TITLE: “Fling Wide the Gates!”

 

In the name of the Father and of the † Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.  Our text for tonight is Psalm 24, which we prayed together a few moments ago, and which the choir sang as well.  Our theme for tonight is “Fling wide the gates!  Open the ancient doors.  For the great king will come in.”

Advent is traditionally a time of prayer.  It is a time when the Christian Church steps back and reflects on the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.  It is a time when we remember who came to save us, why He came to save us, and how He came to save us.  Our text for tonight asks the question of who.  Who is the King of Glory?

This Psalm was probably written as an entrance prayer to be sung as David brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem.  Now the Ark of the Covenant was the symbol for the Israelites that God was in their midst.  The Ark held the 10 commandments, the actual tablets.  It held Moses’ staff.  And it held some of the Manna of heaven from the wilderness.  When David brought the Ark back to Jerusalem after it had been gone for so many years, it was a day of great rejoicing and celebration for the people of Israel!  Why?  Because they believed, according to God’s promise, that where God’s Ark was, where His glory was and where His name was, that was where God dwelled with His people.  Or to put it another way, if you were to ask the Israelites where was God, they would answer: He’s in Jerusalem, in the Temple, in the Holy of Holies with the Ark.  Why?  He was there because that’s where He promised to be found.  God locates Himself in certain places, so that His people may know that He is with them.

But they had a promise.  There would come a time when the King wouldn’t be just another man with frailties and mistakes.  There would come a time when the coming King would be the Lord Himself.  The Psalmist proclaims that the Lord is the creator of heaven and earth, and that only those who come with clean hands and a pure heart may ascend to His holy place.  Only One who is perfect in every way may enter into God’s holiest of holies.  Only the One who keeps the Law without fail may truly be in God’s presence.  In times past, the Kings would not be perfect.  They entered in only by God’s mercy and longsuffering.

So who is it that enters in today?  Fling wide the gates!  Open the ancient doors.  For the great King will come in.  The king of glory.  The creator of heaven and earth.  The one strong and mighty in battle.  He is the one who enters in today.  It is the Lord, strong and mighty.  God Himself.

There is the connection, my friends.  The Lord, the King of the universe and creator of all things, He is the great King who enters in through the gate of the womb of the Virgin Mary.  He enters into our world as a little child, as one who is weak and helpless, but who is none other that the Almighty God Himself.  We saw but a glimpse of that last Sunday, with our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem.  He is the great king who comes in on a donkey, an animal of peace.  He comes today in humility and service.  He comes to serve you.  This king comes with a whole different purpose.

He reverses everything, and turns the whole world upside down.  Only the pure may enter into God’s presence.  We know this from the Scriptures.  We also know that if there is one thing that is true, it is that we are not pure.  We sin daily.  We cloud our thoughts and deeds with lusts and evil desires.  No, we are certainly not clean and worthy.  So instead of condemning us to the evil world, our Lord, strong and mighty, goes in reverse.  We cannot ascend to Him, so He descends to us.

Look at it this way.  You cannot purify yourself for the Lord’s presence, so He came down to earth to purify you.  And He did this by becoming one of us.  He came down as a little child, poor and helpless, just like you are.  Yet this poor child is the king and Lord of all things.  His reign is everlasting.

So lift up your heads and hearts.  Behold, your King is coming to you, with salvation in His hand.  He comes to give you all things.  And His name is Jesus.  Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting.  Amen.

Todd A. Peperkorn, STM

Messiah Lutheran Church

Kenosha, Wisconsin

Wed. of Advent 1 (Dec. 6, 2000)

Psalm 24