WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.700 --> 00:00:03.500 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 2 00:00:03.500 --> 00:00:04.400 Amen. 3 00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:06.800 Christ is coming. 4 00:00:06.800 --> 00:00:09.400 He's coming indeed. Alleluia. 5 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:11.800 And when he comes 6 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:17.400 that will be the day. Not just a day or someday 7 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:22.000 but the day the day of the Lord. 8 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:24.700 In life 9 00:00:24.700 --> 00:00:26.400 there are special moments 10 00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:32.100 we often look forward to. Like a birthday or a vacation as that special 11 00:00:32.100 --> 00:00:35.100 day draws near anticipation builds. 12 00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:40.600 We want to be ready when the big day comes we wait for it with 13 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:47.500 eagerness and we expect perhaps to find some pleasant surprises gifts 14 00:00:47.500 --> 00:00:48.100 and goodies. 15 00:00:49.300 --> 00:00:54.800 God has also set in place special moments for us to be whole and 16 00:00:54.800 --> 00:01:00.700 rejoice in his great deeds and to receive his gifts of Salvation. In the 17 00:01:00.700 --> 00:01:01.000 Greek 18 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:06.500 these are the kyroi of God the times the seasons he has established 19 00:01:06.500 --> 00:01:11.000 and wants us to wait for look forward to. 20 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:18.000 Paul calls the Thessalonians to wait for that great Kairos. 21 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:26.500 The last day when his Son our Lord will come and save us from all evil 22 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:28.500 and set all things, right. 23 00:01:29.800 --> 00:01:35.700 Paul is getting us ready for Advent for the Lord's final visitation at 24 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:36.600 his parousia. 25 00:01:36.600 --> 00:01:43.600 In fact for Paul being a Christian is about waiting for that day. In 26 00:01:43.600 --> 00:01:48.200 the first chapter of the letter Paul speaks of the Thessalonians 27 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:56.300 conversion as a turning to God both to serve him and to wait for his 28 00:01:56.300 --> 00:02:02.100 son from Heaven whom he raised from the dead Jesus. Who delivers us 29 00:02:02.100 --> 00:02:07.800 from the wrath to come. So you see to have Jesus as Lord to be a 30 00:02:07.800 --> 00:02:12.200 Christian is to wait for his coming to 31 00:02:12.200 --> 00:02:14.400 Hope in his salvation. 32 00:02:16.600 --> 00:02:24.100 Now waiting for the last day is hard there so many days before the 33 00:02:24.100 --> 00:02:28.600 last day before the last one that need our attention. 34 00:02:28.600 --> 00:02:34.700 We are consumed by every day that we no longer have time to wait for 35 00:02:34.700 --> 00:02:43.600 the last day. This year alone has been a tough one a consuming a 36 00:02:43.600 --> 00:02:49.900 year filled with the anxiety and restlessness of the pandemic, racial 37 00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:53.300 tensions, economic political divisions 38 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:53.800 and yes 39 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:57.200 Adobe and Zoom fatigue. 40 00:02:58.600 --> 00:03:04.000 Who has time left away for the last day we got to deal with this 41 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.800 day, right? 42 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:08.000 Or worse yet 43 00:03:09.200 --> 00:03:11.600 maybe this is the last day goodness. 44 00:03:11.600 --> 00:03:18.000 We see God's wrath being poor out on us sickness and death, broken 45 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:22.400 relations, poverty, division, zombies all around us. 46 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:30.200 Hey, maybe this is the day perhaps the day of sudden destruction has 47 00:03:30.200 --> 00:03:35.600 arrived has come upon us as labor pains come up on a pregnant woman, 48 00:03:35.600 --> 00:03:38.100 and we will not escape. 49 00:03:39.600 --> 00:03:45.200 What if we are on the wrong side of the day in the darkness on the 50 00:03:45.200 --> 00:03:51.400 terrifying side of God's times and seasons without a hope in the 51 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:51.600 world? 52 00:03:53.500 --> 00:03:54.200 Paul's message 53 00:03:55.600 --> 00:03:58.100 to the Thessalonians and to us is straightforward. 54 00:03:58.100 --> 00:04:03.000 No, this is not the last day. 55 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.600 So chill. 56 00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:08.000 Don't despair. 57 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.300 Don't be overly anxious. 58 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:13.300 Don't lose hope. 59 00:04:14.700 --> 00:04:18.200 God has not destined us for wrath Paul says. 60 00:04:18.200 --> 00:04:22.400 But to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 61 00:04:22.400 --> 00:04:29.900 So remember who you belong to when times are tough and it looks like 62 00:04:29.900 --> 00:04:37.100 the last day has arrived. Remember who you belong to in Jesus your hope 63 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:41.600 is secure even in Hopeless times. 64 00:04:43.200 --> 00:04:48.400 And yet paradoxically Paul has another message for us. 65 00:04:49.500 --> 00:04:54.200 Don't chill too much now be watchful be vigilant. 66 00:04:54.200 --> 00:04:55.400 Don't fall asleep. 