The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Some say that only a woman who’s delivered a baby without an epidural can truly understand how much pain a man is in with a common cold. Now speaking personally, I’m fully convinced, based on the testimony of others and having been in the birthing room a few times myself, that the pain of childbirth is beyond imagining for those of us who will never give birth. Birth pains are horrendous. That is likely because the pain of childbirth is a specific curse called out as a judgment against humanity in Genesis chapter 3, specifically verse 16: “To the woman he said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.'” But unlike all other pain in the world, which is a sign of decay or injury or approaching an ultimate death, while birth pains are a sign of an approaching new life. That’s why our Lord uses the image of childbirth pain as he compares the life of the world to come with our present age.
In the Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus tells us that in the last days, the end of days, many will die as a result of war and earthquakes and famines. But these are to be understood as signs, but not signs of death for those who believe. The events of which Jesus speaks in the Gospel lesson are signs of an approaching new life, a new heaven and a new earth, the second coming of Christ, and the ultimate fulfillment of salvation in resurrection and eternal life. It comes in the midst of the pain that will result in the end of days. But on the other side of it there is the promise of Revelation 21:4: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The end of days is anything but a peaceable, gentle, pain-free, or fun event. Our reading in Daniel 12:1 tells us that at that time, that is, at the end of days, shall arise Michael, the archangel, a great prince who has charge over your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation until that time. In the end of days there will be many, we are told, who are going to be led away by false christs, that is, by false religions. There will be wars and rumors of wars, and nation will rise against nation, in a manner that is obvious that everything is coming to a climax. Earthquakes and famine will be commonplace, and Christians will be specifically singled out and persecuted for their faith.
These prophecies have more immediate fulfillment. Actually, these prophecies are to have three fulfillments: one in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who endures all those things; two, in the life of the apostles, after they’re done being disciples and they go out to the world, all but one will ultimately be martyred; and three, the fulfillment is ultimately in the end of days, the last days of this old sinful world. Some prophecies came true in the life of Jesus, some in the lives and faiths of the apostles, but all will come ultimately true in the end of days. Jesus was brought before councils. He was beaten up and brought to trial. He was executed as a result of the trial. He was betrayed by a brother and handed over to authorities to be punished unto death. All these things and more will take place on a cosmic scale at the end of times. Fathers will deliver their children to authorities, and children will rise up against their parents and deliver them as well to authorities. Christians will be hated the world over. There won’t be a safe corner for a Christian. The Bible portrays the end of days as the time when all hell breaks loose in the world. Revelation 12:7: “War arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back.” And a great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. In short, the great dragon is doing as much damage in the end of days as he can possibly do. He, like someone called Adolf Hitler, has a scorched earth policy. As long as he’s losing, he might as well devastate everything in the short time he has left. The great dragon gets as much destruction in against the church, against Christians, and against the world as he possibly can. The world as we know it will be coming apart at the seams, driven to a frenzy by the lord of chaos.
But here’s the good news, if you dare call it that. Jesus tells us that the one who endures to the end will be saved. So all you have to do, folks, is to survive a full frontal assault of the raging powers of the earth and of hell and of the devil himself, or as Ephesians 6:11 says, against the rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers of this present dark age, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. So if you can beat all of that, you’re just fine. Sure, it’s good if you endure, make it through the greatest period in world history of the persecution of every single Christian, and you’ll be saved. That doesn’t sound very comforting to me. Most of us don’t fare well in turbulence on a plane, or when a snake slithers across our path, or we find a mouse in our house. It doesn’t take much to frighten us now, does it? But looking into the future, to the promised end of days, Christians should at one level be frightened. The whole world ought to be taking note. But know this: you aren’t experiencing anything unusual as a Christian if the very thought of the end of days starts to produce a little anxiety in you. After all, Peter and James and John and Andrew were anything but paragons of courage and faithfulness when the end of days came to them, that is, to the Christ. Peter was a big talker until things started to go wrong, and then he denied Jesus, not once, not twice, but three times. And when Judas led the temple guard to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus, James and Andrew, along with all the rest of the disciples in the garden, didn’t waste the opportunity to flee the moment they got it. And on the night in which he was betrayed, John followed Jesus, but he did so, the Bible says, at a distance, so he couldn’t be really detected by Jesus’s enemies. And he stood by and he watched it all, not speaking a word. Peter, James, Andrew, and John took refuge with the rest of the disciples behind closed doors. Why? For fear of the Jews. It was out of fear, not bravery. The brave band of disciples didn’t prove to be all that brave when the world turned against them.
