Advent 3 Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Adventing”

Text: Luke 7:18-28; Philippians 4:4-7; Zephaniah 3:14-20

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today is joy Sunday. The third Sunday of Advent. We lit the oddly-colored candle on the Advent wreath today, the rose-colored candle, the joy candle. For with this Sunday we have turned a corner. Advent is now more than halfway over and our remembrance of Christmas is close. And so the call rings out today for joy! Rejoice in the Lord always, Paul wrote. Rejoice and exult with all your heart, the prophet Zephaniah proclaimed. And Joy to the World we’ll sing soon. And how appropriate, then, to have a baptism, too. For a baptism is always a joyous occasion. Seeing God and His promises in action. 

But the readings we heard today weren’t all joy . . . or so it seems. For there doesn’t seem to be much joy in the Gospel we heard. John the Baptist is in prison. His crime? Speaking truth to power. Calling a king to repentance. And pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). For that, John was imprisoned. For that, John would be beheaded. Maybe even before his disciples had returned from asking Jesus their question: Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? For things don’t seem to be working out as they thought, or hoped, or planned. John languishing in prison isn’t the way this was supposed to end up! They thought.

But to think there is no joy in the Gospel today is to misread it. For there is great joy there! The joy of the blind who could now see again. The joy of the lame who could walk and run. The joy of the lepers who were cleansed and could hug and kiss their loved ones again. The joy of those families who had their loved ones back from the dead. The joy of the poor who had the good news preached to them. Wherever Jesus went, He brought joy. He is fulfilling all the prophecies spoken of the Messiah. And that doesn’t change just because John is in prison . . . and even if he’s been there for some time.

And this, too: Is it possible that John is filled with joy, too? He sends his disciples to Jesus with a question, but is it his question? Or did he send his disciples to teach them? That’s what good teachers do. They don’t give you a straight answer, they point you to it; lead you to it; tell you where to find it. John’s whole life was about pointing people to Jesus - why stop now? As he said: Now that Jesus has come, He must increase and he, John, must decrease (John 3:30). And that was good. Jesus needs to be the one people remember, not John. Jesus needs to be the one people go to, not John. Jesus needs to be the one people follow, not John. So John decreasing, John fading away, that’s a good thing. John was just the forerunner. It’s kind of like at a wedding, after the bride walks down the aisle, you don’t need the runner or the rose petals anymore. Their job is done. They can go away now. So too, John.

And then consider this: when the apostle Paul wrote the words we heard today, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! he himself was in prison. His crime the same as John’s: speaking truth to power and proclaiming Jesus as the promised Saviour. But even in prison, he writes words of confidence, joy, and hope. And it wasn’t the first time for him. Paul had been in prison before this. In fact, in the same city he was now writing to, the city of Philippi. He had been thrown there with Silas after having their clothes torn off, being beaten silly with rods, and then they had their feet put in the stocks in the inner prison. And yet that night, we are told, Paul and Silas were singing hymns! And so when Paul writes rejoice in the Lord always, it’s almost like he reminding the Philippians of that time he was in prison, rejoicing. And telling them that they, too, can rejoice. No matter what is happening to them now. No matter what conflict or suffering, obstacle or opposition they are facing. The joy of the Lord is greater than all of that.

Because we’re always going to have those things - conflict, suffering, obstacles, opposition. Sin will see to that. We try to minimize them, avoid them, but still they come. You know it. So the question is: what do you do when they do? Do you doubt God and His love? Or do you rejoice in His promises? His promise not that you’ll have an easy life, but that He’ll be with you through it all. That even in prison, even in suffering, even in death, you won’t be alone. 

You see, that’s what Advent is all about, which this day of joy reminds us of. Not just rejoicing, but rejoicing in the promises of God. 

That’s the joy of Christmas. Not Christmas the holiday, but the first Christmas. The joy of Mary when she proclaimed the words of the Magnificat: My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit - what? - rejoices in God my Savior (Luke 1:46-47). For God was fulfilling His promise of a Saviour. The world’s Saviour, Mary’s Saviour. Though it meant hardship for Mary, still she rejoiced. And the joy of that first Christmas for the shepherds, as they got to see their baby Saviour. And the joy of the angels which reflected the Father’s own joy at the human birth of His eternal Son. There may have been no room in the inn, but that couldn’t stop the joy of that night.

