Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent - Lk 21:25-36

 

    Advent 2

                                                                                                            Lk 21:25-36

                                                                                                            12/7/25

 

I was not here last Sunday since I was in Indiana celebrating Thanksgiving with my parents, and all of the Surburg family. Two weeks have past since the last time I stood in this pulpit. But it feels like nothing has changed, and we are doing the same thing all over again.

Two Sundays ago we heard Jesus as he was in Jerusalem during Holy Week. The disciples commented on how impressive the buildings of the temple were. But Jesus responded to them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”  Our Lord said that the temple would be destroyed.

When they had crossed over to the Mount of Olives and were looking at the temple, the disciples asked, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”  Our Lord talked about what would happen when the temple was destroyed.  And then in our text for the Last Sunday of the Church Year he talked about his return on the Last Day. We heard the parable about the five wise virgins and five foolish ones as Jesus taught about the need to be ready for his return. He said at the conclusion of our text, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Now, two weeks later our text may be from the Gospel of Luke instead of Matthew, but we are in the same place all over again. It is Holy Week and Jesus has just been speaking about the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple.  And in our text he goes on to talk about his return in glory on the Last Day.

However, it is two weeks later, and those two weeks make a difference.  Last Sunday we began a new church year as the season of Advent arrived.  The name “Advent” is derived from a Latin word that means “coming” or “arrival.” During Advent we prepare to celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ as he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We are preparing to celebrate Christmas.

The lectionary – the assigned Scripture readings – does a wonderful a job of leading us in reflection on what Advent means. Last Sunday we heard about Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We were placed at the beginning of Holy Week. We began there because that is the reason the Son of God entered into the world. He came in order to enter into Jerusalem to suffer and die. Advent will not let us forget that the manger of Christmas leads to the cross of Good Friday.

Right from the start, Advent focuses our attention on the purpose of Jesus’ coming in his death on the cross.  But to speak of Jesus’ advent – his coming – immediately calls to mind the fact that his birth at Christmas was his first coming.  The Lord who was crucified and buried did not stay dead.  Instead, on the third day God raised him up and he was with his disciples for forty days teaching them about the kingdom of God.

On the fortieth day he ascended into heaven as the risen Lord withdrew his visible presence.  Jesus led the disciples out to Bethany on the Mount of Olives – the same vantage point from which he speaks the words in our text.  He was taken into heaven as a cloud hid him from sight.  And then two angels said to them: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Jesus ascended at the very place that Jews associated with the coming of Yahweh.  The prophet Zechariah described God’s end time action with the words, “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east.” And a little later he said of Yahweh, “Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.”  The words of the angels and the location of the event send one message: Jesus will come again in glory.

Advent prepares us to celebrate the coming of the Lord at Christmas.  It teaches us about why he came. And it teaches us that for Christians, Christmas causes us to look in expectation for Christ’s second coming. The Lord is coming – and he will not arrive in a sleigh pulled by eighth reindeer that land on your roof.

Jesus begins our text by saying, “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” 

Jesus describes how his arrival will be announced by cosmic distress. In the Old Testament these are the kinds of things that are described when Yahweh comes in judgment.  Now we learn that they will occur because Jesus is Yahweh coming to his creation.

St Paul tells us that creation itself had been subject to the bondage of corruption by our sin. He personifies creation and says that it longs to be freed as he says, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” We learn that at the moment when Christ arrives, the fallen world reacts in the presence of the Lord.

This reaction by creation is something that everyone will perceive. Christ’s words remind us that no one will fail to notice his return.  The signs of his arrival will capture the attention of everyone on the earth. Jesus describes how there will be nations in distress, and people will faint with fear and foreboding about what is coming.

Yet all of these are simply signs announcing the One who is coming. Jesus says, “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”  During his ministry Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man. The background for this was Daniel chapter 7 in which Daniel sees a vision in which God the Father, the Ancient of Days, takes his seat on the throne surrounded by thousand upon thousands of angels.

