SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT

December 8, 2024

Malachi 3:1–7b

Philippians 1:2–11

Luke 3:1–14 (15–20)

The Preaching of Repentance Prepares Us for the Coming of the Lord

The preaching and Baptism “of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3) prepare us for the coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ. The historic work of John the Baptist was completed with the first advent of our Lord Jesus in the flesh, but the ministry of the forerunner continues in the preaching of Law and Gospel and in Holy Baptism. Through His messengers, the Lord calls people of all nations to “see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6). Our haughtiness is removed and our mountains of pride are brought low, but the Lord humbles us in order to exalt us in His mercy. As the Lord has begun this good work of repentance in us, so also does He perfect it by His Word and Holy Spirit, and He “will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). He purifies us to be His priestly people, precious in His sight and abounding in faith and love, so that we offer our very lives in righteousness to the Lord (Mal. 3:3–4). 

INTROIT                      Psalm 81: 8, 10-11, 13; antiphon Luke 3:4b

P The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    C “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
P Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
    C O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
P I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    C Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
P But my people did not listen to my voice;
    C Israel would not submit to me.
P Oh, that my people would listen to me,
    C that Israel would walk in my ways!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
    and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
    is now, and will be forever. Amen.
P The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

   C “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

OLD TESTAMENT READING                               Malachi 3:1–7b

    1“Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

    5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

    6“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.”

EPISTLE                                                                Philippians 1:2–11

    2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

HOLY GOSPEL**                                                          Luke 3:1–20

    1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight.
5Every valley shall be filled,
    and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
    and the rough places shall become level ways,
6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

    7He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

    10And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

    15As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

    18So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.

Summary of Sermon by Pastor John Riebhoff

The evangelist Luke is quoting for Isaiah "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord."  Being prepared during this season for some is the long check out lines, dealing with grumpy people, bank accounts being emptied.  There are two different kinds of being prepared, the way of the world and the way of a Christian.  On the worldly level, people look for that perfect Christmas gift and have big Christmas celebration and parties.  Then the next day it's all done.  What do they have to look forward to now - returns at the stores or maybe some after Christmas sales.  Some people get depressed for all the excitement and then nothing.  For the church, Christmas comes and it stays.  The birth of Jesus Christ is all year long.  The church preparation is much more. God stirs up desire in our hearts.

In our reading, John the Baptist is clearing the way for one that comes after him.  He said to the gathering crowd, "You brood of vipers!"  What if I said that to you today?  Would you  listen to me or walk away.  Back then it got the attention of the people.  But what is he meaning by saying a "brood of vipers"?  Well a viper is a poisonous snake.  Snakes remind people of the devil.  He was applying that they were children of the devil in the sense of getting their attention and getting the people to stop and think.  Before our baptism we all are in bondage to sin.  Baptism washes away our sine and we become children of God.  John was trying to teach them and point to Jesus, who will takes away the sins of the world.

John also talks about the axe that is laid to the root of the trees.  For if a tree does not bear fruit, it is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Is John talking about us?  We don't always produce the fruit on our trees that we should.  We don't always have the strength, mind, love, to follow God's laws or to love our neighbors.  But we can find comfort in the gospel in Jesus Christ. 

Repentance of God is like making an about face and going the opposite direction.  Turning from the ways of the world to God.  Turn away from the lives of guilty, shame, and death.  Fill our hearts with the life of Christ.  Old habits are hard to change.  People like their ways and self-indulgences.  Advent season is 40 days long, just like the 40 days Jesus was in the desert.  It is stated that it takes 40 days to change old habits into new ones.  I have an addiction to chocolate covered peanuts.  I have some right after breakfast, well maybe more then some.  After awile I noticed that I was gaining some weight.  I started to cut down on the portion of sweets I eat.  It's not an easy thing to do right away.  It takes about 40 days to form that new habit.  When we wean ourselves from one habit it creates a void that we seem to fill with something else.  It could be filled with a bad or good habit.   The Advent season lets us grow closure to God and replace bad habits with good ones like Jesus Christ.

The world teaches us to repay evil with evil, to cut down people, not love our neighbors, curse, swear, and lie.  These are just some worldly sins.  Advent season reminds us to look to the cross, then it will lead us to our confess of sins, which leads to joy in our hearts and minds. 1 John tells us that God will cleanse us from our sin and then forgive us.  Sometimes the roads we take will twist and turn and take us to places we don't want to be.  We are not to follow the ways of the world.   God tells us that he will not abandon us, but will be with us always.  I know my sheep and they know me.  No man will snatch them out of my hand.  

