Sermon for the third mid-week Advent service - Gen 49:8-12

 

                                                                                                Mid-Advent 3

                                                                                                Gen 49:8-12

                                                                                                12/16/20

 

            What are the odds that Prince Harry will become king of England? Well on the surface it seems basically impossible.  The fact that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle gave up their royal titles at the beginning of this year is not the real problem because ultimately that doesn’t void his place in the line of succession.

            No, the real problem is the line of succession in which Harry stands sixth.  Of course being first in line has not helped Prince Charles who, at the age of seventy two, is the longest living heir apparent in English history because his mother, Queen Elizabeth II continues to live at age ninety four. But after Prince Charles there is Harry’s brother Prince William, and then after him are William’s three children.  At sixth place in the line of succession it certainly doesn’t look like Harry will ever become king.

            But then again the same thing could have been said out Jacob’s son Judah.  It certainly didn’t look like the promised Savior – the Messiah – would descend from Judah. After all, Judah stood fourth in line.  Reuben, Simeon and Levi had all been born before Judah. As I mentioned last week, the first born son was number one and all the best would belong to him. Yet we see in our text tonight that Judah did in fact become the one from whom the Messiah descended. The way this happened, and the manner in which he actually fathered the line that led to Jesus continues our theme of God working in unlikely ways through sinners.

            Our text from Genesis chapter 49 is part of the blessing that Jacob spoke to his sons at the end of his life.  However the word “blessing” doesn’t really capture the full import of what is happening here. The first verse of the chapter says, “Then Jacob called his sons and said, ‘Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.’”  Jacob is speaking a blessing, but he is also speaking a prophetic word.

             In our text Jacob first says of Judah, “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you.”  Judah, who is not the first born son is described as the one who will receive his brother’s praise and obedience.  His future is one of power and control of his enemies.

            Next Jacob says, “Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?” The note of power is continued as Judah is compared to a lion that others fear.

            And finally comes the show stopper as Jacob says, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”  The language of scepter and staff designate Judah as the one from whom the king would descend.  It is from tribe founded by Judah that the Messiah – the Savior would descend.

            But what about Reuben, Simeon and Levi?  They end up being. passed over because of their sinful actions.  Reuben slept with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, who was mother to Dan and Naphtali.  His sexual sin was an act of incredible disrespect to his father.

            Simeon and Levi’s sister Dinah was taken and violated by Shechem a man from one the peoples that lived in Canaan at that time.  Shechem loved Dinah and wanted her as his wife.  He asked his father to make the arrangements for this to happen.  His father Hamor asked for Dinah to become his son’s bride, and proposed that his people and Jacob’s family intermarry.  Jacob’s sons said this would be a good thing. But in order for it to happen, all of the men in Hamor’s city needed to be circumcised.  This they were willing to do.  But on the third day, while all of the men were still recovering from this procedure in an era with no anesthetics, Simeon and Levi went in and killed every man in the city. Because of their anger and violence, they were passed over.         

            And so it was Judah, fourth in line, who became the one through whom the Savior would descend.  It was unexpected and it was caused by the sin of Reuben, Simeon and Levi. Yet in the midst of the sin of Jacob’ family God was still at work in order to bring forth the Savior. He was working in unexpected and surprising ways.

            When Matthew describes the genealogy of Jesus, he writes, “and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar.” Then Matthew continues to describe how Perez was the next in the line of fathers that led to Joseph. It all sounds simple enough … until we look a little closer.

            Judah’s first born son Er married Tamar.  However, Moses tells us that Er was evil in the sight of God, and God killed him.  In the culture of that day it was the responsibility of a brother to provide an heir for his brother who had died.  Judah told his next son Onan, to carry out this duty and to have a child with Tamar.  Onan repeatedly refused to follow through with this, and God killed him because of this wickedness.

            Judah told Tamar to remain a widow in his house until his youngest son Shelah was old enough to marry.  But in truth, he had no intention of doing this because his other two sons had died.  Eventually when Shelah had grown up, Tamar realized Judah was not going to be true to his word.

