Do you remember a time in your life when you felt like Christmas couldn’t come soon enough? Last week Pastor Raasch talked about the signs of the times. Already as a child, I learned to spot the signs of the coming of Christmas. At church it started with the midweek Advent services, rehearsing Christmas music in choir, and Saturday morning practice for the Children’s Christmas service. There were sights at home too. The Christmas decorations came out of storage, mom painted a Christmas scene on our large picture window, and best of all, my sister and I would be dropped off at grandma’s house so that our parents could go Christmas shopping. Oh how we waited and longed for Christmas!
To this day I look forward to celebrating the Christ-child’s birth. Like a big kid I can hardly wait to gather with all of you to hear and recite those familiar Bible verses that tell how Christ first came to our world as the baby of Bethlehem to save us from our sins. I’m looking forward to singing Christmas carols with you and then sitting here for a quiet moment after the last stanza of Silent Night to ponder the meaning of it all as we enjoy the peaceful glow of tree lights and candles. I can hardly wait for Christmas. I’m hoping you feel the same way.
And, while I have you thinking about it, I’m wondering if you feel this same way about Christ’s second coming when he returns at the end of time? Do you long for his arrival? Do you ever say to yourself, “I can’t wait till he comes back?” St. John certainly felt and spoke this way. You hear it in his words at the end of our text: “Come, Lord Jesus.” Oh, I know, many of us speak these very words several times each day as we invite Lord Jesus to be the unseen guest at every meal. But that’s not what John had in mind. He was praying for Jesus to return. He was longing for Jesus to come visibly, not for supper, but to bring this age to a close. With his words, John teaches us to pray this same way. Like him, we too can look forward to Jesus’ return. This is the truth we’ll consider under our Advent theme: While We Wait…We Long for His Coming.
I know why I long for Christmas. It’s familiar. It brings me joy. The day itself offers a break, brief as it may be, from the toil and busyness of life. But what is it that might keep me, might keep us, from thinking the same way about Jesus second coming?
Well, unlike Christmas, there would seem to be nothing familiar about Christ’s return. In fact, you might be concerned about the thought that Jesus’ return will bring an end to all that is familiar to us. I’ve thought about that at times. I suppose I’ve worried about that at times. I remember getting ready for our wedding. Well, I remember watching Cindy getting everything ready for our wedding. There I was, about to marry the love of my life and I recall having this nagging thought: “What if Jesus comes back now and spoils everything?” I had a similar thought before Carrie’s birth – “Not now, Jesus, I’m about to become a dad!” Maybe you’ve had similar thoughts at time: “Not now, Jesus, I just got the job I’ve always wanted.” “Not now, Jesus, we just bought a home.” “Not now, Jesus, we’re headed off on our dream vacation.” Not now? Then when? What’s really going on?
On some level are we afraid of Jesus’ return – afraid of what might happen when he comes back? President Franklin Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933). How true! Fear is such a destructive force. It fosters nothing but doubt and unbelief in the Christian’s. Take, for example, Jesus words in the opening verse of our text: Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12). What do you make of these words? Are they a threat? Are they a promise? The answer is, “Yes.” They’re both a threat and a promise. It depends who’s reading them.
For those who don’t know Jesus, these words should strike only terror in their hearts. I’m talking about people who spend a lifetime on earth serving their own agenda, satisfying every craving of their sinful nature. For them Jesus’ return will be a nightmare from which they will never wake up. These are people who made this life all about themselves. Their eternity will be all about suffering.
I suppose telling you that doesn’t really calm your fears or steady your spiritual nerves. This sobering truth has just the opposite effect. I know it does for me. I shudder to think how self-centered I am—how many of my thoughts are all about me – my rights, my comfort, my happiness. And if that’s not bad enough I can’t seem to hide it from any of you because these thoughts translate so quickly into self-serving words and deeds. Even when I try to do something for someone else I seem to find a way to make it about me—my sacrifice, my generosity, my kindness. What a hypocrite.
