Jesu Juva
“Do You Know What Time It Is?”
Text: Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 21:1-11; Romans 13:8-14
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
What time is it? Oh! I gotta go! Who of us hasn’t said that?
It’s important to know what time it is. To get to school on time, to your doctor’s appointment on time, to get to church on time! If you lose track of time, or ignore the time, the consequences could be mild - you just miss something you wanted to see. Or they could be severe - you could get fired.
But it’s not just the time of day. The time of year is important, too. Stores know this. You don’t stock up on Turkeys in April, and you don’t sell many swimsuits in January. You don’t plant your garden in November, and snow shovels in July probably aren’t going to sell.
Don’t forget to spring forward and fall back one hour, and don’t get those mixed up!
And one of the difficult things for people with dementia or other diseases of the mind is losing track of time. Sundowning, they call it. Thinking that nighttime is daytime, and daytime is nighttime.
The Scriptures know how important time is. When God created the sun and moon and stars, they weren’t only for light, but, God said, let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years (Genesis 1:14). There is also a famous passage in Ecclesiastes which says there is a time for everything (ch. 3).
So today we begin a new church year, which helps us keep track of time - but not our time, earthly time, but God’s time, heavenly time. That’s why the church uses a different calendar than the world, why the church has different seasons than the world. We look at things differently. Mothers Day and Fathers Day are important, but Christmas and Easter more. Good Friday shows us love infinitely greater than any Valentines Day. And more important than the seasons that are based on the earth revolving around the sun (named Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter) are the seasons that revolve around the Sun of God (named Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost). They focus us on God’s time. And the one who is, by the way, the creator of time.
We heard about time in the Scriptures read today. Isaiah mentioned the latter days. St. Paul said you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. And Jesus certainly knew what time it was when He entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey to the shouts of Hosanna! It was time to hosanna the people. It was time to save them. It was time to go the cross.
This was the time Jesus had been preparing for - not just His whole life, but for all of time! The Scriptures tell us that God planned for this even before He created us. He knew there would be sin, He knew we would need saving and a Saviour, and He planned for it. Then He promised that Saviour to Adam and Eve after they did what He knew they would - fall into sin. And then, St. Paul says in Galatians, when the fullness of time had come - or, at just the right time - God sent forth his Son (4:4). And now, Jesus knew as He rode into Jerusalem that time, an eternity of waiting had come down to this, that an eternity of sin would be held against Him on the cross, and He would be crushed for it. He would be crushed, so we would not. He would bear the weight, so we could be forgiven. He would die, and then rise from the dead, so that we who die, could also rise to life again. To give us confidence when facing death. To give us hope when we see others die. The time had come.
So if there was a clock in heaven, the first alarm would have indicated the time for Jesus to come in the flesh. And He did. There is no snooze button in heaven. For, the psalmist tells us anyway, that God neither slumbers nor sleeps (121:4). Once Jesus came and did His work, however, that alarm was reset, to another time in the future, for Jesus to come again in glory. God knows when that time is - we do not. But as surely as the time came for Jesus to come in the flesh, so too will the time come for Him to come in glory.
Those are the latter days, culminating with the Last Day. When, as Isaiah said, God’s kingdom will be established above all others. There will be peace and no more war, so beat [your] swords into plowshares, and your spears into pruning hooks. And, Isaiah says, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. Which, on that day, that Last Day, means that we walk in the light that IS the Lord. That’s what the book of Revelation tells us, that when the day of eternity dawns, we will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be [our] light (22:5). The glory of God will light our way (21:23). That’s hard to imagine, not needing the sun anymore. But no more war, only peace; no more sin, only love . . . I’ll take that.
But it’s not that yet, as you know. That second alarm hasn’t gone off yet. There is still lots of sin, lots of war, lots of troubles. Lots of struggles, lots of heartache, lots of problems. Lots of disease, lots of death, lots of sadness. Now, the light of the Lord we walk by is His Word. The psalmist told us that, too: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (119:105). The Word of God directs us and leads us, but also gives us what we need. The Word directs us to the cross to find our life there. The Word directs us to water to find and receive our new life there. The Word directs us to the altar to find and receive our heavenly food, the Body and Blood of Jesus, there. The Word directs us to the Gospel to find and receive our forgiveness there. Just as the world has its own calendar to mark time, but we have a different one, so too the world has its own words that direct and lead them. The question is: where are they going? Where are they being led? And do we really want to follow? Do we really want to go where those words are are leading?
Or maybe there’s a better word, a better way . . .
Which brings us to the words we heard today from St. Paul: you know the time, he says; that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. Now is not the time to hit the snooze button as Christians! To put off what we should be doing now. To think that second heavenly alarm is still a long way from going off. It might not be. Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed, Paul adds. And it grows closer with each passing day. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. Or, maybe put it this way: the Son has been up, risen from the dead, for a long time. So it’s time for us to get ready - do those things we do when the sun comes up. It’s time for us to get up and wash - to remember when you were washed in baptism and now receive the ongoing washing of absolution. It’s time for us to get dressed - in the robe of Christ’s righteousness. It’s time for us to eat - the Body and Blood of Jesus that gives us strength and life. For, Paul said, you know the time.
You know . . . so why, Paul asks the Romans, are you living like it’s night? For them, according to Paul, that meant living in orgies and drunkenness, in sexual immorality and sensuality, in quarreling and jealousy. What is it for you? Perhaps some of those things. But maybe for you it’s other things, other sins. Things you’re doing you know you shouldn’t be. Things you know you should be doing but aren’t. Things of body and soul. Things you would stop doing or start doing if you knew the time. Well, Paul says, you know the time. And it’s time. Time to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Which is to say: to love one another. And Paul lists some of those ways, how to do that, going through the commandments. It is to not commit adultery, or even lust. To not murder, or even hate or belittle others. To not steal, or even make your personal wealth what it’s all about. To not covet, or ever take your eyes off Christ for what gives your life meaning and purpose and value. Those things can’t save you, but then can kill you. And if we’re living in days when we might not ever get to light that rose-colored candle on the Advent wreath . . . maybe it’s time.
Jesus knew it was time - not to get on His horse! - but to get on His donkey. To fight a different kind of battle. One that would be won in the strength of weakness, in the power of humility, and in the victory of death. Strength, power and victory the people wanted! Weakness, humility, and death . . . not so much. But with Jesus, it’s always both. Even when things seem like opposites, they aren’t with Jesus. Jesus always gives you more. And that more is for your good. Your eternal good. Jesus fulfilled those shouts of hosanna! just not as the people expected. Your’s too. When you cry out to cry for help, for God to save. So that when that second heavenly alarm goes off, and Jesus comes in glory, you’ll be awake and ready to sing, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
So we’ll practice that today, in a moment. We’ll sing those same words as Jesus comes to us today, again humbly, riding in the bread and wine. Here, practice doesn’t make perfect - Jesus does. Perfect in the forgiveness of your sins. So we’ll rejoice now, for that, and we’ll rejoice when the bread and wine goes away and we finally see Jesus as He is. We’ll rejoice like they did on that Palm Sunday, because our King is coming to us, righteous and having salvation. Our salvation. That Day we’ll finally be “off the clock,” and living in peace, joy, and rest, forever. And how good does that sound?
So the Church prays, not just this season, but especially this season of Advent, Savior of the nations, come! (LSB #332) Come! O come, Emmanuel! (LSB #357)
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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