LutheranLectionary.org

1 Year Lectionary – Second Sunday in Advent – Sunday, December 5, 2021 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	holy gospel according to saint luke the
0:31	21st chapter Jesus said there will be
0:35	signs in the sun
0:36	and the moon and the stars on the earth
0:39	distress of nations in perplexity
0:42	because of the roaring of the sea and
0:44	the waves people fainting with fear and
0:46	with foreboding of what is coming on the
0:49	world for the powers of the heavens will
0:51	be shaken and then they will see the son
0:54	of man coming in a cloud with power and
0:56	great glory now when these things begin
0:59	to take place straighten up raise your
1:02	heads because your redemption is drawing
1:04	near and he told them a parable look at
1:06	the fig tree and all the trees as soon
1:09	as they come out and leaf you see for
1:11	yourselves and know that summer is
1:13	already near so also when you see these
1:16	things taking place you know that the
1:17	kingdom of god is near truly i say to
1:20	you this generation will not pass away
1:22	until all has taken place heaven and
1:24	earth will pass away but my words will
1:27	not pass away but watch yourselves lest
1:30	your hearts be weighed down with
1:31	dissipation and drunkenness and the
1:33	cares of this life and that day and that
1:36	day come upon you suddenly like a trap
1:39	for it will come upon all who dwell on
1:41	the face of the whole earth but stay
1:43	awake at all times praying that you may
1:45	have strength to escape all these things
1:48	that are going to take place and to
1:50	stand before the son of man
1:52	this is the gospel of the lord in the
1:55	name of Jesus
1:57	amen
1:58	all right so from time to time i i don’t
2:00	know if you notice this about me i i get
2:02	criticism it just it’s part of the the
2:04	gig it’s part of the job but one of the
2:06	things i find interesting is that every
2:08	now and then i get a complaint about my
2:11	sermons and here’s the complaint
2:13	your sermons aren’t practical i mean
2:15	it’s so apparently people want me to
2:17	give them like you know three easy
2:19	things that they can do to make their
2:20	lives better as if somehow that’s part
2:22	of how the sermon works now i’m not
2:24	really good at the practical stuff
2:26	clearly otherwise the criticism wouldn’t
2:28	come in so what i’m going to do today is
2:30	i’m going to intentionally be
2:32	practical because you know
2:35	you’ll note that our sermon text our
2:37	gospel text brought us back to the end
2:40	of the world again
2:41	but here’s the thing where there’s
2:43	overlap between the end of the church
2:45	year and advent the focus is different
2:49	it’s a little it’s just a smidge
2:50	different if you if you know what i mean
2:52	and so today’s sermon i think i’m going
2:54	to name it something like
2:56	how to enjoy the second advent of Christ
2:59	or how to enjoy the end of the world you
3:00	know something like that doesn’t that
3:02	sound practical because you know at the
3:04	end of the sermon you’re going to say oh
3:05	well that’s how i’m going to do it now
3:07	let me first start off by saying how you
3:09	don’t do it i think it’s important to
3:11	kind of get that off the table
3:12	here’s how you don’t do it you all right
3:15	so when i was in a legalistic church a
3:18	church that really emphasized you don’t
3:20	listen to secular music you don’t
3:23	you don’t
3:24	you don’t drink
3:25	you don’t smoke you don’t chew you don’t
3:27	do any of that stuff usually when they
3:29	would talk about the end of the world it
3:30	was always in terms of the rapture you
3:32	know well Jesus is coming back secretly
3:34	and you don’t want to be left behind and
3:36	the surefire way of being left behind is
3:39	if Jesus returns and he can smell
3:41	alcohol on your breath as if somehow
3:43	drinking alcohol in and of itself is a
3:46	sin and that would cause you to be left
3:48	behind and and then of course you know
3:50	uh any
3:51	tobacco that that’s out of the question
3:53	too you know no cigarettes no cigars no
3:56	you know and
3:57	granted those are unhealthy things but
4:00	according to them you know if you were
4:02	caught smoking while Jesus came back
4:04	secretly you’d be left behind and of