67 00:04:55.400 --> 00:04:58.500 Stay sober don't let your guard down. 68 00:04:58.500 --> 00:05:05.300 Don't be caught off guard lest the Day of the Lord sneaks up on you like a 69 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:08.700 thief in the night and catches you by surprise. 70 00:05:11.400 --> 00:05:13.700 What is Paul up to here? 71 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.200 Well, he's not talking about a cool surprise like that birthday or 72 00:05:19.200 --> 00:05:19.900 vacation. 73 00:05:19.900 --> 00:05:21.300 This is a surprise 74 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:22.700 you don't want. 75 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:25.400 Some years ago 76 00:05:25.400 --> 00:05:30.500 my parents home was broken into literally by a thief in the night. 77 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:36.700 It happened while the family was out dining for a couple hours and 78 00:05:36.700 --> 00:05:39.900 they got home they were surprised all right. 79 00:05:41.200 --> 00:05:44.500 They began to notice all the things that were gone. 80 00:05:45.700 --> 00:05:49.200 My brother had a nice CD collection of all of Beethoven's Symphonies. 81 00:05:49.200 --> 00:05:53.500 The thief had a very specific musical taste because he only took the 82 00:05:53.500 --> 00:05:56.400 Fifth Symphony out and left the rest 83 00:05:57.700 --> 00:06:02.000 of the CDs behind. Let's just say my brother was a little ticked. 84 00:06:03.400 --> 00:06:06.600 He was surprised in an angry sort of way. 85 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:12.400 More importantly as they looked around the house to assess the losses. 86 00:06:12.400 --> 00:06:18.400 My family noticed the thief had forced his way into the house by 87 00:06:18.400 --> 00:06:22.700 breaking in through a window that was protected by what they thought 88 00:06:22.700 --> 00:06:25.400 were impenetrable metal bars. 89 00:06:27.200 --> 00:06:31.300 When you talk to people who have been robbed one of the most common 90 00:06:31.300 --> 00:06:36.800 feelings expressed about the experience is losing a sense of peace and 91 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:37.300 safety. 92 00:06:38.500 --> 00:06:42.700 We are robbed not only of our possessions but of our peace of mind 93 00:06:42.700 --> 00:06:46.100 sense of security we feel defenseless. 94 00:06:47.400 --> 00:06:48.400 So, what's the solution? 95 00:06:49.700 --> 00:06:56.100 Build a stronger line of defense more bigger stronger metal bars the 96 00:06:56.100 --> 00:06:57.800 latest alarm system. 97 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:02.100 A big mean dog to drive people away, right? 98 00:07:02.100 --> 00:07:08.900 Those things make us feel a little safer just in case the day comes 99 00:07:08.900 --> 00:07:12.500 and a thief attempts to surprises again. 100 00:07:13.700 --> 00:07:15.500 But that peace of mind as we know. 101 00:07:17.400 --> 00:07:20.100 That which we can build for ourselves now. 102 00:07:21.300 --> 00:07:22.500 to keep us safe 103 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:25.200 is only fleeting. 104 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:33.900 Paul warns us against living with a false sense of peace and security 105 00:07:33.900 --> 00:07:40.500 in a world where temptation is there to replace our hope in Christ for 106 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:42.300 other objects of Hope. 107 00:07:43.700 --> 00:07:44.500 We should be careful. 108 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:50.900 It is precisely in moments of great stress and uncertainty like the 109 00:07:50.900 --> 00:07:54.100 ones we live in today of doom and gloom 110 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:57.600 so to speak that the prophets of false 111 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:02.300 hope come out into the streets and into our TV or social media 112 00:08:02.300 --> 00:08:09.900 channels and promise us great a better day. Now peace and security 113 00:08:09.900 --> 00:08:11.400 they cry out. 114 00:08:11.400 --> 00:08:13.500 There's no problem here. 115 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:19.000 No need to look for some day of the Lord we can settle things straight 116 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:20.600 right here right now. 117 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:27.600 The answer tomorrow woes, our hope lies in something here. 118 00:08:28.900 --> 00:08:33.700 In the vaccine in reforming our institutions in the stock market in 119 00:08:33.700 --> 00:08:36.900 political solutions and in a return to normalcy. 120 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:44.300 If we can figure these things out, we will have arrived we will have 121 00:08:44.300 --> 00:08:50.200 relieve and hope we will be safe no longer the defenceless all things 122 00:08:50.200 --> 00:08:51.700 will be just fine. 123 00:08:54.100 --> 00:08:55.800 Well, not so quickly. 124 00:08:57.300 --> 00:09:00.100 Paul gives us another perspective. 125 00:09:00.100 --> 00:09:06.900 He knows that in times of affliction when the world seems to be going 126 00:09:06.900 --> 00:09:07.900 to hell in a handbasket. 127 00:09:07.900 --> 00:09:16.000 It is too easy to put our hope in what is here in what we can build. 128 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:19.300 And the devil's seduction 129 00:09:20.400 --> 00:09:26.500 is for us to deal with tough times the way the world deals with them. 130 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:32.900 It is too easy to fall into the devil's seduction to deal with one 131 00:09:32.900 --> 00:09:34.800 another in difficult times. 132 00:09:34.800 --> 00:09:37.500 Like the world does. 133 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:44.700 We're tempted to put on the old nature we become anxious about the 134 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:46.100 pandemic around us. 135 00:09:46.100 --> 00:09:50.900 We fight over human solutions to this problems we become entrenched 136 00:09:50.900 --> 00:09:57.100 in our positions divisive in our speech and demeanor like the world of 137 00:09:57.100 --> 00:09:58.100 partisan politics. 138 00:09:59.300 --> 00:10:07.100 Will become impatient with one another mean to one another we snap we 139 00:10:07.100 --> 00:10:07.600 lose it. 140 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:14.900 We embody the restless and hopeless ways of the world and we bring 141 00:10:14.900 --> 00:10:20.000 that into our home we bring that into our churches. 142 00:10:21.400 --> 00:10:25.000 Our witness and our life together suffer. 143 00:10:25.900 --> 00:10:32.700 So Paul calls us to be vigilant watchful against these temptations and to 144 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:39.700 put our ultimate hope peace and security where it belongs in Jesus who 145 00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:41.100 is coming to save. 146 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:51.200 But what about this day who will protect us today from succumbing the 147 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:56.000 ways of the world in difficult times? Here Paul's answer is the same. 148 00:10:57.400 --> 00:10:58.200 Jesus. 149 00:10:59.300 --> 00:10:59.900 But how? 150 00:11:01.400 --> 00:11:09.000 By wrapping himself around us. It's a wonderful image like a breast plate and a 151 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:09.300 helmet. 152 00:11:09.300 --> 00:11:18.800 Jesus has put on us for a helmet the hope of Salvation and he has put 153 00:11:18.800 --> 00:11:26.900 on us the breastplate of faith and love safe and secure in him. 154 00:11:26.900 --> 00:11:35.400 We can now face stand firm face the present day with its afflictions 155 00:11:35.400 --> 00:11:41.800 and the seductions of the evil one because our hope is secure in Jesus 156 00:11:41.800 --> 00:11:42.500 who is coming. 157 00:11:43.500 --> 00:11:49.100 We are free to live by faith and love for each other and our suffering 158 00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:51.300 neighbors in the Here and Now. 159 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:56.700 Put off the old ways and put on Christ love. 160 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:02.600 Be the children of the day of the light on this dark day. 161 00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:08.900 Even as you wait for the Lord's coming to make all things right at the 162 00:12:08.900 --> 00:12:09.400 last day. 163 00:12:12.100 --> 00:12:16.900 So what does it look like to put on Christ today? 164 00:12:18.100 --> 00:12:21.800 Well, not much different than in Paul's days. 165 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:26.800 Right after the assigned texts for today Paul gives us a picture 166 00:12:27.700 --> 00:12:32.700 of what such Christ-like life looks like in a hurting and broken 167 00:12:32.700 --> 00:12:32.900 world. 168 00:12:35.100 --> 00:12:36.200 This is what he says. 169 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:40.300 Be at peace among yourselves. 170 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:48.500 Admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted help the weak. 171 00:12:49.400 --> 00:12:52.200 Be patient with them all. 172 00:12:53.300 --> 00:12:55.900 See that no one repays evil for evil. 173 00:12:57.300 --> 00:13:04.700 Always seek to do good to one another and to everyone rejoice always. 174 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:08.000 Pray without ceasing. 175 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:12.800 Give thanks in all circumstances. 176 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:15.900 Abstain 177 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:18.900 from every form of evil. 178 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:22.300 Brothers and Sisters in Christ 179 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:28.300 I think we can all agree the world needs a lot more of this. 180 00:13:29.900 --> 00:13:33.600 A lot more of Jesus working in and through sayings like you. 181 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:40.600 To bring the light into our dark times. So live this day 182 00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:43.600 in light of the day. 183 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:46.400 Live according to the hope 184 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:52.600 that is in you for such a time as this when hope itself is tested, 185 00:13:53.800 --> 00:13:56.700 and neighbor's need a word of Hope. 186 00:13:58.100 --> 00:14:03.600 In doing so we pray that the spirit might just surprise the world that 187 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:07.700 every so often peaks in to see what's going on in the church. 188 00:14:09.400 --> 00:14:14.200 The Spirit might just surprised to wear with a hopeful glimpse, even 189 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:19.200 if a small one of what a world restored at the last day in a new 190 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:28.100 creation looks like. Yes, a world were people at last live to serve 191 00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:34.100 the Living God in justice and love toward one another without fear of 192 00:14:34.100 --> 00:14:39.900 evil, sickness or death in the peace and security of abundant life 193 00:14:39.900 --> 00:14:43.900 under the Lord's loving protection and care. 194 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:48.500 A glimpse of what the wait for. 195 00:14:49.700 --> 00:14:53.300 That'll be not just a day or someday 196 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:55.800 but that day. 197 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:04.300 Encourage one another with these words in these times. Christ is coming. 198 00:15:04.300 --> 00:15:07.300 He is coming indeed. Alleluia.