And that’s the joy we have as God fulfills His promises to us now. His promise of forgiveness. His promise to be with us in our trials and troubles. The joy of baptism, even though it paint a rather large bulls-eye on our back for satan’s arrows. And the joy of repentance - which sounds funny, right? For how can repentance be joyful? But it really is when it is done within God’s promise of forgiveness. For as the apostle John would write: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. No joy either. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). There’s the joy! Forgiveness, cleansing, rightness. The monkey off our backs. The skeletons out of our closets. No more hiding. Our backwards lives put right again. Gifts of God. The promises of God fulfilled. 

That’s the joy King Herod missed out on when he closed his ears to John’s preaching and instead beheaded him. That’s the joy Paul’s jailer wanted when he heard him and Silas joyfully singing in prison. That’s the joy John wanted his disciples to have when he sent them to Jesus. And that’s the joy Jesus wants for you and has for you! If you’re a sinner. If you’re broken. If you’re downtrodden by this world and life. If you’re struggling. If you’re lonely or feel like you’re in a kind of prison yourself. If that’s you, then Jesus is here for you. To be with you through all that. For He laid in the manger to go to the cross. He was baptized a sinner so that you sinners be washed clean. He laid in the tomb to rise from it alive. And He ascended to come again. To advent again. To take you home where your joy will be full.

And just as His other promises were fulfilled, so will that one be too. Maybe soon. 

But until that day, blessed in the one who is not offended by me, Jesus says. Blessed is that wonderful gift word when God bestows on you all His gifts, all that you need. The blessed that comes only to sinners, to the broken, to the downtrodden, to the struggling, to the lonely, to those locked up in sin. To those who need a Saviour. He has come to bless you. And His blessing is far greater than anything that can be found in this world and life. For by worldly standards, Jesus said, among those born of women none is greater than John. So that means Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, Martin Luther, Pope Francis - sorry! John is greater than you, and all of you put together! But you can be greater than John, no matter who you are. For the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. Or in other words, the one to whom Jesus comes, advents, the one who Jesus makes His child, is greater than anyone or anything else in this world and life.

And in Baptism, Jesus is coming, adventing, to you. In His Word of forgiveness, Jesus in coming, adventing, to you. And here in His Body and Blood, Jesus is coming, adventing, to you. To make you His own, His child. To give you a place in heaven. To forgive your sins. To give you Himself, and His joy. Advent joy. Promises fulfilled joy.

So maybe we need to coin a new term today. Young people today, when they grow up and begin taking on responsibility are now said to be adulting. They’re doing those things adults do. They’re being adults. So maybe for us, today, we can be adventing. When we have repentant joy, we’re adventing. When we rejoice in the Lord always, we’re adventing. When we rejoice in being a child of God, we’re adventing. When we sing in the midst of sadness, when we’re confident in the midst of suffering, when we forgive those who sin against us, we’re adventing. We’re being Advent Christians - sinners to whom our Lord has come, advented, and given us Himself. Adventing in hospitals and sickrooms, adventing in prisons and with friends in trouble, adventing when things aren’t working out as you thought, or hoped, or planned. Adventing. Knowing that you’re not alone, you’re not forsaken, you’re not without hope. For your Saviour has advented to you. And that makes all the difference in the world.

Adventing. That’s what Zephaniah did. That’s what Paul did. That’s what John did. And you too. What they are, you now are. What they did, you now do. For blessed are they, and blessed are you, in Jesus.

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

Advent 2 Midweek Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Wait! What? Who?”

Text: Luke 1:26-38; Micah 5:2-5a

Six months, your time. That’s how much time went by after our Father sent me to Zechariah to tell him he was not only going to have a son, but who that son would be - the forerunner of the promised Messiah! During those six months I was often sent to watch over Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were old and needed protection. But even more now, for they were now marked by my former brother - marked for particular harrassment and temptation. Because that’s what he does. He, satan, the devil, after the great mutiny. He hates our Father so much that he also hates anyone He chooses to use, or anyone that belongs to Him. So now he hated Zechariah and Elizabeth. They needed our protection. And I was happy to do so.

So for six months, I did. Until our Father summoned me again. You know, I never get tired of hearing Him call my name. Whenever I hear Him call me, I know its going to be something good. I hope you know that, too, when He calls you or uses you. Don’t think of it an an inconenvience or a bother - our Father is going to do something wonderful for you, or through you. Just like he did with me in sending me to Zechariah that day. I still remember it like it was yesterday.

So when our Father called me again, I immediately went and stood before Him, eagerly awaiting His instructions. But I have to tell you, what He told me this time . . . well . . . okay, I’ll admit it: I was a little confused. Let me tell you why . . .