            So Tamar took matters into her own hands.  Judah’s wife had died.  So Tamar dressed herself up in the manner of a prostitute, and located herself at a place where she knew Judah would be arriving.  Judah saw this apparent prostitute and wanted to use her services. Tamar asked what payment Judah would give, and he promised a young goat. Tamar asked for a pledge of payment – she demanded Judah’s signet, cord and staff.  These were objects that identified Judah.  Judah and Tamar had relations, and Judah went on his way. Tamar also left.  As promised he sent the goat, but those bringing the animal could not the prostitute.  Judah chose to remain silent about losing the his signet, cord and staff because others would laugh at him. As far as he was concerned, the matter was over.

            But three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.” Judah responded, "Bring her out, and let her be burned.” But as Tamar was being brought out, she sent word to Judah, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” She said, "Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” Judah immediately recognized that they were his. Judah identified them and said about Tamar, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” Tamar gave birth to twins, and the first of them, Perez went on to be a father in the line of that led to King David and then to Joseph.

            The lineage of Jesus is filled with sin and surprises. God worked through these means to in order to bring the forgiveness of sin. He remained in charge, working in unexpected ways. And all of these led to the great surprise of Jesus’ conception.

            Matthew tells us that Mary and Joseph were betrothed.  They weren’t married yet, but this was more than just an engagement.  It had a legal status. Yet during this time, Mary was discovered to be pregnant.  Like Judah before him with Tamar, Joseph assumed that Mary had been sexually immoral.  Joseph wasn’t going to marry a woman who had been unfaithful before they were even married.  Joseph was just, but he was not vengeful. He decided to carry out the divorce – the ending of the betrothal – quietly so as not bring shame upon Mary.

            But Matthew tells us that as he considered these things  

an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

            What appeared to be immoral and sinful, was actually the sinless answer to sin, worked by the Holy Spirit. Joseph took Mary as his wife. He claimed Jesus as his son, and in so doing he made Jesus part of the line of Judah and part of the line of King David.  He made him the One who could fulfill all of God’s promises about the Messiah in the Old Testament.

            God’s surprising and unexpected ways did not end there.  Jesus grew up as the sinless Son of God, true God and true man.  He died a criminal’s death – that’s what crucifixion was – even though he was without sin and had done no wrong.  Yet though sinless, Jesus died as a sinner in God’s eyes.  He died bearing your sins and receiving God’s judgment against them. That’s how he saved his people from their sins. That’s how he saved you from your sins. He won forgiveness by receiving the wrath and judgment of God that you deserve.

            And then, on the third day, God did the most unexpected thing.  He raised Jesus from the dead.  He vindicated Jesus as the Messiah through whom the Father had carried the promise made in Genesis 3:15 about seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head.  God had defeated sin, death and the devil by the death and resurrection of Jesus for you. 

             

 

 

           

 

 

Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent - Gaudete - Isa 40:1-8

 

                                                                                                Advent 3

                                                                                                Isa 40:1-8

                                                                                                12/13/20

 

            Our family moved to Marion in 2006. During the last fourteen years we have seen many changes as Marion has continued to grow and develop.  Our initial view of Marion has only been enhanced during this time.  Marion is big enough to have everything that you need to live very comfortably. But it is also still a small enough to have a small town feel.  And as an example of the latter I would offer the homecoming parade that goes right by our church every year.

            Marion has continued to develop, and one of my favorite recent developments has been the extension of Halfway Road from where it used to end at Old 13, further south to Westminster Dr on which our church is located.  We can now get from the area around the church where we live out to all of the stores and restaurants that are on State Road 13 and the Hill without having to drive down Carbon St. It is so much faster and easier.

            It was fascinating to watch the extension of Halfway Road being built. Although the road still climbs a hill as it goes south, a lot of earth was moved in order build the road.  Each time as I drove buy, I could see the progress that was being made as the large earth moving machines were at work.

