe looking around at our society, at our culture, you feel more and more uncomfortable with the way things are going . . .

For example, some of you are old enough to remember a time when the culture was not so opposed to the Christian truth and when Biblical stories were more broadly known. It wasn’t too long ago when the only pronouns we needed were “he” and “she” and gay meant happy. And who thought we’d see the day when Nativity Scenes and saying Merry Christmas could be considered hate speech. It is more and more a strange and uncomfortable land we are living in. Not because we have been taken to Babylon; but because Babylon has come to us.

It was actually started that way for Israel, too, at first. For long before they had been taken to Babylon, Babylon had come to them. But instead of resisting, Israel began to adopt the ways and even the gods of the people around them instead of remaining steadfast in the biblical truth. So God caused His people to be conquered and hauled off. He didn’t just allow it, He caused it. Divine discipline. That a drastic change in their world and life would help them see the change that had crept into their own lives as well.

And again, us too. While we may bemoan the fact that the church doesn’t have more influence in our culture, we should ask why it doesn’t have more influence in our own lives. While we criticize the immorality of the culture, we should ask why we have grown so indifferent to sexual activity outside of marriage, easy divorce, hyper-sexualized movies, TV, and internet, and if we have capitulated to the rejection of how God created us male and female. We wonder why the Bible has been banished from the public square without even realizing how we have perhaps banished it in our own lives - how little we ourselves read it and know it. And while it is sometimes said we are living in a godless society, that’s not true - we are living in a society filled with gods. False ones. Living in our hearts, too. All those people and things we put before God. All those people and things we fear, love, and trust more than Him. 

Do you see it? How Babylon has not only come to us but lives in us.

So it really wouldn’t do much good to just bring a corrupt Israel back, would it? To take them out of Babylon. They needed to have Babylon taken out of them. And so 70 years you will live there, God said. The gods you want will be the gods you have. The life you want will be the life you have. So they would realize: this life, these gods, are not good at all, before it was too late. So they would repent. Us too.

For the day is coming, Ezekiel said, when God will come and search for His sheep. Wherever they are, He will find them, for He knows them. They were banished but not forsaken. Disciplined but not hated. And He will rescue them. He will gather them, feed them, tend to them and strengthen them, and give them rest. Good pasture under a Good Shepherd. My servant David, Ezekiel says, shall do it.

Now certainly these are good and hopeful words! But the mention of David makes them even moreso. For David and his son Solomon reigned when Israel was at its largest, strongest, wealthiest, and most glorious. It sounds like God is going to bring back the glory days of Israel! 

But not quite. You see, when Ezekiel proclaimed these words, David had been dead and buried some 400 years already. No, this David was going to be a different David, His kingdom a different kind of kingdom, and His glory a different kind of glory. If you were looking for and expecting the old kind of kingdom, re-glorified, you’d be disappointed. This was going to be new. All new. A new king and a new kingdom, a new heavens and a new earth, for people made new, too. A rescue from both the Babylon without and the Babylon within. 

And while Israel was brought back from their Babylon after 70 years, that was not primarily the rescue Ezekiel was talking about. The rescue He was talking about, under the David he was talking about, our David, the Son of David, came later. When this promised one was born in the city of David, which you know as Bethlehem. That Babylon live in us no more, but than He live in us. He and His Spirit of life. Depart, unclean spirit, and make way for the Holy Spirit, we say in our Baptismal liturgy, and we pray as we confess our sins.

And He did - this Good Shepherd came into this old kingdom to create a new one. He came into our captivity to free us from it. He fought our sin, death, and hell, let Babylon have its way with Him, and laid down His life for us. That there be not just a new kingdom, but a new you, crucified and risen with your Saviour, with a new and clean heart, and a new spirit. That though I may still live in Babylon, Babylon no longer live in me.

And He is still coming, rescuing still, our David. He knows the influence of Babylon is strong, and the evil one persistent. That still today we are bombarded with false gods and false truths and false goods every day, seeking to change the way we think, the way we act, and the way we worship. The evil one still tempting, and all the more as the time grows short, as the Last Day draws ever closer. 

Or maybe to put this coming, this rescue, in the words we heard in the Holy Gospel today, the reading from Matthew, we could put it this way:

We are hungry and He gives us food - His very body to eat.

