Sermon on Ezekiel 36:22-28 Tuesday after the Second Sunday in Advent Kramer Chapel Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana 8 December 2020
Text: Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
Intro: O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Savior, Come and save us, O Lord our God. Amen.
“Come, Lord Jesus, Come!” we’ve been saying for weeks now as we reviewed last things: the signs of the end, the Lord’s urging: “keep watch!” the Second Advent, the great judgment seat, sheep and goats, the heavenly Jerusalem, eternal life at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. “Come, Lord Jesus!” Indeed! So, we shout with Isaiah, “why don’t you tear open the heavens and come already! 2020 has been a miserable year in the world, in a vale of tears, in the shadow of death. ”Why don’t you come already?” We think, even though as Christians we know better – especially as pastors, seminarians and professors. Yes, we know what St. Peter told us Sunday, that the Lord is not slow as we suppose. But it doesn’t change our longing for him to get on with it! We’re like kids on a long road trip – are we there yet?
The people of Israel in exile thought the same thing. So he repeated his promise to his people – he would return them from exile – and much more.
They didn’t deserve God’s action to save them – and neither do we.
Though he was a husband to them, they went after every idol and put their trust in them.
They claimed his name, worshipped him sometimes, yet ignored his law and abused others.
And so they cheapened his name, ruined his reputation and gave reason to gentiles not to believe in him.
Their hearts were hard as rock.
Yet he loved them and did not wish that they would die.
Therefore he made a New Covenant with them – and us – in His own Blood.
He did rip open the Heavens when he came, not in glory, but in a baby born to a virgin.
With his own blood he bought us, his holy bride, and for our life he died.
With Water and the Word, he cleansed us of our sins.
He put his Holy Spirit in us, giving us beating hearts that love him and our neighbor.
While we wait for him, we are not alone. He remains with us until the end of time itself.
Mt. Calvary, La Grange, TX recently dedicated two new banners featuring the Four Evangelists’ symbols and other rice, ancient imagery. The new banners come from Ad Crucem in Aurora, CO.
Both banners display a cruciform orphrey braid design (the same cross shaped image that we find on our funeral pall). This cross shape draws our eyes to the central image of the triumphant Lamb of God. The Lamb of God, as an image of Jesus, is used heavily in St. John’s gospel and also the Revelation. The purpose of the Gospels, the Prophets, and the sacraments is to bring Jesus’s forgiveness to us.
The triumphant Lamb of God is often depicted with a wounded side. This reminds us of Jesus’s mortal wounds in the crucifixion; the Lamb who was slain and yet, He lives. He also carries a cross-topped war banner standard, flying the victorious battle banner. The particular halo around His head is only used for God, Himself.
The lectern side features St. Matthew and St. Luke as well as the names of Isaiah and Jeremiah. At its top we find this scripture reference: I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17) This is the proclamation of the Christian faith. We preach it, the gospel of forgiveness of sins in Jesus, that all may hear and believe.
The images of the four evangelists are ancient depictions. The church has used them since at least the 4th century, though earlier examples also exist. They encapsulate the unique themes of the Gospel, as recorded by each inspired writer. The symbols of each often bear wings. This to connect our minds between the Evangelists and the four living, winged creatures discussed in both Daniel and Revelation.
We see Matthew depicted as a winged man. The Gospel according to Matthew begins with a lengthy genealogy. St. Matthew draws our attention to the humanity and prophetic work of Jesus, throughout His ministry on Earth. Matthew’s focus gives us the image of the winged man, which is his symbol.
Luke is depicted as a winged ox or bull. The Gospel according to St. Luke focuses heavily on the priestly work and sacrificial death of Jesus. Even in the birth narrative, the temple and sacrificial activity take a front seat. Luke’s narrative focus gives us the image of the winged sacrificial bull or ox, which is his symbol.