            This recent memory came to mind as I read our Old Testament lesson for today.  In our text, we also hear about the building of a road - a “highway for God.”  But this road is not about mere convenience.  It instead is a reference to the rescue God is going to bring to his people. And even this rescue is not the thing of ultimate importance in our text, because it points to something even greater that God has done.

            Our text from Isaiah this morning begins with the words, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.”

            Isaiah wrote in the eighth century B.C.  During his lifetime Yahweh rescued Jerusalem and the southern kingdom of Judah from the Near Eastern superpower, Assyria.  At the end of the previous chapter, God had granted healing to King Hezekiah when he was about to die.  We learn that the king of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.  In response Hezekiah gave them the grand tour – he showed them everything. We learn, “And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.”

            Needless to say, this was not the smartest thing Hezekiah could have done. When Isaiah heard about it he told Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD.” 

            Isaiah said the God would allow Babylon to conquer Judah. Because God’s people were unfaithful and worshipped other gods Yahweh did indeed use the Babylonians as instruments of his judgment.  In 587 B.C. they destroyed the temple in Jersualem, tore down the city’s walls, and took the people into exile in Babylon.

            Writing in the eighth century B.C., in our text the prophet speaks about what God would do in the sixth century B.C. Yes, God would allow the people to be taken into exile. But then, he would act to bring them back.  Isaiah begins by saying, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.”

            The very first words God speaks through Isaiah are words of comfort.  Notice that it in the sentence Yahweh calls them “my people” and refers to himself as “your God.”  God’s calling, covenant and love had not been ended by their sin. Yes, their sin had brought God’s judgment.  There is an important reminder here for us that God does judge and punish his people when they sin.  The Ten Commandments are not “the ten suggestions.”  As the Small Catechism says about the Close of the Commandments: “God threatens to punish all who break these commandments. Therefore we should fear his wrath, and not do anything against them.”

            But like a father who disciplines his children, punishment does not mean that love is absent. God’s uses his law to bring about repentance. And now, God was going to bring his people back from exile.  Isaiah says in our text, “A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

            The imagery here is that of God coming to his people to rescue them.  It describes a highway for God from which every obstacle has been removed.  And the result of this action would be dramatic.  Isaiah says, “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

            Isaiah speaks of the dramatic and unexpected rescue that God provided through the Persians and their leader Cyrus.  They defeated the Babylonians, and in 538 B.C. Cyrus issued an edict that allowed the Judahites to return to their land and rebuild the temple.  This rescue was the revelation of God’s glory, and it is described by Isaiah like the mighty work of the exodus that God carried out when he brought his people out of Egypt.

            But this revelation of God’s glory was just the beginning, and it pointed forward to something far greater. Matthew tells us, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

            John the Baptist was preparing the way because the glory of the Lord was about to be revealed in a dramatic new way – a way that was the fulfillment of everything God had done in the Old Testament.  The kingdom of God – the reign of God was about to arrive. And in preparation for this, there was only one thing to do: repent.  John called people to confess their sins and submit to a baptism – a washing - that he administered to others.

            By receiving John’s baptism people demonstrated their repentance in preparation for the arrival of God’s reign.  Mathew tells us that people were coming from all around as “they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”  John proclaimed that people needed to be ready because someone even greater was coming. This One would bring God’s end time reign.  He said, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

            During Advent we are preparing to celebrate the revealing of the glory of God as the Son of God entered into our world.  Conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary, Jesus Christ was everything that John described.  Yet we know that his entrance into the world was very humble – as an infant laid in a manger. And we know that the humility of his entrance into this world was a indication of the work he had come to do.

            Jesus was born at Christmas, not to bring judgment, but to save us from God’s final judgment.  He came to win the forgiveness of sins, and to redeem us from Satan, sin and death. The One born in the humility of a stable had come to die in the humiliation of the cross. Though he was the promised Messiah descended from David, he also was the suffering Servant described by Isaiah later in his prophecy. He was the One who came to receive God’s judgment against our sin.

