Take the Plunge Into Christmas

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who loved you with his very life. Amen.

When you last heard someone say, “It’s time to take the plunge” what were they talking about? Perhaps it was starting some venture that they had been dreaming of since childhood. Perhaps it was getting engaged. Maybe it was someone about to start a new job, or go to a new school? Maybe, maybe someone was actually talking about a plunge, like a polar plunge. You remember those? That’s were you raise a bunch of money for something, like Lutheran Island Camp or Special Olympics, and you pay someone for the privilege of jumping into a frozen lake?

Whatever it is, “it” is about going all in, doing your very best, no turning back for that thing. So when do you take the plunge into Christmas?

I know there is some controversy in this question. Thoughtful people can decide when it is acceptable to put up Christmas decorations and start listening to Christmas music. And opinions due very drastically on that front. With some following the stores and start listening to Christmas music in, like august or something, while others wait until after the thanksgiving day parade.

The church officially does things differently. The church doesn’t celebrate Christmas until Christmas Eve. There is this book, I wish I had a physical copy to show you, it’s called the “altar guild manual” and it was written by our synod years ago. In it it describes how and when the church celebrates holidays. One of the things it points out is this Christmas distinction. the 12 days of Christmas start Christmas day, so the church decorates for Christmas only on Christmas day and following, for those 12 days.

Today is the start of a new church year. And the church year kind of mirrors the life of Jesus, as without Jesus there is no church. It seems fitting that the first holiday we celebrate is Christmas, the day of God’s incarnation, when God became a human person, a man. But that’s not for another four weeks. So why start now, and not 4 weeks from now? Why have this season of Advent?

And to make things more confusing, we have for our text today this story of Jesus entering into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the last week of his life before the crucifixion. This is the story of Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. We see the crowds gather round singing their hosannas. We see the pharisees scolding Jesus and Jesus replying in kind, “if they were silent the very stones would cry out.” The text for today kicks off Jesus triumph in holy week, leading to his death and resurrection.

The best way to think of why we do this, why we celebrate Advent, why we hold off on Christmas until Christmas, why we have a Holy Week text for the first text of the year, the best way to think about it is taking the plunge. We go all in into this whole Christian thing. We go all in when it comes to our faith in Jesus Christ.

Every week, in every sermon we talk about two things, we talk about the sins we experience, the sins we commit ourselves or the sins committed against us. And then we talk about the comfort of what Jesus has done, how he saves us from our sins and he is preparing a place for us where we won’t experience the harmful effects of sin anymore. Martin Luther called this, “Law and Gospel.” The law talking about what we do and our sinfulness and the Gospel talking about what Jesus does in his grace towards us.

And this text, this beautiful passage from Luke, along with today being the first day of the church year, brings all of it together. It refreshes us, wakes us up, like jumping into the frozen lake. It’s time to take the plunge into Christianity.

Let’s ask the good Lutheran question: What does this mean?

It means that we, you, are all sinners. Every. Single. One. Without distinction. But more than that, we are sinners trusting solely on the grace of God. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here. We come here because we see our own sinfulness. We look at our lives and see all of our personal moral failings. We see the lies we tell. We see how our actions hurt others. We see our callous attitudes toward other people. We see our bitterness and anger. We see our lust and our selfish desires. We hear our unkind words and our praise of false gods.

So we come here. Because our sinfulness is always in front of our eyes. Sometimes we see it, sometimes we don’t. But we know it is there. And here we talk about it. We talk about sin. Your sin. My sin. We talk about because it is a threat to us, to our future with God.

But we don’t leave it there. We are here because Jesus did something about that sin. And it begins, with his birth, true enough, but his action against sin begins when he marches into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday, Jesus was there across the valley from Jerusalem, as he stood on the western side of the mount of olives. He asked his disciples to fetch for him a colt, the foal of a donkey. They did so. Then the disciples spread their coats on the colt, as saddle blankets of sorts. Then Jesus started the triumphant march.

People were familiar with triumphant marches, they were a thing back in the ancient world. They were celebrations when the conquering hero returns home. So Jesus enters into Jersualem triumphantly, like a returning hero. He enters the city to crowds who line the street shouting, “Glory to God, Hosanna to the Son of David.” The crowds cut palm frans off trees to line his path and keep the dust down, for their champion has come.

But Jesus victory, his glory, his triumph isn’t what the people expect, because Jesus victory is on the cross. Jesus enemy isn’t some foreign army in a fall of land, his enemy is sin. Your sin. And Jesus battles it on the cross. And he wins, but that victory costs him his life. In exchange for that life, you are saved. Eternally you are saved. More than that Jesus rose from the dead, destroying death forever. And you now have life. Even right now.

Advent is a time of preparation for Jesus. The church uses these weeks to prepare our hearts for Christmas. And this text, this palm Sunday text was chosen, very intentionally for the first week of the new year, for the first week of the season of preparation, to prepare us, to encourage us to take the plunge into what we believe. To prepare our hearts for Jesus, in every possible way. For him to be born on Christmas, yes, but even more than that for him to give up his life in our place, to rise again, and to one day come back to get us.

Advent is more than a time of setting up Christmas lights, turning the radio to Christmas music, buying gifts and trimming trees. Advent is more than looking for a snow day and a visit from family. Advent is more than all of that. Advent is about preparing fro Jesus. So no matter if you are new at being a Christian, or have been a Christian since you were in your mothers womb, or if you are somewhere in between, today is a call to go all in, to take the plunge into your faith, to take the plunge in preparing for Christ. Amen.