Kick the Can

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel According.

To St. Mark, the 13th chapter. As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Look, teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings. And Jesus said to him, Do you see these great buildings?

There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?

And Jesus began to say to them, See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, I am he. And they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don't be alarmed.

This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. But these are the beginning of birth pains.

Be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to councils and you will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.

And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death, and father his child.

And children will rise against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus.

Amen. Amen. Alright, we're getting towards the end of the world. So to frame our sermon today, I'm going to take you back in time, at least for a little bit of my life. I want to grab something from my past.

So when I was growing up, my parents divorced when I was three, and then in third grade when I was eight, my dad decided he didn't want to pay child support anymore, and so he up and disappeared. He was gone for five years.

I had no meaningful contact with my father during that time, and my grandparents stepped in, kind of filled in the gap at that point. My grandpa really understood that I needed to have a male figure in my life that was also from my father's side of the family, and so he stepped in to fill in the role.

And as a result of that, during those five years, I spent two summers of my childhood in New Hyde Park, Long Island. You have to say it like that. Apparently this is an unwritten rule. It's Long Island.

Alright? This is where I stayed, and it was glorious. I really enjoyed my time there with my grandma and my grandpa, and one of the days that we had there, my brother and I, stands out in my memory as probably one of the happiest days of my life.

It was the day my grandparents decided that we were going to go visit my Uncle Bobby and my Aunt Henny, and we were off to Connecticut. They had just had a baby, and on that particular day, nothing special, I mean, by way of special things happened.

I mean, there was a new baby, she was sleeping all the time, but what happened as part of that day, my Uncle Bobby decided it was time to play a game of pickle. Alright? You know pickle, you got two bases and the kids run back and forth, and my grandpa was on one base, hula hoops, they had set up hula hoops as the bases, and my Uncle Bobby was on the other base, and it was just one of the most fun moments of my life.

One that I didn't want to end. However, my Uncle Bobby and my grandpa got tired after a while of playing pickle, and when they said, I think it's time to switch gears here, I was, well, I was upset. No, can't we play a little longer?

And my Uncle Bobby said words that we're all familiar with. Well, Chris, all good things must come to an end. Isn't that how it works in our life? All good things must come to an end. But I would argue, based upon our biblical texts here, and our study of the end of the world, I think we've got this backwards.

I think we've got this 180 degrees backwards. Now, granted, our experience under the curse because of sin, well, we get to experience good and evil, and they don't always seem to come in in even measurements, you know what I'm saying?

And so as a result of that, under the curse, yeah, presently, all good things do seem to come to an end. And then come the not so good things. In fact, some of the evil things. But that being the case, we should pay careful attention to what is going on in our texts here.

I'm going to weave all three of them together into the sermon. So starting with Daniel chapter 12, at that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who is in charge of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation until that time.

Tribulation is coming. What should we do about it? Well, I'll help you frame that in a second, too. Yeah, it's going to be tribulation, like unheard of, like never before seen in human history, never to be repeated again.

And at that time, your people shall be delivered. Delivered. Cool. Everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. Now, this is where we have to note a few things. We as Christians are given information about the future.

How far off is this into the future? I couldn't tell you. It's beyond my pay grade to explain that part of it because I just don't know. Is it next Thursday? Maybe. Is it five years from now? Could be.

Is it a hundred years or a thousand years from now? Who knows? I have no idea when this is going to go down. But I can tell you this, we've all been given this information. We know exactly what is coming.

And so because of that, I would remind you of a few things. Number one, Christ has bled and died for all of your sins. Every single one of them. But more than that, even more than that, you have been regenerated by the powerful working of God the Holy Spirit.

And in your baptism, you have been united with Jesus in His death and in His resurrection. And as you've heard me say many times, and I'll reiterate, you are already dead. And dead people have all kinds of freedom.

So keeping that in mind, we must recognize that we have been made holy. We have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ. And when God looks at us as a result of the merits of Christ and His righteousness in which we are clothed, He doesn't see evil.

He doesn't see bad. He sees righteousness, holiness, and good. In other words, because of what Christ has done, everyone whose name is written in the book, that's you, that's me. We who sleep in the dust, even though during that tribulation many Christians will lose their earthly lives since they're already dead, it really doesn't matter.

And Scripture here describes the sleep that we will experience in death as just that, sleep. And I've noticed that the older I get, the more skilled I am at sleep. Maybe it's just me. I desire it more often, is kind of how that goes.

