Serious Christians remember a sermon
if you simplify it. Hence, the title of my book, Simple Sermons for Serious Christians. Most often, I simplify
sermons by hanging three points on one letter. Today, three Es – eschatology, excerpt
and expectation.
Three points are easier to remember
if they all begin with the same letter. Case in point: We summarize workspace
safety with education, evaluation and enforcement. Customer service consists of
ease, effectiveness and emotion. Leadership involves equipping, empowering and
exposure. The National Audit Office assesses the value for money of government
spending with economy, efficiency and effectiveness. While I do not expect you
to remember all those Es, they illustrate that points are easier to remember if
all the words begin with the same letter. That said, we move to eschatology,
excerpt and expectation.
First, eschatology. Eschatology is
the study of the last things, that is, death, judgment, heaven and hell. It is
from the Greek word eskhatos, meaning
last, furthest or most remote in time, space or degree.
We speak of eschatology today
because as the church year closes, we hear Malachi, the last prophet in the Old
Testament, speak of the Day of the Lord. Paul offers encouragement as his
readers await the return of Christ. Luke recounts Jesus’ last days. Hence,
eschatology is suited for the end of our liturgical year. Yet, we cannot merely
mention eschatology. We need to understand it.
Although we speak of the
aforementioned last things, eschatology refers to a theology of history, with a
specific reference to for the ultimate fulfillment of God’s covenant promise.[1]
In other words, eschatology is about hope based upon God’s promise, God’s word,
and what our Trinitarian God has done for us as Father, Son and Spirit.
Eschatology involves the future
based upon past promises, but it is also about the present. Eschatology is both
individual and universal. It is about my personal choices and our universal fulfillment.
In a sense, eschatology is bi-polar and all-encompassing.
Envision Abraham, an individual who
trusted God’s promises, and envision his posterity, a great nation.[2]
We know God fulfilled that promise under David’s rule, and although the
monarchy collapsed, this gave rise to hope for a restored monarchy by a Savior
figure from the royal line of David. Based upon God’s promise, the prophets
envisioned life in a world under God’s reign marked by peace, justice and
reconciliation, as well as the possibility of resurrection of the dead.
This, of course, set the stage for
Jesus and the early Christian community. He took up the hopes of his people,
and through their experience of his resurrection, his disciples understood his
preaching in a new light, rooted in God’s promise and the prophets. In short,
the destiny of Jesus with God anticipates the destiny of humanity and creation.[3]
Paul’s letters describe his
eschatology in detail, and yet, his is not a fixed thought. Paul expected an
imminent end. In Thessalonians, we read, “For you are fully aware that the day of the
Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thes. 5:2). His second
letter reveals an indeterminate expectation. Ephesians and Colossians present a
cosmic vision of all powers, including demonic ones, subject to Christ.
Eschatology – death, judgment,
heaven and hell – may unnerve us; but through the prism of the cross, God’s
promises calm our nerves. That leads me from eschatology to excerpt.
Most people today read excerpts of
the Bible. The way to read the Bible is one book per sitting. Read Exodus or
Jeremiah in one afternoon and you appreciate and understand it better than if
you read a chapter a day. Pore over Luke, Acts or Revelation, and its message
takes on new meaning. While I encourage you to read each book in one sitting,
most read excerpts of the Bible.
The word excerpt means to select a
passage from a book. We derive excerpt from the Latin word excerpere, which means to pluck out, pick out or extract. The
Romans merged it from two smaller words, ex,
meaning out and carpere, meaning pluck
or gather. Our liturgical tradition is to read excerpts from the Gospels and
New Testament along with Old Testament passages related to the Gospel. Reading
the Bible this way allows us to observe certain seasons and feasts, such as
Advent, Lent, Christmas and Easter. On Ash Wednesday, we hear readings about
prayer, fasting and almsgiving. On Pentecost, we proclaim the work of the Holy
Spirit. On Thanksgiving, Luke’s story of Jesus healing the ten lepers. Excerpts
allow pastors to preach an expository sermon and explain why we observe Lent
with solemnity or celebrate Easter with joy.
In our eschatological excerpt today,
Jesus is teaching in the temple as he warns his disciples that the kingdom of
God is near by teaching about the destruction of the temple, Jerusalem and the
world. Jesus’ teaching begins and ends with the temple. This is no accident, as
Jesus’ entire teaching, the infancy narrative and the entire gospel begin and
end in the temple.[4]
When we hear temple and Jerusalem,
we need to keep in mind not only a physical building of stones and a
geographical locale of redemption, but more importantly, the location of the
presence of the Lord. That requires us to think eschatologically for these
beautiful stones will be pulled down.
Jesus spoke of stones in other
sayings about Jerusalem. Stones would shout acclamations if people were kept
silent during his entry into the city. Jerusalem’s enemies would not leave one
stone upon another because it did not know its time of visitation. The rejected
stone became the cornerstone.[5]
The stones that matter in the temple are not the ones that form the building,
but the Stone whose presence has resided among the physical stones and who now
prophesies the end of those stones.[6]
And if the temple, the place where God dwelt, is destroyed, where would people
look for God? In Jesus, who came to dwell not in a stones building, but in the
Church through Word and Sacrament.
