The Way Home

Our Old Testament lesson assigned for Advent three is Isaiah 35:1-10. It is a poem about the return from exile. The Story of Israel, of the Old Testament, is always one of residing in the promised land, being removed from it, and then returning. Think of it as three nested stories. Adam and Eve are in the garden. They sin and are removed from it. God tells the serpent who had deceived them and lead them astray that the disordered state would not always be the case. “her offspring shall crush your head (Genesis 3:15).” Within that story of Adam, there is the story of the Patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all sojourn in the promised land of Canaan, but it is not theirs. They have to buy bits of land to bury their dead. God promises it will be their descendants, but they will be slaves in Egypt first. And eventually they journey into Egypt where there comes a time when “Pharoah knew not Joseph (Exodus 1:8)” and they become slaves for over 400 years. God rescues them with a signs and wonders, makes covenant with Israel at Sinai, delivers them to the promised land and fulfills his promises to the Patriarchs. But like Adam and Eve in the garden, Israel breaks the covenant. And so a third time people are spit out of the promised land. Israel is taken captive in Babylon. But again through the same prophets that warn of the coming judgement, God promises restoration. And eventually, 70 years later, Israel returns to the promised land after the exile.

If you are following the nesting, you have the outer universal story of Adam and Eve and the promise to Satan that this isn’t the end. You have the covenant story of Patriarchs to Exodus which is a story of pure grace. And you have the story of Conquest to Exile which is a story of the law, but also of the return which is another act of grace. In the inner stories, God is always true to his promises and covenants. God’s grace is always sufficient. The heirs of the Patriarchs received the promised land. Even more so, when Israel is faithless and breaks the covenant, God remains faithful. He keeps them while in exile and affects their return. But the outer story – the universal story of Adam and Eve – has not been completed. But we do know the promise. Satan’s head is going to be crushed. God is going to do this. And if the inner stories are the example, even when we don’t deserve it, we will walk back into paradise. “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom,” said the thief. And Jesus promised, “today your will be with me in paradise.”

Isaiah’s poem is an image of Israel’s return from exile. The way between the far country of exile and the home country of the promised land is depicted as “wilderness and dry land (Isaiah 35:1).” The way is initially a “burning sand…haunt of jackals (Isaiah 35:7).” Those who are in exile are depicted as “weak of hand and feeble of knee and anxious of heart (Isaiah 35:3-4).” They are “blind and deaf and lame (Isaiah 35:5-6)” and “sorrowing and sighing (Isaiah 35:10).” Surely these are not able to make the journey under their own power. But God shall make “the desert blossom like the crocus (Isaiah 35:1).” He shall make “the water break forth in the wilderness and pools appear (Isaiah 35:6-7).” All of which will provide for them on their journey. God will make the wild animals to lie down. And He will make the way back a highway. And He will strengthen all those who walk it. “Be strong, fear not (Isaiah 35:4).”

We are those returning in that outer universal story of Adam and Eve. Jesus came to open the highway by his cross. By death he defeated death that wild animal. By the cross he crushed Satan’s head. Now “No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast come upon it. They shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the LORD shall return (Isaiah 35:9-10).” Now that doesn’t mean that lion isn’t searching for those he might devour. We might wander off the road. The “Way of Holiness” might feel too steep as we feel our sins. ‘The unclean shall not pass over it (Isaiah 35:8).” But our life is safe in Christ. He has made strong our hands and knees and hearts. He has cast out our sorrow. “Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads, and they shall obtain gladness and joy (Isaiah 35:9-10).” Jesus has secured this. We just need to walk it. Put one foot in front of the other daily. Walk it the way home. Walk it to the promised land. God’s always kept his promises before. He will also now. He has made our way through the wilderness beautiful.

Advent Midweek 2 – Restore Us

Text: Psalm 80

Text

There is one prayer, repeated three times, in the psalm. “Restore us…let your face shine, that we may be saved.” Litany like, it alters the name called upon each time. Restore us – O God, O God of Hosts, O LORD God of Hosts. And before each breathing of the prayer there is a recitation of where God’s people might find themselves. And within that recitation an appeal to a certain image of God.

Shepherd

The fist is to the Shepherd – “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel.” But it is juxtaposed with such a weird combination of sheep. “You who lead Joseph like a flock.” Ephraim and Manasseh are Joseph’s kids. They are the half-tribes of the favored son who get a double portion of the inheritance. And they are yoked with Benjamin. All the children of the favored wife Rachel. But on opposite sides of the division of the Davidic Kingdom. Ephraim and Manasseh going with the Northern – Israel – and Benjamin loyal to the Davidic Southern – Judah. It’s a hash. Shepherd of Israel. Look at what has happened. We’ve all wandered and strayed. We’ve played favorites. We’ve divided ourselves into tribes that make no sense. Stir up your might.

