Advent 1 –
Series C (November 29, 2015)
“Rejoice as Jesus Draws Near” (Luke 19:28-40)
As he was
drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of
his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty
works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of
the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees
in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I
tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Our
December expectations don’t quite match the Gospel for the First Sunday in
Advent. In fact, it’s a bit of a slap in
the face. It gives us a case of
liturgical whiplash. You were expecting greenery,
tinsel covered trees, Santa and Rudolph and Frosty, Christmas music all day
long on Warm 106.9. Well maybe that’s
not what you expected in church, but you at least expect to hear about
Bethlehem and a Baby in a Manger and Big Shots from the East bringing beautiful
gifts.
Instead,
all we have is one little candle lit upon the Advent wreath.
Instead,
we hear about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey.
We call
it “The Triumphal Entry.” Someone might
be tempted to say that it’s not very “triumphant” since the week ended with
Jesus nailed to a cross. “We expected
him to be a mighty king. The
Messiah. Sticking it to the Romans. Finally setting up a glorious kingdom with
Jerusalem as its capital. An eternal era
of peace and prosperity emanating from Israel.”
That’s why the crowd was rejoicing, and crying out “Blessed is the King
who comes in the name of the Lord!”
That’s why so many turned their back on him later on when he didn’t turn
out to be the triumphant King they were expecting.
But Jesus’
entry into Jerusalem was triumphant in the sense that he came to conquer his
enemies in the way that was planned … by dying for the sins of the world and
rising to life again in victory over sin, death, and the devil.
Hearing
about his Triumphal Entry today prepares us for his Triumphant Return in Glory,
his Second Advent, or “coming” since that’s what the word “Advent” means. It also points us backward to his First
Advent which we will celebrate in just under a month. The disciples cry out “Peace in heaven and
glory in the highest,” although they misunderstood how that “peace in heaven
and glory in the highest” would be accomplished … through the suffering and
death of God’s one and only Son. They
also surely had no idea that they were echoing the song of the angels who
announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds of Bethlehem … “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom
he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14).
That was the day when the Incarnate God broke
into the darkness and gloom of this world marred by sin and disobedience. And so we light one candle today. We will light another one next week, and so
on until all four are lit. The light
increases the closer we get to Christmas, reminding us of the eternal hope that
we have in Christ Jesus, even when our lives and our world seem so dark and
distressing. Even as Christmas Day approaches,
we are also getting nearer to eternity with each passing day, when there will
be no more need for candles or any other source of light as St. John says in Revelation
chapter 22 says, “And night will be no
more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their
light, and they will reign forever and ever”
(Rev. 22:5). Cue the “Hallelujah
Chorus.”
As Jesus
drew near, the text says that his disciples “began to rejoice and to praise God
with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen.” What about us? Are we rejoicing, or are we complaining?
What do
we complain about this time of year?
· Those
awful Black Friday crowds.
· “I didn’t
get what I wanted last year for Christmas, so I better get what I want this
year.”
· Another
Christmas party? Another family gathering? For some of us, family is the last
crowd we want to spend our holidays with.
The
holidays do tend to bring out both the best and the worst in humanity. All the peppermint and sugar, all the lights
and garland, all the ribbons and shiny wrapping paper, all the snowflake-covered
sweaters can never cover up our sinful nature that always finds a way to sneak
out and spoil a perfectly delightful Christmas celebration and make it so hard
for us to truly rejoice.
There are
things we do rejoice over. We rejoice
over getting the gift we wanted. We
rejoice over a new baby. We rejoice over
a crush that has returned our affections.
But why do we not rejoice more about Jesus? About his return?
I suppose
one reason may be fear. Fear of
judgment. But remember … through Jesus’
shed blood, you are forgiven! There is
no reason to fear. Jesus came to bring
peace in heaven, peace between you and God the Father. Another reason may be that this Jesus
business is all too spiritual, it’s not something you can really grab on to, it
all seems a bit “pie in the sky,” and that makes it hard to rejoice. But remember … Jesus is here for you today
with his Body and Blood under the bread and wine. He knows that we are not merely spiritual
beings, and so he gives us something tangible, something to hang on to,
something that you can literally sink your teeth in to … not only his promises
in his Word, but also his presence in Holy Communion.
Before
Christmas arrives, Advent is a necessary reminder for us …
· to repent
of our sins,
· to
welcome Jesus into our hearts by faith as we celebrate his first Advent when he
came to die for our sins,
· to
prepare ourselves for his Second Advent, when he will once and for all do away
with all the effects of sin in the world,
· and to
rejoice like the disciples at his Triumphal Entry and not let the skeptics and
the naysayers keep you from publicly rejoicing, like the Pharisees who told
Jesus, “Rebuke your disciples. They are
a little too stirred up over you. They
are causing a ruckus. Tell them to be
quiet.”
In
the National Gallery in London, there is a painting by Piero della Francesca
from 1475 entitled “The Nativity.” In
typical Renaissance fashion, everything is quite orderly. Five angels, two playing lutes, gather behind
the baby Jesus and appear to be singing quietly so as not to wake the Baby
Jesus. To their left kneels Mary,
piously folding her hands and gazing down at her newborn Child who is sleeping
on the long train of her blue cloak.
Joseph is seated on a chair behind her, gazing into the distance, and
looks like he could care less about the miraculous event that just took place. Behind him are two shepherds who also look
surprisingly disinterested, although one is pointing to heaven, as if to remind
us of the meaning of what is going on here.
No one is wearing any haloes.
Everyone looks rather mundane here, perhaps even a bit bored. Even the Christ Child looks more like a porcelain
doll that someone forgot to put clothes on.
(Thoughts
here adapted from Jean Blomquist, Weavings
v IX, No 6 Nov/Dec 1994)
But there
is one figure in the scene that really seems to get it. There is one character that really seems to
be rejoicing. It’s the donkey. Between the angels and the shepherds in the
background, you get a glimpse of a donkey, throwing his head back, mouth wide
open, teeth exposed, engaged in a full-throated bray. In the midst of this tame, serene scene, the
donkey is the only who seems to be having a good time. He’s the only one who isn’t afraid of looking
like an … well, looking like a donkey.
So,
rejoice in Christ. Rejoice in
Advent. Rejoice in Christmas. And don’t be afraid of looking a little
foolish as you do. That’s the way it
will appear to the rest of the world. But
remember what St. Paul said: “…we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to
Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power
of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and
the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers:
not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were
powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the
world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the
strong” (1 Cor. 1:23-27).
If no one else will cry out, the stones will. More foolish talk from Jesus, right? But you are stones. You are living stones in this building called
the Church of Christ. You are those who
once had a stony heart of unbelief, but given a new, believing heart when you
heard the Gospel and when you died and rose with Christ in the waters of Holy
Baptism. So rejoice
and praise God for that mighty work done to you. Rejoice and praise him for his mighty work of
sending his only Son into the flesh to be your Savior, and for his mighty work
when he returns to take you to be with him in eternity.
Amen.
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