Pastor Tim Patoka
A Time to Yearn for the End
November 26, 2023
Yearn for the Lord to Return 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 What days do you yearn for, days you look forward because of what will happen on or after that day? If you’re a student, then you’re likely yearning for the day when the fall semester is official over whether it’s December 15 for the U of A or the 22nd at the latest for grade schools and high schools. If you’re a football fan, then you’re yearning for the Super Bowl on February 11. If your team is doing well, you’re looking forward to seeing them advance to the championship. If your team is down and out, then you’ll get another chance after February 11. Perhaps you’re yearning for the day when your family is together again like you had this past Thanksgiving Break. Whether it’s Christmas next month or much later, you’re already looking forward to it. On this Last Sunday of the Church Year, we turn our attention to the Last Day and the end of things as we know it. On it, our Savior Jesus Christ will return with power, glory, and might without anyone missing it or mistaking it. Once back, he will raise the dead and judge both the living and recently dead on the basis of their faith in him as their Savior. After passing that just and final sentence, he will then gather his children to be with him in heaven and sadly send the rest to eternal punishment and separation from him. No one knows when the Last Day will come except God. It could be today, tomorrow, eventually, or who knows when. Regardless of when that day will come, we Christians yearn for our Lord to return. For it fills us with hope that death is but a sleep even if we’re grieving a Christian loved one’s death. This yearning fills us with anticipation of what will be ours after for we’ll forever enjoy heaven and all its blessings in full with every Christian and the Lord himself. When Paul wrote these words to the Christians in Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), they were struggling with a sad yet all too common problem: the death of a loved one, specifically a Christian. Evidently, they were grieving like those who have no hope. They thought that anyone who passed away before the Lord returned had missed out on heaven and they would never see them again. The very thought of that understandably filled them with hopeless grief. So Paul writes these words to comfort them, reminding them that death is not final as the Lord will confirm when he returns to raise the dead. No one will miss out on the Lord’s return, not even though who passed away long before, been forgotten, and are nothing more than mere atoms. For the Lord will 1
Pastor Tim Patoka
A Time to Yearn for the End
November 26, 2023
raise the dead with the same body they had before with his almighty, omnipotent power as seen in creation. For Christians, their body will be better than before for it’ll be without sin and transformed to be glorious and imperishable (1 Corinthians 15). Once our bodies are raised and reconstructed, our souls will then be reunited with them like now so we can witness the Lord’s return with the still living. Because of that future resurrection, Paul is correct to compare death to a sleep, especially when it’s a Christian who has passed away. Sleep is temporary and, assuming it’s good quality, also peaceful and restful. When we go to sleep, we expect to later wake up. While we sleep, we are at peace because we’re taking a break from life. When we wake up, we are rested and ready to take on the new day. In the same way, a Christian’s death is like sleep in all the good ways. We enter the sleep of death knowing that it’s temporary for Jesus will raise us up on the Last Day along with everyone else. While in the sleep of death, we’re at peace because we’re removed from the trials and tribulations of this world while our soul is enjoying heaven’s blessings right then and there. When we wake up from the sleep of death, we’re rested and ready to be judged not guilty for our sins and continue living in heaven! Except now it’ll be with body and soul together again. That’s the hope we have as Christians! When death claims one of our brothers and sisters in the faith, we can grieve their passing with hope that their death is not final. It’s but a sleep that is temporary, peaceful, and restful. That’s why we yearn for the Lord to return so he can confirm this hope with the resurrection of the dead. We also yearn for the Lord to return because of what will happen after: our Lord gathers us and every Christian to him forever. In today’s Gospel (Matthew 25:31-46), we heard how Jesus will eternally separate his children from unbelievers as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. Counted among his sheep are Christians like you and me gathered here today. We’ll also meet famous figures from Bible history like Adam, Eve, Noah, Moses, and David. There will be our Christian loved ones we had to say goodbye to because they left us or we left them. And there will be countless others we don’t recognize from every nation, tribe, people, and language (Revelation 7:9) as well as people we never figured for Christians. All of us will enter heaven and enjoy its blessings in full with body and soul together again. Sin and its consequences will be no more. We’ll be with the Lord in-person. We’ll never say goodbye. And so it will continue forever and never get old. Do you now see why we Christians yearn for the Lord to return? To confirm the hope we have when grieving because of the resurrection of the dead? To usher in a 2
Pastor Tim Patoka
A Time to Yearn for the End
November 26, 2023
new lifestyle of heavenly joy and bliss? Because when the Lord does return, all this will happen and it will be ours. But how much do you actually yearn for the Lord to return? Perhaps it’s hard when death claims a Christian loved one and grief overtakes you. We know from experience and science that death should be final. The coping mechanisms we find from non-Christian sources aren’t that helpful: to celebrate someone’s life because there’s more to celebrate; to keep someone’s memory alive as long as possible by telling stories, cracking jokes, or continuing traditions; to cling to ideas not found in Scripture like so-and-so looking down on us, still with us, pleading to God on our behalf, or coming back in a different form. Even if we are grounded in the Bible’s hope of the resurrection, we can still be filled with irrational thoughts and raw emotions that this impending goodbye will be forever. Perhaps we do not yearn for the Lord to return because we don’t look forward to what will come after. Nothing in this life is forever. Why would we expect that to suddenly change? Maybe there are Christians you don’t want to spend eternity with. Brothers and sisters in Christ you’ve refused to forgive as Christ has forgiven you. Known friction spots that come up from spending too much time together as may have already had happened this Thanksgiving Break. Why would you want to spend eternity with them? Perhaps we simply want to keep our distance from the Lord. We have skeletons in our closet that fill us with shame to this day. We’ve purposefully hung on the fringe of Christianity. Why would we want to be closer to the Lord than we are now? We’ll soon learn why we cannot help but yearn for the Lord to return. But first, let’s shore up our confidence that he will return. We base our certainty on the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. Paul uses an if/then argument when he writes, “Indeed, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then in the same way we also believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 4:14 EHV) If this happens, then this will happen. If Jesus has died and risen (as he surely has), then he will come back and bring all Christians with him. To further prove that this promise is from God himself and not Paul’s own opinion and wish, he says, “In fact, we tell you this by the word of the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15 EHV) As such, we cannot help but yearn for the Lord to return. For when he does, he will confirm the hope we now have when grieving a Christian’s death when he raises the dead to life. Contrary to what the world may say, death is but a sleep that is temporary, peaceful, and restful. Contrary to what many other faith traditions and 3
Pastor Tim Patoka
A Time to Yearn for the End
November 26, 2023
worldviews say, we will see our Christian loved ones again as we did before. Except this time, it’ll be even better than before. We cannot help but yearn for the Lord to return because he will usher in a much better quality of life than we could ever dream of. Not only will we continue to be not guilty of sin because of Jesus, we’ll never sin again. We’ll see our Savior in the flesh and learn which artist was the closest in capturing his likeness. No longer will bad things happen to good people for there will only be good things happening to perfect people. Our broken bodies will be fully functioning and our diseased minds will be in their prime. Sin will no longer be a wedge between us and our neighbor so we can honestly enjoy each other’s company. And the best part of it all? It will last longer than Thanksgiving Break or vacation. It’ll last for eternity, without end. These words of comfort are for us to hear, learn, and take to heart. And when we find that our Christian siblings need of a reminder, let’s carry out Paul’s closing wish, “Therefore, encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:18 EHV) Encourage one another with these words when we grieve a Christian’s death so that we grieve with the hope of the resurrection. Encourage one another with these words when life gets us down because we know this too shall pass and what will come after is better by far. Encourage one other with these words so that we may always yearn for the Lord to return as he surely will when that Last Day finally comes. Amen.
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