Advent 2
Dear friends in Christ. Here we are in the midst of the Advent season. Advent means “coming” and in the season of Advent we remember that Jesus has come—as that Baby born of the virgin and who suffered and died for us and our salvation; we remember that Jesus will come again on the Last Day in Judgment; and we also remember that Jesus still comes to us today in His holy Word and Sacraments giving us the gifts that He won for us His first coming/ Advent: the forgiveness of sins, peace with God, eternal life, the Holy Spirit.
In other words all these comings/ Advents of Christ are necessary and they are related—one to the other. Last Sunday we heard of Christ entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. There we are reminded of His first coming in all lowliness and humility; there we are reminded of the simple fact that the true God, the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, became also true Man and was born of Mary—that coming of Jesus we will soon remember on Christmas—and He came to place Himself under God’s holy Law in order to keep it for us and to take our sins upon Himself and so suffer God’s wrath and punishment for us. And by this He reconciled us sinners to the holy God and opened heaven to all believers. That’s what we saw last Sunday as Jesus entered Jerusalem—loaded down with the sins of the world; as He entered Jerusalem to die.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us the certainty of His coming on the Last Day. His Second Coming as Judge and King is only possible because of His first coming in all lowliness to be our Savior and because His coming to us today in His word and Sacraments, giving us the blessings He brought about. Only because He has come the first time as Savior of the world; only because He has come to us in His word and Sacraments can He come the Second Time, on the Last Day, as Judge—because He judges on the basis of whether His work, His righteousness, His forgiveness and life have been received in faith—and so bring His dear Christians with Him into heaven eternally both soul and body. That’s the point we’ll discover as we examine our text from Isaiah: the Judgment is coming—but so is the Lord’s salvation.
1. The Lord, through Isaiah, makes it very clear that the Judgment is coming: Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner. Notice, everything looks very stable. It looks like the world will continue on, just as it always has. Although in today’s Gospel, Jesus seems to describe to us a very different picture, “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 elsewhere [Lk. 17. 26-27] gives a picture of peace/ stability before the end of the world comes: And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying wives, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. The point is simply this: although there will be cataclysmic events—all sorts of natural and man-made phenomena that will shake people up for a while: roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; but after a while everything goes back to normal: They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying wives, they were being given in marriage. In other words, everything goes back to “normal”; the earth and the sky, the universe, seem stable and all will continue on as before.
Here in our text the Lord tells us: Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner. Things will not always continue on as they have been. There will be an end. Precisely these things that cause us alarm—like these natural and man-made disasters—they are to serve us as reminders that the world is coming to an end. All these things that show us the world will not continue on as before are calls for us to repent. St. Peter tells us [2 Pt. 3.3-4]: Scoffers will come in the last days…saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” The very created world around us that seems so firm, constant, continuing will, in fact, vanish like smoke, and will wear out like a garment.
Because the created world does seem like it will continue on seemingly forever, people look for/ try to make their heaven on earth. That’s one of the ploys of the devil to try to get us to take our focus/ gaze off of heaven. He tries to get us so busy with and so focused on this world—this temporary, fleeting world, which will vanish like smoke, and will wear out like a garment —that we forget about our true and eternal home--heaven. Because this life/ world seem to be so real and enduring, and because we are in the midst of it, our attention so often gets turned to it and when there are “blips” or “imperfections” people think in earthly terms trying to make heaven on earth: all injustice could be done away with if only there were the right politics or political program; if only there were enough/ the right sort of education all sort of unrighteousness could be done away with; our hopes can be attained through science, medicine, technology. With our attention focused on this world heaven easily becomes a more and more distant thought. That’s why we need to hear that Judgment Day is coming, that there will be an end of the seemingly stable world and universe: Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner. This does not mean that we will not care about helping those around us in need—because we see Christ in our fellow hurting neighbor, because in mercy and love we are moved to help our neighbor in every bodily need and to improve and protect his property; this does not mean that we won’t care about taking care of the world because we recognize that God has placed us as stewards to take care of the creation He created for us and entrusted to us.
But knowing that the earth and sky/ universe will vanish like smoke, and will wear out like a garment does mean that we look toward heaven and make faithful and diligent use of our Lord’s word and sacrament that working through them He may strengthen us and preserve us in the holy Christian faith until the end. And it means that we have that saving word dominate our homes and that we strive to bring that saving word to those around us and support with our prayers and gifts our church and those bringing that word to places and people we will never get to.
Here we see our Lord’s grace. Yes, the earth and heaven will vanish like smoke, and will wear out like a garment, but remember—it seems so permanent; there’s that uninterrupted succession of generations, that seemingly endless stability. Why? The Lord is showing grace, preserving the world, giving people the opportunity to repent. That’s a theme of Advent—repent! May we heed Advent’s call and recognize our sin, sorrow over our sin and grab ahold of our Lord’s grace, that forgiveness of sins and eternal life He gives us in Christ. Advent once again turns our focus from this world around us to heaven. Each day, each generation is the Lord’s patience and grace as He quietly and irresistibly unfolds His gracious plans.
Because of our Lord’s grace and the time that it takes for His gracious plans to unfold and the seeming stability of the world, that there will be the Judgment Day/ the Last Day really is a matter of faith. But the Lord is in our text is quite definite. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner. Look up above you to the heavens; look down to the earth beneath your feet. The heavens/ the cosmos above you will vanish like smoke—nothingness; the solid ground/ earth on which you are standing will fall to pieces like an old rotten piece of clothing—again nothingness. This is fact; it is an article of faith. And Advent’s call to us today is to watch and pray because Judgment Day is coming!
2. But what does Judgment Day mean for our Lord’s Christians? Again the Lord says in our text: but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed. For our Lord’s dear Christian, Judgment Day means we will enjoy our Lord’s salvation in full measure, soul and body, in heaven; it means for us the heavenly completion of our redeemed life. How? Why?
Notice our Lord’s words here. Although what seems to be so firm and solid—the created world and universe—will be brought to nothingness, will vanish like smoke, and will wear out like a garment, what endures forever? What will never be dismayed–or more precisely translated, what will never be shattered, that is, never vanish like smoke, and will [never] wear out like a garment? The Lord’s salvation and His righteousness! Our Lord Jesus’ work endures! What a glorious work is His! He came to obey in our place the holy law of God that He demands we keep—although we don’t/ can’t; He came also to take our sins on Himself, to be the world’s sinner, and so endure all of God’s wrath and punishment in our place. And by this perfect, once for all sacrifice, Jesus brought about for us salvation; He is now our righteousness! That’s Easter’s proclamation—our sin has been paid! In Christ we now have forgiveness of sin, eternal life—salvation. And what is the glorious thing here? But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed. The salvation of Christ, that perfect righteousness that we now have in Christ is not like a “free 3 month trial” that expires. It is ours forever, into all eternity. The righteousness He gives us, will never be shattered, go into nothingness like the seemingly solid, firm and enduring world/ universe. Instead, Christ’s perfect righteousness endures and stands forever—that very righteousness that covers us. Here is the firm foundation of our salvation—Jesus and His once for all sacrifice for us.
That’s the reason why we look forward to the Last Day—Jesus is our salvation; His perfect righteousness which He gives us fully and freely, stands! We, dear Christian, need not fret the Last Day and the Judgment. The glorious thing is that already now Christ has come to us in His holy word and sacrament and given us the forgiveness of sin, eternal life, His righteousness. He has brought us into His kingdom! That salvation that Christ gave you already in the waters of holy baptism when He created faith in Him and His work in your heart, will never end. He brought you into His kingdom, He gave you the gift of salvation and righteousness, and by His word and sacrament He continues to come to you giving you and strengthening you in that salvation and righteousness. That salvation begins for us now and even after our earthly death it continues and never runs out but continues into all eternity! We can be certain of it and with joy we look forward to the Last Day knowing that we will be in heaven soul and body because of Jesus and His work, since My salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed. INJ Amen