Those of you who have accompanied us during the penitential season of Advent have heard plenty about the problem of mankind, which is your problem and mine, too. The problem of sin. You have heard that you stand condemned under God’s holy Law, and you have been called to confess your sin and to repent – not just once at the beginning of your Christian walk, but daily, as our Catechism says.
Because – because by the incarnation of His Son, God has provided a place of refuge for every sinner who repents, a place of refuge from the condemnation of His holy Law, a place where sin does not rule and where death does not win, of peace and reconciliation with a loving Father. God has provided the solution to our problem, a solution that centers, not in sins ignored, nor in sins excused, but in sins forgiven through faith in the Son of God who took on human flesh.
Tonight, tonight God’s solution is on display in vivid color and light. For on this night we celebrate the incarnation of the Son of God, and the night on which God’s Son drew his first breath as the Son of Man, and so began an earthly life that would win for us a heavenly life.
The Lessons tonight from Scripture will speak for themselves. They are not hard to understand.
In the Lessons of Prophecy, from the 8th Century B.C., you will hear the Prophets Isaiah and Micah proclaim what God will do. In the Lessons of Fulfillment, from the First Century A.D., you will hear the Evangelists Matthew and Luke declare what God has done.
The story begins with a virgin – a young woman who has never known a man, who becomes pregnant by a divine miracle, by the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit, and she gives birth to the Son of God, Immanuel, God with us. The eternal Father chooses to send His eternal Son into our flesh as a helpless baby who depends on his mother to wrap him in swaddling cloths and lay him in a lowly manger. What a strange place, what a perfect bed for the God who so humbled himself as to enter our world and our race as one of us, not to condemn us, but to save us.
This child, Immanuel, is born, this son is given “unto us,” first to the Jews, then to all nations, to all mankind, so that all might call upon his name as Lord and Christ. He comes in peace to make peace between God and sinners, so that any and all who call upon his saving name may be saved. But woe to those who do not trust in his name and who turn away his salvation. For them there will be no peace in this life or in the next.
This child, Immanuel, is born of King David’s line, David, the greatest king of Israel, David the son of Jesse, David, whose distant daughter was a virgin named Mary and whose distant son was an Israelite named Joseph, who became Jesus’ legal guardian and Mary’s husband. But more than that, this Son of David born of Mary is also the only-begotten Son of the Most High God, begotten, not made, the Word who was in the beginning with God, the Word who was God, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
And the birth of this child, Immanuel, takes place in Bethlehem, in the City of David. And he is worshiped by angels and by shepherds, and by all who believe the angels’ words, “Unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!”
Now it’s our turn, in 2011 A.D., to rejoice, and to join the shepherds in glorifying and praising God for the things we have seen and heard. We worship him in holy reverence before His Word, and in song, for the birth of this child, the Son of God who forever entered our human race to bear our wretched human sin and to pay for it by means of an innocent human death. Now, risen from the dead, the same Immanuel, the same Jesus, Christ the Lord calls out to all of you: “The night of sin and death is over. The Light of life has appeared! Put your faith in me,” Jesus says, “for I was born for you.”
Rejoice on this night, O virgin Mary, blessed to be the mother of God our Savior!
Rejoice, O Joseph, honored to be the guardian of God’s Son during His infant days!
Rejoice, O earth, for the Creator of all has walked upon you for a little while!
Rejoice, O angelic host, privileged to be the first heralds of God’s saving message to man!
Rejoice, O shepherds, the first to hear the good news and see the newborn King!
Rejoice, O mankind, for God has stooped down to save you from your sin by becoming your brother, who now calls upon you to renounce your sin and invites you into the fellowship of his Holy Church!
Rejoice, O Church of God, O Bride of Christ! For your God has come to you and joined himself to you in marriage, in flesh and in Baptism, and will not let any harm come to you, either by sin or by Satan or by death. And you will never be alone again, O Church of God, not at Christmas, not ever. For God is With Us – Immanuel! Amen!
John 1:19-28 + Deuteronomy 18:15-19 + Philippians 4:4-7
Before the season of Advent draws to a close, we have one more week to get ready for Christmas, one more week to take a hard look at ourselves and see in ourselves the sin for which the only solution was for God to send His Son down from His throne to be born as a Man. We wait for Jesus in repentance, and no preacher or prophet in history preaches repentance like John the Baptist. Like a faithful friend, like a good brother, John is always there for us during the Advent season. He meets up with us in the Gospel twice every December to call us to repentance and to point the way to the coming Christ, just as he did for a short season for the people of Jerusalem and Judea in the days leading up to Jesus’ arrival.
