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Sermon for the Third-to-Last Sunday of the Church Year (Trinity 25)
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 + Matthew 24:15-28
The last three Sundays of the Church Year are upon us, already. Advent is right around the corner. As always, these Sundays at the end of the Church Year have us preparing for THE end, the end of this earth and of this universe, watching for Christ’s coming, for the last day, for the day of judgment. We need these reminders to prepare for the end, because you know very well how easy it is to get caught up in the day-to-day things, in what’s going on right now in your life and in the world. It’s easy to focus on the here and now and forget about what’s coming, and what to look for.
Of course, you have to look for the right things. So many Christians have been deceived into looking for the wrong things, for certain political figures to arise, from certain nations, for certain events to take place around the city of Jerusalem, for an Anti-christ to step forward suddenly and start causing big trouble for Christians. But you mustn’t get dragged into those millennialistic fantasies. Instead, watch for the things Jesus tells you plainly to watch for, and follow His instructions.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks plainly about certain future events, while also speaking prophetically and somewhat cryptically about others. But the overall message is abundantly clear: Tough times are coming for Christians. Flee from the danger, if at all possible, as quickly as possible. Don’t be deceived by all the false christs who will come. But know for certain that the true Christ will finally come, at just the right time, and when He does, everyone will see it.
Tough times are coming for Christians. That was true in a specific way for the Christians to whom Jesus was speaking in today’s Gospel. He spoke these words during Holy Week, in order to prepare His disciples, and those who would become Christians through their preaching over the next few decades. The Christian Church would grow in Jerusalem, but it would never become the majority religion there. The unbelieving Jews would mostly remain unbelieving. But God gave them time, time to hear how Jesus had fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies, time to recognize that He was the promised Messiah, time to be baptized, and to transition from the Old Testament Jewish religion into the New Testament Christian religion. For the most part, they weren’t interested in transitioning. And so their sacrifices on the altar in the temple in Jerusalem which had once been offered to the true God, the God of Israel, would eventually become idols and abominations to the true God. Because those sacrifices were supposed to point the people to Christ. But instead, they began to offer those sacrifices in defiance of Jesus the Christ, which is, to God the Father, an utter abomination.
At the same time, those unbelieving Jews kept thinking that they were God’s chosen people, and that they shouldn’t have to put up with the Roman occupation of the Holy Land, because they thought that land should be theirs. And so, eventually, in the 60’s AD, they would try to start a revolution. That revolution, in turn, would bring the full wrath of the Roman empire down on Jerusalem, and on the Jews who were living there, which included the Christians who were living there, even though the Christians weren’t the ones rebelling against Rome.
And so Jesus prepares His disciples ahead of time, so that they don’t get caught up in the destruction. “Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not come down to get anything out of his house. And let the one who is in the field not turn back to get his clothes. But woe to the women who are with child and who are nursing in those days! Keep praying that your flight does not take place in the winter or on the Sabbath! For then there will be great tribulation. Jesus foresaw the “abomination of desolation” in the holy place, which could refer to the Jewish sacrifices offered in defiance of Jesus, or to the Jewish revolt when it first began. And He tells His disciples, and the future Christians, to flee. Flee urgently. Hurry! Get out of Jerusalem, so that you’re not caught up in the horrific destruction that will come upon that city, and her temple, and her people.
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor will there ever be. The Roman occupation of Jerusalem would be horrific and devastating, leaving Jerusalem desolate, with unbelievable atrocities. But we see here in Jesus’ words an indication that He isn’t only talking about the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, because He adds, nor will there ever be such tribulation And both the rest of Scripture and human experience make it clear that, for as bad as that destruction was, it wasn’t the worst tribulation the world has ever seen.
Now, every war brings terrible tribulation with this, tough times for everyone. Every pestilence, every famine—and the world will be filled with those things, too, leading up to Christ’s return for judgment. Christians have experienced and are experiencing many tough times, at various times in history, as even now many are being targeted in parts of the world, often by followers of Islam. And we pray for them in those tough times, even as we know they pray for us. But Jesus is referring here to the tough times that His Christians would experience in the end times, because of an “abomination of desolation” that’s set up in the “holy place.”