We are thirsty and He gives us drink - His very blood to drink.

When we were estranged from Him by sin or turn away from Him - He welcomes us in grace.

When we are naked and exposed by our sin - He clothes us with His righteousness.

We who are sick with the poison of sin He visits with the medicine of forgiveness.

And we who are in prison to death He came to in His own death to set us free with His resurrection.

All this that Babylon live no longer in us, but that He live in us. He and His Spirit of life. That on the Day of His return, when He comes to put an end to our Babylon, we won’t be sad that we’re losing all this - we will rejoice to see Him. For we have been waiting for Him, looking for Him, clinging to Him - not the things of this world. 

Yet even more, He will rejoice to see us. For whether or not we are waiting for the Last Day with the same excitement as we wait for Christmas Day, He is. He rejoiced to come and save us on that first Christmas Day, and He will rejoice when He comes to gather His flock on the Last Day. For you are His joy. It is you the Good Shepherd loves more than anything else in this world. It is you that He wants to be with Him forever. He wants the sheep-side of the judgment to be overflowing, and the goat-side to be empty.

And really, isn’t that joy how it will be if it’s not Babylon living in us, but He and His Spirit, He and His joy, He and His love, living in us? And instead of clinging to the things of this world, we’ll look to our neighbor instead? And help him as the one who lives in us helps us? 

So it’s not doing those things Jesus talked about in the Gospel that gets us out of Babylon and earns us a place in the kingdom - it’s getting Babylon out of us and Jesus into us that makes the difference. That makes His life our life, His love our love, and His joy our joy.

And you may not even realize it. Just as we may not realize the influence of Babylon in our hearts and minds, so too we will say: Lord, when did we see you and do all these things for you? But Jesus knows, and sees. And though we may consider what we do - our sins or our good - as little, He doesn’t. So He died for our sins, all of them; and He rejoices in our good, all of it.

Those who want Babylon and its gods, Babylon and its gods they will have. The Last Day will be a Judgment Day. 

But when your Good Shepherd is the Judge and you are a sheep of His flock, that day holds no fear, only joy. That Day is like Christmas Day, when the wraps come off, what is hidden is revealed, and what everyone wishes for at Christmas is finally true - there is peace. No more sin, no more evil, no more death. No more sadness, no more separation . . . and if there are tears, they are only of joy. 

How good those words sound - now - to us. As we wait for our David to come, to put an end to our Babylong, as we wait for His kingdom. And while we wait we pray: Thy kingdom come. And it is a two-fold prayer. Both that our David, the Son of David, Jesus, would come and put an end to Babylon and establish His kingdom; but also that He would come now. That He would come now and root Babylon out of us and out of all people. It is our prayer that on the Last Day, the sheep-side be overflowing, and the goat-side be empty.

And Jesus is answering that prayer. And so He comes today. He spoke to you His Absolution, and He will feed You with His Body and Blood. That you live in Him and He in you. A new life, with a new Spirit, that starts now and will never end. 

And so we pray: Thy kingdom come. Yes, come, our David! Come, Good Shepherd! Come, Lord Jesus!

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thanksgiving Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Giving Thanks and Learning Thanks”

Text: Philippians 4:6-20

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

We heard from St. Paul tonight: do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

So, here are some things I thank the Lord for this year, along with some requests.

Thank you, Lord, when I don’t always get my way. It makes me rely on you.

Thank you, Lord, when I don’t always get what I want. It makes me remember that there are more important things in this world than what I want.

Thank you, Lord, for my sadness this year; for reminding me that my joy isn’t here, in this world and life, but in you.

Thank you, Lord, for the things I am unable to do; the problems I am unable to solve; the things that are too big for me - so that I rely on you.

Thank you, Lord, for my sicknesses this year. They make me remember that you are the great physician of body and soul, and that my health is only from you.

Thank you, Lord, for letting me share the burdens and problems of others, that I may learn to pray.

Thank you, Lord, for my shortcomings and failures, that I know how weak I am and rely on your strength instead.

Thank you, Lord, for humbling me when I get full of myself.

Thank you, Lord, for exposing my sin that I try so hard to cover up, that I rejoice in your forgiveness.

