Populus Zion (Advent 2) – December 8, 2024Psalm 80; Malachi 4:1-6; Romans 15:4-13St. Luke 21:25-36
In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, makes a vow to
mankind this morning. He says, “Amen, I say to you, this generation will by no
means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away,
but My words will by no means pass away.”[1]
The first part of this vow requires an
understanding of the word “generation.” I can think of three ways to understand
“generation,” and each is closely related to the others, but it is helpful to
distinguish them. The first and common understanding of “generation” refers to
the group of people born during a certain time. We might think of the Baby
Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Zoomers, or Gen Alpha. The bible uses the
term this way whenever there is a list of generations or a genealogy. Applied
to the vow of our Lord, this understanding of generation would severely limit
His words and possibly invalidate them. It would mean that all the signs of the
end times, including the return of Christ, would have been fulfilled by the
death of the Apostles.
“Generation” can also refer to a set
time period that is much broader than all those who live and die within a few
years of each other. In this second case, it would have a sense like an “age,”
a long timeframe that has distinct characteristics that set it apart from other
generations. Examples would be the age of the Roman Republic, the age of the
Roman Empire, the Gothic Era, the Age of Discovery, the Industrial Revolution,
or the Digital Age. There are distinct characteristics that set each apart and
everyone who lived during those times shared a basic way of life.
When applied to the life of the Church,
we can see how this type of generation is appropriate. The Ante-Diluvian
generation, that which existed after the Fall but before the Flood, was
significantly different from the generation after the Flood. Those who lived in
the time of the Judges experienced a very different life from those who lived
under the kings – first the united monarchy and then the Divided kingdom.
Again, the age of the Apostles was very different from that of Moses, David, the
Early Church, the Medieval Age, the Reformation, or today.
The third understanding of a
“generation” has less to do with how you define one generation against another
but where that generation comes from. We call genealogies “generations” because
fathers generate sons. The word relates to the origin of something and overlaps
with the previous two definitions. Whether we think of generations by relative
birth timing or of sweeping ages, they receive their distinction because of
their origin. Baby boomers are so called because their origin is in the baby
boom following World War II. Millennials are so called because their origin is
just prior to the turning of the millennium, and they will spend their adult
lives entirely in the new millennium. The Industrial Revolution began with
steam and water powered mechanization. The dawning of a new generation in this
sense begins with a significant change in origin.
Theologically, we can see developments
across the generations of God’s people. Adam and Eve were created in the Image
of God, perfectly understanding and conforming to God’s will.[2]
But after the Fall, this relationship changed.[3]
Man distanced himself from God and yet the promise of the Seed endured.
At the time of Noah, all the
imaginations of the heart of man were evil.[4]
All but Noah, his wife, their sons and their wives and entirely cut themselves
off from God. For this reason, God destroyed the unbelieving world in the Flood,
but saved Noah and his faithful family. So that these would not despair, God
placed His rainbow in the clouds.[5]
This signified that His promise of the coming Seed of Eve, the Savior, still
endured.
Through Moses, God delivered the Holy
Law.[6]
God was establishing His people as a nation and made sure this new nation was
established on His, unchanging Word. His people were to be the keepers of His
Holy Word, that the promise of the coming Seed, the Savior, would endure
throughout the generations, right down to a lowly virgin, a daughter of David.
By that time, the time of Blessed Mary
and John the Baptist, the nation had been taken away into exile and was never reconstituted,
at least not how it was before God sent it away into exile. Sure, it was
independent for a short time but soon the Greeks, then the Romans, once again
conquered the Holy Land. By the time of the birth of Christ, the Church was but
a beggar on the earth, looking for her Savior.
Throughout these generations, man’s
relationship toward God changed and developed but God’s relationship to man did
not change. Even at the height of the Israelite nation, under King David, when
the sacrifices were offered daily and faithfully, God desired not the blood of
bulls and goats. He desired a pure and contrite heart.[7]
The angels in heaven rejoiced over the repentance of one sinner in the days of David
just as they do in the days of John, Luther, and today.
And yet, we do live in a generation distinct from Noah, Moses, and David. We belong to the generation of the Church, begun on this side of the Resurrection of Christ, born from the pierced side of the Crucified Christ and baptized when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost.[8] God’s Word has not changed. The promise of the Seed is for you just as it was for Adam and Eve. The only difference is that we know the name of the Seed. We have heard and read of His death for the forgiveness of sins and we look not to His coming in humility, but His coming in glory on the Last Day.
In this sense, we are living in the
same generation as the Apostles. Our way of life may look very different from
that of the Apostles, but our life of faith is unchanged—or at least should be.
This, I believe, is the simplest understanding of the vow of Christ. This
generation of the Church, the coming of Christ in Word and Sacrament without
the works of the Law, will not pass away until He returns in power and glory.
Our generation is not separated from
the generations prior to the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of
Christ but it is distinct. We are not waiting a further development in our
relationship toward God. We are not looking for a return to a geographic
location, our promised inheritance. The promise of the Seed has been fulfilled
and we await its consummation. This is the promise Christ is making: “My word
will never pass away. Everything in heaven and earth will change but My word
will not. Gunpowder will change the nature of war, but wars will not cease.
Kingdoms will become Empires and Empires will become Republics, and Republics
will fall but My Word will endure forever.”
Because of this vow of Christ, we
shouldn’t be surprised to see wars and rumors of wars. Nor should we be
surprised by signs in the heavens—be they shooting stars, narrow misses by
comets, or other celestial phenomena. It is for the pagan and the unbelieving
world to see these things and be distressed in their hearts. But for the
Christian, He says that when you see these things, these signs, “look up and
lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”[9]
Christ gives you these signs that you
might look up in joy to see Christ returning.[10]
You look with joy for the return of Christ because it is the fulfilling of your
hope, the fruition of your faith. It is also the manifestation of your
deliverance from sin, death, and the devil. You look with joy for the return of
Christ just as the bride looks with great joy upon her beloved leaping upon the
mountains and skipping upon the hills.[11]
At the same time, Christ admonishes you
to pray that you would be counted worthy to escape all these terrible signs.
That means Jesus recognizes the suffering that comes with the sea and waves
roaring, the powers of the heavens being shaken, and the distress of nations.
This suffering isn’t reserved only for the unbeliever. “Woe to those who are
pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your
flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.”[12]
It is not a contradiction for God to command excitement and joy in the midst of
suffering, especially when talking about the last things and the return of
Christ.
Understanding that the generation that will not pass away is the generation, or age, of the Church, Christ gives us a warning. Pay attention to yourself that you won’t be weighed down by frivolous living, sins of the flesh, or the cares of this world. He literally says, “carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of this life,”[13] but these can easily stand in for three categories—living for pleasure, indulging in sin, and concern for this life.
Living for pleasure does not need to be
overtly sinful living. That is covered by drunkenness. Carousing is “eat,
drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” It is the extreme understanding of
living for today with no care for tomorrow; no mind for the consequences. The
soccer mom who makes sure her kids are well fed and educated, preparing them
for a long career and good retirement is doing nothing more than carousing if
she isn’t raising her children in the fear and love of the Lord. Not only is
she condemning herself by giving no heed to Christ, but she is also endangering
her children by not teaching them to place Christ above all other things.
Knowing the catechism is more important than going to college. Receiving the
Lord’s Supper is more important than being on a sports team—any sports team.
Drunkenness is the category of
indulging in sin. This is the obvious, manifest, and outward sinning from which
we not only flee but from which we are able to abstain. Do not cheat your
neighbor. Do not look at pornography. Do not waste your life in greed. Do not
waste your twenties so you can rebuild in your thirties. These things destroy
your soul. They will rot you from the inside out.
The third category – the cares of this
life – is uniquely a warning to Christians. It is not to say, “Ignore paying
your bills or mowing the lawn.” Rather, do not be weighed down with these
things as though they matter in eternity. Are you sick? Will you lose a limb or
your eyesight? You should be concerned, and you should carefully consider what
types of medical intervention you receive or refuse. But even in such difficult
matters, there is no need to be weighed down.
Our current age is incredibly weak
compared to our fathers. We get sad and call it depression. We get nervous and
call it anxiety. Have trouble focusing? You must have ADHD. You might even be
on the spectrum. Sure, there are cases where real medical intervention might be
necessary for these things, but there is also a reality that sometimes people
get sad. Sometimes people get nervous. But then you get over it. How has the
church usually taught her people to deal with these problems? Through prayer
and fasting. Through repentance. Through confession and absolution.
Our Lord’s purpose in giving us this
warning is so that we would not be weighed down such that we miss the substance
of His promise and His return. Christ’s return will come a snare on everyone,
that is, it will happen in the blink of an eye. What will you be doing when it
happens? Don’t be weighed down, face toward your naval, curved inward in
carousing, drunkenness, or the cares of this life. Instead, see in these signs
the occasion to lift up your head and look for the coming of Christ, rejoicing
that your Redeemer is near.
Our Lord’s vow concludes with a
commandment. He tells you to “watch and pray always.”[14]
For what shall you pray? First, that God would have mercy on you by allowing
you to escape the worst of the events of the end of time. Second, that when
Christ returns, you would be able to stand before Him, that is, that you would
be sustained in the faith delivered to you by the Holy Spirit to stand before
Christ in the gleaming robe of your Holy Baptism, unstained by sin.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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