Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Revelation 3,7-10. 2. Sunday in Advent, Ad te Levavi

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Revelation 3,7-10 0214

2. Sonntag im Advent 02, Ad te Levavi

Apollos, assistant of St. Paul, Bishop of Corinth

08. Dezember 2013

1. O Ever-faithful and Merciful God, we render praise and thanksgiving unto You, that, by Your beloved Prophets You have promised to the Patriarchs of old the gift of Your Beloved Son, whom You did send into the world in the fullness of time, so that, by Him, Your holy will and counsel might be fully revealed unto us. He crushed the serpent’s head and has redeemed us from sin and death. All generations wait upon Him, and in Him are all the nations of the earth blessed. Prepare us, Good Lord, so that we may serve Him with undefiled hearts; and, when He arrives, to receive Him with joy; and, for this, we will thank You eternally in heaven (Löhe 443-44). Amen.

2. The first two Sundays in Advent emphasize Jesus’ eschatological teachings, thus our Gospel Lection for Ad te Levavi (I lift up to You) reads: Jesus said to His disciples: „And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.“ And He told them a parable: „Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the reign of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away“ (Luke 21,25-33). Jesus spoke these words in answer to the questions His disciples had asked at the beginning of Chapter 21, namely: When will the temple be destroyed, and what signs will signal it’s imminent destruction?

3. For us in the 21. century, this answer from Jesus is historical fact; Jerusalem was sacked, the temple has been destroyed for nearly 2000 years and it all occurred in A.D. 70. But for the disciples in the 1. century, Jesus’ words described a future event, and event that would occur in their generation and lifetime, nearly 40 years after Jesus spoke these sobering words in Chapter 21.

4. What do heavenly signs, destruction of buildings and razed cities have to do with Advent and its preparation for the forthcoming Christ and Messiah? Where chaos and death reign, Jesus promises peace and life to those afflicted. After the Roman legions under General Titus crushed and demolished Jerusalem and the temple, the Holy Spirit used the Christians who had earlier safely fled the devastation to proclaim the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection throughout the world. Twenty years after the temple’s destruction, another community was facing tribulation. The Church had spread throughout the Mediterranean, and in one corner of Christendom seven churches dotted the province of Asia Minor (Turkey). By this time all the apostles had been martyred, save elderly John, who now resided in Asia Minor (in or near Ephesus) and had written five books of the Bible: his Gospel, 3 Epistles and his Revelation. One of these churches, in Philadelphia, was small and seemed insignificant to the dominant worldly philosophies and religions that surrounded her. To this small gathering of Christians Jesus promised to spare them from the hour of trial. Those who denied Christ would be forced to bow before the Philadelphian Christians and acknowledge the power and glory of Christ Jesus.

5. The words of Christ have power, for His words are Divine words. The Apostle John began his Gospel with this prologue: »In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Jesus, and without Jesus was not any thing made that was made. In Jesus was Life, and the Life was the Light of mankind. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it« (John 1,1-5). »The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth« (John 1,14). In John’s apocalyptic vision he heard Jesus called by the name: The Word of God (Revelation 19,13).

6. John also calls Jesus »Faithful and True« in his Revelation (19,11), for Jesus Himself promises: Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away (Luke 21,33). This promise recorded in Luke’s Gospel gives us comfort as we await Jesus’ second advent and return. The Church will endure tribulation and persecution, often at the hand of the State and politicians, the 1. Amendment notwithstanding; conquest, war, famine and death (Revelation 6,1-8) afflict the world; we endure personal trials and sufferings. Christ Jesus is our Comfort and our Hope; we will overcome all these earthly pains by holding on to Jesus. The heavens and earth will burn in Divine flames, but Jesus and His promise will not be scorched. Jesus promises to create new heavens and a new earth from the ashes of the old. With the apostles we proclaim: »Lord, You have the words of eternal life!« (John 6,68). If Jesus will not pass away, and if His words will not pass away, then we, who believe in Him as our Savior from sin, death and hell, yes, we will not pass away.

7. Jesus tells us in the Gospel according to Luke: »The powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near«. Jesus spoke of these things that would happen prior to His second advent, and they have happened and they have been fulfilled when Jerusalem was sacked and the temple demolished. Such events were set into motion during His first advent when at His crucifixion the sky became dark and Jesus appeared with power and great glory as He suffered on the cross and burst forth from the grave in victorious triumph over Death and Hades. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus were the redemption that drew near for us and our salvation.

8. At the inauguration of His first advent, the heavens were also shaken, for Jesus arrived with power and our salvation drew near. Luke the Evangelist tells us in his Christmas pericope: »Now while Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to give birth. She gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger. Now in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. The angel said to them: „Fear not, for behold, I bring you the gospel of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a Baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.“ Then suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: „Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!“ (Luke 2,6-14).

9. The 2. Sunday in Advent is rightly called ad te Levavi, for we lift up Christ. We do so in a long history of tradition that puts us upon the same path with the prophets, the evangelists, the apostles, the angels and all the earthly and heavenly hosts, both human and angelic, who acclaim the Triune God and lift up Christ. How do we do this? Well, we do not lift up Christ as a great moral teacher (even though He certainly is), for even atheists lift Him up as a moralist. We do not lift Christ up as a great prophet (although He most certainly is), for even Muslims lift Him up as a prophet. Jesus is more than a moral teacher and a prophet. Thus, we lift Christ up as Paul and the apostles lift Him up: »we lift up Jesus as the crucified Christ who is a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles« (1. Corinthians 1,23). For it is only the crucified Christ who shakes the powers of heaven, who arrives in a cloud with power and great glory and who is our eternal life and blessed redemption. You can put all your hope and trust in this crucified Christ, for He first arrived in Bethlehem and slept in a manger; He hung on a cross and slept in a tomb, but He awoke from the sleep of death and burst asunder the gates of Hades for us and our salvation. This risen Lord Jesus Christ is with us now and always. He is our Salvation and Redemption, and so we patiently await His second advent as we prepare to celebrate again His first advent. Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the world in Your righteousness and the peoples in Your faithfulness, You counsel us with the promise that Your words are more certain than the very heavens and earth so that we may endure the trials and tribulations of this fallen creation knowing that You will return and You will usher us into everlasting glory. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Revelation 3,7-10. 2. Sunday in Advent, Ad te Levavi

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