Salem Lutheran Church       Pastor Jon Enter

Theme: Do the crime; Get the time

Text: 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10

I want to share with you a verified, true story about a young woman we will call Jill. Jill was brought up in a Christian home and was strongly encouraged to be faithful to the Lord. But she chose, instead, to take the way of the world. Even though her parents didn’t approve, Jill insisted on being friends with a wild, sexually fueled and drunken crowd who lived only for the passing moment and despised Christ. They mocked Jesus. Again and again, Jill’s mother pleaded with her to turn away from sin and live for Jesus, but Jill persistently refused.

Finally, Jill was overcome with a very serious illness as a result of her very open lifestyle with various men. Doctors tried everything to cure her, but her condition was terminal. Death was staring her in the face and still Jill was defiant against Christ and refused to repent.

One night, Jill suddenly woke up out of a sound sleep and with a frightened look in her eyes, she asked her mom with conviction, “What is Ezekiel 7:8-9?” Her mom was surprised by the question and asked why she was asking. Jill told her mom about the most vivid dream she just had. She thought there was an angel in the room who very solemnly and matter-of-factly said to her, “Read Ezekiel 7:8-9.” Not recalling what those verses said, her mom reached for a Bible. As she read it, her heart sank for her daughter. She then read the verses out loud to her dying daughter, “I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. I will not look on you with pity or spare you…Then you will know that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow.”

As Jill heard the words of damnation read aloud, she sank back on the pillow with a look of horror on her face. She breathed her last breath of life on earth and moved to hell for eternal punishment everlasting.

How sad! How hopeless! What a heavy, solemn yet true story of Jill’s fall from grace and continued fall into hell. God is not kidding around when He says, “Obey me!” (Jeremiah 11:7) God’s zero tolerance policy against sin and unbelief is irrevocable! This is exactly what we hear within our sermon text on this Last Judgment Sunday. “God is just: He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction.” (2 Thessalonians 1:6,8,9)

These very pointed words of Paul were written to the Thessalonians to answer their cry, “Why, Lord?” Why are our persecutors not struck down?” The Christian believers were crying out for punishment to fall upon the fanatical Jews living in Thessalonica who made believer beating a favorite hobby. The church was under savage persecution. The believers were suffering. They were under extreme torment. And God did nothing! (Or so the Thessalonian believers thought.)

What the victimized believers did not see was hell waiting with open arms and an outstretched grasp for those who persecuted and abused the believers. Paul reassured them, “Make no mistake about it. They will get eternal justice. They will get the punishment do them.” If you do the crime, you’ll get the time—eternal time in torturous agony.

So, what do we learn from this? There are a couple of truths for us to hold onto. Here’s the first. The Thessalonians did not sin for wanting their attackers to pay for their crimes. It is not wrong for Christians to want justice from God to be served. That emphasized part is what keeps it right. From God. The justice must come from God and NOT from us seeking revenge. Revenge is just as evil as the initial attack. The justice must come from God. For example, we cry out for justice to be served against mass school shooters, against careless drunk drivers who strike and kill a minivan carrying an innocent family. When we cry to the Lord for justice, we align ourselves with God’s will which promises punishment for the unbelieving wrongdoer. It is not even wicked for believers to pray to the Lord for just punishment to fall upon their attackers. (Notice: this is just punishment and from God. This is not a vigilante style of justice from our rage-filled hands.)

King David penned a number of psalms asking for the demise of his attackers. The Lord answered his prayers. The saints triumphant (glorified believers in heaven) cry out in perfection from the altar of the Lord in glory, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until You judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” (Revelation 6:10) The Lord will answer their prayers when He comes in glory on the great Day of Judgment. And God answered the prayers of the Thessalonians. They prayed to the Lord to be saved from their attackers and for the Lord’s justice to prevail. It did. Since those unbelievers did the crime of harming the Lord’s faithful, the Lord cast them into hell to do the time of eternity there.