The afternoon nap is a thing now. But all of that being said, we need to, by faith, embrace what Scripture is telling us here. Because what Scripture is telling us is that we do not need to fear death.

We do not need to fear the tribulation that is coming. When it shows up, we can actually kind of be nonchalant about it. You remember the movie Titanic? There's the ship. It's totally looking like it's going to be going down.

And there's an orchestra playing. They're playing their music and doing their thing. And at the very end, it's been a pleasure, it's been an honor to play with you. And off they go into their death. That's kind of the idea that we Christians should embrace.

Putting it a different way, you'll note that we oftentimes fear death. I don't exactly enjoy getting old. And I'm not looking forward to dying. I don't want to physically die. This is most certainly true.

And this shows up over and again in our different movies, in our television programs. You guys remember the black and white Twilight Zones? Remember those? Oh yeah. When I was a kid growing up in Southern California, every Thanksgiving day on KTLA, Channel 5 in Los Angeles, we would have a Twilight Zone marathon.

24 hours of nothing but those classic old black and white Twilight Zones. And I remember as a kid really being fascinated by those Twilight Zone episodes. But there was one in particular that really stood out.

And I liked the remake of it. Back in the 80s they made a movie called The Twilight Zone where they took four of the episodes and kind of made them into one big movie. And the one that really stands out in my mind was the one that Scatman Crothers was in.

You guys remember Scatman Crothers? A great guy. Anyway, Scatman Crothers and the name of that episode was called Kick the Can. And so he plays kind of this wise old guy who somehow has tapped into some kind of ancient power.

We don't know what it is. But while everybody else in his nursing home, he's living in a nursing home with some other people, everyone else is getting old and weak and complaining about their creaks and their cracks and stuff like this.

He's trying to encourage them to take on a different mindset. And he reminds them of when they were children. Reminds them of when they would go outside and play. And he asks them, do you remember the game Kick the Can?

I remember playing the game Kick the Can. I didn't even grow up when Scatman Crothers did. Kick the Can. Yeah, we played Kick the Can with Joey in New Hyde Park in Long Island and his brother. But that's a whole other story.

What happens in the episode is that there's this one fellow who basically says to Scatman, he says, this is ridiculous. You shouldn't be filling their heads with this nonsense and having them remember when they were young and stuff like that.

And already at this time, Scatman says, we should go outside and play a game of Kick the Can. He says, you have no business taking these people. What if they fall? Whatever. But he convinces them to go out and play this game of Kick the Can with the exception of the guy who said they shouldn't.

And to a person, everyone who goes out and plays the game, they're no longer in their 80s or their 90s. They're no longer old. They become kids again. And that particular twilight zone kind of taps into that yearning that we all have.

But if you think about it, and I want you to think about this, the scriptures here regarding the end of the world and the promises of the new life that we have in the world to come are a lot like Jesus as Scatman cruthers telling us all to come on outside, let's play.

Because when you play, when you trust him, believe his words, the thing he gives you and the thing that will ultimately happen to all of us is death will give way to life. Age will give way to youth once again.

And we will be restored. And all of this because of the great love and mercy of Christ. And so our text, one of our texts here, our Daniel text says, many then who sleep in the dust of the earth, for us who are Christians, death is but sleep.

It's a nap. Some will awake to everlasting life. And sadly, some to shame and everlasting contempt. You'll note that even Daniel teaches the doctrine of hell, but for us who are in Christ, awaking from sleep to everlasting life, this is what we yearn for and long for.

Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above. Those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. And what is wisdom according to scripture? Well, scripture says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

And you'll note, by hearing God's word and being terrorized rightly, facing God's judgment because of our sin, we have learned to fear God. But more importantly, we have learned to trust Him. Even though we have earned His wrath and His judgment, we are wise enough to believe the promises that He has given us.

That He intends to give us good, not evil. Life rather than death. Eternal life in a new earth rather than the hell we deserve. All because of Christ. And it's so wonderful then if you think about it.

And Mark then picks up on Jesus' prophecies regarding the close of the age. And I want you to consider again what I've said here. Listen carefully to Jesus. He's laying this all out ahead of time and He's telling us with His words to not be anxious.

The end of the world is the death throes of this cursed creation. They are the birth pains of the world to come. And yes, it's going to be terrible. And yes, actual Christians are truly going to die. And Jesus basically says, it's no big deal.

