O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Savior:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
Reading: Philippians 4:4–9
The only way we can rejoice is because Christ has come to dwell with man. Sure, there are worldly delights, but even these mean nothing without Christ. The Lord is at hand; we have nothing to be anxious about. The cares of this world seem overwhelming at times, and yet we always have Christ to flee to. So we rejoice. In times of anxiety, fear, or suffering, we cling to Christ. We give our prayers to God for the sake of the death and resurrection of Christ, and then give thanksgiving that Christ has died for us! He is our dwelling place and our peace. He guards our hearts and minds in His beloved, pierced hands.
Prayer: Almighty Father, we give You thanks for the life, death, and resurrection of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and we pray that we always remember He is our joy and dwelling place; in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Hymn LSB 708:1
Lord, Thee I love with all my heart;
I pray Thee, ne’er from me depart,
With tender mercy cheer me.
Earth has no pleasure I would share.
Yea, heav’n itself were void and bare
If Thou, Lord, wert not near me.
And should my heart for sorrow break,
My trust in Thee can nothing shake.
Thou art the portion I have sought;
Thy precious blood my soul has bought.
Lord Jesus Christ,
my God and Lord,
my God and Lord,
Forsake me not! I trust Thy Word.
O King of nations, the ruler they long for, the cornerstone uniting all people:
Come and save us all, whom You formed out of clay.
Reading: Ephesians 2:11–22
After the fall of the man whom He created in the Garden, God promised a Savior who would crush the head of the serpent. For this purpose, the Lord set apart the people of Israel through the covenant of circumcision, that the Savior might come from this nation. By this Savior, God has brought all nations to Himself, not through the circumcision of flesh, but by the flesh of Jesus Christ. He is the cornerstone of the foundation upon which the Church is built. He has made for Himself a great multitude from every nation, who are joined together by His saving work.
Prayer: O Lord, through the incarnation of Your Son, Jesus Christ, You tore down the dividing wall of sin and gathered together Your people from every corner of the earth into one body made holy by Him. Mercifully grant that this body, Your Church, may be continually nourished and sustained in the forgiveness of sins accomplished on the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hymn LSB 334:7
He comes to judge the nations,
A terror to His foes,
A light of consolations
And blessèd hope to those
Who love the Lord’s appearing.
O glorious Sun, now come,
Send forth Your beams so cheering,
And guide us safely home.
O Dayspring, splendor of light everlasting:
Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Reading: 2 Peter 1:16–21
Here we are told by the blessed apostle to hold fast to the Scriptures, for in them we have the sure and unalterable message about Him who came down from heaven, the realm of light and glory, into our world, the realm of darkness and death. By His birth, the Son of God, who is the very light of the Father, scattered the darkness that bound humanity by taking on our humanity and purging the darkness with His light. And by taking on our humanity and uniting it to His enlightened and divine self, we too, if we are in Him through heavenly, baptismal birth, are filled with His light. And if we are full of His light, then we too are full of His life, for light and life are one in Christ.
Prayer: O Giver of Light, You shine Your light into our lives by Your Son, Jesus Christ, and in Him we see the way into everlasting life. Grant that we might walk in the light of Your Son continuously, never blinded by the darkness of the world, and thus attain to everlasting life with the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hymn LSB 332:7
From the manger newborn light
Shines in glory through the night.
Darkness there no more resides;
In this light faith now abides.
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.
Reading: Revelation 3:7–13
We hear “Open Door” everywhere today. Workplaces have open door policies. People advance their careers through open doors. These pale in comparison to the doors that Christ controls. Jesus has the Key of David, of royal palace, greater than the kingdom of Israel. It is His eternal reign, key to all doors. When He opens or closes, it stays that way! He opened the door for the church of Philadelphia and us to proclaim His Word. With this also comes a promise that He “is coming soon” to make us “a pillar in the temple of my God.”
Prayer: Christ, Key of David, teach us to proclaim the Word through the open door, until You bring us to our final home. Hear us for the sake of Your name. Amen.
Hymn LSB 340:4
Fling wide the portals of your heart;
Make it a temple set apart
From earthly use for heav’n’s employ,
Adorned with prayer and love and joy.
So shall your Sov’reign enter in
And new and nobler life begin.
To God alone be praise
For word and deed and grace!
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.
Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1–15
What kind of life pleases our good and gracious God? It is a mysterious one indeed. It is characterized by unpretentious piety with a quiet spirit. It is one awed by His majesty, neither quick-tempered nor anxious to adorn itself with material goods and the opinions of men. Seizing authority not given, especially within the house of God, has not the slightest appeal. It is that of Christ Jesus, the root of Jesse—the promised Davidic heir foretold from ages past—in whom God delights. Let us kneel, then, before our humble King who laid lowly in a manger.
Prayer: O Lord, You bless Your people with peace. Grant us meek and quiet hearts as those being conformed to the image of Your Son, in whom You are well pleased, so that we can proclaim the wonders of Your blessed kingdom even to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hymn LSB 354:3
The humble heart and lowly
God raises up on high;
Beneath His feet in terror
The haughty soul shall lie.
The heart sincere and right,
That heeds God’s invitation
And makes true preparation—
It is the Lord’s delight.
A couple of weeks ago, Academic Dean Dr. Charles Gieschen held the Winter Quarter Collegial Conversation. The Collegial Conversations are mandatory quarterly convocations for all students, wherein either Dr. Rast or Dr. Gieschen speak on a topic that will affect these men and women when they enter the field. Afterwards, students meet with their faculty mentors over lunch for discussion questions.
This quarter’s topic was on being an example to imitate, a topic truly applicable for all Christians. As per Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” It’s also an excellent Advent theme, as this season is a time for preparation and self-reflection in light of sanctification. You can hear the theme in many of our Advent hymns, such as:
Before the dawning of the day
Let sin’s dark deeds be gone,
The sinful self be put away,
The new self now put on. LSB 331:5, The Advent of Our King
Fling wide the portals of your heart;
Make it a temple set apart
From earthly use for heav’n’s employ,
Adorned with prayer and love and joy.
So shall your Sov’reign enter in
And new and nobler life begin.
To eternal praise and fame
We offer to Thy name. LSB 340:4, Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates
So what is Paul calling upon Christians to imitate? His cruciform baptismal life! From a CTQ article by Dr. Gieschen:
“It is this cruciform life [of sacrificial servanthood], which is Paul’s through his baptismal union with Christ, that he calls Christians to imitate because they, too, have been crucified with Christ in baptism and remain in him and he in them. An absolutely vital aspect of Paul’s focus on imitation of his example is the understanding that imitation of Paul is really not imitation of his own person but is imitation of the new baptismal reality: Christ as the one who speaks and lives in Paul.”
(“Christian Identity in Pagan Thessalonica: The Imitation of Paul’s Cruciform Life,” which can be found at https://www.ctsfw.edu/…/Gieschen-ChristianIdentityInPaganTh….)
So why not just skip the middleman? Why did Paul put himself forward as an example to be imitated? Because:
Jesus had ascended. The Christians that Paul is addressing only heard about a few years of Jesus’ life and could not see it lived out now in the flesh.
These Christians had neither many other Christians around them nor a long history of Christianity to draw on concerning what a Christian life truly looked like.
And why is it still important that we—meaning all Christians, but especially pastors and deaconesses—put ourselves forward as examples to be imitated? For the same reasons:
Jesus is still ascended and has not yet returned in glory.
Christians—especially new Christians—are still surrounded by pagans. They benefit from seeing strong examples in their pastor and deaconess of one who is living a dedicated Christian life.
We see Christ’s life through the Gospels and we in turn serve our brothers and sisters in Christ – especially those new to the fold – with a concrete example of the Christian life. Dr. Gieschen explained how this played out in his own parish. As an example of marriage and chastity, he was faithful to his wife and always spoke positively about her; as an example of raising up children in the Lord, he and his wife brought them to church every Sunday; concern for the unchurched, visitors, and the needy demonstrated what it is like to have zeal for the lost; giving an offering served as an example of stewardship; and he exhibited hope and joy even in the midst of suffering and trial.
That said, are pastors and deaconesses expected to be more of an example to the Church than other Christians? In the words of the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Grothe, former Professor of Exegetical Theology at Concordia St. Louis:
“Yes and no. The same Christ is example to all, and the same paradigm of holiness and love is the goal for all. Nor is it really a matter of a ‘standard’ than one must ‘live up to,’ but rather a ‘pattern’ that one will ‘grow in to.’ Nevertheless, in human eyes the answer may have to be a ‘yes.’ For we must make, as well as we are able, evaluation of human conduct because, in God’s economy, the conduct of the pastor is paradigmatic of the life of Christ. Also, the consequences of the behavior of these men–whether they succeed or fail–are so far-reaching for the spiritual lives of others.”
