P09_100808

Redeemer Lutheran Church
1084 W. Bullard Ave.
Fresno, CA 93711
Phone: (559) 439-8500
Fax: (559) 439-8585
office@redeemerfresno.com

The Reverend Clarence Eisberg
Phone: (209) 725-9082
Cell: (209) 631-3108
pastor@redeemerfresno.com

Worship ~ 8:30 a.m. & 10:00 a.m.
Family Ministries ~ 10:00 a.m.
Holy Communion ~ 2nd & 4th Sundays

Connecting People to Jesus
and to One Another!
www.lcms.org

The Reverend
Clarence Eisberg

April 1, 33 AD. There are 722,500 days from April 1, 33 AD until May 21, 2011, an
infallible, absolute proof that May 21, 2011 exactly 7000 years after the flood is the date
of the rapture, the Day of Judgment.

Of course if you have listened to his program and his unusual interpretation of scripture
you will know that he previously predicted the end of the world would be September 1994.

Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson predicted that Russia was the great Gog and Magog
mentioned in Ezekiel 18. When Russia collapsed in the early 90’s, loosing its status as a
world power, they were forced to change their positions.

Hal Lindsey, in his book “the Late Great Planet Earth”, which sold over 30 million copies,
predicted in his book that 40 years after the establishment of the country of Israel Jesus
would return to earth and 7 years after that return the church would be raptured to
heaven. The problem is this: Israel was established in 1948. Christ should have returned
in 1988 and the church raptured in 1995. I have a little news for us all. If this is heaven we’
re all in a lot of trouble. In 1997 Hal Lindsey changed his predictions.

William Miller (1782-1849) studying the books of Daniel and Revelation, predicted that
March 21, 1844 was the precise date when Christ would return to earth. When this day
came and went without the promised appearance of Christ, Miller changed his prediction
to October 22, 1844. It came and went. Many of his followers deserted him but many
stuck around and today you know them as the 7th Day Adventist.

The question raised is this: What did Jesus mean when he told his disciples and us to
watch? How are we to be “ready”?

First: We are to get ready by watching for the Master’s return. This text is part of the
larger words of Jesus in Luke 12.

Jesus had just finished dealing with a young man who was jealous because his brother
was not dividing the family estate as he had hoped. He wants Jesus to resolve the
matter. He wanted half, not a third. Jesus said, “I am not your lawyer young man bit I will
give you a piece of advice: ‘watch out’ be on your guard against all kinds of greed.

To drive home the point Jesus tells the parable of the “rich fool” who had an abundance
of crops and was going to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. Jesus conludes: “It
is better to be rich towards God.”

Jesus turns away from the young man and talks to his disciples. “Do not worry so much…
do not worry about your life…what you will eat or what you will wear….consider the lilies …
they do not labor or spin…. Yet I tell you even Solomon in all his splendor was not
dressed like one of these….do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink…. For the
pagan world runs after such things and your Father in heaven knows you need them….
But seek his kingdom and these things will be given to you…” (Luke 12:22-34)

“For where you treasure is, there your heart will be.”
Jesus wants us to have our priorities straight.

A few years ago Curtis Mayfield passed away. Curtis Mayfield was the lead singer for the
“Impressions.” The “Impressions” had many, many hit records. One of their songs had
the following words to the chorus:

“People get ready, there’s a train, a coming’
You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board.
All you need is faith, to hear the diesels hummin’
Don’t need no ticket, You just thank the Lord.”

It is the very message Jesus is giving to his disciples. They are to be ready. They are not
to be afraid; they are to be dressed for service and ready to open the door when the
Master returns.

The train is coming. One day Jesus will return and we must be ready. But we are an
impatient people. That is why it is so very hard to listen to Jesus when He tells us to watch
for His return. Watching for any length of time is always a difficult thing. That’s why it’s
not surprising that so many people have completely put off the idea of watching for Jesus
to return. It’s hard to do.

