112705 Advent 1 Sermon

Advent 1, November 27, 2005

Confident in the Coming of Christ

Text: Isaiah 63:16b–17; 64:1–8

Other Lessons: Psalm 98; 1 Corinthians 1:3–9; Mark 13:33–37

Theme: We can be confident in the coming of Christ.

Goal: That we be confident in the coming of Christ through the preparation he provides in his means of grace.

"For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage." (Isaiah 63:16-17, ESV)

"Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence— as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:1-8, ESV)

Introduction: Let’s think about the season of Advent for a moment. If someone were to ask you, “Why do you celebrate this season,” what would you say?

Let me give you a hint: The Scriptures depict the Christ of God as the one who is coming, the promised Messiah; the one who has come, God incarnate; and, the one who will come again, the judge of all the Earth. This threefold emphasis is what the church calls Advent. During the Advent season, we hear again God’s call to faith, our need for repentance, and the reconciliation to God we all constantly need. In actual time, the Messiah who was promised to come, has come, and now we await the consummation (conclusion) of this age when Christ returns in omnipotent (all-powerful) glory with all the people purified of sin and redeemed from death. Now this should instill confidence in us, and I believe it does. So our goal today is to assure you, God’s people, that …

We Can Be Confident in the Coming of Christ.

Fundamental to our “visitation confidence” are three questions: (1) Who is being “visited”? (2) Who is doing the “visiting”? and (3) What is the nature of the “visitation-relationship” and its purpose?

  I.     Who is being visited?

        A.    Obviously, Isaiah’s prayer for mercy is meant for the Old Testament people of God.

          You see, Isaiah lived at a time when it seemed to his people that God just wasn’t that interested in “being there” for his people during their times of trouble. We might even say that He had “hidden [his] face” from them. Listen to Isaiah’s words in (64:7). "There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; [and here is the reason] for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities." Isn’t that something? God hiding! As the people saw it, it seemed that God had even caused their trouble: "O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage." (Isaiah 63:17, ESV)

But reality is often quite different from perception. You see, God had already “visited” them. But they didn’t find that visitation too pleasant. That visit used the Assyrians to conquer the northern ten tribes of Israel in judgment for their sins. Isaiah had even spelled out the warning that God would visit them again in judgment for their sins and cause their sanctuary to be utterly destroyed.

With all of that, it is really no wonder that the people lacked confidence in God’s visitation. No wonder they prayed for a different type of visitation! They wanted a visitation, not in judgment against themselves. They wanted God to act on their behalf against their enemies. However, the people of God could hardly deny their own dreadful state of sin. They are a people who must confess the truth that even they “have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6).

     B.      But we should not think that those people were worse than we are. The prophet’s words are meant also for us, today.

So, how do we compare with the people of the Old Testament? We at times find it hard to understand why God hides his face from us. Look at Katrina and the devastation brought about by the breeching of a dike. I recently spoke with a woman whose home had been demolished in the inundation. She said the people she worked for were doing all they could to help. But FEMA was not of much use. As I listened, I posed a question to myself: “Where is God in all of this?” It is so easy to ask if God is really, “there” for us. We much rather think in terms like how exciting it would be to experience firsthand a visitation from God!—but, are you real sure? Considering our own dreadful state of sin, I mean. During this Advent season, how confident can we be about any sort of arrival or visitation of God? Who is this God doing the visiting anyway?

II.     Who is doing the visiting?

I mean, just think about who we are with respect to God. Do we not all mean it when we say: “We poor sinners confess to you that we are by nature sinful and unclean and that we have sinned against you by thought, word, and deed” I pray we all mean it sincerely. You see, we must face the fact that we stand guilty as charged before the One against whom we have personally rebelled. God’s Old Testament proclamation of judgment, vengeance, and visitation against his people apply to all who are in the state of sin. Therefore, in regard to sin, this God is Judge, Avenger, and a fearful “Visitor.” But that’s not the whole story! Moses calls him Father and Redeemer. In these names of God, we learn the good news of salvation and his loving purpose in his visitation.

III.    What is the nature of the “visitation relationship” and its purpose?

In the midst of their troubles, the Old Testament people of God held fast to the confidence they had in God and in his saving name. “You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name” (63:16 ESV). Repeatedly, (thirteen times in all), Isaiah uses God’s name “Redeemer” to teach confidence in his promise of redemption, that is deliverance, from all their enemies. The promise never changes. The promise calls forth confidence in the hearts and minds of the faithful. But that’s not the only reason for confidence! The other name tied to this redemption is “Father.” Three times in this section of Scripture alone, Isaiah invokes the name “Father” and appeals to that relationship as the basis for confidence in God’s deliverance.

