A Faithful Word
Notes
Transcript
Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. … through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
The Book of Concord Article V: Concerning the Office of Preaching
[V. Concerning the Office of Preaching]
[1] To obtain such faith God instituted the office of preaching, giving the gospel and the sacraments. [2] Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when he wills, in those who hear the gospel. [3] It teaches that we have a gracious God, not through our merit but through Christ’s merit, when we so believe.
1 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
The Christian year begins with a season of preparation; a season of waiting:
ADVENT (from Lat. adventus “coming”). A term often taken to designate either the incarnation of Christ or the Parousia, his second coming. In the Church, it designates the season immediately preceding Christmas; in the western church it comprises the four Sundays prior to Christmas, whereas in the eastern churches it begins in mid-November.
Today is the Fourth Sunday in Advent. It is closest to Christmas, and our thoughts today look more to Christmas than to the Second Coming.
Our Gospel Text tells us how the angel Gabriel told Mary about God’s choice that she be the Mother of God:
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
The New Testament authors Matthew and Luke were clear: Mary was a virgin; she had never known a man. The Old Testament passage that the Church saw prophesying this uses a word, “עַלְמָ֗ה” (almah) that can mean either “virgin” or “young woman.” Normally, the customs connected to marriage in Israel would have made it rare for a woman to reach even middle age without having become a married woman. For reasons connected to the tradition that Mary remained a virgin even after Jesus’ birth, Joseph was understood to be an older man who had children from a previous marriage. These details make for an interesting story, but they are not the points that connect us to God’s promise. What makes this child special, beyond the impossibility of a woman giving birth to a male child without the presence of a man’s DNA, is his connection to the Promise of God to David, the man after God’s own heart.
3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: 4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah
According to Matthew 1:17, twenty-eight generations passed between David’s reign and Christ’s birth. 28 generations waiting for the Son of David. 28 generations, to a point where many people might have even given up on the idea, or reinterpreted God’s Word to be poetic references to the nation of Israel. It isn’t that the Church “plagiarized” Israel’s story. The truth is that Israel’s “story” was never really. about Israel - it was always about Christ. Furthermore, Christ’s story isn’t just about Jesus. The plan of God is about the redemption of this fallen creation, the restoration of man’s role as God’s image bearer to its sanctified original status.
Many have given up on their purpose and have settled for a purpose which so limited, so small by comparison. Success in the world is defined by the number of our possessions, the extent of our influence, or the dollar value of our portfolios. To achieve this limited version of success, they are prepared to break every one of God’s Commandments, to resist the Holy Spirit, screaming into the wind about their autonomy, and to destroy both themselves and one another. So loud, so strident, and so destructive are they that they appear to be thwarting God’s mission to redeem His creation, but instead, they would drag it down to destruction with them, spitting into eternity Satan’s line from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, “Better to reign in hell than to serve in Heaven!”
Others ignore the revelation that God “desires all men to be saved”(1 Tim 2:4), and shrink back from Christ’s will that we be His witnesses per Acts 1:8. They sit passively in the sanctuary, bemoan the loss of our so-called Christian culture, but fear to say one word to someone concerning the goodness of Jesus unless the stranger before them gives them a sign that he or she already knows about it. This is far worse, because when we do this, we allow fear to rule us, or prejudice to determine our activities when they should be determined by the Word of Christ. I have to say “we,” because I have also been guilty of this sin. The Bible is clear:
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
and,
5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
When we allow the open door to close, when we let the opportunity pass by to speak the Gospel to those whom we meet, we are denying to others the opportunity to experience the power of God that brings salvation. When we go through our days acting as it that God only reigns on Sunday between 9 am and 2 pm, we have not truly submitted to the Lordship of Christ, but are instead yielding to Satan. I confess that I have committed this sin, I admit that I have looked the other way when I could have gone to a wounded sinner and bound up his wounds with the oil of gladness, the Good News of Jesus Christ. We cannot confess that we have done our duty when we have encouraged no one to turn from the darkness of this evil age and turn to His marvelous light.
Can our Lord yet obtain His desire for this city? Is there yet a balm in Gilead, Good News for Gary?
Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
The odds seemed to be against her. She was a virgin. Interestingly, Mary didn’t consider the possibility that this would take place after the season of her betrothal was fulfilled, and she entered Joseph’s house as his bride. Such would have been a natural solution to the seemingly impossible declaration by Gabriel. In the face of Gabriel’s declaration, she only saw what she was at that moment, a virgin.
God declares to us in His Word that “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” In that moment, when God’s pure Word is declared, we see only the impossibility of our own holiness, knowing the weakness of our flesh. In that moment of clarity, we don’t look for earthly solutions to our dilemma. But God knows that our use as His vessel is based upon His power, not upon our weakness, our spiritual immaturity. God knows that He must “work in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure,” for that is the only way in our weakened, sinful state, that His Kingdom will come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. God is not expecting us to do His work in our strength, but He offers more grace, as it is written,
5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
It is not yet Christmas. The days have not yet drawn near for Christ to arrive, there is still time to prepare. The day is coming, however, just as surely as once Mary felt the quickening in her womb, she knew that the day of delivery would come, so we too know that, having heard the Holy Spirit speaking through this message, we know that Christ’s return is nearer than when we first believed. Now is the time for us to “prepare the way of the Lord,” now is the time for us to “make His paths straight” for those who think that it is hard to discern, and difficult to travel. Today is the day of salvation, for Jesus will return, and as He declared, His reward will be with Him.
12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
There is a good ending to today’s lesson:
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
When Mary confessed, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let what you have said take place according as you have spoken,” the angel knew that his work was done, “and the angel departed from her,” not in judgment, as he did with Zechariah in the face of his unbelief, but in peace, knowing that Mary had heard the Word of the Lord, and responded in faith.
I pray that I have neither baffled you with many words, nor battered you into condemnation without hope of remedy. Even now, I do believe that there is a balm in Gilead, that there is hope for this city, and that we have this hope in this house. It might be in jars of clay, for we might not be perfect examples of God’s witnesses in Gary, but we are His witnesses.
25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
So let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.