            Crucified, dead and buried, Jesus carried out the Father’s saving will for us.  But John the Baptist was not wrong about Jesus.  For on the third day God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and forty days later he was exalted to the right hand of God as he ascended into heaven.  Truly he was the saving glory of the Lord being revealed.  And as we heard in last week’s Scripture lessons the One who came in humility will come a second time in glory.  He will bring the final judgment exactly as John the Baptist declared.

            So how do we prepare to celebrate Jesus Christ’s first coming?  We listen to John the Baptist who was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s words: Repent!  We examine our lives and confess our sin. We cling in faith to Jesus Christ who was crucified for us and rose from the dead.

            And we recognize that this life of repentance and faith is not merely about “getting off the hook” for our sins.  John told the Pharisees and Sadducees that came out to hear him: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”  Or in the poetic words of Isaiah from our text: “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.”  Those things in our lives – those sins – that are opposed to God need to be removed.  Repentance and faith receive forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit is at work through this faith to lead us to turn away from sin, and instead to live in ways that reflect God’s will and the love he has given us in Jesus Christ.

            In our text today we hear: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” Isaiah says, “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”  God comforted his people and revealed his glory by bringing them back from exile in Babylon. 

            But during Advent we prepare to celebrate the fact that God has comforted us in an even greater way.  He has revealed his glory by sending his Son into the world, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem. We prepare to celebrate this birth by repenting of our sins, confident that the baby in the manger grew up to die on the cross for our sins, and then rise from the dead. And because Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended, we have the living hope that the glory of the Lord will be revealed in all it fullness one last time.  It will be when the Lord Jesus returns in glory to raise us from the dead and pronounce the judgment of the Last Day - a verdict that we already know will welcome us into eternal life with God because we have been baptized into Jesus Christ’s saving death and resurrection.

           

             

 

Sermon for second mid-week Advent service: Gen 28:10-17

 

                                                                                     Mid-Advent 2

                                                                                    Gen 28:10-17

                                                                                    12/9/20

 

            The youngest child has it the best.  That is a complaint that is often voiced by older siblings. Undeniably, there is an element of truth to this.  Parents tend to be very careful and far more strict with the first child.  As a parent, by the time you have had a several children you have learned that you don’t need to be quite so uptight about everything.  And then there is the fact that even if you wanted to, you couldn’t because there are other children who also require attention.

            It’s also true that youngest child tends to get to experience things earlier.  When older siblings are already playing video games or watching movies, it becomes hard to exclude the youngest child.  They are just naturally in the mix of everything that goes on in the house, and so they often end up getting do and see things at an earlier time than their older siblings.

            If this is how things work in our modern world, the ancient world of the Near East was very different. There the first born son – the oldest brother – had things best. There was no doubt about who was number one and who would be treated best.

            At least, that is how things were supposed to work.  Tonight as we consider the patriarch Jacob we see that nothing turned out as they were “supposed to.”  The story of Jacob is that of a dysfunctional family over the course of two generations.  Yet when things didn’t turn out as they were supposed to, it was God who was still in charge as he worked out his saving purposes.

            Abraham’s son Isaac had married Rebekah.  Like Sarah, Rebekah also had fertility problems until finally God answered Isaac’s prayer on behalf of his wife.  And in this case, God richly blessed them because Rebekah conceived twins!

            While this was a source of joy, Rebekah soon became concerned. She noticed something unnatural about the way the children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” She inquired of the Yahweh about this and he told her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

            God said that things were not going to work as they were “supposed to.”  In this case, the older brother would serve the younger. Things were going to work in God’s way, even if was not expected.  In Paul’s letter to the Romans, God’s choice of the younger – of Jacob – is used by the apostle as an illustration of God’ grace and election.  He writes that God did htis, “though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad--in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls.” 