Then Daniel tells us, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

Daniel sees a figure that looks like a human being – “one like a son of man.” But while he is human in appearance it immediately becomes clear that he is not merely a man. He comes with the clouds of heaven – something that in the Old Testament only God does. And then we learn that all peoples serve him as he has an everlasting kingdom. This verb “serve” is only used in Daniel to describe how one acts in relation to the divine.

This One who appears like a man is God. He is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity.  At Christmas we celebrate the incarnation – the fact that the Son of God became man. But the Son has always existed as God, for God has always been the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

During his ministry Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man. This was not yet a title in Judaism. Instead, in Aramaic it would have sounded like a rather odd self-reference: “this man.” But in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we now understand that Jesus was referring to himself as the Son of Man – the divine figure present in Daniel’s vision – the Son of God before the incarnation.

Jesus is the Son of Man that we meet in Daniel’s vision – God in power and glory. But the interesting thing – and the thing that is eternally important for you – is that Jesus uses this reference in two seemingly contradictory ways. He uses Son of Man like we find it here in our text to describe the how he comes in glory. Jesus says in chapter nine, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

But the other way that Jesus uses Son of Man is to describe his suffering and death. Just after this statement in chapter nine he goes on to say, “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” Or as Jesus said when he and the disciples were approaching Jerusalem: ““See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”

The divine Son of Man in Daniel chapter 7 is the One who became man to be the sacrifice for you in fulfillment of God’s Word.  He, the One to whom all peoples must give worship, suffered and died for you.  He, the divine Son of Man, is also the suffering Servant of Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus said at the Last Supper, “For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors. ’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.”  Jesus Christ received God’s judgment in your place.

But death could not overcome God’s gift of life.  On the third day God raised Jesus from the dead. Because of Jesus, we know that death cannot hold on to us. And Christ is now the risen Lord who rules over all things as he makes full use of his power. In Daniel’s vision we hear how the Son of given “dominion and glory and a kingdom.” He laid this aside in order to serve us in suffering and death. But as the risen Lord he told his disciples on the mountain in Galilee, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. And it is as the almighty Lord that he will return in glory on the Last Day.

Jesus describes the cosmic signs that will occur, and then how he will come as the Son of Man in a cloud with power and great glory.  These are awesome events, but the Lord says that for those who have faith in him they are things to be welcomed. He declares, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”  Our Lord says that just like we can tell what time of year it is by the appearance of a tree, so also these things will signal to us that the consummation of the kingdom of God has arrived.

Last Sunday was the First Sunday in Advent and the start of a new church year. That means another church year has been completed and has passed by. We will celebrate Advent and Christmas this year, just as did last year, and the year before that.  Year follows year and it becomes easy to lose focus on how our Lord will bring God’s reign on the Last Day. It becomes easy to lose our focus on how the Lord’s reign continues to come to us today through his Means of Grace as he sustains us in faith.

In our text Jesus warns, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.” 

Christ identifies two contrasting concerns. Dissipation and drunkenness describe reveling and partying – “having a good time.” There is the danger that we will lose our way by focusing on the things of the world as we seek our own pleasure.  Alcohol, drugs, gambling, and pornography – and of course those last two are now available through the phone in your and - are just some of the allurements present in the world that serve as dangerous temptations.

On the other hand, the Lord points to the worries of life.  These are all the things the threaten to overcome our trust in Christ – the health problems, marriage problems, family problems, and financial problems that grind us down.

Remember, there is no such thing as “once saved always saved.” In the parable of the sower, the seed that fell among the rocks and the thorns did grow. But Jesus explains, “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” 

Our Lord calls us to turn away from those vices and sins that harm our spiritual life.  He tells us to trust in him continually as we face all difficulties.  He is the One who told us to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. We do this by reading and hearing his Word.  We do this remembering in faith what we have through our baptism. And we do so by coming to receive his true body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.  We receive the Lord who comes to us at the altar, so that we are ready to receive him when he comes in glory.