4:07	course dancing too you see any rhythmic
4:10	gyration of the human body that that
4:13	could lead to fornicabutilating so
4:14	that’s out too and if Jesus sees you
4:16	dancing when he comes back well it’s
4:19	your it’s you’re doomed so
4:21	um
4:23	hang on a second here something just
4:25	happened there we go all right so that
4:27	being the case um i’m gonna note that
4:30	that is not exactly the right way to
4:33	prepare for or to enjoy
4:36	the second advent of Christ in fact um
4:39	little
4:40	this is actually not a secret it’s kind
4:41	of a well-known fact
4:43	i’m a huge fan of british comedy now
4:46	being an american there’s only so far
4:48	that i can go with this because british
4:50	comedy is like not my natural comedic
4:53	language so uh you know it’s like a
4:55	second language you know so i i think of
4:57	my good friend kevin bullock in swansea
5:00	in the uk he can speak uh british comedy
5:03	like fluently and always and again when
5:05	we’re talking and he says something
5:07	really silly i i lose it
5:11	he’s just brilliant at it but one of my
5:13	favorite authors when i was growing up
5:15	is was douglas adams and he wrote a book
5:16	called the hitchhiker’s guide to the
5:18	galaxy and i would note that if we’re
5:20	talking about practical advice on how to
5:23	enjoy the second advent of Christ and
5:26	the end of the world
5:27	i think douglas adams gives a little bit
5:30	better advice than the people that i
5:32	used to go to church would give let me
5:34	explain in one quote from the from the
5:37	hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy in
5:38	describing this particular book which is
5:41	a book in the book uh it says this in
5:44	many of the more relaxed civilizations
5:47	on the outer eastern rim of the galaxy
5:50	the hitchhiker’s guide has already
5:52	supplanted the great encyclopedia
5:55	galactica as the standard repository of
5:58	all knowledge and wisdom and though it
6:00	has many omissions and contains much
6:03	that is apocryphal or at least
6:05	wildly inaccurate it scores over the
6:08	older more pedestrian work in two
6:10	important respects first it’s slightly
6:14	cheaper and secondly it has the words
6:17	don’t
6:18	panic inscribed in large friendly
6:22	letters
6:23	on its cover
6:24	now i would say that if you want to
6:26	enjoy and survive the second advent of
6:29	Christ
6:30	douglas adams’s words here don’t panic
6:33	written in large friendly letters i’m
6:35	not sure what friendly letters look like
6:37	but i’ll just go with it
6:40	the idea of don’t panic that’s at least
6:42	better advice
6:44	more practical if you would
6:46	than what i received when i was a kid
6:49	but that being the case that’s not
6:51	exactly what the scriptures say either
6:54	let me explain the last verse of our
6:57	epistle text is super helpful here
7:01	paul says he writes to us may the god of
7:04	hope
7:05	fill you with all joy and peace in
7:09	believing
7:10	so that by the power of the holy spirit
7:14	you may abound
7:16	in hope
7:19	good words
7:21	something to do with the power of the
7:23	holy spirit now i’ve said it before and
7:25	i’ll kind of put it out here on the
7:26	record so that everybody can see me
7:28	saying it and say yeah i remember when
7:30	he said that i i think lutherans need to
7:33	take certain words back from other
7:35	denominations so i think we need to take
7:37	back the word catholic from the
7:38	catholics because they’ve misused it we
7:40	need to take back the word orthodoxy
7:42	from the orthodox they’ve misused it we
7:44	need to take the word evangelical back
7:46	from the evangelicals they’ve misused
7:48	that word and i also think we should
7:51	take back the word baptist from the
7:53	baptist because they don’t believe that
7:54	god does anything in baptism so we
7:56	should take that word away from him and
7:58	apply it to ourselves but i also think
7:59	we should take the word pentecostal away
8:02	from pentecostals because they’re
8:03	misusing the word for all their talk of
8:06	holy spirit okay and they’ve dropped the
8:08	the for whatever reason i’m not sure why
8:10	they’ve done that but for all their talk
8:12	of holy spirit they seem to think that
8:14	the only practical thing that the holy
8:16	spirit can do is cause you to gyrate