            Esau and Jacob were born.  Immediately there was favoritism.  Esau was an outdoors kind of guy.  Jacob, was a quiet man dwelling in the tents.  And so Isaac loved Esau, and Rebekah loved Jacob.   This dysfunction extended as first Jacob took advantage of Esau by having him sell his birthright for a meal when he was famished.  And then Rebekah instructed Jacob about how to deceive his nearly blind father so that he received the blessing that rightfully belonged to Esau.  Esau sought vengeance, and formed that plan that once Isaac died, he would kill Jacob.

            Now this is one messed up family!  Yet remember, this is the same family through which God promised he was working to bring the Savior of all nations into the world.  You may not have children planning on murdering each other, but your family is messed up by sin too. There is favoritism.  There is the perception of favoritism. There are personalities and age differences that clash and produce anger, and deep seated resentment. There are children who have been taught what is true, and yet make choices that take them away from the Church and life that pleases God.

            Rebekah learned of Esau’s intent, and so she convinced Isaac to send Jacob to her brother Laban in the area of Harran from whence Abraham had come, on the pretense that she did not want their son to marry one of the Hittite women in the area.

            This is the setting for our text tonight.  Jacob was being sent away from his family because his brother Esau wanted to kill him – something he had brought upon himself by his own sinful actions.  Surely he was frightened.  His world has been turned upside down.

            We learn that as he travelled to Haran, he stopped for the night, sleeping out in the open with a stone for a pillow. As he slept Yahweh revealed himself in a dream.  Jacob saw a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Yahweh stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

            At a moment when everything seemed to be going wrong, Yahweh revealed himself to Jacob and reaffirmed that the patriarchal promise made to Abraham and Isaac was true for him as well.  Yahweh promised to give the land to Jacob’s offspring. He promised to make Jacob into a great nation of many descendants. And he promised that in Jacob and his offspring all families of the earth would be blessed. He promised that the Savior would descend from Jacob.

            At that particular moment, those promises probably sounded like a pipe dream. But then Yahweh added: “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”  God promised to be with Jacob and to do what he had said. 

            When Jacob awoke from his sleep he said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

            God was with Jacob. He blessed him with thirteen children – twelve sons and a daughter.  He changed his name to Israel and brought Jacob to his family in Canaan.  There, Esau forgave him.  And Yahweh said to Jacob, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”

            It would be great if I could stop there and say, “everyone lived happily ever after.”  But this is the story of sinners, just like you.  Jacob showed favoritism toward is son Joseph.  It caused so much resentment among his brothers that they wanted to kill him.  Finally, instead they sold him into slavery in Egypt. Then the brothers faked evidence and told Jacob that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.  Jacob was crushed by grief.

            He lived thinking his beloved son was dead, while God was using Joseph to make preparation that would save Jacob’s family from a famine.  When finally Jacob’s family learned that Joseph was alive and in a position of great power in Egypt, Joseph wanted to bring the family to Egypt where he could care for them.  God spoke to Jacob in a vision and said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.”

           In Jacob we see sin manifested in a dysfunctional family.  Yet God worked through Jacob to create what would become the twelve tribes of Israel.  He worked during his lifetime to bring Israel to Egypt, where they would become the nation Yahweh would rescue in the exodus.

            In our text God promises Jacob that in his offspring all families of the earth would be blessed. During Advent we prepare to celebrate how God fulfilled this promise. Through Jacob, God created the nation of Israel.  As God had promised, kings came forth from his offspring.

            In our text when Jacob wakes from his dream he says, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” The mystery of God’s presence would be revealed in a new and profound way when the Son of God entered into the world as he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.  She would give birth to the One who is true God and true man.  The baby in the manger would be the Lord present in that place, even if it didn’t look like it.  The same can be said of the man Jesus nailed to a cross on Good Friday.

