Advent 1 - Ad Te Levavi - 11-30-08

The Church Season of Advent
Advent 1 – Ad Te Levavi
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI November 30, 2008

“THE DAYS ARE COMING”

Readings:
Jeremiah 23:5-8
Psalm 24
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 21:1-9

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Old Testament lesson from the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah, especially the following verses,

Jeremiah 23:5-8 (NIV)

5 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness. 7 “So then, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 8 but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The Israelites thought that they had it made. They had crossed over into the promised land. That would be that big hunk of perfect ground just on the other side of the hill on which they had stood so many years before. Now much time had passed by, they had time to settle in and make the promised land their land sweet land. It was time to forget all their errors of the past, yet at the same time getting closer to the time when they all would be humbled again. For the land which the Israelites had come into was now being invaded by outside forces, forces way beyond their control. In fact, when the prophet Jeremiah spoke of “David’s righteous Branch”(v. 5) the walls of Jerusalem had already been attacked. Another mighty prophet Daniel and his three friends had already been hauled off to Babylon just in time for their appointments with furnaces and lions. And the current King who ruled over Jerusalem? Well his name was King Jehoiachin, and when the troops of the King of Babylon named Nebuchadnezzar found Jehoiachin he soon disappeared without a trace, never to be heard of again.

Now Jerusalem had a new king and his name was Zedekiah, who was put in place as the puppet King of Judah, which meant that he too was under Nebuchadnezzar’s thumb. But that didn’t stop him from asking for advice from the lowly prophet Jeremiah. And that brings us to our Old Testament reading, wherein Jeremiah would speak a prophecy in terms of a King to come who would “reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.”(v.5) Jeremiah’s good news was that a perfect king who would reign wisely would be a great thing for the Israelites. For they were a people whose promised land had been ruled very unwisely and was now better described as the compromised land. But the bad news of this prophecy was for the ears of Zedekiah because he was not going to be that perfect king.

But all that is too much history, too much talk of Kings with strange names in a city called Jerusalem that was under siege nearly twenty eight hundred years ago. But the prophecy of Jeremiah was much more than a scorecard, a foretelling that King Zedekiah would soon be out. This was more than a prophecy of the here and now it was at the same time of what be in the days to come.

The here and now of the promised land was that it had been split into the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The here and now for of the Israelites was that they were living with earthly kings, meaning good kings and very bad kings for many years. And if it weren’t bad enough that they had to endure their own kings, they now were faced with a conquering king, another captivity, and another exile. So how long would they have to wait for this perfect king?

Well that would be answered in the days to come. And in the days to come Israel and Judah would be reunited and in those days the land would be given a king beyond their imagination. For in the days of this coming king, “Judah would be saved and Israel would live in safety.”(v. 6) But like all good things to come, they can never get here soon enough. There would be oppression and anxiety, for no one wants to wait for things to come. As it always seems to be, as expectations of the things to come increase, the patience for the things of here and now decrease. Funny how things have not changed all that much in twenty eight hundred years. In our daily lives we too are being invaded by outside forces way beyond our control and we too ask what has happened to our promised land.

We too know that we deserve something new in the days to come. In the days to come, we want the world around us to no longer be entwined in turmoil. We see the financial gurus of our world with resumes that would rival the evil kings of Israel, but will they be replaced in the days to come? We look forward to the days to come when we will have better health, but when will it arrive? We look forward to the days to come when peace and prosperity will be a given for our families, our friends, our loved ones, and our nation, but how long must we wait? We look forward to days when there will be no more times when friends, fellow workers, or family members lets us down. We look forward the days when there will be no sickness, or evil, hatred, or death. How long will we have to live in anguish? How long will our own sin cause us to live in exile from God’s promised land? How long will we have to wait?

Rejoice, for you need not wait any longer, for the prophecy of the days to come have been fulfilled. The sacred tree of life which one stood in the garden has now given way to the righteous branch of David. The days foretold of by Jeremiah have already come, and they are delivered by the Name which is above all Names, for He is called by many Names, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.”(IS. 9:6) Yes, Jesus Christ is, “The Lord Our Righteousness.”(v.6) The king of wisdom has arrived in those days when John the Baptist came saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”(Mt. 3:2) The days of Christ the wise king, “called the Son of the Most High.” have already arrived. And, He was given “the throne of his father David, 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end.”(Luke 1:32-33)

The days of the King are now, and as Isaiah proclaimed, “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. “(Is. 11:3-4a) The days to come are actually here now for the Christ the wise king comes to judge you who are the needy.

And for all who believe and are baptized, He will not see your sin with his eyes, nor will he decide your fate by the sin He hears from your mouths. For He, “He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness”(Is 9:7) You and all who have been driven out of the good land of Eden, in these days He has brought you back in to His promised land. For it is by His righteousness you shall be judged. And in these days plain water combined with God’s Word in your baptism gives you Christ’s righteousness. In these days the true body and blood of Christ will renew and refresh your faith and bring you forgiveness of sins and that free gift is Christ’s righteousness. And what of the evil kings of this world? Well they may rule for a day, but their worldly work is far surpassed by God who sent us His Son Jesus Christ to conquer all things both on heaven and earth. And this wise King of kings, Jesus Christ overcame the world and all it’s sin by hanging from a cross and declaring that death, “it is finished.”(Jn. 19:30) So rejoice in knowing that in the days to come you will serve that wise King of whom Jeremiah spoke. And rejoice that not only is the day of our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled, but because of His love for you, you will be with Him for an eternal number.... of those days to come.

AMEN

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

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