December
9, 2009 * Midweek Advent II * Pastor Pagels
In the name of the One who is and who was and who is to
come, dear friends:
"Something old, something new, something borrowed,
something blue." Those were the
opening words of the lead article for this month's Lamplighter. Normally people associate that well known
saying with a bride. According to
tradition the bride is supposed to wear those four things on the day of her wedding.
It is possible, however, to apply those words to more than
just marriage. "Something old,
something new, some borrowed, something blue" can also be used to describe
our midweek Advent devotions this year.
The paraments remind us that blue is the color of Advent,
and we are borrowing from the tradition of singing Christmas carols this time
of year by singing (and studying) two Advent anthems. Last Wednesday we looked at "Hark! A
Thrilling Voice Is Sounding" (CW 15), a Latin hymn that dates all the way
back to the 6th century, and so it definitely qualifies as "something old."
The only thing we still need is "something new,"
and as we begin paging through the Advent section of the hymnal it doesn't take
us long to find what we are looking for.
Only a few pages in Christian Worship #5 was written in the latter half
of the twentieth century, and as far as hymns go it couldn't be much
newer. The author is pastor and poet,
Werner Franzmann, who wrote five hymns in Christian Worship including the
Advent anthem that that we will focus our thoughts on tonight. And again, I invite you to follow along in
your pew hymnals as we mediate on the words of...
AS
ANGELS JOYED WITH ONE ACCORD
The opening verse takes us back and forward, back two
thousand years and forward fifteen days to the eve of Jesus' birth. That night there were shepherds in a field
outside of
Joy wasn't just what the angels were sharing. According to the hymn’s opening line
"joy" is what these heavenly creatures were doing: "As angels joyed with one accord Upon
the advent of our Lord." Dozens
of joy-filled voices united into one voice to give glory to God in heaven, to
announce that peace had come to earth, to proclaim: Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
"As
angels joyed with one accord Upon the advent of our Lord, So laud we all and
bless the name Of him who from the Father came." If you were listening closely,
you probably noticed that Werner Franzmann sets the bar pretty high. He equates the angels' praises on Christmas
Eve with our praise this evening. There
is no distinction. There are no
degrees. As the angels did, so do
we...at least that is what the song lyrics suggest.
The angels were filled with overwhelming joy that night, but
tonight you might be filled with something else. Perhaps you are overwhelmed with guilt. You feel guilty because you know that you are
no angel. You are feeling guilty about
something you have done. You are feeling
guilty about the good things you haven’t done.
Maybe you feel guilty because you don’t feel all that joyful.
It you aren’t overwhelmed with guilt, maybe you are just
plain overwhelmed. Christmas is only two
weeks away! There are so many things to
do, and there isn’t enough time to do them all.
The planning, the preparations, the presents, the parties, we fill our
schedules and our minds with so much stuff that we hardly even notice that our
souls are running on empty.
That's what the season of Advent is for. That is what these midweek Advent devotions
are for, to refocus our minds, to refresh our spirits, to be reminded that our
Savior has come, to remind ourselves why he came. Verse 2: He
came not clothed in majesty Nor pow'r that suits his deity. In lowly state he walked till he In dying set
us captives free.
In the coming weeks we will review the circumstances
surrounding the Savior's birth. It's
good to do that. It's important for us
to remember that Jesus came into this world in humility, but we also need to
keep in mind that Jesus' humble beginning was only the beginning.
It was a humbling experience for the perfect Son of God to
submit to the authority of his less-than-perfect parents. It was humbling for the King of all creation
to be obedient to the authorities that he himself had appointed. It was humbling for Jesus to have to walk to
get from Point A to Point B just like everybody else. It was humbling (and we might add,
humiliating) for the world's only innocent man to be mocked and ridiculed and
tortured and executed like a most-wanted criminal.
It is humbling to think that Jesus subjected himself to all
that abuse and more for one reason and for one reason only: to set us captives free. Jesus died to set you free, and that is
exactly what you are. Jesus has removed
the heavy chain of guilt from around your neck.