But not everyone was so happy to meet John the Baptist. Not everyone was so impressed with his preaching and baptizing. We met him last week in Herod’s prison. We meet him today in the Gospel as the Pharisees in Jerusalem, those Jewish leaders who were such good-looking people on the outside, such sticklers for the Law of Moses, sent priests and Levites – the most religious people in all Jerusalem – to carry out a sort of inquisition by the Jordan River, and they were both confused and bothered by what they heard from John the Baptist. What was true then is just as true now: Good People Have a Hard Time with John – And with Jesus!
For some time John had been preaching to the Jewish people a message that centered around baptism – a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Everyone who made his or her way out to John – tax collectors, soldiers, the rich, the poor – found themselves strangely lumped together with everyone else, all exposed for what they were: damned sinners under the Law.
“You’re all sinners! You all need to repent, because God’s kingdom is coming, and that means destruction for all who are outside of it. But – it means salvation for all who are on the inside, so repent of your sins and be baptized for forgiveness. Come into God’s kingdom now, so that when the Christ comes – and he’s right around the corner! – he may come for your salvation, not for your condemnation.” That was John’s message, the message that, for as stern and condemning as it was, drew large crowds from all over the Jewish countryside, crowds of bad people, sinful people who were convicted by his preaching of the Law and encouraged and comforted by his preaching of the Gospel of forgiveness – that there could be forgiveness for people like them, that God should want to come to them in peace and in reconciliation. They were overjoyed! They were all wondering if maybe John himself was the Christ.
The “good” people of Jerusalem had a hard time with John. They “knew” that you have to keep the Ten Commandments if you want to get to heaven. They “knew” that the only “Christ” who may be coming was the one who would come only for good and righteous people like them, to raise up the Jewish nation to a position of power and glory in the world.
So, who does this “John” character think he is?, they wondered.
“Who are you?” the envoys from Jerusalem asked. “I am not the Christ,” John replied emphatically. If John had had even a smidgeon of political aspiration, he might have at least led them on for awhile, made them keep wondering if he might be the Christ. He could have fed the crowd’s expectations a little bit longer, too, at least to keep them around for awhile so that they could keep hearing his message. But no. Not John. He isn’t in this preaching business to gain glory for himself or even to keep people around. He tells the truth no matter whom it might offend, no matter how many people stay or how many people leave because of it.
OK. If you’re not the Christ, “What then?” asked the envoys. “Are you Elijah?” “No,” John says. “Are you the Prophet?” “No. Not the Prophet, either.” They were asking about Elijah because, as you heard a few weeks ago, Malachi had prophesied that “Elijah” would come before the day of the Lord comes. And it seems that they were asking about “the prophet” whom you heard Moses talk about in the Old Testament lesson today, the one whom God would raise up from among their brothers, the one they were supposed to listen to. No, John says, you’re completely misinterpreting the Scriptures, and me.
OK, John, so, who are you? “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” Such humility! Who are you? “I am a voice in the wilderness. That’s all. Don’t look to me as your helper, as your Savior. Don’t think of me as anyone special at all. But you should listen to me, because God has made me a voice that he wants people to hear, a voice that was prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah, a voice that prepares people for the coming of the Lord, a voice that announces the arrival of the Christ!”
So even though he wasn’t claiming to be anyone special, John was making a big claim here with these words, and anyone who was longing for the arrival of Christ as his Savior would be amazed and overjoyed at John’s claim, because if the voice had arrived as promised, then it meant that the Lord himself had arrived to save his people from their sins!
But the good people of Jerusalem were not impressed. In fact, they were even more confused and upset with John. “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” And listen again to his response: “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
See how John again humbles himself and points to the greatness of the one who is coming, the one who has now come and stands in their midst. Christ is the worthy one, Christ is the great one, Christ is everything! He is holy. He is God in the flesh. And he’s here! All of John’s preaching, all of John’s warning and all of John’s baptizing – it’s all about him! It’s all pointing to Jesus, the Son of God who has taken on human flesh and is now ready to be revealed!
But John doesn’t reveal him, does he?, not to these “good people” from Jerusalem. He doesn’t tell them Jesus’ name. He doesn’t tell them where they can find Jesus. He doesn’t tell them to go to Jesus. Because these people aren’t looking for Jesus. They’re already good people, in their own minds. Why should they seek after God in the flesh? God doesn’t come in the flesh, every good Jew knows that. And why should he? What need do righteous people like us have of someone else’s righteousness?
