Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
[Intro]
Happy New Year! Today we enter Advent, which marks the beginning
of a new Church Year. During the season of Advent, we are directed to the
coming of Christ. For us, we are preparing for the coming of the Kingdom of
God.
Today’s Gospel lesson prepares us for the day when our Lord will
judge the living and the dead. Our reading also shows us that the world appears
to be going on in a completely normal fashion for both Christians and
unbelievers. Everything seems the same; there is eating and drinking, marriage
ceremonies, men and women at work, and there seems to be no difference, until
suddenly – without warning – there is a separation on the Day of Judgment. But,
there was a difference. Some were watching and preparing for the Kingdom of
God; others were not.
[USS
Stark]
On May 17, 1987, an Iraqi F-1 Mirage aircraft fired two Exocet
missiles at the Navy frigate USS Stark, which was patrolling in the Persian
Gulf.
The USS Stark was equipped with radar systems to detect such
missiles in the air. In the nerve center of the ship was the electronic warfare
operator, a man who monitored these systems. Now, if a missile was fired at the
ship, he would be warned in two ways: an audible alarm would sound and a visual
symbol would appear on the radar screen.
Nevertheless, without warning the Exocet missiles slammed into
the side of the USS Stark just above the waterline, tearing a ten-foot hole in
the ship and killing 37 American sailors.
To learn what went wrong, the House Armed Services Committee
launched an official investigation.
After visiting the ship and talking to the surviving crew, they
reported that the tragedy had likely not resulted from equipment failure.
Rather, the cause was human error or omission on part of several people. One of
those people was the electronic warfare operator in the ship’s nerve center.
The report said: “The operator indicated that he had turned off
the audible alarm feature because too many signals were being received that
were setting off the alarm, requiring actions that distracted him from
performing other signal analysis.”
Then with the audible alarm off, according to the investigators,
he may have been distracted at the time when the visual signals appeared on the
radar screen.
This ship was equipped to be ready for anything, but it was
human error and omission that caused the failure. Apparently, the many who allowed
the audible alarm to be turned off thought that no attack would ever happen to
the ship. With many warnings available to protect them, out of their own
convenience, they ended up being without any warning.
Now, what about us here today? How prepared are we for the
Kingdom of God when Christ comes descending from the clouds with power and
great glory?
[The
Advents]
First off, how do we recognize God’s Kingdom? Well, the Kingdom
of God comes in two ways. First, God’s Kingdom comes to us now, by grace. Then,
on the Last Day, God’s Kingdom will come with power, for judgment. These are
two of the three “advents” that we think about during this season.
The first advent was when Christ was born in Bethlehem. We can
celebrate that, but that is in the past. We can’t experience or prepare for it.
However, the advent or coming of Christ is happening to us now when we hear God’s Word, repent, and receive His grace. And lastly, there is Christ’s final advent, when He comes in judgment.
[The
Days of Noah]
This morning Jesus tells us about His final advent – His second
coming. During His explanation, Jesus tells us about the days of Noah. Now, why
is Jesus telling us about Noah? Well, He is using that event to teach us that
like the flood, He will come without warning.
Now, from the Book of Genesis, we learn much about Noah and how
the world was like during his time. We learn that Noah was a righteous man and
that he walked with God. But, all around Noah was corruption and wickedness.
You see, outside of Noah’s family, the rest of society had
forgotten about God, so they just went on with their lives thinking that
nothing bad could ever happen to them. They were unprepared and preoccupied
with the things of this world.
What about you? Are you preoccupied with the things of this
world?
Oh how easily we get caught up with the things of this world:
wealth, riches, prestige, power, sports, television shows, fishing, love of
self – and the list goes on.
As we learned from the great flood, all it took was an instant.
Everything the people had was swept away – themselves and their possessions.
They had no time for preparation. No time for repentance. They had no time for
anything.
Likewise, we do not know when our last hour would come. On the
Day of Judgement, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two
women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore,
stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming”
(Matthew 24:40-42).
These activities represent all our cares and pursuits: eating
and drinking stands for the pleasures of life; marriage stands for our
relationships with others; and buying, selling, planting, and building indicate
our possessions.
You see, pleasures, people, and possessions, given to us by God
can end up driving us away from God. Thus we must beware that these do not
distract us from God’s Kingdom, but instead serve to prepare us for the Lord’s
coming.
[Grace
in our midst]
So, how would the Lord have us prepare for this Advent?
We prepare as we live in hopeful expectation “for
salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Romans
13:11b). So, we cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light as
we stay awake for the coming of the Lord. We hear and read God’s Word and come
to Him in prayer, seeking first and only His Kingdom and His righteousness.
As Christians, we live in hopeful expectation and long for the
return of Christ at an hour we do not expect. But, we don’t have to wait for
His presence. The Kingdom of God is even now in our midst. A foretaste of the
Kingdom comes to us at each Divine Service.
Each time we meet on Sunday mornings, we remember what Christ alone
has done for us. He came in the flesh for us to give everyone who trusts in Him
as Lord: forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation. As Emmanuel – God
with us – Jesus died to the punishment that we deserve and rose to life, so we
would be restored to God’s Kingdom.
Christ alone fulfilled the Law for us, He died for us, He rose
for us, and He ascended into heaven for us.
By grace through faith in Christ alone, sin, death and Satan
have no power over us. So, through Christ alone, we have forgiveness, life and salvation!
For all of us in Christ, we have nothing to worry about for when
Christ returns. Now, we may not know at what hour the Son of Man is coming, but
we are ready. We are ready because we become better prepared each week as we
repent of our sins and receive God’s forgiveness in Word and Sacrament. You
see, it is the Triune God who makes us ready. And, today and each Lord’s Day,
His Kingdom of grace comes to us. Amen.
The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
T SOLI DEO GLORIA T
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