Sermon: Ad Te Levavi - 2021

28 November 2021

Text: Matt 21:1-9 (Jer 23:5-8, Rom 13:8-14)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

“Behold, your king is coming to you.”

Jesus came to us “humble, and mounted on a donkey, a beast of burden” when He came to Jerusalem to be enthroned on the cross “for us men and for our salvation,” an innocent Man who was perceived to be guilty.

But some three decades earlier, Jesus had come to us even humbler, mounted as a fertilized egg in a young woman, whose condition was a scandal – an innocent women who was perceived to be guilty.

Kings of the earth typically come into the world with men making great celebration: sons of the king.  But “your king is coming to you” with no earthly father, the descendant of a king of a thousand years earlier, whose country is now under the domination of the Romans, a King whose mother was unmarried at His conception, and whose birth necessitated His lying in a manger: a food trough for animals, for beasts of burden.

And yet, there was great celebration at this King’s birth, as shepherds and angels rejoiced at His coming.

He will come into Jerusalem some three decades later, riding a beast of burden, to the acclaim of men shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” and “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”  But in five days, He would come as a convicted criminal, carrying His own cross, to the cursing of men who spat on Him, beating Him with their fists, and with a sign that condemned Him as “King of the Jews,” bearing the burden of the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”

Behold, your king is coming to you, lying in a manger, and lying in a tomb – worshiped by men and angels, scorned by men and demons. 

So how do you receive your king, dear brothers and sisters?

Your king comes to you in His Word, in Holy Absolution, in the preaching of the Gospel, in the bread and the wine of Holy Communion.  He comes the same way that He came to Bethlehem and to Jerusalem – humble, rejected by most people, and yet, coming as your Redeemer, your Savior.  He still comes again and again, coming to you with His nail-scarred hands, offering you mercy and eternal life – an offer bought by His blood – whether you receive Him and His gifts, or whether you scorn Him and reject His offer.

He comes to you not only in mercy, but in love: perfect love that sacrifices Himself for the sake of His beloved. 

We receive Him with Advent hymns and Christmas carols, with trees and ornaments, with changes in the liturgy.  But we also receive Him with an awareness of our sins, with confession and repentance and with the church’s ongoing prayer of “Lord have mercy upon us.  Christ have mercy upon us.  Lord, have mercy upon us.”

We receive Him as a distracted people, spending more time and energy focusing on the holiday rather than the Holy One, thinking more about buying gifts than receiving the Gift that comes to us without price and by God’s grace, concerning ourselves more with food and drink for parties than the food and drink that gives us eternal life by His command and by His promise.

So it is fitting that Advent, while a joyful time, is also a penitential time, with hymns that remind us of the “reason for the season,” to bring to the forefront of our minds that His coming is not about buying more stuff, nor of stuffing ourselves, nor of the hustle and bustle and frustrations of standing in line and spending money.  For Advent is about our Lord’s coming, and for remembering why He came to us “humble and mounted on a donkey,” and humbly “incarnate of the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.”

It is fitting that we call to mind the “Hosanna” of His coming to Jerusalem, and it is also fitting that we hold off on singing the “Gloria” of His coming to Bethlehem until we actually celebrate His birth in a few weeks. 

And it is fitting, dear brothers and sisters, that we receive Him yet again, in His flesh and blood, in the bread and wine, as He comes to us, humble, under these simple elements for us to eat and to drink.  For by receiving Him, we have eternal life as He has promised.  Let us remember the preaching of the prophet Jeremiah, who says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely.”

Let us “put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” as St. Paul invites us, “and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.”

For just as our Lord came to us at Bethlehem in the manger, and just as He came to us in Jerusalem at the cross, and just as He comes to us here at our altar in the elements of Holy Communion, and even as He comes to us here from the pulpit in His Word, let us not forget that He is coming again.  St. Paul reminds us “that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.  For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.”

