Jude 1:20–25

²⁰But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. ²²And have mercy on those who doubt; ²³save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. ²⁴Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jud 1:20 ESV)

James O'Brien responded to a house fire in 2010. Hearing screams from inside he donned his mask and dived right into the flames leading the charge into the house. He found John Gillis unconscious in a fire-engulfed kitchen. With no concern for his own safety, O'Brien removed his own breathing mask and put it over Gillis' face holding his breath for agonizing minutes while hoisting Gillis over his shoulders and muscling him out through the flames. O'Brien suffered severe burns on the way out before he and Gillis were hosed down by the other firefighters.

That's what firefighters do; they snatch people out of fires and save their lives. Sometimes, the firefighter gives up his own life in exchange for the life of the person he rescues. Just as Jesus Christ came rushing into our world of sin and death to rescue us. He snatched us out of the fire of hell by diving right into the fire and giving up his own life on a cross. You see, if it weren't for that great rescue by an unselfish and self-sacrificing hero on a cross, you and I would burn in hell for all eternity. There is not one who is innocent, not one who is without sin, not one who seeks God. But God came into our world to seek us; God jumped into the inferno to save us.

He did this for the sins of the whole world. But in your Baptism he snatched you out. He grabbed you. You were not clamoring for him to take you. You were not running to him for safety. Sinful human nature runs from God, like the time firefighter Jeffrey Novak dove into the flames of a three-story apartment building to save a man. But the man panicked and ran from him. Novack gave chase only to find himself surrounded by flames and barely escaped by breaking a window and leaping out, plummeting to the concrete below. Like that man, we run from God and do not want to be rescued from the fire. But Christ came to seek and save the lost. We are saved not by the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but by the will of God. (John 1:13) He snatched us, he grabbed us, he pulled us out of the fire, on account of his mercy. He showed us mercy. He hated the garments soiled by our flesh—sin and evil which we wore. So when you were Baptized he took off your soiled and dirty garments of sin and placed them on himself, while taking off his holy and pure garments and placing them on you. In Baptism he snatched you out of the fire and clothed you with his own garment of righteousness. Your sins are hidden beneath the holy garment of Christ. You are clothed and covered with his righteousness. You have been snatched from the fire of eternal punishment.

So now as we wait for the Lord to return, build yourselves up in faith. That means to build up one another. This is not the individualistic stuff we absorb form our culture, this is as a community. We build our community up in faith by gathering in the presence of God around his word and sacrament. We build each other up by being vigilant in prayer, coming to pray together in the Holy Spirit. Pray without ceasing that the Holy Spirit preserve your faith. Keep one another in the love of God as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. You are the church, the communion of the saints. Do not forsake the meeting together to stir up one another to love and encouraging one another all the more as you see the day of the Lord drawing near.

We carry on the work of Christ as a community. It's not the work of one individual, but the work of the entire community working together for one purpose; to snatch people out of the fire and to build up one another's faith. Jesus sits at the right hand of God in the heavenly places and while he is away he leaves us with the task of continuing his work of snatching people out of hell. Like a farmer who goes away and leaves his workers in charge of the farm. To some he gives the job of planting. To others the work of harvesting. To others the job of taking the crops to market and earning a profit. To others the job of repairing the machinery. Everyone has their work, their jobs to do. All working together to keep the operation going and to make a profit for the farmer.

So Christ, when he ascended back to the Father, has left us with our tasks. Each of us has a job to do. No two people have the same job. But all work together for one goal, to build up each other in faith and snatch the sinner from the fires of hell. He has given us the seed: the gospel. He has given us the tools, Word and Sacrament. He has given us the power, the Holy Spirit. He has given us the field: the people around us, in our family, in our neighborhood, in the city, and unto the uttermost parts of the world. But each member of the body of Christ has a job to do. Some preach, some teach, some sing, some build, some repair, some give encouragement, some share compassion and mercy, some share their gifts to support the work that others do, and some pray to support the others, but like a fine tuned engine in a race car, they all work together in unison to accomplish the mission: making disciples of all nations. Snatching people out of the fire and into the church of Christ where they are nourished and fed. This is the cooperative work of the entire community. The work of the church is to save souls and bring people out of the fire into the church. Everyone one of you has a role to play, a job to do in this work.

But take care not to sleep. If a firefighter falls asleep in a burning house, he will be consumed by the flames and die. If the Lord returns to find us asleep and not at work, we will be cast into the fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is all too easy to fall asleep. It is all too easy to think that he has delayed too long and perhaps will not return. We can too easily fall in love with the things we have, with the possessions he has given that are supposed to be for helping others. We then may not even want him to return, but would rather keep things the way they are and stay here. We can all be tempted to want to take over the farm and get the profits for ourselves. We want to become the owners and forget that we are working for someone else who owns the farm. While we are running it, it is not ours, but belongs to someone else and we are merely trustees who manage it according to the owner's will. We are stewards of the church of Jesus Christ, not the owners, so that when he returns he will find us at work and his house in order.

Don't fall asleep. His righteousness is near, his salvation has gone forth. Jesus is at the door waiting to enter. Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look upon the earth beneath. All this that was created, the heavens and the earth, shall vanish away like smoke. The earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. This world is all coming to an end. It will be destroyed. Don't fall too much in love with this world. It will vanish and leave nothing behind. But the salvation of the Lord is forever. His righteousness shall not be abolished. We are waiting for the permanent things. We are waiting for Christ to return to save us. As he once snatched us out of the fire of hell, so he will come to snatch us out of this world when it is destroyed and comes to an end. We will be saved.

Wait and watch in fervent prayer. You will see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. Out of this veil of tears he will snatch us as out of a fire. As someone who is cast into the pit, he will draw us up to life eternal. He will send out his angels to gather his elect from the four corners of the world and gather them into heaven. This is the last Sunday of the church year. The annual calendar of the church has been forged and shaped over two thousand years into an annual retelling of the life of Christ and the church. So we have come to the end of the annual cycle which directs our attention to the end of the present world. We lift up our eyes to the clouds to watch and pray for the Lord's return. For that will be our final deliverance. He has died on the cross to free us from sin. He has promised us salvation and life eternal. He has gathered us into his church here on earth. He has fed us with his body and blood to keep us in the love of God. And he has sent his Spirit to sanctify us so that we persevere unto the end. When he returns for us all his promises will be fulfilled. Our sins will not only be forgiven, they will be gone; completely wiped out. We will not only have the promise of an inheritance in heaven, we will have the inheritance. We will not only have the promise of peace and rest, we will receive our peace and rest. All things shall be fulfilled. All sin and evil will come to an end. All hatred will be gone. All injustice will be set to rights. You will receive the reward he has promised. It will be complete, perfect, fulfilled.

Wait, watch, and above all, pray for his return. Be busy with the labor he has given you to do. Love your neighbor, give compassion and mercy, and spread the gospel of forgiveness to all people for when we least expect it, the Lord will come back for us. Amen.