The Lutheran Hour
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"What Kind of People Should We Be?"
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Text: 2 Peter 3:1-13
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Grace, and mercy, and peace be unto you from our present and returning Lord Jesus. Amen!
There are people today, even Christians, who say, “Christians shouldn’t be too heavenly minded because it makes them of no earthly good.” Now, I’ve never completely understood or agreed with that sentiment, because if a person really understands the victory of eternal life in Jesus, if one really believes in the promise of holiness, and peace, and eternal salvation now and to come, if you really understand the fullness of what is to come on that final “Day of the Lord.” It changes how you live right now.
C.S. Lewis goes further, saying, “It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one.”
So many of us are caught in the rat race of life, struggling to make ends meet, struggling to keep families together, struggling just to make it through the day that we forget the key to all of life is our relationship with the Lord, by grace through faith, now and forever. The day of the Lord’s return and the glories of His Kingdom empower us in the mundane challenges of daily life. The awesomeness of eternal life in Him strengthens us to take on the challenge of day to day living. Sometimes it’s the looking ahead that gives us strength to deal with our past and our present tasks.
That’s what Peter is saying. “How you and I are living today depends on Who it is we think is coming again for us.”
Robby Robins was an Air Force pilot during the first Iraq war. After his 300th mission, he was surprised to be given permission to immediately pull his crew together and fly his plane home. They flew across the ocean to Massachusetts and then had a long drive to western Pennsylvania. They drove all night, and when his buddies dropped him off at his driveway just after sun-up, there was a big banner across the garage-“Welcome Home Dad!”
How did they know? No one had called, and the crew themselves hadn’t expected to leave so quickly. Robins relates, “When he walked into the house, the kids, half dressed for school, screamed, ‘Daddy!’ Susan came running down the hall-she looked terrific-hair fixed, make-up on, and a crisp yellow dress. ‘How did you know?’ I asked.
‘I didn’t,’ she answered through tears of joy. We knew you’d try to surprise us, so we were ready every day.'”
If you know Jesus as Lord and Savior by faith, then you are waiting for the return of the One who lived, and died, and rose again for you. If you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior, if you don’t know that the war of sinful rebellion is finished, know that the day of reckoning with Him is coming. But even here, Peter says, “God is taking His time so that all might come to know and believe in Jesus as their loving Savior, their resurrected brother, the one who yearns for you to receive the very place He has prepared for you by grace, in the new heavens and the new earth.”
Peter says, “On that day…since everything will be destroyed in this way, ‘what kind of people ought you be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of the Lord and speed its coming!'”
The promise of Christ’s return, then, calls believers to an empowered way of living in this world right now. For Christ’s return calls us to a life that knows the transient nature, the temporalness of the present world.
Let me say the Bible’s teaching plainly. This world is passing away. No politicians, no human technological machinations, no theological, sociological, philosophical tarp spending on steroids will cure the evil that lives in every human heart. It is faith in Christ alone that saves not some man-made, human works policy or religion. People have been led to believe that sincere, passionate, even religious trust in human ingenuity, education, or corporate action will ultimately cure the ills of the world. Such false passions, such false religions, false faiths, are all around us. But they’re part of a world that is passing away.
Sadly, there are still some who even teach us that this sinful, passing world is our only home. I love when people tell me that TV shows on science, or the environment, or even my favorites, shows about animals in the wild, don’t have an “agenda” or a religious tone to them. I’m not sure that I can watch them without being preached at in some form or fashion. From the show where the lady’s voice speaks of a cheetah as a “modern girl who doesn’t need a man to survive or raise her family,” or the deep bass voice of the man who religiously speaks so calmly of animals and humans as if they were in all things the same (never pointing out what a damnable place the world would be if humans really acted like animals), or of Carl Sagan himself who stands before the grandeur of the cosmos and says, “That’s it, that’s all there ever was and is.” I’m stupefied at the idiocy of such statements, let alone the arrogance.
It’s like human beings have been reduced to bombastic emotional agents whose only joy in life is, shouting crass epithets of unbelief towards God, daring Him to “do something about it.” It’s like a person on a sinking ship shouting vulgarities at the Coast Guard cutter there to save them, refusing to accept the life preserver offered, but damned proud that they died on their own terms.
Well, Peter, earlier in Chapter 3, speaks straight about such things today. He says, “Scoffers will come.” But in the face of scoffing, the Bible speaks even more plainly; this world is passing away because of that very rebellion of humanity against its Creator.
If we are honest with ourselves, we, even as sinners, can tell that this world is bent and broken. We know that there needs to be justice and mercy, but as we move further and further away from God’s Law and His clear demonstration of grace on the cross, it’s clear that we are at least confused, if not totally blind to what godly justice and mercy might actually look like in our lives.
On April 13, 2001, Luther Casteel walked into JB’s Pub in Elgin, Illinois, with four guns and opened fire. He killed two people and wounded 16 others. At his trial, Casteel was unrepentant. According to the Chicago Tribune, Casteel said this, “I’m a passionate, giving person. I like to think I’m a pretty good person. I’m not one to hurt anyone that doesn’t provoke me first.”
Wow! So that’s the standard of good for many today. That man sounds crazy to us doesn’t he? Can you imagine how we sound to God, to God who is love personified, who is eternally just by nature and perfectly merciful? What must we sound like to Him?
But, God, fully aware of our offence, answered the evil of this world and the evil in our hearts. Christ’s Cross and resurrection are God’s work to execute perfect justice on all sinners and pour out His eternal mercy to all as well. Salvation, forgiveness, justice, mercy, and peace on His terms; they are 100% available by grace to anyone who will trust in God’s work in Christ for them. Yes, this work, especially in the midst of this dying, confused, decaying world. Christ’s Kingdom is “in this world but not of it. Hallelujah! This world is passing away, and a new heavens and a new earth are coming, just as sure as Jesus was born on Christmas Day.”
The Day of the Lord, The Promise of Christ’s return calls us to a life that sees things as they are without Jesus, so that we can receive and share His Gift of real, lasting joy and peace, now and forever.
The promise of Christ’s return, the return of the One who died and rose again for all people, calls believers, then, to a life that is full of hope.
In fact, no matter what the circumstances are for us personally or for the church corporately, we are called to be what we are: people of hope, people of the promise!
Long ago, God made a promise with Adam and Eve, then with a man named Abraham, a promise to redeem and restore the world through their seed. God fulfilled that promise in the sending of His Son Jesus. We sing in church… “Mild, he laid His glory by; Born that man no more may die; Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.”
The very birth of the Christ Child, the One that the Scripture says, “Will cause the rise and fall of many,” the One who will “Save His people from their sins,” His life, His death and resurrection is the central message of a story that God has been telling to humanity from the beginning of time. He calls sinners, all humanity, to repentance, to forgive them, and give them His gift of life and salvation.
Christians, then, are people who live in God’s promises because God always fulfills His promises to His people.
In Christ, God’s promised grace is literally delivered to the world. In Him real forgiveness is offered, real guilt removed, real joy offered, real peace and new life assured.
Every Sunday in Christian churches around the world, people are baptized into that promise. Every Sunday they dine at the table of the One who bids them to taste and see that His grace is good! Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God With Us, Promise Fulfilled, Promise Delivered!
For believers, then, the day of the Lord is the day when God brings all of His promises to final fulfillment, that is the day when the world will see the difference between grace and religion. That is the day when people will see with their eyes the difference between man’s works and God’s works.
Such a message brings no arrogant pride to Christians, for we are sinners, too, like everyone else, saved only by God’s grace. We exist in this world to reflect His love and reflect His forgiveness to all, all the people we come in contact with. But the reality of eternal life is that it is a gift of God, and though graciously offered, all will be righteously judged by how they’ve responded to God’s invitation of grace!
We live in hope, because in all things, God will bring to pass His promises.
The story is told of a Sunday School class that had been asked the question, “In time of discouragement, what is your favorite Scripture?” A young man said, “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want Psalm 23:1.¨ A middle-aged woman said, “God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Psalm 46:1” Another woman said, “In this world you shall have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome this world. John 16:33” Then old Mr. John stood up. Old Mr. John who was 80 years old, with head of white hair and dark black skin, and he said with as much strength as he could muster, “My verse, ‘and it came to pass’¨ a verse 85 times in the Bible. The class started to laugh a little thinking that old Mr. John’s lack of memory was getting the best of him. When the snickering stopped, he said, “Well, at 30 I lost my job with six hungry mouths and a wife to feed. I didn’t know how I’d make it. At 40 my eldest son was killed overseas in the war. It knocked me down. At 50 my house burned to the ground. Nothing was saved out of that house. At 60 my wife of 40 years got cancer. It slowly ate away at her. We cried together many a night on our knees in prayer. At 65 she died. I still miss her today. The agony I went through in each of these situations was unbelievable. I wondered where was God. But each time I looked in the Bible I saw one of those 85 verses that said, “and it came to pass.¨ I felt that God was telling me that my pain and my circumstances were also going to pass and that God would get me through it.
Well, what Mr. John said is very true. Sin, death, and all the shadows of death in this passing world, it will pass, God will see us through…..But there’s even more! God doesn’t just get us through things, He promises eternal life, He promises new heavens, new earth and He is coming to judge the living and the dead to make it so. Rest assured this day, as people of His promise, all will come to pass. The promise of Christ’s return, the One who is coming to judge the living and the dead, finally calls believers to holy and faithful lives as we wait.
We will be a people with different priorities. It would be crazy not to, because the things of this world won’t last. So, we want to live holy lives, lives that are set apart, lives that make constant use of God’s gracious gift to us, His Word, His sacraments, lives that will last in Him. We want to live godly lives, lives that are useful to God in serving others into His family of faith, so that others might be part of God’s eternal life as well. Every blessing, every struggle, every opportunity, every challenge becomes an opportunity to go to God in faith and to turn to our neighbor in service.
Such a life yearns for Christ’s coming again, while it makes the most of life in His Grace while we wait.
Peter says it plainly for us today. He’s coming, this age is passing away, and a new day will dawn for all who put their trust in Him alone. Because this is true, “What kind of people should you and I be as we wait?” I guess that phrase either terrifies or comforts depending upon where a person finds oneself today, either in God’s hands or in their own. Life finally comes down to the reality of “Whose hands your life is finally in!”
Paul Stanley tells this story from his military experience: “As an infantry company commander in Vietnam in 1967, I saw Viet Cong soldiers surrender many times. As they were placed in custody, marched away, and briefly interrogated, their body language and their facial expressions always caught my attention. Most hung their heads in shame, staring at the ground, unwilling to look their captors in the eye. But some stood erect, staring defiantly at all those around them, resisting any attempt by our men to control them. They had surrendered physically but not mentally. On one occasion after the enemy had withdrawn, I came upon several soldiers surrounding a wounded Viet Cong. Shot through the lower leg, he was hostile and frightened, yet helpless. He threw mud and kicked with his one good leg when anyone came near him. When I joined the circle around the wounded enemy, one soldier asked me, ‘Sir, what should we do? He’s losing blood fast and he needs medical attention.’ I looked down at the struggling Viet Cong and saw the face of a 16- or 17-year-old boy. I unbuckled my pistol belt and hand grenades so he couldn’t grab them. Then, speaking gently, I moved toward him. He stared fearfully at me as I knelt down, but he allowed me to slide my arms under him and pick him up.
“As I walked with him toward a waiting helicopter, he began to cry and hold me tight. He kept looking at me and squeezing me tighter. We climbed into the helicopter and took off. During our ride, our young captive sat on the floor, clinging to my leg. Never having ridden in a helicopter, he looked out with panic as we gained altitude and flew over the trees. He fixed his eyes back on me, and I smiled reassuringly and I put my hand on his shoulder. After landing, I picked him up in my hands and I walked him toward the medical tent. As we crossed the field, I felt the tenseness leave his body and his tight grasp loosen. His eyes softened, and his head leaned against my chest. The fear and the resistance were gone – He finally trusted that I would still do what was best for him… he had finally surrendered.”
There is a Lord coming to judge the living and the dead. But He doesn’t come as a loving army commander, as wonderful as that might be in the ravages of war, He comes as the Lord of the Universe, who first came that you and I might live, who is coming again as this world’s Judge to inaugurate a world that is finally free of sin, of strife, of pain and death.
Now is the time for all to put their faith in Him. Now is the time for God’s people to live hopefully and faithfully in His hands. What kind of people will we be as we wait? Christ’s people for others that will do.
Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for December 4, 2011
Topic: Why Advent Services?ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Gregory Seltz responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. Today a listener wants to know, “Why does our church have advent services when everyone else in the world seems to be talking about Christmas already?”
SELTZ: Well, that’s a great question, Mark. It helps us to see that there are times when the church is “out of step” with the world and that can be a good thing.
ANNOUNCER: Well, how can being out of step be a good thing?
SELTZ: Well, remember, I said “out of step,” not “out of touch.”
ANNOUNCER: Ok? I think you should still explain that a bit.
SELTZ: Glad to. There are many Christian Churches around the world that are “liturgical.” That just means that they celebrate the liturgies and traditions, things that the church has handed down through the ages. One of those traditions, then, is to divide up the year into liturgical periods of time that help us remember the major themes of the Bible.
ANNOUNCER: All right. And this liturgical framework is not a specifically Lutheran or Catholic thing, but it’s something that many Christian churches participate in?
SELTZ: Yes, and its important to remember its purpose is to help us remember the main teachings of God’s work in the world in and through Jesus Christ. That’s why it may be “out of step” with the culture and its timing, but it is surely not “out of touch” with what the culture needs.
ANNOUNCER: All right. So the advent season helps Christians to become more focused and ready for Christmas?
SELTZ: Yes, that and much more. Advent means “coming.” So, for the church, it was and is a time of repentance and preparation to get ready for Christmas, God’s coming into the world, but it was also a time to prepare God’s people for the reality of Christ coming again, too.
ANNOUNCER: So, in that sense, a season of preparation, of spiritual discipline, and especially anticipation.
SELTZ: That’s right. So whether it’s with special Wednesday services or with the Sunday service itself, the church focuses God’s people on their need for Jesus. There is a reason that Jesus came and is coming again, and advent calls people to repentance and faith, to prepare God’s people not only for Christmas, but for the day of the Lord when He will come to judge the living and the dead.
ANNOUNCER: That’s pretty serious stuff. It’s not the theme for a Christmas holiday party.
SELTZ: Well, it’s sure not. But, coming to grips with such things actually prepares us to receive the joy that only Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter can bring. So, advent is a call to the world to “slow” down, to come out of the rat race and not miss what God is doing in the world. Preparation seasons in the church year like advent and lent, they help us do that spiritually.
ANNOUNCER: Ok. Could you talk about some other “advent” traditions that help us prepare for the unique joy of the Christmas season?
SELTZ: Well, I think that some of the songs are unique this time of year. There are lots of songs in “minor keys” and they set a mood of repentance and reflection. The words of some of those hymns and songs are some of the best in the church. Then there is the colors of the season, purple or blue, they’re colors of repentance and expectation as well as “royalty,” since the King of Kings is coming for us. And then there’s that advent wreath, a wreath that marks preparation time, candles of anticipation. I remember fondly those three purple candles and the pink one…I knew then that Christmas was coming.
ANNOUNCER: I always wondered when the pink candle was the one that was supposed to be lit.
SELTZ: You know, I did too. I thought that it was the last one to be lit before Christmas….you know purple giving way to white celebration, the Christ candle.
ANNOUNCER: But, actually, the pink candle is lit the third week and not the fourth.
SELTZ: That’s right, and as near as I can tell, it’s because, even in our preparation season, the joy of Christ, the joy of faith in Him alone, that’s the source of our repentance. So, it breaks through even before the end of the advent season.
ANNOUNCER: All right. So even though the world seems to be already celebrating this generally unfocused end of the year winter holiday sort of thing…. God’s people are getting ready for the joy that only Christmas can bring.
SELTZ: Well said. And, Christians today may have forgotten, but the Christmas season of joy begins on Christmas Day and it goes for 12 days after that. Now that’s a celebration I don’t ever want to miss!!
ANNOUNCER: And the celebration of advent should help us all prepare in that regard. Thank you Pastor Seltz. With that we come to the end of our broadcast for another week. We thank you, the listener, for making this program a part of your day. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Lo, How a Rose Is Growing” performed by the Kammerchor of Concordia University-Wisconsin. Used by permission.
“Prepare the Royal Highway” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen” by Johannes Brahms. From On Christmas Night by Jeffrey Blersch (© 2010 Jeffrey Blersch) Used by permission.
“The Advent of Our King” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House) Used by permission.