Continuing on our excerpt, Jesus
teaches his disciples not how to predict the future, but how to see that “end
times” begin with his death and resurrection. Preparing his disciples for the
end so that they are not misled, Jesus points not to a stone temple and signs,
but how to recognize false prophets coming in his name with a different
catechesis, a different teaching. This false teaching comes from panic that
people feel when calamity strikes. Wars will come. Disaster will strike. When
they occur, some will present false teaching. Jesus’ advises his disciples: Do
not panic.
Along with the destruction of the
temple, Jerusalem and the world, Jesus spoke of persecution, and for the first
time, he explicitly suggested that his trials are bound to their trials.
When Jesus said, “They
will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the
synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for
my name’s sake,” he referred to his disciples and the entire Church.
Jesus meant this statement for men and women in his company and those who would
follow later. This persecution continued in Acts. When Saul fell to the ground,
“he
heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he
said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting.’”[7]
One author described the persecution
this way. “Christians will experience persecution for no other reason than
their connection with Jesus. The name of Jesus defines their identity, for
Christians bear in their bodies Jesus, the new temple. For that reason, Christians
are living stones and their bodies are temples. The opponents will hate them
because the presence of God has shifted from the temple of Jerusalem to where
Christ promised to be present: in those baptized in his name, in the Gospel, in
his Supper. How ironic that the temple of Jerusalem is destroyed by God because
the people refused to believe that a shift in divine presence had taken place
and that Christians will be killed because they proclaim that this presence now
dwells among them.”[8]
Folks, that persecution persists today.
That persecution continues today,
and Christians willingly bear it because they believe his promise. They believe
Jesus’ words at the end of this excerpt. “When these things begin to take place,
straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. …
When you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is
near.”[9]
Destruction and persecution fill our
excerpt, but for all Christians who believe, hope overshadows them. That is why
we gather here today. We believe that Jesus is among us in Sacrament, Word and
prayer. We gather here knowing that persecution awaits us as it did Jesus, but
we trust in his word. Yes, we trust in his word, but … now what? Now, I turn to
my third point, expectation.
What do we mean by expectation?
Expectation means belief that something will happen or is likely to happen.
When our daughter and daughter-in-law became pregnant, we expected babies. When
our team goes to training camp, we expect a championship. When high school
graduates leave for college, we expect they will earn a bachelor’s degree … in
four years. When the doctor diagnoses a loved one with a terminal disease, we
expect we should get our affairs in order. When the pastor appears at the
hospital or funeral home, we expect comfort. When we pray, we expect God to
answer.
So, what should we expect as we
await the end of days? What should we expect on the Day of the Lord? What are
we expected to do as we endure destruction and persecution?
We are expected to hope and pray as
individuals and community, but what else? To help answer that question, we turn
to Paul. He not only prayed for believers, but also exhorted them to imitate
him. You “know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we
were with you.”[10]
When it comes to imitation, fathers
and mothers set the standard for their children. Each section in Luther’s Small
Catechism begins with “The head of the family …” Section Two on Daily Prayers
states, “How the head of the family should teach his household to pray morning
and evening. … In the morning when you get up, make the sign of the holy cross
and say: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”[11]
The Catechism then instructs us to kneel or stand and repeat the Creed and
Lord’s Prayer before saying his little prayer.
My point is this. We imitate Paul by
following Luther’s instruction on prayer because it recalls our baptism as
sinners redeemed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If you pray
two or three times daily as a couple or a family, you increase your odds of
holding on to hope while being persecuted. Remember, Satan is defeated, but not
dead. He can tempt others to hate and harm you as he led men to hate and harm
Jesus and his followers. So, pray daily.
Pray daily for the end is near. I do
not know when it will come for you or me, but soon. Moreover, the end of this
sermon is near too. However, one last thing.
I named this sermon Three Es of
Christianity, and when I began researching it, I came across an article written
by an Orthodox priest entitled “Ease of Life and Christianity Do Not Go
Together.” There are three Es of Christianity, but there is no ease of Christianity.
Friends, following Jesus to the
Cross and Tomb on Friday or any day of the week is difficult. Standing under
the shadow of the Cross can be dark and daunting. Witnessing destruction and
enduring persecution may seem pointless. But having experienced the Risen
Christ and the Joy of the Holy Spirit in my heart makes all the difference in
my life. I pray it does in yours.
Friends, as we await for the Son of
Man to come in a cloud with great power and glory, remain faithful in prayer, and
as you do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1]
Zachary Hayes, “Eschatology,” The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality. Collegeville,
MN: The Liturgical Press (1993), 354.
[4] The
temple teaching is framed by 19:47; 21:37-48. The infancy narrative by 1:5-25;
24:53, and the gospel by 1:5-25; 24:53.
[6] Arthur
A. Just, Jr., Luke 9:51-24:53. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House (1997), 789.