It’s not part of our nature. Knowing that we are impatient. Knowing that we always want
immediate results, one TV weight loss program after another, promises that we will lose a
gazillion pounds in a nanosecond if you pop their pill. And so that you don’t have to wait
for the product to be delivered to your door you can spend an extra 10 dollars for
overnight shipping.

We are impatient people. When you go to a department store, or the grocery store, you
scan the registers to see which line is the shortest; you check out the stuff in the other
customer’s carts to see who will take longer to ring out. At the bank’s drive up teller
window you go where the line is the shortest. As the fast food place you get upset if the
persons in the cars ahead of you put in a big order. College students get freaky as they
wait to sign up for needed classes or to buy books.

And in case you are not convinced…. Talk to your child’s teacher and ask what the week
is like just before Christmas vacation, which in some places is called “winter break”.

We’re impatient people. Indeed, the human race has always been impatient. Scan the
Scriptures to see if it isn’t true. Abraham grew impatient waiting for God to provide him
with a child. The Children of Israel grew impatient with their years of slavery in Egypt.
Throughout the Psalms we can read the words of the writers pleading: “How long, O Lord,
how long?”

When Jesus did show up, He found that most people had given up on watching
altogether. Herod, the King had stopped watching. It took a visit from some eastern Wise
Men to remind him of the promised savior. The Pharisees had stopped watching. They
had grown quite content with following their own rules and regulations and felt no need for
a Redeemer. The Sadducees had stopped waiting for a Savior. Educated men, they
came to believe that the here and now was more important. Have times and people
changed? I don’t think so.

Today, people are still so caught up in the rat race, that they have forgotten about their
spiritual race. Or if they have spiritual interest, which many, many Americans do… They
have rejected the idea of waiting for Jesus to return and have found or created their own
theology that tells them that God is a God of Love who would not judge their behavior or
reject their entrance into heaven. In that vain, Mormon theology is classic Americana…
“There are three heavens…. Telestial, terrestrial, celestial. There is no hell. The
atonement of Jesus happened in the Garden of Gethsemane not on the cross. “You have
the potential of becoming a god” (D&C 132.20) (C.A.R.M. org.)

Jesus is warning the disciples and us to “watch”, to be “patient” for He will return. If you
forget about the day your income tax is due, that doesn’t mean you don’t have taxes to
pay. If you forget to renew your driver’s license by the date of expiration, that doesn’t
mean it remains valid. Your forgetfulness has nothing to do with reality.

There is a train a coming. Jesus is coming. You can put Him on a shelf; your can put Him
to the side, you can invent your own theology…… but when Jesus returns he will take
those to heaven who believe in Him and consign to hell those who do not trust in God’s
provision for the forgiveness of sin purchased on the cross of Jesus, verified by His
resurrection from death.

Neither I nor anyone else can tell you when Jesus is going to return on Judgment Day.
But I can tell you that by this time next month, next year, Jesus will have come back for
some of us. We were shocked this week by the sudden death of our friend and fellow
member Mert….. I know there are thousands of people who will go to work this week and
say: “I’ll take my chances.” “I have time… or I just don’t think my time us up yet…”   My
friends there will be a death certificate filled out.

I do not say this to frighten you. Because if you have faith in Jesus, the Day of Judgment
is a day of vindication.   The Apostle Peter wrote: “Dear friends…. You must understand
that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They
will say, “Where is the “coming” Jesus promised?” Ever since our fathers died, everything
goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” Do not forget this one thing, dear
friends…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. But
the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 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. Since everything will be destroyed…. What kind of people ought you to be? … You
ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the Day of His return.

One final story: several years ago, the London Transit Authority had a problem.
Customers were complaining that their bus wasn’t stopping to pick them up. The
passengers were in the right place; they were there at the right time, but the bus blew on
by. The LTA released a statement to explain the situation. They said it was impossible
for the drivers to stay on schedule if they always had to stop and pick up passengers. My
friends, it’s just the opposite for your God. So that you can be picked up, God sent his
Son. So you can be picked up. He has delayed His coming…. But the delay will not go on
forever. He is coming… be ready, ready to open the door when He knocks.