8:18	uncontrollably on the floor
8:20	uh quack like a duck bark like a dog and
8:23	then speak in gibberish
8:25	okay i don’t know any biblical passages
8:28	that talk about the work of the holy
8:29	spirit in those terms
8:31	so i think that they’ve abused the term
8:33	pentecostal we’ve need to take it back
8:34	from them that being the case
8:36	note here
8:38	that what scripture teaches us is a very
8:41	rich and vibrant understanding of the
8:44	work of the holy spirit in our lives and
8:47	you’re going to see this ties cut
8:48	directly in to the words of Christ in
8:51	our gospel text paul says by the power
8:54	of the holy spirit you may abound in
8:58	hope and here’s where we’re going to
9:01	jump into our old testament text to kind
9:04	of lay a little bit of a basis here have
9:06	you noticed that the end of the world
9:08	that there are two very different
9:11	experiences that human beings can go
9:13	through and there is no middle ground
9:16	there’s not there’s not gonna be some
9:18	fellow going you know i kind of sort of
9:20	liked the end of the world it was you
9:21	know it was okay you know as if somehow
9:24	you can have a tepid you know kind of
9:25	mediocre middle ground approach to the
9:28	end of the world that’s not how this
9:29	works all right there is either
9:32	abject terror
9:34	or there is complete joy
9:36	and those are really your only two
9:38	options and what’s the dividing line
9:41	faith in Jesus Christ and so here’s the
9:44	thing i’m going to assume that since
9:46	you’re joining us online today you know
9:49	and you probably have better things to
9:51	do on a sunday then listen to me ramble
9:54	on that the reason you’re here is
9:56	because you actually believe in Jesus
9:59	i’m gonna go with that all right i
10:01	believe that you’re here because you
10:02	believe in Jesus and since you believe
10:04	in Jesus
10:06	you know what you you heard today that
10:08	your sins were forgiven absolutely
10:10	pardoned and absolved and in fact that’s
10:13	kind of the best thing about being a
10:15	Christian we here in uh in our old
10:18	testament text frightening words
10:20	and let me start there uh behold the day
10:23	is coming burning like an oven
10:26	when all the arrogant all the evil doers
10:28	will be stubble at the day that is
10:30	coming shall set them ablaze says the
10:33	lord of hosts so that it will leave them
10:35	neither root nor branch and oftentimes
10:38	preaching about the end of the world
10:39	only focuses on that bit okay now it’s
10:42	absolutely true that the evil doers and
10:46	the arrogant
10:47	will be set ablaze on the day of
10:49	judgment that’s most certainly true we
10:52	learn in the gospel of matthew they end
10:54	up in the lake of fire
10:56	but that being the case you’re going to
10:58	note something here all of us according
11:02	to god’s law
11:03	we fit into that category of the
11:06	arrogant and the evildoers and arrogance
11:08	here is this somehow
11:10	bizarre thing that we human beings do
11:12	like we think we know better than god
11:15	all right yeah i know i know the bible
11:17	says that god created the heavens and
11:19	the earth in six days but we know better
11:22	than that and i think mr darwin has a
11:24	better idea of how we came to be than
11:27	god does uh-huh and then you have people
11:29	sit there and go yeah i know that the
11:31	bible says that that’s a sin but you
11:34	know we really need to not worry about
11:36	god getting angry about something so
11:38	trivial so you know things like this
11:40	right that that’s utter arrogance and
11:42	and then of course then there’s real
11:43	arrogance the guy who just tells
11:45	everybody how wonderful he is you know
11:47	and all that kind of stuff
11:49	so here’s the thing when i examine god’s
11:51	law
11:52	and i look at these categories evildoers
11:54	and arrogant is like
11:56	you know there’s something really
11:57	uncomfortable about this and that is i
11:59	fit into those groups
12:01	and if you’re honest
12:03	so do you
12:04	but and see here’s the butt bit because
12:07	there’s a butt right here in verse two
12:08	too the butt bit is is that listen
12:11	Christ
12:12	knowing your arrogance and your evil
12:14	doing he has taken upon himself your sin
12:18	he was
12:20	smitten beaten afflicted
12:22	crucified died buried all
12:26	because of your sin and mine
12:28	he took the punishment that we deserve
12:31	upon himself so that we can be pardoned
12:34	so then rather than living our life in
12:37	hopelessness
12:39	all right we can instead live our lives
12:41	in hope hope and expectation of mercy
12:45	pardon reconciliation peace a new world
12:49	an inheritance in the in in the world to
12:51	come and life eternal all given as a
12:53	gift because of god’s great mercy and
12:56	his love for us
12:58	that being the case we could say that we
13:01	were part of that group known as the
13:03	evildoers and the arrogant but god in
13:05	his mercy has bled and died for all of
13:07	that so we’re part of a different group
13:10	in other words
13:12	here’s the other half of this part two
13:14	of the day of judgment begins in verse
13:16	two of our old testament text but
13:20	for you who fear my name
13:23	talking about the day of judgment the
13:25	son of righteousness shall rise with
13:28	healing in its wings you shall go out
13:30	leaping like calves from the stall you
13:33	shall tread down the wicked for they
13:35	will be ashes under the soles of your
13:37	feet on the day when i act says the lord
13:39	of hosts
13:40	and by the way i you know i equipped a
13:43	few years ago i apparently it’s a thing
13:45	that cavs skip and so one of the one of
13:48	the gals that attends our alethia
13:50	services she lives in somerset in the
13:52	united kingdom and she is
13:54	she lives on a farm and they have cows
13:58	and during the winter because you know
14:00	things are so wet and cold and miserable
14:02	there in the uk
14:03	during the winter the cows have to be
14:05	indoors they put them in a big
14:07	big facility with stalls and stuff like
14:09	that and they keep them there for half a
14:11	year but what she ended up doing was she
14:14	recorded the day that they the weather
14:16	had become nice enough and the ground
14:18	had become
14:20	not muddy anymore so that they could let
14:22	the cows out in the pasture and oh my
14:25	word she took video of it and put it on
14:27	her social media and wouldn’t you know
14:29	it cows skip they get they they looked
14:33	absolutely happy i did not know that how
14:36	cows can be happy like this and so this
14:38	this picture here is the picture of who
14:41	you
14:42	me
14:43	see when the day of judgment comes we’re
14:45	going to be skipping like calves we’re
14:47	going to be having a good old time
14:49	everybody else has been going to be
14:51	going
14:53	it’s the end of the world and we’re
14:55	going to be going yeah
14:57	it’s the end of the world okay and there
15:00	is no middle ground and that’s kind of
15:02	the point that Jesus is making in our
15:04	gospel text listen to what Jesus says
15:06	there will be signs in the sun the moon
15:10	the stars and the earth distress of
15:13	nations in perplexity because of the
15:16	roaring of the sea
15:17	and the waves people fainting with fear
15:20	and with foreboding of what is coming on
15:22	the world the powers of the heavens will
15:25	be
15:26	shaken and they will see the son of man
15:29	coming in a cloud with power and great
15:31	glory
15:32	all right that’s the first half of this
15:34	now a little bit of a note i don’t know
15:36	if you guys have noticed i keep pointing
15:38	this out as maybe maybe you have noticed
15:40	but it seems like the world’s lost its
15:42	mind right and what’s there’s there’s a
15:44	word now that you’re not you can’t say
15:46	this word by the way but i’m going to
15:47	say it
15:48	this is the word that has everybody
15:50	terrified boots are shaking because of
15:52	this word and here’s the word are you
15:54	ready
15:57	omicron
16:00	i know
16:02	oh you can’t say that word omicron
16:05	yeah
16:06	the whole world is freaking out right
16:08	now because of omicron and you know what
16:10	i you know what i can promise you
16:12	this omicron stuff this is still the
16:15	warm-up show the the main act hasn’t
16:17	started yet okay and if the world’s
16:19	going crazy losing their minds over
16:21	omicron right and of course we’re all
16:23	sitting there going are we gonna have to
16:25	do this whole thing all over again and
