“Advent Is All About Christ’s Comings”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Dear fellow saints who reflect on and eagerly look forward to
Christ’s comings, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ
Jesus our Lord [Amen.]
“Once He came in blessing, All our sins redressing;
Came in likeness lowly, Son of God most holy; … .
“Now He gently leads us; With Himself He feeds us
Precious food from heaven Pledge of peace here given, … .
“Soon will come that hour When with mighty power
Christ will come in splendor And will judgment render, ... .”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
333:1-3)
Epistle Reading....................................................... 1
Thessalonians 3:9-13 (esp. 12-13)
… 12and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another
and for all, as we do for you, 13so 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.
Prologue: Although we’re still one month away from 2019 it’s
certainly appropriate for us to greet each other today with “Happy (or
God-blessed) New Year!” That doesn’t make sense to most people because they
focus more often than not on the secular calendar that revolves around the
S-U-N. For people within the Christian fold who focus on the church year
calendar, however, it makes much sense because the church year calendar
focuses on the S-O-N. And in that church year calendar today is the first
Sunday of the new church year … the First Sunday in Advent.
It’s the beginning of the Festival Portion of the church year
during which we rivet our attention on Jesus and what He did for us so that
we can live with Him forever in heaven. Advent is composed of the four
Sundays and the days within them that precede Christmas. Although we use
Advent as a time to prepare to celebrate our Lord’s incarnation, there’s
much more meaning to this season than simply preparing for Christmas. In
fact, there’s MUCH more significance to Advent because, in reality, …
“Advent Is All About Christ’s Comings.”
Now recall that the word “Advent” stems from the Latin language
and means come to, approach, or arrive at. As such, there are three comings
of Christ that Advent emphasizes: His past coming, His present coming, and
His future coming … with special importance on that last one.
His past coming was His historical birth in Bethlehem that we’ll
formally celebrate three weeks from this coming Tuesday and to which today’s
Old Testament Reading referred: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the
Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the
house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous
Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and
righteousness in the land.” (Jer 33:14-15 ESV) In fact, today’s Introit
antiphon and Gradual both also referred to it: “Behold, your king is coming
to you; righteous and having salvation.” (Zech 9:9b ESV)
His present coming is His daily arrival in our hearts and lives
through the reading and hearing of God’s Holy Word, the contemplation of our
Baptism, the declaration of Holy Absolution, and the Blessed Sacrament of
the Lord’s Supper. And, His future coming, for which we prepare with His
present approaches and anticipate with great longing, is His eschatological
arrival on the Last Day. At that time He will appear as majestic King to
shouts of praise and adoration. It’s what Jesus foreshadowed in today’s
Gospel Reading: “And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.
As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—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!” (St Luke 19:36-38 ESV)
“Hurry up and wait” happened frequently when I was in the Army.
In fact, our American society is a hurry-up-and-wait culture. People
hurried to be at the front of lines on Black Friday Eve and Morning and then
had to wait to check out. We want the vehicle in front of us to hurry up as
it creeps almost to a standstill when turning thereby making us wait. We’re
forced to wait for the traffic light to turn green and then hurry up to get
through the intersection before it turns red again. We want our luggage to
hurry up and get to us when we’re waiting in the baggage area after a long
flight. Having to wait can result in frustration, irritation, agitation,
and consternation. We simply don’t … like … to wait.
Well, Advent is a time of imposed waiting … penitential waiting …
waiting during which we prepare to celebrate our Savior’s birth with
cleansed hearts and renewed souls. It’s a time of imposed waiting that
reminds us of the Old Testament Israelites, who waited some 4,000 years from
the time God promised Adam and Eve that He would send the Messiah to atone
for their sins. It’s a time of imposed waiting during which we longingly
look forward to Immanuel’s final coming to put an end to all the chaotic,
disorderly, riotous, rebellious wickedness that not only fills the daily
news reports with all sorts of sinful ugliness but seems to be accelerating
at an alarming rate causing increased fear, fright, and trepidation. It’s a
time of imposed waiting during which we eagerly anticipate the final
judgment and, because Jesus bore the penalty of our guilt for us on Calvary’s
cross, being then received into eternal glory with Him in heaven.
Although it’s not necessarily pleasant, nevertheless, it’s true
that anything worth having is worth waiting for. The probing question that
looms before us today is: “What do we do while we wait for His final
arrival?” Saint Paul answered that question in the Epistle Reading by
telling us (among other things and in the meantime) to …
I. Pray for One Another. (9-10)
9What thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we
feel for your sake before our God, 10as we pray most earnestly night and day
that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
Prayer is important, meaningful, and, at the same time,
mysterious. Although (as I’ve said before and often) prayer is not a means
to control, inform, or manipulate God since He’s omnipotent and omniscient.
