In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

 Advent is a time to prepare not only for Jesus' coming at Christmas but also for the fact that Jesus is coming back.  The Last Day is fast approaching when Christ will return to judge both the living and the dead.  So is that good news or bad news?  Does that bring you a sense of relief and rejoicing or a sense of fear and dread?  There's really no in-between response, is there.  Either Jesus is returning to this world as Judge to punish you forever, or He's returning to this world as Savior to deliver you into everlasting life.  His coming will therefore be something that you eagerly look forward to, or something that you want to avoid as long as possible.  There's no middle ground.

 The difference between these two reactions is the difference between faith and unbelief, between those who hold on to the words of the Lord which will not pass away and those who hold on to the things that will pass away.  These two responses are depicted for us in today's Gospel.  On the one hand there are those who, when they see the signs of the end and the upheaval of creation, faint with fear and with apprehension about what is coming upon the earth.  On the other hand, there are the faithful, to whom Jesus speaks these words, "When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."  While the ungodly cower and hide their faces from the signs in the heavens, Jesus' disciples are to stand straight and lift up their heads to see the Son of Man coming to liberate them.

 Today's Gospel, then, is meant to bring comfort to believers living in the midst of a fallen and passing world.  It is meant to give you the divine perspective of how to look at and understand the events of the last days. It tells you that, when it seems like all hell is breaking loose on earth, don't lose heart; for heaven is about to break in.  When the created order of things is shaken, know that the Lord of creation is near.  When you see the signs of the end, then watch for the One to whom those signs are pointing.

 God's Word reveals to us many signs of the end, signs which are being presently being fulfilled, in our own day and age.  It speaks of wars and rumors of wars.  It says that lawlessness will abound in society, that the love of many will grow cold.  It warns that false prophets will come, passing themselves off as Christians, but teaching deception and leading many away from the true faith.  It tells us that the Church will be hated and persecuted for holding firmly to the teaching her Lord has given.  And perhaps the greatest sign of the last days according to the Scriptures is that the Gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

 But today's reading from Luke focuses primarily on disturbances in the physical order of things.  It speaks, for instance, of the unusual roaring of the sea and the waves.  Such things are not merely the result of global warming or some other supposed environmental catastrophe.  This is what the Scriptures speak of in Romans 8, namely, that all creation is groaning under the curse of the fall, like a woman in the pains of labor.  The entire visible realm has been made subject to the decay and disorder of our sin.  And so there are earthquakes and famines, disease and pestilence, hurricanes and floods and odd weather.  And Jesus says that at the very end before His return, even the heavenly bodies will be shaken.  In the time just before His coming, there will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars–not only in the normal form of eclipses and comets and meteor showers, but in abnormal phenomena which indicate that the universe itself is coming unglued.  As the last day nears, God's orderly creation will become unstable and revert toward chaos as the Creator begins to withdraw His sustaining hand.  God, who for now causes the sun to rise on both the evil and the good, and who sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous, will draw back his patience and goodness and will reveal His anger toward a perverse and fallen humanity as the final hour comes.  The tumult of the cosmos will bear witness to that fact.

 However, in the face of all of this our Lord admonishes you not to take on the posture of the world but the posture of faith.  When these things begin to happen, don't be hunched and bent over in fear and fainting, but straighten up and raise your heads, because it means that your deliverance from evil is drawing near.  You have the comfort of knowing that Christ and His redemption are close at hand, even in the midst of outward disarray.  Jesus has given you a glimpse into the future, so that you won't be shocked or overwhelmed when these things take  place.  Rather you will know that, just when circumstances seem to be at their worst and darkest, He who is the Light of Light is about to break through.  What is a cause of apprehension and uncertainty to the world is a cause of confidence and hope for believers.  For these signs tell you that the Lord for whom you wait is about to return, at the very gates.