Thank you, Lord, for the things that have been taken away from me this year, that I love not them, but you.

Thank you, Lord, for the interruptions and inconveniences, to show me and teach me what really matters, and give me opportunities to serve others.

Thank you, Lord, for the tears that you’ve given me to shed, that you may wipe them away.

Thank you, Lord, for shaking my faith, in order to strengthen it.

Thank you, Lord, for sleepless nights, that I may know that you never slumber or sleep.

Thank you, Lord, for speechless times, when I don’t know what to say, that I rely on Your Word and speak it.

Thank you, Lord, for the crosses You have given me, to kill the old sinner in me and raise up a new man.

Thank you, Lord, for trees that fall on buildings, that I may learn that the only tree that will never fall is the one Your Son hung on to forgive all my sin.

And so forgive me Lord, when I do not thank you for all these things and every thing, but choose to worry, or take matters into my own hands, or doubt your love instead.

  

And Lord, make me hunger a little this next year, that I may learn that man does not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from you; and to learn to thank You for Your Word.

Lord, help me to repent and ask for forgiveness this year more quickly and more often than I have in the past, that I may rejoice in the forgiveness of others given to me; and to learn to thank You for them.

Lord, send me folks in need this year, that I may learn mercy and service and to pray; and to learn to thank You for such opportunities to love.

Lord, interrupt and inconvenience me more this year, that Your will be done, not mine; and to learn to thank You for Your goodness.

Lord, give me things too big for me, that I may see Your hand at work, how You will provide, and do things more wonderfully than I could ever imagine; and learn to give You thanks for Your grace.

Lord, humble me and banish pride far from me; that I learn that whatever I have comes from You, and to thank You for all things.

Lord, grant me times of sadness and joy this year, that I may see Your hand at work and rejoice in Your love; that I may learn to give thanks in all circumstances.

Lord, give me times to speak Your Word, that I may learn to know it better; and give thanks for the work of Your Word in my life.

Lord, strengthen my faith and weaken my grip on the things of this world; that I may learn to be content and thank You not only for what I have but for what I have not.

Lord, give me a compassionate and generous heart to share with others in need; that I may learn to give thanks when other receive good things.

Lord, help me graciously receive from others, that they may have the joy of giving; and learn to give thanks for my neighbor.

Lord, help me not be anxious about anything this year, but learn to trust in You, Your goodness, and Your love; and learn to give You thanks for peace.

Thank You Lord, for all Your Fatherly love.

Thank You Lord, for sending Your Son to be our Saviour.

Thank You Lord, for sending Your Spirit, that we may know You.

And thank You, Lord, for the Body and Blood of Jesus which we now receive, as we await Your call to the Feast which has no end.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pentecost 24 Sermon / Reconciliation Sunday with Immanuel, Alexandria

Today we celebrated a joint Divine Service of Reconciliation with Immanuel Lutheran Church in Alexandria. After a split let to the formation of my congregation, many years later we are reconciling (but not merging) with our brothers and sisters in Christ. A great day for both our congregations.

Both Pastor Esget and I preached homilies today. Mine is below, on the Old Testament and Epistle for the day.

Jesu Juva

“Not a Status Quo God; Not Status Quo Christians”

Text: Daniel 7:9-14; 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:2

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Deadlines are good for me. They force me to focus on what matters and put aside what does not. 

So the End of the Church Year is good for me. That I hear each year that there is an end to this world. There is a Judgment Day. There is coming a new heavens and a new earth. The resurrection of the dead. The bridegroom soon will call us to the heavenly wedding feast. Such a call each year re-focuses me, and brings clarity again to what matters and what does not.

And what we are doing here today matters. 

The reading from Daniel today helps me to see that; to realize it once again. That the day of judgment is coming. The day when the Ancient of Days will sit on His throne, the court will be called to order, and the books opened.

Now if you are a financial person or even just from your own personal finances, you know about balancing the books. Some people think about Judgment Day like that. That as long as I balance the good and the bad, as long as there’s more income than debt, more good than bad, then I’m good. My books are in order.

But of course, with the Ancient of Days it’s not like that. The debt of my sin, the debt of your sin, can never be balanced. 

Yet it seems to me that’s what we keep trying to do. For when we hold grudges, when we refuse to forgive, when we withhold mercy and love, I’m telling God that I’ll balance that part of the books myself, my own way, not your way. But we don’t. We can’t. 

Then we get used to the status quo, or the way things are. We get used to hard feelings, grudges, disagreements, sin, divison. It’s easy to just let things be, let things go, let sleeping dogs lie. It’s easy, but not good.

So the good news for us is that God is not a status quo God. Never has been, never will be. He is a speaking God, an acting God, because He’s a loving God. And love speaks. Love acts.

And so God is never leaving His people alone. He is always coming to us, speaking to us, loving us, serving us, caring for us, disciplining us. Because we are His. From the very beginning, when Adam and Eve hid themselves from God, to the end, to the Last Day, God will continue to come and speak and act. He can do no less. He will call us to repentance, and He will send His Son. Not to judge; not yet. Rather now, St. Paul said, is the day not of judgment, but of salvation. Now is the day for repentance and forgiveness.

And so the Son of Man came, and He balanced the books - no, more than that, He paid the debt, completely, with His blood. Knowing no sin, having no sin, He became the sin offering, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. So that in Him, we be reconciled to God. At peace with God. And so we are. You are as you are baptized into Christ. You are as His Blood is poured into You. You are as eating His Body, His flesh becomes one with your flesh. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). In Jesus you are new, a new creation, St. Paul said. A new you, for the new heavens and the new earth.

But if you’re like me, you don’t feel very new. Each day you wake up and the old Adam wakes up right there with you, in you. He’s stubborn, and persistent. That’s why Luther said that when you wake up each day, make the sign of the cross and remember that you are baptized and drown that old man again. That’s not who you are. That’s not how you will live this day. 

And it’s also why we are gathered here this day. To hear our speaking, acting, loving, serving God speak to us again, through His ambassadors. To repent our Old Adam, and hear the voice of Christ say to us again: I forgive you all your sins, and know that those words are true and sure. The Spirit working through these words and bringing the goods, the gifts. The Spirit creating in us new and clean hearts, and renewing a right spirit within us (Psalm 51). So that we be reconciled not only with God, but also with each other.

For how can we not? How can we all be together, one in Christ, and yet divided, separated from each other, unforgiving and unforgiven? It cannot be.

And so Christ has given to His Church the ministry of reconciliation. That what God has joined together and sin has rent asunder may be made whole again in the forgiveness of sin. That we never be satisfied with the status quo, the way things are, but again as St. Paul said, controlled by the love of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, we too speak, act, love, serve, and forgive one another.

And all the more as we see the Day approaching, bringing clarity to what matters and what does not. This matters.

My sadness today is that not everyone is here who was here in those sad and tumultuous days so many years ago. Some are at rest and awaiting the day of resurrection, some have moved away, and some have left for other reasons or to other confessions. May the Lord complete what we are unable to do.

But my joy is that we are here today, kneeling side-by-side in repentance, and receiving side-by-side the forgiveness of Christ. Embracing one another again, as our Saviour, in love, embraced us. No longer living for [our]selves, but for Him who for our sake died and was raised. And living for each other. For I am my brother’s keeper, and he mine. I need him and he me. And so not receiving the grace of God in vain, but living the life we have so graciously been given. 

Living in the grace of God that has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

Living in the grace of God that has made us one flock, under one Shepherd. 

Living in the grace of God that has made us brothers and sisters, one in Christ.

Living in the grace of God that gives joy and peace and unity. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Litany of Confession

This is the Litany of Confession that we used in our Service of Reconciliation with Immanuel, Alexandria today.

Litany of Confession

P: O Lord,
C: have mercy. 

P: O Christ,
C: have mercy. 

P: O Lord,
C: have mercy. 

P: O Christ,
C: hear us. 

P: God the Father, who desires not the death of a sinner, but that all turn to Him and live,
C: have mercy. 

P: God the Son, who gave Himself for our sins and was raised for our justification,
C: have mercy. 

P: God the Holy Spirit, by whom we are a new creation in Christ Jesus and have the ministry of reconciliation,
C: have mercy. 

P: Be gracious to us.
C: Spare us, good Lord. 

P: Be gracious to us.
C: Help us, good Lord. 

P: We poor sinners implore You
C: to hear us, O Lord. 

P: When I have lived as if God did not matter and as if I mattered most,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: When I have not honored our Lord’s name,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: When my worship and prayers have faltered,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: When I have not let His love have its way with me and so my love for others has failed,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: For those I have hurt and for those I have failed to help,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: For thoughts and desires soiled with sin,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: When I am quick to accuse and slow to forgive,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: When I do not want to be my brother’s keeper,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: When I do what is easy and not what is right,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: For words that have hurt and division I have caused,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: For my failure to trust in You for all good,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: For the sin I confess before you now in the silence of my heart . . .

P: Create in me a clean heart, O God,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: That I may live with my brothers and sisters in Christ in unity and peace,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: That I may be humble and lowly in spirit,

C: Lord, have mercy.

P: That I rejoice to forgive and do good,

C: Help me, O Lord.

P: That the bones You have crushed rejoice,

C: Grant it, O Lord.

P: Blot out all my iniquities,

C: And restore to me the joy of your salvation.

P: O almighty God, merciful Father,

C: I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.

P: Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

Pentecost 23 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“How Soon?”

Text: Matthew 25:1-13; Amos 5:18-24;

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (Introit: Psalm 84:1, 3, 9-12)

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The five foolish virgins in the Gospel today obviously knew the hymn we just sang: The Bridegroom SOON Will Call Us (LSB #514). Soon. That’s why they didn’t bring any extra oil. They weren’t going to need it. He was coming soon.

Well, there are two warnings for us today there.

First, is this: soon is in the eye of the beholder.

For example: ask a parent about Christmas on December 1st. They will tell you it’s going to be here soon and there’s not enough time to get everything ready and done. But ask a child about Christmas on December 1st, and she’ll tell you it’s an eternity away!

Soon is in the eye of the beholder.

The Bridegroom soon will call us, come to the wedding feast (v. 1). So how soon is soon?

Truth is, we don’t know. But it also depend on this: what is that call being talked about there? Is it Jesus coming again at the end of time? Yes. But we don’t know - can’t know - when that day will be. There may be still many years until that soon, that day.

Or will that call be for you the day when Jesus sends His angels to take you to the wedding feast before the Last Day, to call you in death to pass from this life to the next? Yes again. None of us knows when that day will come for us either. Maybe there are not many days until then for you. And not just if you’re old. Accidents, tragedy, disease, and more take many, as it is said: too soon, while they are still young.

The Bridegroom soon will call us. Soon. So be ready. For whenever your soon is.

But here’s the second warning there for us today, and it is coupled with the first: That if we don’t know when soon will be for us, then also don’t assume that you have enough oil. Don’t assume that you have enough faith, enough forgiveness, enough of God’s Word, enough of the Lord’s Body and Blood, enough justification, enough sanctification, enough mercy, enough Jesus, that you don’t need these things any more. Some, I think, assume just that. That they’re good. They got all they need. 

But how long do you think it takes before the oil runs out? When absence from church, neglect of the Word, fasting from the Sacrament, and failure to receive the gifts of God makes one dry up? Maybe you’ve even felt that a little in your own life, when busyness or trouble or just plain sin has kept you away for a while, and you can tell; you can feel it. Something’s not right. Your oil’s drying up and your lamp is going out . . .

So two good warnings for us today, as we enter these last few weeks of the Church Year and focus on the End Times, the Last Day, and Jesus’ return: (1.) we don’t know when soon will be for us, and (2.) therefore don’t assume we have enough. 

Or maybe I could say it this way: live each day as if today was your soon, but also live each day as if your soon is still many years away. 

What would such a life look like? 

Well, it would be a life well-fed - both for what you need today and what you need for the long haul. A life where each day you read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest God’s Word. A life of confession and repentance and receiving absolution. A life of often eating and drinking the Body and Blood of your Bridegroom. That no matter when your soon is, your lamp be lit and your oil be enough. 

But also this: it would not only be a life well-fed, but a life well-lived. A life of reconciliation, both with your fellow believers and even with those who do not believe. How often, when someone dies, have you wished you had a few more days, to say what needed to be said, to say you were sorry, to forgive and be forgiven? But soon came sooner than we thought.

And it would be a life of good works, of service, of mercy, of care, compassion, and love. For also how often has anger or bitterness or grudges or the thirst for revenge or the love of sin caused a lamp to be snuffed out? The sin in us needs to be trimmed so the light can burn. 

For soon the Bridegroom will call us.

But just as this parable of Jesus today provided us with two warnings - that (1.) we don’t know when soon is and (2.) therefore don’t assume we have enough, always be ready - it also provides us with two realities: that when the Bridegroom comes it will be a day of joy for some and a day of woe for others.

And the woe was described for us by the prophet Amos today. And his image of that day was quite vivid. For imagine what he said - fleeing from a lion only to run into a bear! Or imagine going into a dark house where you cannot see anything, and you’ve got your hand out, feeling for something, anything, solid, and when you finally touch something it’s not a relief, but a serpent, plunging his fangs into your hand! 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my soon, my Last Day, to be like that! But apart from Jesus, apart from getting into the wedding feast, that’s exactly what that day will be like. And worse. For on that day, apart from Jesus, there will be no place to flee from the prowling satanic lion, and no relief from his fangs, plunged into you. The door will be shut. It will truly be a day, as Amos says, of woe. Woe that will not end.

But it need not be. Blessed, we sang in the Introit, Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord of hosts. In Jesus. In Jesus who tells us that He is the door for the sheep (John 10:7). In Jesus, who was devoured by our sins and by the satanic lion on the cross, but who then Himself devoured our sins and the satanic lion in His resurrection. In Jesus, who has provided the anit-venin for the poison of sin injected into us by satan with His Body and Blood, given us here to eat and to drink. That in Jesus now, and trusting in Him now, we will also be with Him and rejoice with Him forever. That our soon and our Last Day not be the beginning but the end of our woe, and not the end but the beginning of our joy. Joy that will never end.

But to be in Jesus now means that while we await the wedding feast and the joy there that we cannot even begin to imagine, and while certainly we will have some joy here and now, there will be woe now. Woe because of the sin in the world and the sin in us. Woe because of the rebellion against God and His Word that we see in the world and that sometimes wells up in us. Woe as we are the targets of the prowling satanic lion and the flesh into which the serpent sinks his fangs. Woe as the world that persecuted and rejected Jesus persecutes and rejects those who are His as well. And maybe you could add a few woes of your own. 

But the woes we experience now are nothing like the woes that will come at the end. For we are not in the darkness now. Jesus is here. The light is here. His forgiveness and life are here. For until the Last Day and His final coming, Jesus is not far, far, away, but coming in little, hidden ways even now. Breaking into our lives now to keep and sustain us, feed and forgive us, strengthen and protect us, for when your soon comes. He is here in water and words and bread and wine, that in the darkness you have a safe place to flee from the lion, and a safe place to place your hand. A safe place to hide. A refuge. Until the Bridegroom [finally] calls us, come to the wedding feast.

Until that day, until your soon, encourage one another with these words, St. Paul told the Thessalonian Christians, and us. But what are “these words?” Well, that the Lord knows who are His; those who have fallen asleep in Him. He knows those who are alive still - you and I - and those who have gone before us. Or to put it in the words of Jesus’ parable: those virgins still awake and those who have fallen asleep.

But when the Bridegroom comes, all in Jesus will enter into the feast. Jesus is faithful. We are not always. He always is. On that you can depend. On that we do depend.

So encourage one another, until our soon comes.

Encourage one another to remain faithful.

Encourage one another to remain in the Word.

Encourage one another to confess and repent, to forgive and to be absolved.

Encourage one another to receive the Lord’s Supper often.

Encourage one another to have mercy and do good.

Encourage the old whose soon is near, and the young whose soon may also be near - or many years away.

Encourage the weary and weak, for you will one day be.

Encourage the mourning.

Encourage the doubting, and those under heavy burdens.

Encourage one another in all the times and trials of life.

For if, as we sang in the Introit, even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at the altar of the Lord - how much more us? A home, a nest, for us here, until our soon comes, and our home is not here at the altar of the Lord, but around His throne, forever.

Until the Bridegroom [finally] calls us.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.