First, our Father filled my heart with joy! I literally almost burst! Really! That’s how I felt. For what He told me . . . it made being called upon to go tell that good news to Zechariah seem like small potatoes. I thought that was going to be the pinnacle, the high point of my career. And I was quite happy about it. But this! This! I just couldn’t believe it. For now, our Father said, I was being sent again, to proclaim another word of God. That the time had come. I know, I know, that’s what I said last time. That the time had come for the forerunner. But now the time had come for the Saviour to be born! The Saviour God had promised to Adam and Eve, then to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then to David and Solomon. The Saviour the prophets all spoke about - Isaiah and Jeremiah and Zechariah and Zephaniah. The Saviour all those priests were but shadows of, and all those sacrifices pointed to. It’s time, He said to me, Gabriel! Time to go announce His birth.

Now you know why I couldn’t believe it. Not only did I get to tell Zechariah his good news, but now I got to do it again. And even better.

But this was the confusing part for me. First I asked where in Jerusalem our Father wanted me to go. For His Son was being born! A King. The King of kings. But no, He said. Not Jerusalem. 

Well, then I remembered the prophecy of Micah, who said:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

    who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

So surely, that must be where I was to go - to Bethlehem! But no again, He said. Not Bethlehem.

Well I was out of guesses. So then I just listened, which is what I should have done in the first place! But our Father is patient and just smiled at me. He was glad that I was excited, and a bit amused that I thought I could figure out His plan. He waited for me to finish so He could tell me what to do.

Go to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, He said. Nazareth? I thought to myself. I almost wondered if anything good can come out of Nazareth . . . but I stopped myself. I know that our Father can work good wherever He chooses. And He often chooses the most unlikely places. And people. I wouldn’t have chosen Jacob - he was such a heel! Or Samson - what a wild and wooly character he was! Our Father is always surprising me. In a good way.

So to Nazareth. Okay. Got it.  . . .  To a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David . . . whose name was Mary. Mary. Got it. I didn’t know Mary. If you remember, I told you last time that I knew Zechariah a bit. Been sent to watch over him and protect him over the years. But not Mary. He must have given that duty to some of my brothers. But now I would get to go and tell her she was going to be the mother of the Saviour! What a high honor! 

Of course, I knew our Father didn’t choose her because she deserved it or because she was better than others. He chooses who He does only by grace - just like Jacob and Samson and all the others. And me! Gabriel! To choose me to go and deliver this news! That’s grace, alright!

So I went, right away. I wasted no time! As soon as He spoke, I obeyed, like all good and faithful soldiers. And when I found her, I told her exactly the words our Father told me to speak. I never say anything different. I don’t add to them or take away from them - for I’m just the messenger. And a good and faithful one at that, if I might say so myself. So I said exactly what I was told to say: Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!

She was troubled at the saying. Not so much at me, as old Zechariah was, but at what I said to her. She was trying to figure it out. So I went on. I was so happy and smiling so big that it was hard to talk! But I forced myself to speak slowly and clearly. That’s what our Father would want. That’s what Mary needed. 

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

That’s a lot to take in, for anybody! But for a young girl, a virgin and not even married yet . . . yeah. That’s a lot. For did you hear what I said to her? 

You’re going to have a child, a son . . .

and you’re going to name him this: Jesus . . .

He will be called the Son of the Most High (because He is!) . . .

and He’s going to be a king, and sit on the throne of David and He will reign forever! (That’s Old Testament language that means He’s going to be the promised Saviour of the world!)

I stopped to see how she would react to this news. Actually, I already knew. As with Zechariah, our Father prepared me and had told me what to say. But still, I couldn’t help but be impressed with Mary. Amazed. She took this news so well. She didn’t think I was crazy. She didn’t doubt like Zechariah. She simply took it in and said: Okay. Me. Mother of the Saviour of the world. Got it. How will this be, since I am a virgin? Or in other words: what happens next? What do I do?

So I told her the words our Father had given me to speak. As I said, I always speak exactly what He tells me to speak. 

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.

That sounds kind of scary, being overshadowed by the power of the Most High! But God was doing something wonderful, awesome, here, so it wasn’t scary at all, but good. Very good. Just like His creation was before my former brother got Adam and Eve to ruin it with sin. This child will be holy. Sinless. Not born in the usual way and so not inheriting the sin of His parents. No, He would be the unblemished Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. I think you all have a nursery rhyme that is more profound than you know: Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow. That’s really true! Yes, God had done amazing things with Elizabeth, and now with Mary, too.

And her response was just priceless. Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. What faith she had! Yet I knew it wasn’t her, it was the Word of our Father that had worked such a strong faith in her. Exactly for such a time as this. And His Word does that for you, too. Maybe you get good news, maybe bad news, but the Word of our Father will give you the strength you need for it. You can count on Him.