But the very next day, after these good people had gone, John did reveal Jesus to all of his disciples who were gathered there that day. In the very next verse after our text ends, John sees Jesus coming and cries out, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Right then and there John’s teaching turned blood red. Because a lamb was not a symbol of innocence or cuteness or meekness. A lamb meant sacrifice. A lamb meant blood – blood that would be available for any sinner in the world to take and paint on the doorframe of his house through faith, just like they did with the Passover Lamb, and so be saved from the wrath of God against sin. And more than blood, Jesus would provide also the true goodness that counts before God, the goodness that covers all who trust in him.
John’s disciples believed John’s message and began to follow Jesus from then on. But the good people – they had a hard time with John, and with Jesus. They got stuck on John, because their deeds were evil, and more than that, their hearts were unwilling to admit that their deeds were evil. It’s relatively easy for an outwardly wicked person to be convinced of his wickedness. But the “good people” of the world…They were unwilling to submit to the righteousness that comes from God, because they insisted on working for the righteousness they wished to offer to God.
The “good people” of the world still have a hard time with John, and with Jesus. You see it plain as day around Christmas time, and you see it both in those who want to get rid of Christmas, and in those who want to keep Christmas, but keep it without John’s message of sin and blood. They think they can celebrate Christmas with cookies and lights and songs and Santa’s and maybe even Nativity scenes with a tiny baby Jesus lying in a manger. How sweet! How tender and mild!
“Keep Christ in Christmas!” they say. I wonder how many of them will even be in church on Christmas morning to receive Christ in the Christ-Mass. “Don’t remove the crèche and the Christmas tree from the city square!” they cry. You mean the Christ who condemns the vast majority of this city and whose wrath will not be in the least bit appeased by a big lighted tree that bears his name? “Peace on earth!”, they croon. Ah, yes, but it’s the peace on earth enacted by a crucifixion, it’s the peace on earth that brings division and sword and bloodshed. “Holy infant so tender and mild,” the world is willing to sing. But that holy infant will grow up to be the holy judge of all and the King who throws all who don’t believe in him into the fires of hell.
No, no, the “good people” of the world have a hard time with that message. They don’t want it. It ruins the “Christmas spirit.” They won’t put up with it.
Will you? Will you count yourself among the good people of this world and so have a hard time with John and with Jesus? Don’t do it. Jesus wasn’t born for good people. Jesus was born for sinners. Jesus is God, the Word, made flesh, not in order to hang out with the good people of this earth, not to show us how to live like good people on earth, but in order that God might shed his blood for the wicked people of the earth, like you and me. Jesus is God, the Word, made flesh, so that the waters of Holy Baptism might cover you and me with the righteousness of the God-Man. Jesus is God, the Word, made flesh, so that he might pour out his blood on the cross and into the cup of the New Testament in his blood for penitent sinners to drink and be saved.
Christmas is not for good people. Good people will always miss the point of Christmas, just as the good people in Jerusalem missed the point of John the Baptist’s preaching and baptizing. And so as the season of Advent draws to a close and Christmas arrives, don’t be one of the good people who stay home on Christmas morning because they already have all the goodness they need. Let John the Baptist convict you today as a sinner, and then let John point you to God’s solution for your sin, who once was laid in a manger. If you are a sinner and you know it, then Christmas is exactly what you need. Amen.
Matthew 11:2-10 + Isaiah 40:1-11 + 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
There’s a reason why parents ask their children to make a wish list for Christmas. Not only because it makes Christmas shopping easier, but because parents like to see their children get what they want. They want to see their children laughing for joy when they open their presents – not disappointed because they got a gift they never really wanted in the first place, disappointed because they didn’t like the gift.
Sometimes people think they ought to make a Christmas wish list for God, so that he can give you just what you asked for. Then you would be happy. Then you would rejoice on Christmas morning, too.
But you know it doesn’t work that way, don’t you? Your Father in heaven doesn’t ask you what’s on your wish list. Instead, he tells you ahead of time what’s on his gift list, what gifts you need from him, what gifts you should expect, and then he tells you to adjust your wish list accordingly. That’s what Advent is all about, about letting God tell you about the gifts he wants to give, so that you can set your heart on those gifts and rejoice when you receive them.
Because not all people will rejoice. Most are utterly disappointed when they unwrap their gifts from God. If you would rejoice today on Gaudete Sunday with the Apostle Paul, with the Church and all the saints, if you would rejoice today, halfway through the Advent season, then you should know what it is God has placed on his gift list so that you can wish for it and not be disappointed when you open it. Advent teaches us to rejoice in God’s gift list.
