Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Isaiah 51: 4-6

"Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples. ⁵ My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait. ⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

Do you remember going to a fair or a carnival? I like riding rides like the scrambler. When I was younger I rode the ride some call the round up. It was a round cage with places for everyone to stand against the outside. The ride began by spinning. Eventually the force of the spinning kept you from moving. Then the cage lifted and tilted where you going up and down as you spun. The first time I rode it as a very young child I was scared stiff. I couldn’t wait for it to end. I was glued to the wall and all I could think was when will it end? I was at the hands of someone else and I didn’t like where I was but all I could do is wait. A ride like this is different than a ride like a roller coaster. On a roller coaster you can see the end and get a feel for when it will end. But with a ride like this it ends when the person controlling it stops it. The ride operator is the only person that knows when it will end and that scared me silly.

We read Isaiah’s prophesy "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment." What happens to a worn out garment? You get rid of it right? Isaiah is prophesying the end of the earth. The heavens will vanish and the earth will wear out. This is a definite prophesy, at some point the heavens and the earth will end. The funny thing about this prophesy is that he doesn’t say when. When does it end?

Well maybe the gospel lesson will be more help with our question. Let’s read starting with verse 24. [Jesus said:] "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. Here we see what will happen. The sun and moon will be dark, the stars will fall, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. But it doesn’t say when. Let’s read a little more. "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. OK, now we are getting somewhere. When the sun and moon go dark and the stars fall from the sky Jesus’ coming is near. But wait, we still don’t know when. What about this part; Truly, I say to you, this generation will not passaway until all these things take place. Surely more than a generation has passed since Jesus spoke this so why hasn’t the earth ended? Well, actually the generation he is referring to there is the church. Those that descend from Israel and remember we have been grafted into the lineage of Israel. Romans 11:19 says; Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."

We are part of the generation that will not pass before these things take place. The church will be there until the end, it will not pass away. So we still don’t know when do we?

I think we will find the answer in the next passage. "But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Oh, so we will never know when the earth will come to an end, we just know it will end. That’s kind of like the carnival ride. I knew it would end but not when. It was controlled by someone else. The Father is the operator of this ride and only He knows when it will end.

We really don’t like that do we? We are always looking for answers, we have to know! Time is very important to us. We manage time down to the minute sometimes. We have to plan our preparations don’t we. We procrastinate and leave details to the last minute. Do you think we would do that with our faith and how we live out our faith if we knew when it would all come to an end? I’m sure many would be tempted. Wait a minute; isn’t the earth supposed to come to an end next month? Didn’t the Mayan calendar end on Dec 21^st? They were very smart people they must know something we don’t know. Well they might but they don’t know when the earth will end. Their calendar ended with what we might think of as the end of a century. They had to stop somewhere. Just like all the other predictions that have passed this one will too.

What is it we have to look forward to when the earth comes to an end as we know it? Let’s go back to Isaiah "My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; … but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed." We look forward to salvation that will be forever. Salvation won for you by Jesus when He stood in for you on the cross where He suffered your penalty for your sins. You are judged a sinner and the penalty is death. But Jesus stood in for you and now you are acquitted, you are guiltless before God. Jesus’ righteousness is upon you and it will never be dismayed. Other ways to translate dismay is it will never be shattered, fail, or cease. Jesus’ righteousness is never ending and it is upon you.

I know we hate not knowing when it will end but Jesus does encourage us to be steadfast and vigilant while we wait. 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, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake." We must be vigilant in our faith. The end of the world as we know it is coming very soon. We must be ready with a faith that cannot be shaken or swayed. This kind of strength and determination can only come from Jesus and His love for us. We receive His love and we must share His love. We must live out our faith. Now that we know the time is near there is an urgency to spread the good news of Christ’s righteousness and salvation.

We may not be in control of this ride called life on earth. But we know who is and we know it will end one day. Mark says Jesus will "send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven." You are part of the elect. You have been grafted into the house of Israel. Look for the day when you will be gathered to your heavenly Father. An Angel is coming for you.

When does it end? We don’t know but we know where we are going when it does!

Amen.