 The ungodly, in their bent over state, can do nothing but hunch and burden themselves even further.  Therefore, Jesus warns us not to follow their ways: "Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly."  In a world of apparent randomness and instability and uncertainty about the future, the unbeliever can only say, "Hey, you only go around once in life.  Enjoy yourself; party; eat, drink, and be merry.  Who knows what will happen to us tomorrow?"  They try to escape from the world; or else they go to the opposite extreme and get all wrapped up in it.  Either way, they're unprepared for the world to come.  That final Day will come on them as a snare and a trap.

 And so our Lord exhorts you, "Watch therefore!"  Don't let your heart and mind and sight be weighed down by earthly things but look up and open your eyes to the coming heavenly King!  Be on guard!  Be alert, so that you won't be caught by that Day unexpectedly.  For Christ is coming soon.  Jesus said, "Look at the trees.  When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.  So you also, when you see these things happening (the signs of the end), know that the kingdom of God is near."  Most of us, I think, have a sense of anticipation and eagerness when spring comes and the warm weather brings things to life.  So also, in a much greater way, you are to have a sense of anticipation and eagerness when you seen the signs of the end; for our Lord is returning to bring you to life forever.  You know how to read the signs of nature to determine the coming seasons and weather.  So also, read the signs of the end, so that you may be prepared for the eternal season of the kingdom of God.

 One of the key aspects of your preparation is prayer.  Jesus says, "Pray always that you may be able to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."  Daily call upon God's name for help and deliverance.  Fervently plead with Him to give you strength to evade the snares of the end times and to endure and persevere in the faith through everything that's going to take place.  Implore Him to make you able to stand before the Son of Man when this age finally comes to a close.

 For on your own, you are unable to stand before the Son of Man.  Psalm 1 says, "Sinners [shall not stand] in the congregation of the righteous."  And Psalm 130 prays, "If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?"  You would be knocked to the ground in judgment forever.  However, the Psalm continues, "But with you, [Lord,] there is forgiveness; therefore you are revered.  I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope. . .  For with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.  He Himself will redeem (His people) from all their sins."

 The reason you may stand before the Son of Man on the Last Day is because He Himself has become your redemption, as the Gospel says, "Your redemption draws near."  Jesus Himself makes you worthy to stand tall in His presence, not by virtue of your own merits but by virtue of His cleansing forgiveness, poured out upon you in your baptism.  It's like what happened earlier in this same Gospel of Luke.  There was a woman before Jesus who for 18 years was bent over in her back and could in no way raise herself up.  But when Jesus saw her He said to her, "Woman, you are released from your infirmity."  And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.  So also, with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death, Jesus paid the ransom price to release you from the sins which stooped you over, and by His baptismal touch, He has raised you up to be the people of God.

 You are able to stand before the Lord at His second coming because of what He accomplished for you at His first coming.  Having taken on your human nature, Jesus was weighed down with the fallenness of mankind, bowed low in the humiliation of the cross.  He experienced in His own body the full judgment against sin in your place.  Therefore, your judgment day is in the past.  Jesus has already weathered that for you.  Now all that remains is the revealing of your redemption in the return Christ the King, who was raised from the dead in the flesh in order to give you a standing in heaven.

 That's why, for the believer, the end of the world is not a reason for fear, but a reason to stand straight and look up into the heavens, because the Eternal One is about to be revealed.  Today's Gospel is an admonition to the baptized to exercise faith when you are confronted with apocalyptic events.  Don't be like pagans, who have reason to fear the end.  Lift up your eyes to see Christ, who brings to you the glory of the eternal kingdom.

 So it is that we say in the communion liturgy, "Lift up your hearts.  We lift them to the Lord."  It is written, "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."  The signs in nature remind us that Jesus is already breaking into this world in His holy Supper.  The disruptions of creation alert us to His supernatural invasion into creation in the Sacrament.  This same Jesus who comes to you hiddenly with His body and blood for your forgiveness will indeed come again visibly on the clouds with power and great glory.  And as the fallen creation passes away, He will bring into being the new creation, incorruptible and glorious, that will never pass away.  Already now you are participating in that world to come by faith.  For the Scriptures say, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

 "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit