[Sermon Archive] - [Weekly Devotional Guide]

This Week's Sermon THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT 29 November 2009 "Here We Go Again" Luke 19:28-40 LSB Series C Vicar Jeffrey M. Dock Soli Deo Gloria!

In the name of Jesus + Amen.

Well, another church year has come and gone and still Jesus hasn't returned. And so, we start anew. The liturgical year begins again with Advent, and once more we'll read through the lectionary (the appointed readings for every Sunday). And in these readings, we'll hear of the life and teachings of Christ. For Christ's work and teachings is where the Church finds her true life in this world. Christ came that we might have life, and have it abundantly¹. That is what is given to us here today in the preached word. That is why we'll once again walk through the church year, for the liturgical year provides us with the stability and assurance that is needed in the Christian's life. It promises that we shall again have a chance to hear all that Christ has done for us, and to remember all that He continues to do for us daily. The liturgical year is as stable and constant as the seasons of the normal year. Winter comes before Spring. Advent precedes Christmas. Eventually Spring gives way to Summer, and in not too long Lent will lead us into Easter.

It is true that vast segments of the church have jettisoned the church year. In those churches, the year lacks both an end and a beginning, unless it has stolen them from the world's calendar. It doesn't even have that many signposts along the way. Currently there's a big block of Christmas, maybe having the way paved by a sermon on Thanksgiving. New Years might mark some sort of end, and maybe some resolutions. Eventually they'll be Easter. But lacking is the stability so helpful to a Christian's life. A stability founded in Christ and His actions upon this earth. A stability in which we experience anew every year all that Christ has done for us. A stability which is saturated by our daily repentance and receiving of forgiveness, which is so crucial to the Christian's life. Without a liturgical year, and a set liturgy, it's just miscellaneous readings chosen by the pastor, and supposed 'topical' sermons to address the pressing needs in our lives. Sadly, most pastors aren't that great at choosing what you really need to hear, so you'll end up hearing what they think you need to hear. As you can imagine, it's rather hit or miss. But by following the life and teachings of Jesus, you hear what you need to hear. What God has spoken to you in His Word.

The church year provides stability and discipline, which is good, for the Christian life requires stability and discipline. We, by nature, do not want to pray, or sing, or hear God's Word. We don't naturally desire to do works of charity, but prefer to be selfish. We don't want to hear Christ's command against hoarding money or to be told we're sinners. We don't want to sit down and hear the same old story about Jesus told yet again. But these are important things, indeed they are the most important things. All too often we forget about them, and look to something else we'd prefer to see. It's too easy to become entrapped by our love of Christmas carols and getting presents to ever even notice Advent. It's too easy to become wrapped up in ourselves and forget God's command to pray and care for others, even our enemies. That is why the liturgical year is so important. It disciplines us. It provides stability. It tells us what we need to hear. And most importantly it shows us Jesus.

So with that in mind, let us look at our Gospel reading. Jesus is riding upon a colt into Jerusalem. It's the start of Christ's Passion, the start of the path to His death. This happens only a little while before His bloody and cursed death upon a cross. Why start the church year with this reading? Why, for over a thousand years, has the Church chose to start off the church year with this story? You think we could have chosen something more uplifting! Something to give us an emotional high, and fill us with good feelings and a sense of happiness. But remember, the church year provides stability. And so, laid before us is a reading which teaches us the proper way to view Jesus. Who He is, and why He came. The proper way to understand the coming liturgical year- every reading, every sermon, and every hymn.

So we hear the words "And when Jesus had said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem." Followed shortly after by Christ weeping over the city which would reject Him. Then come the religious leaders who challenge His authority. Then the plot to kill Him. Then His bloody sweat in the garden. His Betrayal. His arrest. His own disciples denying Him. His scourging. His crucifixion. His death. So why start the church year with this reading of Jesus riding into the city where He will die? Why remind us of that up front at the beginning of Advent?

It is because Jesus came to die. The church year teaches us that the proper way to view Jesus is always in light of His death to defeat Sin, and His resurrection to defeat death. Any perspective on Jesus which does not keep His sacrifice on our behalf first and foremost is a wrong view of Jesus. The One who rides into Jerusalem starting at the mount of Olives would be the One who would later pray at that mount that His Father's will, and not His own, be done. The One born in a wooden manger would be the One to die on a wooden cross. The seed promised to Adam and Eve who would crush Satan's head, would do so by His own death as He bore the sins of the whole world and took upon Himself the Father's wrath. This is the work of Jesus upon this earth. Everything He does brings Him one step closer to the cross. One step closer to His victory over sin, death, and the devil.

