Live each day like it is your last

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, `Here it is,' or `There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."

Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, `There he is!' or `Here he is!' Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

"It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

"It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke 17:20-30).

Are you a procrastinator? Do you believe that if something can be put off until tomorrow, it should be? When you were in school, did you wait to do your homework until right before bed? Do you wait to pay your bills until the day before they’re due? If your boss wants a report by Friday, do you put it off until Thursday afternoon? If you owe the government money, how close to April 15th do you wait to file your tax return? How close to Christmas does it have to get before you start your shopping and wrapping?

We tend to be procrastinators when it comes to something that we don’t want to do. Given the opportunity to do something fun like sports or video games or cruising, what youth would rather sit down and struggle with homework for a class he hates, like Math or English? What man would turn down an invitation to a Super Bowl party, because he wanted to get his taxes figured early this year? What woman would willingly turn down an invitation to go shopping with her friends, because she had been looking forward to getting laundry washed today? We have little trouble finding time for things we love to do, whether it be trying out a new SUV, or visiting on the phone, or exploring the Internet. But when something unpleasant comes along, we are usually happy for any excuse to put it off until ‘later’.

This is why there are deadlines in our lives. Deadlines exist to force us to get on with things that we don’t really feel like doing. Businesses set the time to report to work, because they know that most people would rather sleep late than go to work early. Credit card offers are only good for a limited time, because the companies know that you are likely to bury their letter under a pile of mail instead of reading it. Teachers give students deadlines for their assignments so that the kids don’t let all their work pile up until the day before report card grades are due.

Many people find that it is easier to get going on a project when they know they only a have a few days left to complete it. In fact, although we grumble about them, most people like having deadlines. Deadlines help us to set our priorities as we plan our days. Deadlines give us a certain sense of security. When we know what the future will bring, we feel more in control of our lives. A sense of control over the future helps us to feel confident instead of fearful.

In today’s Gospel lesson, the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. We are interested in knowing this, too. We want to know when the Last Day will be, so that we can plan for it. Let’s face it—we are all sinners. We should feel like David, who regretted his inability to lead a holy life: "Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me" (Psalm 119:5-8). But the problem is, being a Christian is hard work. It is hard work to wrestle with the temptation to sin. It is hard work to get into the habit of frequent prayer throughout each day. It is hard work to get up the courage to talk about Jesus with friends and relatives and strangers. It is hard work to sacrifice time and money to Jesus' church. It seems so much easier to give in to temptation, keep our mouths shut, and enjoy ourselves whenever we can; because life that is not dedicated to God seems easier, we want to put it off for as long as we can.

Of course, none of us wants to go to hell. But if we just knew when the End was coming, we’d have time to prepare for it. Suppose we knew with certainty that Jesus was going to come again on January 1st, 2006. We could start making plans. For example, we know that Jesus wants us to forgive others as He has forgiven us. How long would it take to track down everyone with whom we needed to ‘mend fences’? Perhaps we could start working on that two months before Judgment Day, to make sure we had time to reach everybody. We wouldn’t want our homes filled with sinful things on the Last Day, so perhaps around December 15th we’d make sure to throw away any pornography that might be stashed away somewhere. We wouldn’t want to be found drunk by our Savior when He returns, so we probably would go out partying for the last time on December 29th. Since Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations, we would make a special push on the last Christmas Eve to get some guests to come to church with us. And you can be sure that just before midnight on that final December 31st, we’d read our Bibles, earnestly repent of all our sins, and beg God to have mercy on us and our loved ones.

Do you see the problem? Do you see how sinful procrastination would use our knowledge of the Last Day against us? Sure, we would eventually mend fences with our enemies—but shouldn’t we do that today? Of course, we would eventually put sinful habits out of our lives—but why not today? Don’t unbelievers die every day? Don’t they need to hear God’s saving Word today? Don’t you sin every day? Don’t you need to repent today?

