“Penitentially Prepare for God’s Salvation”
In the name of the Triune God—Father, X Son, and Holy Spirit. [Amen.]
Dear people preparing to once again celebrate the incarnation of God’s
promised Messiah, grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. [Amen.]
“Prepare the way before Him; Prepare for Him the best.
Cast out what would offend Him, This great this heav’nly guest.
Make straight, make plain the way; The lowly valleys raising,
The heights of pride abasing, His path all even lay.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
354:2)
Gospel
Reading............................................................... St.
Luke 3:1-14 [15-20] (esp. 1-6)
1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being
governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother
Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias
tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the
word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3And he
went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4As it is written in the book of
the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Prologue: You heard a similar thing in last Sunday’s sermon: “Hurry up …
and wait!” is the real-life lifestyle that I quickly learned to live during
basic training for my short military career in the United States Army during
the Viet Nam war. It’s a lifestyle that many, if not all, of us live today
as well. We constantly hurry to get from one place to another … to complete
one task or another … to achieve one goal or another. Upon arriving,
completing, or achieving we then have to wait again for whatever reason.
“Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” were good examples of that.
Many people hurried to get to the store of their choice at an early hour the
evening before or morning of the Friday after Thanksgiving in order to
purchase one or more special items offered at super-discounted prices … only
to have to wait in line for the store to open or, worse yet, wait to enter
the store after it had opened. As if that wasn’t enough, after hurrying to
grab the much sought-after super-discounted items, they then had to wait in
line to check out.
I suspect the same was as least somewhat true with people who
hurried to get on line via the internet on the following Monday to lay claim
to one or more other great bargains. Once on line there were probably
delays that caused the bargain hunters to have to wait to complete the
internet transaction … and then they had to wait (and perhaps are still
waiting) to receive their item.
Advent is a time to emphasize, review, and rehearse hurrying and
waiting … especially the waiting! Remember that the word “advent” means
approach, arrive, or come to. It’s, the time of the church year when we
approach with penitential preparation the formal celebration of the
incarnate birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ … the beginning of His journey
to Calvary’s cross and the grave as God’s atoning sacrifice for our sins.
It’s so very important to remember and ponder that the promised
Messiah, came in the past, continually comes in the present, and will come
to us again in the future. That is … He first came to us through the
historic miraculous virgin birth some 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem. He now
comes to us daily when we read and hear God’s Holy Word and properly partake
of the Blessed Sacrament of Holy Communion. And, He will come again at some
unknown time in the future to take all who by Spirit-given faith embraced
Him alone for forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life to everlasting glory
with Himself in heaven.
In the meantime, we live our lives hurrying up … and waiting. We
hurry to baptize our newborn children knowing that through such God claims
them as His own dear children. Then we wait for that time when, after being
taught the meaning and significance of their baptism, they’re invited to
partake of Christ’s real body and real blood in the Blessed Sacrament of the
Lord’s Supper for the certain assurance of the forgiveness, salvation, and
eternal life that God promised them in their Baptism. We hurry to get to
church for worship. Then we wait for the service to begin. We hurry to
bounce out of bed on Christmas morning to open the gaily-wrapped gifts under
the Christmas tree. Then we wait to do so until some slacker sleepyhead
finally drags him or herself into the room. We hurry to prepare that
special festival Christmas meal. Then we wait for one or more tardy guests
to arrive.
The greatest hurry-up-and-wait activity, however, is God’s call to
us to hurry up and repent … and then wait for Christ to return to take us to
eternal glory with Himself in heaven. In the meantime, we continue to
review and rehearse today’s Advent Emphasis, namely, …
“Penitentially Prepare for God’s Salvation”
knowing that …
I. True Repentance Results in a Changed Life. (7-9)
7He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him,
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear
fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves,
‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these
stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9Even 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.”
Change is exciting and stimulating to some people. But to many,
perhaps most, people who like the comfort of sameness and stability change
is an unpleasant, perplexing, and even problematic thing. The irony is that
whether or not we like change … it’s a reality that’s always happening. The
familiar evening hymn two stanzas of which we often sing at the gravesite
committal of a deceased person states in stanza four: “Change and decay in
all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me.” (Lutheran Service
Book. 878:4.) You see, … From the instant of conception until we die our
bodies are constantly changing. Clothing and shoe fashions are constantly
changing. Car, van, and truck appearances and accessories are constantly
changing. The color for Advent has changed in some churches from purple in
the past to royal blue. And, it’s already been twelve years ago that our
Missouri Synod began changing from using The Lutheran Hymnal to the Lutheran
Service Book, a change that also brought about new liturgical worship
settings and hymns that we’ve already learned and some that we’re still
learning.
So it is that Advent’s major emphasis is repentance … and the
change that results from it. That’s what John the Baptizer, who was the
slightly older cousin of Jesus, was energetically proclaiming to his
audience as reported in today’s Gospel Reading. In order to more fully
grasp his message to them then and us today, let’s review the five elements
of repentance.
First is that we recognize sin for what it truly is, namely,
rebellion against God and His authority by transgressing with our sins of
commission and omission His Holy Law that the Ten Commandments summarize.
You know, those thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions that God expects us
to do but we don’t do … or those that He expects us to avoid doing but we
do. St. Paul wrote: “… through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Rom 3:20
ESV)
Second is that we grieve the fact that we offend our loving God
with our iniquities. We feel sorrowful sadness over offending Him by our
wrongdoings. King David lamented: “The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm
51:17 ESV) God revealed through the pen of Isaiah: “But this is the one to
whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my
word.” (Isaiah 66:2 ESV)
Third is that we honestly admit to God, one another, and ourselves
that we have sinned. We did that earlier when we pleaded together:
“Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to
everlasting life. Amen.” (Lutheran Service Book. 203.) King David said: “I
acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will
confess my transgressions to the Lord … .’” (Psalm 32:5 ESV) St. James, our
Lord’s brother, wrote: “… confess your sins to one another … .” (James 5:16
ESV)
Fourth is receiving the forgiveness gained by Jesus with His holy
life, innocent suffering, and crucifixion death on Calvary’s cross. It’s
what we pastors have the greatest joy and delight in declaring as I did
earlier: “Almighty God … forgives you all your sins. … I therefore forgive
you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy
Spirit.” (Lutheran Service Book. 203.) The apostle John wrote: “… we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of
the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2 ESV) And Martin Luther wrote in his
explanation to the Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed: “… Jesus Christ …
purchased and won me from all sins … with His holy, precious blood and with
His innocent suffering and death.”
Fifth is that we strive by the power of the Holy Spirit to
change … change from doing Satan’s evil works … to doing God’s good works.
That is, we strive to obey God’s Holy Law as a statement of grateful praise
to Him for His gracious gifts of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life …
as well as evidence of the sincerity of our repentance. We do so by
following St. Paul’s desire in today’s Epistle Reading: “And it is my prayer
that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for
the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through
Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Phil 1:9-11 ESV)
The question then becomes: What does that changed life look like?
The answer is simply and yet dramatically …
II. That Changed Life Is a Self-Denying and Self-
Sacrificing Life. (10-14)
10And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11And he
answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none,
and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12Tax collectors also came to be
baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13And he said to
them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14Soldiers also
asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort
money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with
your wages.”
Again I ask the question: What does that changed life look like?
Simply and yet dramatically … it looks like Jesus Christ, who denied Himself
and instructed His disciples then and us today: “If anyone would come after
me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (St Mark 8:34
ESV) The Second Table of God’s Holy Law that consists of commandments 4-10
tells us how to do this as summarized by our Savior’s own concise statement:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (St Matt 22:39 ESV) In
addition, St. Paul gave the following instruction: “… do good to everyone,
and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal 6:10 ESV)
And, Jesus Himself upped the ante when said: “Love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you … .” (St Matt 5:44 ESV)
We ourselves do that today when we share clothes with those who
don’t have sufficient clothing; share food with those who don’t have
sufficient food; practice integrity (that is, truthfulness and honesty) when
dealing with financial matters; don’t steal either sneakily or forcibly what
belongs to another person; and avoid sinful desires for anyone or anything
that belongs to someone else by being content with what we have. It all
captures what Jesus taught about the final judgment and we confess in the
Athanasian Creed: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you
who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was
thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was
naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and
you came to me.’” (St Matt 25:34-36 ESV)
So, even amidst all the changes that are all around us in this
“hurry-up-and-wait” life, let’s strive to live the sanctified, reconciled,
connected life with one another that demonstrates the love of Jesus Christ
in us as we seek to …
“Penitentially Prepare for God’s Salvation.”
Let’s do so as we approach another annual formal celebration of Christ’s
birth and patiently wait for His “Last Day” return, knowing that
I. True Repentance Results in a Changed Life. (7-9) and
II. That Changed Life Is a Self-Denying and Self-Sacrificing Life.
(10-14)
After all, Malachi recorded in today’s Old Testament Reading:
“Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the
Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of
the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of
hosts. (Mal 3:1 ESV); the Advent Gradual reminds us: “Behold, your king is
coming to you, righteous and having salvation” (Zech 9:9 ESV); and we prayed
in today’s Collect: “Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of
Your only-begotten Son, that by His coming we may be enabled to serve You
with pure minds.”
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our holy
Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Triune God—Father, X Son, and Holy Spirit. [Amen.]
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