Sermon Audio: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our meditation is based on the signs of Christ’s return. You will see how the sinner can so easily get caught up in the heat of the game, but that faith in Christ settles the heart to watch all things unfold for your eternal good. Again, the Savior saith:

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

Lord Jesus, bless Thy Word that we may trust in Thee. Amen.

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶ Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. ²⁷ And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. ²⁹ And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; ³⁰ When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. ³¹ So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. ³² Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. ³³ Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. ³⁴ And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. ³⁵ For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

When it comes to sports, I’ve found it can be nearly as exciting to watch the crowds in the stands as to watch the game itself.

As the action on the floor gets intense, you can see the spectators twitch and react, mimicking the reflexes they would carry out if they were in the game. They wince and recoil when a player goes down, as if feeling the blow themselves. Others are not so restrained, shouting out loud as if they’re the coach and heckling the refs, making their opinions on blatant bad calls audibly known. I’ve even witnessed such heckling and shouting at the television from the comfort of an armchair.

Now, I don’t get so worked up because I’m not a big sports fan myself. I never really played as a youth. I figure I’m just there to watch, take it all in, and simply wait for the end. Meanwhile, the hovering parent or former athlete—now they’re the ones you can hardly restrain from jumping into the game themselves.

The Lord Jesus says this world is far more intense than any sporting event: “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars… famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” And He warns how easy it is to get drawn in: “Take heed… lest at any time your hearts be overcharged… so that day come upon you unawares.”

When you see—and take careful note of that word rumour—when you but hear of these upheavals in a fallen creation, how tempting it is to get caught up in the fight! In the heat of the game, it is easy to get caught up and neglect what God has to say about all this: “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.”

Especially today, when social media amplifies and polarizes these rumors—of wars, shortages, pestilences, and viruses—the sinner proves more than eager to argue, criticize, and jump right in. Will any of this armchair coaching and refereeing solve a thing? The Lord rebukes such entanglements as the way of those who have no hope: “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”

God’s Law also reveals just how susceptible our hearts are to failing, fainting, and straying into a frenzy of mind. Think of the times your heart has been overwhelmed with what you could have achieved, if only you hadn’t made that one poor choice—or two. How easily our hearts are overcharged with fouls committed against us that have changed the game in irreversible ways. How easily our hearts are filled with resentments against bad calls or disappointments over those who have let us down: “I know they can play better than this!”

As you watch all this play out on the world stage, how quick we can be to jump in from the sidelines, each of us claiming the supposedly definitive answer based on rumor alone. Think of how much this happened during COVID. Some jumped in and said, “A mask will help.” Others said, “The second time you get it is worse than the first.” Still others said, “I’m not doing any of it, and you can’t make me.” And all this heckling, with ever fewer places to go, is increasingly shouted from our armchairs.

“They say. Some say. I say.” These are all irrational hysterics in perspective of the fact that there’s only ever and always what God says. What is so easily overlooked in the list of these last days’ tribulations—of which rumors of pestilences are indeed one!—is how smack dab in the middle of “signs in the sun… moon, and… stars… the sea and the waves roaring…” is the most dreadful sign Jesus calls out. What is this dreadful sign? The hysteria of our own making: “upon the earth distress of nations… men’s hearts failing them for [mere] fear.”

This is a game whose heat can only intensify. Each generation thinks it couldn’t possibly get worse, yet when it does, the next thinks the same. But in reality, none of it compares to the heat at the final buzzer. What was it Jesus said? “Kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment.” Then the unbeliever will see how, through it all, God has been the One holding back. Then it can no longer be denied that the real intensity and danger haven’t been the things of this world at all, but the divide between you and your God on account of sin.

God knew how it would play out for you without His intervention. He simply could not sit back and do nothing Himself. So He stopped the clock and sent His Son into the game, sure and certain that this one player—and only He—could secure us a win.

Yes, there were times Jesus stepped up to stop our fighting and bickering. He drew lines in the sand. He put rumors to rest. But mostly, Jesus just watched and took it all in. He was mostly a silent observer to our losses and sorrows. On at least one occasion, He wept. He was holding back until the right moment, when He intervened as the Mediator between you and your God. He intervened in the contest between His holiness and our iniquity, not merely offering wise words from the bench, but by offering Himself for us all.

The rest of His team that night certainly was not at the top of their game. But they never were. And though in the heat of His Passion Jesus could have called upon twelve legions of angels for assistance, it was a challenge He needed to take on alone. As the crowd advanced, “yet He opened not His mouth,” but lifted up His head and continued His drive to the cross.

He faced bad calls of false accusations. He faced fouls that left His body bruised and marred. He faced jeers suggesting He didn’t have to lose like this if He really wanted to win. But this is what He wanted. It wasn’t about Him winning. It was about you, so that in His heart failing Him, you might find an end to sin.

Jesus rose above the hysteria of man by rising from the dead. This victory is the sure sign of your victory—the power to bring you to your feet, to stand with Him for eternity, to stand among the crowd of the righteous in His sight even today.

O happy hearts and happy homes,
To whom this King in triumph comes!

Jesus says the arguments and rumors of wars, famines, shortages, and viruses will continue to swirl. The hovering parent and former athlete within us all will always want to jump in, argue, and fight. But with the only real conflict resolved in full through the forgiveness of sins, all these other things, these tribulations, are but the devil’s screen.

Thus, His Word rebukes our intensity and calms the heart, that by faith in Him you might go from heckler to spectator. His Word rebukes our intensity and calms the heart, that by faith in Him you might be a passive observer of His gracious power working behind and beneath it all: “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.”

The King of kings is drawing near,
The Savior of the world is here.

We are to be passive observers, watching and waiting in eager expectation of the triumph soon to be revealed: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

Lift up your heads. Rise above the challenge with a mind set on heavenly things. Look past the moment to the heavenly reward secured and yours in Him: “See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” For contrary to our best instincts, the answer is not jumping in yourself, but Christ’s return on the final day.

Dear friends, you’re just here to watch, take it all in, and simply wait for that end in confidence that whatever you see unfold—even when the heavens depart “as a scroll when it is rolled”—all will soon be restored in God’s perfect time to His good order and design.

Thy Holy Spirit guide us on,
Until our glorious goal is won.

Jesus continues to stop the clock and enter hearts and homes today by sending you His Spirit to be your Comforter, Advocate, and Coach. Jesus continues calling you out, off the field, and gathering you into the huddle of the Christian congregation, so that, strengthened in faith by Word and Sacrament, He might send you right back out there with one goal in mind.

So, when you find yourself caught up in the heat of the game, take a deep breath, and instead of failing in fear, repent and believe. Know it is near. For He who is as ever close as this Gospel Word is about to appear, right around the corner. And with Him, the fulfillment of everything He promises.

—Pastor Timothy T. Daub

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Hecla, SD

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Ministry by Mail is a weekly publication of the Church of the Lutheran Confession. Subscription and staff information may be found online at www.clclutheran.org/ministrybymail.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version.