And just like that, my job was done. Mary didn’t know it yet, but the Word of God had already done exactly what it said. She was pregnant. Elizabeth is actually the one who confirmed it, for Mary went right away to see her old relative, and Elizabeth called her “the mother of my Lord.” And she was. And John started his work, too - already while he was still in the womb! - by leaping for joy when Jesus came to him. 

Can you see why I was so excited! Look at all our Father is doing! He is keeping His promises, and in such a wonderful way. I know it’s not going to be easy for them - for Elizabeth or Mary or John or Jesus. Especially Jesus. But it’s good. Because our Father is good, and all that He does is good. For you, too. Maybe you got some good news recently, or bad news. Maybe life’s been tough for you lately. I’ve seen it all in my years of serving you. But I’ve seen this too: our Father’s faithfulness. And He’ll be faithful to you, too. You couldn’t have a better Father than Him. I hope you know that. 

So again, time for me to sign off. Until next time . . . In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Advent 2 Sermon

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(If you listen to this sermon, yes, I had a brain malfunction and said the wrong name of the author who I quote at the beginning. It is correct in the written manuscript. Sorry for any offense this may cause!)

Jesu Juva

“Tarnished Silver Cleansed by the Blood of Christ”

Text: Malachi 3:1-7b; Luke 3:1-14; Philippians 1:2-11

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, 

it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, 

it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, 

it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, 

it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, 

we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, 

we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way . . .

Charles Dickens wrote those words over 150 years ago, yet how apt they seem for today. How wise we are, yet how foolish we often act. People believe, but they’ll believe just about anything. We are enlightened, many say, but perhaps that’s just because our eyes have adjusted to the darkness. The spring of hope always seems to be shorter than the winter of despair. We can do anything, we think; yet how many do nothing at all? And most everyone thinks they’re going to heaven, or that the next life will be a better life, but are they? Do they know they way? Perhaps the fact that Dickens wrote those words so long ago is a lesson to us, that the more things change . . . right? The more they stay the same.

But it’s the first words of that quote that I think seem to describe this time of year for many. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. 

It is the best of times as the mood of many turns joyous. But it is the worst of times for it also brings out package thieves, pickpockets, crushing debt, and those eager to take advantage of the good will of others.

It is the best of times in that we get to see family. But it is the worst of times when there’s a newly empty seat at the family table, a loved one no longer there. Or when old arguments or grudges, buried by time and distance, make their way to the surface again.

It is the best of times when we see the lights and decorations, and hear the special music and carols. It is the worst of times when those lights expose and that music echoes around in the emptiness of broken and lonely hearts.

It is the best of times with lots of special events and things to do. It is the worst of times when it seems as if everyone is celebrating but you. Or when lots of special events and things to do only add more busyness to our already overbusy lives.

It is the best of times when Christmas is coming! It is the worst of times when that very Christ seems so far away.

And maybe the worst of it all is ping-ponging back and forth between the two; between the best of times and the worst of times. Maybe you know what I’m talking about. I think you do. It can be exhausting. 

So maybe we’ve got it all wrong. Maybe this isn’t what Christmas is all about. Maybe all this isn’t the best way to prepare for it. Maybe there’s a better way . . .

We heard from the prophet Malachi today that God said: Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. God had, in fact, sent many messengers, many prophets. But this one would be the greatest of all. John the Baptist. The last prophet. The last one before God would, in fact, come. The one who wouldn’t just proclaim God’s coming sometime in the distant future, but who would be the one to roll out the red carpet for Him. For His coming was imminent. Here. Now. And that the way to prepare for His coming was to repent. Repent not just that maybe we’ve got this holiday stuff all wrong, but that maybe we’ve got our lives all wrong. All mixed up. That’s more like it.

Now, you’ve heard that word repent a lot in the church. So maybe we’ve grown dull to it. That happens with words. That’s why the world keeps coming up with new ones. For examples, what once was hep became cool and then became rad and then bad and phat and then the bomb and now I don’t even know what the latest word is! I’m too old to keep up with it all. The word repent is a good word - we shouldn’t stop using it. But maybe today we can use the image Malachi used to help us think about it in a new way. The image of silver that needs purifying.

Now, some of you may have things made of silver - jewerly or silverware (that yes, really used to be made of silver!) or something else. What happens to it? It tarnishes. And not because you’ve used it or misused it. You can have it in a jewerly box or packed away on a shelf, and when you take it out . . . it’s all black and tarnished. The air simply does that to it. Toxic air, I guess we could say. 

And us, too, living in and breathing in the toxic, sinful air of our world. It tarnishes us. It works in our minds and hearts to change us - make us think wrong, want wrong, act wrong. Toxic air all around us. Like the politics of personal destruction that has become the norm when dealing with those who disagree with you. Or sin that once was shameful now become mainstream, normal, even good. Our own hearts, too, grown hard and calloused to sin that once pricked our consciences but now no more. We’re tarnished. And far worse than silver, which gets tarnished only on the surface. We don’t become tarnished - we’re born that way. And we are tarnished through and through, inside and out, body and soul. And tarnished hearts and minds and lives act that way. And so tarnished hearts and minds and lives need purifying, cleansing.

Repentance, then, is saying that we’re tarnished. I’ve desired what I should not desire. I’ve thought what I should not have thought. I’ve spoken when I should not have spoken. I’ve done what I should not have done. And because of all that, I have also failed to desire, think, speak, and do the good I should have. And so John’s words, well, they should terrify us, when he says: Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. For do I produce the good fruit, the good works, God requires? Or good enough works? Or enough of them? Who can stand when he appears? Malachi asked. You? Not me.

Now, you don’t have to listen to or pay attention to John, or Malachi, or any of the other prophets, to prepare for His coming. Many don’t. But that would be a shame. For what John was proclaiming was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Or in other words, for purifying and cleansing our tarnished hearts, minds, souls, and lives. Because that’s what God wants most of all - to forgive you.

You see, that’s why John (and later Jesus) would get so upset - and John even called them a brood of vipers! - when folks would say: We have Abraham as our father! As if that was the reason they were prepared; why they would not be consumed. Because they were descended from the right guy. That’s not it at all. That’s tarnished thinking.

Listen, rather, to what Malachi said: I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. Children of Jacob was another way of claiming Abraham as your father, for Abraham was the father of Isaac who was the father of Jacob. But what was the reason why they were not consumed in the time of Malachi (because they really should have been)? It is because I the Lord do not change. Or in other words, because I the Lord made a promise, and when I make a promise, I do not change it or change my mind. And the promise was this: not that everyone descending from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be saved, but that from them, one of their descendants,would be the one to save them. A Saviour who would be consumed for our sin. A Saviour who would take that consuming for us. And He did. That by His blood shed for us, in our place, on the cross, we who are tarnished be cleansed, purified, and prepared.

So it is not those who have Abraham as their father or who are children of Jacob by physical descent who will not be consumed; it is rather those with faith in the one God promised would come from them. And by faith in that one, given the name Jesus, we are cleansed, purified, and prepared, and will be able to stand, untarnished, forgiven, when He comes again.

So I guess (to use the words I began this sermon with) that makes the worst of lives into the best of lives! Not because we do it. We can’t! Silver can’t untarnish itself, and neither can we. But because He does it. Our Saviour does it. Applying to us His cleansing, untarnishing blood as He washes us with it in baptism, rubs us clean with it in His absolution, and purifies us with it as He gives us His Body to eat and His Blood to drink. So while repenting is not easy, admitting that we’re tarnished and not just a little! . . . it is good. 

And made good again, cleansed, untarnished, prepared by Jesus, you get to live that way. No longer ping-ponging back and forth between the best of times and the worst of times, but living the new life that Jesus has cleansed you for and given to you. His life. The life John described for those who asked him how they should then live, and the life Paul described, one being filled with the fruit of righteousness. A life filled with those things that are not tarnished, but cleansed and pure. The good we are cleansed and set free to do by Jesus. Not because you have to, but because once you’re silver that’s been untarnished . . . why would you want to go back?

So John came, the last and greatest prophet. To prepare the way of the Lord. The way for Him to come to you and cleanse you, forgive you, untarnish you. To prepare you. You don’t have to listen to John. Many don’t. But maybe we should. And maybe that will bring us the joy we need, the joy we crave. The joy not of getting what we want for Christmas, but of getting Jesus for Christmas. And everyday. So that we can live our lives not in fear of the end or of our end in death, but knowing that (as Paul said): I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. That’s confidence! Not in ourselves, but in the one who will never let us down. Who promised, and came. Who died, and forgives. And who wants you as His own. Because He knows that underneath all that tarnish is something precious. More precious to Him than anything else. You.

So repent. Yeah, it’s an old word, but a good one. And o so to hear the forgiveness He has for you. And as you hear, remember the day you were baptized, when God washed you and marked you and gave you all His promises. And come and receive His Body and Blood, consumed for you on the cross and now consumed by you in His Supper. That Jesus live in you and you in Him. Until He comes again. And it will no longer be the best of times and the worst of times, but only the best. And it really will be. And you will be ready to stand before Him. Untarnished. And that’s really what makes Christmas merry after all.

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

Advent 1 Midweek Sermon

The theme of our Advent midweek meditations this year is: The Christmas Story (as told by the angel Gabriel). This is just a fun way for me to try to tell the story in a creative way, from the perspective of Gabriel. Yes, I've taken some poetic license here, but believe I remain faithful and true to the story. I hope this make you think about the story in a new way and grow in appreciation for it and all that God has done for us

~ Pastor Douthwaite

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Jesu Juva

“The Time Has Come”

Text: Luke 1:5-24a; Genesis 3:22-24

The time has come, the Lord said to me. I couldn’t believe my ears! If I had a heart if would have jumped for joy! But I am an angel. Gabriel, is what God named me. I serve at His pleasure. 

And we do serve, me and the other angels. You wouldn’t believe how much. You don’t know we’re there, you can’t see us, but we’re fighting for you all the time. Because my former brother is fighting against you all the time. Satan is the name he is now known by. Or the devil. And he is. He used to be one of us, serving the Lord. But he fell away. Rebelled. The great mutiny is what we call it here. And he took a third of my brothers with him. That was such a sad day. When we had to fight those we used to serve with and they were kicked out of heaven, now to make war on the earth. Against you. And if it wasn’t for us fighting for you . . . well, you don’t want to know what would happen if we weren’t fighting for you.

But I have to tell you - as sad as that day was, there was an even sadder day for us: when our Father stationed us on guard duty, to guard the tree of life. You see, our now-evil-brother deceived Eve into eating that fruit - that fruit our Father told Adam, and Adam told Eve, not to eat. And then Adam ate it, too. Our Father still loved them, His children, but they could no longer be allowed to eat from the tree of life. Because of what they had done, because of their sin, it was not not good for them to do so. And so our Father sent us to guard the way to it. We obeyed, of course. We’re warriors and it was easy duty. But sad. Sad because of what our evil brother had done to you.

But on that day the Lord posted us on guard duty, we also heard Him speak: a promise. To undo what His children had done. They plunged the world into sin, and He would get them out of sin. He would send a Saviour. It would be His own Son! 

But I’m getting ahead of myself. That part of the story comes later. 

First, our Father said He was going to send a prophet to prepare the way for His Son. To get people ready for His coming. To point to Him and proclaim Him to the world. Someone in the spirit and power of Elijah, that great Old Testament prophet. He would call people to repentance. He would proclaim forgiveness. He would make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

And now, the time has come, He said to us! It had been such a long time! Well, for you, of course. We don’t have time on this side of eternity. That’s something God created for you, to help you. But we spend so much time with you, fighting for you and helping you, we kind of get a sense of it, too. And in your time it had been a long time. But that’s okay. Because it was now just the right time. For our Father always does things at just the right time.

So the time has come, He said! I feel joy even after all these years whenever I just think about those words! It was such a great and awesome day. And that He picked me, Gabriel, to bring this news to you. 

Go, He said, to a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. You’ll find him in the Temple. He was chosen to burn the incense this day and lead the people in prayer. I knew of him. Our Father had used me to help and fight for him before - though he, of course, did not know it. And his wife Elizabeth, too. You know, I always had a sense that our Father was going to use them for something special. Was he ever! They were old now, and Elizabeth was barren, unable to have children. But that was of no concern to me. I knew that was no obstacle for our Father. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah 90 when God fulfilled His promise to them and gave them their son Isaac. Hannah was barren, and yet God opened her womb to have Samuel, and then other children after that. No, our Father was able to do this. Of that I had no doubt!

But old Zechariah . . . he wasn’t so sure. He had doubts. I went to the Temple that day, just as our Father told me. I wasted no time! As soon as He spoke, I obeyed, like all good and faithful soldiers. And I found old Zechariah just as He said I would, offering the incense there. When I appeared to him, he was troubled and afraid of me. That’s what sin has done to you - made you afraid of us. But I told him: Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. Those were my exact words. I remember them as if it were yesterday. For I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day. I told him more, too, about this son he would have. How he was going to be the forerunner of God’s promised Saviour! 

But as I said, Zechariah didn’t believe me at first. He had doubts. It wasn’t me he was doubting, though - it was the Word of God. That our Father could do this Word that He had sent me to speak. It wasn’t the first time. That’s another thing sin has done to you all - it has made you afraid of us, and it makes you doubt our Father’s Word. That’s been your history for a very long time! You don’t realize how foolish that is! It’s like doubting that water is wet, or that fire is hot. When God speak, it happens. Like in the beginning, when our Father created all things. He spoke, and it came to be. Light, worlds, heaven and earth, plants, animals. Do you think this is harder than that? But sin has messed you up big time. You don’t think right anymore. That’s why our Father was now sending His Son - to fix it. To fix you.

Well, our Father had told me this would happen. So I knew exactly what to say in answer to Zechariah. If he didn’t believe the Word of God spoken to him, then he himself would be unable to speak until the child was born. It is our Father who gives all things - even the ability for you to speak. And this He would take away from Zechariah. That’s how you’ll know, old man. It didn’t give me any pleasure speaking those words to him, but it couldn’t lessen the joy in my heart - if I had a heart! - that the time had now come for your Saviour to come.

So I vanished from Zechariah’s sight, but I was still there, watching. He finished his service in the Temple, finished offering the incense, and he turned to leave. I don’t know how long we had been there, for as I said, time doesn’t effect us angels! But apparently it had been some time, an unusual amount of time, for the people were worried that something had happened to Zechariah. He opened his mouth to tell them, but no words came out. He couldn’t speak, of course. He began trying to tell them with signs, and he was able to communicate a little, for the people thought the reason for his delay was that he had seen a vision in the temple. Not really. He saw me, Gabriel - angel, soldier, messenger, of our Father. Serving you faithfully from the very beginning.

Zechariah went home and tried to live normally. But when our Father picks you for service, normal is not a word that will describe you anymore. And just as our Father spoke, so His Word did: Elizabeth conceived a son. Oh, how Zechariah wanted to tell everyone he was going to have a son! You know how it is, when couples get pregnant and want to tell the world. But he couldn’t. A reminder to him of his doubt and unbelief. But he would be able, I knew. Later. Once his son was born.

So the plan was now set in motion! The day we angels had been looking forward to for so long. We hadn’t had to guard the tree of life for a long time - ever since it had been destroyed by the flood. But we had still been fighting for you, for our once brother-in-arms and his horde had still been fighting against you. But the forerunner had now come, and I knew what that meant - the one coming after him, the one whose way he would prepare, was coming too! And soon.

Oh, what joy when we see our Father work His good! I hope you realize it too. And believe His Word. Because as we angels know, there is nothing more sure in all creation than His Word. So signing off, with His Name, which our Father told you in His Word: In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Advent 1 Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Just As He Had Told Them”

Text: Luke 19:28-40; Jeremiah 33:14-16;

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

It happened, we are told, just as he had told them. The colt; the young donkey. They found it, just as He said. The owner asked them what they were doing, just as He said. And they were able to bring it, just as He said. It is such a seemingly trivial part of this story; such a trivial display of divine omniscience. Luke, why waste valuable parchment space on that? Surely, there are other things, more important things, you could tell us than that. But it is this he tells us. It must have meant something to them. That Jesus knows. Even this.

Jesus knows a great deal more than that, or course. He knows also what will happen to Him when He enters Jerusalem. He knows His close friend will betray Him; sell Him out for 30 silver coins. He knows of His arrest and the hypocritical kiss. He knows the mocking and spitting that await Him. He knows of the wooden cross and iron nails with His name of them. He knows. That’s why He came, at Christmas, David’s righteous Branch; and that’s why He’s going, to Jerusalem. To execute justice and righteousness in the land, as Jeremiah said. To execute justice by being executed.

Jesus knows. But the disciples need to know that He knows. For the things they would see these next few days would cause them no small amount of doubt and fear. They should have known, right? Jesus had told them a number of times that He would be crucified. But how much should we know, too? And yet we still doubt and fear as well. When things in our lives don’t go as we think they should. When we don’t live up to our own expectations. We know God has promised to work good for us and can bring good from evil, yet still we question Him and His ways. Luke remembered the donkey. Maybe we should, too. For good to know that Jesus knows not just the really big things, but the little things, too.

So they get the donkey, just as he had told them. Were they stealing it? No. The Lord has need of it. It’s Lord has need of it. It belongs to the one who made it. God can’t steal. That can only be done by we who have rather foolish ideas about possessing things. We talk about what is “mine” without realizing how foolish that is; without realizing that I only have use of these things for a short time. But then I will die, and it will go to someone else. It’s all the Lord’s. If we have it, it is He who gave it. Your life, too. And the Lord has need of you, too. That He bless others through you. That He ride into their lives on you. 

The Lord has need of it. And the owner lets it go. He accepts this explanation. Believes. Sometimes faith is found in the most unexpected places. What are you still holding on to? Holding back? Why?

