Steadfast in a Shaking World

Steadfast in a Shaking World

Populus Zion, The Second Sunday in Advent – 12/7/2025

Luke 21:25-36

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

That portion of God’s holy Word for consideration this morning is our reading from our reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Luke in the twenty-first chapter with special emphasis on verse thirty-six which reads as follows:

  [Jesus said,] “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Beloved in Christ, human history is characterized by movement. The world moves. Nations move. History moves. Culture moves. People move, often in anxious, restless directions. And the Scripture readings appointed for this Sunday show us the movement of God in history clearly. The prophet Malachi speaks of a day that burns like an oven, when the arrogant and the evildoer will be swept away like stubble, blown and burned, leaving nothing behind. Jesus in our reading from Luke describes signs in the sun and the moon and the stars, roaring seas, and people fainting with fear and foreboding. Everything is shaking. Everything is in motion.                     

And into that world of instability and unrest, the Word of God speaks a single command:Stand firm. Stand fast. Lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. Today the Lord teaches His Church to stand firm when everything else moves. And He gives you everything you need to do just that.

The World Is Unstable

Our Lord Jesus describes the last days in vivid, almost frightening language. In our reading from Luke He says, “There will be signs,” signs that show that creation itself is groaning. Signs in the sun, moon, and stars. Signs in the earth: nations confused, waters roaring, even heavenly powers shaken. The kind of images that make people look around and say, “What is happening to this world? Where is all this going? What is next?”

It’s easy to look at the world today and feel exactly that way. When institutions fail, when wars erupt, when economies crumble, when moral foundations erode, when the ground beneath our feet seems to shift, our instinct is not to stand firm but to run, to hide, or to fall into despair. Jesus says that in the last days, people will faint with fear. That is a natural response of fallen man. But listen closely: Jesus does not describe these signs in order to terrify His people. He does not say these things so that you would join the world in fear and trembling. He says them so that you will not be surprised, not be shaken, not be misled.

The world will move. But Christ does not. “Heaven and earth will pass away,” He says, “but My words will not pass away.” This is the center of the comfort of the Gospel in today’s reading: the Word of Christ is the only unmoving thing in a moving world. When everything else shakes, His Word stands firm.

The Human Heart Is Unstable

But instability is not just “out there” in the world. Malachi shows that the real shaking begins much closer to home, that is, it is also in the human heart. The day of the Lord, Malachi says, is coming. For the arrogant and the evildoer, that day is like a blazing oven. Why? Because the sinful heart is dry tinder. It is unstable, brittle, puffed up, and ready to burn. We do not like to think of ourselves this way, but the Scriptures reveal this to us. The Law within them is a mirror that is held up before our face. That is to say, every one of us has in himself the seeds of this instability: pride, impatience, complacency, the desire to control what we cannot control, greed, lust, unbelief, the list is practically endless.

But this condition is not among us. Even the people in Malachi’s day were tempted to think that God had forgotten His promises. That His justice was slow. That His ways were uncertain. And when people begin to think that God is unstable, they become unstable themselves. They turn to idols. They turn inward to themselves. They stop trusting the Word. The Lord in His Word calls this what it is: sin.

So Malachi calls the people of God to repentance. John the Baptist, the promised Elijah, comes with the same preaching. Repentance is not optional in the life of the Christian. It is the very way that we turn from the instability and movement of our sin, false gods, and false morality. Because repentance is nothing more, and nothing less, than God pushing us away from our instability, tearing down our pride, and grounding us again on His Word of grace.

The world shakes. The human heart shakes. But the Word of the Lord stands forever.

The Word of Christ Is Unshakable

And that brings us to Saint Paul, who in today’s Epistle teaches us how God makes His people firm and steadfast. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction,” Paul says, “that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Notice the words he uses: endurance, encouragement, hope. These are not found within us. They are given from the outside by God. They come through the Scriptures, through the very Word of Christ, which does not pass away.

The Scriptures give endurance. This is because they give us our Lord Jesus and His faithfulness. The stories that are contained in its hallowed pages are neither just ancient history nor are they religious myth. No, these are your history, your family story, your inheritance as a child of God.

The Scriptures give encouragement. Because they bring you Christ in His mercy, His steadfast love, His promises, His cross and resurrection for you and your benefit.

And the Scriptures give hope. Not the false hope of wishful thinking. Not the superstition crossed fingers. But a hope rooted in the unbreakable, unchanging promises of God. Paul calls God the “God of hope.” That is who He is for you, which is something particularly important to remember and reflect on here in Advent, as we approach our Christmas celebration. Hope is not something you must manufacture inside yourself. It is something God pours into you by His Spirit through His Word.

This is why the devil works so hard to keep Christians away from the Scriptures. Who here hasn’t picked up the Bible only to quickly become bored and distracted? He tries to keep us away from the Divine Service. Who here hasn’t gotten up on a Sunday only to roll over and try and go back to sleep? He tries to keep us away from preaching. Who here hasn’t tuned out when the Word of God is given to us? He tries to keep us away from the Sacrament. Who here hasn’t gone to the Supper as a rote exercise or thought it was not necessary? In short, he tries to keep us away from anything that roots us in Christ.

This is for a simple reason: where the Word is absent, instability takes over. But where the Word is present, believers stand unshakably  firm.

Therefore: Stand Firm

So what does this mean for your life as a Christian, here and now, in these last days?

Stand firm in repentance. The world will tell you that repentance is weakness. Christ tells you it is strength. It is not strength that we cultivate in ourselves, it is the strength of God that allows us to be honest about our condition and, in turn, results in us being anchored in the mercy of God. The arrogant are the ones swept away; the repentant are the ones who stand.

Stand firm in the Scriptures. Do not let them become background noise or see them as optional parts of the Christian life. Read a paragraph a day. Read your Portals of Prayer. Read the green sheet in the bulletin. Whatever it is, just get into the daily habit of hearing from God. The Scriptures are the foundation of your life in Christ. They are the source of your stability. They are God’s voice for you in a world of shouting and confusion. Read them. Hear them. Take them to heart. Inwardly digest what they have to say. Receive in them the endurance and encouragement that come from God Himself.

Stand firm in hope. Your hope is not in political stability, or economic security, or personal success. Those things move. They always have. They always will. Your hope is in Christ who died and rose and is coming again.

Stand firm in the Sacrament of the Altar. When everything else moves, the altar of God does not. Here Christ comes to you, not in terrifying judgement but in mercy. Here He forgives your instability, strengthens your faith, and joins Himself to you, He communes with you here. Here Christ anchors your soul to Himself in forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Stand firm with lifted heads. When others look down in fear, you look up in hope. Not because the world is good, but because Christ is good. Not because the future is predictable, but because it is in the hands of your Redeemer. Jesus does not say, “When these things begin to take place, run away.” He does not say, “Hide.” He does not say, “Panic.” He says: “Straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Conclusion: Christ Is the Firm Ground

Dear saints, blessed in the Lord, our Savior teaches us today to look for Him. We do this not with fear, but with joy. Not with trembling, but with confidence. Not with instability, but with firm faith. For the world may move. Your circumstances may move. Your own heart may waver. But Christ does not move. His Word does not move. His promises do not move. His grace does not move. He is the firm ground beneath your feet. He is the rock that cannot be shaken. He is your redemption drawing near.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Luke 21:36 English Standard Version. All further quotations from the Holy Scriptures are from the ESV.