THE KING IS COMING! An Advent and Christmas Sermon Series Andrew Bartelt Introduction/Overview This series is developed from the Advent Old Testament Lessons (Series C). Each week begins with exegetical notes, which undergird the sermon. This study on the text itself can also be useful for Bible study and Bible class preparation. A full-‐‑length sermon is included, picking up a major motif of the text. The sermon can be used as is or, preferably, as a resource for some thoughts in developing one’s own sermon within the local context of hearers. Of course, other themes can be engaged, and it is hoped that the study notes will generate ideas. Suggestions for a children’s sermon, related to the sermon theme, offer some ideas that can be developed as appropriate. The worship resources also provide a prayer paragraph related to the sermon theme and hymn suggestions. The following paragraphs could serve in a local announcement or brochure: “The King Is Coming” The Kingdom of God is a major theme in God’s holy history, from the house and lineage of David to David’s greater Son and Lord, whose birth we anticipate in this season of Advent. This series will focus on the appointed lessons from the Old Testament prophets, who spoke from the perspective of their own times under the kings of Israel and Judah, with all their human foibles and failures. Yet the Word of God through these words of the prophets speaks of a greater king to come, whose kingdom will have no end. Our lives as God’s people in Christ are “lived under Him in His Kingdom,” as Luther put it—under the righteous rule and reign of Christ our King. Christmas celebrates his birth and coming among us, even as we pray as He taught us, “Thy Kingdom Come.” May our Advent worship help us prepare and rejoice, for the King is coming! Advent I “The King’s City: Safe and Secure” Jeremiah 33:14‒16 Advent II “The King’s Herald: Announcing the King!” Malachi 3:1‒4 Advent III “The King Will Have His Day” Zephaniah 3:14‒20 Advent IV “The King’s Royal Roots: Back to the Future” Micah 5:2‒51 The Nativity of our Lord: “The King Is Born!” Isaiah 9:2‒7 Copyright © 2015, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, and Andrew Bartelt. Permission granted to the purchaser for congregational use. Any other republication or redistribution requires written permission from Concordia Seminary.
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ADVENT I: Jeremiah 33:14‒16 (Gospel: Luke 21:25‒36) EXEGETICAL NOTES The text lies near the conclusion of Jeremiah’s so-‐‑called Book of Consolation (Jer 30‒33), which stands in stark contrast to the tone and message of the rest of the book, which is focused on the fact that—and the reasons why—Judah and Jerusalem stand condemned to captivity at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. Yet in these chapters, first in prose and then in narrative, the words of God through his prophet proclaim a future and a hope in the “days that are coming” (30:3) when God will “restore the fortunes” (an odd translation, literally “turn the turnings” or “turn back captivity”) of his people. The following chapters are filled with images of the joy that follows from God’s faithfulness to his own word and promise, focused on king (30:8), city (30:18), and people (30:22), with a restoration of the abundance of the land, all because God has “loved with an everlasting love” (31:3). Jeremiah’s call included the commission to “tear down and tear up, destroy and overthrow” but also “to build and to plant” (1:10), and the latter two verbs are clearly at the heart of these chapters (31:28). God’s covenant remains: “you are my people, and I am your God” (30:22). In fact, it is renewed and reinforced by the forgiveness of sins (31:31‒ 34). Indeed, the reason for judgment and the loss of Jerusalem was clear: their guilt was great and their sins were flagrant (30:14), including a catalog of long-‐‑standing offenses (32:26‒35), especially against king and city, temple and priests, prophets and people. For Jeremiah, this message of judgment and salvation, of “Law and Gospel” was clear, if striking. On the one hand, God had to punish the sin—and the sinners. In the midst of the siege of the city (32:2), King Zedekiah had imprisoned Jeremiah for prophesying defeat. On the other hand, at the very moment when the fall of Jerusalem was imminent, the prophet bought a field as an investment in the future of the land. The close connection between land and people, and between the king and the city, are important theological themes that underlie the pericope in 33:14‒16. The “land” is the place within the created order in space and time, with geographical coordinates (not just in our minds and hearts), where God is present with his people in both judgment and salvation. The city and the king are also closely linked. Every king had his royal city, with citadel of palace and temple (in that order of priority), and the city and the king were almost interchangeable in what they meant for the order and power of the kingdom. For the house of David, this was Jerusalem, with a focus on Zion, the temple mount. The normal order of priority was reversed, once God had used Nathan to turn David around and get the order right (2 Sm 7). This was the kingdom of God, not ultimately of David, and Zion was God’s dwelling place on earth. The city is defined by the temple, not the palace. Ezekiel provides the insight that God actually left the temple as abandoned to the Babylonians (Ez 10:4, 18, 11:22), only to return after the destruction (44:4). Without God’s presence, the city was just another city, and its destruction is both inevitable and paves the Copyright © 2015, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, and Andrew Bartelt. Permission granted to the purchaser for congregational use. Any other republication or redistribution requires written permission from Concordia Seminary.