At the bottom of the lectern side banner, we read: Isaiah & Jeremiah. These prophets of the Old Testament are also gospel preachers. We don’t always think that way about them. But, the prophets preach repentance to the wayward people. They also preach the restoration of the people, all peoples, in the coming Messiah.
St. Isaiah gives us much of the language we use in our Advent hymns. His huge prophetic work is dripping with Gospel promises in the unnamed Messiah to come. He also gives us the language we hear out of the mouth of St. John, the Baptizer, a voice crying in the wilderness.
St. Jeremiah also preaches to the hopeless, unfaithful people of Israel. His strong themes of terrifying judgement run deeply in the prophecy. His bold promises of grace for those called by faith are a prophecy of hope and restoration. We don’t expect to find Law-Gospel preaching in the Old Testament. Yet, there it is, big as Dallas. And, it’s been there all along.
The pulpit side features St. John and St. Mark as well as the names of Ezekiel and Daniel. At the top we find this scripture reference: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30) This Gospel proclamation of Jesus work for us reminds us that His work of our salvation is complete.
We find John in the image of the eagle. The Gospel according to St. John is given from a 10,000-foot perspective. It soars in the heavens. John focuses on Jesus’ divinity. John begins by tying Jesus to the creation in Genesis 1:1. And, he concludes Revelation by taking us into the Resurrection on the last day. His Gospel themes of light, grace, truth, and God’s love for us drive the narrative.
Looking at Mark, we see the winged lion. The Gospel according to St. Mark dwells upon the Kingship of Jesus. The lion as a symbol of both the Israelite tribe of Judah and Mark is fitting. Mark drives more quickly than the other evangelists. Writing very late, he seems to be writing in a way that recapitulates the stories you know already. But, he brings us details we may have missed along the way.
The names of the prophets, Ezekiel and Daniel grace the bottom of the pulpit side banner. These prophets also preach repentance and restoration in the Messiah to come.
St. Ezekiel shares visions of God justifying His people and keeping His promises in the Messiah. He also gives us a spectacular image of the resurrection in chapter 37. The valley of dry bones, where the voice of the prophet commanded by God causes the bones to come together. Flesh comes upon those bones, and breath returns to them. No, the resurrection isn’t a symbolic, spiritual thing.
St. Daniel is both historian and prophet. He’s the source of several vivid depictions of the Babylonian captivity. The fiery furnace and the lion’s den are two such Sunday school stories. He also gives us the language of “one like the Son of Man.” And, we get the image of the “Ancient of Days” giving His saints the eternal kingdom.
Both banners display Prayer, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper symbols between the Evangelists’ icons and the triumphant lamb. The lamp of prayer is God’s command for us and His promise to hear us. The shell of Baptism reminds us of the Gospel of the forgiveness delivered to us in Holy Baptism. The chalice and host of the Lord’s Supper shows us that same forgiveness delivered in Jesus’s body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
These Four Evangelists banners teach us so much about the Gospel given to us by the Prophets and the Evangelists. And, they show us Jesus, the Lamb of God at their center, delivered to us in the means of grace by God’s institution and command.
Blessèd be the Lord!
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool La Grange, TX
Dear saints, the lessons for today make it hard to believe we less than three weeks from Christmas. Instead of festive cheer, we hear a lot of doom and gloom. We are warned of the end of the world, much like we are as each church year ends. We hear our Lord teach about and warn his listener of the end of the world. At first glance, it may not sound like Advent. It sounds like we are skipping around from last week’s Lenten lesson to the end of Trinity. But these are particularly good Advent themes. Advent, remember, is not a joyous season like Christmas and Easter but is a penitential season much like Lent.
And so, it is fitting that we began Advent and our anticipation of the birth of Christ by looking at his kingly entrance to Jerusalem. There he was preparing to accomplish what he was born to do: suffer and die for you so that your sin and shame are removed. In Lent, we prepare for our salvation being won. Now, we prepare for our salvation to come. We anticipate this in both the celebration of Christmas and the birth of Christ, but as we see in our text today, at the end of our current heaven and earth. In his Second Coming.
