The Last Sunday of the Church Year - November 20, 2011

The Church Season of Trinity
The Last Sunday in the Church Year, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (November 20, 2011)

Readings:  
    Psalm 149
    Isaiah 65:17:25
    1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
    Matthew  25:1-13

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 5th chapter of St. Paul’s 1st letter to the church in Thessalonica, especially the following verses:

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4     But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5     For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6     So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7     For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8     But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9     For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10     who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11     Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord, my soul to keep.  If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”  While some of you may be more familiar with Luther’s morning and evening prayers as written out in the catechism, you’ve almost certainly heard this very simple prayer at some point in your life.  And of course your ending to this prayer probably varied, ours generally continued with, “God bless mommy and daddy, Elizabeth, Alicia, Alexander, and all who are around me.  Amen, Stay in bed.”  I guess we said it that way so many times it just became part of the ending.  In Luther’s evening prayer the closing is, “let you holy angel watch over me, that the evil foe will have no power over me.”(SC)  Both prayers bring the close of our day to a bright focus, that is that God will watch over us at the close of our day, which for any one of us could also be the close of our lives. 

Darkness is and always has been associated with darkness, death, and evil.  We do not like to be out in the dark walking down streets alone, it’s just not safe.  So we avoid walking alone at night in strange places if at all possible. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" It is the element of surprise that makes us fear, we can’t see as well in the dark as we can in the light. 

And so St. Paul takes this idea of darkness and light, safe and surprise and he tells the church in Thessalonica, “let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.”(v. 6)   Not as easy as it sounds.  Jesus told His disciples to do this very thing in the Garden of Gethsemane, “[Jesus] said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And shortly thereafter as He bowed to God’s will in prayer He returned and, “He came to the disciples and found them sleeping.”(Mt. 26:38&40)

“Let us not sleep.”(v. 6) Obviously an impossible task.  For the disciples in the presence of the Son of God Jesus Christ, could not stay awake for a few moments, neither could Paul’s hearer’s and we too can’t stay awake for an endless string of hours upon hours we must sleep.  So St. Paul is talking here about our lives in the world, his admonition doesn’t mean our every day need for sleep, nor is he talking about the endless sleep of death.  But, here St. Paul speaks about “a life in sin, which is a life in darkness. Those in Christ, the light of the world, are awake and sober.”  You beloved saints of God, because of the grace and faith sealed upon you in your baptism, walk in the light of the sun, so all of you who walk in the light of the Word of God, Jesus Christ, are "children of the day.”(v. 5)

Boy wouldn’t that be a great place to end, except one or two of you are thinking, “Wait a minute, didn’t I hear you say that only sinners come to church?  Something is not adding up here.”  And you would be right and St. Paul would be right too.  For all who walk in the light of the Word of God, are indeed children of the day.  But just like the seasons and the time of the year especially now, the darkness seems to come very early, in fact earlier each day.  We slip and we fall our faith wanes like daylight as we approach December days.  We sin daily, and that is taking the Light of Christ out of our lives.  In fact, we often think of sin, in kind of a mitigating way.  We want to think that we are Christian, and holy and we have all these holy lights on lives.  Wherever we go there is always light, look at me.  But we sin by not speaking kindly of our brothers and sisters.  Oh, that’s just one light that went out, I’ve got plenty more.  We sin when we curse and swear, “Oh everybody does that, if that’s all you’ve got to talk about, I’ve plenty more lights than that.”  We sin, by holding false Gods, by being so busy we can’t spend time to read God’s Word, to attend church, to share the Word of God with others.  We think our lights slowly go out as we feel the effects of sin in our bodies which are attacked and ravaged by very real aches, pains, disease.  But, how many lights do you have?  Do you have enough lights to avoid the darkness that will envelope you when the last candle goes out?  Truthfully the answer is no, we do not and we can not by our own reason or strength fight the battle of the diminishing light.  In fact, the truth is worse than you thought, for each sin, puts all your lights out, all at once, completely, dark dark, no shadows, no sounds, no touch, no taste, no smell, utter and complete separation from the world which we want to create.  Where we have all the money, no enemies, no debt, every toy, perfect health, no crying, no pain, no anguish, no fear, no darkness.”

Repent for  St. Paul said, “While people are saying, “'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”(v. 3) These are dark words which warn of sudden, utter, and hopeless ruin and despair for those who put their hope in this world, rather than in Christ. It has been said, “Do not, while present prosperity smiles upon you, forget its certain end, lest adversity without end succeed it” (St. Bernard of Clairvaux SLSB, p 56). By human reason and strength, no one can escape God’s righteous judgment and scrutiny (Ps 139:7–10). Only those sheltered in Christ will escape God’s wrath, which will come upon all those who have broken His righteous Law.  Our candles are like a heap of wax, your ability to make light is like a box of wet matches, by our actions and inactions, we are left in despair and utter darkness with no way to make light.

But you are not left in the darkness of your own despair.  Christ Jesus, is the light of the world and He has made you belong to the day.  You have put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation in the waters of your baptism.  In the light of Christ you are as a people who walk in the light of the sun, for you walk in the light of the Word of God, Jesus Christ, and you have been made the children of the day.

Let us walk in holiness and righteousness so that we may not be ashamed when our Lord appears to judge our work. The Lord who has chosen you for salvation and died for you on the cross will be on our side on the final Day of Judgment.  Recognize that there is a Day of Judgment for us a day casting to the darkness or the eternal illumination in the presence of the Son of God. The day of the Lord may come like a thief in the night but you are children of the day.  We pray the way we are taught, God’s will be done.  We share the Good News of Jesus Christ who is the light of the world.  Are prayers are answered by Jesus Christ who brings the close of our everyday even our final day into a bright focus. That is that God will watch over us at the close of our day, which for any one of us could also be the close of our lives.  And no matter when Jesus comes, He will come for you in comfort and joy, to lay you down to sleep and He your soul will ever keep, when you die you shall then awake, for Jesus died for your eternal sake.  Amen.

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