This is why God doesn’t tell us when He will send Jesus back in glory. Our heavenly Father knows our sinful nature only too well. He knows that if we believe there is plenty of time to change our ways and repent, we’ll put it off until the last possible moment. But our God doesn’t want us putting off living our lives in His service. First of all, God doesn’t want us to procrastinate, because He hates sin. God is perfect, and everything that He made, He made perfect. Satan introduced sin into God’s holy world, hoping that God would turn away from His now tainted creation in disgust and leaving us victim to Satan’s whims. Satan used to be an angel in God’s court—he knows personally how much God hates sin and the imperfection that it brings. God does not want us to be tainted with sin; in Matthew 5:48 Jesus said "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Jesus did not say ‘become perfect by the end of your life’, He said "BE perfect." If God announced when the Last Trumpet will sound, He knows that people would feel comfortable living in the sin that He hates, until right before the end.

Even more importantly, our God does not tell us when the End will come because He loves us. Living under the weight of sin is a terrible burden. Millions of dollars are spent on psychiatrists, anti-depressant drugs, alcohol, and even psychic help lines. Why? Because America is full of people who don’t know what sin is, or how to escape its’ weight. They only know that they are burdened with grief, guilt, frustration, disappointment, and the hurt of betrayal. Since they don’t know why they do bad things, or why others do bad things to them, they spend money for advice that does not help, or they temporarily numb the pain with alcohol or drugs. This is a terrible way to live, and it hurts our Savior to see people living lives without hope, doomed to an eternal death of despair. That is why Jesus came into our world through a miraculous birth, a birth that was free of the sin that taints every other birth. Jesus lived among us, perfect and sinless, truly God and also truly human, so that He could lift the burden of our sins from us and carry that unbearable burden to the cross, where He died under its’ awful weight. Because Jesus is God, only He could carry that burden. Because Jesus is God, only He could return to life and leave our burden of sin in His grave, buried forever. Jesus bought our release from sin, and even now prepares a place for us in heaven. In the meantime, He comes to us through His Word, through His baptism, and through the giving of His body and blood in Communion. He comes to us every time we come to church, or read His Bible, or pray in His name. He comes to us all through our lives, because He loves us too much to want us to live under the yoke of sin, under the mistaken impression that bearing sin is easier than bearing Christianity. Jesus said "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:29-30).

God does not tell us when the Last Day will be, out of love for us. He does not want us to have the excuse of a far-off deadline, to put off taking advantage of Jesus’ free gift of salvation today. But God also knows that it is easy to lose heart if the end of the struggle with sin seems far away. In today’s lesson, Jesus said "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man". Jesus knows that the only true peace in times of trouble comes from God. Jesus knows that Christians long for reassurance that everything will turn out okay. In times of trouble, we begin to wish that Jesus was back among us right now. We want the security of His visible presence. But this is not to be. Until the Day of Judgment, our Lord is only seen in the waters of Baptism and the bread and wine of Communion. Until the Day of Judgment, our Lord is only heard through the words of His Holy Scripture. He gives us the Scriptures, because "everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4). Rather than give us a specific date, the Holy Spirit prompted James to write "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near" (James 5:7-8).

Jesus told the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God was among them now. The Kingdom of God is the union of all believers, living and dead, who are lead by Christ the King. The Kingdom of God came 2,000 years ago, and we believers of today are members of it as well. We have the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life through the work of our heavenly King. We have the security of knowing that we cannot be forcibly taken from Jesus’ protection; Jesus said "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:27-28). With God’s gracious gifts and the security that they bring, the time of the Last Day becomes largely irrelevant to us. Whether Jesus comes again in glory tomorrow or a thousand years from now, we are members of His kingdom today. We have forgiveness of sins and the presence of the Holy Spirit within us today. The Holy Spirit gives us the love and courage to mend fences with our enemies, and to speak of Jesus’ love with others, today. Jesus invites us to pray to Him and to listen to His holy Word today.

When we hear God’s Word, when His Holy Spirit fills our hearts with love and peace, we can’t help but feel joy at being free of sin and a member of Christ’s holy band. With the love of Jesus in our hearts, we can look forward to serving others even more than we used to look forward to serving our own sinful desires. The love that God gives, sweeps away sinful procrastination and makes us eager to work in His church. Listen to God’s Word. Confess your sins. Pray for those you love, and those you don’t. Tell of Christ and the mercy that He’s shown you. Live today as if it were your last.

Because it might be.