Oddly enough, the request for signs comes amidst the signs that Jesus did which incurred the wrath of His enemies – especially among the Pharisees, Scribes, and temple authorities. It is no different today. We ask for evidence or signs of God’s Kingdom and the end right after the sounds of worship fade away. Jesus warns us that what we are looking for we will not find. The end will come suddenly, like a thief in the night but obvious and not hidden. What good is that?
In contrast, Jesus says the kingdom of God is not coming with observable signs. No one will point “There it is!” The kingdom of God is in your midst. But where? If you could see the kingdom of God, then why on earth would you need to have faith? It is precisely because the signs are not obvious that you need to have faith – faith in the word of the Lord – not in what you see or hear but in what the Lord says!
We are awaking a week or so after an election in which both losers and winners are united in saying that if their candidate did not win the world would come to an end. No matter how much you esteem Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, neither of them is capable of bringing the world to an end. The Christian does not put faith in political leaders to solve theological problems. We live or die not by who is elected or who is not but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
Sin has created a life of trouble for the child in the womb, the baby newly born, the child stretching his legs, the youth in rebellion, and the adult looking more to the world in time of fear and for signs of comfort than to the Lord. We eat and drink and work and marry and busy ourselves with all sorts of things that seem so very important. We would not see the kingdom of God or the signs of the times if we ran into them. No, the kingdom of God is not somewhere out there but right here, right here where the Word of God is read and preached, where baptismal water gives new life, where absolution restores the fallen, and where the flesh and blood of Jesus feeds us everlasting life. We do not need signs or people pointing to what is not there. We need faith to rejoice in what God has made present in our midst – the voice of His mercy, calling us to faith, washing us clean, and keeping us with forgiveness and the food of heaven.
Everyone saw Noah building the ark and they did not see God or His kingdom. They laughed at the hideous joke of a barge to carry animals and man while God sent a flood of destruction as punishment for sin. It is no different today.
People are always saying “Where was God when the hurricane happened or the floods destroyed or children gunned down?” You know where He was and where He is and still you are tempted to join the chorus of complaint against the God who is never where you want Him to be. Well, the joke is on us.
Religion has become an Olympic sport of championship naval gazing. We look at ourselves and ask where God is. We look at our problems and ask where God is. We look at our unfilfilled desires and ask where God is. We look at disappoinment and disillusionment and complain that God is never where you want Him to be. But Jesus has it exactly right. The kingdom of God is right here and right now. Here in the efficacious Word that speaks and sins are forgiven. Here in the baptismal water that has become the womb of our second birth to everlasting life. Here in the drama of sinners forgiven and restored by the mercy of God. Here in bread and wine that tastes of Christ’s flesh and blood.
To the world and to our sinful selves, church is the most irrelevant thing of all. Nothing changes. You can go to church a month of Sundays and you will not win the lottery or get a promotion or have the perfect spouse or find better children. When you walk out the doors today, everything will be the same – all that is good and all that is bad. But these things come and go and God’s kingdom remains forever. Luther got that right. Though everything be taken from us, we keep the only thing that matters. Though the devils fill the world, we are not of the world but merely in it for a while. The kingdom ours remaineth. And here it is.
Here it is in the laughably innocuous words that come out of this tired old man closer to death than to the beginning of his life. Sermons matter. We preach not words but the kingdom of God. Here it is in the pitifully insignificant drops of water splashed over the heads of people with a promise “you are Mine.” Here it is in the weakness of forgiveness that seeks not revenge but making reconciliation. Here it is in the pathetic excuse for a meal of bread that is barely bread and yet is His body and of wine that is merely wine and yet it is also His blood.
Trump and Harris cannot bring the world to its knees but the God with love enough to suffer and die even for sinners, that can! You want to know where the signs of the kingdom are or where to look to see God? Right here. Right now. But no one and none of us will see it except by faith. Stop staring into the heavens or looking for political answers to theological questions. The kingdom is in here!
No comments:
Post a Comment