Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 (Sermon for the week of December 3rd)

Gospel
Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

Jesus said to his disciples:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,

stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”

SERMON:

I wonder how many ministers centered their sermon around the Gospel reading for this week! We may be tempted to look past and ignore apocalyptic texts. Some may find that they are difficult to fathom, scared, or embarrassed to discuss it for fear of being associated with today's apocalyptic preachers. We cannot ignore the fact that Jesus spoke clearly and often about His
Second Coming and the New Testament is full of apocalyptic texts. Why?
For the world as we have known it since the beginning of time has a limited existence, and we are given the opportunity to acquire eternal life by faith in Our Lord. The first generations or first watch were given moral rules to follow perfectly if they wished to attain eternal life. The second watch witnessed the coming of the Lord Jesus, and the third watch awaits His
Second Coming. This third watch also has the chance to witness the Second Coming with all of the tribulation associated with it. I do not wish to be "caught by suprise", I wish to attain eternal life by faith in Jesus and fulfilling the Good Works He has assigned me the best I can with 110% effort.

So, let me begin to break apart this weeks reading and speak about several important points. In the first part of the reading Jesus the Christ says:

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken."

Does anyone need clarification on these words? This is not a threat...this is a promise. This world has horrible history associated with it. Wars, plagues, natural disasters, just plain evil men doing evil things. Show me a span of a hundred years that did not have hell break loose! Our time on earth will always be marred by the horrible events that this world harbors. There are times of peace and times of war...(isn't this in a song?) We are witnesses as servants to the Lord during these times. Are these troubling reoccuring events the same events Jesus is speaking about? NO! There will come a time when the end approaches and there will be those of Christ and those not in Christ. These people and those people, faithers and non-faithers in Jesus.

Do you see in this time or can point to a definite time in history when there are "signs" in the sun AND the moon AND the stars AND the nations of the world in dismay with the "roaring of the sea"? It's not one of five signs taking place IT IS ALL FIVE SIGNS!

I must answer, "NO."

Now, many will sit and discuss what these signs will be and when they will come, but the "doomsday" preachers have this area covered well enough that I don't need to discuss it. The point is, there is a time when the world approaches the end and the signs will be clear BEFORE the event happens. This event is marked by PEOPLE DYING OF FRIGHT....and the powers of the heavens shaken. Hmmm....how many people can preach on what the "powers of the heavens" are? I take it, not many.

Do you have any thoughts on how this happens? I do but that is not the point that is being made here. These events...all these events...let's count them...I count seven now...will come before "the event". What is the event?
Let's read through the rest of the reading...

Jesus the Christ says:
"And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

There is your event. Has this happened yet? I'll answer that again...."NO!"
The Messiah who lived 2,000 years ago with the name Jesus, will come in "a cloud with power and great glory".

Forget all of the Rapture talk you hear and listen to Jesus. If you are alive and see all seven signs which lead to the eighth which is the Son of Man coming in a cloud...you need to do one thing, the hardest act but an act of pure faith...

Here are your instructions, Jesus the Christ says:

"But when these signs begin to happen,

stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand."

There are those who have faith in Christ and then there are those who don't have faith in Christ. There are those who will raise their heads and those who refuse to raise their heads...there are those who are redeemed and those who are not redeemed.
Quick question: Is there a possibility that all of the people on the earth at the time before the Second Coming are shaken to the core so severly and everyone who is alive at this time raises their heads and stands erect to the Lord? I hope so, but looking at the history of mankind and witnessing the acts of man in my lifetime...I doubt it.
We'll witness the answer some day.
I have enough knowledge from Jesus' own words in the Gospels alone to tell me that not
everyone will be redeemed...but I have the personal hope for the world that they all will be but my hope and reality are two very different things.

STAND ERECT and know you will be redeemed in the Lord if you ARE WITH the Lord!
Now for the core of this sermon....

Jesus the Christ says:
“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.

You can be ready to stand erect at the end of your time on this rock by following the instructions of Jesus. Those who find these words or read them from another faither down the road when the Son of Man who was Jesus returns to this earth in the Second Coming will need to heed this warning and follow the instructions very, very quickly. For the rest of us, we have the luxury of not being rushed...for a (little??) while. But our time here is not long at all and could end for some of the readers of this blog tomorrow for all we know.

There are three things to do which sums up every possible way to steer you away from faith.
I will list them and then expalin each of them.

1) BEWARE that you do not become drousy from carousing
2) BEWARE that you do not become drousy from drunkeness
3) BEWARE that you do not become stressed out from your day to day life

1) Beware that you do not become drousy from carousing. Let me explain this so that
we may all ponder it for a moment. Carousing includes all of the "fun" things we do to escape our life in order to feel good. Let's name a few....
Time you spend going out to bars, dance clubs, on dates, parties, vacations, watching TV, sports etc...
How many of us wasted time doing this in our lives? Sure, we deserve it right?
Question: Why do you feel that you deserve all of this fun? Where is the line between taking a break (which we all really don't need if we live by faith but I am no one to speak because I like going out with friends and going on vacation) but where is the line between taking a break and allowing it to overun and distract us from our faith? I have gone on vacations that where so enjoyable that I daydreamed and reminisced for weeks. I recall not having the motivation for bible reading, church activities, or praying as intently as I did before I went on vacation. Carousing also includes all of the distractions we create to "fill" our lives with "something" and has nothing to do with faith. Examples are working hard to attain financial, social, family, or personal status and acquiring all sorts of material objects. Where is the balance between fulfilling our duties, balancing our time with the Lord and becoming workaholics? Allow me to give an absolute. We have the opportunity to push all of the above mentioned worldly works aside and only live in faith. I have not done this. I have not relinquished everything I have and left my family in order to "serve the Lord" twenty-four hours a day...so I cannot instruct others to do so. I know the Lord owned nothing and His apostles abandoned their lives to follow Jesus...but I also know that relinquishing everything I have will not automatically grant me faith either. In other words, giving up everything will not mean a thing, and will not provide redemption if I do not have faith. I believe that raising a family and providing for my family creates abundant opportunities to live a life of faith. Plenty of opportunities and acts of faith!

2) Beware that you do not become drousy from drunkeness. The profits raked in by the makers of alcohol, drugs, and all types of substances should tell us how obsessed our world is with indulgence of mind/mood altering substances. (This includes food.) Alcohol exists in every
nation and every part of this world. And if not...they will find some eventually to drink. It is amazing to see how many people create plans centered around drinking.
But this doesn't just include alcohol. Think about how many legal and illegal drugs are ingested throughout the world. These substances physically and mentally effect people somehow or they wouldn't be taking them! Drugs are everywhere and anywhere. Think about all of the other physical substances we can ingest in order to escape our reality and have some "fun". Justify it all you want...the point is, when someone engages in activities that create "drunkeness", faith is not present, and neither is awareness of the Lord!

3) Beware that you do not have anxiety of daily life.
You may not drink, use drugs, have many material possessions, nor a job, but we all have encountered the stress of daily life. Pick an area of life and tell me when you have stressed out about it! When you stress out, you are not living by faith. We all have done it and have moments when we are stressed, but unless one takes the action to ask the Lord for peace, when one asks the Lord to take charge and when we actually turn our anxieties over to God, we are not living by faith, but instead are living on our own self will. We want to change the world that the Lord created...we want it our way. All that causes is more anxiety.

Do you think you had a bad day? Well, it could get worse.
The Lord says:
"that day {can} catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth."

Yes, your days could get a lot worse. Stand erect, stand in faith, and look up to the Lord and you will NEVER be trapped. You will be prepared for day to day life and the impending "assault on earth". Pray it's not in your lifetime.

The Lord says:
"Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Vigilant means: "alert, keenly aware". Be aware at ALL TIMES and PRAY, PRAY, Pray,
that you have the strength to escape tribulations. Tribulation means, "distress" and
this life and this world will always create dis--STRESS! The Lord will help you "escape"
stress that have always, are, and will always happen in your life. Pray for the strength and the Lord will see you through every day and keep you alert to stand before Him, for you sought direction and help in avoiding the situations that create circumstances where you may become "drousy" in indulgences of this earth, drunkeness, and anxiety. The Son of Man shall come again, the Tribulation of God will happen, you will experience your own personal tribulations, and one day your time will end to live in faith, love in faith, and demonstrate faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on this earth! Rejoice in the opportunity!

God bless you and your families this week.

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