To the End - Sermon for the Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost (November 16, 2025)

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 65:17–25 | Isaiah 12 | 2 Thessalonians 3:6–13 | ​Luke 21:5–19

“When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’” (Luke 21:5-6).
 
How do we handle being told that the things we see as really important will not last?
 
Of course, on one level, we know this hard reality already. We understand that we live in a world where everything one day comes to an end. And yet, when this hard reality suddenly hits home… when we’re confronted by a sudden loss, or drastic change… or find ourselves facing a gradual decline that’s growing more and more difficult to ignore… it can be really unsettling, and leave us feeling uncertain of how to keep going… how to put one foot in front of the other, especially when we’re not sure in the long run where we can place our confidence and hope.

So then, faced with the hard reality that everything around us, even the best of things, will come to an end… what are we to do? How are we supposed to live each day when in the end, not one stone will be left upon another?

The Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, is not about trying to bypass or ignore this hard reality we’re all facing… but it does offer us the kind of hope that can help us face the end head-on, and not give up along the way. And so, our Scripture readings today all invite us to contemplate both how we think about ‘the end’, and also how we can faithfully respond to it here and now.
 
Our first reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah Chapter 65 gives us a powerful vision of God’s good intentions for our world, reminding us that the end we are moving towards is not the conclusion of His Creation, but rather its salvation! Its perfect transformation and deliverance from the brokenness and bondage to divisions and decay we see around us, drawing us towards the completion and blessed destination the Living God has always had in mind. Isaiah speaks of God’s people no longer oppressed by their enemies… or having lives tragically cut short… but experiencing the blessings of things like extra-long lives, and an enduring peace.
 
What the prophet Isaiah is pointing us to here is God’s New Creation. Not ‘new’ as in His ‘Plan B’, or ‘Attempt Number 2’… but as the great rescue of God’s beloved world… a rescue beyond all hope… a rescue akin to a cosmic resurrection! Just like Jesus was crucified but came back from the dead even more alive than before, the end that God has in store for our world is this kind of miraculous new beginning… a new start where things are set right once and for all… and they remain that way forever.
 
This is the kind of hope that the Gospel gives to us: that no matter how broken and fragile things may seem right now, God Himself has promised that in the end He really will make all things new. And we can trust Him to do this because of what His Son Jesus Christ has already done for us, and for our world: Dying for us. Rising again for us. And one day returning for us. Our confidence as Christians comes, not from what we can do… but from what God Himself has done, and will do to see us through.
 
And so, we can say that the Christian life is about staying true to Him in the meantime. It’s about faithfully following Him… trusting that Jesus our Saviour King is leading us to this good end… this blessed destination the Living God has in store for those who believe and walk in His ways.

But what does it actually mean to faithfully follow Jesus? How do we rightly respond to this hope we have received as we await Christ’s return and God’s good end?
 
Well, in our second reading today, from St. Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, we know one thing that faithful Christians are supposed to avoid: that is, being idle. Sitting around and expecting others to pick up all the slack just doesn’t cut it in God’s family, where the idea is that everyone looks for ways to bless and build up the Church community… loving and lifting each other up, in body, mind, and spirit.
 
But in Thessalonica, it seems that some Christians were losing sight of this vision of mutual support and effort. And given the fact that, from St. Paul’s letters to them, it seems that they were fairly concerned about and anticipating the end and Christ’s return, perhaps some of their tendency towards idleness came from expecting things to end right away. Sort of like saying: ‘What’s the point of working hard on anything… even on basic things when the end is just around the corner? Why invest our time and energy when the work we do won’t last that much longer?’

Now there may have been lots of other reasons they were being idle, but I know from personal experience how hard it can be to stay motivated if I think that what I’m doing won’t last long. And I know that some Christians, in thinking about ‘the end’ approaching, kind of give up on lots of good things they still can do, and lose interest in their important roles to play in the Church, and in the world.
 
But St. Paul reminds us that, regardless of when the end will come… our own end, or the end of this present age… that we all still have a calling, and work to keep doing…  and that faithfulness doesn’t mean just sitting around and waiting, while expecting others to support us while we still have the strength to contribute to the common good. St. Paul reminds us that devotion means not growing weary of doing what is right. And so faithfully following Jesus towards the good end that God has in store is not about passively waiting around… but about doing something.
 
And this is where we turn at last to our Gospel reading, and to what our Lord Jesus Christ says to those who questioned Him about the coming of the end.
 
The end… of the Temple at least.

Because that is after all the context of of this whole conversation! Remember, this whole speech in Luke Chapter 21, which goes on well passed the portion we read today, starts off with those nearby praising the Temple in Jerusalem, and Jesus predicting it’s doom. A prediction that came true just a few decades after His own death and resurrection.
 
The first Temple of the Living God, built by King Solomon many centuries earlier, had already been destroyed when the armies of Babylon had sacked the Holy city, and carried off what was left of God’s covenant people Israel into Exile. When they eventually returned, they rebuilt the Temple… much less grand perhaps, but still holy and central to their faith. And several generations later, King Herod the Great would expand this ‘Second Temple’ and make it the architectural marvel it was in Christ’s days.
 
