Hark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding - Advent Mid-week 3 - December 16, 2020 - Text: Sermon Hymn, Sermon Title: #345 - Hark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding; Scripture Readings: Luke 1:76-79; Is. 60:1-3, 19-20; Eph. 5:8-14; Is. 25:7-9

This week our hymn of the day for last Sunday was, of course, the hymn we just sang, Hark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding. As with the hymn from two weeks ago, so too, the author of this hymn is Ambrose of Milan. With this hymn we continue our preparations, our getting ready to celebrate the first coming of the Messiah.
 

Stanza one, “Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding! ‘Christ is near,’ we hear it say. ‘Cast away the works of darkness, All you children of the day!’” In this first stanza we hear a reference to the Gospel of Luke and the work of John the Baptist calling the people, in particular the Children of Israel, but even us today, to repent, to cast away the works of darkness, the deeds of sin. We also have a reference to Isaiah and the problem of the darkness of sin. In Jesus day, in our day, indeed throughout time every generation can see the works of darkness and every generation thinks theirs is the worst and that certainly God will return soon. Yes, we do live in a world where sin abounds, where the thick darkness of sin covers the earth so this hymn calls to us today as well, to repent for the kingdom of God is near.
 

Stanza two, “Startled at the solemn warning, Let the earthbound soul arise; Christ, its sun, all sloth dispelling, Shines upon the morning skies.” Here in stanza two we have a reference to Ephesians and the call to walk as children of the Light. Paul says, “Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you’” (Ephesians 5:8b-14).
 

In stanza two we also have a reference to Isaiah 25 and the veil of darkness and unbelief that covers the earth. Isaiah says, “7And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. 9It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation’” (Isaiah 25:7-9).
 

Stanza three, “See, the Lamb, so long expected, Comes with pardon down from heav’n. Let us haste, with tears of sorrow, One and all, to be forgiv’n;” Here in stanza three we have another reference to John the Baptists and his call to repentance. It was John who pointed to Jesus and exclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And we again have another reference to Isaiah 25 and God’s salvation, “He will swallow up death forever.”
 

Stanza four, “So, when next He comes in glory And the world is wrapped in fear, He will shield us with His mercy And with words of love draw near.” Here in stanza four not only are we called to get ready to celebrate Jesus’ first coming, but also we are called to focus our attention on the fact that as God kept His promise to send Jesus and as Jesus promised He would come again so we need to be ready for His second coming as well.
 

Here in stanza four we have another reference to Isaiah 25 and the promise that God will wipe away tears, the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people he will take away. And another reference to Ephesians and the promise of God’s love.
 

Stanza five, “Honor, glory, might, dominion To the Father and the Son With the ever-living Spirit While eternal ages run!” Here in stanza five we have a doxology of praise and a reference to Isaiah 60 and God’s promise that our days of mourning will end. Isaiah says, “19The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended” (Isaiah 60:19-20). Indeed, as Isaiah speaks of the everlasting light of the Lord, so it is with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit while eternal ages run.
 

So it is fitting to sing a word of praise to our triune God. It is God who promised to send a Savior. Actually, we should be reminded that God in His eternal omniscience knew what was going to happen even before He began creating the world. He knew that Adam and Eve would sin. He knew that He would have to send His Son, God Himself in human flesh to fulfill the demands of Himself, God the Father that is to live in perfection. He knew all that was going to happen even before He began creating the world and yet, because of His great love for us He created the world anyway.
 

We sing a word of praise to our triune God who not only promised, but fulfilled His promise to send a Savior. We sing a word of praise to our triune God as we continue to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate once again, as we do every year, Jesus birth. This season of Advent is the beginning of the Church Year because the journey of Jesus to bring us salvation begins with His birth. We sing a word of praise to our triune God because Jesus was born, true God in human flesh. He was born, shining the light of truth into the darkness of our sin filled world. Jesus is, as John points to Him and says, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus lived in perfection. Jesus obeyed all God’s laws perfectly never sinning even once. Jesus fulfilled all the promises of God. Then, because of His great love for us He took our sins, all our sins, our sins of omission and sins of commission, our sins of thought, word and deed. He took all the sins of all people of all places of all times and suffered and died paying the price for those sins, eternal death and hell. His works of paying the price for sin was so complete that nothing more needs to be done.
 

We sing a word of praise to our triune God because of His great love for us as seen in Jesus. And as we prepare to celebrate His first coming, so we continue to prepare ourselves, our hearts and minds so that we are ready for His second coming when He will come in glory to gather us and all the saints and take us and all the saints to be with Himself in heaven for eternity.
 

What a fitting hymn for this third and last midweek Advent service. Next week we will celebrate. We do not celebrate yet, but we continue to prepare so that when we do celebrate it will be a great and grand celebration. What a great God we have. What a loving God we have. What a forgiving, gift giving God we have. Certainly our desire now and always is to give praise to our triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.