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way for restoration. Jeremiah, too, speaks of the restoration of both king and city, as fulfillment of his promise. “In those days” (33:14) is the prophetic “imminent future” (cf. “days are coming,” 31:31) of the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation. The similar idiom “in that day” can be used both as a threat and a promise (see Is 2‒4), but here it is all promise. The “righteous branch” of the Davidic family tree is messianic (cf. Is 11:1) and speaks of a faithful and final king who will finally “get ‘king’ right” with perfect justice and righteousness (hq'd'c.W fP'v.mi). The passage is virtually a duplicate of Jeremiah 23:5‒6, which follows a poetic condemnation of all the kings (Josiah is conspicuous by his absence) during Jeremiah’s latter years (22:11ff), and culminating in the apparent end of the Davidic dynasty, with the last generation written off as “childless” (22:30). The point is that there is no hope in “just another Davidic king,” and so God will replace these worthless shepherd-‐‑kings with his own shepherds. The dynasty concluded with Jehoiachin, but the fall of Jerusalem concluded with his uncle King Zedekiah. The prophecy in 23:5‒6 concludes with a wonderful pun on King Zedekiah’s name (WhY"qid>ci, ysidqi – yahu). The new king, established by God, will be called “Yahweh is our righteousness” (Wnqed>ci hwhy, yahweh tsidqenu). True “righteousness” will have to be found only in God, not in any human king. In the parallel passage in 33:16, however, it is the city that will be called “Yahweh is our righteousness.” The English pronoun “it” is feminine in Hebrew, and the only feminine noun in the context is the city. And so it is: as the king, so the city; the two are linked if not inseparable. The verses that follow pick up again the explicit mention of David (33:17ff) and the priests, all of which make up the good order of the (true) king/city/temple/cult as the place and means of God’s dwelling on earth, in space and time, in the midst of his people. Thus the theme of the sermon and the service could be: “The King and His City,” with emphasis on the importance of a place to call home, where we might be safe and sound, where we are saved and dwell securely. The Gospel (Lk 21:25‒36) connects well with this shift from a humanly built Jerusalem and temple, now condemned under Jesus’s own prophecy, and the new place and presence of God on earth, which has come in Christ, even as the eschatological last day has already come in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and in the new temple of God raised in the body of Christ and raised up in those who are incorporated into the Body of Christ.
Copyright © 2015, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, and Andrew Bartelt. Permission granted to the purchaser for congregational use. Any other republication or redistribution requires written permission from Concordia Seminary.
