ADVENT 1, C – November 30, 2009

SCRIPTURES – Ps. 89; Jer. 33:14-16; 1 Thess. 3:9-13; Luke 19:28-40

Who can tell me what day this reading is associated with? That’s right; Palm Sunday. Why is the Gospel for Palm Sunday our Gospel for today, the 1^st Sunday in Advent? Because it really sets the stage for the season of Advent, the 4 week period of preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth among us. "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” the people of Jerusalem cried out. May this be our cry. Our King with His mighty rule, and not a helpless little baby – this is who is coming!

In our day of indulgence and instant gratification, it’s so easy to allow self to rule and relegate Jesus and His rule to the background. On Thanksgiving Day, for instance, my family drove to my brother-in-law’s in northern Massachusetts. While listening to the radio on the way, I heard the DJ on one station speak about how he loved Thanksgiving because it is one American holiday that has nothing to do with politics, or religion, or culture, but is just about being with family and giving thanks. Well, being with family is good. My family, along with many others, went to great lengths to be together. But, Thanksgiving has nothing to do with religion? To whom do we give thanks? I wish I could have called in and read President Lincoln’s proclamation of October 3, 1863 that established our national Thanksgiving holiday:

“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies.  To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added… No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.  They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins,” – [Lincoln is referring to the Civil War here] – “hath nevertheless remembered mercy… I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

All our blessings come from God, Lincoln reminds us. Advent tells us that God not only dwells in the heavens but comes to dwell among us and bring eternal blessing to us! “Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation.” Rejoice and welcome Him!

Rejoice and welcome Him – this is what Advent is all about. It is a time of preparation. Boy, is it! We have so much to do: shopping and decorating and baking and wrapping. How will we ever get everything done? Relax. You will, for you do every year. Instead of worrying about everything you have to do, spend some time thinking about and rejoicing in what your Savior has done for you. He will then bless your Advent and prepare your heart for His coming!

Think of those people who welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. They were so excited. Did they know what they were saying when they cried out: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Peace in heaven: did they know that Jesus would in four short days be arrested by the Jewish leaders and be crucified, and that this would be the way He would gain peace for us with God in heaven? Of course not. They were probably thinking the exact opposite, that Jesus would be received by their leaders as their new king and then lead them to greatness as a nation. They had it all wrong! But, what they did have right was that Jesus was worthy of their praise. They had seen the mighty works He had done, the great miracles of healing and the provision of food in abundance for the hungry. Just a few days before they had seen Jesus raise from the dead His friend Lazarus after he had been dead for four days and placed in a tomb. They praised Him because of these mighty works they had seen; and Jesus received their praise. When the Pharisees became upset because of what the people were saying and doing – they were going overboard in how they welcomed Him! – and asked Jesus to silence them, He refused. “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out!” He was deserving of their praise, and was pleased to receive it.

We know so much more about Jesus and what we have in Him than did those people of Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. Jesus paid for our sins and endured all of God’s anger because of them when He died for us on the cross. We now have peace with God in heaven! He is not angry with us because of our sins, for our sin and guilt is no more! He rose from the dead to guarantee that, although we will die, we, too, will rise. Life forever with our Father in heaven is ours! And, although Jesus ascended into heaven forty days after His resurrection, He promised His disciples: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Jesus is God with us still, with mercy and forgiveness!

Keep these great works and blessings of Jesus in your hearts during the busy and hectic days – or, for some, the all too lonely and quiet days – of this Advent season. Yes, we sin greatly, especially when we who know our Savior allow other things to fill our time and crowd out the wonderful news that our King has come to us. Even so, “Behold, your king comes to you; righteous and having salvation.” Jesus comes to us now with salvation, just as He came to those in Jerusalem who understood so little of His coming. Rejoice, then, and receive Him with thanksgiving and praise! Say a quick prayer of thanks as you busy yourself with baking, or shopping, or as you hear a wonderful carol that proclaims His coming. And, make some time daily to read His Word and hear again what He has done for you. You will then rejoice to say: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”