As we turn our attention to this morning’s text, let us first think about the cycle of our year. For a couple more weeks, our days will continue getting darker. Our nights are still getting longer. It is a decent metaphor for our world. It is also getting darker. It is getting more violent and chaotic. There is uncertainty about what the future is bringing. Some foresee a bright future through policy, and others see a tragic future no matter the policy. For the world, this is very unsettling. Yet what we see around us should not surprise us.
As Jesus says, “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.”
There’s a reason things seem to be getting worse: They are. And while we do not like seeing wars or disaster or persecution or plague, we know it must come. And that it does come and that it does get worse means something exceptionally good is coming. The close of our calendar year brings darker days and colder weather. Yet we will soon begin to see longer days. Eventually, we will begin to warm back up. Which leads us to the parable in our text:
“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 kingdom 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.
As the ground eventually thaws and planting season approaches, the trees leave and bud once again too. It is a sign that summer is coming. In the spring, the earth’s vegetation comes back to life. Brown fields turn into green meadows. Flowers sprout and beautify the landscape. There is the anticipation of a vacation … something I am sure many of us could really use right now. And as they say in baseball, “Hope springs eternal.” Optimism for the coming year always runs high.
Odd as it sounds, we should see the signs in the sun and moon and stars, the distress of the people, the calamities and disaster as a budding tree. It is showing us that Christ’s return is coming. He will return in the same way he ascended. He will return as your righteous king.
This is exciting yet terrifying news! It is terrifying to think of violence and things shaking loose right around you. It is unsettling to think of people losing their minds over what is happening. It is not fun to think about everything you know and are used to crashing down around you. So, Jesus implores you to, “Raise up your heads, for your redemption draws near!”
We do not rejoice at the horrible things that have happened, are happening, or will happen. Indeed, we should grieve with those who mourn. Should be sorrowful and have compassion for those who are desperate. Lament those who have no faith in the One who delivers them from their sin. Yet through it all, you see that your reward won and given to you by Jesus Christ, is nearly here. And so, despite the bad things going on around you, perhaps even to you, it is something you can look forward to with hope. Even with joy because joy is not the same as happiness. Joy transcends happiness. Joy can be felt and experienced amid your deepest pain.
While the world, that is the people who reject the Lord, reacts with perplexity and fear, the church reacts with peace, hope, and joy. The world is about to be condemned. The church sees real justice being revealed. And then there’s creation. Creation waits with eager longing because in the Fall it was subjected to futility and the whole of creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.God’s good creation, corrupted by the Fall, yearns for these signs to come. It suffers, through no fault of its own, right along with us as we await the Son of God. We await the revelation that what God did to you and me in our baptisms will be seen and revealed to all of creation.
As we await the coming of our Lord, he also encourages us to watch ourselves. He urges us not to be weighed down by this life. That we resist the temptation to indulge in the debauchery our world invites us to indulge in. Allowing yourself to be tempted and fooled into sinning threatens to destroy your faith. Though we anxiously await our Christ and his quick return, we do not know when it is. So, we do practice the things that strengthen our faith. We gather to hear the Word and to receive His Supper. We pray for one another, the church over all the world, and even our enemies. This is what Jesus means when he exhorts us to stay awake at all times. These actions and good works that we do have no justifying value to them. They do, however, give us restraint and help prevent laziness. You are given comfort and assurance that the blood of Christ shed on the cross pays the price for your sin. The water poured, sprinkled, or washed over you in baptism washes away your sin and makes you a new creation in Christ.