16:27	some politicians
16:29	and some politicians are saying oh yeah
16:31	absolutely we’re gonna have to do this
16:33	all over again
16:34	hang on one second i hear a buzzing
16:36	noise you hear that hang on
16:41	there we go i’m gonna mute that okay
16:44	so the word you’re not supposed to be
16:45	able to say is omicron and uh and well
16:50	you know i just got to tell you this
16:52	it’s going to get worse it’s going to
16:53	get worse than this this is nothing all
16:56	right so because it’s going to get worse
16:58	what are we supposed to do how are we
17:00	supposed to survive in the midst of all
17:02	of this
17:03	well Jesus says this
17:05	Jesus says this
17:07	when these things begin to take place
17:11	straighten up
17:13	raise your heads
17:15	because your redemption is drawing near
17:18	so if the whole world loses its mind
17:20	everything goes crazy the sun the moon
17:22	are darkened the earth is in complete
17:24	distress everyone’s running around
17:26	losing their minds Jesus says don’t
17:28	worry about it lift up your head
17:31	your redemption
17:32	is drawing near
17:35	now that being the case how does one
17:38	achieve
17:39	such a laissez-faire attitude regarding
17:43	so much turmoil distress death and
17:45	destruction and things like that right
17:48	well Jesus says these words
17:51	watch yourselves lest your hearts be
17:53	weighed down with dissipation and
17:55	drunkenness and the cares of this life
17:57	that that day come upon you suddenly now
18:00	dissipation is not a word we use a lot
18:03	all right so let me explain what
18:04	dissipation is are you ready
18:06	dissipation
18:07	is
18:09	uh beer pong okay it’s uh it’s it’s
18:11	drinking games that’s that’s what
18:13	dissipation is for the purpose of so i
18:15	guess it’s like quarters and beer pong
18:16	and things like this that’s what
18:18	dissipation is so we learn from Christ
18:20	that what is going to happen
18:22	is that as the world slips farther and
18:25	farther into destruction in the day of
18:28	the lord gets closer and closer
18:30	everybody freaking out l hearts melting
18:33	within them a whole lot of people are
18:35	going to basically say well let’s play
18:37	beer pong and they’re going to spend the
18:40	end of days
18:42	in a drunken stupor
18:45	but
18:46	you know Christ says
18:48	that when you see these things take
18:49	place
18:50	straighten off
18:51	raise your heads your redemption draws
18:53	near
18:54	so
18:55	here’s what Christ says to us and then
18:57	we’ll connect this back with what paul
18:59	says
19:00	stay awake stay awake
19:02	at all times praying that you may have
19:06	strength to escape these things that are
19:09	going to take place
19:10	and to stand before the son of man
19:14	praying
19:16	you see here’s here’s the thing if you
19:18	look inside yourself okay it’s true that
19:20	you are a new creation in Christ but
19:22	it’s also true you have a sinful nature
19:25	and have you guys noticed that those two
19:26	seem to be at war with each other so
19:28	that you’re constantly butting heads and
19:30	at times it feels like your sinful
19:31	nature gets the upper hand and then you
19:33	get the upper hand and then sometimes
19:35	you just wrestle that thing to a
19:36	stalemate right well
19:38	he here’s here’s the thing you don’t
19:41	have the strength
19:43	necessary to persevere in hope you don’t
19:46	have the strength within you
19:48	to be able to have such a joyous and
19:52	happy attitude towards the death and
19:55	destruction and the mayhem and all the
19:57	things that are going to befall the
19:58	earth as we approach the last days you
20:00	don’t have that strength
20:02	neither do i so what does Christ say
20:05	pray
20:06	pray
20:07	that you may have strength
20:10	and do you think Jesus is going to sit
20:11	there and go well
20:13	yeah i know that you’re praying for
20:14	strength but i’m not going to give it to
20:16	you
20:17	no it doesn’t work that way see the
20:18	reason why Jesus told us these things
20:21	is because if we listen to what he says
20:23	and we believe his words
20:25	we can sit there and go ah
20:28	oh that’s how so to be practical coming
20:32	back to what paul said what did paul say
20:34	at the end of our epistle text he says
