Advent 2 - Populus Sion - 12-07-08

The Church Season of Advent
Advent 2 – Populus Sion
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI December 07, 2008

“That Great and Dreadful Day”

Readings:
Malachi 4:1-6
Psalm 50:1-15
Romans 15:4-13
Luke 21:25-36

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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 4th chapter of Malachi, especially the following verses,

Malachi 4:1-6 (NIV)

1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,” says the Lord Almighty. 4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. 5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

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

Years ago, our family was on a camping trip, and our youngest child, who was still a toddler, was strapped into and riding in a stroller. It was one of those theme campground’s which had a cartoon character as their chief icon. While walking around the park, the mascot dressed in a ten foot tall costume came across our paths. Our two older girls thought nothing of it, but when that large mascot leaned way over and stuck his face right down next to the stroller it was a time I will never forget. For I have never in my life seen a child, or any other person for that matter, in so much terror. His body was physically shaking, he was struggling to get away, he was gasping for air, and was literally so terrified he couldn’t even cry. Naturally, we impressed upon this mascot to remove themselves from our son’s presence, and I’ll admit that we probably did that in a less than glowing way. Soon after that mascot left, everything quickly returned normal, no ill effects, no lasting memory of the event, at least for him. But, I don’t think we will ever forget that dreadful day.

Yesterday was a great day celebrating the commemoration of St. Nicholas, the pastor, which is a great day to remember. Not many of us remember that St. Nicholas was a real person and that he was a Christian pastor. Nor do many know that he was involved in a very early church controversy. For it was St. Nicholas who was a delegate to the Council of Nicea in the year 325. And it was St. Nicholas who was one of the authors of the Nicene Creed. That would be the same Nicene Creed we speak together to this very day, the creed which affirms that Jesus Christ is both true God and true man. But there was another man at that council, a man named Arius who denied that Christ was God. And so at that early church council jolly ole St. Nick defended the Christian faith. And they way he did it? Well, he walked right over to Arius and he slapped him in the face. So it was St. Nicholas himself who was the one who became so bitterly angry when someone denied Christ. Ironically the man who it seems we most remember at Christmas is the one who was angry that Christ was being redefined Not really the jolly man we’d like to think he was, although he did give money to the poor. But, he was a pastor who at Nicea defended the faith with all he knew and that is indeed a great time to be remembered.

I am sure that each of you have experienced some great or dreadful days, days that you will never forget. You may think of a day that was so dreadful to you, that it is indelibly etched in your minds. A day that a loved one died, an auto accident, or some other dreadful occurrence which you will never forget. Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a day that has indeed lived on in our memories in infamy. September 11th will be a day that all too many are quickly forgetting. The day that John Kennedy was assassinated is a memory that still lives on for some of us. Yet we have all but forgotten the Alamo, we have forgotten the Maine, and most of us have forgotten the not so long ago, “shot heard round the world.”

But in all these days to be remembered can you think of one that is both a great and dreadful day? Adam and Eve awoke in the Garden on a great day and then they partook of the fruit “from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”(Gen 2:17) And all the great days they had and the great day which they were in became a very dreadful day. For that was the day that they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. And on that day God promised that the seed of Adam and Eve would one day crush the evil serpents head.

And from that day onward the Israelites would experience many dreadful days and many great days looking for that promised one to come. And so He did, Christ came to the river Jordon, to be baptized by the prophet crying in the wilderness, John the Baptist. For John was sent to, “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”(Lk. 1:17) It was just as the prophet Malachi had said, “5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes”(v. 5)

And what of that day? Well the Almighty Lord has said that on that day, “All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire”(v.1) And when we begin to look around to see who around us will be that burning stubble, we trip over our own arrogance. For our own arrogance makes us holier than thou when we know that we all are evildoers don’t admit it. For in our sin we have forgotten many, many days. We have forgotten that day when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden and that we have inherited their sin. We deny that we have their sin, yet the proof of that sin is our own death. We deny that we have any sin of our own, that we daily sin, yet at the same time our arrogance convinces us that everyone around us is a sinner. We all too quickly forget the days that we say we will never forget. Our sin against our fellow man and against God is just like so many of those historical days that I mentioned. We remember our great days or great moments, but those dreadful moments in our lives we hide away in the shadows hoping that they will fade.

Repent for a great and dreadful day will come. And it will be to unbelievers more than a slap in the face from St. Nicholas. It will more than a day of tremendous terror, a body physically shaking, or struggling to get away, or gasping for air, and on that day there will be cries from the wicked that will not be heard.

But for those who believe and “revere (God’s) Name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.”(v.2) For Christ is that rising sun from heaven. And it is Christ who has turned the heart of the Father to you His children, and it is Christ who has turned your heart to His father. It is Christ the Son who is righteous, it is He who took our human sins including arrogance to the cross with Him. It is Christ who died and was raised on the third day, and when He rose, His healing grace was yours for free. It is Christ who made you righteous and His forgiveness is always given when you partake of Holy Communion. And those who are baptized have received and revere God’s Name for it was written on their hearts, with the water combined God’s Holy Word. And whether you remember your baptism or not, Christ will always remember, for in it He gave you the promise of many days that you will never forget. For on the day to come when we part from this sometimes dreadful world, Jesus Christ will welcome you to eternal life and that indeed will be a very great day. Amen.

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

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