Serious Christians remember a sermon
if you simplify it. 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 Zephaniah, one of the latter prophets,
speak of the Day of the Lord. Paul offers encouragement as his readers await
the return of Christ. Matthew recounts Jesus’ last parables on judgment in
God’s Kingdom. 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 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 boundless joy.
In our eschatological excerpt today,
Jesus is teaching through parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. In this set of
parables, Matthew emphasized the importance of watchfulness and gifts. Although
God gave each person certain gifts and talents, and Christ gave to the Church
His gifts – which, we, as Lutherans, understand as Word and Sacrament – the
Church could be tempted to lapse into false security and self-satisfaction.
Watchfulness and diligent activity must guard and increase these gifts until
the Son of Man makes his certain yet undatable appearance.[4]
Today’s excerpt, the Parable of the
Talents, deals with delay and stresses how Christians, especially leaders, must
be watchful to the end. They must not only preserve but also work with and
increase the eschatological goods with which they have been entrusted. Not
every Christian has been entrusted with the same type and amount of gifts and
blessings, but each Christian will be judged according to what he has received.
Those who have worked wisely with the gift they received will receive as their
reward still greater authority and responsibility in the world to come. The
Master will invite them to share His joy.
On the other hand, the
self-centered, fearful, lazy, evil servants unwilling to work and take risks
for the sake of the Gospel will find the judge of the Last Day to be an exacting
taskmaster demanding growth. Matthew aimed this parable not at unbelievers but
Christian servants entrusted with the goods of God’s Kingdom. Reading this
excerpt in that light, I am struck with fear, for while I hope the Master will
invite me to share His joy, I expect that our exacting taskmaster will punish
me for not taking a risk for the Gospel.
And that, folks, leads 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 until the Day of the Lord arrives?
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.”[5]
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 Prayer
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.”[6]
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 in whatever circumstance you find yourself. If you are young
and able-bodied, you have hope. If you are elderly and institutionalized, you
have hope. You have Christ.
Pray daily and remember that Satan
is defeated, but not dead. He can tempt you to become a self-centered, fearful,
lazy, evil servant unwilling to work and take risks for the sake of the Gospel.
And do not think that Satan exempts you from temptation. He tempted Eve in the
Garden, Israel in the wilderness and Jesus in Gethsemane. You are not exempt
from Satan’s temptations.
He whispers tempting words into your
ears through a variety of people. Whether it’s your spouse or godparents, your
Aunt Betty or Uncle Harry, your favorite teacher or your admired coach, the
latest pseudo-psychologist or best friends, Satan tells you that there is no judge of the Last Day, and that no matter how you live your life as a Christian,
God is not an exacting taskmaster demanding growth. He tempts you to prioritize
numerous activities above God’s Word and the Gospel life. He leads you to value
others’ teachings more than Matthew’s, Martin Luther’s or our Lord and
Master’s.
In summarizing the last four
judgment parables in Matthew, Scripture scholar, Raymond Brown wrote this: “Since
the Son of Man speaks of God as ‘my Father,’ this is the Son of God in the
apocalyptic context of the judgment of the whole world. The admirable principle
that the verdict is based on the treatment of deprived outcasts is the Matthean
Jesus’ last warning to his followers and to the church, demanding a very
different religious standard both from that of those scribes and Pharisees …
and from that of a world that pays more attention to the rich and powerful.”[7]
In other words, we are easily
tempted to pay more attention heeding the advice of rich and powerful people
because we too want to be rich and powerful – tempted as we are by the world. However,
our Lord and Master calls us to pay more attention to the deprived outcasts of
the world, whether that be someone who is hungry, thirsty, naked, foreign or confined
to home, hospital or institution. The opportunities to pay attention to
deprived outcasts are as plenty as those we have to heed the advice of the rich
and powerful.
Friends, I can think of countless moments
when I paid more attention to the rich and famous and passed on opportunities
to tend to the needs of the least in our community. But let me summarize the
importance of investing in the least by telling you about a man named Bob.
Bob is now deceased, but when he was
alive and residing in an assisted living facility in Oklahoma City, I visited him
regularly. A WWII Veteran who never saw action because the Navy stationed him
on a “bucket of bolts,” Bob became a professional firefighter after the war, and
eventually chief of the Fire Department of Davis, California. In his twilight
years, he moved to Oklahoma to be closer to his daughter. In his spare time,
Bob read and built model airplanes, which he hung throughout his apartment.
Next to his recliner, Bob kept his Bible and devotionals.
As the pastor charged with
developing senior ministry, I asked all seniors one question: What is important
to you? The seniors gave various answers that helped me find speakers to
address medication, the Affordable Care Act, and funeral plans – topics teens
and young adults rarely consider.
When I asked Bob, “What’s important to you?” he replied, “I like when you come to visit me. No one
ever visits me.” Bob’s words pierced my heart. “I like when you come to visit me. No one ever visits me.”
Granted, Bob’s daughter and
son-in-law visited him. They took him to church, to the doctor, out to eat and
wherever else he needed to go. His loving family brought him books and model
airplane kits, and spent time with him. They did everything for him, but
outside of family, no one visited Bob.
I tell you that story because it
illustrates the importance of God’s gifts of time and talent given to each of
us. Men and women confined to home, hospital or institution have plenty of time
on their hands. Able-bodied Christians and pastors have the same amount of
time. And while we all have different gifts, each of us has the talent to pray.
So, I tell confined adults that God has not released them from the ministry of
prayer, and know that God has not released us from the ministry of presence. We
have the talent and time to visit people like Bob, family members, friends,
neighbors and church members confined to home, hospital or institution,
deprived individuals considered the least in our community. Moreover, we have
the opportunity to exercise a ministry of presence and prayer with them. If you
do not know how to pray with others, carry your Bible or Small Catechism with
you and read it aloud when you visit.
Friends, I encourage you to 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. Investing in God’s goods
while awaiting our Master’s return may seem wasteful. However, 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.
[2]
Gen 12:1ff.
[3]
Hayes, 355.
[4]
John P. Meier, The Vision of Matthew: Christ, Church and Morality in the First
Gospel. New York: Paulist Press (1979), 173.
[5] 2
Thes 3:7.
[6] Luther’s
Small Catechism, page 32.
[7]
Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament. New York: Doubleday
(1997), 199.
