Glorious Words, Glorious Lord
11/19 2nd last
Dan 7:9-10, Heb 13:20-21, Mark 13:24-31
† In the Name of Jesus †
Grace, mercy and peace, of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, is yours.
I wish we’d all been ready…. But for a different reason…
It’s all in the hearing….
Wait til your Father gets home?
As I was growing up, music started to change in the church, or at least in some churches. As Christian musicians began to take what they knew about God, and putting that to music, all sorts of songs came about. One song I will always remember, was written by a hippy named Larry Norman. It was called, “I wish we’d all been ready”, and talked about the mess the world would be in, at the end of time, prior to Christ’s return. The words still echo in my head….
“life was filled, with guns and wars, and everyone got trampled on the floor,
I wish we’d all been ready…
Children died, the days grew cold, a piece of bread could buy a bag of gold
I wish we’d all been ready
For there’s time to change your mind, the Son has come, and you’ve been left behind.”
It was one of those songs, that for us who sang it, provoked us, by fear, to get out and share the message, that Jesus was coming back. And it did, I worried greatly about my friends, knowing that if Jesus came back that night, had they ever had the change to receive Christ’s grace, or would they end up, in hell?
It ended up being like that phrase I used in the children’s sermon – wait til your father gets home….as if the only reason for Dad to come home was to punish Steve and Kelly…well – yeah, me too occasionally….
As I said then, the meaning of those words, Wait till you Father gets home, have a different meaning, depending on your relationship with Him. But there is a definite truth, that we deal with – our Lord will return for us, in a manner quite glorious.
• Words of Glory, Lord of Glory
o Daniel’s words
o The power and authority of Jesus – 1 Peter 3:25
o He is coming – but whether we should dread this, or
You can’t really look at the Bible’s promises concerning Jesus return, without realizing a sense of awe, a realization of God’s glory, and power, and honor. To realize the numerous pictures like the one in the reading from the Book of Daniel,
9 As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. 10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.
I think that we need to remember, that when we are talking about God, whether the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, we are talking about the God of the universe, we are talking about the Creator of the Universe. This glorious description of Him should leave us in awe. When we think of Christ’s power and authority, we should think of passages like that in 1 Peter 3:20,
And he, (that is Jesus the Messiah) has now entered Heaven and is at God’s right hand, with all angels, authorities and powers subservient to him.
All power, all authority, all honor, all glory, belong to Him. Angels and all those having authority and power in Heaven, serve Jesus. His power and authority is complete, far more authority and power than has ever existed on earth.
One day, all that authority, all that power, will return in full glory, with none of it hid.
Today’s gospel describes it,
the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory
But like the child waiting for his father to come… is the waiting done in fear, or in exhilarating joy…
• Harsh words – Harsh Lord?
o Mark’s Words, Revelation’s Words
o For some – yeah…
o Joel’s quote
The answer – we can!
There seems to be the idea floating around in the world today, that who one’s faith is in, is not as important as the very idea that they have faith. It is a subtle change from the old idea that all roads lead to God. There is just a sliver of truth in that statement, for eventually all will stand before God – but not all to the same eternal destiny.
There are some, that will fear God’s return, fearful for undergoing God’s wrath. They are described well in the Book of the Revelation,
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15
So far, this sounds similar to our gospel reading, does it not? But it goes on…
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
Why should the world hide, from the coming of Jesus? While he should inspire a sense of awe, and adoration, the only reason for hiding from the wrath of Jesus, would be if they refused His love, His grace and forgiveness. That is exactly why they are hiding, they have realized that their actions deserve the wrath of God. For them, the glorious return is a return of very harsh words, and a very harsh God.
Just like the child, who hearing his dad’s tires crunch on the driveway, hides under his bed, or finds some dark corner of the cellar, in fear of the punishment to come. Yet the punishment for rebelling against God’s word, is total, complete, eternal. Hear some more from scripture,
1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, Hebrews 2:1-3 (ESV)
And again, this time from the prophet Joel,
10 The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it? Joel 2:10-11 (ESV)
Who indeed, can endure it?
• Words of Comfort and Mercy, Lord of Comfort and mercy
o Titus 3
o The dad who comes home – to be with His family
We can.
You see, we are the kids who realize that their Father is coming not for the purpose of wrath, but to be with us. The idea of His return, is not one of harsh words, and a harsh God. Instead, His return for us is one of merciful words, words of comfort, and ultimate healing. He is the God who has forgiven us, who has used His incredible power and authority, not to punish us, but to heal us, to make our lives right. Remember that passage from Peter, where it talked of His might, and that all the angels and powers and authorities serve Him? Listen to the entire passage, in context,
Remember that Christ the just suffered for us the unjust, to bring us to God. That meant the death of his body, but he came to life again in the spirit. It was in the spirit that he went and preached to the imprisoned souls of those who had been disobedient in the days of Noah - the days of God’s great patience during the period of the building of the ark, in which eventually only eight souls were saved in the flood. And I cannot help pointing out what a perfect illustration this is of the way you have been admitted to the safety of the Christian "ark" by baptism, which means, of course, far more than the mere washing of a dirty body: it means the ability to face God with a clear conscience. For there is in every true baptism the virtue of Christ’s rising from the dead. And he has now entered Heaven and is at God’s right hand, with all angels, authorities and powers subservient to him.
1 Peter 3:17 (Phillips NT)
And this one, from Titus,
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11-14 (ESV)
His return – is our blessed hope, for Jesus, at the cross made things right between the Father and us. His return will be for us, better than the feeling of all the best days of our lives, rolled up into one second. A second of the purest joy, that will last forever my friends, when all pain will cease, all sorrow will fade, and all we shall know is the incredible glory of our God, and His love for you, and for me.
I think about that song, I mention at the start – and now I want to aim higher than just getting people “ready”. I want them, I want us, to live life – knowing the promises God has for them, knowing His love that will never shy away from us. I want people to be able to look with excitement towards the end of time. I want to see them assured that the promises given to them in their baptism, the hope of resurrection to eternal life, is theirs. To not live in fear of judgment, nor in ignorance that there is one, but to know that they are delivered from the judgment, by the blood of Jesus Christ.
The early church had a one word prayer – maranatha – Come Lord… A prayer, that we can echo, with certainty…
For we are the children of God, baptized in Christ Jesus..sharing in His death, and His resurrection. Forgiven, and counted righteous – not by our own work, or merit, but because of Jesus….and so we wait,
Marantha – Come Lord.. come quickly
Amen?
Amen….
