Thoughts for the Second Sunday of Advent
First Lutheran Church, Under North Balcony
Advent is an expectant time, awaiting the coming of the Lord. The prophet Joel preaches God’s Word promising that even in the darkest days when doubts arise about God’s mercy and steadfast love, there is yet time to return to the Lord. In fact, the darkness and difficulty that one faces is exactly the right time to know God - not only in weeping and mourning and outward expressions, but deeply, inwardly in the heart. That is finally where the day of the Lord occurs, where God’s gracious, steadfast love and mercy comes to each one. Until God has captured the heart, while possibilities and hopes exist without God, the day of the Lord will be terribly frightening. However, return even now to God, who will pour out his Spirit upon sons and daughters, to prophesy and preach the good and gracious message of coming day of the Lord.
Pastor Lars Olson
This Weekend in Worship
Daniel in the Lions' Den, Rembrandt, about 1649
The Church’s Call to Truth in a Den of Lions
First Sunday of Advent
Daniel 6:6-27; Matthew 10:26-33
Our Old Testament text for this coming weekend, from Daniel 6:6-27 (the famous story of “Daniel in the Lions’ Den”), is what biblical scholars refer to as “apocalyptic literature.” It speaks of end times, whether the end of all earthly empires or the very earth itself (cf. Daniel 3:8-30; Matthew 24:1-44; Revelation 18). The book of Daniel as a whole challenges us with a “wake-up call” … to attend to all the false gods and vain authorities who strut and fret, but actually, in the end … will signify nothing (Shakespeare).
This text from Daniel, comes together for this first week of Advent, with Jesus’ Word of reassurance in Matthew 10:26-33; that despite persecution of those who trust and give allegiance to God alone – “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” and the God of "our crucified yet risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" – will be saved. You who march to a different drummer than those of Rome’s Caesars, of Hitler’s Third Reich, or even the Neo-Nazis in the news this past week (with their goose-stepping “Heil!”) … be not afraid. Continue as the church to proclaim the Lordship of Christ the King, love one another, share the gospel in word and deed. As Jesus reassures us once more in St. John’s gospel: “I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Yes … each of us confronts the world with all of it possibilities of gain and loss. Risk and anxiety attend our every move. Therefore, the crucial question facing all of us – in every moment – in every time and generation – is the matter of trust. What or who can we finally trust? What is our foundation for hope in the midst of “wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6)? This is the question of all existence. It is this question which gives all of life its religious dimension. In the face of such risk and insecurity we place our trust here and now there. We are tempted to place our trust in the ways of ourselves and the world – of materialism, nationalism, nuclear build-up, some political party or messiah figure who promises to “save the day.”
Yet, again and again we discover our trust betrayed. Is there anything, anyone finally trustworthy ... that from which we are given a foundation for hope – even in the darkest of times? To seek what is fundamentally and finally trustworthy is to come before Christ’s cross that points us toward a future … one which, as with Daniel and Jesus’ disciples of every age … has the power to reveal strength even in the midst of weakness, hope even in the midst of hopelessness, and life even in the midst of death … of a cave (note the revelation even to ol’ King Darius in Rembrandt’s sketch depicting “Daniel in the Lions’ Den”), a tomb that stands empty (read Matthew 27:62 – 28:10) … because God’s truth will always overcome any and all “lion” (lyin').
dr. j.r. christopherson
Jehoia-who?
Jehoia-who?
By Pastor Katherine Olson
This weekend’s reading from Jeremiah (36:1-8, 21-23, 27-28) describes the prophet’s clash with a disobedient king named Jehoiakim. When I first learned of the Scripture passage appointed for this weekend, my first thought was “Jehoia-who?” Most of you probably share my reaction – so for those of you who might like a refresher on ancient kings of Judah, read on.
At the Lord’s command, Jeremiah had his scribe Baruch write down the content of his prophetic preaching on a scroll, and then ordered him to take that scroll into the temple for a public reading (since Jeremiah was no longer welcome inside). Baruch carried out his duties, the scroll was read in the hearing of the people, and then the king’s cabinet members decided that Jehoiakim ought to also hear the words that called the wayward nation to repentance and posited a challenge to the status quo.
The scene then shifts to a chamber inside the palace walls – the king cozies up next to a fire in his luxurious winter apartment and hears the words which threaten his job security. As his servant read the scroll aloud, the king ripped shreds of the scroll off with a penknife and tossed each word, column by column, into the blazing fire.
Professor Roger Nam observes: “King Jehoiakim’s response, though deplorable, is not surprising in that the destruction of prophetic words is natural for a ruler who is both paranoid and massively self absorbed….(but) instead of eliminating the word of God, Jeremiah 36 shows that it is more powerful and lasting than the actions of a narcissistic king. The words of Jeremiah continue to find power two millennia later. King Jehoiakim is merely a footnote as a disobedient king.” Jehoia-who indeed!
Upon reading Nam’s observation about Jehoiakim’s “paranoid, massively self-absorbed, narcissistic, and disobedient” temperament, I smirked: “Gee, we wouldn’t have any political leaders like that in our world today, would we?” Yes, like many citizens in our country I’m still smarting from the events of a bitter political season. But my sense of smug contempt was soon tempered by another thought: “There’s a little king (queen?) that exists within my own heart…I possess all those same qualities too.”
I’m still working on my sermon for this weekend, but if you come to church, you’ll hear something like this: in Jesus Christ, we have an entirely different King, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself…he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8) Exalted by the Father, he has also promised the riches of his kingdom to poor sinners like the criminal hanging on the cross (Luke 23:39-43), sinners like you and me.
Let us pray. King Jesus, obliterate the disobedience, sin, and selfishness that exists in our hearts by the fire of your Holy Spirit. Remember us in your kingdom, which, unlike all earthly powers, shall reign forever and ever. Amen.
A Reflection for Sunday
“And I heard the voice of the LORD saying, ‘Whom shall I send,
and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’” (Isaiah 6:8)
At the heart of our Old Testament reading for the worship services this weekend, is the calling of the prophet Isaiah. To be called by God, to proclaim his Word for the sake of others, is the whole matter of Vocation. Too often in the history of the church, this vocational matter of proclaiming or serving God’s Word has been understood as something only pastors or clergy do. Not so. For God uses each and every one of us … with each of our unique gifts and talents, no matter how great or small … in each of our respective occupations/stations in life … to serve as instruments of God’s forgiving mercy and grace … for the sake of others and God’s kingdom come. This is what Martin Luther calls the “priesthood of all believers” that begins in our baptism (cf. Luther’s Works 36: 113). One of my all-time favorite definitions of Vocation comes from the wise and wily Frederick Buechner, former professor of Yale Divinity School and well-beloved Christian author-preacher. Listen-in …
“VOCATION. It comes from the Latin vocare, to call, and means the work a person is called to by God.
There are all different kinds of voices calling you to all different kinds of work, and the problem is to find out which is the voice of God rather than of Society, say, or the Superego, or Self-Interest.
By and large a good rule for finding out is this. The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do, and (b) that the world most needs to have done. If you really get a kick out of your work, you’ve presumably met requirement (a), but if your work is writing TV deodorant commercials, the chances are you’ve missed requirement (b). On the other hand, if your work is being a doctor in a leper colony, you have probably met requirement (b), but if most of the time you’re bored and depressed by it, the chances are you have not only by-passed (a) but probably aren’t helping your patients much either.
[And here’s my favorite part (!) …] Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” (Fred Buechner; Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC pp.94-95)
j.r. christopherson
Senior Pastor