Jesus has broken the chains of sin that Satan used to make you his
slave. Jesus has destroyed the chain of
death that threatened to hold you forever in your grave. By his sinless life and sacrificial death
your risen and ascended Lord has set you free, but he has not left you alone.
Verse 3: This done he
soared to God's right hand Yet orphaned not his chosen band, For he, not bound
in grace and pow'r, Attends his own each day and hour. The night before he was crucified, Jesus
promised his disciples, "I will not
leave you as orphans" (John 14:18), and he is still making good on
that promise today. Children of God are
never alone. Even when you are alone,
you are not alone. Jesus says: "Surely I am with you always"
(Matthew 28:20). God says: "Never will I leave you; never will I
forsake you" (Hebrews 13:4).
Those promises come straight out of God's Word, and they
remind us that is one of the ways God comes to us, through his Word. Verse 4: In ev'ry age--let praise abound--He comes;
we hear his voice resound. His glorious
gospel does not cease To bring us comfort, joy and peace.
Many different authors wrote the many different books of the
Bible. In Advent we sing the psalms of
David. We hear the prophecies of
Isaiah. We are called to heed the
warnings of John. So many different books, and yet there is one message. So many different authors, and yet there is
one voice. The voice of God. The voice of the gospel. A timeless message
of comfort and peace and joy.
Jesus wasn't speaking exclusively to a crippled man when he
said: "Take heart...your sins are
forgiven" (Matthew 9:2). Jesus
was addressing more than a dozen of his followers when he said: "In this world you will have
trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John
16:33). In God's Word God speaks to
us. He calls us to repent, to believe,
to trust in him, to pray to him, to follow him, to go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them. And when we go
out and do that, God comes to us.
Verse 5: He comes in
water to the child And cleanses it, from birth defiled. This washing seals his pard'ning grace And
shows the Father's kindly face. Remember
Jesus' baptism. Remember that when Jesus
came up out of the water the Spirit of God came down on him in the form of a
dove. And the voice of the Father came
down from heaven: "This is my Son,
whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17).
That was a special event, but it wasn't totally unique. The triune God was present at Jesus' baptism,
but then again the three persons of the Trinity are present at every
baptism. Every time a family approaches
the font, the Spirit is there, working through the water and the Water. Every time a baby is baptized, Jesus is
there, washing away sin. Every time a
person is baptized in the name of the triune God, God the Father is there, smiling
down from above and saying: "This is my child, whom I love."
The Lord still comes to us today. He comes through his Word
and sacraments. He creates faith in Holy
Baptism, and he strengthens faith in Holy Communion. Verse 6: He
comes to us in bread and wine To give himself--and gifts divine. Oh, praise him for this sacrament, Redeeming
love's great testament.
In communion Jesus gives us forgiveness. Lutheran Christians believe that. In fact, we make it a special point to
emphasize that. When the pastor passes
by with the cup he says, "Take and drink; this is the true blood of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, given and poured out (or "shed") for
you for the forgiveness of sins."
Forgiveness would fall under the general heading of "gifts
divine" in this verse.
Maybe we don't think about it as much, or maybe we need to give
it more emphasis, but the hymn writer mentions something else the Lord gives us
in the Lord's Supper. When Jesus comes
to us in bread and wine, he gives us himself, the blood he shed on the cross,
the body he sacrificed in our place.
There is no greater mystery.
There is no greater love. There
is no greater gift.
Well, maybe there is one gift that could be classified as
greater. There is one blessing that we
have not yet experienced. There is one
more promise of God that is yet to be fulfilled. If you want to know what it is, if you want
to know where it is, all you have to do is look up. Verse 7: Lift
up your heads! All grief and pain Shall
vanish when he comes again. Where we
shall see him face to face, There joy alone shall have a place.
When Jesus comes again you will see him face to face. When Jesus comes he will take you to a
special place, the place he has prepared for you, a place where there will be
no pain or grief or death. With all of
those blessings to look forward to, with the hope of heaven in our future, it
is fitting that our hymn ends the same way it began, with joy. As angels joyed with one accord, so do we.
Amen.