Prayer of the Day: Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that by Thy word Thou hast brought us out of the darkness of Papacy into the light of Thy grace: We beseech Thee, mercifully help us to walk in that light, guard us from all error and false doctrine, and grant that we may not become ungrateful and despise and persecute Thy Word, but receive it with all our heart, govern our lives according to it, and put all our trust in Thy grace through the merit of Thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” (NKJV)

Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our meditation is based on Jesus’ warnings concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. You will see the world abounds with foolish advice as to how you can avert the inevitable, but you will also see that Christ Jesus is the certain Anchor to carry you from this world into the next. Again, the Savior saith, “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Lord Jesus, bless Thy Word that we may trust in Thee. Amen.

Just before take-off, the stewardess aboard an airplane carries you through a demonstration of the various procedures promised to guide you to safety in the event of crash landing. Proper seatbelt alignment, the specific windows which will function as emergency exits, and the personal flotation device which, though I’ve never been able to find it, she assures is there were you to need it.

But does any of it really work? That’s beside the point. You see, if you’ve ever been on an airplane, you know exactly what I’m talking about. And that’s the point, to captivate your attention and distract. Of course none of it will work in a full-out crash. The psychology behind it is to calm the mind, keep the odd assortment of passengers and their bundle of anxieties in their seats, through take-off, then, once in flight, to think little of the potential danger.

In our gospel lesson this morning, the Lord Jesus says Jerusalem is destined for crash landing. And it would seem that Jesus proceeds to lay out some pretty specific evacuation protocols. But if you listen carefully to His words, none of these really work either.

He specifies precisely what direction to head for the exit, “Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains.” But keep in mind, He’s speaking to a crowd of city dwellers who wouldn’t have the slightest clue how to survive three days out in mountain wilderness.

“Let him which is on the housetop not come down…” That in the event of disaster, the only outlandish hope you’d have of outrunning the flames would be hopping from roof to roof like some video game.

“And woe unto them that are with child…” Your escape is not going to mesh well with what any mother would consider the much needed regimen of naps and feedings to get through the day.

“Neither on the Sabbath…” Your best chance is going to necessitate so much effort that you might just have to break, much to the chagrin of Jerusalem’s religious elite, their holy day on which no finger was to be lifted.

With each protocol, Jesus highlights the futility of any human effort to hold disaster at bay. He showed that their current crash course was something for which they were entirely unprepared and ill-equipped. Jesus made clear that the destruction of Jerusalem would be a “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

But as a manifest example of sin’s consequence, there is lesson to be learned here for every disaster you encounter, everything which crumbles and falls apart in our world. That lesson: that there’s nothing you can do to stop any of it, though we certainly try.

Flee to the mountains? Well, if getting as far from the city as you can were the answer, why are you, out here in the Dakotas, still so bothered and affected by everything that happens way over there?

Hop from one roof to another? How easy it is to be the expert on what needs to be done… without follow through! At first sign of collapse, jumping from one plan to the next.

Perhaps you lean toward the nursing mother approach, as if by keeping to your rigid routine, and demanding everyone else fit your standard, you can remain oblivious to your part in the chaos.

Or increasingly popular today, the Sabbath approach, not doing a thing, as if by flying below the radar, the problem might disappear on its own, enabling all sorts of behavior contrary to God’s Word to fester and grow both in society and in home.

There is no end to the plans and procedures you can think up to escape life’s troubles, and Jesus warns there are plenty who are eager to offer you their opportunistic advice: “For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” But in the end, they’re all no better than instructions from an airline stewardess. Though they might make you feel comfortable in the moment, they don’t do a thing in a full out crash.

No, the best lessons the Lord sends your way come in such manner that there’s no way to be prepared. It’s “for the elect’s sake,” for your own good, they come at you like ripping off a band-aid. Especially the big one: “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Well, if it’s coming and there’s not a thing you can do about it, why not get out now? Can Jesus do no better than teach daily in the temple? Mere words instead of taking the lead Himself? So was the accusation made by Jesus’ many critics, but what in their self-preparedness they could not see was that the humble preacher from Galilee who consistently taught you cannot save yourself had come to save us all. While those who simply listened to His Word and believed knew they needed no other evacuation plan than Him.

