Redemption MOVES!

Text:  Luke 21:25-36

Theme:  “Redemption MOVES!”

First Sunday of Advent

November 29, 2015

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

29 He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

“See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation.”  That snippet from Zechariah the prophet came even before Psalm 25 (which Beverly read).  Psalm 25 bids us to lift up our souls to the Lord.  That sounds good, but better yet is the antiphonal from Zechariah that is the first word from God to us on Advent I:  “See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation.”  In view of the Gospel, which St. Paul proclaims as “the power of God unto salvation,” that’s the whole ball game:  “Your King comes to you.”  It’s the theme of the day – and, in fact, the theme of the entire new church year that begins today. 

The King came in the past – as the infant Jesus lying in the manger; the King comes today – hidden in His Gospel and in the water, bread, and wine of His Sacraments; the King will come again:  “They will see,” said Jesus, “the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” King Jesus is on the move – in the past, present, and future.  He’s got all the bases covered.  Best of all, He comes to “YOU”, says Zechariah. 

His travels in the past (as Bethlehem’s baby) and in the present (hidden in Word and Sacrament) can be utterly rejected.  You will recall, in the past, that the kingship of Jesus was violently rejected.  King Herod tried to have Him killed and used state sponsored terrorism to do it.  King Jesus, thus, became a refugee.  Would you accept refugee Jesus into your home?  “Whatever you’ve done for the least of these, my brethren, you’ve done it unto me,” says Jesus. 

King Jesus, who comes to us in the present hidden in Gospel and Sacrament, can likewise be rejected.  It is entirely possible, as an exercise of the will, to say:  “No, thanks, Jesus.  You I will do without.  I’m not interested in You, Your Sacraments, or Your people. I’m quite capable of handling things on my own.”

The rejection option, however, will not be in play when King Jesus comes in the future; that option is off the table.   This divine journey – or, as it is sometimes called, the “second coming” --will be marked by power and great glory.  Jesus says, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 

Jesus, here, identifies Himself as redemption.  Every term – like “redemption”, for instance – when used of Jesus becomes a new term.  Linguistically, this redemption is in the passive voice. In other words, it’s already been done.  Jesus will not come again to “redeem” you; that’s already been done.  When this redemption comes to you in the future, faith will give way to sight.  It will only make it powerfully and gloriously clear how it is with you now:  you are redeemed, fully paid for, loved. Read anew the second paragraph of The Apostles’ Creed; that’s redemption on the move.    Christ the King has “redeemed me”, says Luther in his explanation to the second article.  He has:

…redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness,  even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.  This is most certainly true.

Redemption moves.  It has moved; it is moving; it will move again.

To help us keep this in heart and mind, we can actually take a little tree with us for the Advent journey this year.  Here it is (show), and there are directions on the back for putting it together.  Does this sound silly?  Maybe so, but consider this.

This past week, I visited a lady in the hospital.  She looked vaguely familiar; I may have actually seen her once or twice here at church.  It was sad that she had to spend her Thanksgiving days at the hospital.  It was clear from our conversation that there were things she couldn’t bring herself to share – even though she had called for a chaplain to visit.  She asked about my family and me and offered to pray.  Usually it’s the chaplain who does that.  Then she pointed to the nightstand next to her bed.  There it was:  a miniature Christmas tree which was only about 6 inches tall.  “It take it with me wherever I go,” she says.   

That was her outward sign that redemption had moved into her life.  Friends may have rejected her, family may have rejected, earthly wealth may have rejected her; her own health may have rejected her, but not Jesus.  She knew to whom she was precious.

Devotional writer Greg Pennoyer puts the thoughts of many into words:  “Like most adults, I have a difficult time relating to Christmas,” he says.  “I try to make up for it through our particularly modern mixture of materialism and sentimentality.  For me as for so many people (including millions of believers), Christmas has become a parody of itself.”

Materialism and sentimentality can only move you so far.  But redemption moves all the way – all the way into a world of materialism and sentimentality, all the way into a world of carousing, drunkenness, and anxiety; all the way into hearts that are weighed down.  The God who laid in the manger moved into all of this and redeemed it.  And, as Lucy said it in “Peanuts”, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

Amen.