✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ
Romans 13,8-12 0120
Populus Zion (1. Sunday in Advent) 01
1 Eligius, Bishop, ✠ 659
1. Dezember 2019
1. O Jesus Christ, the Word of God who draws near and sets us free, unfold Your Advent rest upon us, send Your Spirit to breathe deeply upon us and adorn our souls with Your Word, so that we welcome You when You arrive. Amen. (VELKD Weekly Prayer for 1. Advent 2019, 4. para.)
2. »Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments: You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 11Besides this you know the time, that the hour has arrived for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.«
3. In today’s Gospel pericope, the words of the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans stands out: »Besides this you know the time, that the hour has arrived for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.« Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday inaugurates the events of Holy Week that culminates with our salvation. Thus we begin Advent and preparing for the birth of Jesus at Christmas by contemplating the purpose of His birth as our Savior.
4. Jesus was born to save sinners; that had always been the plan since our Fall into sin recorded in Genesis 3. God spent the next thousands of years working through our history, and particularly through Israel, to prepare the way for the birth of the Son of God. Paul exhorts us to pause and meditate upon our sin; such contemplation is meant to invoke sorrow and repentance for our sinful lives. Thus we begin each Sunday with the corporate confession and absolution of our sinfulness with the acknowledgment that we are sinners and therefore that we need a savior from those sins.
5. The Prophet Isaiah comforts us with these words: »Rejoice greatly, O people of Zion, for you shall wait no more. The Lord will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as He hears it, He answers you« (Isaiah 30,19). Our Lord entered Zion on Palm Sunday, one of the hills upon which Jerusalem is built, and the cornerstone of the temple. After He entered Jerusalem, Jesus went forthwith to the temple courtyard and proclaimed: »My house shall be called a house of prayer« (Matthew 21,13). Jesus quotes the Prophet Isaiah, through whom the Lord spoke: »I will bring all nations to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house for all peoples« (Isaiah 56,7). Jesus is the Burnt Offering and the Sacrifice accepted on the Lord’s altar; He shed His blood to forgive all our sins. God’s house is a house of prayer where we give thanks for His mercy.
6. Advent begins with one lighted candle, a mere flame in the dark night of sin, but that single point of light flickers and shines forth with the promise of forgiveness in Christ Jesus. We are redeemed back to God the Father. The Apostle John proclaims that: »Jesus Christ is the Light of the world« (John 8,12), the Light no darkness can overcome« (John 1,5). »His Light scatters the darkness« (1. Corinthians 4,5) »and illumines His Church« (2. Corinthians 4,6). Jesus is the Splendor of Light Eternal and the Son of Righteousness. Jesus is the Morning Star shining with the glory of the rainbow who awakens us from the grayness of our apathy and renews us with hope (The Venerable Bede). Yes, salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
7. The first purple candle is lighted today on our Advent wreath to proclaim: »Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Behold your King is drawing near; He is justifying and saving« (Zechariah 9,9). Thus Advent begins our preparation for the Heilsgeschichte (salvation history) of the world through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Let us draw nigh unto Him in faith, rejoicing in His advent and love our neighbor, also preparing for Him by lifting up our souls in anticipation of the 2. Advent candle with the celestial signs heralding Christ’s arrival. Amen.
8. Let us pray. O Lord, King of Your people Israel; help us to welcome the arrival of Your Son, so that we rejoice in the salvation He brings from heaven. Amen.
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
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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.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2019 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.
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