John reminds us to "Prepare the way of the Lord."  Advent time is a time of change.  Weather our road for us is straight or crooked depends on our situation at that time in our lives.  But God is with us through it all.  God's grace changes our hearts and changes our paths to lead them to heaven.  To lift us our of despair and grief to comfort and love.  Advent is a time to find comfort and joy in the coming of Jesus. Jesus came to us in flesh to bring us forgiveness of sins and refine our faith to be with him.  As we sing in our offertory, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."  He renews us, makes us think about him, and what he has done for us. He shows us acts of mercy.  "Come Lord, Jesus, come quickly."

What acts of mercy does Bethel do?? For the community?? For members??

Care packages, invite others to church, caroling to the nursing homes, giving to the food pantry, soup with the residents at Wiloway.

Acts of mercy for others are things that are sometimes things we don't think about.  We do them and don't realize that we did anything special.  Do we hear "thank you" for what we did?  Yes we do.  They will say it to us or we will thank you cards in the mail.  People appreciate what we do for them.  There is evil our there that don't care about others or these acts of kindness.  People can see by what we do on how we live our lives, if walk in the ways of the world or the ways of Christ.

What if we don't get a "thank you" for what we did?  We would still do these things because we are followers of Christ.  We do these things because we love others the way Christ loves us.  Christ's love flows through us and tugs on our hearts.  It shows on how we live.  He was given us a new heart and caring acts become natural to us and are not considered acts of work but acts of love.

“The Promised New Covenant” 

given by Pastor Don Meyer

Text:  Hebrews 8:6-13

          Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  In case you didn’t know, we’re doing a “round-robin” for our midweek Advent services this year.  Actually, Pastor Ohlendorf gets the credit for this series because prior to his death, he organized our main theme which is:  Three Advent Prophecies.  Under that heading I was assigned the topic: The Promised New Covenant.  And that’s what we’ll be looking at tonight. Really, it's a fascinating element of our Advent and Christmas celebrations that we often overlook.  You see, the coming of the Christ Child was the fulfillment of a promise that God made to our fallen world.  In fact, it started in eternity long before the world was created.  But the Lord revealed His plans to save us immediately after Adam and Eve fell for Satan’s temptation in the Garden of Eden, thus infecting the human race with sin which condemned us to eternal death.  In Genesis 3:15 He made a promise—or better yet let’s call it a “covenant”—to send a Savior to free us from sin, death, and the devil.

Now, before we go any further, we need to spend some time defining what a covenant is.  I suspect that if I did a poll of everyone here tonight, nearly all of you would describe it as being similar to a contract.  Like when 2 people go into business together.  Party A and Party B agree to each do such-and-such and the benefits or income from this venture will be divided according to the percentages laid out in the contract.  If one of the parties fails to fulfill their end of the bargain then the contract is broken and ended.  The assets are divvied up and both parties go their separate ways.

That may be true of a contract, but not of a Biblical covenant.  In a covenant, the promises made are permanent and the consequences for breaking it are far more severe.  A dramatic example of this can be seen when God confirms His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15.  The Lord had promised He would bless Abraham with numerous offspring, one of which would be the promised Savior.  But Abraham had waited several years and still didn’t have a child.  He needed reassurance.  So, God told him to slaughter 5 different animals, cutting them in half. He then arranged the pieces in 2 rows opposite each other.  Abraham was quite familiar with this method of confirming a covenant in his day. What happened next is that the 2 parties walked between the slaughtered animals.  The message was simple yet powerful.  If either party broke the terms of the covenant, they agreed to suffer the same fate as those animals.  Pretty serious stuff, not to be taken lightly.  In fact, the Hebrew word for “covenant” means “to cut” and that’s mainly because of this bloody ritual.

Well, when God sealed the covenant with Abraham, He sent a smoking fire pot to symbolize His presence moving between the animal halves. God was letting Abraham know that His promises in this covenant were 100% guaranteed and unbreakable.  Even though God cannot die, He staked His existence and reputation on it.  The interesting thing is that Abraham never walked between the slaughtered animals.  That’s because God’s covenant with him was pretty much one-sided.  God made all the promises.  All Abraham had to do was believe those promises and live accordingly.

