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THE TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Nov. 17, 2024 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto OPENING HYMN: 655 “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” by Martin Luther https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb5d_Do9xy0 The Invocation Page 184 Confession and Absolution Page 184-185 The Introit – Psalm 48:11-14, antiphon: Mark 13:13b The one who endures to the end will be saved. Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments! Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. Glory be to the Father and to the Son And to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. The one who endures to the end will be saved. Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy) Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us. Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And with thy Spirit. Collect Prayer: O Lord, by Your bountiful goodness release us from the bonds of our sins, which by reason of our weakness we have brought upon ourselves, that we may stand firm until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Old Testament Reading: Daniel 12:1-3 Psalm 16 Epistle Reading: Hebrews 10:11-25 Our Gospel Reading: Mark 13:1-13 THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192 HYMN OF THE DAY: 508 “The Day Is Surely Coming Soon” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJcXREt1nwM SERMON The One Who Endues – In the Gospel text today our Lord tells us, “the one who endues to the end will be saved.” But we may ask ourselves privately, can I? Today we’re two weeks away from Advent. As the Church year draws to a close, we’re reminded that al; things come to an end, even our own lives in this world. The Lord wants us to be ready. There are two things the Church does as she lives in these end times. And it’s important we understand what these two things are in order to know the will of God, the role of the Church, and our calling as Christians. First, we tell the Good News of Jesus, the Gospel, to those we know, and support the Church in attendance and inviting others to attend. This is evangelism, the Great Commission. Secondly, we stand firm in the Christian faith. When the time comes to witness to our Saviour, we needn’t worry about what we’re going to say. We’ve memorized the salvation message of John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” We hear this Word in preaching and in our Bible Studies. Jesus died for our sins on the cross. Faith that He was God’s only Son, and made complete payment for our sins, faith worked within our hearts by the Holy Spirit using the means of grace, Word and Sacrament, brings salvation and eternal life. Every Lutheran has heard that promise. It’s in the Apostles’ Creed we recite. We face challenges and hardships every week, sometimes every day. But do we endure in the faith? Do we stand fast? No, at times we give in to the world’s desires and expectations, and our own human frailties and nature. You probably remember the Bible account in Daniel about three young fellows, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who live in the land of Babylonia during the exile. Nebuchadnezzar was king. He wanted these young men to bow down to an idol, a false God, to a symbol of human wickedness and error the king had had constructed. These three young men knew the First Commandment and say to the king – “we can’t do that, we won’t do that. So, Nebuchadnezzar gets mad as a hornet and threatens, you better, because I’m going to heat up a furnace and throw you in it. You know what they say; we have no need to answer you King, because our God will deliver us. The king got even angrier, and said heat up that furnace seven times hotter than usual. It was so hot that even the men who bound up the three Hebrew fellows and threw them in were themselves killed by the flames. What happens? The king sees not three. but four men in the fiery furnace, and they’re walking around unhurt. One looked like a son of the gods according to the words of the Bible. Jesus is always Saviour. You can endure to the end, through Him. Daniel the prophet lived in Babylon a little after the time of the three Jewish men. Daniel was well acquainted with trouble in his life, and the world. He also runs into a king who says worship me and my idols. Daniel says no, and his penalty for not giving into the world and false gods is getting thrown into a lions’ den. But his reward from God is protection. God not only delivers Daniel, but let’s him see beyond his current time into the future of the New Testament. Daniel sees Jesus Christ coming in His glory, for the prophet’s comfort, and ours. In our Epistle reading we see Christ described as our High Priest. Yet not like the Old Testament priests who had to offer sacrifices again and again because animal sacrifices couldn’t permanently take away sin. No, only Jesus, the perfect sinless sacrifice, the only Son of God, could do that. The Letter to the Hebrews explains that all of us have strength, in God, because of the work, because of the sacrifice of Jesus. And when we’re drawn to God, we see that there is our security, and sure defense. There is the confidence and endurance we could never have on our own. The writer of Hebrews says, why would anyone be so silly as to worry about ‘doing’ something to earn their way into Heaven. Because when it comes to the work of forgiveness and salvation, that’s already been done, by Christ, alone. When Jesus died on the cross, God saw to it that the curtain separating the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn in two. The separation that had existed between God and man, that happened because of human sin, was removed. We are reunited with our Heavenly Father. We don’t have to cower before the Almighty, because thanks to our loving Saviour, you and I, as Christian believers, are covered by the Holy merits of Christ. Every day when we pray, and especially in our Divine service, we confess our sins and have the promise of absolution, of forgiveness. From the Bible we know Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We are not threatened by every challenge thrown at us by every false teaching concerning Christianity we see in the media or hear in school or workplace. Jesus died for your sins, and the sins of the world. And he wants us to know we are united to Him and to each other in the Body of Christ, His Church. That means it is a mistake to think we can, or should, be isolated Christians. We are meant for fellowship with God, and other believers, in the Church that preaches and teaches God’s Word correctly as Law and Gospel, and where the Sacraments of Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper are administered properly. So, we go back to our Gospel reading, to the very words of Christ. Jesus is coming out of the Temple with the disciples. The twelve are impressed with the beautiful buildings. Jesus says don’t get too attached to them, because Christ knows come Good Friday the temple is going to become obsolete. The temple is where they offered animal sacrifices every day. Yet come Good Friday at 3 p.m. that curtain in the Holy of Holies, the divider between God and man, is going to be removed – permanently. The temple will be unnecessary, because Christ will have entered into the temple of Heaven with the one and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, yours and mine. Jesus knew the Romans would come and tear down the temple in 70 A.D. But the real sacrifice for all time, Jesus, would stand, last, endure. And because Christ endures, through Him, you will as well. We can humbly trust in God, look to Him in faith while we bear witness to our Saviour. Jesus says persecution is hard now and will get tougher. Even one’s own brother will deliver him over to death. Children will rise up against parents. Believers will be hated for His names’ sake, for the sake of faith in Christ. But remember, we are joined to Christ, to His suffering and His resurrection, in our Baptism. We are joined to Him through the Church, the Word, through Holy Communion. The author of the Book of Hebrews explains, He is the founder and perfecter of our faith. So much for the heretics who say we ‘make a decision for, we chose’ Jesus. He made clear to the disciples, and to us, “I chose you.” (John 15:16) And so here is how I pray you go on this day – not in the belief, or doubt, that you can endure, but as Christians, that Christ has endured to the end for you. May the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. Amen. SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) Page 195 Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) Hymn 962 Post-Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 CLOSING HYMN: 923 “Almighty Father, Bless the Word” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVArufuXXgI