Last Sunday of the Church Year (2023)
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1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ we are at the end of the church year, and we prepare for the season of Advent. This Sunday is given over to the end of this world which is something we as Christians look forward to not for the chaos and the turmoil that precedes it, but rather what comes after the heavens and the earth is reduced to nothing, for these events heralds and brings to us in the days ahead.
The Day of the Lord
That day will come like a thief.
That is not when we expect, if you know when the thief is coming then you can prepare, and have the police arranged to be there at the same time. There will be no issue, but if you are caught entirely unaware, it will be to your great detriment.
It will surprise the world.
Look at what the world says, there is peace and security. We are safe there is nothing for us to be afraid of, nothing to be worried about, the world still has troubles but it has always had these so there is no reason to be concerned.
Like the flood, people lived without concern.
In the days of Noah, the people were eating and drinking, marrying. They were going about life without any real concern about what was going on. They were confused why this guy was building a giant ship, on land, and putting a bunch of animals in it, especially when he talked about the sky falling. But like in the days of noah those who were caught unaware were gone.
When is the Day?
Only the father knows.
This is a bit of mystery, I must confess for it is the Son that returns in glory and majesty and might and yet, Jesus himself tells us that only the father knows the day not the son. He will come to bring the world to an end.
When Adam sinned, the earth was cursed.
It wasn’t just mankind that was afflicted, thorns and thistles rose up from the ground as nature was corrupted, and since Adam came from the dust of the earth, his name in hebrew means earth or ground. So just as Adam returns to that which he came from, so too will the earth, which came from nothing.
There are signs of it’s coming.
Wars and rumors of war, famines, earthquakes, Jesus says these are teh beginning of the birth pains. In 2 Tim 3, we read about the godlessness of people in the last days, that people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power.
The End is Cause for Joy
It is only the end of this world.
Did you hear in the Isaiah text? Isaiah 65:17 ““For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” God is not removing all things forever, but removing the world that was tainted by sin to make something new, that He might be with his people, and that they might be glad and rejoice.
It also heralds Jesus coming again.
Think about the Lord’s Supper, when Christ comes to His people, it is also called the Eucharist, which is the rejoicing that Christ comes to us. On the Last day Christ comes to bring the world to an end, that we might dwell with Him for all eternity as He calls forth all the dead for judgment and those who belong to Him go to His Kingdom..
This is terrible for the world, but not for you.
This is why we don’t fear the end of the world. Jesus has told us that it is coming, and we know what it means. It is a like a Christian who draws near to the end of their life. On the one hand is there some apprehension as life starts to slip away? Yes. Do they also know that Christ is waiting to receive them and that they will be with Him in paradise? Yes.
You are not in Darkness
You are children of light!
You belong to the Day of the Lord, we do not dwell in the darkness of sin, or death, for we will be brought into the presence of Jesus who is our life and our light. To that End St. Paul encourages all Christians even you.
In v7 by sleeping, he means sin.
Those who are not prepared for the coming of the Lord, for if you know that Jesus is coming back. Now he will use sleep again a little bit later, but let us understand what he means here by sleep and drunkeness.
We do not indulge in the works of darkness.
Now what are those works? Well what do the commandments teach? We are to have no others gods, we are not to curse of blaspheme, we are to honor the sabbath day and attend to hearing GOd’s word, we are to honor father and mother, we are not to murder that is to hurt or harm our neighbor, but help and support them in every physical need, we are to flee from sexual immorality, in all its forms, and keep that union between husband and wife, we are not to steal but to work honestly, to slander or spread lies but defend our neighbor, and not to covet our neighbors inheritance or anything that God has given our neighbor.
We are God’s children.
Since we are children of God, we ought to abide by the words our father has spoken, for what can you say about a child who willfully disregards and dishonors their parents? That is not who you should be, and when you fall, repent swiftly, for you do not want to be found sleeping.
Armored By God
The world preaches peace and security.
For that reason they dont prepare themselves at all thinking that everything will be ok, and they can live however, they want. But you will notice that the Scriptures then compare this with a soldier putting on armor. We are blessed to have many veterans in our congregation. What would you say of a soldier who is supposed to be on duty, but is out of uniform, is sleeping or is drunk while he is to be manning his post, but says, there is no need to be watching. What will happen to them, and the base?
The breastplate of faith and love.
For God has given it to us that we might be ready and shielded by the Love that He has for us in Christ and the faithfulness of Christ. For you have been armored by God and have put on Christ in Holy Baptism, do not take that off and then what you will find is that as
The world falls into despair as the earth fades.
You are prepared and ready for you already knew this was to happen, you aren’t surprised that the world is evil, or given over to destruction for this is what the prophets foretold and what Jesus Christ affirmed, and he has promised to bring you through. And so
Our minds are shielded by the hope of salvation.
For the hope we have in christ is not some vain hope, or impossible dream, our hope is in the one who keeps his word, and fulfills it, and who is standing at the right hand of the throne of God.
Encourage One Another
The world will end, but Jesus is coming.
That is a reason for every Christian on earth to rejoice for this is what the Disciples longed to see, and if we get to see it in our life time, thanks be to God! The world will look messy, but God has armored us with Faith, hope, and love, so what do we have to fear?
It is wrong for churches to terrify Christians of the end.
Many do, thinking that they just need to terrify of them instead of encouraging them to lay aside what Christ has given them. Rather build one another up, for we can grow tired in the struggle for what is good and proper, and we do not want any to fall asleep, remind them of what Christ is bringing and how it is far better than the world that is passing away.
Why should we be afraid of Christ’s Kingdom?
Where we will dwell with God for all eternity, where there will be no more death, where we won’t worry about losing our homes to violence or foreclosures, and where even the animals are at peace, nature will be pure and good. We want that in this life, why would be afraid of Christ’s return?
So my brothers and sisters in Christ, the Church year ends today, and our eyes look ahead to the coming of Christ. For the season of Advent is not only about building up to Christmas, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem and came to save us from the powers of sin, death, and the devil. It also fixes our eyes ahead on the return of Christ and all that He has promised to give us in His Kingdom. May that encourage you as you see the reminders in this life, that the world is coming to an end, and that’s ok. Let the armor of God, guard your hearts and your minds in the work of Jesus Christ our Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.