As we walk along our journey to the manger, we look forward to the culmination of our waiting. As we gaze upon the face of the newborn babe, we consider his innocent sufferings in this life and on the cross. As we share in Word and Sacrament, we consider his gifts and their culmination in his Second Advent. For even as things fall apart around us, we know that our redemption draws near. We will be freed from our sinful flesh and be given a new and incorruptible body. Freed from the impact of sin and given life everlasting in the presence of our Lord and Savior.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Brent Keller Peace Lutheran Church Alcester, SD
In the United States, December is a very busy month. Christians are preparing for Christmas, Jews are preparing for Hannukah, some African Americans celebrate a fairly recent holiday called Kwanzaa. Our businesses begin already before Halloween to prepare brightly colored lights and Christmas trees, music and sales for the gifts people will buy and parties people will host. Crafters begin even earlier — the care that knitting, crocheting, sewing, making of candles, clay creations and other items take quite a bit of time and love to make.
For the church, it is a season of preparation, too! On the surface, there are the additional services and special music to prepare. Pastors take special care to craft a sermon that will bring the Good News of Great Joy to what has been delicately called the semi-annual worshippers. Yet the real preparation is not for the celebration. The real preparation is for Christ to come.
Advent is about the three ways that Jesus comes to us. Everyone remembers the first time he came — as a baby in Bethlehem. The Second Coming is when he comes at the end of time. The third way is the one most people miss — Jesus comes to us everyday in various ways. He is always with us, until the end of time itself. He comes to us every time we read his word or hear it preached. He comes when we gather in worship, especially when the pastor speaks his forgiveness to us. He is really present, coming to us in bread and wine, where he gives us his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.
So, how do we prepare for these comings? With the faith he has given to us as a gift, we turn from our sins to do his will (that’s what the Hebrew word for repent means). We completely change our minds (that’s what the Greek word for repent means, from giving in to our sinful ways of thinking to keeping God’s law and doing his will. Alone, these are impossible for us. But with God’s help, the help of our brothers and sisters in Christ and the gifts of his Word and Sacraments, we can change are hearts and minds to serve him.
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
I don’t remember how many times this happened for me but I remember going to the mall a few times to sit on old St. Nick’s knee. You know how that went. Santa would ask some questions about being a good child, and what you hoped to unwrap on Christmas Day. And like the Christmas Story, you could hear all kinds of gifts being hoped for, from BB guns, fishing poles, to ponies and dollies. And the kids I remember being around walked away talking about how much they hoped Santa was listening.
What was going on? Where is the fire and brimstone Jesus, the one whom John preached? We must investigate. So, John, who was in prison directed his disciples to go and seek Jesus. The direction to ask the question: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Or in the words of our advent wreath: Are you the one we should put all our hope in?
The promise of the one to come begins all the way back in Genesis chapter 3. Adam and Eve hooked their wagons to the offspring of the woman’s seed who would crush the head of the serpent. And the waiting game would begin. The first one to come was Cain. Eve when she gave birth to him, announced in Hebrew, “Behold, I have gotten God, a man.” She hoped that Cain was the One. And we should know the story of how that goes. And the story of hoping for the One to come went all through the Old Testament, from Noah to Abraham to Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David, etc. Every male child was hoped to be the One. Until many gave up hope. The light of the promise flickered and nearly when everything fell apart in Jerusalem. When Israel lost its standing as a nation and went into Exile, only a small remnant had hope in the One who was to come. But they had the hope of the promise of Isaiah 61, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” To comfort all who mourn, and to give a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit.
Was Jesus the One? Jesus does not answer the question with a direct answer. But he teaches us something very important. He says to the inquisitors, “Look at you see. Look at what you hear.” And then He then quotes from our Old Testament Lesson and then also Isaiah 42 which also speaks of the servant of the Lord being anointed by the Lord’s Spirit. The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the dear hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” The Good News which Jesus has to offer to all is that it is the time of the Lord’s favor. The One long hoped for has arrived. He is on the scene, and He is working. And John’s disciples knew as did many others. And the disciples of John went away back to John having their faith and hope in Christ as the One strengthened. And their faith and hope would need that as they would be burying their own teacher in the not so distant future when Herod would have him executed. They would go to the One for whom they had hoped.
