Micah 7:7 * December 5, 2007 * Midweek Advent 1 * Rev. E. Allen Sorum

Living in Hope of Christ’s First Arrival

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus,

I can’t wait for Christmas! I’m so excited; Christmas is only three weeks away!

Of course what we mean is, we can’t wait to celebrate Christmas, to commemorate the birth of our Savior two thousand years ago.

The prophet Micah could not wait to celebrate Christmas. He too was very anxious for Christmas. But his impatience had nothing to do with presents or parties. Micah eagerly awaited Christmas because he needed his Savior and his people needed a Savior.

God had revealed to the prophet Micah that Israel in the north and Judah in the south were about to be destroyed by powerful enemies. Micah’s ministry tried in vain to turn Israel’s heart back to God, so 722 years before Jesus was born, God sent the Assyrian army to destroy Israel and pillage Samaria. Micah also failed to bring Jerusalem in the south back to God. So, not even 150 years later, God sent the Babylonian armies to besiege and destroy Jerusalem.

How could God’s people fall so far? How can we explain Israel and Judah’s faithlessness? Micah’s perspective was that the leaders of God’s people lead them away from God to idols, to immorality and to injustice. Micah said: “Jerusalem’s leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price and her prophets tell fortunes for money.” Terrible! These leaders were misleading God’s people. But even worse, these bad leaders paraded around town announcing, “The Lord is among us. No disaster shall come upon us.”

But God sent Micah to Israel and to Judah to say, “Yes, disaster shall come upon you. Your nations will be destroyed. Your people will be killed and carried away to distant lands. Your cities will become like plowed fields because your kings don’t care about justice and priests don’t care about worship and prophets don’t care about the Word and God’s people have fallen away.

For both Israel in the north and for Judah in the south, the spiritual leaders were only evil all the time. So of course the church was polluted with hypocrisy. The church was in ruins. Men had failed Micah and all his people. So Micah said, “But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” So Micah said, “I can’t wait for Christmas. I can’t wait for my Savior to come because he will be a king who rules justly and defends his people from every enemy. I can’t wait for my Savior to come because he will be a priest who will not only sacrifice the lamb, he will be the Lamb. I can’t wait for Christmas because when Christmas comes, I will have a prophet who will bring me the truth about God and everything I need to know about God. And what is that do you think? What is the most important thing we need to know about God? Look at the last three verses of Micah’s message. Here is why Micah couldn’t wait for Christmas: (Micah 7:18-20 Who is a God like you?)

What can we learn from Micah about Christmas? Our nation’s enemies are not threatening to plow our cities into fields or crush our churches into dust. But I fear disaster. I fear my own, personal disaster because I am not what I should be. My life, my words, my heart, my sin, my hypocrisy threatens me. If God throws down nations which sin, what will he do to me? So now you will understand me when I say, I can’t wait for Christmas. I can’t wait to celebrate once again this year the wonderful event that took place 2,000 years ago. Jesus came. Who is a God like you?

And Micah surely teaches us why Christmas is so important and so worth celebrating and so worth preparing to celebrate. We look forward to Christmas because we need the Savior whom that first Christmas produced. We need what that Savior came to offer. We need what our Savior says we need above all: Pardon for my sin and forgive for my transgressions. Thank you Jesus, for not staying angry. Thank you for your mercy and compassion. Thank you for throwing all my guilt into the sea.

Jesus came. Micah’s 700 year wait was rewarded. Jesus was born. By his perfect life and through his suffering my hell on the cross, I will not be destroyed. I can’t wait for Christmas so I can celebrate the fact that Jesus rescued me from my own personal disaster. Jesus came. We have a Savior. Therefore we live in hope.