            In our text, Yahweh promises Jacob, “For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” God is the God who is faithful.  He keeps his word. He does what he says he is going to do.  Jesus died on the cross to win forgiveness. But because sin brings death, God raised up our Lord from the dead on the third day. He won the victory over Satan, sin and death that God had promised in the Old Testament.  Luke tells us that on Easter the risen Lord opened the disciples’ minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” We see in Jacob how God worked through a sinful family to win forgiveness and life for all who are repentant sinners.

 

Second Sunday in Advent - Populus Zion - Mal 4:1-6

 

                                                                                    Advent 2

                                                                                    Mal 4:1-6

                                                                                    12/6/20

 

            Are you tired?  Do you feel worn down?  It’s understandable if you are.  For starters, there is the obvious reality of this pandemic with which we have been living.  It has changed so much of life as the response has imposed all kinds of restrictions and alterations to life.

            You know what I miss?  I miss that time after the announcements and before the processional hymn, when the congregation members greeted one another.  It gave me such joy and satisfaction to see the warmth and care for one another expressed as members interacted.  I was so pleased to see the way Good Shepherd members sought out new faces in order to greet them and welcome them to the congregation.

            But its more than that. We look around a see a culture that is moving against us in every possible way. Things have changed, and you can’t ignore that fact.  A piece I recently sent out to the congregation discussed the fact that today one third of people in our country are strongly committed to the Christian faith.  One third of people are secular and have no use for religion.  And one third have drifted away from the faith into a mushy middle that is no longer Christian in faith and practice. They may have some ideas about “spirituality,” but they are not Church anymore.

            The one third that is secular may claim that they are not religious.  But man was created to live in relationship to God, and so he will always have a god even if it is a false one.  Their god is a vision of how they think the world should be. Not surprisingly, in this vision man is god.  There is no natural law – no ordering of the world that has already been established and is to be followed. Instead, individuals can define who they are and what they do – even if it means rejecting the fact that they are male or female. The individual defines the self on the basis of sexuality, and can use sex however and with whomever they want. And make no mistake this is a religious view.  It has a creed – I just described it. And it is fueled by a truly religious fervor to destroy anyone who holds a different view, because the existence of a belief that rejects and condemns their understanding of self can only be viewed as an existential threat.

            These changes are new to us.  But we are not the first to live in times when people just felt tired – when they lived in a culture that was opposed to God’s will for life.  The prophet Malachi wrote in just such a time, around 450 B.C.  The people of Judah has been allowed to return from exile in Babylon by the victorious Persians.  The temple had been rebuilt – but it couldn’t begin to compare with Solomon’s temple that the Babylonians had destroyed. The people no longer lived as a nation.  Instead, they were one small province in the massive Persian empire.

            As you read through the book of Malachi you find a whole list of sins that demonstrate a basic apathy. People were going through the motions. They were offering sacrifices. But instead of animals without blemish, they were bringing blind, lame and sick animals – the ones they didn’t want. People weren’t bringing the tithe as an offering to God, so Yahweh says through Malachi, “you are robbing me.”  These may be words written in the fifth century B.C., but they continue to address us as well and call us to consider whether we are being faithful in returning to God an offering that appropriately corresponds to the blessing he has given us. 

            The people were committing adultery – they were using sex as they wanted. The men were divorcing their wives, and Malachi writes, “So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. ‘For I hate divorce,’ says the LORD, the God of Israel.” 

            Malachi confronts us with the ways we think about and use sex. Do we look at pornography? Do we have sex outside of marriage? Do we accept it as normal when a man and a woman live together who aren’t married?  Do we accept as normal when couples get divorced because “they have fallen out of love”? Do we accept it has normal when people live in homosexual relationships, and even get “married”?  And this isn’t just an abstract intellectual exercise. How do we speak and act when this involves our own family members?  

            But the worst thing was that the people thought none of it mattered.  Just before our text Malachi says, “You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ By saying, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.’ Or by asking, ‘Where is the God of justice?’” 