And He still is working granting you mercy now in these dark and dreary days that offer little hope. Hope in the Lord for no one else keeps His promises. No politician, no king, not even a father keeps every promise made. But the Lord? Indeed, he does. And He even bids us to remind him over and over again of the promises He has sworn to us. Jesus has been sent to bind up the brokenhearted, down trodden by sin and death. He has come to release you from the prison of sin by taking sin upon Himself and dying your death on the cross.
John sent his disciples to Jesus to ask a question. The disciples left with the answer. Of course Jesus is the One. There is no other to look for. He is the guy, John was right all along. But before the axe is laid, the proclamation to the those bound must go out. Jesus actually quotes Isaiah 61 at the beginning of his ministry in Luke 4 when He takes up the scroll of Isaiah in the Synagogue. Jesus reads up to the first line of the second verse. Jesus does not speak about the day of vengeance. It will come, but first mercy for sinners like the tax collectors and the prostitutes, soldiers and every other sinner out there, sinners like you.
The Day of vengeance will come when all the world will be brought to account, and the Lord’s faithful will be gathered to the kingdom prepared for them. But the vengeance first comes upon Jesus’ own head at the cross. He gathers all his wheat first to His cross, and places them in to the barn of the church until He will return in glory and power on the Last Day that they may not face the judgment but be covered by His blood and saved. John’s hope was not ill placed. Neither is your hope. Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has come to grant mercy to you, proclaiming forgiveness for his sake, giving you hope in the life and the world to come even as we live in this life now.
Look at the advent wreath, remember the first candle, the candle of hope. Know it points to Christ, the One for which the world longs to see. You see Him here at this altar still working for you and your salvation, giving you mercy, forgiveness, faith, hope, and love in His body and blood.
There may be several related questions about that one little icon in our hymnal, the Lutheran Service Book (LSB), which we print into the bulletin also. It’s an innovation for the 2006 hymnal to smooth out some confusion about rubrics (which describe how we move and what we do, physically) in worship. Sometimes we stand. Sometimes we sit. Sometimes we kneel.
First off, what’s a “stanza?” Most of us grew up calling the numbered lines of text in a hymn, verses. They are actually called stanzas. Verses are the individual poetic lines of which a stanza is constituted. For example: “My Soul, Now Praise Your Maker,” LSB 820, stanza 3, verse 2 reads, God in His arms will gather all who are His in childlike fear. That line doesn’t make much sense by itself. There is a simple phrase to help us remember that distinction. “Psalms have verses, hymns have stanzas.”
So, why a triangle? The triangle indicates the Holy Trinity, Father Son, and Holy Spirit, by name. Christian art has used the triangle as visual shorthand for the Trinity for centuries. So, it was a natural go-to visual marker for our hymnals. Why does the triangle only appear sometimes? Not all, or even very many of our hymns contain a Trinitarian final stanza. This is neither good nor bad hymn writing. It simply is. The ones that do have a Trinitarian final stanza get the triangle marker. We added the triangle to our hymns to reduce some confusion between local practices that popped-up over time.
Why do we stand for triangled stanzas? We stand for Trinitarian stanzas to acknowledge and glorify our Triune God. The Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity is to be worshipped, says the Athanasian Creed. We do something special at that moment because we are clearly setting ourselves apart from others who would claim Christianity, but deny the Triune God.
Our standing acclamation speaks to our confessions together in the creeds. There are groups claiming to be Christians, who would not stand in acclamation, or should not. Among those are Jehovah’s Witnesses and Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
This is also why we have abandoned the minority practice of standing for every final stanza of every hymn. Only the Trinitarian stanzas receive the bold confession of the Trinity by standing when they are sung. And similarly, we do not stand to sing, “Stand Up! Stand Up! For Jesus,” because it does not contain the Trinitarian formula.
So, dear Christians, stand up. Blessèd be the Holy Trinity!
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool La Grange, TX
