“Does Your Life Need Tension?” Mount Olive Lutheran Church Last Sunday of the Church Year Sermon November 24, 2024 – Mark 13:24-37

Mount Olive Lutheran Church / Pr. Ted A. Giese / Sunday November 23rd 2024: Last Sunday of the Church Year, Christ the King Sunday / Mark 13:24-37 “Does Your Life Need Tension?”

“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“But concerning that day or that hour, 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. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight O Lord. Amen.

Grace peace and mercy to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Good Christian Friends when you string a violin or guitar or tune a piano you need to have the right amount of tension between the beginning and end of where the string is fixed or you won’t be able to produce the sound you’re shooting for. Too tight, too slack and you’ll be out of tune, you don’t want to be flat where you don’t want to be flat and you don’t want to be sharp where you don’t want to be sharp. When things are all out of tune nothing sounds right and it’s hard to have joy in the sound created as the bow pulls across, as the fingers strum, or the pick plucks, or as the hammer drops on the string. Of course everything could be strung just right but with no skill it will all still sound horrible. Having the right amount of tension on a stringed instrument is one thing but what about tension in your life?       

When you set down the example of a musical instrument and look at your life tension is certainly something different. Tension is that feeling of nervousness that makes you unable to relax. It often comes when you are stretched between two things. There are times when people are stretched between the past and the present, their past and their present; today however is the Last Sunday of the Church Year and today there is a strong focus on being stretched between the present and the future, your present and your future: This moment and The Last Day, between the now and the End. Is there any relief for this tension? Can you relax in your Christian life? 

The End of something brings on either relief or anxiety: The end of the day, the end of a job, the end of a life, the end of hardship, the end of a meal, the end of the night, the end of the World, the End of time, the end of your time here in this life. If you feel nervousness about some of these things you are not alone. Jesus has something to say to you. On the one hand in the Gospel of Saint Matthew Jesus says, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble,”[1] and on the other hand Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading from Saint Mark, “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that [Son of Man] is near, at the very gates:” So Jesus says, “Be on guard, keep awake,” and He also says, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow.” This can create tension. Which is it? Am I to be looking ahead or am I to be focused on the present? Truly, it isn’t actually an either/or kind of thing it’s really a both/and kind of thing. When the question is asked, “Which is it? Am I to be looking ahead or am I to be focused on the present?” The answer is ‘yes.’

Here is good news for you, hopefully something to help you relax, something to relive the tension that Sin, Death, the Devil, the World, and that even you yourself put upon yourself in this life. And here it is: whether you are thinking of today or you are looking to The End you are not alone, Jesus is standing there with you. As a baptized child of God, in His Holy Word Jesus is here with you today in your joy, in your present tribulation, He comes to you in Holy Communion as He promises, and after your tribulation in life has passed, when the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken, on That Day —on The Last Day —there too Jesus stands, not apart from you but you standing there with Him there on The Last Day you are with Jesus. Saint Paul tells us that, “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”[2] So yes even on The Last Day you will not be alone, on The Last Day Jesus is with you and you are with Him, you will be together with all those who believe in Jesus, who put their hope in Jesus, who trust in Him. On That Day He is coming to redeem you, to bring to completion what He has begun in you, in your baptism. He comes to usher you into eternal life.[3] On that Day you are made new, along with all things.[4]

As wise King Solomon says in the book of Ecclesiastes, “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.”[5] Yet even knowing all this there is a great temptation to be high strung under the tension of it all, a great temptation to fear in the face of it, to be unsure as The End approaches. Perhaps you heard the readings this morning and you thought to yourself, ‘how dreadful, how frightful, how terrible, That Day will be!” knowing the uncertainties and fears common to mankind the Devil whispers in your ears ... “you’re not good enough for the love of God,” Jesus who loves you says, “God loved the world in this way, He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”[6] Sin whispers in your ears, “What you did was too evil to forgive,” Jesus who forgives you when you ask says, “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”[7] Death whispers in your ear, “Your life is over,” Jesus who died for you, who is risen from the dead for you, says, “I Am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.”[8] The World whispers in your ear, “if it feels good do it, if it makes you happy today do it, do whatever you have to do to be rich and satisfied in this life,” Jesus who resisted every temptation for you says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”[9] And there, in heaven, your heart will have no trouble, no tension, no anxiety, and no nervousness.  

Therefore because of Jesus, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”[10] When you worry, when you're anxious, when the tension of it all is getting to you talk to God about it: talk to your Lord Jesus about it. Seek out the mutual consolation of your brothers and sisters in Christ. When you don’t even know what to say, remember the Holy Spirit helps you in your weakness. Even when you do not know what to pray for, or how to pray for it, indeed Saint Paul teaches us that the Holy “Spirit Himself intercedes for [you] with groanings too deep for words.”[11]

Because we do not know The Day or The Hour of The End, we are called to live a life of watchfulness,[12] Jesus says, “Be on guard, keep awake,” don’t be caught sleeping. So what does the life of staying awake look like? Saint Jude says, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”[13] Essentially relax The End will come when The End comes, today let your tension and nervousness be set aside, keep your eyes on Jesus, pray in His name, congregate together as Christians like we’re doing today - and with the people around you - whoever they may be, whatever their situation - have mercy, have mercy, have mercy. The same mercy God gives you, give to others. Remember what we hear in the book of Hebrews, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. [That’s Jesus] And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see The Day drawing near.”[14] So what does that look like? Up to the last second it’s business as usual: “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength ... and love your neighbour as yourself.”[15]

You might relate to the idea of being like a guitar string or a violin string or a piano string under tension, you might feel like every note in your life is out of tune right now, you might even say, ‘my string is broken and I have no music in me,’ however you feel there is a reality beyond the emotional. Beyond the stress and anxiety and tension where you personally need not be stretched between your present circumstances and feelings and worries of what will come in The End, where you personally need not be stretched between your past circumstances and your present or future circumstances,  because Jesus is here now with you, and He is already there at The End for you with the keys to eternal life in His hand[16] and for you these keys are the keys of life and heaven because you are baptized into Him. Live life today trusting in Jesus’ forgiveness and remember on The Last Day, whenever that shall come Jesus, “will send out the angels and gather [us] from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” Dear ones you, in your resurrected body, will be gathered to Him and on That Day and it will not only be The End of the World it will also be the end of Sinning, the end of Death, the end of the Devil and the beginning of your Resurrected Life “for the former things have passed away.”[17] On That Day you will have perfect relief from all tension, nervousness and anxiety for all your tension, nervousness and anxiety will have likewise passed away. Amen.

Let us pray:

Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us, “take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire; for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.

[1] Matthew 6:34
[2] 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
[3] Philippians 1:6
[4] Revelation 21:1-5
[5] Ecclesiastes 7:8
[6] John 3:16  
[7] John 14:14
[8] John 11:25-26
[9] Matthew 6:19-21
[10] Philippians 4:6
[11] Romans 8:26
[12] Matthew 24:36; Matthew 25:13
[13] Jude 1:18-22
[14] Hebrews 10:23–25
[15] Mark 12:30-31
[16] Revelation 1:18
[17] Revelation 21:4

Photo Credit: Main photo of guitar strings strung from pexels.