2 Peter 3:8-14
Second Sunday in Adventย -ย 10 December 2017
Rev. John Derme
It has now been over two weeks since Thanksgiving. Are any of you getting impatient for Christmas? Kids, I know you're excited. You're ready to open your presents now. Maybe you've asked, "Why is it taking so long?" Many of you adults get to take some time off of work at Christmas time. You're ready for a day off now. Maybe you've thought, "Why is it taking so long." No matter how old you are, you may be looking forward to spending some time with family and friends at Christmas. Or maybe you are just ready for the hustle and bustle of the weeks ahead of Christmas to be over. Maybe you've complained, "Why is it taking so long."
It has now been over two thousand years since Jesus' coming at the first Christmas. Are any of you getting impatient for him to come again? Maybe you are excited to enjoy the blessings of the new heaven and new earth. Maybe you are ready for your work on earth to be over. Maybe you are looking forward to seeing your family and friends who have died. Maybe you just want be with Jesus. Many of us have thought, "Why is he taking so long?"
The apostle Peter wrote our Second Lesson to people who thought that Jesus was taking a long time to come. He wrote near the end of his life. He knew that he was about to be put to death, so he knew that he would not see his readers again in this life. He cared about them very much, even calling them his beloved, and wanted them to remain in the faith. He wanted to see them again in eternal life.
If people at the end of Peter's life, only seventy years after the first Christmas were thinking that Jesus was taking a long time to come back, then certainly his words also apply to us, who live nearly two thousand years after that first coming. Peter reminds us, too, of something very important: "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day."
Our perspective on time is limited by the fact that we live such short lives. None of us here today have lived even one hundred years. God's perspective, however, is eternal. A period of time that seems long to you and me isn't so long in the grand scheme of eternity. We understand how this works. Kids, you know when you are excited about going somewhere, so you ask your parents, "When are we going to leave?" And they tell you, "We'll leave in an hour." And you think, "O man, an hour is such a long time!" But adults, you are thinking, "I've only got an hour to get everything ready to leave!" I can't get anything done in an hour, it's such a short period of time to me. Well, you and I would all agree that a thousand years is a long period of time. But it's not long to the Lord. He understands that what seems long to us is not long at all.
Jesus has a very good reason that, two thousand years later, he has not come back yet. "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." Although we are not always patient with Jesus, he is being patient with us.
Our lack of patience can be a little selfish: I want the good gifts of heaven now! I don't want to suffer here anymore! But Jesus' patience is selfless. He wants what is good for people. He doesn't want anybody to go to hell. He wants every person to be with him in heaven. And so he patiently gives people time to hear his Word, to repent of their sins, and to trust in him for forgiveness.
Yet although he is patient, his judgment will eventually come. "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." Jesus' return will be as unexpected as a thief. He may seem slow in coming now, but when he appears, things will happen very quickly.
If you've been paying any attention to the fires that have been sweeping through California, then you are aware of how much can be destroyed in such a short amount of time. But these fires are just pinpoints on the map compared to what we will see on the last day. Then the fire will be so much larger and so much faster, and the destruction will be so much greater. It will engulf the entire heavens and earth. The sound that a wildfire makes as it burns the landscape is scary. But the roar of fire that covers the earth will be terrifying. As the fires burn California, we think, "What a waste, both of God's creation, and of what humans have built." But when Jesus comes, it will all go. All the wonders of the world, all the great monuments built by human hands, anything that anybody is proud of, mankind's greatest accomplishments. None of it will last.
Already at Peter's time, people were scoffing that, since Jesus had been gone for so long, he obviously wasn't coming back. Of course, many people today would make fun of us for preparing for him to return. But as time drags on, we may think that they are right. "Why is he taking so long? Maybe he isn't coming back. And even if he is, he is coming so slowly that he obviously isn't going to get here any time soon." The less aware we are of Jesus' coming, though, the more we will focus on our earthly lives. If we forget that Jesus is coming to take us to eternal life, then we will only think about what we can accomplish in this life. But Jesus reminds us that all of our eartly accomplishments will be destroyed. And if they are the focus of all of our efforts, we will burn in eternal fire.
If we think that, because Jesus has takes so long, he is not coming back, that is a fatal misunderstanding of his patience. It is the exact opposite of what God wants you to do! Instead, realize how patient the Lord has been with you! He has spoken his law and gospel through his messengers to you, so that you would repent of focusing on your earthly accomplishments and trust in his forgiveness. He has brought you to believe that Jesus is not only the judge, who will come at the last day, but he is also the Savior who came for you at Christmas. Jesus focused all of his efforts on living and dying for you, to keep you from suffering in hell and bring you to enjoy life in heaven. Jesus comes today through his Word to forgive your sins and declare you to be spotless, blameless, and at peace with him.
Through his law and gospel, Jesus has taught us everything we need to know to be ready for his coming. Peter says, "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming." What does it mean for your life right now that everything will be destroyed and all of mankind's most impressive works will come to nothing? Don't waste your time doing anything that you think will bring glory to you. Instead, live to please God and glorify him. This will never get the attention of the important people in our world, or look impressive to our society. But the only works that matter, in the end, are the ones we do in faith toward God and in thanks to Jesus for saving us.
If you think the Lord is being slow in his coming, then get to work doing what he wants you to do. When we are busy about the work of the Lord, our minds are conformed to his, so that we understand his patience and realize that time is short! We understand how eagerly he wants all people to be in heaven with him, and we want them there, too. The reason that he may seem like he is coming slowly is that he is waiting for people to repent. So when we participate in his work, we are working to accomplish repentence and faith in people's lives by the proclamation of his Word. This is work that endures forever.
"That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him." Peter has explained how the current heaven and earth are temporary. But once this world is destroyed by fire, the Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth for us, which will never pass away. There we will fully enjoy the righteousness that Jesus won for us when he came to earth the first time and that he gives us when he comes through his Word and sacraments now. There we will perfectly serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Even as we wait here for that new heaven and new earth, we will strive with all our ability to live out that reality on this earth.
Why is he taking so long? It may seem like he's coming slowly from our perspective, but he's not. He is coming now through his Word to bring people to repent of their sins and to trust in him. And just as he came at the first Christmas, he will come again soon to take us to the new heaven and new earth. He comes at exactly the right time.