Month: December 2018

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
(LSB 357 st. 1)
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
(Hosea 13:14)

The enemy was fierce, relentless, powerful. The enemy was cunning, manipulative, deceitful. The enemy was so good at being evil that he used pawns to do his dirty work.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
Israel was once a free nation, captive to no one. But, as time went on, it slowly became slaves to foreign powers with foreign gods. First the northern ten tribes to Assyria; then the remainder to Babylon. Now, those had long since fallen, but Israel still wasn’t free. Now, they were enslaved to Rome. Yet Rome was not the ultimate enemy from which they needed rescue. Rome was merely a pawn.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
The great enemy of Israel, of all mankind, was Death; eternal death from which no one can be freed by their own works. Thus, Jesus Christ came to be Emmanuel, God with us, born as an infant in a manger, so that He may ransom us. But a ransom requires a payment. That payment was made with His holy precious blood shed for us on the cross. Through His death, whoever believes and is baptized is no longer a slave to death, but now has the promise of eternal life. And Christ is still Emmanuel. He still comes to us, through His Word, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. And on the last day, He will still be Emmanuel.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
Let us pray: O Emmanuel, our King and our Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord our God. Amen.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
(Raymond Doubrava, Sem IV)

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.
(LSB 357 st. 7)
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
(Isaiah 52:7)

Beautiful feet. That’s something we don’t often think about. Feet are dirty…not beautiful. And yet, Scripture says quite plainly, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.” Therefore, all the prophets who proclaimed God’s Word had beautiful feet. And what about John the Baptist who occupies much of our Advent preparation, calling us to repentance? How beautiful his feet were! Now as wilderness-wanderers, none of these prophets’ feet seemed to be beautiful. And yet, God called them to preach His Word and the Good News of the coming Christ to his people. The preacher sent by God has beautiful feet (Rom. 10:15).
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
Isaiah’s words can be extended further. There is one who came into the world with the most beautiful feet. Yes, He was even greater than John, as the Baptist himself testifies: “But he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (Luke 3:16). He is the Christ, the anointed one. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of world” (John 1:29). And His feet didn’t look beautiful either. Rather, they were nailed to a cross. Those beautiful, bloody feet brought the forgiveness of sins and salvation to us. And we await that final day when we will fall at our Lord’s beautiful feet to worship Him as He grants us everlasting life.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
Let us pray: O King of the nations, the ruler they long for, the cornerstone uniting all people: Come and save us all, whom You formed out of clay. Amen.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
(Zachary Oedewaldt, Vicar)

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav’nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
(LSB 357 st. 5)
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut, and he shall shut, and none shall open.
(Isaiah 22:22)

Sin is the burden that no one can shoulder. No matter how hard we try, it always leads to death. And no matter how pious we long to be, no matter how often we confess, the burden of sin is always before us. It is a burden that no one can shoulder. But thanks be to God, the Key of our salvation has been revealed. As the prophet Isaiah reminds us today, God has given the key of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the House of David who has taken your burdens upon His shoulders and carried them to His cross to die. The Key of life, Jesus, has overcome sin, death, and the devil for you, and He has opened wide our heavenly home and closed the path to misery.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
Let us pray: O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, You open and no one can close, You close and no one can open: Come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness and the shadow of death. Amen.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
(Jerry Smith, Sem IV)

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times didst give the Law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
(LSB 357 st. 3)
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”
(Exodus 19:9)

The Advent season of preparation and waiting is itself an echo of Israel in the wilderness. Our Lord gave His law to His people. Through it He chastened and prepared His people, Israel, for His presence among them in the wilderness by a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. That same presence of the Lord, which appeared to Moses in the burning bush, dwelt in His tabernacle through their wanderings and into the promised land with Israel, whom He redeemed out of bondage in Egypt.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
So too, He suddenly came into His temple again and again through the life of His Son, Jesus Christ. By the incarnation, death, and resurrection of this same Jesus, we too are redeemed out of bondage to sin. Our Lord prepares us now for the return of His Son, our Lord. This Advent season reminds us too that He will return again, once for all on the last day in the Advent to come.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
Let us pray: O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai: Come with an outstretched arm and redeem us. Amen.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
(Jason M. Kaspar, Vicar)

O come, Thou Branch of Jesse’s tree,
Free them from Satan’s tyranny
That trust Thy mighty pow’r to save,
And give them vict’ry o’er the grave.
(LSB 357 st. 4)
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
Turn again, O God of hosts!
Look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
the stock that your right hand planted,
and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
Psalm 80:14-15

Not Again!
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
“Not this again.” These frustratingly familiar words prove our impatience. The favorite parking spot is taken, again; the chicken is overdone, again; the mail gets lost, again. Perhaps we can overlook one error but not a second, let alone a third. How frustrating!
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
What about God? If we protest, can’t the Almighty One also? God rightly gets fed up. He graciously leads Israel from slavery into noble freedom, and with what is He received? A cold shoulder.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
However, His discipline is not His complaining but the product of His people’s pride. If Israel doesn’t want Him, then so be it. But Israel, for all her big-headedness, is merely a vine who needs her gardener.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
We’ve all betrayed the Lord. We’ve acted as if we could live without Him. How bold then for us to cry, “Restore us, again!” And how wonderful that God shines upon us once and for all the light of His face in the glory of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). The Branch has born with patience the wood of the cross. You are delivered.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
His patience is for repentance. Don’t turn back to folly, to a life without Him. The Lord helps you to honor Him and to help others as His redeemed Israel. Attend in this Advent season to the Word by which He comes. He will cause you, His forgiven flower, to flourish with fruit.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
Let us pray: O Root of Jesse, standing as an ensign before the peoples, before whom all kings are mute, to whom the nations will do homage: come quickly to deliver us. Amen.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
(Kyle Richardson, Sem IV)

O ye heights of heav’n, adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing.
Pow’rs, dominions, bow before Him
And extol our God and King.
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Ev’ry voice in concert ring
Evermore and evermore.
(LSB 384 st. 4)
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

This is He whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord,
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the long-expected;
Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore.
(LSB 384 st. 3)
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
“Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’”
(Luke 24:44)

Hindsight is 20/20. Today it is easy to look back on the Old Testament through the lens of the New and see all the prophecies that were fulfilled through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But this wasn’t always the case. It must have been hard for Mary and Joseph to connect the prophecies of “Messiah” with their baby boy as He lay there sweetly in the manger. It must have been hard for His disciples to witness the miraculous healings and His divine authority over nature, only to watch their teacher suffer and die on the cross at the hands of the Roman soldiers. Christ Himself had warned them of exactly what would happen to Him, but they couldn’t understand it until He opened their minds to the prophecies of Holy Scripture. Jesus was the one the prophets had written about so long ago. The one “whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word.” Through His death and resurrection, He accomplished all that His Father had promised to every generation since the beginning of time. Sin and death are defeated. Now, more than ever, it is time for creation to “praise its Lord evermore.”
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
Let us pray: Merciful Father, through the reading and hearing of Your perfect Word, we can see how You sent Your dear Son to fulfill all that You spoke by Your faithful prophets. Help us to not take this for granted and give us a deeper desire to study Your Word, that we may grow in our faith, and praise Your name evermore; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍
(Daniel R. Harrington, Sem II)