Before dismissing students from the convocation for their lunchtime discussions on the topic, Dr. Gieschen finished on the following slide, before concluding with another hymn:
The Gospel is not only the power of God for salvation, but also the power of God for sanctification.
Sanctification is also the miraculous work of God. Christ’s role in our sanctification is not complete until our death or His return. He continues this work of sanctification daily as the one who is “the new man” living in us.
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled,
A quiet chamber set apart
For You to dwell within my heart. LSB 358:13, From Heaven Above to Earth I Come
Dr. Gieschen on being an example to imitate and what that means–especially since we know ourselves to be sinners (“of whom I am the worst,” as Paul said to Timothy ), prone to failure and temptation.
O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai:
Come with an outstretched arm and redeem us.
Reading: Isaiah 43:1–7
God, our Lord and Creator, tells us repeatedly to fear not. He has called us by name. The flame of the burning bush did not consume Moses. Although they feared the Egyptians, God safely led the Israelites through the Red Sea into the Promised Land. God keeps His covenant promise. God has redeemed us. He has bought us back from slavery and sin. He paid the ransom with His blood on the cross. He declares, “I am your Savior.” He formed us for His glory and will not let anything stand in His way. As God and ruler, He will gather us safely from the ends of the earth to Himself through His Son.
Prayer: O Lord God, our heavenly Father, You brought Your chosen people out of Egypt safely into the Promised Land. Deliver us from all obstacles and fears which cause us to stray, that we may rejoice as redeemed children in the precious blood of Your Son, our King and Savior; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hymn LSB 728:2
“Fear not! I am with you, O be not dismayed,
For I am your God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.”
O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.
Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18–31
How foolish it seems that the Creator of all things would need His mother’s milk for nourishment. How foolish it seems that the God who is without blemish would eat with tax collectors and sinners. How foolish it seems that the Lord of armies would liberate us from sin and death by dying powerlessly on a cross. But this foolishness, Christ crucified, is the power and wisdom of God for us. Jesus, the wisdom of God, reorders what we consider wise: in suffering we see meaning, in serving others we exercise freedom, and in death we have life.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, whose ways are not our ways, we give thanks that You have made foolish the wise and raised up Your lowly servants. Grant that we receive suffering in this life as fatherly chastisement, that our faith may be strengthened in knowing that You desire only our salvation; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hymn LSB 358:12
And so it pleases You to see
This simple truth revealed to me:
That worldly honor, wealth, and might
Are weak and worthless in Your sight.
O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Savior:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
Reading: Isaiah 33:13–24
Isaiah 33 tells us that the Lord’s coming will be a terror of a sight for some. The hypocrites ask, “Who can dwell with the fire?” The question is answered, however, with a description of the Zion to come: those who are penitent, those who have repented, will dwell. We hear echoes of the Baptizer’s call to repent and be baptized. In so doing, we can look to our Lord’s return not with the fear of the hypocrites, but having the peace of the baptized. We will dwell with our Lord, forgiven of our iniquity, in Zion, the new Jerusalem, our quiet home.
Prayer: O Lord, give us the gift of Your Holy Spirit that we in repentance might walk righteously and speak uprightly; that we who look longingly for the coming of Your Son, our King who saves us, will dwell with Him in His majesty; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hymn LSB 333:4
Come, then, O Lord Jesus,
From our sins release us.
Keep our hearts believing,
That we, grace receiving,
Ever may confess You
Till in heav’n we bless You.
O King of nations, the ruler they long for, the cornerstone uniting all people:
Come and save us all, whom You formed out of clay.
Reading: Jeremiah 10:1–10
As the Creator and King of the universe, God has a universal dominion over the creation and its principalities. While the men of these principalities may fashion idols in place of God, none are like the true God. Jesus in His incarnation became the image of the true and invisible God, physically bringing the kingdom of the heavens to earth. He took on flesh and was crucified with a crown of thorns. From His bloody death the Sacraments flow—only there can the Kingdom be found. Christ the cornerstone of the church uses the water, flesh, and blood to unite all believers together in the Church and together into the kingship and eternal reign of Christ the King.
Prayer: O Lord our God, You are the heavenly king of the universe. Unify Your church in Christ through the life-giving Sacraments that, in this union, man may enter the eternal kingdom of God; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen
Hymn LSB 338:2
Born Thy people to deliver;
Born a child and yet a king!
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
