Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Once
again, the season of Advent has arrived and, with it, the pre-Christmas
excitement. There are Christmas trees, garlands, tinsel, wreaths, and
inflatable Santas and bending reindeer everywhere you turn and Christmas music
fills stores and airwaves.
The church tries to tap the
brakes on Christmas. We’re not Scrooge McDucks, stomping on the brakes and
coming to a complete halt. We just want to slow down a bit and savor where we
are. Advent doesn’t mean pre-Christmas, even though Christmas is close-at-hand.
The name Advent means Coming. The season is two-fold: to remember Christ's
coming in time 2000 years ago, God hidden in flesh as a baby in Bethlehem,
while also reminding us that Christ will come again, as we say in the Creed, in
glory to judge the living and the dead. Meanwhile, the church waits in the
middle, with Advent expectation, as Christ continues to come to us,
hidden-yet-revealed, in Word and Water, in Bread and Wine. Traditionally, it
was a season of repentance, recognizing that it was our sins that caused the
Father to send His Son and take on human flesh to dwell among us. The colors of
the season are either blue or purple, colors of royalty, symbolizing that
Christ is the King. While we do give a nod to Christmas, with the tree up, we don’t
jump in with both feet. The Advent Wreath serves as our anchor, keeping us from
speeding too soon to the Manger. The Church resides in this in-between time,
this Advent time, of watching and waiting, anticipating the day that Jesus
fulfills his promises and returns to take His church to be with him into
eternal glory.
But all around us in the secular
world. Out there, it’s simply called the Christmas season or, a more nebulous
holiday season. The other day I heard someone on TV say that he loves this time
of the year. After all, he said, it's all about family and friends and giving
gifts of love to each other. They're missing out on the entire purpose of what
Advent is about, let alone Christmas. It's ultimately not about family, or
friends, or food, or presents, or who got the fruit cake from last year, It's
about Christ and his coming as a child in Bethlehem.
Theirs was a commentary of the
times and a window into the mindset of the world in which we live. But when you
have a misunderstanding of what Advent is about, and you have a misconception
of who Christ is, of course you're going to completely misunderstand what both
Advent and Christmas is about. And when that happens, you miss the whole reason
that Christ came in the first place.
It may seem odd that this
morning's gospel reading is the Palm Sunday narrative, Jesus entering the holy
City of Jerusalem heading toward his passion, death, and crucifixion on the
cross. But the reason that this is the first Sunday of Advent reading, is that
it demonstrates the whole purpose of Christ's Ministry. He was coming into
Jerusalem, entering into the City of David so that he could take his rightful
place at his throne.
His throne would be unlike any
other throne that any other king had ever sat upon, a throne not for splendor
and majesty and power and awe, but a throne for suffering. It wouldn't be a
throne made from precious metals and adorned with stones and jewels, but a
throne of rough hewn wood. There wouldn't a raised upper throne room, but there
would be a hill outside of the city walls, a place where the worst of the worst
would reside instead of kings and queens. It was called Golgatha, the Place of
the Skull, a place where murderers, criminals, insurrectionist's, the very
worst that society has to offer. This is the place where His throne would be
found. Is a place where this King of Kings and Lord of Lords would reign, where
His glory would be seen, among the worst of the worst, the sinners of all
sinners. That is where Jesus throne was to be found.
But on that Palm Sunday morning, that's not what the people were expecting. They were expecting a king’s king to come in glory with power, pomp and circumstance. They were expecting a king along the lines of King David who rode into Jerusalem with crowds shouting his praises. They were expecting a king who would throw out the Romans, put Israel back on the map and re-establish Jerusalem to be the holy capitol city of an Israelite empire as it was under David and Solomon centuries earlier. Even the disciples were thinking that this was going to be some kind of a power play. Perhaps they too would join in some kind of cabinet where they could be the secretary of abundance, the under-secretary of bread and wine and the minister of healing and miracles.
When you have a misunderstanding
of who and what Jesus is all about, then, there is also a misunderstanding of
what Jesus has come to do.
Jesus riding into Jerusalem is
God’s way of literally interrupting the world’s plans. It’s Jesus way of
saying, “I’m here to do something unexpected.” On this first Sunday of Advent,
this first day of a new Church year, it’s worth pausing, slowing, and re-centering
our eyes on Jesus.
If all you think Christmas is
only about family and friends, presents and trees, then you are as misguided as
the ancient citizens of Jerusalem who lined the streets to welcome the King
they expected. Then you forget the whole purpose of Jesus coming. The name
Jesus tells us who and what he is: savior. Jesus means savior. The Angel would
tell Mary and Joseph to name him Jesus because he's going to save his people
from their sins. He's not going to take the lives of many. Rather, he will give
his life for many.
God the Father has sent His Son,
Jesus Christ, to bear your sin and be your Savior. The suffering of Jesus was
not an accident. It was not just what happens to a nice person who loves in a
world filled with hate. It was purposeful. God the Father sent His Son into the
world to defeat all the forces that oppose His Kingdom. Jesus came to bear sin
and bring forgiveness, to defeat death and bring life, to conquer Satan and
bring salvation.
No matter where you are in the
Church Year, no matter what texts of Scripture you are reading, no matter what
hymns you are singing, this is the reason why God is here: To bring you
forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Jesus comes to take us to what
lies at the heart of the matter: God’s love for His creatures. It may not take
away the anxiety, but it sets you on solid ground. You are a child in a kingdom
where God, your Father, loves you. At the heart of His love is the person of
His Son. Though it leads to His death, Jesus will do the work of His Father. He
will come and bear what needs to be borne, fight what needs to be fought, and
die to put to death what needs to end, so He might rise and bring the beginning
of life, eternal life to you.
So, in this secular world of
pre-Christmas, I invite you to rest in Advent for just a moment. Jesus has
come. Not in Jerusalem, but here. Not on a colt but in His Word. Not surrounded
by crowds throwing cloaks on a road, but still surrounded by disciples. You and
me. Here, in this place, Jesus comes to remind and assure us. Grace is the
reason He is here.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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