The world, sometimes aided by churches which have lost their way, has made Jesus into a lot of things over the centuries. A prophet who taught us how to be better people. A giver of laws and rules more complete than the ones which Moses gave. A political liberal or, depending on who you talk to, a political conservative. An anti-Semite. A symbol for homosexual rights. A judge looking to punish you. A myth. A misunderstood caregiver. A zealous revolutionary. But all of these, and all the rest that can be added to the list, do not see Jesus as He truly is. For all of them miss the cross. All of them ignore, gloss over, or explain away the suffering Messiah who bore our sins and carried our diseases. All perspectives on Jesus which do not see Jesus as the one who bore the punishment which brought us peace, and which disregard those wounds by which we find healing, are false views of Jesus. There is one God, revealed by His Son alone. And this God's love for us is shown most completely, most rightly, and most accurately at the Cross where the Son of God suffered for our sins- where the Father laid upon Him the iniquity of us all². And so the church year starts out with Jesus beginning that journey to the cross.

You know this, and perhaps I'm beating a dead horse here. Perhaps the liturgical year is beating a dead colt as it were. That's the charge often laid against people who continually return to, love to talk about, and constantly preach Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins. One hears things like: Yeah, yeah, yeah- we know. Jesus died for us. Get over it. We know our sins have been forgiven, but do we really need to constantly dwell on that? Why would you possibly put up a crucifix? Must we confess our sins every Sunday? Aren't there more important things to do? Shouldn't we focus on good works, or current political issues, or forcing Wal-Mart employees to once again say 'Merry Christmas'? Do you really want to start another church year off by talking about blood being shed? And flogging? And a crucifixion? Are they really that important?

This isn't a new criticism or accusation. Paul was criticized for always preaching Christ crucified³. Luther was excommunicated for teaching that Jesus' atoning death alone saved you. Christ himself was reprimanded (by Peter of all people!) for talking too much about His suffering and death⁴. Only one thing saves us in this world. Only one thing can deliver us from the curse of death, the hands of Satan, and the corruptness of the world. One thing. And that one thing is the message of the Gospel. The message of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for the forgiveness of sins. Last Sunday, pastor spoke about the importance of persevering in the faith. You persevere in that faith by hearing again and again about all Jesus has done for you, most especially His going to the cross.

In our reading today, Jesus rides into Jerusalem and is greeted by crowds rejoicing and praising God for all the mighty works they had seen Jesus do. But they had seen nothing yet. For Jesus' greatest work was coming. The work where He would suffer and die in our place, take our sins upon Himself, propitiate the Father's wrath, defeat death, and rise again from the dead. That is what the church year looks forward to, and constantly draws us back to. The disciples had no comprehension of the wonder of Christ's soon to be finished work. Feeding the 5000, healing the sick, and walking on water all only pointed to this greatest miracle- the death and resurrection of the Son of God.

The crowds cry out "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" These words continue to be sung by us, every Sunday, in the Sanctus before Holy Communion. What the crowds could not see is now made clear to us. The one who comes in the name of the Lord is the Lord Himself who gives Himself as bread in the Divine Service. The crowds cried "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Again, this is clear to Christ's church, and so we sing it every Sunday in the Gloria in Excelsis. It is not an earthly peace, doomed to fade away. It is a heavenly peace. Not merely the absence of war, but the very presence of Christ. It is that we have peace with the Father, and this peace is earned through Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross. For in that sacrifice- our sins are forgiven and the Holy Spirit is poured into our hearts. It is only through the cross that there is the true peace, and that Heaven and Earth are once more united as they should be. It always comes back to the cross.

May God grant that the preaching this church year always be focused on Christ, and on Him crucified and risen. Let us pray that the lectionary readings continually remind us of the price paid on our behalf. By God's grace, may the psalms, introits, versicles, and hymns be voiced by us in faith and offer right thanks to God. And may the Holy Spirit, present and active in all these things, cause good works to abound in our lives, strengthen and keep us in the saving faith, and prepare us to meet our own death that we may receive eternal life and the resurrection from the dead.

And so, we make the sign of the cross by which our sins were forgiven
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

¹ John 10:10
² Isaiah 53
³ 1 Corinthians 1:23
⁴ Matt 16:21-23