Restore us, O God. Let your light shine that we may be saved. The restore us if you look at carious translations is a stumbling block. The venerable King James used “turn us again.” The Septuagint – the greek translation of the OT – uses the word usually translated repent. They all have a physical meaning to turn around. But we are talking about God’s people. These are those whom God has claimed. Maybe like sheep they have all gone astray, but the covenant still stands. But even in the midst of a far country, there is a recognition that life was better in my faither’s house. Hence restore. I knew it once. I haven’t lost it although I am now far from your face. Let is shine on me again. Lead me back Shepherd of Israel.

Hidden God

The second recitation I think Luther might have put under the title the Hidden God. Those times when Israel just ignores God, or goes through the motions. They make the sacrifices called for, but not with their hearts. They’d rather be at the high places. Or they’d rather get back to counting money and making deals. “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale (Amos 8:5 ESV).” And when one wanders away, God often lets us. He hides his face. He rejects the offerings. And when we are on our own, it doesn’t go well. And eventually we might notice.

“How long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?”

And collectively Israel’s troubles deepen.

“You make us an object of contention for our neighbors.”

When we choose the world, we get what we have chosen.

“Restore us, O God of hosts.”

Vineyard & Vinedresser

The third is the vineyard and vinedresser. “You brought a vine out of Egypt.” It recalls Isaiah’s song of the vineyard. God planted his vineyard in a find land. A land flowing with milk and honey. He ensured that it grew everywhere. “It sent out branches to the sea and its shoots to the river.” But in Isreal’s case as Isaiah would say “it produced nothing but bad grapes.” So God would tear it down. And Israel would lament “why have you broken down its walls?” As the walls of Jerusalem would come down. “The boar from the forest ravages it.”

But the plea at this turning is for God to turn. “Turn again, O God of Hosts, Look down from heaven and see. Have regard for this vine.”

Christology

When the people of God have gone astray, how does he shepherd them back?

When they have God after the world, how does he hear them again?

When the grapes are bad, how does one make new wine?

“Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself.”

When everything appears lost. When God feels far away and deaf. When the vineyard is a ruin. The Son of Man comes. And gives life. And his people call on his name again.

Conclusion

Israel’s story, is the church’s story, is often the story of the single soul. We are blessed by God’s providence. Lead in green pastures. Planted over the waters. Gently cared for by the vinedresser for years. And we take it for granted. Not that God is meaningless, but we’ve got other things to do and keep us busy. And then we find ourselves out in the cold.

“Restore us O LORD, God of Hosts. Let your face shine, that we may be saved.”

And maybe I find the progression of the names meaningful. From a generic God. To a God of might – O God of Hosts. To the LORD.

He’s the one that brings the good out of the bad. Even our sin can be turned into a knowledge of our God. Not the one who remains angry or chucks lightning bolt. But the one who restores, who turns us around. Who again makes his face shine upon his people.

The Lion and the Lamb

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Biblical Text: Isaiah 11:1-10

I was trying something different with this sermon. I was also trying something different with the Pastor’s Corner this week. Advent is a vibe. Advent is promise and fulfillment overlapping. And at least in this world the fulfillment never seems complete, but the promise remains. While the corner tried to pull the reader into that time where John the Baptist and his message was the most important thing ever heard, this sermon attempts to map how the church today might feel postexilic. It attempts to point out what has been fulfilled. And start to understand why we have this feeling of longing and maybe slight sadness that often comes with it. Different times and places have different vibes. This was an attempt to understand ours. And still lean into the promise.

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A Thrilling Voice is Sounding

You can tell me if it is just that I’m strange, but I always thought most of us have this junk drawer of various topics that just keep returning. Nothing in that junk drawer is absolutely necessary, except in that exact moment when you need a potato masher or small flashlight or battery tester or the letter opener. The big potato masher of my mental junk drawer has always been the doctrine of election. The first thing that you see when you open that junk drawer. The thing that might be big enough to prevent the drawer from opening. And you have to fiddle with it a bit – shaking the drawer to get some things to move – to get into it. Not today election, I don’t have the time. And if you demand my attention, I’m just going to force this drawer open. I’m going to become a gross Calvinist so I don’t have to think about you anymore. Sure, forcing that drawer open breaks the countertop. Like Calvinism breaks the incarnation. Who needs an incarnation with its revelation if the eternal decrees which remain His forever are all that matters? Who needs time? But somedays you just need the potato masher firmly in hand.

Some days you don’t need the potato masher. Somedays there are other things in that junk drawer. Right next to that potato masher of the doctrine of election is the kitchen timer – time itself. Somehow the eternal decrees and “I AM” and speculations about the eternal now, morph their way into this one moment. Running through Dr. Who’s timey-whimy tardis adventures and AI dreams of titanium terminators coming back in time for John Carter – another JC. Advent is a season in some ways about time. A season of waiting, of longing, of fulfillment. All things that depend upon time. And then you find yourself thinking that you live your life week to week – Sunday to Sunday rhythms. And how many of those weeks you might have (50 x 80 = 4000 plus 160 for the other 2×80). And how many of those weeks did you make matter?

