Sermon

December 4, 2005
2nd Sunday in Advent
2 Peter 3:8-14
Pastor Ben Berger

Live Like There's No Tomorrow

My uncle Bob may only have months to live. He suffers from a lot of different medical problems. He's had numerous open heart surgeries. A number of years back he suffered an aneurysm that left him paralyzed from his chest down. He spends half of his time in the hospital or in bed. Just a month ago he learned that he has leukemia. His doctors are fighting over which medication is best for him. This week he asked if they'd rather have him starve to death or die from cancer. If you were my uncle Bob, how would you live the last few months of your life? I suppose there are two possible answers. One, you could live it up and party till you die. Two, you could take care of business - spiritual business. My uncle Bob is a believer and so are we. The apostle Peter encourages us to take care of spiritual business. Live like there's no tomorrow. 1) Repent while you can and 2) Await your new life.

At the beginning of chapter three Peter mentions scoffers who mock the LORD's promise to return. They say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation" (4). Unbelievers don't think that Jesus is ever coming or that the world is ever going to end. They know that they'll die someday, but don't believe in life after death. That being the case, unbelievers live for the present. They need to experience life and fun and happiness right now! - especially if there's no tomorrow. Unbelievers do whatever they want, whatever makes them feel good. Unbelievers think only about life on this earth and what they can get out of it.

Peter reminds us that contrary to what unbelievers think or say the LORD will return; he promised. God had promised to send a Savior once before. All the way back in the Garden of Eden, immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God promised a Savior. Eve thought that her firstborn son might be that Savior, but God took his time fulfilling his promise. He constantly renewed his promise to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the nation of Israel, but God waited at least 4000 years to fulfill his promise. He waited until just the right time to send his Son to be born of a virgin in the little town of Bethlehem. Christmas is our annual celebration giving thanks to God for keeping his promise regardless of how long it took.

God is also waiting for just the right time to keep his promise to send Jesus a second time. Peter reminds us that time is not what's important to God. He says that to God one day is as 1000 years and 1000 years as one day. God lives outside of time. What's important is the promise. And every promise that God makes he keeps; Christmas is proof of that. Peter says that God has not forgotten his promise and he's not slow in keeping his promise. He's just waiting for the right time.

The LORD is waiting for more believers to repent. Patience keeps the LORD waiting. For people to whom time is so important, we don't have much patience. We can't stand to wait. We don't want to wait in line, don't want to wait for food, don't want to wait for entertainment, don't want to wait for anything. The LORD is willing to wait because to him it's worth it.

The LORD wants as many as possible to live with him in heaven. Peter says, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (9). In the very next verse Peter reminds us that the LORD's patience will eventually run out. The day of the LORD will come like a thief and everything will be destroyed - the heavens, the earth and everything in them including unrepentant unbelievers. That day will expose the sins of unbelievers and force the almighty Judge to sentence them to hell to perish. The LORD does not want anyone to perish, not a single soul - not you, not me, not anyone we know and love, no one. So he waits…with patience. He waits for us to repent so that he can save us. He wants to forgive our sins. He wants to take us to heaven. He wants to keep his promise.

What would you do with only a few months to live? That may be all the time you have. Christmas is coming in twenty days, but Jesus might return today. Repent while you have the chance. That's the first thing to do. Join me in confessing our sins, all of them. And then join me in believing that the LORD keeps his promise to forgive our sins because Jesus already came once. That way, if Jesus comes today, or tomorrow or any day after, we'll be ready for his patient, waiting arms.

When we repent and believe that Jesus is coming soon, that changes our outlook on life. Now we look forward to our new life.

Jesus came the first time because we needed a new life. Spiritually, we were born without life, dead in sin and transgression. The life we had and lived was selfish and earthly minded. We were and thought like unbelievers. All we cared about was pleasing ourselves. Even if we can't remember life as an unbeliever, we still know what it's like. We still have sinful flesh that thinks only of pleasure on this earth. We think that alcohol makes for a good time. We think that sex will give us pleasure and intimacy. We think that money will make this life easier. We get so caught up in this world that we forget the next. For example, just contrast how much time you'll prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth in worship with the amount of time you'll spend shopping, decorating, baking, cleaning and whatever.

Jesus was born to reform our sinful minds and sinful lives. We might say that he purified us by fire. First he purified us by the fires of hell. Jesus became a man so that he might suffer for man's sin. Though he was completely innocent, he pled guilty before his Father. He took the blame for selfish attitudes. He became guilty of seeking earthly pleasure. He volunteered to suffer for every sin. His Father sent him to hell to pay the price of everyman's sin. In hell Jesus conquered sin and earned forgiveness for every man.

Then Jesus purified us by the fire of his Holy Spirit. Through baptism the Holy Spirit connected you to Jesus. His life became your life, his suffering your suffering, and his death your death. The punishment he paid covers your sin and the forgiveness he earned counts for you. The Holy Spirit leads you to believe in God's promises, to repent and to look forward to a new life. In faith created by the Holy Spirit we celebrate Jesus' first coming for our purification.

In faith we look forward to Jesus' second coming to reform the world. Just as we were sinful and needed to be purified, the same is true of this sinful world. Sin has not only corrupted people but also everything around us. Can you imagine what it would be like to have reformed, holy people living in a sinful world? We might have better relationships, but we'd still suffer. We'd still fight sickness and disease and death all around us. We'd still have days without sunshine. We'd still have needs. That would not be a life to look forward to.

Jesus promises to also purify this world with fire. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat (12). Just as Jesus suffered in the fires of hell to remove our sin, so also he will use fire to remove sin from this world. He will take away painful labor and childbirth, sickness and disease, disaster and death. In their place he will bring righteousness. In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness (13). At that time we will be holy, reformed people living in a holy, reformed world. Jesus will be our sunshine and he will provide all of our needs. We will live in perfect relationships with him and every other believer. We'll enjoy our work, our time with one another and our worship with our God. Everything will be perfect. That's a life to look forward to.

We can look forward to our new life by the way we live life right now. Right now we can strive to get rid of sin in our lives. Right now we can strive to live holy lives according to God's will. Forget the selfish, earthly-minded thoughts of unbelievers. Ignore the desires of your sinful flesh to focus only on this life. Plan ahead; look forward to a new, better life.

My uncle Bob might only have a few months to live on this earth. You and I may have even less. That's OK because we have a better life waiting. We know that Jesus came once to take away our sin and that he's coming soon to take us to heaven. How will we use our time left on earth? We'll live like there's no tomorrow. First, we'll repent while we can and then we'll look forward our new lives. That's what uncle Bob is doing.

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