I know that the name “Father” does not always stir positive images in the minds of people. That’s because, no matter how rich, or warm, or comforting and embracing, or how shallow, self-serving, faulty, and incomplete our experience from our earthly fathers, it cannot reflect our heavenly Father’s love. This is why His fatherly “visitation” can seem rather double-sided: God is not like any earthly father when it comes to loving discipline, however. He knows precisely how to turn us toward Himself. No wonder the Psalmist prays: "Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in." (Psalm 27:7-10, ESV)

Confident in his name as Father and Redeemer, we do not lose heart because of it, but respect him for it and receive his visitations as the good will of our Heavenly Father toward us. Consider His invitation to personally commune with Him by means of the Lord’s Supper. And as we commune there at His table, He says, “Your sins are forgiven.” But just in case we should forget, He reminds us of our Baptism. There we were clothed in His Righteousness and Holiness and Love. There He promised us His Holy Spirit. There He came to us as Father and Redeemer to bless us with every spiritual good. And because of that, we can have absolute confidence that our redemption is drawing near when He comes again to judge. Amen.

Rev. Daniel N. Jastram, PhD, pastor, Messiah Lutheran Church, Forest Lake, Minnesota

Liturgical Setting

Advent emphasizes the threefold arrival of Christ—who has come as the newborn Savior, who will come as Judgment-Day Savior, and who daily comes as means-of-grace Savior. The Introit Antiphon proclaims: “See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation” (Zech 9:9b). The Collect pleads: “Come that by your protection we may be rescued . . . and be saved.” The Gradual proclaims: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Ps 118:26). The Verse encourages us: “Lift up your heads . . . that the King of glory may come in” (Ps 24:9). The Psalm teaches: “for he comes to judge the earth” (98:9); God “has made his salvation known” (98:2). The Epistle portrays the Church as those who “eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed” (1 Cor 1:7). The Gospel warns us to watch for the sudden coming of Christ (Mk 13:33, 35, 37).

Relevant Context

The sermon text is part of Isaiah’s prayer (63:7–64:12) for the deliverance promised by God in the face of his proclamation of judgment, vengeance, and “visitation.” Isaiah invokes for this deliverance two particular names of God: “You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name” (63:16). This use of “Redeemer” concludes its noteworthy thirteen occurrences in Isaiah (cf. total Old Testament use of eighteen times) and invokes the cause of Israel’s redemption mentioned previously (e.g., 62:12; 63:4, 9). The other name tied to this redemption is “Father.” Three times in this prayer (cf. total Old Testament use of fifteen times) Isaiah invokes the name of Father and appeals to that relationship as the basis for confidence in God’s deliverance.

Textual Notes

Vv 63:16–17: In this portion of Isaiah’s prayer for deliverance, he calls upon God as the Father of his people (twice in v 16, again at 64:8), contrasting God’s surpassing care and concern with that of earthly fathers. He ties that divine name to another name: Redeemer. These two names are the basis for the deliverance of God’s people from their troubles and for their Advent prayer that he would come (“return”).

Vv 64:1–2: This Advent visitation theme continues in the prayer that God would “rend the heavens and come down” (see also 64:3) in order to show himself as the God who “acts for those who wait for him” (64:4 ESV) and who comes to the help (64:5) of his people. God’s Advent causes trembling and quaking in the world (again 64:3) and makes his name known to his enemies with manifest signs of power, “as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil” (64:2 ESV).

Vv 64:3–4: These manifestations of power, recalling Mount Sinai, are the “awesome things” of God who acts and comes down to help his people.

Vv 64:5–7: The great need for deliverance shows itself in the dreadful and detailed sinful state of the people of Israel. Isaiah states that the people continue to sin and are “unclean.” Their righteous acts “are like a polluted garment”; they “fade like a leaf”; their “iniquities, like the wind, take [them] away,” and “There is no one who calls upon [God’s] name, who rouses himself to take hold of [him].” They “melt in the hand of [their] iniquities” (ESV). They even find fault with God himself by asking: “O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?” (63:17 ESV).

V 64:8: In the midst of their sin God preserves a confident trust of faith in his people. They confess, “you are our Father” (already twice in 63:16); again they tie that name to the other salvific name, Redeemer (63:16). They “wait for him” (64:4); they “joyfully work righteousness” and “remember you in your ways” (64:5). Their confidence is such that they are able to confess, “We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” (ESV).