The Church Season of Advent
Advent 1 – Ad Te Levavi
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI November 27, 2011
Advent 1 – Ad Te Levavi
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI November 27, 2011
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 Gospel lesson from the 21st chapter of Matthew, especially the following verses,
Matthew 21:1-9 (ESV)
Now when [Jesus and the Disciples] drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
The is how the very Son of Son of God came into Jerusalem for the final time way back then. Humble, riding on a donkey. It is the same way Jesus comes to you now, humble to save you. And it is a good thing for you that He does. For when He comes the final time, in His glory and victory, the saving is over. But that is for a day yet to come, this is now.
To a sinful world, Jesus’ coming is anything but good looking, it was not understandable then, not on a war horse or chariot, but on a donkey, or in a stable. That is how Jesus comes to you now, in ways that are not understandable, especially to the sinful world around us, for He comes to us now in water, He comes to us in Word, He comes to us in bread and wine. For, you see, Christ is the Son of God and He exists to make the Father known to us. Everything He does is about the love of His father for each and everyone of you, He comes for us sinners one and all.
Jesus did not come to see what He could get from the world or from you. He did not come to show His superiority to everybody else. He did not come to prove Himself to you. Jesus did not come because you let Him into your heart. Jesus did not come because you thought you found Him. Jesus came to give His life to the world. Jesus came to serve you out of His superiority to provide for what people lack. Jesus came to sacrifice Himself for you.
That is Advent. Jesus, the Son of God, coming for you in His humbleness, to do His Father's will and be here for you. So if it is not you who discovers Him, or who allows Him into your hearts, then the next logical question is, where are I in that grand parade? Am I paving the streets with palm branches, am I singing hosanna, am I donating the donkey for the parade? Just what part do I play? Well, the fact of the matter is that if there were a part for us to play we would be tempted to say the donkey which Christ's disciples have loosed from sin for Jesus to ride as He reveals Himself to the rest of this sinful world. As the old saying goes when two people struggled to team up in the horse costume, to paraphrase, Jesus is the head, and all we have to do is be ourselves. Lest you take offense at that, remember I said we. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, we are the sinners in need of Christ.
Remember when the Pharisees saw Jesus, and they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus answered and he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mt 9:11-13)
And so Jesus demonstrates who He is and what He has come to do for all as He rides a lowly donkey. But who has believed this report? Certainly we live in a sinful world and not many believe what Jesus has said, what He has done, or why He has come for us. Jesus comes yet He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we and our world continue to hide our faces from Him, like the crowd in His last days; “he was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (Is. 53:1-5)
In these busy days are you ready for a humble Savior, or are you looking for one who will overcome everyone who utters a false word about such a Savior? We are sinners and we are not humble, in fact we are anything but humble. We are self centered and self occupied. Life is all about us. We live in a world where people step over a dead fellow man in a shopping center in order to get a 20% discount on some personal “thing.” We want what we can get, we beat whom we must beat. We strive to prove anything about ourselves that we can to impress others or even to God. Can you imagine if Christ’s triumphant entry was into one of our Malls on Black Friday? He would be knocked down, stripped of His robe, pushed to the side, and arrested for not being handicapped and having a non-service animal in a public place.
And so it is, that our Lord must come to each sinner in the world in which he lives to call them to repentance. Into this kind of world, amongst less than humble sinners rides our Lord Jesus Christ He comes to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'" You must be humbled by the Word of God to recognize, receive, and believe this Jesus is here for you.
St. Paul asks, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Jesus sits upon a lowly donkey, the image of lowliness, that then is our role. Jesus’ called and sent servants to cover the filthy rags of our self-righteousness with Christ's robe righteousness in Holy Baptism. Jesus sits upon our lowliness and rides with our sins into the true Jerusalem, His city of peace, the Church. But Jesus did not need us as a beast of burden to carry Him to Jerusalem, our effort is nothing, rather by His body and blood He carries our sins to the cross and ultimately us to the new Jerusalem.
For if Christ were riding upon us, it would be impossible for us not to love our neighbor and do good works that serve and benefit him. And thus, as Jesus rides along with you during your daily lives speak so the multitudes may know of that, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee." What? Can’t talk about Jesus? Don’t know how? Just start talking, remember God has made plenty of other…”donkeys” talk, why not you and me?
This how God's kingdom comes to those who are not yet in it, just as it came to you and me, by the hearing of the Gospel. Jesus comes for one, He comes for all. Even right this very moment He is coming to the world as He rides with you in His city of peace on earth, His holy Christian Church, where good will towards all your fellow man is expected. Because only in His church does He come to you and loose you from the bonds of sin as He does this very day. Behold, your king is comes to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. Amen.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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