In this season of Advent, we are preparing to celebrate the coming of the Lord at Christmas. We remember that the Son of God entered our world in order to suffer and die for us. The divine Son of Man became the suffering Servant to save us. He passed through suffering and death as God raised him up on third day. The risen Lord is now the ascended Lord who exercises all power and authority. And his first coming points toward his second coming in glory.  We livee by faith in eager expectation of this because Jesus says, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

   

 

 

Sermon for the first mid-week Advent service - Lk 1:46-55

 

   Mid-Advent 1

                                                                                                            Lk 1:46-55

                                                                                                            12/3/25

 

 

            Tonight we hear Mary say, “My soul magnifies the Lord” as she praises God for what he has done for her, and how he is carrying out his saving action for Israel. The Latin translation of Mary’s statement “Magnificat” provides us with the name by which Mary’s song has been known in the Church.  In the Magnificat we learn that God uses the lowly as he carries out his mighty act of salvation.

            Mary begins the Magnificat by praising God as she says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

            Mary’s words have been prompted by her meeting with Elizabeth – her elderly relative who is now miraculously pregnant. Mary was pregnant with our Lord Jesus, and Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist.  When the two met, John leapt in Elizabeth’s womb, and prompted by the Holy Spirit she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me. For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”

            Mary acknowledges that God has indeed done great things for her. As she says, “for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” Mary recognizes the fact that she was a nobody. She was a teenage girl living in the village of Nazareth in Galilee. She had no status due to royalty or wealth. No one of that day recognized her as being anything, and there was no chance that anyone in the future would remember her.

            But then Mary continues, “For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” God had done great things for Mary, and because of God’s action now all generations would call her blessed.

            Mary had been a nobody. But God had chosen her to carry and give birth to the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The angel Gabriel was sent from God to announce that she would give birth to the Christ – the fulfillment of God’s promises to King David. He had said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

            This was incredible.  Mary would be the one through whom God would act to fulfill his promises to Israel. But the truly awe inspiring information was still to come. For when Mary asked how she a virgin was going to have this child, Gabriel answered,  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God.”

            All generations of Christians have blessed Mary, because they have understood that Mary was the instrument through whom God carried out the incarnation of the Son of God. She was, as the early Church confessed, the Theotokos – the God bearer. She carried in her womb and gave birth to the One who is true God and true man.

            Mary points out that while her experience may be unique, it is in fact also representative of how God acts. She says, “And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.”

            God is the One who exalts the humble. During Advent we prepare to celebrate how God acted in the birth of Jesus Christ to do this for us – people who were trapped in sin.  God acted to save us, the ones who had no ability to help ourselves. Instead of wrath, God has shown us mercy.

            God has acted in power with this arm.  Mary says, “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”  Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of God’s promise spoken to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the promise spoken to David; the promise spoken through Isaiah.

            Jesus was the Christ – he was the Messiah descended from King David.  He was the One of whom Gabriel said, “And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

But the presence of the Son of God as a human fetus in Mary’s womb reveals a surprising truth.  God acted in power through Jesus to free us from Satan, sin, and death. But this power was present in humility. Christ did not come as a mighty king who was powerful in war. Instead, he came as One who served.

St Paul said this about Christ, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  The Son of God humbled himself as he did not use his almighty power for his own sake.  He displayed mighty power in his miracles, but that power was always directed in the service of others.

Jesus humbled himself to the point of death – even death on a cross – in order to free us from sin and Satan. He redeemed us through his sacrifice and was buried in a tomb. But after humbling himself in service to us, God exalted him on Easter when he raised him from the dead. God brought Jesus through death and raised him up in order to give us victory over the grave. The Lord who has risen from the dead, and has been exalted to the right hand of God, will raise up our bodies when he returns in glory on the Last Day. Through the humility and exaltation of Jesus, we have been raised up from the humility of our sin, and we will share in the exaltation of the resurrection of the body.

