In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

Today we enter a new church year, and the season of Advent. Advent means coming, and of course, it refers to the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Each Advent, the Christian church considers our Savior's coming in more than one way. We consider his coming that first Christmas as the fulfillment of God's Old Testament promises. We consider our Savior's coming into our hearts through his Word. And we consider our Savior's coming once more as the Judge on Judgment Day. This year, Pastor Koehler and I are planning to consider in our sermons a series of Advent Questions... Each of these questions focuses our attention on a specific section of Scripture. Today, our question comes right from Jesus himself. After teaching that we should persist in prayer and not give up, Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Let us consider this question.

1. THIS CHRISTMAS?

According to the World Almanac, the population of the world is now over 6 billion people. That's a lot of people! Two-thirds of them do not even claim to be Christians. In that group are 1.2 billion Muslims. Will Jesus find faith among all of the people who worship Allah? The clear answer is "no." You cannot get to heaven by believing in Allah. That eliminates 20% of the world's population. 1 out of 5 people in the world are Muslims, and they do not have saving faith.

There are many other false religions. Followers of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism do not have saving faith either. None of these people will celebrate Christmas because none of them believe in Jesus. That eliminates the majority of the world's population.

And, of course, there is Judaism. No religious Jew is going to celebrate Christmas. They reject Jesus and don't want him to be their Savior from sin.

There are many people who have no faith and no church. 150 million people in the world are atheists, people who do not believe that there is a God. They don't have faith in Jesus. Think about it, two-thirds of the world does not even claim to have faith in Jesus. Now, what about the 2 billion people who claim to be Christians? Could it be that some of them are Christian in name only? That does seem to be the case. Some of them have entered the church building once in their lives. I will not venture to guess how many church members lack saving faith.

Let's consider some average Americans who never go to church. Will these people celebrate Christmas? Um, well, what Christmas do you mean? If you mean the one with Jesus being the Savior of the world lying in a manger, no, they won't. When we invite them to church, they'll pass. But they will follow the secular holiday. They'll put up a tree. They'll go Christmas shopping and put presents under the tree. Some of them will have the most beautiful Christmas lights on their lawns and homes. They'll have Santa Claus all over the place. Their children will be thinking about Santa and the presents. That's Christmas for them: Santa, tree, and presents. They'll be playing all the Christmas songs that have nothing to do with the birth of Christ. They'll watch their favorite secular Christmas specials, like Rudolph, Frosty, and Home Alone. They'll watch "It's a Wonderful Life" and that "Christmas Story" movie. You know, the one with that little boy, Ralphie, who wants to get a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas. In fact, they are very much like Ralphie and his family. Just as with Ralphie and his family, it will never cross their mind to worship at church.

What of their Christmas celebration has anything to do with the real Christmas? None of it. Think of that as you plan your celebration this year.

How could a "Grinch" steal Christmas from you? If he took all the presents, all the frantic shopping, and all the fond nostalgia, he wouldn't even touch the real Christmas. If he took much of the secular music, and virtually every Christmas special on TV, he would not touch Christmas at all. But, if he could just focus your mind on all of those other things INSTEAD of the real Christmas, the birth of our Savior, well then, he would have stolen Christmas from you. Don't let a Grinch steal Christmas from you this year! Jesus is the reason for the season. Will Jesus find faith on the earth this Christmas? I am quite sure that he will find faith here on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I hope that you will be able to join us, but wherever you are, I hope that Jesus finds faith and the true meaning of Christmas in your heart. Many Americans will miss it, and I fear that most will miss it, but I hope and pray that you won't. Will Jesus find faith on the earth this Christmas? May he find it in your heart and in your home!

But, our Savior's real point wasn't really about Christmas, it was about the last day. Will Jesus find faith on the earth..?

2. ON JUDGMENT DAY?

I believe that Jesus asked this question because it will not at all be obvious that there are believers in the moments and days before he appears. A few years ago, I had the privilege of reading all of Luther's writings. I can tell you that the great Reformer quoted this passage many times. In his commentary on Genesis, Luther said, "He compares the last times with the times of Noah. These are terrifying statements. But the smug and ungrateful world, the despiser of all the promises and threats of God, abounds with every kind of iniquity and daily becomes more and more corrupt" (LW 1:336). Does that not seem like our world, today? When writing about the misuse of the Lord's Supper, Luther quoted this verse and said, "The last time shall be a dangerous time,... so that the world will be filled with error and the chosen ones will be on the verge of being misled, a time of which God himself says that he will scarcely find faith on earth. Do you think that these are frivolous words, and that they can be reconciled with our cursed security in which we live without any fear of God, as if it did not concern us?" (LW 36:143). Again Luther wrote, "He expects to find almost no faith when he comes... consider these words. They are not empty words" (LW 39:280). In one of his sermons, Luther quoted this Bible verse and said, "The prevailing error will be abominably great and multitudes will err... But we like to feel secure and not remember God's judgment and not take to heart his wrath. So it would not be surprising if he hardly kept one single person on earth in the true faith" (LW 52:248). As we draw closer to the end, there will be more and more false teaching, and more and more people will be misled. And that is happening today.

Some of our own members might think, "What false teaching?" Perhaps, you are blessed with a naive separation from the false teaching. But, week after week, we must combat one false teaching after another that somebody picked up on a TV show, a radio program, or in a book. People gullibly accept the false teaching as fact. These falsehoods are so many that I become weary thinking about them all. Revelation describes the false teachers of the end as locusts with deadly power like scorpions. That is being fulfilled today. The false teachers seem like a plague of deadly locusts - it seems as if they're everywhere, smiling and thriving. Great church bodies have fallen like dominoes. The newspapers only report the most egregious examples. Some churches now accept homosexuality, but they rejected Christ's resurrection long ago. Some say that everybody goes to heaven, but they rejected the Bible as God's Word years ago. Some pastors pray with Jews and Muslims. And when someone who should know better says, "What's wrong with that?" it breaks my heart. But, what does our Lord think? "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" It might not seem like it.

But, the Bible's answer is: Yes! Yes, Jesus will find faith on Judgment Day. There still will be a few believers around. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church. God's chosen ones will be kept safe by God's grace through his Word. The Word of God will be preached to the very last day. There will be believers when Christ returns. How many, we do not know, but there will be some who still believe the gospel.

False teaching irritates me, but I'm quite sure that I can irritate the devil even more by preaching the gospel. I'd like to irritate the devil and all false teachers right now. Though we are all sinners who deserve God's punishment, God has been gracious to us all. God kept his promise and sent his Son to be born that first Christmas. May we celebrate his birth and worship him this Christmas, for Jesus Christ is true God and true man in one person. He lived a perfect life for you and me and all people. He died on the cross to pay for all of our sins. He rose from death. You are forgiven through Christ. Believe in him and you will never perish. Though devils all the world should fill, you will be safe and secure, protected by God. Believe in Jesus, and you will enter heaven. Will Jesus find faith on the earth on Judgment Day? Yes! And may he find it in our hearts. Amen.