Don't sweat it. In fact, He is encouraging us to take on a mindset that seems so foreign. Kind of like the mindset of getting outside and kicking the can. Think of it this way. So as Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, Jesus' disciples came to Him privately and asked Him about the things that He had said regarding the temple being destroyed.

Tell us, when will these things be? What will be the sign when all of these things are about to be accomplished? And Jesus began to say to them, see that no one leads you astray. So you want to know what the end of the world is going to be like?

Well, there's going to be a lot of deception. But you've heard His words. See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in My name saying, I am He and they will lead many astray. So when you look at the state of the church today, have you noticed there's a lot of false prophets and false teachers, false apostles, and a lot of people being led astray by a bunch of yahoos who shouldn't be preaching at all.

Right? Eh, don't sweat it. Christ said that this is exactly what would happen. So, then you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars. Don't be alarmed. But wait, what if China attacks Taiwan? What if... You get the idea, right?

What does Jesus say? Don't be alarmed. Don't be alarmed. You don't have to sit there and strategize and figure out, you know, alright, which of the Chinese officials are going to be giving people the mark of the beast and attacking Israel.

This is just nonsense. Just put it all away. Just forget it. The nation will rise against nation. You'll hear of wars and rumors of wars. Don't be alarmed. This must take place. The end is not yet. Nation will rise against nation.

Kingdom against kingdom. There's going to be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These are but the beginning of birth pains. Have you noticed that usually couples are pretty excited when the labor comes, right?

Nine months of expecting all of a sudden the water breaks and now come the contractions and it's like, ah, it's time, right? So take that attitude. Don't be anxious regarding the end of the world. When all of this starts going down, sit there going, yeah, we're in labor.

And you know what's going to be given birth to? The new earth. Your new bodies. A new creation. So Jesus says, alright, ready? Be on your guard. They will deliver you over to councils. You will be beaten.

He doesn't say you might. He says you will. So what's the end of the world like? Well, Christians are kind of on the, they got the short end of the stick in those last days. So you're going to be beaten.

You're going to be handed over to councils. You're going to stand before governors and kings for my sake. And you'll bear witness before them. By the way, the word for bear witness, martyreo, that's where we get the word martyr from.

And the gospel must be first proclaimed to all nations. And then when they bring you to trial, I want you to consider Jesus' ideas here. This goes completely against all sane legal advice. If you are arrested, you don't talk to anybody without an attorney present.

And then if you can't afford an attorney, they will assign you an attorney. And then you and your attorney will work out your defense strategy and you don't do anything without your attorney's advice.

Right? So there you are. You've been arrested. For what crime? Believing in Jesus. That's not a crime. You guys lost your brains here. What's wrong with you, right? And so they're going to bring you and they're going to put you on trial.

And Jesus says, alright, so when they put you on trial and they deliver you over, don't be anxious beforehand what you are to say. What? But whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, it is the Holy Spirit.

So during the Great Tribulation, we are the unanxious. We're the ones looking around going, yeah, this is exactly what Jesus said would happen. It's terrible, isn't it? But repent. Believe in Him. Even now you can be forgiven.

Right? And so there you are. You're put in prison. You're put on trial. And your attorney shows up. Says, alright, we need to work out the strategy. What we are going to say when you are on the stand.

And you say to your attorney, I appreciate your zeal in defending me here, but I can already tell you how this is going to go down. I'm a dead man anyway. So I'm not going to be anxious about any of this.

I'm not going to even worry about it. So could you maybe get me another cup of coffee and maybe a donut? I'd like to enjoy this moment. And the attorney says, you're out of your mind. You're out of your mind.

You should be anxious. You should be worried about these things. Nah. Nah. I'd go and get a massage, but they won't let me out of prison. So I'm just going to relax. Maybe do my nails or something. Have you noticed here?

Christ is encouraging us because we know what's happening. To basically see this as a game we don't have to participate in. At least mentally. Not in faith. So, and how bad is it going to be? Well, when this is all going down, brother will deliver brother over to death.

Father his children. Children will rise against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. And how does one endure?

Just keep on believing. That's right. Yeah. Well, I don't care if my own child has turned me in to put me to death. I'm going to keep on believing in Jesus. He's the one who rose from the dead. He's the one who told his disciples, I'm going to Jerusalem.

They're going to hand me over. They're going to crucify me. And on the third day I'm going to rise from the dead. And you know what happened? It happened exactly the way Jesus said it. He went to Jerusalem.