Mary is obviously the central figure in our text tonight. As she says, “For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” Mary was the instrument through whom God carried out the incarnation as he worked to give us forgiveness and eternal life in Christ. She is rightly honored as the one who had this great role in God’s plan of salvation.

Mary provides for us a model and example of faith, as she trusted in the Lord. The angel Gabriel announced news to Mary that was going to turn her life upside down. She was going to become pregnant in way that would appear to others as if she had broken the Sixth Commandment. She had been chosen by God to be part of his plan to bring salvation to Israel – and to all the world. She was going to be the mother of the Son of God. Mary hadn’t been given a choice in all of this. But rather than questioning why God was doing this she replied, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Mary believed God’s Word. She trusted and believed that he would fulfill his word. As Elizabeth said to her: “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” In this she provides an example for us who are also called to believe and trust that God will fulfill his word of promise to care for us in our lives, and also to bring about the consummation of his saving work on the Last Day. 

At the same time, all of our thought about Mary must also remain within the bounds of what Scripture reveals about her. She was not free from original sin at her birth, and she continued to be a sinner during her life just like you and me.  Mary was not “taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things.”  Scripture reveals nothing about any of this, and sadly these beliefs as taught by the Roman Catholic church are the assertions of man that have no truth revealed by God. Instead, because they have been repeated by men in the past they are labeled “Tradition” and declared to be divine revelation.  But this is not the inspired apostolic tradition that we find in Scripture, and so these false beliefs fuel practices that focus attention on Mary instead of Christ.

In our text tonight, we learn that God uses the lowly as he carries out his mighty act of salvation.  He took Mary in her humble state and used her as the instrument of the incarnation. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, in her womb is God present through humble means, and he is in the world to die on the cross.

But now we bless and honor Mary for the way God used her. And more importantly, Christ who humbled himself to the point of death has been exalted in the resurrection.  Because of Jesus, we who were trapped in the humility of our sin now have forgiveness as the children of God. And we know that we will share in the exaltation of the resurrection on the Last Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

 

Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year - Mt 25:1-3

 

  Last Sunday

                                                                                                                        Mt 25:1-13

                                                                                                                        11/23/25

 

           

See! I was telling the truth.  It’s all about the kingdom of God. Last Sunday I spoke about how the central feature of Jesus’ preaching – the phrase he used to summarize his ministry – was “the kingdom of God.”  We discussed the fact that the phrase kingdom of God – or “kingdom of heaven” as we often find it expressed in Matthew’s Gospel – refers to the reign of God that was present in Jesus Christ. We heard the parable about the unforgiving servant, as we learned what life is like for those who have received the reign of God in Jesus Christ.  Those who have received forgiveness from God in Christ, share it by forgiving others.

And now, in this morning’s Gospel lesson, Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God once again.  Our text begins with the words, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.”  Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God.  But if you listen carefully you will hear a small change in language, and this difference is very important.

Last Sunday Jesus said, “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.” More literally we can translate this as “the kingdom of heaven is like.”  Today, Jesus says, “the kingdom of heaven will be like.”  Last Sunday we heard about how things work as we experience the reign of God in the present. But today we hear about what the reign of God will be like in the future.

So which is it?  Is the kingdom of God now, or is it something coming in the future? The answer is “Yes” because it is both. This what we often describe with the phrase “now and not yet.” The kingdom of God – the reign of God – is present now.  It arrived in the incarnation of the Son of God.  Jesus Christ was the presence of God’s reign overcoming Satan, sin, and death.

