It's Night and Day :: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
For you are all sons of light, sons of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake.
The difference is night and day. If you’ve ever switched from driving a Monte Carlo to a four-wheel drive Silverado, you definitely know what I mean. The difference in handling is night and day. If you’ve ever shot a rifle from 500 yards with iron sights, and then switched to a scope, you know what I mean. The improvement in accuracy is night and day. If you ate a TV dinner in the 1970s and then tried them again recently, you know what I am talking about. The difference in taste is night and day.
These comparisons are striking and obvious. They are like night and day.
In the same way, our text from Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica speaks about us and them. It describes us as the sons of light, the sons of the day. It suggests those of the world belong to the sons of darkness, the sons of the night. The difference between them and us, particularly as we confront the end of the world, is the difference between night and day, quite literally. Brothers, we don’t want you to grieve like those who have no hope.
That is what this week is all about. As we close in on the end of the Church Year ... can you believe it, it is next week ... we look forward to the end of the world, or at least the world as we know it. We have no reason to grieve and every reason to look forward to the end of all the madness around you.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the end is coming. The great day of the Lord is near, as Zephaniah reminded us. You might be tempted to think that it is some distant kind of day, but it’s not. Because we are in the light, we see the seasons. We can read the signs of the times. The difference between how you and the world approach it is night and day.
Paul writes, Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.
What he means is that we can easily sense that the end is near, and there is no reason for us to fear it. We see the tribulations. We see the chaos. But we have a living hope. You are destined for salvation. Christ has won the day for you.
Meanwhile, the world continues to hate you from the darkness.
The world doesn’t care how generous or sacrificial you are. See, they say, we are too. The world doesn’t care how much you serve or how compassionate you are. See, they say, we do too.
The world hates you because they hate the One we love (Jn 15:21-24). The world wants their God to be nothing but lovable and forgiving of their way of life. The world wants him to give them participation trophies. The world longs to be judged by their deeds. The world wants God to ignore their sin.
It is not that the unbelieving world disavows the existence of a god, or that they are irreligious ... That is true, but the reality is, they have created their own god and have simply made Him what they want Him to be. They worship themselves, relishing their life in immorality, their freedom to murder their babies on demand. They aren’t interested in the Gospel. Ultimately, the day of the Lord will catch them prepared.
But we know better. We are children of the light.
But since we belong to the day, let us be alert, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
Each day that passes brings the end of time one day closer for sure.
We are fully aware, as Paul says, that the day of the Lord, that last great day of resurrection, will come just like a thief in the night. That is to say, it will come suddenly, unexpectedly, and with no warning ... as the world ignores their sin, ignores their lack of morality.
One moment everything will seem so normal. Then it will be very different. The father of light will disrupt their darkness and leave them trembling.
One moment we won’t see him. Then we will. It is going to happen when the world least expects it. When the world around the church and outside of the church finally convinces itself that nothing is going to happen, and that the end ... long-promised in Scripture ... is really not going to come, then it will happen.
Some think the end is coming someday, but certainly not today ... or tomorrow. So they don’t worry about their way of life. That day is going to catch them all off-guard. Will it catch you off guard?
They will be like a pregnant woman who went shopping or to work, and suddenly became disabled by the onset of labor. They will be caught flat-footed and red-handed in their sin and unbelief.
You, on the other hand, should never be caught off-guard. You know it is coming!
If you haven’t wrapped your mind around that thought yet, start wrapping! The end is coming, and it is coming soon. It will change your life in ways that are as clear as night and day.
In your baptism, God has poured out the light of the Gospel into your life. He has cast the light of Christ upon your darkness and made you children of the day, to live in the light of his Word. The light of God’s Word in Christ has revealed what a terrible thing sin is. It has called you into repentance, and it has revealed your savior. We know how badly we struggle in sin. We know how great a price was paid to set us free from it!
You do understand, don’t you?
Jesus died on a cross for that sin. God poured out his anger and wrath upon Jesus for your sin ... for your gossip ... for your accusations against each other ... for your unwillingness to forgive one another ... for your failure to hear God’s Word ... for your greed, and jealousy, and arrogance, and ungratefulness.
The wages of those sins is death. You deserve the punishment for each of those sins. But God so loved the world he sacrificed his only son for you so that all who look to him will not perish but will be saved.
This is the light God has cast to expose your darkness.
So thank God ... you who now confess this with your mouth and believe that God raised Christ from the dead, you can see now how he has made you children of light.
The Light of the World has exposed your sin and your need for a savior. And in this faith that he gave you, you have the certainty that you will obtain his salvation.
Like the man in the Parable of the Talents, the Lord of heaven and earth has forgiven your unpayable debt on account of Jesus. And you who believe that Jesus is the Christ know that you are not destined for wrath, but to obtain salvation through (him), who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live for him.
Not only do we get to live for him, he is now living for us, giving us living hope that we will be with him in paradise.
So heed the Word which calls you to abstain from every form of evil. Turn from the rotting fruits of the flesh ,,, of doubt and lust and pride that threaten to steal your hope.
Turn back to God’s gifts of Word and sacrament, gifts that make us whole. Your lives are night and day different from others in the world. Bear the fruit of God’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
On this last day of the church year, we face the end of the world. It is a somber and serious topic. But it is not a cause for fear. It is a cause for rejoicing and yearning and looking forward. God is with us every step of the way, and even the end of the world is not the end. Of the world, yes, it is the end, but not the end for us. God has destined us for salvation!
Whether we live or sleep, our hope is sure, and we will live forever. So, for the Christian, the end of this life and the end of this world are, like the end of the church year, part of the plan of God. They are not a cause for fear or panic. They are a cause for remembering God’s faithfulness and love, and encouraging one another to hold fast and be faithful and never lose hope.
Sometimes you can see the fear of the world about this approaching end. It’s reflected in the endless exercise programs to stave off death, special diets to postpone death and aging, pills and treatments to hide from the reality that they all fear, and desperately try to avoid ... death. We don’t have to embrace it either, because we are of life.
We take care of our bodies too, but the difference is night and day. They panic. We trust God. They fear. We look forward with hope. They think it is the end, and when they are reminded that there is a judgment to come, they try to make themselves believe that death is the end. We know better. And, sadly, so do they.
But we have the hope, the comfort, and one another. And so we prepare. We live as His holy people and we encourage one another, and we share the good news of Jesus and of forgiveness and of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing.