Pastor Weise’s Sermon – Lift Up Your Heads!
Malachi 4.1-6/St. Luke 21.25-36
Advent II/December 9, 2018
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd/Good Shepherd Community Chapel, Sauk Rapids, MN
Rev. Keith R. Weise, pastor/chaplain
Invocation In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
1 If you’ve ever had physical therapy
and they were helping you to walk—
you’ve likely heard the therapist say—
Lift up your head!
Look up!
Why do they always say that?
Because
when you look up
it makes you less likely to fall down.
you can see what’s coming.
you can keep standing up.
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II Much like those physical therapists
today Jesus tell us—
Look up!
Lift up your head!
Now, Jesus isn’t talking about physical therapy.
He’s not talking about
keeping your balance
seeing who’s down the hall
or
falling down on the floor.
When Jesus says, Look up!—
he’s talking about keeping your eyes
fixed in faith (!)
on things above.
he’s talking about
keeping your soul focused on
the thing of God
while you live in the midst of this sinful, fallen, dying world.
When Jesus says, Look up!—
especially during these holy days of Advent—
he’s calling on us
to look up and lift up our heads spiritually—
so that we will be truly prepared
to welcome Him when he comes. //////////
III So
what do we see when we do that?
what do we see when we lift up our heads in faith?
Well
We see
signs in the heavens—
in the sun and the moon and the stars.
we see
signs here on the earth—
distress of nations
the sea raging and at war with itself.
we see
signs of fear among people—
people fainting—
even dying—
because of the dangerous state of the affairs of this world.
IV And all these signs
in the heavens and here on earth—
all these signs
point to a great and glorious sign
which all men will one day see—
These signs point
to the End of the age.
to the destruction of this world
and the ushering in of
the New Heavens
and
the New Earth
and
the Life of the World to Come!
to the coming of the Son of Man.
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V When we lift up our heads
and look up in faith—
we can see THE END must be near.
And not just in some spiritual—oh, I feel it in my heart—kind of way.
When we lift up our heads
and look up with vision formed by faith in Christ—
we truly see—
with our own eyes—
the signs God is giving us
in his creation.
Astronomers and scientists
find new stars and planets all the time—
These are the signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars!
Nations fight one another
and countless wars are raging even as we speak—
This is the distress of nations with all perplexity
of which Jesus speaks.
Hurricanes and terrible storms
happen on the sea
This is the sea and the waves roaring
just like Jesus says.
Men and women—
even some of us—
tremble in fear
at what might happen next.
In our very midst, our hearts are failing us from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth—
ALL BECAUSE OF THE POWERS OF HEAVEN
ARE EVEN NOW BEING SHAKEN!
(St. Luke 21.25-26)
VI But Jesus doesn’t say—
Keep your head down
lay low
and try to avoid it all.
He does NOT say—
If you don’t look—you won’t see—
and nothing will happen to you.
Jesus does NOT say—
Play it safe.
Keep your head down low.
and
everything will be just fine.
VII No—Jesus says
Take heed to yourselves.
Know what’s going on—and act accordingly
Don’t get caught up in
partying
or
drunkenness
or
obsessing over the things of this world.
If you do that, Jesus says—
THE END will catch you by surprise—
and you won’t be ready!
So
Lift up your heads!
Look up.
Look up in faith.
Look up—
even when you know
that what you see may shake you down to your bones.
Look up—
because all these signs
in the heavens and on the earth
point to one great and glorious truth—
The Lord is on his way back—
and
YOUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NEAR!
(St. Luke 21.27-28, 34-36)
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VII Christ is coming!
The promised Messiah whose birth we will soon celebrate
will soon come
on the clouds
with the angels of God ascending and descending upon Him.
The Savior born in Bethlehem
will soon come
to judge
the living
the dead
and
the whole creation over which he reigns.
The true Son of God—
born of the Blessed Virgin in all humility—
will soon come
in all his glory
to send the evil into everlasting fire
and
to welcome His holy ones into the incomparable bliss of
everlasting life with God.
That’s something you don’t want to miss.
And you don’t want it to catch you by surprise.
SO LIFT UP YOUR HEAD! AND LOOK UP!
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IX You could refuse to do that.
You could bury your head in the sand
and ignore all these signs God is giving us.
You could indulge your own desires
and tend to your own affairs
and go about your own business
like nothing is happening
and
like nothing will happen.
You could go on—
acting like if you don’t see the signs
they’re not really there
and things will always go on
just like they are right now.
You could do that—
but
You’d be guilty of denying the truth of Jesus’ holy word.
If you do that
You will be guilty
of ignoring the signs
that God is placing
right in front of your face
right now.
You will put
your soul
in jeopardy of eternal damnation
and
your body
in jeopardy of everlasting fire—
because you’d be willfully engaging in sin.
X So take heed to yourself.
Put your life—and your heart—in order—TODAY!
Repent of Your Sins.
Repent of NOT looking for the coming of the Lord.
Repent of living as though Jesus is NOT ever really coming back.
Repent of acting as though God is NOT giving you signs
in his Word
and
in his Creation
that say—
Jesus is on his way!
REPENT!
And
Cherish Jesus’ Word
of forgiveness, life, and salvation for you.
of promise to come and take you out of this vale of tears
and set you up in the mansions of the Lord.
REPENT!
and take heed to
your LIFE
your SPIRIT
and
your FAITH—
by watching and praying every moment of every day—
So the great and glorious Day of the Lord
does not come upon you
when you’re not ready for it.
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XI One way to do all that
is to lift up your head.
Lift up your head—
and lift up your soul
in repentant faith
in expectant hope
and
in fervent love
for God
and
for your neighbors.
Lift up your head in faith—
so you can truly see Jesus
born in Bethlehem and laid in the manger
as we celebrate Christmas in the coming days.
Lift up your head
so you can really see Jesus
as he comes to you here and now
in his Word
in his forgiveness
and
in his Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.
Lift up your head
so you will really see Jesus
coming in all his glory
to deliver you
from sin/death/the devil/and hell
and plant you firmly in the promised land of heaven above.
Lift your head
SO YOU CAN SEE JESUS—
as he welcomes you into the New Jerusalem
and the life of the world to come.
LIFT UP YOUR HEADS!
LOOK UP!
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XII Turns out the physical therapists have it right.
What’s true during therapy
is also true in your Christian Faith.
Lift up your head—
Look up—
and you won’t fall down in your life of faith.
Lift up your head—
Look up—
and you will see Jesus when he comes
Lift up your head—
Look up—
and you will keep standing up—
even when the Savior of your body/soul appears again in glory.
Look up!
Lift up your head!
Your redemption draweth nigh.
Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. Amen.
Invocation In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hymn of Response: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel