ADVENT 2 – SONG SERVICE December 7-9, 2013 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

ADVENT 2 – SONG SERVICE

December 7-9, 2013

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

“THE THREE R S OF ADVENT”

          You’ve heard of it before, I’m sure. The three Rs of education. Reading, wRiting and aRithmatic. Even though all those words don’t start with the letter R but rather the sound they are an easy way to remember the basics of education. And they are the basics that keep getting taught. There are many things that were taught a century ago that are not being taught in schools any more. There are classes that kids in school today take that kids in the past never did. But the basics are still there, reading, writing, arithmetic.

          There are some basics to focus on in the Advent season of the church year as well. For centuries Advent has focused the hearts and minds of believers on preparing for Jesus. As Pastor Waldschmidt mentioned last week there is an emphasis on preparing for Jesus’ second coming at the end of the world as well as preparing to  celebrate His first coming at Christmas. As we look at how God prepared people in the past we notice something. There are some basics. Some ways of preparing that are always repeated. With a little maneuvering they become the three Rs of Advent.

The first teacher is a man named John the Baptist. He teaches to Repent.

REPENT!

FIRST READING:  Matthew 3:1-12 (NIV 1984) “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea ²and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." ³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' " ⁴John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹²His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear  his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

          The Gospel lesson focuses on the work that John the Baptist did to prepare people for Jesus. He did so by helping people see their need for a Savior from sin. Many of the people of John’s day knew they needed a Savior. They came out to John knowing they weren’t good enough to get to heaven on their own. They confessed they were sinful. Some did not, some surprising ones, the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were the church going people of the day, the ones whose outward lives looked pretty good. John spoke pretty strongly to them. Called them a bunch of snakes. He warned them about relying on anything else but Jesus as their Savior. He warned that where there was no repentance there would be judgment. It’s clear. Repentance is a necessary part of preparing for Jesus.

To repent means to confess or own up to your sins, to be remorseful for the wrong you have done, to trust in the forgiveness provided by Jesus and in thankfulness to turn away from sin, to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. What would John the Baptist see and say if he were the preacher here this morning? Would he find the first kind of people who freely confessed their sin and were glad to hear their Savior had come? Or would he find churched people like the Pharisees and Sadducees? People going through the motions of worship and religion? People who say, “Another Christmas. Jesus is born. Yeah, we know all that.” Would he have to say something like,  Don’t think you can say to yourself, “I’m alright with God. I go to church. My parents were believers.” to point out that we aren’t saved by our actions or our heritage but only by Jesus? Repent. It’s one of the basics. Something for us to practice every day.

5 & 7: Hymn 14 urges us to just that.

Sunday: Our Ladies Choir reminds us to keep focused on what we are waiting for.

 Our second teacher is a man named Isaiah.  He gives us the second R of Advent:

REJOICE!

SECOND READING:  Isaiah 11:1-10 (NIV 1984) “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ²The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD-- ³and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; ⁴but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. ⁵Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. ⁶The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. ⁷The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. ⁹They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. ¹⁰In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.”

          Isaiah was one of the Old Testament prophets of God who did his work around 700 years before Jesus came to help the people be ready for their Savior he painted a picture for them of what Jesus would do. Jesus is the stump or root of Jesse, the descendant of David that was one of the signs of the true Messiah. He would be a righteous ruler who would be just, fair and right the wrong of the world so natural enemies could be friends and danger wouldn’t be danger anymore. Jesus brought this peace when He came the first time. By nature because of sin we are enemies of God but Jesus destroyed the hold sin has on us. We are forgiven and given His righteousness instead. All the wrongs in this world won’t be righted until Jesus comes the second time. Thinking of Him coming the second time leads us to rejoice. Just think about that for a minute. What is it that gives you joy right now? What makes your eyes light up? Well if you are hungry it’s the sight of food coming. If you are running low on gas it’s the sight of a gas station coming soon.  But if you really want joy then it will have to be with people. Parents think of the joy you felt the first time you held your newborn you waited for so long. Think of the joy military families feel when their deployed loved one comes safely home. Advent has us rejoicing as we anticipate how great it will be when Jesus comes the second time. He’s going to make everything right. “They will neither harm nor destroy all my holy mountain. The nations will rally to him and his place of rest will be glorious.”  Rejoice.

5 & 7: Hymn 19 has us thinking about how we will meet the Lord

Sun: Our Mixed Choir’s version of Psalm 24 pictures us welcoming our Lord.

Our next teacher is the Apostle Paul and the third R of Advent is Reflect.

THIRD READING:  Romans 15:4-131(NIV 1984) “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, ⁶so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs ⁹so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name." ¹⁰Again, it says, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people." ¹¹And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples." ¹²And again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him." ¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

          There are a couple of different ways we use the word reflect. It can mean to take some time and think seriously about something, like when you reflect on the past. Another way we use the word is to bounce back or show an image of like when the moon reflects sunlight and it lights up or a mirror reflects the image in it. Both of those meanings help Advent Christians as they prepare for Jesus to come. Paul reminded the Roman Christians that everything that was written in the past was written to teach us and encourage us. What he was talking about was God’s Word, the Bible. It’s a gift from God to teach us and encourage us. We need to reflect on it. That means to read it, hear it, think seriously about what it says. Then the Holy Spirit goes to work in our hearts.

          Then we can reflect Jesus, look like Him be an image of what He did. Paul put it this way, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Paul reminds us how Jesus accepted us sinners. He didn’t wait until we were all cleaned up and acceptable to Him. He cleaned us up with forgiveness and made us acceptable. Paul urged the Christians in Rome to reflect that acceptance with each other. In their time it was Jews accepting Gentiles even though they were different and Gentiles accepting the Jews. We reflect Jesus when we accept each other. Rich or poor, blue color or white collar whatever difference the Devil tries to use to divide us we can set aside. In our families we practice forgiveness. In our classrooms we include each other. In our congregation we disagree or have differences of opinion without being disagreeable or becoming enemies. Reflect on Christ and Reflect Him toward others.

          Those are the three R’s of Advent. Repent, Rejoice, Reflect. Like the other Rs they are basic to our preparation, need to be learned again and again and become useful when they are used. God’s blessings to you as you Repent, Rejoice and Reflect. Amen.