            People ignored God’s will, and yet they prospered. And this made the Judahites think that God didn’t care – in fact he seemed to delight in them. After all, they were doing so well.  Others looked at the sin and evil going on and questioned whether God mattered at all. They asked, “Where is the God of justice?”

            This may sound very familiar. After all what areas of our country are the wealthiest and have the most influence? They are the large cities like Chicago, and those on the coasts that also are the most secular.  The majority of the culture in those places has little use for God, and yet they sure seem to be having their best life now. 

            And on the other hand we see in our nation that millions of babies continue to be murdered every year through abortion.  The murder of babies in abortion is called a “reproductive health care service” – an utterly obscene oxymoron.  And one of the major political parties of our nation has stated in its official platform that it believes “every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion,” and has promised to defend and advance abortion in every way possible. This is evil.  We see abortion continue and even defended in our nation, and we want to ask, “Where is the God of justice”?

            During Advent we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, as the Son of God entered in our world in the incarnation.  When we think of Christmas, the image that comes to mind is the sweet and tender scene of the little baby Jesus nestled in a manger, surrounded by the adoring the Mary, Joseph and the shepherds.  And by the way, if your image has the wise men present, you get an “F” this morning because they have nothing to do with Christmas. But I digress….

            Yet last Sunday’s Gospel lesson about Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday at the beginning of Holy Week prompts us to recall that the purpose of Jesus’ coming was to die.  The helpless baby in the manger came to be the helpless man tortured and nailed to a cross.  He came as the sinless sacrifice offered in our place to atone for our every sin.  Jesus Christ was conceived and born to be the suffering Servant.  He came to fulfill Isaiah’s words: “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”

            Dead and buried in a tomb, on the third day God raised Jesus from the dead. He vindicated Jesus as the Christ.  Jesus passed through death in order to defeat it forever. Jesus lives! And he will never died again. God raised him with body transformed so that it is immortal and incorruptible. And then he exalted Jesus when he ascended and was seated at the right hand of God.

            During Advent we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ coming when he was born in Bethlehem.  During Jesus’ ministry we see him as a helpless baby in a manger and a helpless man nailed to a cross. But Advent also calls our attention to the fact that this will not be his only coming. And today’s Scripture lessons declare in absolute terms the Jesus will never appear helpless again.

            Advent always points us also to Jesus Christ’ second coming on the Last Day.  Our Lord says in the Gospel lesson this morning, “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”  When the Lord Jesus returns on the Last Day, he will bring the Day of the Lord. 

            He will bring exactly what Malachi describes in our text this morning when he says, “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”  The arrogant and evildoers of our world reject Jesus now.  They seem to be on top, confident that the “arc of history” is on their side and that everything is moving toward the outcome they envision. But their so called arc will be smashed by the return of Jesus.

            And lest we lose heart and say “Where is the God of justice,” Advent announces the he will come.  He came in the first century A.D. to win the forgiveness of sin. And the risen Lord will come on the Last Day to judge all who have rejected him and his forgiveness. He will annihilate them in the eternal judgment of hell.

            Yet for us who believe and trust in him the outcome will be completely different.  Malachi writes, “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.”  God’s saving action to put all things right is described like the rising sun whose rays greet us at the start of a new day.

            The Lord will bring the healing of the resurrection because as we learned recently in Revelation, he is the first born of the dead.  Jesus Christ has begun the resurrection of the Last Day, and when he returns he will transform our bodies to be imperishable and immortal like his own.

            And just as the resurrection of Jesus was God vindicating Jesus as the Christ, so the return of our Lord and the resurrection he will give will vindicate us for trusting and believing in him. At the Last Judgment every knee will bow before Jesus Christ – our Lord. Malachi says, “And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.” Because of Jesus Christ, the risen and ascended Lord, God’s people get the last word.  The appearances of the present change nothing.  They don’t because Jesus Christ was born, died for us and rose from the dead. He is the risen and ascended Lord, and he will return.