1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. When God doesn’t give you a life free from suffering, He calls you to look for Him in the midst of suffering. There you find Him doing His work, giving you words to speak and promises to hold onto. The message from God’s Word this 23rd Sunday after Pentecost is taken from Luke 21:5-28 and is entitled, “God in the Midst of Suffering,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Jack was at the art museum the other weekend with his friend Betty. “Isn’t that blue beautiful,” she said. What Jack wanted to say in response was, “What on earth are you talking about?” They were standing in front of Max Beckmann’s, “The Sinking of the Titanic.” The painting covered almost an entire wall. It displayed disaster, close up and personal. In the distance, one could see the ship and the iceberg, but the majority of the painting was of people, clinging to boats in icy water, struggling to survive. For some reason, the blue of the painting was beautiful to Jack’s friend Betty, and she pointed it out. She invited Jack to see beauty even though it was found in the midst of an all-encompassing disaster.
3. Our Gospel lesson from Luke 21 for today is something like what Betty was trying to show Jack at the art museum. Jesus is offering us a vision of world-encompassing disaster. As you listen, you can’t help but be overwhelmed by the violence and the terror which extends as far as your eye can see. There’s nation fighting against nation, kingdom against kingdom, earthquakes, famines, and pestilences. And then there are the signs from Heaven. Heaven and earth are heaving with destruction, like the waters of Beckmann’s painting, and the experience is overwhelming.
4. But, if you listen closely, you will hear very small moments when Jesus invites us to trust in God’s faithfulness. Like the blue in the painting, these moments catch us off-guard and give us a glimpse of hope. Even though we are subject to forces of judgment we can’t control, the One who rules over all things holds us securely in His hand.
5. Jesus is with His disciples in Jerusalem. Tensions have escalated. Jesus has been confronted by the religious leaders, questioned, tested, and plotted against. Now, as the disciples are leaving the Temple, they pause for a moment to reflect on its beauty. Yes, the Temple was beautiful. Massive stones, historical significance, and religious tradition all suggested this beautiful place would endure for ages. Which is why Jesus is so strong in His words and sharp in his vision. Judgment was coming, the likes of which God’s people hadn’t seen and for which they were not prepared. Even though we are subject to forces of judgment we can’t control, the One who rules over all things holds us securely in His hand.
6. While the disciples are admiring the Temple here in Luke 21, Jesus predicts its destruction. The destruction comes in waves. First, one has the false Messiahs (Luke 21:8), then the governmental persecution (Luke 21:12), then the betrayal by family and martyrdom (Luke 21:16), then the fall of Jerusalem (Luke 21: 20-24), and then the coming of the Son of Man (Luke 21:25-27).
7. But, no matter how bad it gets, a world still in rebellion against God can’t thwart his plans. Long ago, the story seemed to be moving toward a very bad end. But the world’s victory over Jesus was shattered! Here in Luke 21, Jesus, Israel’s true king, had come to the capital city. All the forces were arrayed against him—chief priests, Sadducees, Pharisees, and Roman authorities. It seemed as if they had won! Jesus was arrested, condemned, and executed. Dead usually stays dead. But Jesus lives! He lives forever! And his promises and his words live forever because he does!
8. Your sins—and mine—have the power to take your life toward a very bad end. But your sin’s victory over you has been shattered! You and I are part of the problem of this old, dying, rebellious world. When I’m greedy, I’m pretending that I’m Lord over “my” things. I’m pretending to be God. When I hold back from loving or forgiving, or when I judge another in anger, I’m trying to cast Jesus down from his rightful throne. That sin would bring you and me down to death—eternal death and separation from God’s life and love. But Jesus went down into death for your sin, and Jesus came back out of death and shattered your sin. You don’t have to fear. You belong to him now. You are free.
9. The world is careening out of control (Luke 21:5–12, 16–17, 20–26). Whether it’s politics and governments, or catastrophes and disasters, terrorism or stock-market corruption, there’s a lot that could frighten us. But in the middle of all of it, God provides his Word. Jesus’ words give us hope and strength and perspective (Luke 21:13–15, 18–19). His present word: I have rescued you! You are mine! His future word: I will rescue you! You are mine! God’s Word assures us that he is moving the world toward the goal of his Day. Luke 21:27 says, “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
10. As the waves of destruction roll over the disciples, Jesus offers small glimpses of promise. What I find interesting here is that Jesus doesn’t offer a long description of judgment and then turn toward a word of promise. Instead, Jesus interrupts the word of promise in the midst of moments when people are still reeling from pain.
11. Such is the life of faith. We don’t immediately move from a world of destruction to a land of promise. No. Instead, we are tested and tried with suffering, so we grow wiser and stronger in faith. We trust in God’s Word and work, even though it comes to us in the midst of trial and tribulation.
12. Jesus is speaking mere days before His death. The suffering Jesus will experience is for your eternal salvation. He will fight against death and die in the battle precisely so He can rise from the dead and reveal that he has overcome death for you. There is nothing in this life, which can tear you out of His strong, protective hand.
13. For this reason, Jesus offers His disciples glimpses of remarkable protection even in the midst of this vision of destruction. When Jesus speaks of their persecution, He promises to fill their mouths with wisdom so they might bear testimony to God’s powerful grace (Luke 21:14-15). When Jesus speaks of their betrayal and martyrdom, He promises “not a hair of your head will perish” but “by your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:18-19). When Jesus depicts the heavens torn open and the Temple torn down, He encourages the disciples to “straighten up and raise your head, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
14. No matter how terrible the force of destruction, God’s work is never defeated. When God doesn’t give you a life free from suffering, He calls you to look for Him in the midst of suffering. There you find Him doing His work, giving you words to speak and promises to hold onto.
15. In our daily lives, we are immersed in a difficult news cycle. Wars and rumors of wars, fires and drought, mass shootings and riots, and it sounds like the end is coming. What Jesus does in this Gospel reading is turn our attention to what we know for certain. This may not be the end. The end may yet be far off. But what we know for certain is the One who holds us in His hand is near. Every time you read or hear about a war or a disaster, let it remind you that this tired, troubled world is moving toward the goal, the plan, that God has for it when Christ returns in glory. The coming Day is Jesus Christ’s Day! He is in charge, and he will set things right.
16. Looking trouble in the eye, we need not fear—because of our Lord, Jesus Christ! In Luke 21:18, “[Jesus says], But not a hair of your head will perish.” Jesus said, “Stand, and lift up your head.” What a gracious word! We deserve the opposite: “Fall on your face, and bow your head in shame!” But he makes us stand, forgiven and accepted and loved. Jesus lifts up our head to face the future, and even the last great Day, with confidence. Remember and believe: God is getting ready to redeem his Christian people!
17. Jesus brings us a glimpse of our salvation. What promise of God have you been holding on to lately? Was there a time of suffering in your life God brought you through? Rather than talk about the end of the world, share with one another the promises and power of God which preserve us in time of trial. Though these are only small glimpses of His rule, they invite us to raise our heads in hope. As Jesus says in Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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