The Lutheran Hour
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"We Must Appear"
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Text: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
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Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed! When you’re armed with the faith that comes from those all important sentences, you can be ready for that day whenever it might come, when you must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. The resurrection of our divine substitute and Savior takes believers from death to life, from fear to an eternal future, and from damnation to His blood-bought deliverance.
The day is coming when you will have to face the music, when you will appear before Jesus, the Judge. On that day, will you be ready? You know, for many people, the thought of a universal judgment day, or even their very own personal judgment day, is something they wish to avoid at all costs. I know a parochial school teacher who had been challenging his eighth grade class to aim high and achieve something worthwhile with their lives. At the conclusion of his session, he asked the students, “What would you like people to say about you a 100 years from now?” He got any number of answers, all of them pretty good. But the one that stuck in my memory came from a girl who said, “Teacher, a 100 years from now, I’d like them to say, ‘My goodness, doesn’t she look good for her age!'” Odds are, what with human mortality being close to 100 percent, it probably won’t happen that way. The day is coming when that girl, along with the rest of us, will appear before Jesus the Judge. You can take collagen treatments, you can see the plastic surgeon, you can sweat to the oldies and struggle with Windsor Pilates, but the Day of Judgment cannot be postponed indefinitely. On that day, will you be ready to appear before Jesus the Judge? Will you be ready to face the music?
Let me tell you what I mean. About two years ago, a college adviser told me about one of his students who had collared him in a hallway. Animatedly running his sentences together, the young man excitedly shared the bright future he was absolutely convinced lay ahead of him. That very day he had received wonderful news: he had been accepted into a prestigious law school. Because of that single event, he believed the rest of his dreams would become a reality. When the young man finally took a breath, the professor, who sees a bigger picture, interrupted. He asked the young man, “And when you get through with your courses and pass the bar, what will you do then?” “Then I’m going to go get my doctorate.” “And after you get your doctorate, what then?” “Well, then I will get a number of difficult cases and I will by eloquence and with a thorough command of the law gain a distinguished reputation.” “And with this renowned reputation, what then?” ” Then in wealth, I shall live comfortably looking forward to a happy old age.” “And after this happy, wealthy, old age, what then?” “Oh, I don’t know, I guess, I’ll die” came the reply. “And after you die, what then?” The young man had no answer. His planning for the future had stopped. There was nothing more in his thinking. But the Lord says he had one more thing needed to be done. He would appear before Jesus and face the music. Do you know where the expression, “facing the music” comes from? It began in medieval Japan with a man who wanted the security and prestige that came from being a performer in the Imperial Orchestra. There was a minor flaw in his idea: he couldn’t play an instrument. Not a note. But he did know what he wanted and was willing to pull every possible string to accomplish his purposes. He made promises. He called in favors. With reluctance, and against his better judgment, the orchestra’s conductor finally got worn down and unenthusiastically consented to let the man into the ensemble. He gave him a flute, sat him in the most inconspicuous seat, and instructed him to tryand fit in. When a musical number would begin, our man dutifully raised his instrument to his mouth, puckered his lips, moved his fingers and pretended to blow. He went through the motions, but not a tweet ever escaped his flute.
The deception might have continued indefinitely and undetected if it had not been for the appointment of a new conductor. This man’s first act was to tell his musicians each of them would have to re-audition for their chair. This posed no problem for most of the players. They were professionals. They knew what they were doing. One by one they auditioned and were restored to their position. Eventually, all finished, except for the fake flutist. Frantic with worry afraid he would be exposed, he claimed to be sick. The doctor pronounced him “fit as a fiddle and fine as a flute.” Finally, the day, the hour, the minute came for the audition. There would be no more postponements; no more excuses. The flutist was compelled to confess he was a fraud. Unable to face the music, he lost his position, his salary, his home, and his future.
Does that sound even remotely like your life? Are you numbered among the many who want the prestige and power, the pseudo-security and semi-self confidence the world promises but is unable to provide? Have you been willing to risk everything and do anything to advance yourself in this world, while at the same time ignore the Day of Judgment? You will, my friend, have to face the music. You will have to appear before Jesus the Judge. When that moment comes, you will not be able to fake it. You will either make the cut or you will not. You will either have Jesus as your Savior or you will not. But you will have to face the music.
Now, there are a number of ways people respond to the idea of appearing before Jesus the Judge. Some gamble there is no God. Go out to the country on a moonless night. Look at the mathematically precise dance of the stars. Christians believe God created those stars, put them there and and keeps them running. Without God in your life, you have to believe somehow, someway matter created itself and through a series of coincidences and catastrophes, set itself in motion. Without God, you must hold to the theory we are the product of accidents and evolvements.
At a 1981 symposium, Sir Fred Hoyle said: “The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way (through evolutionary processes) is comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junkyard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein.” If you are honest, you know a hand more powerful than yours was directed by a mind more brilliant than yours to form these wonders. There is a God and He loves you. You can, of course, deny Him. That will not make Him less real. You can reject Him, but that will not make the judgment at which you must appear less real. You must face the music.
Will you be ready? Is it possible that you believe there is a God who created life, the universe and everything? But you also believe that God, having completed His work, promptly turned away from His creation. Out of your own imaginings, you’ve constructed a Creator who doesn’t care or wish to be involved. The same line of thinking would have you believe a teenager, having worked at transforming a piece-of-junk car into a restored classic, would leave it at a busy intersection with the keys in the ignition. Would you believe parents who have longed and prayed for a child would walk away from their newborn baby? Unthinkable! Impossible! Then, how can you imagine God would do that to His creation? Are you ready to face the music? Not if you are numbered with those who are skeptical to the idea of a judging Jesus. You think: “God is great, God is good, God is nice, God is merciful. He is too kind to judge anyone. And, if He is going to judge anyone, I’m OK, because I lead a pretty good life-certainly a whole lot better than some of the kooks shown on the evening news.” If that’s your position, I would only like to ask: Where did you get this from? Not from the Bible. The Bible is consistent in saying the Lord is coming and all of us will have to appear before Jesus the Judge. Where did you get this belief? Not from the prophets, apostles, or evangelists. They always point to a God who keeps His word. If He promises to free people, He does it. If He says He’s going to send His Son to save the world, He keeps that promise, too. If He says He’s going to return on Judgment Day and take those believers to heaven and send those who rejected the Savior into hell, you can be sure it will happen.
My friends, creating God in your image is a dangerous thing to do. Not wanting to be judged, you invent a god without standards or justice, fairness or integrity. Not wanting anyone to tell you what to do, you devise a god who has the backbone of a piece of cooked spaghetti. You don’t want a Savior, so you deny sin. That kind of god is nothing more than a pale shadow of ourselves. I don’t know how you feel, but I believe if my god is no greater than I am, no more honest or fair or just or gracious, then He is hardly worthy of my worship.
An old story goes around the religious circles every few years. It tells of a council that the devil called down in hell. At this meeting, the demons debated the merits of which method was best in stealing souls from the Savior. One of them said, “I will go to the earth and tell everyone the Bible is a myth.” Satan smiled and nodded approvingly, saying, “Not bad. Some people will believe it, but I think we can do better.” Another said, ” I will tell people there is no God, no Savior, no hell, no heaven.” “A distinct improvement,” said his royal lowness. But another received a standing ovation when he shared, “I believe we need to be clever. Let’s tell people there is a God and there is a heaven and there is a hell and there is a Savior. But let us also tell them there’s no hurry. They are young and they have time to think of such things when they’re old. Let us tell them that Judgment Day hasn’t come for thousands of years and is not likely to arrive in the next five minutes.” Now, lest you’ve missed the point, let me say all of these demonic devices have been working quite effectively for centuries. Nevertheless, there is no doubt the most effective tool in Satan’s collection is that which says, “There is no rush to be ready.” That’s why the Apostle warns, “Be ready,” because you will have to face the music. You will have to “appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”
So, how do we get ready? We can learn from some people who, even as this sermon is being preached, are at work and are ready. These people are watching for things that might happen. The highway patrol is watching the traffic. The officers are keeping an eye out for accidents and breakdowns. Firemen are listening for a bell to ring. Ambulance attendants are sitting ready for the phone to summon them. Nurses are monitoring their patients. These people are prepared. They are showing us how to be ready. Consider what happens if a person supposed to be ready is not. What would happen if an air-traffic controller should get too sleepy or too bored to keep a careful watch on his screen? If a bus driver isn’t ready, if he becomes negligent or distracted a second, 30 high schoolers could lose their lives when the vehicle swerves off a bridge and plunges upside down to the pavement below. The air marshal in the airport dare not let a package slip by him uninspected. For these people to be unprepared is tragic, but not nearly as tragic as those unprepared to face Jesus, the judge.
If you’re not 100 percent ready to face the music, then please hear what I’m going to say. I want to tell you how you can face the music. Getting ready is not painful. It’s not costly for you. I say, “for you,” because it was painful for your Savior, God’s sinless Son, Jesus Christ. Born in Bethlehem according to prophecy, Jesus lived His life tempted just as we are. Only He never succumbed to sin. Every day of His life, He resisted the temptations that trip us up. Yes, it was painful for your Savior. When He was among us, He was hated and harassed. He was laughed at by those who didn’t understand Him and called names by those who wished to demean Him. He was misunderstood by the common people, deserted by His friends, and betrayed by a close associate.
The pain continued as He was brought before judges-not fair judges but scoundrels. He was tried by men who purchased the service of witnesses who lied about Him. He was beaten, threatened, and passed around from court to court. The king of his home country asked Him to perform some tricks while He was on trial for His life and the representative from Rome, even though convinced Jesus was totally innocent of any charges, eventually condemned Him to death. Add to these traitorous trials the sins you and I commit, you cannot begin to understand His pain. Every sin, every indiscretion, every mistake, every bit of hatred, jealousy, envy, lust, greed, blasphemy you and I have ever done, Jesus took to Himself.
Yes, saving you was painful and costly, too. Dying to save you meant that Jesus suffered the indignity of being stripped naked and nailed to a cross. Nails were hammered through His hands and feet, and then He was hoisted up to die. It was not a quick death, but a slow, agonizing death. Eventually, after six hours of indescribable pain, deserted by almost everyone, including His heavenly Father, Jesus was able to say “It is finished” and He died. This He did for you. Look at Him hanging there. See Him dying. Don’t ever say God doesn’t care about His creation. He sent His Son to save that creation. Don’t ever think God doesn’t demand justice. To fulfill His justice, God’s Son had to die. To assure us of Jesus’ victory, Christ had to rise. Don’t pretend God doesn’t exist. He is real enough to be born, suffer, die and rise so you might be forgiven. Be adopted into God’s family and live for eternity in heaven.
If you believe Jesus is your Savior, if you acknowledge He has taken your place, you are ready to face the music. You can face the music because He faced it first for you. All He asks is that you believe. He even sends His Holy Spirit to call you into that belief. Yes, you can run away. But the day will come when you won’t run anymore. On that day, the friend who sacrificed Himself so you could be saved will want to know, “Do you believe?” If the answer is ”yes,” it is life eternal. If the answer is, ” I was getting around to it,” or “I didn’t know,” or “I thought it was all a big joke,” you will be lost.
God doesn’t want that. He wants you to be ready. He wants you to be prepared. He this moment is calling you to believe. Don’t wait. The only one waiting helps is Satan. Don’t doubt. The only one doubting helps is the devil. Don’t procrastinate. Hesitation benefits death itself. If you wish to be ready to face the music, The Lutheran Hour is ready to help. Tens of thousands of people are praying you will pick up a phone and make a connection to your Savior and a church. Tens of thousands of people have given gifts to this broadcast so you might know this is genuine concern and not a religious scam. Unbelievable, isn’t it? People you have never met care for you. Why? Because they have seen the Savior. They know His love, how He helps, how He cares. And they want you to know Him, too. They want you to be ready to face the music.
Finally, allow me to say to all of you who have prayed, who have helped, who have given- many thanks. Don’t let this world tear you down. Please, by the Holy Spirit’s power, keep looking to the cross and the empty grave. Keep trusting that Jesus cares for you. Be ready for that wonderful day when Jesus the Judge will return. Be ready to face the music, the wonderful music of eternal life and heaven. God grant we are ready. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for July 6, 2003
ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. Pastor Klaus, this week we’re continuing our discussion of that line from the Apostles’ Creed that says Jesus descended into hell. Last week we said the creeds were developed in response to false teachings creeping into the church and were also to provide a simple statement of belief. Pastor, you said this doctrine doesn’t have a lot of Scriptural support. Nevertheless, the church considered it fundamental to our faith. Why?
KLAUS: I can make some guesses, Mark. The early church was battling error. There were people saying Jesus hadn’t finished the job of salvation. Some suggested Jesus hadn’t really died. Others said only the human part of Jesus died. Some said it wasn’t even Jesus on the cross. Doctrines we take for granted were the subject of heated discussion. Of course, there were always those who were curious, who wanted to know, “What did Jesus do during those three days?” There were those passages of Peter that talked about Jesus preaching to the souls in prison.
ANNOUNCER: So the easiest way to explain it was just to say, “Jesus descended into hell.”
KLAUS: That simple statement answers the question about whether Jesus was really God, and what happened during the time between Jesus’ burial and resurrection.
ANNOUNCER: Do you think you could tell us a little bit more about it, though?
KLAUS: I’ll try. First we should say the Lutheran Confessional writings are quite right in saying we cannot truly understand this doctrine with our senses – only with the eyes of faith. The Confessions also suggest we shouldn’t engage in all kinds of guesswork. I’ll try to avoid that.
ANNOUNCER: That means we don’t speak where Scripture is silent.
KLAUS: Nor be silent when Scripture speaks. But we can say this: The Apostles’ Creed divides Jesus’ life into two parts: His state of humiliation and His state of exaltation.
ANNOUNCER: Big words.
KLAUS: But they say what they mean. Jesus’ state of humiliation is when He didn’t fully use all of His godly powers. This would include when Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.” Then came Jesus’ state of exaltation-when the victorious Jesus, His sacrifice for our salvation accepted, was exalted. The second article says this would cover,
“He descended into hell. On the third day He rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.” Where does the break occur between humiliation and exaltation?
ANNOUNCER: Between His burial and His descent into hell. KLAUS: Right. We have to remember the burial and the descent into hell are two distinct things. We believe after Jesus’ burial, the entire person, God and man, descended into hell, conquered the devil, destroyed hell’s power, and took from the devil all his might. Jesus descends into hell not to suffer. When He said on the cross, “It is finished,” His work of sacrifice was complete. I believe that for me and all believers, Christ descended into hell to subdue the devil (1 Peter 3:18-20) and to take him captive along with all his power, cunning, and malice so the devil could no longer harm us. He redeemed us from the [eternal] pains of hell, transformed them into something non-destructive and for the believer, is quite beneficial.
ANNOUNCER: But why would Jesus have to show hell He was victorious? You’d think the residents of hell would be the first to know.
KLAUS: You would think so but remember, Satan is the father of lies. It would always be in his best interest to spread the belief that Jesus had failed, had lost, was still dead. He spread that thinking in this world quite successfully at times, sorry to say. I wouldn’t put it past him to try and do the same among his minions.
ANNOUNCER: That’s like getting all your news from the Iraqi minister of information.
KLAUS: Minus the beret.
ANNOUNCER: It’s been suggested that Jesus descended into hell in order to give some people a second chance to believe. What about that?
KLAUS: While there aren’t a lot of passages that talk about Jesus’ descent into hell, there are quite a few that talk about what happens when a person dies. Here’s one from Hebrews 9:27-28, “… Man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment. So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.”
ANNOUNCER: So that means no second chance.
KLAUS: That’s why The Lutheran Hour has spent so much time preaching to people. Now is the day of salvation.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. The next Lutheran Hour message is titled, “A New Creation.”