Awake? Bridge. You ve got to admire the attentiveness of a good soccer goalie. I remember, when my son,

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1 Awake? Isaiah 51:4-6 Jude Mark 13:24-37 Last Sunday of the Church Year Jesus said: Concerning that day or that hour [of His return], no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. Stay awake, lest He come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you is what I say to all [Jesus said]: Stay awake. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ. Bridge You ve got to admire the attentiveness of a good soccer goalie. I remember, when my son, Ben, was young, we watched him play and wondered why the goalie couldn t (almost) just sit down on a lawn chair while things were down at the opposite side of the field. Soccer is played on a huge field and I felt for the young child who had to, just, wait way down on the other side. It seemed lonely and mostly-boring, and sometimes (for those young kids who d be playing that position) you could see them doing the funniest things while they waited. They paced back and forth, kicked up dirt looking at the ground, leaning on a goal post, looked at the sky, waved to their parents, and had their back-turned sometimes (playing with the nets) during those extended times where action was nowhere near their side of the field. Coaches yelled (I remember) as the play came there way and, sometimes, those goalies never woke-up to what was coming. I ve seen balls roll slowly by those guardians while they looked a different direction. Staying attentive and ready (on guard) for the potential of a ball coming their way had to be the toughest thing to get a young child (playing that position) to do. Well, the play that moves you and I to what s next might seem a long way down-field, so this weekend (the Last in the Church Year) remind us (with its texts) that our impression of when the ball comes our way might be other than what we think. While a lawn-chair might

2 seem comfortable to pass the time, that s not the pose that our Lord Jesus suggests for the position we re in. The instructions to stay awake is the unmistakable leave-behind of the One Who ll return just like He d left this planet. The Son and Man ( Jesus ) says that He s destined to head your way and (no matter whether it s 3 am in the morning or 3:00 in the afternoon) you d better be alert and ready. He (and His angels) might catch you in the shower or arguing with your parents or pouting. Jesus will come to find you how you will be when that moment arrives and the message (or instruction) that He leaves (in just 2 words) is stay awake for it (always for you don t know when that will be). Text My thought, though, is that we re in a world full of the walking dead along with, probably, far too many who are walking asleep in the midst of them. With that show that s popular these days, being zombie-like may be the new craze. Maybe there s a Christian undertone to the message of that show (I don t know as I ve never watched it) but how the alive people navigate the dead ones walking might be good practice to watch as an apocalypse (or, at least, a personal one by death from this life) is a changing-everything around the corner possibility for anybody who s still breathing. Retired NFL quarterback, Doug Flutie, lost his mom to a heart attack only 1 hour after he d lost his dad to the same. How sudden and surprising the end of this life (or the end of time for everyone) can be. And we re warned of that so zombies might be an appropriate analogy for, both, those outright dead by unbelief as well as sleep-walkers, and that existence is entirely counter to what Jesus considers living the blank stares of zombies on TV (with their dumb, yet hungry-looking, walk) just might be the right visual for what Jesus spoke against. How many people do you know who walk around like that? Do you ever see that look in your mirror? If you connect a zombie-look to

3 people not- awake-enough about eternal facts, then (I d say) that s the right image, which is the opposite of what Jesus said everybody s to be. He said: Stay awake / be watchful or, just, watch, and He didn t offer it as an option. He demanded it. It s necessary. It s the correct way to be (maybe the only way to be). What He implies by that is the opposite of sleep-walking, oblivious or, even, apatheticallyunconscious regarding who we are and how we are. Those (in other words) not actively watching for what Jesus called that day and that hour aren t conscious about what matters (even in the moment). And while sleepiness might be natural within this fallen world that encourages an eye-closed attitude, watchfulness for what s-coming-at-any-time isn t excused by exhaustion or laziness. The Lord said: Be in constant readiness be always (and continually) on alert just aware of it s coming and cognizant of the signs of the times for that Last Day isn t enough. Be, with consistency, alert and on-top-of-it-all in preparation. And then Jesus said: remain not-just alert but fully alive. There was a reason why (I think) the zombie analogy makes sense, because anything short of (what Jesus calls) being fully awake (as in, energetically- watchful ) may be dead. While walking-around apart from baptized-believing is death for sure, baptized people ought never to lose our life to unbelief nor allow it to be anything short of all that God s made it to forever be. Application Jude preaches of the way to make Jesus expectation-of-us happen. In his first paragraph, he lists practical ways to BE as that Day draws near, and while these are given in the language of Christendom, what they show (when ignored) is that what lulls some believers to sleep is this world s disdain for God s language: as the world hated Jesus, so it ain t going to be helpful to His people.

4 Jude said, though, build yourselves up in your most holy faith which encourages our hands to get dirty (purposefully) in God s truth, to know better IT (each day more than the previous one), more and more prepared in IT. And pray in the Holy Spirit which believers actually do when (baptized to dwell within us) the Third Person of the Godhead in us and for us voices (as we re told in Romans 8) perfect prayers that are groanings too deep for words appreciate that; join into that consciously (because we can). And keep ourselves in God s love, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Maybe better than the other 2 instructions, this one says exactly what Jesus intended by stay awake : keep ourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. That s growing faith. Outward actions are (then) sure to result from this, like have mercy on those who doubt. Don t assume that everybody s OK, and doubt s remedy is dealt with by the Words of the Gospel (that Christ died and rose again for the lost). These words we re liable-for and responsible to present one to another (strangers and friends alike), so DO: Save others by snatching them out of the fire Jude says. He warns about those who d pervert the truth of God, so guard people from them (deceivers, dreamers, grumblers, malcontents, followers of sinful desires, loud-mouthed-boasters, those who show favoritism to gain advantage, scoffers, and worldly people devoid of the Spirit ). Any who listen to those influencers need snatched from the fire of a horrific end. And show mercy to others with fear. Our humility because of our sins makes us able to approach sinners un-repentant. Our humility disarms the prideful. For anyone with I m OK, you re OK attitudes, humility answers that with but I VE never been OK without the Savior, Who I need. Pride softens maybe, and gracious Divine words can be heard, and God promises that His Word will never (when spoken) return to Him without accomplishing what

5 He s sent it to do so speak it (both what God expects and what He gives in grace, work, and willingness. And hate, even, the garment stained by the flesh. Hatred of the stain of sin is acceptable even demanded. And if this world s getting better at anything, it s getting better at liking sin (not hating it ) and God s people must hate sin (including our own)... The best soccer goalies might rest during a game, but they never sleep. If you look to the non-action part of the field of a GOOD / WELL-PREPARED soccer team, see how the mostcompetent calculate movements, both at the ball and, even, away from it. Knowing what s planned to be coming, a good goalie has a sight-for-it that s beyond, just, eye-sight. And Christians are made to have that extra sight. It s (like in soccer) learned, practiced, and dictated from an abundance of theory and coaching but practiced as if experience didn t matter (just the preparation for that experience). Jesus said that the Day of His return is coming at an hour which no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. So we can t really practice the experience, just be on guard, keep awake, prepared and watching. Stay awake, lest that coming, suddenly, might find you asleep. And, if that sounds really tough, hear how God actually GIVES POWER TO keep awake and prepared: To HIM WHO IS ABLE to keep US from stumbling and to present US blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority that He HAS for the task (given US through our connection to Him by baptism and through His Word), from before all time and now and forever, in +Jesus name through which believers-aremade-ready, to-which we say: Amen.