Fast forward then to the covenant that God made with Abraham’s descendants on Mount Sinai.  It was contingent on the original one.  But as you may recall, this covenant involved the 10 Commandments that the Israelites were to obey and live by.  It may not seem like it but this covenant was still very much one-sided.  God was not saying, “If you obey my commands, you will become my chosen people and receive the blessings.”  No, His message was the opposite: “Since you are my chosen people, here’s how you’re supposed to act.  Added blessings will follow if you do.”  You see, God wasn’t changing or reneging on the original covenant.  This was just an extension of it.  His love and promises didn’t change.  Unfortunately, we all know how the rebellious people of Israel violated this covenant.  They broke all the terms of the agreement which brought severe consequences on them.  And yet God remained faithful to His original covenant of love.

 All of that leads us to the Old Testament reading for tonight.  Through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord announces that He will make a new covenant with His chosen people.  From our human perspective it sounds like He gave up on the old one since Israel broke it every which way you could think of.  But that would be wrong.  God didn’t do away with the covenant, He improved it. You see, He knew that His people would fail to keep the covenant by their disobedience to His commands.  They violated it every time they sinned against the Lord.  But He had built into the covenant a way in which they could remove the guilt of their sin. That’s what all the animal sacrifices were about.  The problem is that the blood of those animals could never pay the price for their sins.  It only removed their guilt.  The neat thing is that these sacrifices pointed them forward to the covenant promise of a Savior who would shed His blood to pay the debt of their sins once and for all.  His blood would satisfy God’s righteous judgment against us sinners.  His sacrifice would supply what mankind had desperately needed all along:  forgiveness of sins.

Under this new covenant, Jeremiah tells us that the Law of God would be written on the hearts of His people.  At Mt. Sinai the law was written on tablets of stone.  The people were supposed to take them to heart and live by them.  Unfortunately, God’s Law became just an external restriction to their sinfulness. Thankfully, Jeremiah says that when the promised Savior fulfills the covenant all that will change.  Through the forgiveness He provides, believers now possess the desire to obey God in every way.  That’s what we commonly call “sanctification.”  It’s the working of the Holy Spirit within us which makes us want to live according to God’s will.

Did you notice that the writer to the Hebrews quotes this prophecy of Jeremiah?  And just in case anyone missed it, he connects the dots by explaining that the old covenant’s promised Savior is Christ Himself.  Jesus didn’t come into our world to replace the old covenant but rather, to fulfill it. He explains this very poignantly in Matthew 5:17 when He says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”  So you see, by fulfilling all God’s promises and requirements of the old covenant, He makes it “new.”  And like with Abraham, this new covenant is still very one-sided.  God makes all the promises and our only obligation is to believe them, trust in Him, and reap the spiritual benefits of that covenant.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, when you were Baptized you became part of that covenant.  In those precious waters, God applied all those promises to you.  First, He gave you a new heart by washing away your sins and filling you with the faith to believe.  The Holy Spirit took up residence within you.  Now He gives you the desire to live according to God’s will and commands.  Daily He renews that covenant as He leads you to confess your sins and receive the forgiveness that Christ bought for you by His sacrificial death on the cross.  And with that comes the promise of eternal life in heaven.

All of this is the reason why we celebrate the coming of the Christ Child.  The arrival of Jesus in Bethlehem was the beginning of the glorious fulfillment of God’s ancient covenant which could not be broken.  It culminated in His death and resurrection 33 years later.  This is what Zechariah was rejoicing over in our Gospel lesson.  I strongly urge you to read his song of praise over and over again.  And as you do I encourage you to make it your own because God has indeed shown mercy to us and remembered His holy covenant that He made with Abraham.  Not only did He remember, He also fulfilled it by sending His holy Son into our world to redeem and forgive us.  And now, as recipients of that wondrous covenant, we can “serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.”  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT

December 1, 2024

Jeremiah 33:14–16

1 Thessalonians 3:9–13

Luke 19:28–40

The Lord Jesus Comes in Humility to Redeem Us

The season of Advent focuses on the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this first Sunday establishes this theme for the rest of the season. The Son of God came long ago to be our Savior, “a righteous Branch” descended from David (Jer. 33:15). As He then came into Jerusalem, riding on a lowly donkey to sacrifice Himself for the sins of the world (Luke 19:28–40), so does He come to His Church today in the humility of Word and Sacrament to deliver the fruits of His Passion: the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. He absolves us and establishes our hearts “blameless in holiness before our God and Father” (1 Thess. 3:13). The same Lord Jesus, who came to Jerusalem then and who comes to us now in peace, will come again with power and great glory on the Last Day. Then there will be “distress of nations in perplexity,” with “people fainting with fear.” Yet, as we anticipate that great and terrible day, He bids us to rest securely in Him: “Raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:25, 26, 28).