20:37	that by the power of the holy spirit
20:41	you may abound
20:42	in hope you see when all of these signs
20:44	and the craziness really sinks in and
20:46	you know and the death of the planet in
20:49	the universe is imminent right
20:51	we continue to have hope
20:54	and strength to have that hope comes
20:56	from god the holy spirit so pray as
20:59	Jesus has said pray
21:01	pray that you give that he give you the
21:03	strength and so you’ll note then rather
21:05	than us going well it’s the end of the
21:07	world we might as well play beerpong no
21:09	we do something different listen to what
21:11	paul tells us to do in in the and the
21:13	idea of this hope even in the face of
21:16	the end of the world for what was
21:18	written in former days was written for
21:19	our instruction paul says so that
21:21	through endurance
21:23	endurance and that comes from the
21:25	strength of the holy spirit and through
21:27	the encouragement of the scriptures
21:30	we
21:30	might have
21:32	hope
21:33	and see that’s the thing
21:35	being forgiven you have hope
21:38	you’re not like the unbelieving world
21:40	who has to have that stupid slogan yolo
21:42	you only live once bellogna okay you
21:46	only live forever okay we who are in
21:48	Christ all right eternity has already
21:50	begun for us
21:52	we have already begun eternal life and
21:54	the current chapter that we’re in is
21:57	gonna come to an end with the end of
21:58	this world
22:00	or with our own demise
22:01	and we have hope of a new heavens a new
22:05	earth the wedding feast of the lamb man
22:07	i’m telling you we’re gonna be skipping
22:09	like calves i can’t wait to be skinny
22:10	enough to do that again all right it’s
22:12	going to be fantastic so may the god of
22:15	endurance and encouragement grant you to
22:18	live then in such harmony with one
22:21	another in accord with Christ Jesus that
22:24	together you may with one voice glorify
22:28	god the father of our lord Jesus Christ
22:30	therefore welcome one another as Christ
22:33	has welcomed you so what do we do as
22:35	Christians as the day draws nearer and
22:37	nearer and the destruction becomes more
22:39	eminent
22:41	we love each other
22:43	hang out together
22:45	hear the word together have the lord
22:47	supper together
22:49	we pray together we love each other we
22:52	hug each other we mourn and weep with
22:54	each other we encourage each other with
22:56	the scriptures in the face of all of
22:58	this and we rejoice together
23:02	we lift up our heads together we
23:05	straighten up together and encourage
23:08	each other saying it’s just around the
23:10	corner it’s almost here and so then paul
23:14	reminds us of the faithfulness of god i
23:17	tell you
23:19	Christ became a servant to the
23:20	circumcised in order to show god’s
23:23	truthfulness in order to confirm the
23:26	promises that he gave to the patriarchs
23:29	and in order that the gentiles might
23:30	glorify god for his mercy
23:33	in fact that’s what we all do and so you
23:35	know Christ fulfilled all of those
23:37	prophecies of scripture and that’s to
23:39	show god’s truthfulness and so because
23:41	god has shown himself to be faithful and
23:43	truthful always keeping his promises do
23:46	you think for a second that if you ask
23:48	Jesus for the strength
23:51	to persist in hope and to be encouraged
23:53	even in the face of a world gone mad as
23:56	it begins its writhing and languishing
23:59	and birth pains giving ready to the end
24:01	of the earth do you think that if you
24:02	pray for that strength and that
24:04	encouragement that power then hope that
24:06	Jesus is gonna go nope
24:08	no soup for you
24:10	no he’s not like that at all no he’s
24:12	gonna do exactly what he said he would
24:14	do so pray
24:15	pray as paul says so may the god of hope
24:18	then fill you with joy
24:21	and peace in believing
24:23	so that by the power of the holy spirit
24:26	and god’s holy spirit will give you that
24:27	power you may abound in hope even as the
24:31	world goes crazy and all of these signs
24:34	begin to take place we will continue to
24:36	have hope lift up our heads and rejoice
24:39	because our redemption is drawing near
24:42	in the name of Jesus amen

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