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SERMON: “The King’s City: Safe and Secure” Where do you live? Where do you call home? Sometimes that’s not an easy question to answer. Our mobile society keeps us moving, yes mobile, and often unstable and even restless. In our virtual world of electronic reality, space and time are both expanded and compressed in a confusing and dazzling, and sometimes dizzying, way. But we all want and need a place to call home. Sociologists have come to the remarkable conclusion that a safe and stable home has an enormous positive effect on child development—who would have thought! Adults often recall fond childhood memories, which may also include that fateful moment when we wanted to run away from home— usually got a block or two before the rights and liberties of independence gave way to the certainties and securities of a place called home. This is a universal truth, engaging all cultures in all time and places. We don’t know a lot about the emotions of home life in Bible times, but we do know that family and land and home and hearth were an anchor in life where being “on the road” was no less dangerous than in our day and age. The “home” that engages us in our text today is really even greater than our traditional family home—it is the home of a whole country, a nation, a people. And in our Advent lessons this year from the Old Testament prophets, we will listen and learn about God’s kingdom, and God’s king, and what it meant to be the people of God in his kingdom. In the days of the Old Testament prophets, the kingdom of God on earth was under the human leadership of the Davidic king. A king had his palace, as well as the temple, in his capital city, which became the focal point and even identity of his rule and reign. For our spiritual ancestors in the Old Testament, that was, of course, Jerusalem, or, more theologically focused, Zion. In fact, Zion was the citadel of God’s “palace” (i.e, the temple—it’s the same word in Hebrew) or dwelling place in the midst of his people, in the temple. (And as an aside, we might note that there was often a good deal of tension between the king’s palace and God’s temple, as the king sometimes forgot that his place was “next door” to the temple, and not the other way around, and that he was the under-‐‑shepherd who ruled on God’s terms, not his own.) In the time of the prophet Jeremiah, the time of our text today, both the king and the temple were being threatened, and even under siege by the Babylonians and their king Nebuchadnezzar. There was a good and godly reason for this, and Jeremiah had made it clear to all: both king and people had forsaken their God; they had followed the ways of the world and the religious practices of the world. They had also just assumed that if they did just enough to keep the temple worship going, bringing sacrifices and offerings, then God would be pleased, even appeased, and that he would protect them. After all, he was their God, and they were his people. In the eyes of the international press, the “CNN” of that day, the siege of Jerusalem looked like just another act of aggression and expansion by the dominant world power at that time. In the eyes of prophet, priests, and some of the people this was God’s righteous Copyright © 2015, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, and Andrew Bartelt. Permission granted to the purchaser for congregational use. Any other republication or redistribution requires written permission from Concordia Seminary.
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judgment on the sins of his people. In the eyes of the king and most of the people, this seemed an unfair action by a God who should be saving them, not destroying them. But Jeremiah stood up to the false prophets, who “prophesied peace when there was no peace,” and he stood up to the king, who refused to believe either that the city would fall or that this was God’s just judgment against him, his leadership, and the sins of all. All this got Jeremiah to become the object of scorn and derision; he was put in stocks and then in prison. So much for the life of a faithful prophet! But, Jeremiah had a bigger picture. He knew God’s judgment, but he also knew that this was part of a larger plan, not to destroy and kill, but to restore and make alive. Right in the midst of all this message of judgment comes a section of his book that speaks of God’s love, his everlasting love and commitment to his people. Yes, God would punish them, with the “tough love” that takes discipline seriously. Yes, their sin had to be punished. Yes, Jerusalem, the “home” of king and people, would be lost, and they would be refuges in exile. You see, God had a future and a hope for them. In fact, just as the siege of Jerusalem was underway, Jeremiah even bought a field — invested in real estate — just to demonstrate his conviction that God was committed to this land and to bringing the people back to it. He saw a future for both the king and the city, and he described them both in the same way: In those days (those days to come, when God would fulfill his promises once for all) and at that time (yes, at God’s “right time,” not ours), I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it (Jerusalem) will be called: Yahweh (God) is our righteousness. Dear friends in Christ, Have you been away from home too long? You know the feeling. It can be rough out there; sometimes it can even be rough at home. But deep inside, we long for a home that is safe and sound, where we are loved, saved, and dwell securely. Imagine how the folks from Jerusalem felt when they woke up in Babylon! This wasn’t an exotic vacation to see the Hanging Gardens; they were in exile, far from home. Yet for them, and for us, God has provided a place, right here on earth, in space and time, where he calls us home. It’s a place far greater than any capital city of the world. It’s even greater than the most loving and safe home for any family and extended family. It’s a place where true peace and justice, righteousness and salvation are to be found, to be given, to be shared. It is completely dependent on God, not on us, or on our efforts even to make the world a better, a safer, place. You see, back then in the time of Jeremiah, God promised a king and a city that only he could provide. Yes, the king and city that his people had messed up had to be destroyed, but God found a way to punish sin and yet to save his people. He promised a new and better king, of the house and lineage of David, but not just another David. He promised a new and better city, which would be called righteous. But note where the righteousness, justice, truth and peace are found: Yahweh (God) is our righteousness. Copyright © 2015, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, and Andrew Bartelt. Permission granted to the purchaser for congregational use. Any other republication or redistribution requires written permission from Concordia Seminary.