Yet Jesus knew all of them. He knew what they would do, and he still called these men, some of them not very bright at the time, some of them not very brave at the time, some of them not particularly virtuous at the time, but he called them to be preachers, teachers, apostles, and models ultimately of the Christian faith and the Christian life, who all suffered death rather than denounce Christ. Jesus knew what was on their mind when one of the disciples asked him, “Look, teacher, what wonderful stones and wonderful buildings!” Jesus’s response was to say, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down.” He essentially is telling them not even the house of the Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, would be saved in the coming tumult, a predecessor to the end of days. And indeed the temple didn’t make it out of the first century AD. In 70 AD the Romans leveled it to rubble. Jesus knew what the disciples were like when he prophesied that he himself, his own body, would be torn down, but he would raise it up in three days. He knew them. He walked with them. He knew they’d run. He knew they’d falter. He knew what they were going to do. Yet by his pure grace and mercy he called them into the greatest service in the church’s, in the world’s history. Yet he said, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” He also knew that left to themselves they would not endure. If you endure, it’s good news. If you don’t, not so good news. It seems like a kind of survival of the fittest, spiritual. Only the strong survive. This is how it looks like it’s going to play out as Jesus proclaims the end of days. But remember what Jesus also said a couple of Gospel lessons ago: “With man it is impossible.” It’s impossible to endure. But with God all things are possible.
With God, what hope do we have to endure all that comes upon us in this life: all our sins, our injuries, our sicknesses, our death? How do we endure such things apart from Jesus Christ? What will happen when our end of days comes? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our only hope and our stay, our fortress in times of trouble, our rock of salvation. It’s not merely cliches. It’s also Old Testament text, God’s word, declaring the status of those who believe, though our experience might be completely to the contrary. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our hope and our stay. Remember what he promised: “I will ask the Father, and he will send you another helper, to be with you forever.” Deuteronomy 3:22: “Do not be afraid of them, that is, your enemies, whatever it is, a person or a place or a thing. The Lord your God himself will fight for you.” Christ endured all that was necessary to win victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil, to win the victory over the end of days in the great conflict that will come. Matthew 12:20 and 21: “A bruised reed, that’s you. You and me, we’re bruised reeds. We’re traumatized throughout life: one problem after another, one affliction after another, one pain after another. But a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench. He brings justice to victory, and in his name the Gentiles, that is, you, will hope.” He was betrayed and abandoned for us. He was delivered over to councils and to governors, and by virtue of the governor being a representative of the king, he was delivered over to Caesar himself, through the governor, for us. Jesus stood before kings and governors for us. He was hated by the world for us. He was scorched for us. He was crucified for us. The earth trembled and shook, an earthquake, as the sun set and the earth went dark. He died for us. In all these things Jesus went first, and he endured it all for us, so that one day we might be saved in him. On the third day he rose in victory over sin, death, and yes, the power of the dragon. He ascended to the right hand of the Father, and is clothed in glory and power to use on our behalf. 1 Corinthians 15:54 and 55: “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?'” But in Christ we all endure to the end, and through the end, unto everlasting life. In the end, our mortal lives in this present time, and in the days to come, begins anew. It’s childbirth. This end of days, his endurance becomes our endurance. Our endurance belongs to him. Our victory must be his victory. And our salvation is his salvation. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. 1 John 5:4: “And this is the victory that overcomes the world: our faith.” When all hell is breaking loose, the Lord says, “Hide in me. Trust in me. Believe in me. Endure in me.” Apart from Christ, enduring is impossible. Apart from Christ, each and every one of us is doomed. But there in the baptismal font, here at the altar, in the body and blood, the bread and wine, and there as I stand before you and pronounce the words of absolution, Jesus promises you victory over all your enemies, and the last enemy to be defeated will be death. St. Paul wrote, Romans 8:21 and 22: “The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” So it is with hard times of life in this world. They fix our eyes on the faithful one. That’s what they’re made and sent to do, the faithful one, who promises us that we will one day inherit, after the end of days, after our times, the heavenly mansion, into perfect existence. He says in John 10:28 and 29: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Your sins are forgiven. Your fear is conquered. Live in the confidence of God’s word and in the person and work of Christ. His victory is yours. Amen.
May the peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.