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This Week's Sermon THE FIRST SUNDAY in ADVENT 30 November 2008 "Will You Be Awake?" Mark 13:32-37 LSB Series B Vicar Gerald D. Heinecke Soli Deo Gloria!

War is all about the surprise. No one knows for certain when the next war will begin except for the one who starts it. What if we knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor? What if we knew Al Qaida would hijack four planes and would attack the Pentagon and the World Trade Towers? I would like to think we would have stopped them if we had known.

If you know that a surprise attack is coming you can wait and ambush the attacker. One of the greatest set ups was the Battle of Midway. The United States knew the Japanese were coming to attack Midway, they just had to lie in wait. Often times though we don't know when or where the attack will occur. We just know it will happen. You know they have to come through on a certain trail. You have to stay awake and wait not knowing when they come.

The second coming of Christ can be described as a surprise attack that you know is coming. We know Christ is coming, but we have no idea when. Jesus did not even know when he would come. He says, 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.

Sometimes your life can be described as a surprise attack. Some are great. Maybe you have found out that you are expecting a baby. You may have had a relative or friend make a surprise visit. You could find out that you have received money from a will.

Some surprises aren't so great. A sudden stroke, heart attack, or cancer may leave you debilitated, unable to even care for yourself. A deer jumps out on to the road causing you to crash, ruining your vehicle. You might walk into work and finding out you have now lost a great job because the company decided to downsize.

Now let us dive into our text and think about the expected suprise the servants are awaiting. 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. This whole passages hinges on the doorkeeper staying awake. The doorkeeper was very important during the time of Christ because without him no one would be able to get in from the outside. The Jewish house was set up with a door where you entered a courtyard. Before you would reach the living quarters you would pass storage areas, as well as an area where they did their daily chores, and there was an even a barn for the animals. After all these things you would finally come to the rooms where they ate and slept. Thus the doorkeeper was quite important, especially at night if anyone came to visit or arrived late.

So our text continues, 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 cock crows (at 3am), or in the morning-lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. What would happen if your boss found you asleep on the job? Most likely you would end up fired. It is interesting that Jesus speaks of the doorkeeper at night. What is so bad about the nighttime? As you think about that, think about when crime primarily occurs. A higher percentage of crime is at night. For many we are most vulnerable to sin at night. The devil attacks us when we are most vulnerable, for we are children of the light, not of darkness. We learned this in 1 Thessalonians 5. So we keep watch especially when we are vulnerable; we keep Satan outside the door because being asleep at the task is dangerous for the Christian.

Do I mean a literal sleeping? No, rather here Jesus means asleep in the faith. Being asleep in the faith means we are not active in our faith. It means we are not hearing the Word of God. It means we are not in the Divine Service where we receive God's protection, his holy armor, his good gifts of grace, and the gifts of the forgiveness of our sins. Falling asleep in faith allows for the Christian to be robbed of his salvation. It is dangerous for the Christian to fall asleep in his responsibility. What does it mean for the doorkeeper? It means that he is to keep the door shut to all sin and evil desires. A lot of responsibility and a lot of failure.

The biggest confusion though comes with the identity of the doorkeeper. Is he a believer or unbeliever? Some will say that both are doorkeepers. I have to decide whom I let in and whom I keep out. These people will also say we are to place the responsibility of our salvation on ourselves. I have to let Jesus into my heart. What they forget is I can't decide anything. I don't have a chance at being a doorkeeper apart from Christ because of my sin. Before Christ, we are so asleep at the task, you might as well call us dead, for that is what we are, dead in our sins.

Rather the doorkeeper is a trusted individual within the master's home. If all of you are doorkeepers expected to stay awake, then you are already part of the master's household. Your salvation is determined by you now knowing the Master's voice. Is it the master's word speaking to you or is it an imposter trying to get in? Will you be awake and aware that is the master?

What a relief it is to know that I am not given the position of doorkeeper until I have been made alive in Christ. I am not given the position of doorkeeper until I have been made a child of the light. I have not been made a doorkeeper until the Holy Spirit worked salvation into my life. This is how we are made to stay awake. We do not stay awake on our own. We cannot even initially be awake until we have received the free gift of grace.

What are the tools used to awaken us and keep us awake? We were awakened by the washing of the waters of Holy Baptism. As I have already said, before the Holy Spirit came to us we were not only asleep but we were dead in our sin. Jesus told Nicodemus how to be made alive. He says in John 3, Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. And of course Nicodemus didn't get it, so Jesus tells him plainly, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Our baptism makes us a member in the master's house. This is such a simple solution, yet it is a difficult thing to fully understand. It is amazing how such simple things as the water and the Word can work such a great thing in my life. Yet scripture over and over again proclaims it as true.

While Baptism gives us life and causes us to come awake it also serves as a daily reminder of our new birth. We learn in the fourth part on baptism, What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Our baptism serves as constant reminder of our need to look to the cross, to the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The purpose of daily remembering our baptism is to remember that when we given in to sin, there is forgiveness in repentance.

He also cares for our being through confession and absolution. When we give in at the door, allowing sin to enter us, we need that opportunity to repent of our sins. Confessing our sins and receiving the blessed assurance through absolution that our sin is forgiven is a wonderful gift. A gift our God knew we would need and has graciously given to relieve our guilt ridden consciences.

These two serve as opportunities to be awakened and to be renewed in our repentance, but we are given yet more. You know them as the Word and the sacrament. We are blessed to receive the Lord's body and blood. He knew we would need forgiveness of our sins, He knew we would need the strengthening of our body and soul. It is no surprise that to help us stay awake He would give us the food necessary for the task. In the following chapter, Mark 14, we see the son give the sustenance necessary to stay awake as he institutes the Lord's Supper.

We are kept awake by hearing God's Word, by knowing His Word. How else do we recognize the master's voice then to know what it sounds like and what it says? As we studied the end times, we read a passage in Revelation 13. There is a beast out there who seeks to deceive us. He looks like a lamb but has the voice of the dragon. He looks like he is from Christ, but speaks the words of the Devil.

There are many out in the world who would seek to deceive us. They would tell you that baptism is not necessary and that it does not bestow the Holy Spirit. There are many who would have you think that you do not truly receive the Lord's body and blood in the Lord's supper. The devil seeks to have you question your salvation and not believe that you have been fully forgiven of all your sins through these blessed sacraments.

It is important that we know the master's voice. That is why we are here in this church. We need to hear the Word. We need to understand it. Our faith is an ever growing thing. With his Word and the food that he gives to nourish our body and soul we can take up the call to be awake.

God's charge to us is to be on guard. Each task is necessary for the kingdom of God. Paul speaks at length in 1 Corinthians 12 regarding this subject. Paul says, to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. This is the same as Jesus saying in our text, a man going on a journey...puts his servants in charge, each with his work. One work is not better than another work. Each task that one does is necessary to the furthering of the Church as Paul tells us in 1 Cor 12, just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ....You are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church, apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Each does his own purpose for the church. Yet remember Paul shows us a more excellent way in Chapter 13, the way of love. The ultimate thing God has placed us in charge of is to love. And so we stay awake by remaining in our vocations. Our opportunities to do the tasks given to us are such a blessing as we serve the master's house joyfully.

Although life is a surprise and it often seems that nothing is constant we can count on one thing. We count on the continual promise of eternal life given to us through Jesus death on the cross for our sins. We trust in the salvation given to us. We trust that the gifts of God will keep us awake. Being the doorkeeper is no simple task but when the task is approached as a child of God using the gifts he has given to us we will never be surprised. We will be awake and we look forward to the unknown hour as well as to the certain promise of Christ's return.