Steadfast in a Shaking World

Beloved in Christ, human history is characterized by movement. The world moves. Nations move. History moves. Culture moves. People move, often in anxious, restless directions. And the Scripture readings appointed for this Sunday show us the movement of God in history clearly. The prophet Malachi speaks of a day that burns like an oven, when the arrogant and the evildoer will be swept away like stubble, blown and burned, leaving nothing behind. Jesus in our reading from Luke describes signs in the sun and the moon and the stars, roaring seas, and people fainting with fear and foreboding. Everything is shaking. Everything is in motion.                     

And into that world of instability and unrest, the Word of God speaks a single command:
Stand firm. Stand fast. Lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. Today the Lord teaches His Church to stand firm when everything else moves. And He gives you everything you need to do just that.

Find out more in this sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent from St. John's Lutheran Church of Oakes, ND!