Third Sunday in Advent
Notes
Transcript
Rejoice Always
Rejoice Always
At the end of todays service we will sing O Come O Come Emmanuel, the first verse is:
357 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
How well does this capture our present setting? A reminder that the church of Jesus Christ was born in captivity and under the occupation of Rome and the desecration of the temple.
How often have you mourned in lonely exile, these last months?
The refrain is the same - Rejoice Rejoice , Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.
Dr. Luther says that to have true faith is not just to celebrate Christ when times are good but when God Himself is at fault for our circumstances.
Each week during Advent we sing song as we light the advent candles, it ends in a stanza: we wait with growing light, till God makes all things right.
The word I’d like to reintroduce to you is a word that we don’t typically use nor like- imminent:
im·mi·nent| ˈimənənt | adjective
1 about to happen: they were in imminent danger of being swept away.
2 archaic overhanging.
Working at walgreens CEO & CFO Immanent, (Blackberry chiming)
It is imminent that God is coming. All of the scriptures point to the God that wants to dwell with His people.
This can be Negative or Positive:
Negative Immanence
Negative Immanence
For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Recompense (felluath 14x in OT) - wages, compensation (you reap what you sow- good or bad)
This is John the baptists statement too:
John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know,
You don’t have any idea how small and insignificant you are! A major ego blow to the Pharisees and levites. Your trappings of success have shrouded God made manifest.
Their position of authority has drawn so close to their identity that the only immanence they see is themselves.
What about you? What do you see outside of yourself? How are you bringing God near to your heart, to the heart of your neighbor.
Positive Immanence
Positive Immanence
John the baptist knew Jesus is central to His identity.
He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
2x (Homolegeo) To say with one voice - this is what we do in the creeds and the scriptures out loud. We say and do the same thing that GOD HAS SAID and done for US. - WE BELIEVE -
In a fragmented world we spend time practicing union. Immanence with the Body of Christ is to be with God Himself.
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
Did you hear the negative scare of God’s closeness as well as the good part?
the day of vengeance
the day of comfort (Matthew 5:4) To have God close is to know peace, and comfort.
Steal illustration from Athanasius and update it: Emperor takes over a town-
-Sun Valley Celebrities bought homes, Gained even more value if the celebrity Actually took up residence there!
Christians rejoice because God is near.
God is Peace.
God is Hope.
God is Joy.
At the end of the service we’ll sing Hymn 357, take a look. O Come O Come Emmanuel (Veni Veni)
Refrain is: Rejoice, Rejoice (Latin Gaudete)
Hymn is based off of 7 ancient prayers addressed using 7 divine latin names (Great O Antiphons)
O Sapientia (Wisdom)
O Adonai (Lord)
O Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse)
O Clavis David (Key of David)
O Oriens (Dayspring)
O Rex Gentium (King of Nations)
O Emmanuel (God with us)
If you move backwards from Christmas the first letter spells out Ero Cras (Tomorrow I will be present)
Built into the liturgy, the life of the church is the practice that God is coming.
God is present. A challenge to you, pray these antiphons starting the 17th. - these will be on Facebook too. Prepare for the coming Joy by rejoicing and praying.
Rejoice. Rejoice Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.