With gratitude to Dr. Reed Lessing (Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO) for
his 2011 Advent resources, "Savior of the Nations, Come."
"Prepare the Royal Highway"
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. [Amen.]
"Prepare the royal highway; The King of kings is near!
Let ev'ry hill and valley A level road appear!
Then greet the King of glory Foretold in sacred story:
Hosanna to the Lord, For He fulfills God's Word!"
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
343:1)
Old Testament Reading............................................ Isaiah
40:1-11 (esp. 3-5)
3"In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert
a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become
level, and the rough places a plain. 5And the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has
spoken."
A present-day pastor tells the following true story that he
experienced: "There I was, sitting in a Lutheran church in south St. Louis.
I was all of 22 years old and this church was to be where I gained my
initial experience in becoming a pastor. During the closing hymn two little
ladies walked up the aisle, stepped up to the altar and took the flowers. I
thought, 'This must be a St. Louis Lutheran custom I'm not aware of yet.'
This was repeated every Sunday. After six months my curiosity finally got
the best of me. I asked one of the ladies, 'What do you do with those
flowers?' She replied, 'Young man, we take them to the people who are sick
after the sermon.'"
People get sick from sermons!
One Sunday a pastor was preaching on every book in the Bible. The
sermon went on and on. Finally he finished with the book of Revelation,
only to realize that he bypassed the book of James. He told the
congregation of his mistake and then asked, "What am I going to do with
James?" One man shouted out, "Pastor, you can give James my place. I'm
going home!"
People get sick from sermons!
Sermons on repentance especially make people sick! Repentance is
not high on our list of fun things to think about, much less do. Repentance
brings us face-to-face with the reality of our sinful brokenness, inability
to save ourselves, and, therefore, our dire need to be rescued, redeemed,
and reconciled in order to have spiritual comfort now and eternal security
in the future.
Repentance is a major emphasis of both Advent and Lent and is
present in many sermons during those church year seasons even as it was in
my sermons the first two Sundays of this present Advent season. Recall that
I said then, "Our newest Synodical Catechism tells us about repentance that
'Those who repent and ask for forgiveness are to be forgiven. Only
repentant believers receive the forgiveness [given in absolution].
Repentant believers are those who are sorry for their sins (contrition) and
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior (faith). Unrepentant
sinners, that is, those who are not sorry for their sins and do not believe
in Jesus Christ, are not to be forgiven as long as they do not repent.
"Then good works are bound to follow, which are the fruit of repentance."
(Augsburg Confession XII 6) Excommunication is not intended to punish the
sinner, but to A. lead him or her to repentance and faith; [and] B. prevent
him or her from leading others into sin.'" (Luther's Small Catechism with
Explanation. Copyright © 1986, 1991 Concordia Publishing House. Pages
226f. & 230.)
In fact, as I continued then, "The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel
recorded God's appeal to the Israelites to 'Repent and turn away from your
idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.' (Ezek 14:6 ESV)
and 'Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your
ruin.' (Ezek 18:30 ESV) When 'John the Baptist came preaching in the
wilderness of Judea, [he said,] "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand."'" (Matt 3:1-2 ESV) After being baptized by cousin John, Jesus
repeated His cousin's message when He Himself 'began to preach, saying,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."'" (Matt 4:17 ESV) Saint
Peter urged, 'Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be
blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the
Lord.' (Acts 3:19 ESV) And, Saint Paul proclaimed, 'The times of ignorance
God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because
he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a
man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by
raising him from the dead.'" (Acts 17:30-31 ESV)
Repentance is personally unpleasant because it results from and
admits the reality that God is a holy and just God, that is, He is "sinless
and hating sin" as well as "fair and impartial." (Luther's Small Catechism
with Explanation. Page 106.) His attitude toward sin and people who sin
results in what we say in the church's Divine Service Setting I and II
liturgies, "We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment."
(Lutheran Service Book. Pages 151 & 167)
So it is that in today's Old Testament Reading God's message to
His chosen people, the Israelites, is one of penetrating, indicting, and
condemning Law. That is, He reminded them that they had rebelled against
Him by turning away from Him Who had cared and provided for them and instead
turned to their own physical strength, intellect, and riches. They became
what King David described as "They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the
children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none
who does good, not even one." (Ps 14:1-3 ESV) Of course, that same
penetrating, indicting, and condemning Law applies to us as well in our
natural sinful state.
The owner of a greenhouse hired a young man whom he had judged to
be a hard worker. Although the owner's judgment proved to be correct, the
greenhouse plants began to die. Then the owner called a more experienced
gardener to remedy the situation. Soon the plants began to grow larger and
healthier. The owner was puzzled, "What made the difference?" The
experienced gardener explained, "When the young man moved the plants, he did
it with great caution and care. But I was rough with them. I disturbed
their roots. Plants flourish when you shake them up at their roots."