The fact that John the Baptist still had disciples by the time our Gospel takes place indicates that they were still on the fence about Jesus. For months John had been pointing his disciples away from himself to Jesus, insisting that he must decrease while Jesus must increase. But now, as John sits in King Herod’s prison cell, it appears that John’s disciples were even less convinced about Jesus. If Jesus is the Christ, why hasn’t he pulled out his winnowing fork yet to punish the wicked and to rid the world – or at least, to rid Israel of all the evil and pain and suffering that fill it? If Jesus is the Christ, how could he let his prophet and our teacher, John, waste away in prison like this?
Now, we can’t say for certain whether John was having his own doubts about Jesus or whether he was only using this as a teaching moment for these disciples of his who were still clinging to him in prison. Prophets and preachers are by no means immune to doubt. Either way, it’s the question John sent his disciples to ask and Jesus’ reply that are important.
“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Whether or not John had his own doubts, he did the right thing here. He didn’t let his disciples wallow in doubt and self-pity. He didn’t sit there in prison complaining about how he was being treated, or beg his disciples to stay there with him and keep him company. He did the right thing. He sent them to Jesus to ask him for the answer.
And what an answer Jesus gave! “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” So, rather than answer the question directly – anyone could say anything! – Jesus let his deeds and his preaching speak for themselves. The Christ is revealed in both word and deed, and it’s his deeds of salvation that gave evidence to his word of salvation.
So, impressive deeds, though, right? In a way, yes. Jesus’ healing miracles were amazing – no one had ever done what he was doing. He was doing exactly what the prophet Isaiah said the Christ would be doing. But in a way, what a strange kind of Messiah – who stays completely away from politics and political agenda, who humbly stays out of the spotlight, who gathers a following of the most humble, sinful, downtrodden people Jewish society had to offer and basically spends all his time in the hospitals, in the ghetto and in the graveyard. A Christ who spends all his time with sinners.
And what does he do there? He heals the sick and preaches good news to the poor. What good news? “Hey! Those rich people have really cheated you out of the life you deserve! I’ll help you rise up against them!”??? No. “Hey! Don’t worry! If you follow me, God will make you rich and give you all the comforts of life!” ??? No. The poor remained in poverty after Jesus preached to them. And those who were healed of their diseases… still faced all the hardships of a healthy person and still eventually died.
What good news? In the words of Isaiah, “Your warfare is ended. Your iniquity is pardoned. You have received from the Lord’s hand double for all your sins.” Jesus came handing out gifts to the poor and downtrodden – salvation in the forgiveness of sins and the promise of a future in God’s presence after suffering many trials and tribulations on this earth. That’s it. That’s God’s gift list.
“Go and tell John what you hear and see…Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” You see, God’s gift list offends most people. It might even offend you if you were on death row like John was for preaching the truth of God, and all Jesus offered was the good news of sins paid for and a blessed future after wicked men put you to death. Many people, most people are offended by the good news, by the Gospel. They want something else from Jesus: some how-to lessons for leading happy, healthy lives; some proud words congratulating them for their good Christian behavior; some miraculous sign; an end to poverty; a comfortable life, riches, fame, fun, excitement, adventure, glory! That’s what’s on the wish lists of most people.
If that’s what your wish list for God looks like, you will be offended by Jesus. You will trip and fall over him and you will die in your sin, because those things are not on his gift list. Salvation for miserable sinners; the spiritual sight to see Christ as your Savior; cleansing from the leprosy of sin; spiritual hearing for those who were deaf to God’s Word; spiritual life for those who were dead in sin and, eventually, resurrection from the dead and a glorified body; the good news of forgiveness of sins to all who mourn; and the blessed cross – the cross of Jesus on which he purchased the forgiveness of your sins and the cross that every follower of his bears. Those are the gifts on God’s gift list. That’s what you should expect to find under the Christmas tree of the pulpit and the altar. And if those are the items on your wish list, you will not be disappointed.
There’s one more item on God’s gift list that Jesus mentions in the Gospel, and we should take a moment to consider it. After Jesus sent John’s disciples back to John with their report, he spoke to the crowd about John the Baptist. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. As you recall, John the Baptist was a rather strange man by worldly standards. He lived out in the wilderness. He dressed in camel’s skin clothing, he ate locusts and wild honey. And his message was nothing if not direct: Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near!
So Jesus reminds the people, you knew what to expect from John. He wasn’t a reed shaken by the wind. In other words, he wasn’t a people-pleaser. He didn’t bend a like reed in one direction to please some, and then bend back in the other direction to please others. He didn’t mince words. He just told it like it was. Stiff. Stern. Immovable. The people knew that’s what they were getting with John.
And they knew he wasn’t a success-seeker. He didn’t dress to impress. Neither did he dress to fit in or to be comfortable. He didn’t spend his time lounging around in cushy kings’ houses. His message was stern and serious, and it didn’t make him rich or comfortable. On the contrary, his preaching got him lots of alone-time in the wilderness and eventually, it got him into the king’s house, sure enough, into King Herod’s prison.
So, what was John? Jesus says, What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, “ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’” John wasn’t a people-pleaser or a success-seeker. He was a prophet sent by God. But also more than that, because John didn’t just foretell a distant future in which God would come. John was the only prophet whose coming was foretold in Old Testament Scripture, and the only prophet who didn’t speak about future promises, but about present-tense fulfillment, who pointed his finger, not at the coming Christ, but at the Christ who had come. “Behold, your God!”
John himself was on God’s gift list as a messenger of Christ. He was the forerunner who ran before Jesus and prepared the way for him, a forerunner who knew his place, that he must decrease so that Christ could increase. He was also the forerunner whose life, in many ways, set the pattern for Jesus’ life and whose message followed the pattern of Jesus’ message. “Repent and baptized for the forgiveness of sins!” John’s entire ministry, and even John’s death by execution at the hands of his enemies, pointed to Christ and his death by execution on the cross at the hands of his enemies, so that the people might recognize John as the promised forerunner, and Jesus as the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Would you have welcomed a prophet like John? Would you have recognized him for what he was, a spokesman for God and a herald of Christ? Or would you have found him too weird, too stern, too negative? The truth is, every New Testament minister of the Word – every pastor and preacher – is called to be no more and no less than a John a Baptist, a spokesman for God and a herald of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God, as Paul said in the Epistle Lesson. Ministers of the Gospel are on God’s gift list to his people, not for their own sake or for their own glory, but as the humble means by which God comes to you with his Word of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. If you’re looking for a people-pleaser or success-seeker in your minister, then you will be offended by a true minister of Christ. But if you’re looking for a spokesman for God, a herald who points to Christ, a dispenser of the mysteries – the sacraments of God, then you will not be disappointed.
So, what’s your Christmas wish list looking like? May the Gospel today and this Advent season cause your wish list to conform to God’s gift list. Then you will approach the manger rightly. Then you will be amazed at what God gives you there, and with the angels of heaven, with the Holy Church and all the saints, you too, will rejoice! Amen.
“Lo, he comes with clouds descending!” One of my favorite hymns. “Lo!” another word for “Behold!” as in the Introit today. “Daughter of Zion, behold! Your salvation is drawing near!” As we noted at our Wednesday evening service, that little word “behold!” says a lot. It’s God’s way of getting your attention now, with a word, so that he doesn’t have to get your attention later with a tragedy, or worse, so that he doesn’t come with clouds descending without ever having gotten your attention at all.
“Lo and behold!” In the Gospel, Jesus warns his disciples and us about the things that are to come upon this world in the future, and he pleads with us to pay attention. His Second Coming will be accompanied by Signs for all; Salvation for Some.
God has built certain signs into the fabric of nature that, when we see them, we know certain other things are also going to happen. In Genesis, it says that he hung the sun, moon and stars in place, not just to give us light or beauty in the sky, but to serve as signs to mark seasons, days and years. From the movement of the planets to the position of the stars in the sky, from changes in barometric pressure to changes in humidity, God has given us ways of predicting what will happen next. And those signs are there for all to see.
Look at the fig tree, and all the trees, Jesus says. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
What are “these things” that will take place? Signs in the sun, moon and stars. Signs for all to see, although not all will see them as signs. What signs will there be for all to see in the sun, moon and stars? Jesus doesn’t tell us. He speaks elsewhere of the sun being darkened, the moon not giving its light, and the stars falling from the sky. Is he talking about some catastrophic event that hasn’t happened yet? Or is he talking about the natural events that happen over and over again, like eclipses and sun spots and asteroids and comets? Well, Luther’s advice here is wise. You might call it “the safe route.” Better to interpret these naturally occurring special events as the signs Jesus is talking about and prepare for his coming now, because if we’re wrong and there are going to be some catastrophic events in the sky in the future, then we won’t have lost a thing by preparing all this time. But if we’re waiting around for the sun to explode or something, then, if we’re wrong, we’ll be caught off guard by Jesus’ coming.
