November 13, 2022
Friends,
Sunday is the second-to-last Sunday of the Church Year. Here’s what Nils Laache said about the end of the Church Year: “Very appropriately, the end of the Church Year is when we focus on the end of the world. The last few Sundays of the Church Year remind us that one day this world will come to an end, and Christ will fulfill His promise to return and ‘judge the living and the dead.’ We are to be ready for His return, and prepare ourselves by diligent use of the Means of Grace. Nor is the Last Judgment something we need fear. The Church is not a society trying to create heaven on earth. We are the Bride awaiting her Bridegroom, who will take us from the troubles and anxieties of this earth to our place prepared in heaven.”*
On Sunday, we’ll sing a hymn about the end of the world:
The day is surely drawing near
When Jesus, God’s anointed,
In all His power shall appear
As judge whom God appointed.
Then fright shall banish idle mirth,
And flames on flames shall ravage earth
As Scripture long has warned us.
If you look closely at the painting above, you’ll see how one 16th century Lutheran painter pictured the final judgment. It’s harrowing.
But it’s not meant to terrify us. We anticipate the end of the world and God’s final judgment not, as so many do, in grotesque fascination. We’re not trying to frighten ourselves with fairy tales and superstitions. Instead, we’re working to keep in mind God’s Word, which has never failed and never will. God’s Word about the end of the world is meant to bring us hope, for when Jesus comes (and we pray that he comes quickly!), we will finally be vindicated over sin and death and the devil. Finally, at long last, we will see everything that we have believed.
But we must be prepared. And so the call is to steadfastness of faith. Spend these days and weeks, and whatever months and years lie ahead for you, learning to hold fast to God’s promises. Learn from his goodness and mercy, and set your minds on heavenly things.
*Excerpt from: Book of Family Prayer, by Nils Laache (1831-1892)
You can read it online here: https://archive.org/details/bookoffamilypray00laac, or you can find it in print here: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Family-Prayer-Meditations-According/dp/B00UDCLAO0
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
COMING EVENTS:
Family Night – Wednesday, November 9 @ 5:30pm
Elder’s/Council – Thursday, November 10 @ 6 & 7pm
Women’s/Men’s Bible Study – Wednesday, November 16 @ 6 & 8pm