Twenty Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (C) 2013

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: Luke 21:10-18
Theme: The End: Destruction but Deliverance

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

The Holy Spirit has a theatre of war. It’s not in some obscure mystical dimension. It’s not remote from the interface of our daily lives. He engages the struggle in your heart, in your will, in your soul. His weapon is the Word of God. His foe is Satanic. His goal is to cheat death. His authority was conferred through the conquest of a cross and open tomb. He vests water, word, bread and wine with the power to forgive. He seeks glory only for the One who redeems. His campaign must continue until the One who was slain returns in majesty.

So here we are in our little sector of the spiritual battlefield. Here we are in our unassuming corner of the world. But did you know this is ground zero? Or did you think you were residing in a ceasefire zone? Did you think that struggle became obsolete when you were baptized? When you were confirmed? Have you misunderstood the peace you have because of Christ’s sacrificial death for your sins to mean that Satan now has other things to do?

The Scripture says, “The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other.”1 Each Lord’s Day you return to the power and promise of your baptism in repentance not because evil desires and deeds have ceased in your life but precisely because temptation still rages. You kneel at the altar to receive the true body and blood of Christ not as a casual gesture to remind yourself the struggle has ended, but precisely because you need strength, peace, and pardon to go back into the fray.

Christ describes the fray today in apocalyptic terms. “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, and fearful events.”2 We might say the events of the end times are not for the faint of heart. I’m not sure where that leaves me! We need not discuss very long about how Jesus’ words have proven true again and again. The world will remain in turmoil. Don’t waste anytime speculating when the exact end will come or try to measure its signs. The end times began with Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Each day is one closer.

And each day brings the possibility that the followers of Christ will be put to the test. Persecution similar to that in the early Church exists in parts of the world today. Even where it is not overt subtle pressure is brought to bear. The warnings and promises of Christ are always relevant. Jesus says to His disciples, “They will lay hands on you and persecute you…You will be betrayed…and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of Me.”3 But then in the same breath, “But not a hair of your head will perish.”4 How can both be true?

Christianity involves grappling with this apparent contradiction. Satan wants you to think God’s protection of you is a hollow and deceptive promise. Our sinful nature too powerfully testifies to us that this physical, earthly life is all that matters. We cling to it with tenacity. If God isn’t overseeing your material prosperity then how can you trust God loves you? Doubt niggles us. Certainly it’s not worth risking life and limb to defend His truth- we wonder. Satan need not shout this at you; he need only whisper it in your ear.

Without being irreverent we must learn to defend against the masked impression that Christ- though well-meaning and compassionate- was the greatest fraud to ever live. Really it can be put in be no other way. If Jesus is not the very Son of God then is He not the greatest of all deceivers? The logic is parallel to St. Paul’s reasoning about the resurrection. “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead.”5If He is not the author of life and defeater of death then must He not be deceptive or delusional?

This is one of the great battlegrounds for the skeptic. It is accordingly the Holy Spirit’s theater of war. For the person who reflects as they stand aloof the question is “How can a supposedly gracious God let bad things happen to people?” In this case- other people. How could God let people die in the typhoon in the Philippines or in any so-called natural disaster? In short, how can death, destruction, and tragedy be reconciled with the claim that God is love? But for the person who suffers the pain of hardship themselves the question often becomes, “How could God let this happen- to me?”

Now the rubber really meets the road. So how do we witness? Here we quickly meet the limits of human competence. You can never reason a person who has been struck with tragedy- whether death, pain, or betrayal- into believing that God is nevertheless attentive and well-meaning. The Spirit must speak. It must speak nail-pierced, blood-drenched words. It must pierce the deepest darkness with a ray of divine light. That doesn’t make your witness unimportant. Your witness is to show others love, compassion, and sympathy; to show patience and be hospitable. But these are shown always as an expression of holding uncompromisingly to the truth.

Remember unchanging truth must be passed to each generation. We do well to consider this as we reflect on Christ’s imminent return. Such passing on is the Bible’s definition of tradition. The gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for sins and for sinners is taught to new souls as “the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints”6 is lived and confessed by those who have gone before.

We’re not talking about just keeping the next generation from “going off the rails.” We’re speaking of forming mature believers who cherish how their life fits into the divine agenda in its totality rather than those who seek to fit a little bit of the divine into their own agenda with minimal loyalty. Is it a matter of prosperity or priority? Do we lack the resources or the resolve? Honest reflection quickly reveals the answer.

Dear friends, Christianity is not a game of chance. We are not playing the odds. It’s not a matter of hedging our bets reasoning “In case the Bible does prove to be true,” it’s safer to be on God’s side. The Almighty quickly sees through any so-called faith born out of carnal fear and self-preservation. Christ is the curator of souls. Only He holds the future. His promises are too good to be true- in human terms. But we cannot fathom what it means that death has been undone. The Scriptures take great pains to convey these truths like Isaiah says today, “They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them.”7

Each Lord’s Day- like St. John8- you are in the Spirit because the Spirit is in Christ’s Bride, the Church. This is His theatre of war, here and now. But rejoice and do not fear “because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”9 Amen.


+ In nomine Jesu +

Twenty Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
17 November 2013
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Galatians 5:17
2 Luke 21:10-11
3 Luke 21:12, 16-17
4 Luke 21:18
5 1 Corinthians 15:14-15
6 Jude 3
7 1 Corinthians 15:14-15
8 See Revelation 1:10
7 1 John 4:4