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You see, back then in the time of Jesus, there was one born of the house and lineage of David, to be a new and greater David, David’s son, yes, but also David’s lord. And he came also to be the new and greater temple and city, where God would dwell on earth in the midst of his people. And you see, right now, in these days of Advent preparation, we can celebrate, right here, right now, that we have a home. A city, if you will, a place to call home, where God is with us with an everlasting love. Call it church, call it our faith family, call it the Body of Christ, where both king and city come together in one person and in one place, where his body and blood are here for us to forgive, renew, empower us to be the place where God dwells out there in there world, for all. Where do you live? Where do you call home? Where is a place for safety, security, salvation and life? With all we will do in the weeks ahead, with overfilled schedules both at home and running around, today we remember the anchor of our lives, our home with God in Jesus, in this place where he cares for us with forgiveness and life!
Copyright © 2015, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, and Andrew Bartelt. Permission granted to the purchaser for congregational use. Any other republication or redistribution requires written permission from Concordia Seminary.
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CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Prepare various pictures of houses and homes that children will recognize and ask “who lives here?” (e.g., White House, Buckingham Palace, other mansions, typical house, Disney palace). Let the final picture be a church, maybe even your church building. They will likely answer, “Jesus lives here.” But in agreeing, make the point that this is also our home, where Jesus invites us to come and be safe, be fed, be loved. Sometimes we get scared and just want to go home. Remember our “church home” as a place where God takes care of us. WORSHIP NOTES Hymn Suggestions: Opening Advent Invitation: LSB 331, “The Advent of Our King” Sermon Hymn: 672, “”Jerusalem the Golden” 673, “Jerusalem, My Happy Home” 674, “Jerusalem, O City Fair and High” (These emphasize the church triumphant, and the sermon focuses on the church militant, “now” more than “not yet.”) Others: 813, “Rejoice, O Pilgrim Throng” (see st. 6) 339, “Lift Up Your Heads, You Everlasting Doors” 340-‐‑341, “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates” Prayer Starter: Lord, you have given us a home, a place to be safe and secure with you and with one another. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we have life everlasting, even now. So come, Lord Jesus. You have made us your guests. You have come to be with us, to make us residents in your great dwelling place among us, where your life-‐‑giving Word, baptismal water, and very body and blood are given for us and to us. So come, Lord Jesus. In this Advent season renew us in faith and in life. Call us home, here, in this house of worship and prayer, in these weeks of Advent preparation. Send us forth, empowered to be your very body into all the world. So come, Lord Jesus, until you come again to claim us and take us to our eternal home, Jerusalem the golden city which will never be destroyed!
Copyright © 2015, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, and Andrew Bartelt. Permission granted to the purchaser for congregational use. Any other republication or redistribution requires written permission from Concordia Seminary.