You see, that's why we need God's Law . to be shaken up at our
roots and engage in repentance. That's why we have this Advent time of
reviewing and rehearsing repentance. That's why Dr. Martin Luther
emphasized the need and importance of making repentance a daily ongoing
activity. That's why we regularly review that repentance includes 1.
Recognizing sin as sin and the dismal fact that we are sinful and unclean;
2. Grieving our rebellion against God with sinful thoughts, attitudes,
words, and works; 3. Confessing our sins to God, others, and ourselves both
privately and publicly; 4. Receiving and reveling in the glorious gifts of
forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life that Jesus gained for us with His
holy life, innocent suffering, crucifixion death, and majestic resurrection
from the dead in victory over death, the devil, and sin itself; and 5.
Striving by the Holy Spirit's power to replace devil-pleasing sins with
God-pleasing sanctified thoughts, attitudes, words, and deeds.
A Lutheran church in Milwaukee was having their annual outdoor
nativity pageant with live animals. One evening, the donkey wandered off
and entered a nearby bar. Upon seeing the donkey, one customer pushed his
glass aside and decided he had had enough to drink. The bartender tried to
calm him down by saying, "Oh, don't let that donkey bother you. He belongs
to the Lutheran Church down the street."
There are a lot of donkeys that belong to Lutheran churches. We
all know that, because many, most, or even all of us are among them. We can
be as stubborn and stiff-necked as anyone.
God's glory left his people at the time of the Babylonian exile.
Ezekiel chapters eight through eleven is the prophet's vision of God's
withdrawal from the Jerusalem temple. It begins with people making an altar
in the temple to an "image of jealousy." (Ezek 8:5 ESV) Both the government
and church leaders had their own images or idols (Ezek 8:12 ESV), women
worshipped Tammuz (Ezek 8:14 ESV), and others bowed down to the sun (Ezek
8:16 ESV). Bloodshed and violence filled the land (Ezek 9:9 ESV). These
abominations drove the Lord from His temple (Ezek 8:6 ESV). Leaving in
stages, as a jilted lover, God found it heart-wrenching to leave the people
He loved (e.g., Ezek 9:3; 10:4, 18-19 ESV).
Thanks and praise to God that He faithfully keeps His promises,
that He is kind and desires our welfare, that He mercifully looks upon us
through divine eyes full of pity, and that He graciously shows us undeserved
kindness and forgiveness. Thanks and praise to God that Jesus, Who is "the
only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of
God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one
substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and
for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit
of the virgin Mary and was made man," (Nicene Creed) "advented" to us. That
is, as the Apostles' Creed more simply and succinctly states it, He "was
conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary."
This Jesus Christ, Who came to us then, continues to come to us
today, and will come to us again on the Last Day, and Whom we approach in
humble and reverent prayer and worship, is the ultimate and permanent
expression of God's glory (1 Cor 2:8). The shepherds saw the glory of the
Lord when Jesus was born, . and they were terrified (Lk 2:9). In the infant
Jesus they saw God's glory wrapped not only in swaddling cloths but also in
human flesh (Jn 1:14). At our Lord's transfiguration His glory was
displayed beyond comparison when His clothes became dazzling white (Lk
9:29). But, on Good Friday His disciples deserted Him. His garments were
gambled away. Then His Father turned his back on Him as He abjectly
abandoned His dear Son to bear the weight of all sins of all mankind of all
time. As Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt
27:46 ESV; see Ps 22:1) the Lord's presence left the holiest-of-holies
Temple (the Messiah Himself) alone to die on Calvary's cross as "the atoning
sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the
whole world." (1 John 2:2 NIV) The result, Saint Peter tells us, is "that
you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not
with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood
of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." (1 Peter 1:18-19
ESV)
Thanks be to God (again) that His glory returned on Easter morning
when He conquered His and our vicious enemies-death, the devil, and sin-by
His victorious rising back to life. His mighty resurrection from the dead
gives us the certain assurance that we receive in the hearing and reading of
God's Holy Word, the sweet declaration of Holy Absolution, and the Blessed
Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, that the day is coming when,
at the Second Coming of Christ, all flesh will see God's glory.
So, how shall we prepare for that "great and awesome day of the
Lord"? (Joel 2:31; Mal 4:5 ESV) In one word-repent! For then we will see
God's glory in the newborn Baby Jesus in Bethlehem's manger; in that
full-grown Baby's body and blood in the Holy Supper; and when that ascended
glorified Baby appears as King supreme in the eastern sky on the Last Day.
Why? Because the mouth of the Lord has spoken it!
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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