First Reading: Acts 1:12-26
12Then {the apostles whom Jesus had chosen} returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. 15In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18(Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20“For it is written in the Book of Psalms, ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and ‘Let another take his office.’” 21So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us — one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Psalm 133
1Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when brethren live together in unity! 2It is like fine oil upon the head that runs down upon the beard, 3Upon the beard of Aaron, and runs down upon the collar of his robe. 4It is like the dew of Hermon that falls upon the hills of Zion. 5For there the Lord has ordained the blessing: life forevermore.
Second Reading: Revelation 22:1-20
1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. 6And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” 7“And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” 8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” 10And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” 12“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” 14Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” 17The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. 18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. 20He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Gospel: John 17:20-26
20{Jesus said,} “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Behold Jesus is Coming
A fire and brimstone preacher in a small southern church announced his text for the day. In a booming voice he said, “Behold, I am coming soon.” Unsatisfied with the reaction of the congregation the preacher said it even more forcefully a second time. “Behold, I am coming soon.” Still not content with the response, the preacher took a couple of steps back and charging the pulpit said “Behold, I am coming soon.” This time he managed to shove the pulpit off the platform and trying to hang on for dear life, the preacher landed in the lap of a lady in the first pew. Embarrassed and confused, the preacher got up, brushed himself off and apologized to the lady profusely. “That’s quite all right Reverend,” replied the woman. “You warned me three times that you were coming; I should have had the presence of mind to move.”
Imagine opening an alert on your computer and reading in giant letters, “Jesus Christ Will Return Within the Next Two Weeks.” What would be your reaction? Astonishment, disbelief? Now for those who study their Bible, you know that Jesus told the disciples, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36). But suppose for a moment someone did have foreknowledge. Suppose that the Father did allow this information to leak out? How would we respond to such astonishing information? I think there would be two basic reactions; action and inaction.
Some would, out of fear, change their lives immediately. In light of this end-of-time revelation, many would examine their lives and become concerned because they realize they’re not ready, that they weren’t prepared. They would start going to church more often, probably every day. Prayer would become a much higher priority in life. They would pray not only in the morning and evening, but many times each day. They would quickly seek reconciliation with a member of their family, a neighbor, a co-worker, and certainly with God. In other words, they would start doing what a Christian should be doing all along, forgive, and seek forgiveness. Others might have the opposite response.
Some might not do anything differently. These poor souls, either out of disbelief or a defeatist attitude might say, “There’s nothing I can do at this late hour. There is no God, or if there is, He has already decided my fate. I might as well continue living the way I’ve been living all along.” Then there are still others who might not change a thing they’re doing, but not in a defeatist mode. Some of us hopefully would say, “Isn’t this the event for which all Christendom has been waiting? Isn’t this the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise in verse 12 of our Second Reading, “Behold I am coming soon.”
Isn’t this the reason we live a godly life, follow God’s commands and statutes, and share our faith with others? Isn’t part of being a faithful disciple a matter of always being prepared to receive the Bridegroom, no matter the day or hour of Jesus’ return? The life of a Christian is one big process preparation. And the same is true with life in general.
When we’re young, each year seems to be preparation for the next. When we’re in elementary school, we prepare for junior high, and in junior high, we work hard to ready ourselves for high school. The preparation process continues into college and to our first job, but it doesn’t end there. One job leads to a second or to the promotion we’ve earned. One might naturally say, “Will we ever be fully ready?” The result is just as important — what is it for which we are preparing?”
The simple but profound answer is that we are preparing, day in and day out, for the return of Jesus. Thus, we must ask, are we ready for Jesus’ return, or is there more that we need to do? Most people, I think, would answer that they don’t feel ready, even though this is the event for which our whole life should be oriented. We were created by God to serve Him and others as best we can in our day-to-day lives and then return to the One from whom we came. All of us are on borrowed time; we do not know, as Jesus says, the day nor the hour (Matthew 25:13).
But we cannot, nor should we, live in fear of Jesus’ surprise return because Jesus also promised to be present with us, and lead us to, eternal life with all those who faithfully follow Him as His disciples. These are the promises that comfort us when the hurdles, problems, and ups and downs, of life complicate our daily routines. Thus, the Bible’s many promises of Jesus’ surprise return is nothing to fear for those who believe and orient their lives toward a life of discipleship. Today’s reading from the book of Revelation makes this abundantly clear.
John, the seer of the events recounted in Revelation, says Jesus will return and bring His reward with Him. God’s master plan has always been centered on humanity, His greatest creation, and finds its apex in the great reward of life eternal. From the very beginning, God provided not only what was necessary, but everything men and women needed. Unfortunately, humanity’s response to God hasn’t always been one of gratitude and thanksgiving. It began with Adam and Eve’s desire to be like God and it cost them paradise and sin entered into the world.
Centuries later, the Hebrew people repeatedly failed to uphold God’s laws and commands, they refused to listen to God’s call through the prophets to return, which led to the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel seven centuries before Christ and the seventy-year Babylonian exile for Judah in the sixth century B.C. Yet, despite humanity’s less than gracious response to God, the Lord never abandoned His people. On the contrary, the whole of salvation history relates how time and time again, despite humanity’s response, God always provided the path that would bring people the reward for which they were always destined, namely, the path to life with God.
The form was different — the law, secular rulers, prophets, even events — but the message has always been consistent, God will never abandon His people. God will provide the way and the reward. Thus, John speaks of Jesus’ coming at the end of time with the reward of eternal life. And this message is beyond our human comprehension. St. Paul describes it this way: “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). This great gift will be given to those who have washed their robes clean in the blood of the Lamb.
Those who have been faithful, those who have suffered and persevered, those who have successfully negotiated the hurdles of life and have not given up, these are the ones who will be given access to God’s holy city and the tree of life. The Christian life on this earth isn’t easy; God never promised it would be. But, if we live faithful and godly lives, trusting that God will provide, strengthen, and sustain, we will be able to endure to eternal life. However, we must remember that there is a cost. Living the life of a disciple could cost us our whole life.
As Lutheran theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote back in the 1930s in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, “Too often when trials come our way we back off; we fail to engage the challenge.” G. K. Chesterton, the early twentieth-century British essayist was right when he declared back in 1910 in What’s Wrong with the World?, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”
Despite the suffering, pain, and challenges of the Christian life, John assures us that all are invited to the reward which Jesus brings. The Spirit and the bride, an image of the church, beckon us to come. Everyone who hears, and those who are thirsty, may also come. Anyone who wishes to partake of the water of life may come. Yes, Jesus will come and reclaim the world, but we must be prepared, and we must accept the invitation. God’s hand is outstretched in welcome, but the Lord does not force His way into our world. The decision to remain faithful to God is ours to make.
John’s message in Revelation has been presented in many places and ways throughout salvation history. As a prophet, Elijah had the fundamentally difficult task of proclaiming God’s Word to an often unsympathetic and rebellious people. Yet, he carried out his task and mission so well that God rewarded him in a special way. We read: “As [Elijah and Elisha] continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11).
When King Hezekiah, who had been faithful to God, was ill, he called out to the Lord, who heard his plea and added fifteen years to his life (2 Kings 20:1-11). We recall in the book of Daniel how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who refused to pay homage to the gods of King Nebuchadnezzar, were saved by God from death in the fiery furnace, leading the Babylonian king to exclaim: “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him.” As God the Father rewarded the just in the Old Testament, so Jesus in a similar way rewards those who in faith came to Him.
In the gospels we read that Jesus rewarded the faith of those who believed in Him. Because of his faith, Jesus cured the man born blind (John 9:1-41). On another occasion Jesus encountered two blind men and asked, “Do you believe I am able to [cure blindness]?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith let it be done to you’” (Matthew 9:28b-29). Jesus cured the woman with a hemorrhage. He told her, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22a). Jesus raised people from death, for example, the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-17) and Lazarus, Jesus’ good friend (John 11:1-44), based on the faith of their families. We all recall Jesus’ promise to the thief on the cross, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
St. Paul echoes the promises of God the Father and Jesus in his proclamation that God will reward the just. The aforementioned promise of 1 Corinthians, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” continues to sound in our ears. In his letter to the Romans Paul wrote, “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Later in his pastoral epistles, Paul continues the theme of Jesus’ reward for the just: “If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:11-13). The Biblical promises that God rewards the just, those who walk in His ways and seek to follow His path, compels us to evaluate our lives and ask what is necessary to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ return.
As the banner headline splashed across our computer screens announcing the Lord’s Second Coming would catch our attention, so we must daily remember our Baptism and focus our attention and energy on what needs to be done. For some, they may be a need to correct, or make right, a relationship that has gone sour. We may be estranged from a member of our family, a neighbor down the street, or a colleague at work. We may need to ask God to help us forgive someone who has wronged us. Or, we may need to go and ask forgiveness from someone we have wronged. We’re not ready for God’s reward if we’re not exercising love for God and love for our neighbor.
Others may need to release themselves from past hurts, both those inflicted on us and that which we have inflicted on others. Many times, we find that we’re weighed down so severely that we cannot properly move forward. Jesus says, pray to God for the assistance to forgive. We simply do not feel complete when we know we owe someone, whether that be our time, talent, or treasure. And we must not neglect our relationship with God.
How is our prayer life? Have we been cooperative with God’s plan for our lives, or have we tried to be the master of our lives? Is our faith strong and can it withstand the many challenges it faces in our ever more rapid, changing, and secularist society? Can we believe truly that God knows best and allow God to operate? Can we honestly say to God, as did Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want” (Matthew 26:39b)?
Daily we must carefully examine what we need to do before Jesus comes, and by that reflection, God will right our spiritual ship, then we can once again sail freely toward our goal of eternal life. But for many, the goal is neither clear nor certain because they don’t know God nor the future. Thus, they panic and worry. This is where you and I come in; Jesus has given us the mission to share the good news of God’s love and forgiveness.
We live in a world where people are seeking this or that to fulfill their need for God. And even though almost every home in America has a Bible, far too few have read it nor know of the amazing promises of God. As Jesus reminded us, “The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few:” the time of Jesus’ return is near, and you and I, the faithful who eagerly await His return, must be bold in both our lives and proclamation. Jesus’ imminent return is indeed exciting news! So, as we daily prepare to welcome Jesus when He returns, we must also help others to do the same.
Amen