“So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

This is indeed a time to repent, dear friends.  It is a time when we ponder our Lord’s coming – not only in the past, not only in the present, but also in the days to come.  We know neither the day nor the hour.  But we do know this: He is coming.  And next time, your King will not come to you humble, neither as a child, nor on the cross.  You will not receive Him as bread and wine, but rather in the fullness of His glory and His might.  He will return to the world to take vengeance upon those who rejected Him, upon those who oppressed His bride, the Church.  He will come to judge the world, but our judge will be merciful to those who receive Him, who repent, who are baptized, who believe.

And so we wait.  We wait like the prophet Jeremiah.  We wait like the Virgin Mary.  We wait like the early Christians who suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Jews and the Romans.  We wait amid our own struggles with sin, death, and the devil.  We wait still singing, “Hosanna” and crying out “Lord, have mercy.”  We wait hearing His Word, rejoicing in His forgiveness, and receiving Him in His body and blood.  We wait with joyful expectation, and we wait knowing that His coming is as inevitable as the coming of the day of Christmas, whether we are ready or not. 

And it is fitting that we wait, humble, knowing that we do not deserve His mercy, but knowing that He gives it to us anyway.  And we know that of all the gifts we give and the gifts we receive, the gift of Christ is the greatest gift of all: for in Him we have forgiveness, life, and salvation.

For we are guilty, but are to be perceived to be innocent.  And so we sing, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest!”

“Behold, your king is coming to you.”

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sermon: Last Sunday of the Church Year - 2021

21 November 2021

Text: Matt 25:1-13 (Isa 65:17-25, 1 Thess 5:1-11)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

There are a series of mottos for the military that have the Latin word “semper” in them.  The motto of the Marine Corps is “Semper fidelis” (always faithful).  The motto of the Coast Guard is “Semper paratus” (always prepared).  The motto of the Civil Air Patrol is “Semper vigilans” (always vigilant or always awake).

It’s easy to focus on the second word, that our military and first responders are faithful, prepared, and vigilant, but the first word is also of primary importance.  For what would our enemies want more than a Marine Corps that is “At times faithful”?  How helpful would a Coast Guard be that is “Occasionally prepared”?  How useful would a Civil Air Patrol be that is “Sometimes vigilant”?  For the enemy can attack at any time.  Disaster often strikes without warning.

The same is true of other first responders like the police and fire service.  They are ready at a moment’s notice, 24-7, to spring into action.  The wise policeman or fireman doesn’t procrastinate: “I’ll reassemble my pistol after I finish my nap.”  “I’ll gather my gear tomorrow.”  For when the call to action comes, there is no time for preparation.  The time is now.

The Christian life is the same way, dear friends.  We are called to be faithful, prepared, and vigilant – not just on Sundays, not just when we feel like it, not just when we aren’t busy with other things.  And that is what this Last Sunday of the Church Year is all about.  This is what our Gospel reading is all about.  This is what our Hymn of the Day: one of the most well-known and beloved Lutheran chorales – is all about.

For what makes first responders slow and flabby and ineffective is inactivity.  Peace is good, of course, but it can destroy the ability of warriors to fight and first responders to save.  That’s why such vocations are constantly training.  We Christians also grow flabby and slow, losing our edge, forgetting our training, lazy, and allowing the enemy to achieve small victories.

We often forget that we are at war with the enemy, that we must be prepared for eternity – whether our own deaths or whether the return of our Lord. We forget that faithfulness, preparedness, and vigilance are not of much value without the “semper.”  And Jesus calls us to the “semper” with His parable of the ten virgins.

It’s a simple story, dear friends.  Five wise girls and five foolish girls all in the same squadron, so to speak.  They are a unit, and they have a mission.  The five wise virgins are faithful, prepared, and vigilant.  They have what they need to be ready at a moment’s notice to fall in.  For when the call comes, there won’t be time to buy oil and prepare their lamps.  For the bridegroom is coming, and they were invited to the feast.  The time to prepare was yesterday.  The time to be ready is today. 

