Romans 15,4-13. Gaudete

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The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Romans 15,4-13     0319

Gaudete; Rejoice. 3. Sonntag im Advent  03

Adelheid, Empress, ✠ 999 

16. Dezember 2018 

1. О Heavenly Father, grant that Your beloved Church may receive her only King, Jesus Christ; and always rejoice in His wonderful advent, receive Him in pure and ready hearts, gladly rejoicing in Him and rendering all praise and glory to You forevermore.  Amen. (Löhe 414).   

2. »For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ became a slave to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your Name. [Psalm 18,49] And again it is said: Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people. [Deuteronomy 32,43 LXX] And again: Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol Him. [Psalm 117,1] And again Isaiah says: The Root of Jesse will arrive, even He who arises to rule the Gentiles; in Him will the Gentiles hope. [Isaiah 11,10 LXX] May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.«  

  3. The Apostle Paul tells us that the Holy Scriptures were written down, copied and passed on from one church to another »for our instruction so that through the endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope« in Jesus Christ who is the Subject of the Scriptures and point to Him as the Savior of the world. God sent John the Baptizer as »the voice of one crying in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord« (Isaiah 40,3; Matthew 3,1-3). Zechariah called his son John »the prophet of the Most High; for he would go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace« (Luke 1,76-79). 

  4. Saint Paul says that Christ is the Hope of both the Jews and the Gentiles. »Christ became a slave to the Jews in order to confirm the promises given to their patriarchs; Christ became a slave to the Gentiles in order that they might glorify God for His mercy.« The Jews have the sign of the virgin: »Behold, the virgin shall conceive, bear a son and shall call Him Immanuel, which means God is in our midst« (Isaiah 7,14). The Gentiles have the sign of the star: »Behold, magi from the east went to Jerusalem and asked: Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have arrived to worship Him« (Matthew 2,1-2). 

5. The 3. Sunday in Advent is Gaudete (gow-DET-eh): Rejoice! God is favorable to us, restores our fortunes and forgives our iniquity (Psalm 85,1-2). Jesus brings the gospel that proclaims we are forgiven. Sinners rejoice, the sick rejoice and the infirm rejoice. God told Isaiah: »Tell Jerusalem that her iniquity is pardoned and that she has received from My hand double for all her sins« (Isaiah 40,2). God has more than enough grace to cover and forgive our sins! The cup of His mercy truly overflows and He bids us to drink from it. He exhorts us to rejoice in the certainty of our salvation (Heilsgewißheit) in Christ. Our cup overflows; surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23,5). Let us lift up the cup of salvation and praise the Name of the Lord (Psalm 116,13). 

6. The Prophet Isaiah recorded these words of the Lord: »I bring near My deliverance, it is not far off, and My salvation will not tarry; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel is My Glory« (Isaiah 46,13); »I will make Israel a light for the Gentiles so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth« (Isaiah 49,6). Jesus is the Chosen One who brings salvation to all the nations of the world; He is the Jew’s Messiah and the Gentile’s Christ. Our attention now shifts to the close of Advent with John leaping for joy at the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb (Luke 1,41-42), for as Isaiah prophesied: The Root of Jesse will arrive who arises to rule the Gentiles; in Him will the Gentiles hope. [Isaiah 11,10 LXX]. The advent of Jesus is our hope and we put our trust in Him.  Amen. 

7. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, who is gracious and righteous; draw our attention to You, so that we are comforted and consoled in the mercy You have shown us at Your first advent.   Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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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 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

All quotations from the Book of Concord are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 12. Edition © 1998 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.     

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith. Copyright © 1902 Frank Carroll Longaker.