Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

“Stay awake, keep watch!” Jesus tells you this three times. Certainly, this must mean that without our Lord’s Word and command, it would be difficult for you to keep from sleeping. “But what does He really want me to do?” you may ask. If Jesus is talking in figures of speech, then what does it mean to be sleeping and what does it mean to keep awake and watch? What is He really talking about? Remember that last week we started to hear our Savior speaking about the signs of the end and judgment day. However, His opening words weren’t about the signs of the end at all. He gave this warning, and it is the most important thing a Christian can do as you wait in expectation, which is simply this: “See that no one leads you astray. Many impostors will come in my name, saying ‘I am the Christ!’ and will lead many astray. False prophets will make it seem like they are preaching to you the truth, but they will try to deceive you with sweet-sounding, even Biblical-sounding phrases, and try to plant within your heart contempt for God’s grace.”

This is what keeping awake means. Fight that sleepy, sinful human nature within you. Guard the deposit of Biblical truth that you have been given, the God-given truth of Scripture that guarantees to you for the sake of Christ that you are forgiven. Do not yield to the temptation to abuse the Lord’s free grace. And yet it is all too easy to do. Like the disciples who were literally falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane just before Jesus was arrested, you have heavy eyelids in your spiritual life. It is much easier to think only of yourself over and above your family. Why don’t we ever do what I want? Or you may be lulled into security because you’ve gotten yourself out of bed on the weekend after Thanksgiving, propped yourself upright in the pew, dropped your envelope in the offering plate saying to yourself, “I’m all set. I have done my part, and that’s more than can be said of most people in this church.” And after you pat yourself on the back, you go and resume your snoozing in self-centered slumber. Or you think, “Others in this church are better off financially than I am. I shouldn’t have to give until I’m in better shape.” Please take notice what I’m saying about this: that the problem is not in whether or not you do such things like giving offering or helping others, but it’s in the attitude of your heart while you do these things. All of this points to what Jesus wants you to avoid, so that your faith in Him does not fall into danger. In God’s eyes, you have preferred a spiritual sleep, rather than staying awake; you doze in a state of apathy for your neighbor, instead of being watchful for the coming of Christ.

Repent. Staying awake and keeping watch is not a one-time activity, nor is it a once-every-Sunday thing. Repent, and claim anew for yourself the promises that God your Father made to you in baptism. Think back to when you were confirmed. It would not be accurate to say you were at that time renewing any vows that you had made when you were baptized. For one thing, when you were washed in Water and the Word, you made no vows, and no one was making vows in your place, either. In baptism, God makes all the vows and you get the benefit of them. That’s why baptism is for babies as well as adults in the first place. It’s all about the promises God has made to you. All through your life you have been taught and re-taught concerning all the gifts that God gave you as a Christian at the very moment when you were baptized. Every day you are called upon to confess as a baptized

Christian that your Lord Jesus died even for you and that your only hope for eternal life is planted in the Father’s promises to you. Confident of this fact, you would forsake all things, even your own life, rather than turn away from His gift of eternal life.

Wake up to what the Alpha and Omega is proclaiming as He prepares you for His glorious, imminent return. Own up to what the Bible says about you, that you are a poor, miserable sinner with no ability to believe or come to the Lord by your own reason or strength. Return to the waters of baptism that have washed over you, and be cleansed of your sleepy sinfulness. Confess your sins to Him, whether in public here in the worship service or in private before your pastor, and the word of forgiveness that you hear is the Word coming from the mouth of your Savior Himself, who is also your judge. You see, absolution is in reality a little bit of Judgment Day at the end of the world coming into your life right now. Because of the forgiveness you have today, you know with God’s full assurance that you will inherit eternal salvation at the Last Day. It’s the same thing with Holy Communion, which is a taste of the heavenly banquet when time will be no more. Feast on His Body and Blood (at your next opportunity) here on earth and the forgiveness and life of the Son of God comes right into your own mouth.

He is the one keeping you spiritually awake, so that you are prepared by His Holy Spirit for His glorious coming in clouds on the last day. His Word and promise are all you need. He was certainly the strength and confidence that filled the hearts of our dearly departed loved ones, whom you are thinking about quite a bit now as the holidays have begun. They are asleep, however the Bible uses that term in a different way in their case. The faithful saints who have gone to be with the Lord are not spiritually asleep in the sense that Jesus is talking about in Mark chapter 13. Instead, they rest from their labors, they are free from the thorns and thistles of life that remind us still of the curse of sin. But for them, they partake of unending joy in the presence of the risen Lord, while at the same time they pray for you, and for the whole church, as we all together in one unbroken Communion await the resurrection of our bodies (as well as theirs) on the glorious final Day. It will not be a time of self-centered sloth, rather an exuberant, celebratory rest that is filled with the goodness of our Triune God that knows no end.

Jesus’ promise to you is firm: heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. Like you heard last week, there are some pretty fearful signs out there. Lots of tribulation, suffering and disaster, and they are all saying that the end is near. Some people are convinced that we have less than a month to go! But do not let the signs scare you or distract you from Christ. As strong and secure-looking as the heavens and the earth are, remember that they were created in the very beginning by God simply speaking. His words created heaven and earth, and after they pass away, His unfailing words will still be there, and God will create a new heavens and a new earth as your new home. Let these powerful words sink into your ears this day and forever, for in His words, there is your life.

Stay awake. Keep watch! Let His words of law kill the sinner that you are, so that His loving, Gospel words of forgiveness can raise you up as a new creation each day, awake and watchful for His visible second coming, whenever it does finally come. Your Lord Jesus prepares you completely for the coming of the end of the world. When He comes as your judge and the true King of all the universe, rejoice! Because your judge at the end of the world is the

same as your Savior who has already come for your life. And as we begin again a new Advent season leading up to Christmas, Christ will continue to come to you in the flesh with all His gifts and forgiveness. By the power of the Holy Spirit alone that His Word has placed in your heart, you will also be able to keep watch for Him and stay awake.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Is. 51:4–6 My salvation will be forever
Dan. 7:9–10, 13–14 behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven!
Ps. 93 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty
Jude 20–25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling
Rev. 1:4b–8 I am the Alpha and the Omaga, the Beginning and the End
Mark 13:24–37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!
John 18:33–37 My kingdom is not of this world