I am glad I live in the age of technology. The advancements in technology have made many things in life so much easier. Yet, at the same time, because some things are so much easier and can be accomplished at such a faster pace, we then want to add two or three more things to our schedule to squeeze as much out of a day as we can and then we wonder why we feel so drained. And I would suggest that most of you would agree that this is even more true the closer we get to Christmas. I will tie this together in just a minute, but I want to get back to our advancements in technology. I will admit that English was always one of my most difficult classes, at least the grammar part of English. With advancements in technology, I now have a computer which will correct my grammar for me, if I want it to or let it. Now, at first that sounds great, but the problem is, good theology is not always the best grammar, at least not the best English. Today’s text is one good example. Today’s text reminds us that our sins have been taken away, it is an accomplished fact and it has been done for us, what is referred to as passive voice. This passive voice reminds us that we are passive and are having our sins taken away with no effort on our part. The words of the text are in this passive voice and that is good theology but not necessarily good grammar. According to my computer and good grammar my computer wants me to put things in a more active rather than a passive voice and say that our sins are being taken away, inferring that it is something that we are looking forward to happening, and our being a part of making this action happen, when the fact is, our sins have already been forgiven and with no effort on our part. It is an accomplished fact. Now to get back to my tie in about our having so much to do to get ready for our Christmas celebration. During the hustle and bustle of getting ready, or should we say, of getting all the outward trappings ready, we feel like we have so much to do that we forget that the most important things have already been done. The baby has been born, the baby has given His life, our sins have been forgiven. What is left is the celebration.
Our text for today exhorts the children of Israel to sing, “14Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil” (v. 14-15). Unfortunately, the children of Israel are in exile and have no reason to rejoice, yet they are exhorted to rejoice and sing. That sounds like a lot of people at Christmas time. Pardon the pun, but we get so wrapped up in the trappings of Christmas that we forget the gift. We get so involved in getting ready for Christmas that we miss it. We feel like we have so much that has to be done that we wind up getting frustrated, even angry at those around us and we end up not being too joyful.
The reason the children of Israel are exhorted to rejoice is because their punishment has been removed. Now notice that this is a prophecy pointing to the future, yet it is spoken of as if it has already been fulfilled. Their punishment, their eternal punishment, has been removed because it will be put on the Lord, on Jesus, the Messiah who is in the midst of them, who came as one of them to give His life for them. For us, this means that our judgement, our punishment, our eternal punishment is also removed because Jesus gave His life for us as well. Notice how we keep having that awful reminder placed before us, that because of our sins there is a judgement, a verdict and a punishment, and that punishment is a punishment of death, physical death and, apart from the Messiah, it would be eternal spiritual death, hell. The awful truth of Christmas is that the baby was born to die. The baby, Jesus, was born to give His life for ours so that we might have forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Thus, for the children of Israel, with the threat of punishment removed and the enemy turned back now there is no fear of harm, rather there will be only rejoicing. Likewise, because the baby was born to give His life for ours, we have no fear of harm. The enemy of the devil has been defeated. Sin and death have been defeated. All that is left for us is the rejoicing.
The second part of our text is really the Christmas part of our text. In the second part of our text the day of salvation is described, “16On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 17The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. 18I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. 19Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord” (v. 16-20). The children of Israel are told that the Lord is in their midst. We are reminded that Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior has come. He has come to defeat, sin, death and the devil and He does so, resoundingly, on the cross. Again, the reminder that the baby was born to die.
Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, He will stir in the people to be renewed in His love. That means that once Jesus has restored our relationship with the Father, that relationship that was broken in the garden of Eden, now He will help us restore our relationships with each other. The reason we have struggles with each other in life, parents and children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, is because of our sin which separates us from God. Jesus came to restore our relationship with the Father. With our relationship with the Father restored, now Jesus helps us to restore our relationships with one another. That does not mean that now things will be perfect, but it does mean that we have a better chance of restoring and building our relationships with each other. And notice as well that it all begins with God. God is the prime mover. God begins, He forgives, He restores our relationship with Himself and then He moves and stirs in us and helps us to restore our relationships with each other.
Sin separates us from God, the sin of Adam and Eve that is born in us, what we call original sin, the Old Adam, and our own sin, what we call actual sin. By ourselves, we are unable to overcome either sin. It is Jesus who removes the threat of punishment and hell from us, through His death on the cross. And this removal of the threat of punishment and hell is something that is an accomplished fact, not by any doing on our part, but by God’s doing. Again, God is the prime mover, God does first.
Because Jesus has already won forgiveness for us, we are able to better prepare ourselves for our celebration of the first coming of the Messiah, on that first Christmas day. We know what the gift is. We might think that may take a little away from the surprise, but really there was no surprise from the start, because the Lord told us from the beginning what He was giving, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.
This morning, this third Sunday in Advent we continue to prepare ourselves by remembering that it was because of our sins that Jesus had to come. It was because of our sins that Jesus had to die. That fact may be the difficult part in our preparation, admitting that it was because of my sins that Jesus had to come. And not just our sins of doing something wrong, what we call sins of commission, but also our sins of not doing the things that we should be doing, what we call sins of omission. It is our sins of thought, word and deed that have separated us from God the Father. It is our sins of thought, word and deed for which Jesus gave His life.
Remember, we are looking back at events that have already taken place. Jesus has already come. He has already lived perfectly for us in our place thus fulfilling God’s first demand on humanity, to be perfect. He has taken all our sins upon Himself. He has suffered the eternal spiritual death penalty of hell for us in our place. He has died a physical death which was brought about because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve. And He has risen from the dead, ascended into heaven where He sits at the right and of the Father watching over us, ruling over us and interceding for us. All of this is an accomplished fact. And He came, not just for a certain people of a certain time and a certain place. He came for all people of all places of all times. He came for you and for me.
As we continue to prepare ourselves for our celebration of Jesus first coming, His birth in Bethlehem, we also continue to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ second coming, when He will come again to take us to heaven to be with Himself and all the saints forever in eternity.
Advent is a time to rejoice and sing. Yes, the Law reminds us of our sinfulness. The Law reminds us that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Law reminds us that we can do nothing to save ourselves. Thanks be to God that we do not rely on the Law to save us. Thanks be to God that we have the Gospel and we even have the Gospel in our Old Testament text written for us in the passive voice reminding us, as I always tell you, we get it right when we point to Jesus who has already accomplished everything for us, and as the children of Israel were reminded even before it happened. Indeed, we rejoice in the Gospel which reminds us that Jesus has already come. He has already given His life. He has already risen. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, watching over us, ruling over us, guarding and protecting us, praying and interceding for us. Sin, death and the devil have already been defeated. We might say, all that is left is the rejoicing and singing. Again, this week I want to end with Paul’s words in the Epistle lesson, because they are so fitting. Paul exhorts us to: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7). May the Lord’s transcendent peace by yours through Christ. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.