So they bring the donkey to Jesus and set Him on it. And He heads for Jerusalem. This too, just as he had told us through the prophet Zechariah (Zech 9:9). And as he was drawing near . . . the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

I wonder who was in that crowd? Maybe Lazarus, who Jesus had just raised from the dead. Or Bartimaeus with his two new eyes? The 12 year old girl raised from death, or the woman who had been bleeding for those same 12 years, but now, no longer? Maybe the man who had been lying beside the pool of Bethesda for 38 years, hoping for healing? Or the couple married at Cana, where Jesus did His first mighty work? But this is a very different Jesus now, for to how many had He before said not to tell anyone what He had done? But now no objection. Now, Jesus wants everyone to know, and to see Him where He is going - on the cross. In fact, He says, if the crowd didn’t announce His coming, the stones would! For this is the day not only the faithful had been waiting for, but creation, too. For not by His miracles would the world by redeemed, but by His blood and death.

This is where Jesus wants to be seen, and wants to be known. Where Jesus needs to be seen, and needs to be known. As the crucified one. The King on His throne made of wood.

Just as He was once laid in a manger of wood. There was a multitude rejoicing and crying out that day, too. Then it was angels. And their words were similar: Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth (Luke 2:14). But now, peace in heaven. Now, in Jesus, heaven and earth, God and man, are at peace again. His cross atoning for the sin that separated God and man. Now there is forgiveness. Now there is peace.

It is the peace that we need. Peace on earth is the greeting that goes out at Christmas, but peace in heaven is the good news of the cross. And the peace that is ours in Jesus. Peace on earth is elusive and fleeting. It doesn’t take long to see that. One war, one argument, one disagreement, one dispute ends and another soon takes its place. But peace in heaven is the peace that will never end. 

And it is the peace that is ours even now, even when our lives, our hearts, and our world are not at peace. For it is the peace that Jesus comes and gives. To you. When your heart condemns you and He says I forgive you. When the devil tries to plant doubts and fears in your mind, that you are not worthy to be a child of God, and Jesus says: But I baptized you. You are mine. My child. Not by worth, but by grace. And when you hunger and thirst for what this world cannot give, and Jesus feeds you with what the world could never give: His own Body and Blood. The Body and Blood that lay in the wood of the manger and hung on the wood of the cross, that rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey and now rides to you in bread and wine. Havens of peace in a world with little peace.

So chronologically, this reading today of Jesus entering Jerusalem belongs to Palm Sunday and the end of the Lenten season. But theologically, it is fitting for today, this First Sunday of a new Church Year; this First Sunday of Advent. For Advent isn’t just about getting ready to remember Jesus’ coming at Christmas, but more to get us ready for Jesus’ coming again at the end of time. 

Christmas is part of that, for Jesus has a second coming because He had a first coming. He came in the flesh to be our brother and save those who are flesh.

Palm Sunday is part of that, for the reason for Jesus’ first coming, for His birth, was to go to the cross to die for the sin of the world.

But it is this First Sunday of Advent brings that brings it all together, so that you can await His second coming with confidence and joy, when He comes not as a baby, but as a conqueror; not on a donkey, but on the clouds; not humbly, but in glory; and when He comes not to die, but to take we who die to life. His life. Eternal life.

And you can await that coming with confidence and joy, because the Lord who is coming again is, in fact, already coming to you here and now, with His forgiveness and peace. That you be ready. That when He comes again, it will not be as a stranger, but as the one you have known all along. Your Good Shepherd, whose voice you know. Who cared for you, fed you, protected you, and was with you, all along.

That’s what Paul was talking about when he wrote to the Thessalonians, as we heard today. When he said: and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all . . . so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Jesus is doing that now by coming to you now with His forgiveness and love, that you abound in it. That your hearts be blameless in holiness - His holiness, given to you. That when He comes again with all his saints, you welcome Him as the crowds did into Jerusalem that day: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! In fact, we will now do that very thing, we will sing those very words in just a moment, as Jesus comes to us here and now in His Body and Blood. And in His coming now, we’ll proclaim His death and look forward to His coming again. It’s all here, for He is here. For you.

And all this, just as he has told you. That you know. We don’t know how Christmas will turn out, or our lives will turn out, or even what the rest of this year holds for us. Be He knows. Even little things, like donkeys. So you and whatever is happening in your life, whatever struggles and doubts, whatever fears and trials, they’re not too small for Him. Jesus knows. And He knows you need Him. And so He comes for you. As surely as He did in the past, and as surely as He will in the future, so He comes now, with His forgiveness, life, and peace. That they be yours, as He is yours, and you are His. 

Savior of the Nations, Come! (LSB #332)

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