Jesus carried out the central event of this saving reign on Good Friday when he died on the cross.  Christ committed no sin. But he took our sin as his own. St Paul says of God that “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” But Jesus was also the second Adam through who God overcame the presence of death as he raised Christ on Easter. Paul told the Corinthians, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

This reign of God is present here for us now. We receive it through the Means of Grace as the Spirit gives forgiveness and sustains faith.  As the Small Catechism says, “The kingdom of God comes when our heavenly Father give us his Holy Spirit so that by his grace we believe his holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.”  The presence of God’s reign means that we are living in the end times. The last days have begun in the death and resurrection of Christ, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Paul told the Corinthians, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

We are in the last days.  But we are still waiting for the Last Day – the return of Jesus Christ in glory. And so we find that we are also living in the “not yet.” We still face temptations from the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature.  We live in a world of sickness, death, and suffering. We want these things to end. 

In our text this morning, Jesus teaches us that there is also a future aspect to the kingdom of God – the reign of God. It is present now, but it will also arrive in a final and complete form when Jesus Christ returns in glory.  We look for the consummation of God’s kingdom.

Jesus teaches us about this future aspect of God’s kingdom this morning.  Just as with last week, our text today is part of one of those blocks of teaching material found in Matthew’s Gospel. Our Lord is in Jerusalem during Holy Week. This section is introduced with the information that as Jesus was going away, the disciples pointed out to him the buildings of the temples. A product of King Herod the Great’s building program, the temple in Jesus’ day was one of the wonders of the ancient world.

But Jesus answered them: “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”  Talk of the destruction of the temple was shocking.  It was something that surely would be part of God’s end time action. So as they were seated on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him and asked, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answered their question first by talking about the events surrounding the temple’s destruction, and how believers should not be misled during this time by false christs and prophets.  Then later in the discussion, he shifted to the topic of his return in glory and the end of the age – the Last Day.

In our text, and in the surrounding material, Jesus teaches us three things about his return on the Last Day and the consummation of the kingdom of God. First, from our perspective, it will be delayed. Second, when it does arrive it will be sudden and unexpected. And finally, because of these first two points, we must keep watch and be ready.

Jesus teaches in a parable as he says, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.”  We may not know about all of the details of first century Jewish weddings, but it is clear that the virgins are to be ready to greet the bridegroom and accompany him into the marriage feast. However, there is a distinction among them because five are wise and five are foolish. We learn that the wise ones brought flasks with extra oil for their lamps, while the foolish did not.

However, things did not go as expected. We learn that the bridegroom was delayed. He didn’t arrive right away, and the virgins found themselves waiting for him. As the hours passed and it got later in the night, they all became drowsy and slept.

Now it’s not hard to identify the bridegroom in the parable. Earlier in the Gospel the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him why they and the Pharisees fasted, but the disciples of Jesus did not. Our Lord responded, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

As the risen and ascended Lord, Jesus is the bridegroom. The parable teaches us that the return of Jesus will seem delayed to us. After two thousand years that certainly is the case. But just as God sent the Son into the world “in the fullness of time” – when it was exactly right according to God’s plan – so also the return of Christ will occur at exactly the right moment according to his plan. 

I don’t have much use for speculation about how things work because our experience of time doesn’t apply to God. It’s enough to know he sees things differently. As Peter says, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Therefore we need to trust that our sense of “delay” is exactly that – our perception. God’s plan is on schedule and we can trust him while we wait.

The virgins were sound asleep as they were waiting. But suddenly, at midnight there was a cry: “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” There was no warning or time to get ready.  This is the second point that Jesus is making about what the arrival of the kingdom of God will be like.  It will be sudden and unexpected.

Just before our text Jesus said, “But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” This metaphor of the thief in the night continues on in the rest of the New Testament, such as we find in our Epistle lesson today.

Our Lord says that his return will be sudden and unexpected.  Therefore, anyone who says that they have figured when Jesus will return is a fool – and more foolish still is anyone who listens to such nonsense.  The history of the Church is littered with people who said they knew the day … and were wrong. There is absolutely nothing about events in the world that will give you insight.  This is all we can know for sure: We have been living in the Last Days since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the exact day of Christ’s return cannot be known.

When the cry about the bridegroom’s arrival sounded out, the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps – most likely this means that they re-lit them.  Then the foolish ones said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.”  They weren’t going to be ready to greet the bridegroom, and so they asked the other virgins to share. But the wise answered, saying, “Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.”

