Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Philippians 4,4-7. Rorate Caeli; 4th Sunday in Advent

Monday, December 21, 2015

Philippians 4,4-7. Rorate Caeli; 4th Sunday in Advent

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Philippians 4,4-7 0416

4. Sonntag im Advent 04: Rorate Caeli (Shower down, you heavens)

Ammon, Zenon, and other Confessors, ✠ 250

Katharina von Bora Luther, ✠ 1552

20. Dezember 2015

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, it is meet and right that we should give thanks unto You, that You have given us a more glorious Baptism than that of John the Baptizer, and has therein promised us the remission of sins, the Holy Spirit and everlasting life through Your Son, Jesus Christ: Preserve us, we beseech You, in such faith in Your grace and mercy,so that we may never doubt Your promise, but be comforted by the same in all temptations: and grant us Your Holy Spirit so that we may renounce sin, and ever continue in the righteousness bestowed upon us in Holy Baptism, until by Your grace we obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One True God, world without end. Amen. (Veit Dietrich for the 4. Sunday in Advent)

2. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say: Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

3. In just 4 days we’ll be celebrating a Green Christmas. In preparation for that, St. Luke tells us in his Gospel: »When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry: „Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should visit me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord“« (Luke 1,41-45).

4. The words of the Apostle Paul are fitting for this 4. Sunday in Advent and 4 days before Christmas: »Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say: Rejoice. The Lord is at hand; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.« Jesus drew near, and Elizabeth rejoices, Infant John rejoiced, Mary rejoiced, Paul rejoiced and we rejoice, too.

5. Mary tells us: »The Lord has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.« (Luke 1,54-55). But before this Messiah is born, His Father sent the Prophets, and they proclaimed: »Behold, I will send you the Prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not arrive and strike the land with a curse« (Malachi 4,5-6). »Behold, the virgin is with child and will bear a son, and she will name Him Immanuel« (Isaiah 7,14). Look at what God the Father gives us in Luke 1. Mary has miraculously conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. She is carrying the very Son of God who is the fulfillment of the Prophets. Mary goes to her cousin Elizabeth who is also bearing the forerunner of Jesus, John, who 30 years later would be know as the Baptizer, who will prepare the way for the Lord Jesus. The very moment Mary’s voice is heard, John leaps for joy in his mother’s womb and Elizabeth blesses Mary and her Child. The Prophets Malachi and Isaiah have been fulfilled in Luke 1.

6. Why did John leap for joy in his mother’s womb? Elizabeth says it is because the fruit of Mary’s womb is blessed, and her womb is blessed because she is the θεοτοκος (God-bearer); she bears the Savior of the world whose promised arrival traces its way back through the generations of mankind to Eve where the Lord told the serpent: »I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel« (Genesis 3,15). John the Apostle and Evangelist describes this Messiah in his Gospel, saying: »In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome the Light. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He went as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. The True Light, which gives light to everyone, was arriving in the world. And 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. For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; and grace and truth arrived through Jesus Christ« (John 1,4-7.9.14.16-17).

7. We rejoice because Jesus brings us grace and truth. „The law says: ‘Do this’, and it is never done. Grace says: ‘Believe in Christ’ and everything is already done“ (Heidelberg Thesis 26). Christ is our righteousness, and when we believe in Him we have His righteousness as our own. Jesus imputes His righteousness to us by grace and we receive it by faith. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and we only come to the Father through Him (John 14,6). Jesus is the Truth, and the Truth sets us free (John 8,32).

8. The blessed virgin Mary is the first New Testament Christian. The Archangel Gabriel had told Mary: »You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name Him Jesus. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Child to be born will be holy; He will be called Son of God« (Luke 1,31.35). Mary’s response to this word from God was: »Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to Your word« (Luke 1,38). Mary believed the word sent from God and she had faith that Jesus would be the promised Christ. Elizabeth and John are the second and third Christians in the New Testament. At the sound of the blessed virgin Mary’s voice, John leaped for joy in his mother’s womb, and Elizabeth blessed Mary as »she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord« (1,45). The first Christians reported in the Holy Gospels, then, are two women and an unborn child in the womb. The gospel has the power to create faith.

9. Through Mary, Yahweh blessed all the nations with a savior. This Child, Jesus, is the Son of God; He is both God and man in one person. Thus Mary is rightly honored to be called the θεοτοκος. Everything that happens in today’s pericope is a response to the presence of God in the flesh––the baby inside Mary (Just 75). In four days, we will celebrate this Baby’s birth. In four days it will be a Merry Christmas, for it will be the celebration of the birth of Christ Jesus, who is called the Son of God (Luke 1,35), the Son of Man (Luke 5,24), Immanuel, God is with us (Matthew 1,23), Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9,6), the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5,5), the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 22,13). Jesus was born to save all people from their sins (Matthew 1,21), and He has completely and fully redeemed us from our Heavenly Father’s wrath. Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord, Thou Song that pleases every human heart, pour out the grace and joy of Your heavenly Verse so that we hear and believe that Jesus is our King and Savior. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

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.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, December 21, 2015

Philippians 4,4-7. Rorate Caeli; 4th Sunday in Advent

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