Take Our Lord’s Judgment Day Refresher Course!

2nd Sunday of End Time, Last Judgment, 11/8/20, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Take Our Lord’s Judgment Day Refresher Course! I. Be ready. II. Be different. III. Be confident. It’s just a fact of life that we forget so much of what we learned 20, 40, or 60 years ago. I used to be able to play hymns on the piano and translate Latin and German with ease. Not so any more. If I were going to undertake any of those efforts in the near future, I would need to spend considerable time taking refresher courses, most likely under the tutelage of capable teachers. For that reason, in the professional fields, continuing education courses are often mandatory to continue practicing your profession. You need to remain proficient in your field of expertise, because, over time, you forget so much of what you once learned. Every one of you, in one form or another, received instruction in basic Bible doctrines in order to become members of our congregation. For some of you that was fairly recent. For most of you, that was decades ago. And I’m confident that, in those instruction classes, you were informed of the Bible’s teaching of Jesus’ return on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead. We confess that very truth each Sunday as we recite either the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. The return of Jesus is not some dusty biblical doctrine that rarely sees the light of day. We’re reminded of it at least weekly. But how much of what the Bible teaches about that day do you recall? If the return of Jesus is certain, how should you approach that day? What should you do? How should you feel? What adjustments should you make in life? Those are questions which St. Paul likely answered for the Thessalonians when he shared the truths of the Bible with them for the first time. But important lessons need to be taught repeatedly. The Thessalonians, like us, tended to forget what they had learned. And so, Paul offered them a refresher course on Judgment Day here in this morning’s sermon text. And he offers it to us as well. Since that day will be the next and last greatest day in all of history, it’s important for us to know what to expect and how to live our lives in light of that day. So, grab this opportunity to learn! Take our Lord’s Judgment Day refresher course! And may our Lord remind us of all that we need to know and believe! Part I. The installation of smart home security systems is on the rise. Are you familiar with them? Ring and Simplisafe are two of the more common brands. According to one industry web site, the sales of such smart security systems are expected rise 20% year over year for the near future. Those are some huge numbers. But I’m guessing you’re not surprised. They offer homeowners visual awareness of who is arriving at their homes, and that’s important because you never know when a thief might target your home. Paul makes that very point in this first part of his refresher course on Judgment Day. He states, “Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.” None of that encouragement would have been necessary for Paul to state if Jesus hadn’t promised one thing: to return on the Last Day. But that was his solid promise. Repeatedly in the gospels he told his followers that he would return. As he ascended into heaven, the angels told his disciples that he would come back. But he intentionally left out one bit of information—the day and time. Who does that? Who would promise to return but give no indication of the day or time? Your loving God, that’s who. Imagine the complacency and the utter disregard for personal spiritual lives that would result if we even knew that we had 10 more years before Jesus would return. How many Christians would rationalize, “I guess I can put my faith in Jesus on the back burner for a while”? Instead, Jesus simply tells us to be ready. He wants us to live our lives each day as if this is going to be the day that we’ll see our Lord returning to this earth just as he left it more than 2,000 years ago. But how can you do that? You can’t spend the rest of your days sitting out on a hill, watching for Jesus to return. We have things to do, things that Jesus wants us to be doing until he returns. Precisely, and one of them is living in readiness for his return. How do you do that? By living in your faith in him as your Savior. By making sure spiritual things are your highest priority. By making sure your faith in Jesus is being fed through his word and sacrament. That’s being ready. And that’s lesson one. Take our Lord’s Judgment Day refresher course! Be ready! Is that something you think about every day? Every so often? Barely at all? It’s easy to think that other things are more important than getting ready for Jesus’ return. The daily news is filled with issues for us to ponder and squander our time on. Not only that, but we have goals in life we want to accomplish. We have hopes and dreams to fulfill. But not one of them will matter if Jesus returns before tomorrow arrives. Are you ready? You are when your daily spiritual preparation includes recalling how unworthy you are of anything good from your God because of your sinfulness. You’re ready when you ponder your God’s tremendous love in sending his Son to sacrifice himself for your sins. You’re ready when you live each day in the confidence that his resurrection gives you—you belong to him by faith. And he will return for you. Be ready! Part II. When dealing with a badly misbehaving child, a common parental comment is, “I didn’t raise you to talk and act like that.” In that particular situation, the child did not live up to his or her upbringing. Unfortunately, that can also happen spiritually, to young and old Christians alike. We are too easily influenced by the ways of the world around us and we fail to live as the person our God has made us to be. In view of the Lord’s return on Judgment Day, Paul encourages us to live differently from the world. “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.” First, Paul reminds you that you are a child of the light. The Holy Spirit enlightened you with the truth about Jesus as your Savior from sin. Furthermore, he led you to see how the Lord wants you to live your life as his child—not in the darkness of sin, but in the light of God’s truth. He wants you to live each day pondering how you will glorify him with what you say and do, and his love for you in Jesus gives you the power to do it. To help you do just that, he closes this lesson of his Judgment Day refresher course with these words, “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” Faith is your confidence in all of God’s promises to you. Love is your faith in action, living in thanks to God for all he has done for you. And hope is what sustains our faith and love. It’s the certain hope of eternal life with God in heaven. That’s how Jesus wants us to live. I know that’s different from the way most people in this world live, but they aren’t looking for Jesus to return. You are, so be different! Back to that misbehaving child. There are two motivations for obeying his parent. One is because the parent is watching. The other is because the child loves his parent who loves him deeply. Same thing for our behavior as we wait for our Lord to return. Jesus tells us to live as children of the light. Be different from the world! Not because he’s watching you, but because you love him for what he’s done for you. He died to spare you from death in hell. He rose again to assure you of life with him. He did all that for you. And now he has promised to return for you on the Judgment Day. So, be different by living for him! Part III. Let’s be honest. All this talk about Jesus’ return on Judgment Day doesn’t fill us with warm fuzzies. Why not? Because he’s holy and we’re sinful, and knowing our sins makes us terrified of the judgment. But that’s not the lesson Jesus wants us to learn. Here’s the final truth he wants us to learn in his refresher course, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” God did not make us his own by faith in him in order to damn us, but to save us. In fact, he chose us for salvation before the creation of the world. He accomplished our salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. If he did all that already for us, won’t he make certain to bring his plan for us to fulfillment by bringing us into eternal life with him? We have nothing to fear regarding Judgment Day. Jesus has told us that he will tell the whole world of people that we are his children by faith in him and then usher us into eternal life. That’s it. Nothing to fear. Everything to enjoy! Take our Lord’s Judgment Day refresher course! Be confident! The church just east of here is named “Fearless.” I’m sure there’s a reason for that, but I don’t know what it is. But I do know this: you can be fearless regarding Judgment Day. You can be full of hope and joy through Jesus. He accomplished everything to make you his own forever. On the Last Day, he will appear to do just that before every person. Keep that truth in your mind and heart as you live each day until then. Be ready! Be different! Be confident! In Jesus you are! Amen.