The foolish ones went away to purchase more oil. But while they were gone, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Later, the foolish virgins finally arrived at the closed door and said: “Lord, lord, open to us.” However, the bridegroom replied, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” And when he had concluded the parable Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

It should not escape our attention that all of the virgins thought they would be going in with the bridegroom. Since the marriage feast stands for the end time salvation of God, this is a warning that not all who think they are going to enjoy God’s salvation on the Last Day will do so.  Jesus says that we must watch, because we don’t know when he will return.

But how do you watch in a way so that you are ready for Lord’s return? The wise virgins were ready because they brought extra oil.  Clearly there was a difference, but what is it?

We gain some insight from what Jesus says just before and after our text. Jesus says, “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” But then Jesus warns that if a wicked servant says “My master is delayed,” and starts to be beat his fellow servants and gets drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and will cut him in pieces.

Once again we hear about a delay in arrival. Once again we hear about a sudden appearance. We learn that the faithful and wise servant is the one who is doing what the master has given him to do.

Immediately after our text, Jesus tells the parable of the talents.  The word “talent” here refers to money, not ability. Jesus said, “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.” The master gave them great resources and responsibility – a talent was the equivalent of twenty years wages.

The first servant traded with the five talents, and made five more. The second servant used the two talents to make two more. But the third servant took the one talent and hid it in the ground. After a long time the master came to settle accounts.  He commended the first two servants as he said, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” But he condemned the third servant for doing nothing. Once again there is a delay. And here the faithful servant is the one who has used the master’s blessings.

We do not keep watch and show ourselves ready for Christ’s return by going up on hill and looking toward the eastern sky.  Instead, we keep watch and are ready when we focus on how the kingdom of God is present now and what it means for us as we live each day in faith.

This means first that we shape our lives around the ways that we receive God’s kingdom – his reign - today. We place the Means of Grace at the center of our life.  This begins as we make each Sunday the day of the Divine Service – the day when we receive Word and Sacrament. And then it extends throughout the week as we actually take time to read and study God’s Word.  When we are receiving the kingdom of God now through Word and Sacrament, we are keeping watch and are ready for its consummation when Christ suddenly returns in glory.

And then it means that we live as those who have received God’s kingdom by doing the things God has given us to do; by using the blessings he has given to us. We do this by forgiving others, just as we discussed last Sunday.  We do this by faithfully carrying out the vocations – the callings – God has given to us as husband and wife, father and mother, son and daughter.  We do this by faithfully using the resources with which God has blessed us to support the ministry of the Gospel here in this place.

Remember, the five foolish virgins thought they were going to be in the marriage feast with the bridegroom. But when he arrived suddenly and unexpectedly, they found that they were not. People will say, “I don’t go to church, but I still believe in Jesus.” They will have sex and live together outside of marriage, and tell themselves, “But I still believe in Jesus.” 

However, you can’t willfully and persistently reject the ways that God’s reign is coming to you; you can’t live in ways that reject what God’s reign means for how we live; you can’t continually fail to live the life of faith, then think that you still have faith.  That is self-deception which on the Last Day will be met by the Lord who will declare, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”

We listen to our Lord’s words this morning and give thanks that already now we are receiving the kingdom of God – the reign of God. We have forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His Spirit keeps us in the faith through the Means of Grace.

We have this now, and we also know that the end of sin, death, and suffering is coming when the Lord Jesus returns in glory. The kingdom of God – the reign of God – will reach its consummation on the Last Day.  Our Lord teaches us this morning that while it may seem to be delayed, its arrival will be sudden, and unexpected. And so Jesus says, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

    

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity - Mt 18:21-35

 

   Trinity 22

                                                                                                            Mt 18:21-35

                                                                                                            11/16/25

 

           

            The central feature of Jesus’ preaching – the phrase he used to summarize his ministry – was “the kingdom of God.” In Matthew’s Gospel we hear this in the term “kingdom of heaven,” which is just a Jewish way of saying the same thing.  Matthew narrates the beginning of Jesus’ ministry with the words: “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

            As you have heard me say many times, it is important to understand that when Jesus uses the word “kingdom” he is not referring to a place as we commonly use the word, such as the kingdom of England. Instead, based on the background in the Old Testament he is referring to an activity – an action. The kingdom of God is God’s reign.

            Jesus declared that the reign of God was present in his person. In him, God was overcoming Satan, sin, and death. When the Pharisees accused him of casting out demons by being in league with the devil, he responded by saying, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

            A feature of Matthew’s Gospel is that much of Jesus’ teaching has been gathered together into five large blocks of material. Our text, in chapter eighteen, is located in one of those blocks. In this section, Jesus is teaching about how things work when you have received the reign of God in Jesus.

            The chapter begins as the disciples come to Jesus and ask “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  They are focused on glory – on being the greatest. So Jesus put a child in their midst and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

            We live in a world that prizes children, and holds them up as examples of innocence. However, in the ancient world there was a very different view. Children were seen as weak, uninformed, and dependent.  They had nothing to offer until they became older, and the available evidence indicates that they were not used as a positive metaphor.

            Jesus is teaching that the person who is greatest in the kingdom of God, is the one who recognizes his lowliness and need. It is the person who acknowledges that he is dependent on, and in need of Christ.  In the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The poor in spirit is the person who recognizes his sin – the fact that he is a sinner who has no spiritual resources for dealing with God.

            We are spiritually dependent and in need. But just before this chapter Matthew tells us, “As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.’” Because we are plagued by sin and death, Jesus Christ carried out the central act of God’s reign by dying on the cross and rising from the dead.

Jesus told the disciples, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Christ redeemed us from sin – he freed us from its slavery by winning forgiveness for us. He offered himself as he received the judgment of God that we deserve. And then in his resurrection he defeated death, as he began resurrection life that will be ours on the Last Day.

This is the reign of God – the kingdom of God – that you have received through the work of the Holy Spirit. In baptism you received the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Spirit. Your sins were washed away.  You have been baptized into the death of Christ the risen Lord, and so Paul tells us about baptism, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

So how do things work for those who have received the kingdom of God in Christ? Immediately before our text, Jesus has taught that because God has sought and saved each one of us, we are to be concerned about the spiritual welfare of one another. We care for others who are in circumstances that lead away from Christ.  Jesus said, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”

This means that we must confront sin. Immediately before our text Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”  Now the world will tell you to “mind your own business.” But we are not the world.  Instead, we are those who have received the kingdom of God. We are those who have been united by baptism in the Body of Christ – the Church.

We do not confront sin with an attitude of superiority. Remember, we are those who are dependent on Christ because we recognize our own sin. The Church is made up of sinners.  But they are very particular kind of sinners – they are repentant sinners.  We confess our own sin, and receive forgiveness through faith in Christ. And then we seek to turn away from sin because we recognize that it does spiritual harm.

Christ describes a process by which the Church seeks out believers who are straying in sin. It begins with individual and  private interaction which calls sin what it is, and urges the individual to return to God’s ways. This is followed by the act of taking several other Christians to do the same thing.  Finally, the congregation as a whole undertakes this work.

Those in the Church have received the kingdom of God as repentant sinners.  But when an individual persistently refuses to repent, our Lord tells us that a time arrives when we must admit that a person is no longer Church – no longer a forgiven sinner. Jesus said, “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Our Lord tells us that he gives his Church the authority to declare what he has already said is true. Where there is no repentance, there is no forgiveness.  We call this the Office of the Keys. There is indeed the binding key that says sin has not been forgiven. This is the final act of law – the last thing the Church can do in trying to bring about repentance.

But in our life together, our primary focus is on the loosing key – the word of absolution. Just as it occurred at the beginning of this service, we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness from the pastor as from God himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it ours sins are forgiven before God in heaven.