In our lesson, Jesus refers specifically “to that spoken of by Daniel the prophet… whoso readeth, let him understand…” Now, those who were listening, to both Jesus and Daniel, they knew Roman rule itself was the sure sign of Israel’s imminent collapse. And if they were really listening, to both Jesus and Daniel, they knew Roman rule was also the sure sign of the Messiah and His everlasting kingdom. That the collapse of the one meant the glorious rise of the other.

Listening to Jesus’ warnings alone, if there were a time to run, it might as well be now. But those ears truly attuned to His teaching were actually drawn closer. Staying right there under a roof about to fall, in a city about to burn to the ground, because standing right there, under that roof, in that city, was the Savior of all mankind.

All of which, without faith, looked like utter foolishness, standing there listening to Jesus, while He claimed the world was falling to pieces.

This was just as bizarre behavior to our mindset as when Jesus will warn His disciples, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of Him” and “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night” but then proceed to sing a hymn with them and lead them out to the familiar olive grove where they often just sat back and relaxed.

This was no escapism, but the serene confidence that His own tribulation, storm of terror it would be, would have sure reward, the reward of rescuing you from sin, death, and hell. For there in that garden, Jesus took upon Himself the wrath you and I deserve in every form in which it comes. His groaning, sighing, bleeding, dying has rescued you from sin and its every consequence.

Jesus rose from the dead to become the firstfruits of all who believe. Jesus ascended to heaven in order to lead us souls in captivity captive unto Himself. Having proven Himself to have been in control throughout the entirety of His bitter suffering and death, you can trust Him. Trust Him to still be in control today.

All of which makes your evacuation plan as straightforward as faith in Him. Faith, whereby He captivates your every worry through His every heavenly promise. Faith, whereby He rules and reigns your heart by His Word. And thereby becomes the eternal Anchor to your soul. Come, then, to Jesus in Word and Sacrament. Even if it doesn’t feel like the answer, He is. Come to Him and have heaven and earth stand still and time come to a screeching halt, as He forgives you all your sins and personally declares you set free from death and disaster.

Learn from the Gospel how the Spirit of God transforms the inevitable into the glorious. For just as the complete destruction of Jerusalem became the formal departure of God’s saving truth out into the rest of the world, any spire that crumbles today, whether as macro as a world power like America free-falling into chaos or as micro as a personal struggle no one knows about but you, the Lord lets it collapse to make way for His great grace to be revealed. This is the case whether you’re on board or not. So maybe I should say instead, there is no reason this can’t be the case for you, if you would simply repent of your plans and trust His.

Some might criticize, “Isn’t this, coming to church to listen to some voice echoing in walls of wood and stone, just hiding away from your problems?” So they said of Jesus in the temple. Yes, these walls of wood and stone will someday fall as surely as Jerusalem’s temple stands no more, but when heaven and earth shall pass away, these words of Jesus, the Gospel we proclaim today, these things endure forever. For by these words, Christ raises you up and above everything that perishes: “My kingdom is not of this world.” By these words, He keeps you afloat in His grace: “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”

And as you live according to His words, He makes you a lifeline for those still perishing all around you to grab hold of for eternal rescue: “As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” Up until that great day, everything burns away in one last lightning strike to reveal Christ and His kingdom behind it all, and you get to see with your eyes how He’s been at the helm this entire time, as the Apostle concludes: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

This is the plan. The whole plan. And it’s a good one.

Now the peace that passeth all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

—Pastor Timothy T. Daub

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Hecla, SD

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Ministry by Mail is a weekly publication of the Church of the Lutheran Confession. Sermon archives, and subscription and staff information may be found online at www.clclutheran.org/ministrybymail. Audio Sermons are available at: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved