Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost
November 17, 2013
“The Day Is Coming” (Malachi 4:1-6; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-28)
“The Day Is Coming.” “The Day Is Surely Drawing Near.” What day am I talking about? Thanksgiving? No, nobody cares much about Thanksgiving anymore, except for eating turkey and watching football and getting a head start on . . . Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday, the big shopping day of the season–now that’s a day that lots of people get excited about! But no, that’s not the day I’m talking about. Oh, OK then, Christmas, that must be it. Only 37 shopping days left till Christmas! The Christmas songs are already playing on the radio and in the stores. But no, that’s not it, either. That’s not the big day to which I refer.
“The Day Is Coming.” This is the day I’m talking about: The Day of the Lord. The Last Day. The Day of Christ’s Return. The Second Coming. Judgment Day. That is The Big Day that is still to come. And it is coming. It could come at any time. It could come very soon. You may even miss out on all those Black Friday shopping deals. Oh, well.
Yes, the Day of the Lord, the Second Coming of Christ, this is the focus of our lessons today, as we come near the end of the church year and our attention is drawn to the end of human history as we know it. This is a lot bigger deal than anticipating the release of the latest version of Xbox or iPhone or iPad or iPod or whatever the latest electronic gizmo is. I don’t keep up with these things. There is an end goal in sight for this world, and yet most of the people in this world are walking around not paying any heed to what is to come. They’re walking around like the Walking Dead that they are.
But not so with you, my brothers and sisters! Not so with you. You are Christians, baptized believers, and our Lord would have you cognizant and conscious, alert and awake and aware, of what is in store for this old world as we get closer to the Last Day. That’s what our Scripture readings today are all about. That’s what this message now will be about, namely, what difference it makes to us that “The Day Is Coming.”
St. Matthew Lutheran Church 