And the Temple was far more than an impressive building… it represented God’s concrete connection to His people… standing at the centre of their special relationship, and bridging the gap between heaven and earth. In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, we’re told that the people who were admiring the Temple, and asking Christ about the timing of it’s fall were actually His own disciples. And like many faithful Jews in their day, they were anticipating the hopeful, good end that Isaiah had pointed to… and they were expecting God’s Messiah to come and make things right at last, and they had been following Jesus expecting Him to be the One to bring this all about… to bring about God’s New Creation.
 
But if that was Jesus’ plan… why would the Holy Temple of God have to fall again at all? If the Saviour King had come at last, shouldn’t His victory be just around the corner? Why was Jesus talking about what could only be described as a disaster falling on His people? Why would the Living God allow such a horrible thing to happen, and such a good thing come to an end?
 
These are the kinds of questions that many of us can find ourselves asking, when we, like the first disciples seek to faithfully follow Jesus Christ the Saviour King. We can start off trusting that God is working through Jesus to bring about our salvation… but then we end up facing some deep pain, or grief, or loss… and the ending of things we had come to cherish. And we’re shaken. We’re not sure how to make sense of it all… or even how to keep going.
 
And when we turn to Jesus, we find that He doesn’t wave His hand and take all our pain and confusion away… but He does meet us right here in the midst of our uncertainty, and suffering, and He faces the end along with us… and He invites us to take His nail-pierced hand and trust Him as He leads us through all of these endings one step at a time.
 
Our Gospel passage today speaks about the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem, many centuries ago. But it also speaks to us all as we face our own endings. And just as Jesus guided the first disciples through their days of uncertainty, our Lord is with us too. And He has has some important things to say to us as He leads us to the good end God has prepared for us. Turning now to our Gospel passage, and reflecting on how He is leading us to God’s good end even today… Jesus offers His followers three ‘don’ts’ and a ‘do’.
 
The first don’t He says is “Don’t be deceived and go after other misleading voices.” Luke 21:8 “And [Jesus] said, ‘Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.’” There have been many false teachers over the years, claiming to speak for and serve, and even to be Jesus our Lord. And the best way to avoid their influence is to make sure we know the real thing! To make sure we really know Jesus, that we can recognize His voice, and what His ways look like, drawing near to Him day by day so that we won’t be easily swayed by imposters.  
 
The first ‘don’t’ is don’t be deceived. The next one is pretty hard these days: ‘don’t be afraid when everything’s falling apart.’ Luke 21:9-11, “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.’  Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.”
 
Now I don’t know about you, but all of those things seem pretty scary to me. Nations at war, earthquakes and famines… plagues and heavenly signs. These are truly traumatic events.  

And our Lord knows that. He knows that there’s lots of things we face in life that really are terrifying. But He also knows that letting our fears capture our hearts, and minds, and bodies will keep us from the good work we have before us, and pressing onward to the good end He has for us. Fear keeps our world trapped in cycles of violence and oppression. Fear keeps us from loving and serving our neighbours. Fear keeps us focussed on our own security, instead of what is right, and good, and true. And so, even though we are faced with things that frighten us, Jesus asks us to trust and lean on Him instead.
 
And this leads us to the third ‘don’t’: ‘Don’t even prepare our own defense, but trust Jesus to give us what we need to stay true to Him.’ Luke 21:12-15, “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.”
 
Warning now of persecution, Jesus tells His followers that we have important work to do: telling the world the truth about the Good News, even if we’re speaking to those who oppose us. But this doesn’t look like frantically trying to figure out the right words, or method, or how to maintain a sense of control. It means being open to Christ’s Spirit working in us and through us to say and do far more than we can ask or imagine.
 
As we face, maybe not intense persecution, but whatever our own challenges may be when we are put on the spot, and feel that there’s too much at stake, Jesus is inviting us to trust Him not to abandon us, but to be right there beside us, giving us what we need to stay true to Him, to the end.
 
Which leads us finally, to the ‘do’. The three ‘don’ts’ were: don’t be deceived, don’t be terrified, and don’t even prepare our own defense. What we are to do, is to endure. To hold on and carry on to the very end. Luke 21:16-19, “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

Jesus warns us that His followers will often face rejection, sometimes even by those closest to us… just like Jesus Himself was rejected by His own people, and was put to death by those that He loved. And if we will follow Him, it won’t always be easy. But it will be worth it because He alone can lead us into the life of God’s New Creation, and His saving love will never fail. And so He calls us, as hard as it will be at times, to endure with Him to the end. And even if, like Him that means we must lay down our lives, we know that, like Him, we will be raised again by His love.
 
We’ve covered a lot of ground this morning in our reflections about the end… whether we’re talking about the end of this present age, or the many ends we will face in our lives. But whatever end may be on our hearts this morning, may we all find hope as we hold onto the Good News we have been given to us in Jesus Christ. The Good News that our destination is God’s New Creation, which we are invited to actively work towards together, and not just wait around for.
 
And may the Holy Spirit help us not to be deceived and let others draw us away from our Saviour’s side, or be overcome with fear when things get rough. Instead, may the Spirit help us not to frantically obsess about having everything figured out, but to stay true… and to endure, trusting that Jesus our Risen Saviour King will see us through to the end. Amen.