The true holy place is the Church of God, about which Paul writes to the Ephesians, Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her…, that she should be holy. And the true believers within the Church are holy, sanctified through the waters of Baptism and through genuine faith in Christ Jesus. But not all the baptized actually believe. Some of the baptized turn into wolves in sheep’s clothing. According to Jesus’ prophecy, an abomination of desolation would eventually be set up in the holy place, in the Church, an idol that God hates, and that will cause desolation within the Church, that will cause the external Church to be largely abandoned, and that will bring about God’s judgment upon that idolatrous Church, even as He brought judgment down upon Jerusalem.
That abomination, that idol, has been associated with the papacy and its errors, with prayers and offerings made to the saints, and with the turning of Christ’s Holy Supper into a sacrifice offered for the living and the dead, causing many to identify the papacy with the very Antichrist who was to arise from within the Church, to make not open war against Christ, but secret war, under the guise of being Christ-like. I would say that the abomination, the idol within the Church, includes more than that, though. It includes every teaching, every practice, and, ultimately, everything within the Church that draws people away from Christ and His Word, so that their hearts are more attached to the idol than to Christ. Look around at external Christianity as it exists in the world today. You can’t escape the truth: such idols are everywhere.
When Christians see those things, any of them, set up within the Church, Jesus’ warning to flee urgently applies again. Those things are dangerous in and of themselves. And, those things are dangerous because they will bring God’s wrath down upon the external Church, right along with the wrath He’ll bring down upon the rest of the unbelieving world.
What does it look to flee? It doesn’t look like indifference toward the Church, or toward going to Church, or toward the ministry of the Gospel, preaching, or the Sacraments. I believe that fleeing the place where the idol is set up means, basically, doing what we have done here, “running away” from the churches and the church bodies where the idolatry has taken hold.
This is serious business, isn’t it? One doesn’t practice this kind of Christianity casually, or for earthly comfort or advantage, as if going to church or joining a church were just another thing to put on the to-do list. But is there anything about Jesus’ warning in today’s Gospel that screams, “casual” or “comfortable Christianity”? Hardly. In fact, Jesus says it will get so bad for His Christians, toward the end of days, that if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. In other words, God knows how bad things are and how bad things could still become for His Christians. He knows the point at which even believers would break. But He will make sure that the days of trouble and tribulation are cut short, before they would become too much for us to endure.
Part of the tribulation includes false christs, false prophets, and false teaching. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will perform great signs and wonders, so as to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. There have been those, from time to time, who have actually claimed to be Christ. But there are many, many others who would point you to a false Christ—not one who is walking around among us, but to the false idea of Jesus, a false version of Jesus. Some will even do miracles to prove it! This is why I warn you often about anyone, in these last days, who points to miracles or signs, whether it’s an apparition of a saint, or healing, or tongue-speaking, or any other miracle. Because, while Jesus and His apostles certainly performed miracles during the first century, we have been warned that the latter-day miracle-workers will be false prophets. We were told ahead of time! And still, many people flock to where the wonders are.
Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the desert!’ do not go out; or, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes out of the east and is visible in the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. For where the carcass lies, there the eagles will gather.” Very simply, Jesus tells His disciples not to look for Him in this world, anywhere, at any time, after His ascension. He will only come back once, when the time is right, and not in secret. Every eye will see Him, as John also writes in the book of Revelation. And like eagles can spot a carcass lying on the ground from miles away and are drawn to it, so all men will see the Lord Jesus when He returns and will be drawn to Him. The unbelieving will be drawn to Him for judgment. But those who have remained faithful, in spite of all the troubles and tribulations, those who have held to His Word, in spite of the suffering that comes with it, will be drawn to Him to begin a life free of troubles, as Paul wrote in today’s Epistle: The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Stand firm in these times of tribulation and trouble, with the help and strength that the Lord Himself will provide. And don’t be discouraged, if it looks like the Church throughout the world is in shambles. Jesus told us ahead of time that it would be. But He also promised to be with us always, to the end of the age. You have His Word. Just keeping listening to it! Amen.