Nevertheless, God invites and even commands us to pray to Him. Why? Simply
because “Prayer is an act of worship wherein we bring our petitions before
God with our hearts and lips and offer up praise and thanksgiving to Him.”
(A Short Explanation of Dr. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism: A Handbook of
Christian Doctrine. Copyright © 1943 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis,
MO. Page 146.) You see, when we pray to God with sincerity and faith in
Jesus we thereby confess that we believe He is real, that He cares about us,
and that He can and will hear and answer our prayers.
Of course, it’s equally important that we realize that just
because we sincerely and faithfully pray to Him does not guarantee that He
will answer our prayers when and how we want Him to answer them. That is,
God answers our proper prayers in His own time, in His own way, and
according to what He knows is best for us. And that, by the way, is a very
good thing!
As we pray, then, it’s also important to remember to not only ask
God for the things we desire but also thank Him for both giving us what we
may not have wanted but He knows is best for us, and withholding from us
what we may have wanted but He knows is not the best for us. Although we
may disagree with Him regarding His divine decisions, we know and believe
that His will is always superior to our will … especially since He sees the
big total picture that we can’t see.
It’s in that context that we pray for one another and others …
family members, friends, acquaintances, classmates, work associates,
neighbors, fellow congregational members, and, yes, even, and in some cases
most importantly, those with whom we disagree, who treat us badly, and
certainly our avowed enemies. In addition, we pray for God’s good gifts of
health and healing for those who are ill, injured, or infirm; comfort and
consolation for those who are grieving the death of a loved one; divine
guidance and direction for governmental leaders no matter if we agree or
disagree with their political positions or decisions; and safety and
protection for first responders as well as military men and women. But, and
this a very emphatic “but,” we don’t pray for those who have died, from whom
their immortal souls have departed their mortal bodies.
At the same time, we don’t only pray for one another and others as
Saint Paul exemplified and Jesus Himself frequently did, but we also …
II. Pray for God’s Guidance. (11)
Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to
you … .
That’s something we all need … but too often fail to do, namely,
prayerfully seek God’s guidance. How easy it is to desire, say, and do
things without ever asking God to guide our thoughts, words, and deeds. It’s
significant to note that Jesus, who was at the same time fully God and fully
man, prayerfully sought the Father’s guidance for Himself. Even though He
was one with the Father being therefore in perfect harmony with Him, He
still prayerfully sought and submitted to His and our Father’s will.
That was note worthily true in regards to His atoning work for us
and all sinners. He prayed what was arguably His most intense prayer in the
Garden of Gethsemane, where, knowing the brutal suffering and inhumane death
on Calvary’s old rugged cross that He was destined to endure for our
forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life, He passionately sought to be
spared what He knew He must experience. But the vital example that He gave
with His prayer was submitting to the Father’s will for Him. So also ought
we whenever, wherever, and for whatever we seek God’s guidance build our
prayers on the foundation of submission to His holy will.
So, let’s use this Advent season to practice what, in fact, God
wants us to be doing all year long, namely … pray … frequently, fervently,
and faithfully. After all, even though …
“Advent Is All About Christ’s Comings,”
let’s not ignore or crowd out His invitation and encouragement for us to
come to Him in prayer.
Without a doubt many thoughts, plans, preparations, and
expectations for Christmas will press hard upon us during these little more
than three weeks leading up to December 25. And although all the
pre-Christmas rush and activities may well threaten to sap our time, energy,
and attention, nevertheless, let’s remember to …
I. Pray for One Another. (9-10) and don’t lose heart. Let’s patiently
wait for the formal celebration of our Savior’s birth by joyfully realizing
that He already came to us in our Baptism and continually comes to us in the
reading and hearing of God’s Holy Word, the comforting declaration of Holy
Absolution, and the proper partaking of His body and blood in Holy
Communion, and will come again at some unknown future time to rescue us from
this earthly vale of tearful suffering. After all, “Robert Morrison, the
pioneer Protestant missionary in China worked there for seven years before
he baptized his first convert, and during 27 years of service he won only 10
converts, but they were the firstfruits of a great harvest.” (Encyclopedia
of Sermon Illustrations. Compiled by David F. Burgess. Copyright © 1988
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 190.) At the same time,
let’s also …
II. Pray for God’s Guidance. (11) Let’s do so keeping today’s Collect
foremost in our hearts and minds: “Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come,
that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our
sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance.”
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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