Besides, you realize, there are no “naturally occurring events” really. The pagans ascribe the laws of nature to nature. But we who believe the Gospel ascribe the laws of nature to God, and he tells us to see the celestial events as events that he has prepared for us all along as signs that the great celestial event is coming, the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great glory.
In other places Jesus speaks of earthquakes and famines, wars and rumors of wars being signs to remind us that he is coming. Those are certainly taking place all around us. In our Gospel, he speaks also of distress all over the earth and nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, which also implies high winds. We don’t know much about waves in these parts, but do we know anything about high winds here in the Southwest? Destructive winds? This past week in Montana, they had wind gusts that were the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. We hear every year about hurricanes, and every so often about tsunami’s, and one “natural” disaster after another. Signs. Signs for all to see, although not all will see them as signs of Jesus’ imminent coming in the clouds.
What else? …people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. That’s a sign, too, a sign for all to see. It doesn’t mean everybody will be fainting with fear, but there will be enough to serve as a sign. Isn’t Harold Camping’s billboard still up here on the interstate predicting the end of the world – last year? How did he convince so many people to follow him? Fear. There is fear all around us, fear and foreboding about the future. There are more people stockpiling food and weapons and gold than ever before. There are more and more people turning to drugs and alcohol, not just for pleasure, but for fear over what the future holds. Have you noticed the hopelessness of the lives portrayed on television – people who have abandoned themselves to immorality and sin, with no concept of the true God and the true worship of him? By the end of this year there will have been about another million suicides, and another 40 million abortions. How hopeless is that? Signs. Signs for all to see.
There’s another sign Jesus mentions, although few people recognize it as such. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. “This generation” appears to be a reference to the Jews, the Jewish nation. Oh, they’ve almost been wiped out a number of times in the past 2,000 years, as early as 70 AD and as recently as 70 years ago. But they’re still around as a nation, the nation that crucified the Son of God and still refuses to repent of it. Now, that doesn’t mean that many of them aren’t converted to Christianity and saved. Many are, and more will be. Praise God for them! But contrary to popular “Evangelical” belief that the people of Israel remain as a people favored by God, Jesus says that they remain as a sign of his return, like a rotting corpse left in the middle of the road is a sign that the vultures will soon be gathering. The fact that they have not passed away is a sign that the Word of Jesus will never pass away.
The final sign for all to see will be the coming of the Son of Man himself, coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen, writes the Apostle John. Jesus’ coming and all the signs leading up to it will be there for all to see. And that day, Jesus says will snap shut on everyone like a trap, For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
And when that moment comes, when the trap snaps shut, you’ll have some who are safe on the outside, and some who are caught in the trap. Lo and behold! Christ’s coming will be accompanied by signs for all; salvation for some.
Lo and behold! All 7 billion people who are living on the earth on that day – or however many there will be – will be divided into two groups: those who are prepared for Christ’s coming and saved and those who are surprised and condemned. They’ll either be found awake and taking to heart the signs of Christ’s coming, or asleep and ignoring them. Either looking up in anticipation or weighed down in dissipation. Either worthy to stand before the Son of Man – or not.
Now, Jesus is not indifferent about which group you end up in. He’s not just passing on information. “This is the way it will be, some saved, some not, just wanted you to know.” He’s telling you how it will be so that you may be found among the prepared and saved, and not among the surprised and condemned.
Stay awake, he says. He doesn’t mean don’t go to bed at night. He means pay attention to the signs of his coming, and not just once a year or once a week. Don’t ignore them or pretend they aren’t happening all around you all the time. Notice the leaves on the fig tree. Open your eyes and see! Behold the signs! The summer of Jesus’ coming is right around the corner, and, as Malachi said, it will burn like a furnace! The longer Jesus delays, the easier it is for the sin that still lives in you to lull you to sleep, so that you figure, “I know Jesus could come back any time, but he probably won’t come back today, so I can probably get away with…” What is it you want to get away with?
Don’t be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life, he says, like the world all around you that lives for food, lives for sex, lives for clothing and music, and parties and sports and games. A mind that is wrapped up in those things is a mind that will be tragically surprised when the trap snaps shut.
Pray, Jesus says, pray continually that you will be counted worthy to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of Man on that day. He’s not kidding about this. Some will be counted worthy, some will not. There will be salvation for some; for some, not. So behold! Behold – your life, and see that your life isn’t worthy to make you stand before the Son of Man. Whether you openly live like a wretch or whether you hide your wretchedness under a veneer of goodness or whether your wretchedness is mixed together with the truly good works that flow from a Christian faith, your life isn’t worthy. It isn’t, and it never will be.
Only one life is worthy. Only one life can make you worthy to stand before the Son of Man, and it’s the life of the Son of Man. So behold! Behold – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, came in his first Advent to earn a worthiness that you could never hope to earn, a worthiness to live before God in righteousness, innocence and blessedness, a worthiness earned by his humble life of obedience and his innocent death on a cross, a worthiness that God credits to all who believe in Jesus. That same Son of Man was raised from the dead and will come again. And he will recognize that faith in him as the worthiness to stand before him when he comes with clouds descending. It’s the forgiveness of sins. And, to all of you who mourn over your sins, he gives it to you now.
So if you’re not mourning over your sins, it’s time to start – now! – to start mourning over them and no longer reveling in them; to start mourning over them and not clinging to them for dear life, as if they were your Savior. They’re not. Your sins are not your Savior. Your Savior is your Savior. So get rid of all bitterness, envy, hatred, and pride. Stop excusing your meanness, your short temper, your laziness and your lack of patience. Repent! Because in repentance, when you mourn over your sins and are terrified over your unworthiness, that’s when you find the worthiness that will allow you to stand before the Son of Man. That’s when you turn to the worthiness of Christ your Savior, and he will never let you down.
Now you are about to receive the body and blood of Jesus, given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins. Lo and behold! Salvation is being given to you now in the name of Jesus Christ, so that you are the “some” for whom there will be salvation on that great and glorious day. Now, in repentance and faith, you are ready for his coming! Remain in this state of readiness, no matter how much longer he delays. Lo, he comes with clouds descending. Behold – the signs that are there for all to see. Straighten up! Raise your heads! Because your redemption is drawing near. Amen.
The short season of Advent is upon us again. Christ is coming! Ah, but how? And, when? And, why? And, so what? Those are the questions that are answered throughout the Church Year. But already now in the short season of Advent, all of those questions are touched upon. Already now in the short season of Advent, God teaches you one of the most important truths you can know: All of life, all of history – past, present and future – is about God’s Advent. In all the other religions of the world, it’s about man’s journey to god, man’s ascending to god, man’s appeasing of God. Only in the Christian religion is it all about God’s Advent, God’s coming to you.
Your God comes to you, not you to him. For a brief, brief moment in human history, way back at the creation of the world, man had communion with God, a joyful fellowship. There was no separation, no chasm, no gap between the two. But man sinned. And then it was gone, just as God promised it would be if man sinned. God remained righteous and holy; man abandoned the righteousness and holiness he had with God, creating a chasm between the two. If this chasm is ever to be crossed, if the gap is ever to be bridged, then it has to be God who does it. It has to be God who comes all the way to man. And so everything depends on his Advent – God’s Advent to his lost and condemned creatures.
“Oh, look!” Matthew calls out. “Here he comes! There’s your King, coming to you now, riding on a donkey.” Your Advent King comes riding in.
First, your Advent King comes riding in, bridging the gap between God and man by taking on our human flesh and blood. That’s the Christmas message, isn’t it? “The Word was made flesh.” It was God’s promise to Adam and Eve that a Savior would be born of woman to crush the ancient serpent’s head, to save us from our sins and reconcile us to God. For four thousand years mankind watched and waited for God to come, although only in Israel was the promise preserved. The prophet Zechariah promised that God would come, Israel’s King, riding humbly on a donkey. But in order for that to happen, first Isaiah’s and Micah’s prophecies had to be fulfilled with our Advent King riding humbly into our human race, coming into the womb of the virgin Mary and being born in Bethlehem, born as our brother so that we could know God, and so that he could offer up to God the Father one perfect life as a ransom payment for the very sinful lives of his brothers. You can’t go to God. God had to come to you, and starting with his Christmas Advent and lasting to all eternity, God has come to you. Your Advent King has come riding in as your brother.
But sharing our humanity wasn’t enough. There still remained a huge gap between the righteous God and unrighteous men – and that’s everybody. There is no one who is righteous, who is good enough to be with God. And you have to see this in yourself, too, in how quick you are to tell God how the world should be, and in how slow you are to listen to his Words and learn from him – and even slower to submit to his Word, and to humble yourself before him and to obey his commandments, not to mention how much it grates on you to humble yourself before your neighbor. Your sins are real, and the punishment you earned for yourself with your sins – that’s real, too, even death and eternal separation from God. Baby Jesus didn’t take that away.
Ah, but here he comes, your Advent King, all grown up and riding in, bridging the gap between the righteous God and unrighteous man by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey so that he could offer up his life on the cross, for you. See him riding down from the Mount of Olives on that little donkey! See how humble he is, your Advent King. He has to be! For God to sacrifice his Son for those who hated him, for God to give up everything in order to redeem sinners… And to do it gladly and willingly, for God to rejoice and want to spend eternity rejoicing with those who would put his Son on a cross… Now you know what humility really looks like. It looks like a 33-yr-old man, who is also the King of the universe, riding up to the gates of Jerusalem in order to die for his enemies.
That perfect humility of your Advent King, even humble obedience to his Father’s will that he should die on a cross, bearing the sins of the world – that perfect humility gave Jesus the well-earned title, “The Lord Our Righteousness,” as you heard Jeremiah say in the Old Testament Lesson today. You couldn’t move an inch toward God, you couldn’t lift a finger or produce even the tiniest work of righteousness that would count before God or that would atone for a single sin. God had to do it all, and pay it all and suffer it all. God had to come to you. And now, in the cross of Christ, God has built a bridge between himself and sinners, a sturdy bridge that can never fail. Just when it seemed like all was lost, your Advent King came riding in with his Palm Sunday Advent that would culminate in a Good Friday crucifixion and an Easter Sunday resurrection.
But a gap still remained, and still remains for most people. Because it’s by faith in Christ as Our Righteousness that his righteousness becomes ours. It’s by faith in him that God counts us as righteous and unbars the gates of heaven to us and justifies us and forgives us our sins. But faith is beyond your grasp. The message of the cross is foolishness to us by nature. And even if someone believes the facts of Jesus’ death and resurrection, that’s not faith yet. The essence of faith is to rely on Jesus’ death and resurrection, to stake your eternity on it, to despair of all your works and to look to him as your Throne of Grace. And that is something you cannot produce in yourself. You can’t come to Jesus. Only he can come to you.
Oh, look! Here he comes! Your Advent King comes riding in, bridging the gap between God and man by sending his own Holy Spirit in this ministry of the Gospel. When you hear this Gospel, you aren’t just hearing about the historical facts of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. No, this Gospel is the humble donkey that brings your Advent King to you right here, right now. Bread and wine will become the humble donkey that brings the sacrifice of Christ from 30 AD Jerusalem to 2011 AD Las Cruces, so that his life is fed to all who eat and who drink. Your Advent King comes riding in on these humble means of grace over and over again, riding into your heart to make his home there, forgiving your sins, drawing you to himself, strengthening your faith and preserving you in the one true faith unto life everlasting. And this Advent ministry of the Gospel will not cease as long as the earth exists.
Finally, there is one more gap that separates us from God, and that gap is only a gap of time and experience, not a gap of grace or a separation from God’s love. God’s grace is yours now. His life is yours now, and by faith in Christ you have access to his grace and his love and nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, not angels, not demons, not even death.
But you know what I mean by this gap. You don’t see Jesus now. What you see is separation. Your life is not yet the glorious, perfect, pain-free life that it will be. It’s still humility here and struggling against sin and putting up with pain.
But see! He’s coming, just beyond the horizon. Your Advent King comes riding in, and you’ll see him one day, no longer riding on a humble donkey, but riding on the clouds of heaven. As Paul said to the Roman Christians, “Your salvation is nearer now than when you first believed.”
So what? So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
The season of Advent is God’s call to you to remember that Christ is coming, and so to live as people who are waiting for him. Live as saints, as people who are rehearsing for a sinless life of love and peace and service in the new heavens and the new earth, not as people who are rehearsing for hell.
Instead, take up your palm branches and sing a Hosanna to your Advent King. “Oh, no!” you say. “I don’t have any palm branches to place in his path, and I can’t carry a tune to save my life.” That’s all right. You don’t need palm branches or a voice like an angel. Here’s how you welcome your King at his Advent. Here’s how you receive him: with a broken and contrite heart, with humility and confession and renouncing of sin, with faith and hope and love – love for him and for your neighbor. You receive him by receiving the ministry of the Gospel in both Word and Sacrament. You worship him by believing what he says and by receiving what he gives and by giving thanks to him for the salvation he has brought to you. You couldn’t move a muscle to go to him. But he has moved heaven and earth in order to come to you. Your Advent King has come riding in to save. He still comes, and he will come. Lift up your soul to him, and get your Hosanna’s ready! Amen.