INTROIT                     Psalm 89:6, 14-16, 18; antiphon Zechariah 9:9b

P Behold, your king is coming to you;
    C righteous and having salvation.
P Who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
    C Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord?
P Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    C steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
P Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
    C who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
P who exult in your name all the day
    C and in your righteousness are exalted.
P For our shield belongs to the Lord,
    C our king to the Holy One of Israel.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
    and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
    is now, and will be forever. Amen.
P Behold, your king is coming to you;
    C righteous and having salvation.

OLD TESTAMENT READING                          Jeremiah 33:14–16

    14“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”

EPISTLE                                                         1 Thessalonians 3:9–13

    9What thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

    11Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

HOLY GOSPEL                                                          Luke 19:28–40

    28When [Jesus] had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Summary of Sermon given by Pastor John Riebhoff

When I was 10 years old there was a boy named Allen who lived down the road from me.  Back in those days we would sit and watch western shows.  We then would go outside and re-inact what we have just watched on the show.  Every Christmas and Birthdays we would ask for Cowboy and Indian gear.  We have toy guns, toy bow and arrows, western shirts, jeans, boots, and cowboy hats.  The only thing missing was a horse.  At Christmas time Allen asked for a horse.  His dad bought him a Shetland pony.  Allen named the pony "Trigger". Oh he was so excited to go out and ride him.  But because it the winter and it was cold and the wind howled everyday, he couldn't ride the pony.  Trigger was so calm and quiet in his stall in the stable.  One spring afternoon, Allen's dad took him and the pony into the yard.  Allen's dad help Allen into the saddle and gave him instructions on how to use the reigns.  He also told him to lightly tap the pony to get him to move.  Allen I guess tapped Trigger a little to hard because Trigger went running full speed for the fence.  Trigger was trying to buck off Allen.  Well eventually Allen did fall off the pony.  He wasn't hurt other than his pride and spirit.  Makes you wonder if Trigger was actually trained or not?

Our gospel lesson today is about Jesus riding on a colt into Jerusalem.  Jesus told two of his disciples to go into town and untie the colt and bring him to Jesus. This colt had never been ridden.  It would surely buck Jesus off the moment he got on.  But, the colt accepted Jesus and calm let Jesus get on him.  He was accepting the king of creation.  What a miracle Jesus is the king of all creation and the Prince of Peace.  Jesus gives peace to all of his creation including this colt.  The colt was honored to be carrying the king.  As he rode into the town, people were praising and singing to Jesus.  If they wouldn't have the very stones would sing about the king and his majestic ride.

But in one weeks time the praises and cheers would become jeers and taunts by the same people.  Jesus is like us, he was born as a man in flesh.  But he is a man without sin.  Jesus experiences highs and lows just like we do.  His high points are the cheers and praising of people who believe in him.  His low points are the taunts and shouts of anger from those that reject him.  He knows what it is like to live life with ups and downs.  Some high points for us may be things like a birth, our baptism, confirmation, weddings, graduations, retirements, a new job, our favorite sports team winning, etc.  Just like a rider getting bucked off a horse, we have down times as well.  Examples death of a loved one, terminal illness, divorce, loss of a job, devastations, or loss of spirit.

A wild ride can be thrilling.  Sometimes the ride of sin can also be thrilling.  Things like getting even with someone who has insulted us or gluttony in eating a large holiday meal.  The bucking of the horse is like sin bucking you off.  You feel remorse, guilt, turmoil, God's law holds us to judgement.  There is no way to break sin like there is with a horse.  With sin, there is no feel of peace with God and with his forgiveness.  

During this season of Advent we are to humble ourselves and focus on our sins and the forgiveness of sin by God.  It prepares us to focus on Jesus, the Prince of Peace.  Our baptism washes way our sins giving us peace.  When we pray the absolution after confessing our sins, it gives us peace.  Holy Communion is reminds us about Jesus body and blood, as well as Christ dying for our sins, giving us peace.  We are burden with sins and guilt, God shows us his mercy and the forgiveness of sins, giving us peace.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace and he broke sin and death, so that we may have eternal life with him in heaven.