The Lord also answers your cries when people attack you. So, and here’s the second lesson for us to learn today, watch your emotions! Watch your mouth! Think of the abominable things you cry out to the Lord in anger and distress. “Damn you!” Those words have slipped out of Christian mouths in anger against a spouse, a child, a boss or even a stranger. Woe, slow down! In a fit of rage, you cried out to God for Him to immediately and eternally cast that person before you, that person who angered you, into the fires of hell eternal. Strong words! Words we should never, ever use. Instead, we should pray for God’s justice to be done according to His perfect will. We should pray for the wrongs to be forgiven and relationships to be restored.

Sometimes, in exclamation, we might throw our hands upon our heads in amazement and cry out, “Well, I’ll be darned!” Or even, “I’ll be damned!” Woe, watch your words! Seriously, is that really what you want? Because you are so amazed from what just happened, you literally just cried out to God to send yourself into the fires of hell eternal. Strong words! When you say that, God would be completely just in sending you to hell. Do the crime, you get the time for damning yourself.

We don’t need to ask God to send us to damnation; our sins were working on sending us there already anyway. Remember God’s zero tolerance policy over sin? Remember God’s not kidding around when He says, “Obey me!” We must have forgotten because we forgot to obey Him. God commands, “Honor your father and mother.” (Genesis 20:12) Oops, sorry God; guess I forgot! “Pray continually.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Oops, sorry God; guess I forgot! “Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.” (Leviticus 19:11) Oops, sorry God; guess I forgot! “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14) Oops, sorry God; guess I forgot!

Do you think God will just forget and ignore our blazon sinfulness? Do you think God will pull up the record of our sinfulness and say, “Ah, forget about it—about all the evil you did against Me. Come here, you! Welcome to heaven!” God does not forget. The perfect God of the Universe cannot ignore the evil of our sin. God is omniscient; God is allknowing, all-remembering. He knows the exact number of hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30). He surely knows the exact number of sins in your heart. And He wants you to be fully aware of them too. And the Just Judge of the Universe declares to you in Ezekiel 36, “Remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct.” (Ezekiel 36:31-32)

When we take a personal spiritual inventory of our lives, we realize we are lacking; we are sinful. We deserve an angelic visit in our dreams like Jill received. We deserve an angel to solemnly and very matter-offactly say to us, “Read Ezekiel 7:8-9.”

But our righteous and merciful Judge above, instead, shakes us awake from our sinful life and lovingly says, “Read John 3:16.” “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God did remember our sins. But He also remembered to send His Son into Bethlehem as our Perfect Substitute. God did remember our sins. But He also remembered to send His Son onto a cross as our Perfect Sacrifice. God did remember our sins. He also remembered to call out of the grave our Perfect Savior. Because of the crimes we committed against God’s Word, Christ paid dearly with His time upon the cross. But it was time well spent!

Because of Jesus and His sacrifice, God the perfect Judge tore up the record of our sins which were paid in full by Christ. That’s why they are no more. That’s why God looks at you as His perfect child. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12) He remembers our sins no more, not because He ignores them, the consequence of them, of our sins, was paid in full by Jesus. There’s nothing to remember because Jesus removed them. Because of Jesus and His sacrifice, our deathbed scene will not mirror Jill’s. Our deathbed scene will conclude like the daughter of Charles de Gaulle. Many of you know Charles de Gaulle as the famous French WWII soldier, statesman and author. But did you know that Charles and Evonne de Gaulle were the parents of a very mentally handicapped child? No matter how bad things were in France, Charles and Evonne would always make time for their daughter. Almost every night after they had put her to bed, Evonne would ask, “Charles, why couldn’t she have been like the others? Why couldn’t she have been like the others?” As predicted, the little girl died in her youth. There was a private graveside service with the De Gaulle’s pastor. After the Christian funeral service and closing blessing, everyone began to leave, everyone except Evonne. Charles went back to her and said, “Come, Evonne. Did you hear the pastor’s sermon and blessing? Now, SHE IS like all the others. Now, she’s perfect.” That’s the promise and the power of Christ’s sacrifice for our crimes on the cross. WE will enjoy time forever with Him now in glory! Amen.