First Sunday of Advent

- Reaffirm our commitment to justice, equity, and service, so that the Church becomes a true home for the poor and a reflection of God’s Kingdom on earth.”

It is a lot to do - and it is not the easiest thing to do. It is a reminder to be a little more like Jesus - who does those things.

Coming alongside those who are struggling in poverty, loneliness and despair.

Sharing himself with those who need their dignity restored.

Working in his teaching, preaching and working - towards justice that creates a space for the poor - lifting them up.

But - “why don’t we?”

And the overarching answer is probably fear.

Insecurity.

If I open my door to the poor - I worry they might move in and take my stuff.

If I open my heart to those who are in need - I fear they might break it.

If I commit myself to making the church a home for the poor and a commitment to God’s Kingdom on Earth - what will I lose?

All my reasons for not being very Christ like stem mostly from my fear - and my fear is of losing my own security… my own heart.

So - how do I change?

And the answer is - I don’t change.

I trust in God to do the changing.

So - during Advent - I shift my heart from myself - to Jesus - trusting in what he can do. What he can bring - how he can change me.

The Sundays of Advent follow these four virtues… Perhaps - an antidote to my own insecurity..

Hope, Peace, Joy & Love

Hope - the anticipation of Christ's coming and the hope he brings to the world.

Peace - the peace that Christ's birth brings, so different to the peace that I often work for.

Joy - represents the joy felt at the birth of Christ, the change that enters the world when he is born.

Love - And finally - the love that Christ brings.

Hope, Peace, Joy and Love

Are perhaps symptoms - and perhaps pre-conditions for the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Today - is the day of Hope.

And we have hope because God fulfils his promise:

Promise

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Jeremiah 33:14

Jeremiah 33:14 NRSV

14 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah prophesies when Zedekiah and before him Jehoiachin were Kings of Judea. Well they were kings - but only if Babylon allowed it… they were appointed by Nebuchadnezzar.

Jeremiah prophesies the exile of the people of Judea - at a time when the kings were telling everyone not to worry. But what Jeremiah had to say came true.

It is interesting that a huge part of the formation of the Jewish faith - the distillation of the scriptures into a Bible.

Away from the space and place that defined their identity and culture - the Jews dug into their story - wrote it down and studied it. Asking themselves: “How did we get this way?”

This map shows Jerusalem, Judea, the region that was Israel during the reign of David and Solomon a period of about 70 years from 1000BC to 930BC. And then Babylon in the East.

About the distance from here to Makhanda (Grahamstown). Which is a long way if you have to drive - can you imagine how far it seemed if you were dragged into captivity there.

You could be forgiven for thinking - if you were a slave in Babylon… has God forgotten us.

Yet - Jeremiah speaks of a promise.

The Promise

Jeremiah 33:14 (NRSV)

14 I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

A promise to the house of Israel - and the house of Judah…

The promise to David…

For this occasion - and in this context - the most obvious promise that we are talking about is the promise of a King in the line of David…

We’d have to go back to the promise that God made to David in 2 Samuel 7:12

2 Samuel 7:12 NRSV

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

and 2 Samuel 7:16

2 Samuel 7:16 NRSV

16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

What ever happened to the promise?

Would the house of David be established forever?

There is this promise - the one to the house of David - but we must remember that the promise to Israel (and remember these are proper names - not countries) Israel in this case is a name for Jacob - after he was renamed by the angel.

The promise to Jacob (Israel)

Genesis 28:13–14 (NRSV)

13 And the Lord stood beside him and said, “…the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring;

14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth… and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.

Two promises. Anyone living in exile in Babylon - so far from Jerusalem - 70 years of exile - could be forgiven for thinking God had forgotten his promise to the people of Israel.

To be a blessing to the nations.

To have a King forever in the line of David.

But God speaks to Jeremiah of a hope to hold on to:

Jeremiah 33:14 NRSV

14 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

Promise Fulfilled

Jeremiah 33:15 (NRSV)

15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David;

So - the promise that we’re talking about - in the context of Jeremiah - is the promise of a new king.

And not just any sort of king - ‘a righteous’ king - ‘a righteous branch’.

When Babylon took Judea - Zedekiah was the King of Judea. Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon.

But as you read the Old Testament - especially the book of Kings - you will find many Kings described by the phrase:

“He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” The terrifying pronouncement of judgment is found in 2 Kings 24:20:

2 Kings 24:20 (NRSV)

20 Indeed, Jerusalem and Judah so angered the Lord that he expelled them from his presence.

The people held captive in Babylon had done their research.

They had made a record of their history - why are we in exile? The answer would be - Because Zedekiah ‘did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.’

And we so angered the LORD that he expelled us from his presence…

Why are we in the situation we are in right now?

We can’t blame Zedekiah - and we might go through a long list of people to blame…

Botha, Heunis, DeKlerk, Mandela, Mbeki, Motlanthe, Zuma, Ramaphosa…

But we do choose our politicians for ourselves these days.

The promise of Jeremiah - is ‘a righteous branch.’

A good King in the line of David…

Jeremiah 33:15 NRSV

15 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.

…and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

The promise of restoration. Righteousness. Justice.

The mess we are in - the cascading mess we are in - throughout the world - is this constant building of injustice upon injustice.

And from me and my concerns - us and ours - learning to be a church for the poor and vulnerable.

The reason we don’t do that is our fear.

And our fear teaches us to build bigger walls - not bigger tables. Our fear teaches us chase strangers away - instead of welcoming them.

Building an ever widening chasm over which it becomes more and more impossible to build a bridge.

Jeremiah 33:16 NRSV

16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

Jeremiah is writing in about 580BC… There will be a lot of rulers etc. between Zedekiah and the time of Jesus.

The hay days of David and Solomon just won’t be restored.

That doesn’t seem to be a part of the plan.

But he seems to be hinting at something else.

He is renaming Jerusalem.

He is moving it from a Geographical location - to a heart location.

This is the name by which it will be called:

“The LORD is our righteousness…”

The righteous branch from the tree of David - is Jesus.

He will execute righteousness and justice in the land - he will be a truly good and sinless King.

And in those days - Judah will be saved… we know now that this salvation is the promise of a new covenant with God.

A covenant which is made possible by Jesus…

A community is formed whose identity is not secured by lineage or geographical location.

Jehovah-Tsidkenu (יְהוָֹה צִדְקֵנוּ, yhwh tsidqenu). A title the prophet Jeremiah gives to the Messiah (Jer 23:6) and to Jerusalem (Jer 33:16). It is often rendered “The Lord our righteousness.”

But by a simple confession:

The LORD is our righteousness.

Jehovah Tsidkenu.

1 Thessalonians 3

1 Thessalonians 3:12–13 NRSV

12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

The Lord Jesus Christ - The Lord our Righteousness.

Jeremiah 31:33 NRSV

33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Matthew 26:27–28 NRSV

27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

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