Sermon Tone Analysis

So how was your week last week?

I have to say that I had great week taking off for some needed R & R, and Tanya joined me.

We enjoyed spending some time driving over to Stockholm for a peanut butter sandwich and pie at the pie shop.

Another day, we drove over to Minneapolis to visit Tanya’s mother, did some shopping, and had lunch a Chick-fa-A.

We even spent a day hitting a few Wisconsin cheese shops.

By the way, the shop in Thorp, right on Hwy 29, has an amazing Hatch Chili Cheese.

I highly recommend it.

Yet all the while I was away, my thoughts and prayers were directed to you all.

I can tell you that I have the best job in the world.

You, the people of God, have called me to this work.

Yes, there have been weeks in my ministry which have not always been that good.

Tough weeks.

Too many funerals.

Too many things to do and not enough time.

But this is the Vocation to which I’ve been called; and please know that I “count it all joy” friends, that I have the privilege of serving in this station the Lord has called me to do.

And I know that you stations in life are very similar: Husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, neighbors, citizen, and on and on I could go.

They are full of good times and not-so-good times.

Of course, it’s been that way from the beginning.

Take our first parents, Adam and Eve.

Their stations in life were fantastic — take care of the creation God had given them.

“Be fruitful and multiply” Eat anything you want out of the Garden except for the fruit of the tree in the center.

That was their responsibility in their vocation.

And you know the rest of the story.

They disobeyed.

And the resulting curse changed the concept of vocation and responsibility all together.

The creation they were to take care of was radically altered from sin’s entry into the world.

Doing the work God has assigned is going to fight back with “thorns and thistles,” not to mention the labor of child birth.

They were going to need a Savior (Gen 3:15)

And this Savior would redeem all things, and promise to restore and make all things new again.

God had promised them, and all of God’s people something new — the restoration of all that sin has corrupted.

Yet, as we wait for this final promise to be fulfilled, God in His grace and mercy gives us the ability to do what our message calls for today, “Watch and Keep on Watching.”

So, as we “Watch and Keep on Watching” our Lord is calling us to:

Be Vigilant

Focus on Your Responsibility

Await the Lord’s Return.

Be Vigilant

The admonition of today’s Gospel reading is: “Stay Alert” — “Watch Out” — “Be On Guard” — Latin New Testament “Vigilate” — Greek New Testament “Gregoreo” or Gregory.

I sent a collogue in ministry an email the other day telling him I have come up with a great sermon title; I told him that I was leaning toward — “Be a Gregory!”

The reason for this watchful attitude, or vigilance is given.

The specific time (ὀκαιρός), of the end time that Jesus has been talking about in this entire chapter of Mark 13, relating to his second coming is upon us, so we must be ready.

Wars and rumors of wars have happened.

Persecution of the faithful is still taking place, including Suffering and tribulation.

False prophets and messiahs have appeared.

Jesus said these are the beginning of birth pains.

Jesus’ words close this chapter with words of watchfulness— vigilance.

And He illustrates this in verse 34:

The Man is absent from his home for a time (ἀπόδημος); perhaps away on business.

At the time of his departure the Man gives instructions to his servants to take care of household matters, and manage his affairs while he is gone.

Each of the servants has an assigned task — a vocation.

Especially the doorkeeper is to keep watch, so that he can alert the others when the master makes his return and also admit the master when he arrives.

We know from Scripture that the Master of the house is Jesus.

His servants are his followers.

The Master who leaves refers to Jesus’ ascension into heaven.

The task assigned to the servants refers to the many directives given by Jesus to his Church prior to his ascension—to use his means of grace wisely — that is, His Word and Sacrament — to live as children of a heavenly Father, to spread his gospel at every opportunity.

Especially the watchmen of the church are to warn Christians to be ever on the alert and prayerful, ready to receive the Lord at his second coming, whenever that may be.

What’s interesting is the fact that each servant is given a special assignment (ἑκάστῳ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ) while awaiting the Lord’s return.

Friends, this means all of us.

It also means that there is no such thing as an inactive follower of Christ, or a dead member of his body.

Christian duties and responsibilities vary.

Gifts differ as well.

But Scripture repeatedly points out that each member is to function according to his station in life to the glory of God and to the welfare of others—whether that be as a father, mother, son, daughter, child or senior citizen, executive or blue-collar worker, teacher or student.

Luther’s Small Catechism outlines much of this in the Table of Duties.

This even includes those who are seemingly helpless and dependent on others.

They can still set a powerful Christian example for others of faith and patience, while awaiting the Lord’s return.

I am talking about our elder brothers and sisters who think they are too old, or too disabled to offer anything to the body of Christ.

This is simple and straightforward.

It offers comfort to believers who feel useless, unimportant, lost in the shuffle of humanity.

If you still have breath in your lungs, God has you in this station of life to serve while you await Jesus’ return.

Our Lord and Master has ascended to the Father’s right hand, and He is ready to return at any time.

The signs of the end have been fulfilled.

Christ’s coming may be today or tomorrow, or it may be 100 years from now.

The time is unknown.

Therefore, our task is to watch for it, keeping it at the front of our minds — to be vigilant — letting it guide the way we use the time we’ve been given.

Jesus will come again at the end of time in a revealed way with great power and glory.

Yet, the apparent delay in Jesus’ return causes some to be indifferent toward their Christian responsibilities.

They know in their head that Jesus will come again as He promised, but this knowledge is not connected with faith.

As a result, indifference rules the day in their Christian life.

Take Care of Your Responsibility

We, along with our Christian brothers and sisters, have been patiently waiting nearly 2,000 years for Jesus’ promised return.

Though Jude from our Epistle urges us to even clothing stained by sinful flesh (Jude 23); yet for some, they become indifferent due to the apparent delay in our Lord’s return, and this indifference is fueled by their sinful flesh, the very thing we are supposed to hate.

They think they have time; or that there are more important matters on their plate at the time.

But, the Christian life is very different from the life of people in the world.

Some even hear the words from the Prophet Isaiah, but don’t really take them to heart.

Let me remind you what Lord said through him.

It speaks of the end of this world as we know it:

Isaiah 51:6 (NIV84)

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

look at the earth beneath;

the heavens will vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment

and its inhabitants die like flies.

So, what are we to do?

Our first responsibility is to be faithful Christians in the stations of life God has placed us.

St. Paul outlines some of this in Colossians 3: (NOTE the imperatives!)

English Standard Version (Chapter 3)

8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

English Standard Version (Chapter 3)

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.