They arrested him. Handed him over to the Romans. They crucified him. And just like he said on the third day, he actually rose bodily from the grave. So that same Jesus says to you, don't be anxious. Don't worry about it.

Don't even prepare your defense ahead of time. The Holy Spirit will speak through you. And oh yeah, it's going to be terrible. And by the way, when you think about the Holy Spirit giving words to you in that hour when you make your defense, have you guys noticed that the Holy Spirit seems to be obsessed about telling everybody about Jesus?

Have you noticed that? It almost makes me think that there's going to be Christians in that day when they're put on trial and the Holy Spirit is now speaking through them. And the appeal will be, you know, Jesus has bled and died for your sins and he'll even forgive you for this kangaroo court and all this wickedness that you're engaging in.

You should repent. Be forgiven and join me. Be a great defense if you think about it. Well, that's it. We have everything we need. Kill him. Kill him. Alright, cool. I needed to take a nap anyway. And then you can sit there and go, you know, Pastor Roseberg, it really sounds like you're not taking this end of the world thing seriously.

Why should I? Because the new world's coming. Christ told us just keep on believing and do it to the end. It's not a big deal. And so you'll note then in our epistle text from Hebrews, beautiful beautiful reminder of what Christ has done for us and how this then frames our mindset and something that we are to consider and think on and ponder and have as the center of our faith and our thinking all the way up to the end of the world.

It reminds us again that Jesus is the true sacrifice for all sins. Hebrews 10 says every priest, the old Levitical priesthood, the Levitical priesthood, the Mosaic covenant, they stood daily in service offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which could never take away sins.

Did any of those goats, any of those sheep, any of those sacrifices take away sins? Nope. They were all types and shadows pointing to Christ. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.

Ah, that's coming by the way. Yeah, there's a day coming when God the Father says, you know what, son? I think it's time that you had a new footstool. I've been looking at things here and I think we can do a little renovation here in the throne room and so it's time you had a footstool.

I think I'll make one out of your enemies. And all the enemies of Christ in that day will be gathered up into probably the weirdest looking footstool ever. That's kind of the idea. For by a single offering, Christ has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Say what? Did you see that? By his sacrifice you have been perfected for all time. You are being sanctified by Christ. And boy, this is amazing because over and again we hear that all good things come to an end but the thing is that by grace, through faith, because of what Christ has done for us, we who are sinners are now good.

We are perfected. We are being sanctified. And all good things live forever. So the Holy Spirit now bears witness to us. For after saying this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord, I will put my laws in their hearts and write them in their minds.

And then he adds I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. What is the appropriate response for that? God has promised to forget every one of our sins and lawless deeds because of Christ.

Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Napoleon Dynamite. Yes. All seem appropriate in this regard. So where there is forgiveness of these, there's no longer any offering for sin. And because of this then, we Christians have full assurance.

Listen to what this says. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. Ah, Jesus' death on the cross makes it so that even in the midst of trial, persecution, slander, threats of death, beatings, and things like this, we can still confidently enter into the holy place and make our petitions known to God.

Confident that we are forgiven. Confident that we are children of God. Confident that we have been perfected. Confident that he is sanctifying us. Confident that we have a new world given to us by grace.

So by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh, and since we have such a great high priest over the house of God, let us then draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.

Let our bodies be washed with pure water, referring back to baptism. Let us hold fast then to the confession of our hope without wavering. For he who promised is faithful. Has Jesus ever said something and it didn't turn out to be true?

Has he ever lied to you? Not even once. He who promised is faithful. He's going to bring us through all of this. So let us then, in light of this, our forgiveness, our confidence, our mercy, having been purified, perfected, let us consider then how to stir one another up to love and to good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but instead encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near.

You see, Jesus said, the one who endures to the end will be saved, and here Hebrews 10 tells us what that all looks like. Continuing with assurance, confidence, and the mercy and grace of Jesus and the faithfulness of the one who promised us that when he returns in glory we will meet him in the air.

We will be with him in a world without end. So let the devil rage. Let the scoffers scoff. Let the deceivers deceive. Jesus said it was going to be like this. As for me, I deny the truth that we have all heard, that all good things must come to an end.

It's baloney. All good things will continue forever and ever in a world without end. As for me, I'm going to go play a game of kick the can. In the name of Jesus, amen.

We thank you for your support. All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message. And again, thank you for listening.