Jesus had just spoken about forgiveness for those who have received the kingdom of God. And so in our text Peter approaches him with a question and asks, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Life in the kingdom of God will involve forgiving others, just as we have been forgiven by God. And so Peter seeks to know the limits on that forgiveness as he suggests what he must have thought to be the generous number of seven times.

However, Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” The Greek here is unclear as to whether it means seventy-seven times, or seventy times seven. The answer is irrelevant because the point of our Lord’s statement is: Don’t stop forgiving.

Christ then illustrates this with a parable.  He said, “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.” The man owed the equivalent of 60,0000,000 days wages. There was no way the man could ever pay the debt, and the king ordered that the man, his family, and all his possessions should be sold in order to get some return.

However, the servant fell down on his knees and implored the king saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” The statement was absurd. There was no way that the man would ever be able to repay the master.

 But then, something remarkable happened.  We are told that the master had compassion on the servant. He released the man and forgave the entire debt.

This is what God has done for us in Christ. We must remember that on the Last Day, God will settle all accounts.  St Paul told the Romans, “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” St Augustine observed that just as the man owed ten thousand talents, so there are Ten Commandments that we violate and for which we owe God. And we are just as incapable of addressing this as the man in the parable.

But in Christ, God did something absolutely remarkable. He had compassion on us.  In his mercy he gave his Son, Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, and innocent suffering and death. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection we receive forgiveness before God.

In the parable we learn that when the man went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He owed a hundred days wages. This was not a small amount, but it was something that in time could be repaid.

The servant for whom the king had forgiven the enormous debt seized the man and began to choke him saying, “Pay what you owe.” So the man did and said exactly what the servant had just done before the king. He fell to his knees and pleaded, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.”  However, the servant refused and instead put his fellow servant in prison until he should pay the debt.

Other servants knew what had happened and were greatly distressed. They reported it to the master. So he summoned the man and said, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” Then the master

delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. And when he finished telling this parable, Jesus said, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

            Those who have received the reign of God in Christ are forgiven. And because we are forgiven, we forgive others. St Paul told the Colossians, “as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Forgiveness is a unique commodity. In order to continue to receive it, you must give it away.  In order to have it, it must be pass on through you to others.

            Now it is important to define what we mean by forgiveness.  Forgiveness is an act of the regenerate will in which the Spirit leads us no longer to hold something against another person.  Like biblical love, forgiveness is not a feeling. It is an action.

            At the same time, we are also people with emotions. When deeply hurt or wronged, we can feel anger and resentment. Sometimes the act of forgiving does not remove those feelings.  We do not feel at peace with the person we have forgiven. We do not “feel” like we have forgiven the person. But if you make the choice not to hold something against a person, then you have forgiven the individual.

            We want to feel at peace with a person we have forgiven. We want to “feel” that we have forgiven them.  And often for that to take place the best advice we can receive are Jesus words when he said, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

            Do you want your emotions to change? Then start praying for that person every day. Even if it begins as the simple act of saying the words, continue to pray for that person day in and day out. Over time the emotions and feelings will change as you put Jesus’ words into practice.

            We have been forgiven by God in Christ. And so we forgive others.  It does not matter whether the person asks for forgiveness or not. We forgive others, because God has forgiven us.

            This is not the way of the world. But it is the way of those who have received the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ.  It is the saving reign of God that makes this possible, and so if we are to do so, we must continue to receive the Means of Grace. We must hear and read God’s Word for through that Word the Spirit gives us forgiveness and strengthen the new man. We must return to our baptism in faith, and lay hold of the forgiveness that continues to be present through our baptism into Christ. We must hear the word of Christ through our pastor as he says, “I forgive you all your sins.” And we must receive the body and blood of Christ in Sacrament of the Altar – body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. In these way the  Spirit strengthens faith and delivers forgiveness to us, which then passes through us and on to others.