But the five foolish virgins are not ready.  They are not faithful, prepared, and vigilant.  Their equipment is not battle-ready, and they are sleeping instead of waiting in a state of readiness. 

And when the bridegroom is announced, when the time has come for action, the wise virgins carry out their vocations just as they have trained.  “Here is the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him.”  And the wise respond accordingly.

But the foolish virgins, being unready, now have to go and buy oil.  They have to prepare their lamps.  And so off they go to the dealers – carrying out tasks that should have been done before.  Their laziness and folly have caught up with them, and there is now no time to prepare.  And while they are away, the bridegroom comes.  “And those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’  But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’”

Jesus is not teaching us to be good Marines or Coasties or Volunteer Airmen, dear friends.  Jesus is teaching us how to be Christians, how to be prepared to die, how to be prepared for His return.  We do have a mission, dear brothers and sisters.  We were made for a purpose.  That purpose is not simply to amass as much wealth as we can, to have as much fun as we can, to sop up as much pleasure as we can.  We are always God’s children, created for the sake of service in the kingdom.  And eternity is waiting for us.  Eternity can begin at any moment.

The wise keep their lamps trimmed and full of oil.  As the Psalmist says about the Scriptures: “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  To be prepared, we need to hear the Word of God, read the Word of God, and allow the Word of God to illuminate our lives.  Are you doing that?  Are you ready?  If not, stop messing around and get ready.  Are you praying regularly?  Are you confessing your sins and being absolved?  Are you in the battle by supplying the kingdom even as God supplies you with time, talent, and treasure?  If not, you know what to do.  The time to start is now, not after the first of the year.  Not when you get your house in order.  Not when things are more convenient.  That’s not how this works.  Are you regularly receiving the body and blood of the Lord to strengthen you for the battle?  If not, the time to start is now.  And don’t allow yourself to become unfaithful, unprepared, and unvigilant.  That is not an option for a first responder.  Remember the “semper.”

Being prepared means discipline.  That’s why followers of Jesus are called “disciples.”  That’s why the military and first responders are always training: improving their bodies, minds, and spirits to meet the enemy, or to perform tasks to save lives and property.  Always being faithful, prepared, and vigilant comes by making a commitment and keeping it.  The uniform is a reminder that we are not just like everyone else, but others are depending on us.  We are warriors.

And when I say “we” dear friends, I mean “we Christians.”  The uniform is not only my black shirt and vestments.  The uniform of the Christian is his or her baptismal garment.  You can’t see it, but it is there.  You have been baptized and received into the service of the Lord.  You have signed up for this warrior life when you took your vows, pledged your allegiance to the Holy Trinity and to the Church, when you renounced Satan, his works, and his ways.  You have accepted the burden of the “semper” in pursuit of the victory that has already been won by Christ at the cross.  You have been blessed to be a blessing to others.  You have been redeemed to see to it that others are redeemed. 

Warriors and first responders to not live the disciplined life of service for the money, dear friends.  They do it because it is just who they are.  It is their calling.  It is their duty.  But it is also their life.  It is their joy.  It’s who they are.  And the wise know what it means to be ready.  The foolish only weigh everyone else down and waste resources that could be used to save others.  We Christians are called to offer our lives to Him who offered His life for us. 

So as the days grow short, as the times become darker, as the moment of Christ’s return draws closer, let us be faithful, prepared, and vigilant.  Let’s have our reserves of oil stocked, our lamps trimmed, our guns loaded, our gear in its place, our planes maintained, our bodies, minds, and spirits ready to engage, our children well-catechized, our families praying and hearing the Word of God, and our church taken care of. 

Let us be ever-ready for the coming of the new heavens and the new earth, for “the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”  And “let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love.”  Let us be faithful, prepared, and vigilant – by God’s grace.  For He equips and outfits us for action. 

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us…. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”  Semper Christus.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.