And there you have it – my greatest fear, that Jesus will come back and expose me for who and what I really am and give me what I really deserve. Is that your fear too? It doesn’t need to be. As it turns out, you and have I have nothing to worry about. We have nothing to fear – not even fear itself. Why? Because Jesus is taking care of everything. Listen to his words again: “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12). Jesus isn’t threatening us. He’s encouraging us. He sees what sin and guilt, fear and doubt are doing to us. He sees how hard it is for us to live in a world ruined by sin’s rebellion. “Hold on, dear children” says Jesus. “Hold on to me. I’ll be there soon.” “My reward is with me…” “My reward” – “Jesus’s reward” – the one he earned when he came here the first time. He came as a baby to be our brother for one reason and one alone. Jesus came to make it all about him – not in a selfish, self-serving way. Oh no. He came to stand before God as my substitute and yours. He came to say to God: “Make it about me, Father. Take my sinless life and count is as theirs. Look at everything they do through the filter of my holiness. Look at them and see me, Father – see my love in all they think and say.” “And Father, do the same thing when it comes to their sin. Charge all their selfishness, all their fear and all their doubt to me. Make it all about me, Father. Punish me on their behalf. I’ll take their place in hell. Count my death as the wages of their sin. Accept my blood spilled on Calvary as payment in full for all their selfishness, all their fear and all their doubt.”
How amazing! Our Savior gave himself for us. And God the Father, who so loves the world, graciously accepted his Son’s sacrifice and then rewarded his Son’s love by raising him from the dead. Jesus’ reward is life. This is the reward he’s bringing with him. He’s coming to give to you and me and to all who believe in him the perfect life he’s earned for us.
This is Jesus’ gift to his people, to every believer “…according to what he has done.” This may sound a little strange to our Lutheran ears. It’s important to understand what Jesus means by this. If there was something for us to do to earn life with Jesus, then Jesus wouldn’t speak of “his” reward. He would speak of “our” reward – a payment you and I deserve. As sinners, we know this is not the case. We don’t, we can’t do anything to earn life with God. But as those who know Jesus through God’s gift of faith there are things we do to show that his grace is not lost on us. By the power of God’s Holy Spirit we can and do live as repentant sinners, people who acknowledge their sins before God, plead for his forgiveness and rejoice to know that it’s ours for the sake of his Son. By the Spirit’s power we show our gratitude for this forgiveness by loving others with the love we ourselves receive from God so freely. And while we know that ours in but a poor reflection of Christ’s love, we find peace and joy in the gospel’s promise that Jesus’ blood and righteousness covers us and makes us and our “thank yous” not just acceptable but pleasing in God’s sight. This is the work Jesus is referring to, deeds done not to earn heaven but words and actions that testify to the new life Jesus has worked in us.
It’s all about Jesus – what he has done and is doing for you and me. Because this is true, we have nothing to fear about him or his return. Instead, we have every reason to look forward to seeing him, every reason to wait and long for his coming and what it will mean for us. He himself makes this point when he says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:13). As eternal God, Jesus is witness to every loving promise God has made to us. He was there in the beginning to see our Father give his fallen children the gospel of grace – the Word of life. It is Jesus who stepped into time to keep God’s promise and it is Jesus who will see his work to its completion when he brings this age to an end and welcomes us into the courts of heaven.
Maybe it’s hard for us to imagine and desire something that seems so foreign, so other worldly. Knowing this, Jesus goes out of his way to speak of heaven’s wonders in terms we can appreciate and treasure. He wants us to know that earth on the best of days—wedding days, birth days, holidays—on all such days, earth with its short-lived joys can’t begin to compare to the life that will soon be ours in a home where God “…will wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4). There’s something to long for – a world without sin—a life without all the pain and trouble sin causes. But that’s not all. When Jesus returns, on that very day he will give you and me “…the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10). The last day will be our coronation day when Jesus will give us a royal crown to wear and with it he will grant to us “…the right to sit with him on his throne.” (Revelation 3:21).
Friends, I can’t wait to see wearing your crown. I can’t wait to see you so happy. I can’t wait to enjoy such happiness with you. Don’t you see, we have nothing to worry about! Jesus return isn’t going to spoil anything—not wedding plans or vacation plans or even a child’s Christmas. Because in the moment of Christ’s return, our new joy will make all our past happiness pale in comparison. When Jesus comes back for us, it will be the greatest day ever and forever. It won’t be long now. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” To which we and all God’s people say: “Come, Lord Jesus!” Amen.