Signs

The events surrounding us, so many of them troubling, might well be interpreted as signs: signs of the  Lord's coming. Examples might be the draconian lockdowns imposed on people around the world, forcing them to do what  they do not wish to do; or the ubiquitous facemasks that now, suddenly, we see also around the world. Or the great violence in our cities, record-setting violence, while at the same time the police forces shrink and are defunded; or, perhaps worst of all, the prevalence of abortion and its legality: women who want to destroy their unborn infants may do so legally, and only this week people were arguing before the Supreme Court that they should have the right to do so. Troubling things, ghastly things, perplexing things. Are they not signs? Signs? Or in another sense, the many things that have been present for centuries. What of the fall of Jerusalem in 70? The uprooting of the nation of Israel, burning Jerusalem to  the ground? Signs! Or what of the very crucifixion of the Lamb of God, the Holy One of Israel, treated like a criminal and impaled to death on a cross? A sign! And in another sense, there have been signs since the very beginning: the sun daily rises and sets, and so the moon, as the Psalmist declares, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Every day the sun rises and sets in blood; every day a reminder of the death and resurrection of Christ, and of the fact that he will  return again in glory. The signs today are ever-increasing, are everywhere, that he is coming! And what shall we do? Repent, every one, and cry for mercy, which we surely need, for we are unworthy to stand before him. Except if we have his worthiness, which receive here at the altar. And so, receiving it, let us, on seeing the signs, look up and lift up our heads, for our redemption draws nigh. Sermon for Advent II. The video is here.