Messiah Lutheran Church

Kenosha, Wisconsin

Ad Te Levavi (Advent 1), November 28, 2004

Matthew 21:1-11

TITLE: “The Way of the Lord”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is the Gospel lesson just read, with focus on the words from Zechariah, Behold, your King is coming to you.

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord. So began the Prophet Jeremiah. The people of his time were looking forward to captivity in Babylon. Years of having no home, to future, and no way of knowing even where their next meal will be coming from. Those days were coming for them. There was no denying it. And Jeremiah, the prophet of the Lord, had to tell them the whole story of Law & Gospel.

The days are coming when people will forsake God and will follow after other gods. The days are coming when many will allow the cares and worries of this life to draw them away from the works and promises of God. It was their unbelief and sin that sent the people of Israel into Exile so many years ago. They could not see God’s hand at work, slowly, patiently fulfilling His promises to them for a new land, a new king, a new nation made holy by His own blood. They couldn’t see that when God made a covenant with them, that He sealed it with His own life. They couldn’t see, even though it was right in front of their very eyes, the Words and Promises of God in His Holy Word.

We of course are not so different than they. It is easy for us to allow the pressures of our time, of family, work, play and life to draw us away from God’s Word and Promise. How many of us have allowed other things to distract us from God’s Word and Promises? How many of us have convinced ourselves that there are more important things than the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting? Perhaps it is us who St. Paul had in mind when he penned those words to the Romans many years ago:

…now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light (Romans 13:8-9).

Advent is the season when we reflect in repentance and faith upon the coming of the Lord. But perhaps nothing is more obvious this day than this reality: we are not ready for His coming. Not by our own might and strength. That’s for sure. We are sluggish, distracted, unfocused and unable to pay attention to what He has come to give to us. Like Peter, James and John in the Garden with our Lord, we fall asleep at the thought of remaining with Him but one hour. The Lord is coming, and we are not ready for it.

Repent. Repent of your self-righteousness. Repent of your thoughts that you have everything under control and that you don’t need God to come into your flesh. Repent of your sluggishness and distractions from the great things that God has to give to you this day. Repent and turn away from your self during this holy season.

Now our Lord, of course, knows your weaknesses and trials. He knows that you lay in fetters groaning, and that your ills of flesh and soul go far beyond anything you can fix yourself. He knows your sin. He knows your lust and desires. He knows your pains and sorrows. He even knows your rebelliousness toward Him. He knows it all. He is the Lord.

But He is not simply the Lord. He is your Lord and mine. Remember the words from the Catechism: I believe that Jesus Christ, true God begotten of the Father from eternity and also true Man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord. The King who comes this day is the King who came into the womb of the Virgin Mary, who entered Jerusalem on an animal of peace, and who was led out of Jerusalem carrying His own cross to Calvary. Our King, who knows our grief and carries our sorrows, carried them all the way to the grave and hell for us. Our Lord came out of that tomb triumphant from the grave, crushing the power of Satan and hell forever. Our Lord and King returned to heaven again, where He sits even now at the right hand of God, interceding on our behalf for all time.

Our Lord now comes to you today with humble Words, with Water and Holy Meal, to refresh and revive you in your journey here on earth. He comes to you today with words of hope, not terror. He comes to you knowing your weaknesses and sorrows. He comes to bring you healing of body and soul, as no one else could ever do.

This coming of our Lord in Word and Sacrament means more to you than you could ever know or realize. It is the bedrock upon which your faith is built. God Himself comes to you today in this time and place. He comes to give you what you need this season. He doesn’t come to give you the gifts that will disappear like the fads of the day. No, His gifts which He brings to you this day will last a lifetime and beyond, even to eternity itself.

For you see, our Lord’s coming today also points us to His great and final coming in triumph, when the heavens will open one last time and all the elected of God will be gathered out of their graves to join Him in the air. Even now, His feast of Body and Blood point us to that last, Great Day.

Advent for the Christian is the beginning of a New Year in Christ. It is the time when we remember this three-fold coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: in our flesh, in His Word, and on the Last Day. These three comings are interwoven through all the readings of this season, and in a miraculous way which only His Word could deliver, the three comings all point to One Lord, Jesus Christ.

The days are coming, when God has great plans for you, plans of mercy and not hatred, plans of love and not war. The days are coming, and He is willing to go through anything, even death and hell itself, to see to it that His wonderful plans bear fruits of eternal life. God is faithful, and He will do it for you. Behold, your King comes to you. Let us pray:

Stir up your power, O Lord, and come to rescue us from the threatening perils of our sins, and save us by Your promised deliverance; for You now live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.