We live in time. And we can become so used to its rhythms. 60 beats a minute, 60 minutes an hour, your heart beats them out. If you’ve got a pacemaker, you know how disturbing it can be when the heart isn’t keeping time. Or if your heart in your 53rd year starts throwing in extra beats that occasionally wake you in your 8 hours of slumber. Maybe trying to make up for weeks that didn’t mean anything? We live in time. We like our ruts.

And in the middle of our ruts, we hear a voice in the distance. Is that the TV? Does one of the kids have their earphones out? “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

“You brood of Vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”

“Even now the axe is laid to the root of the tree!”

And we are no longer in time. This is not the week by week. The heart is running a little faster. We’ve been called out into the wilderness. Maybe we’ve gone there willingly. Maybe we’ve been drug there. Maybe we are there because we want to turn it off and get back to our time, to our rut. “Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him.” Right now, we are not in time exactly. Today we have been called to a moment. Today we have been called to the desert where time doesn’t move the same.

Today you have been baptized with water and fire for repentance. Today the voice calls, “make straight the way.” And don’t think you can call on ancestors – “we have Abraham as our father.” This is about you. This moment is yours. Tomorrow the threshing floor clears and the chaff is burned. Today, this moment, is yours. “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

And then you are back. In time. What are you going to do with it

Advent Midweek 1 – Description of a Reign

Text: Psalm 72

Introduction

I feel a little guilty sometimes. I just don’t use the Psalms all that often in worship. The Introits are usually Psalms…but chopped up ones that use selected verses to support the later texts of the day. Rarely do we touch anything like a full Psalm. So for our Advent midweeks I’ve picked a couple of full Psalms to read and meditate on.

Text

The one this week is Psalm 72. If we believe the inscriptions – those parts often at the start of every Psalm – this is one written by Solomon. And it makes sense as some type of installation or coronation prayer. And that might explain the last verse – 20 – when it says the prayers of David are ended. Some priest or scribe at sometime collected what we know as the book of the Psalms. Much like we publish hymnbooks. But you can imagine a prior collection of just the Psalms of David – probably including those lost to us – that ended with a Psalm of his son Solomon.

It almost feels like a litany. May…May…Let…May. Repeated request of God for various blessing on the King. And our editors I think give us a good clue. The first four verses are requests for the justice of his reign. And for the King of Israel justice also mean righteousness. And what does that mean? Let prosperity come from the mountains and the hills. The mines and the grazing spaces of the herds of Israel. Let the prosperity comes of honest work, and not oppression. “May he defend the cause of the poor, give deliverance to the children of the need, and crush the oppressor.” The opposite of most pagan rule, in which the rulers did the oppression. And the prosperity was not for the people, but for those who might rig the economy.

And the right response to such just and righteous rule is verses 5 to 7. A proper fear of the Lord’s anointed. And may the righteousness of the King lead the to the flouring of righteousness and peace among the people. And may they want such reign forever – “till the moon be no more.”

And no King or people is ever content with their current domain. Even the US would like Greenland. Verses 8-11. “May he have dominion from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth.” Desert tribes – that would be Arabia – to Tarshish – that would be Spain – to Sheba – deep into Africa. Oh heck. “May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him.”

And sure you could just chalk this all up as coronation hyperbole, but this is beyond that. All kings die and all houses eventually disappear. Whoever compiled the Psalms had to know that the coronation this was for – Solomon – that Kingdom didn’t make it to the next generation whole. 10 of the 12 tribes split. And if Solomon at one time might have reigned from the river – Euphrates – to the Edge of Egypt, and received the Queen of Sheba, that was it’s extent. What would a king of Judah – that dramatically reduced Kingdom – think upon hearing this? I would think this is not my kingdom and never will be.

And maybe more of that if he heard verse 12 to 14. “He delivers the needy…has pity on the weak…redeems their life and precious is their blood in his sight.” Does that sound like any earthly ruler? Does that sound like any kingdom of this world?

Conclusion

Maybe it is Solomon’s prayer. Maybe young Solomon – full of wisdom – could ask for such a kingdom. But that wisdom and desire wouldn’t make it to the end of his Kingdom. Solomon of 700 wives and 300 concubines. Fully invested in the world. Solomon in all his glory, and completely unable to prevent the fracture of Israel.

But one greater than Solomon came. And his Kingdom is not of this world. Although it does have citizens from the River to the ends of the earth. And in that Kingdom the good news is preached to the poor. One greater than Solomon is here and his reign abounds producing grain 30, 60, 100 fold, and the fruit of good works. “May there be an abundance of grain…may its fruit be like Lebanon.” One greater than Solomon lives and “his name endures forever.”

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.

Like forgiving the sins of all who call on him and promising them an inheritance.

May the whole earth be filled with his glory.

As the angels announced one night long ago…as it shall be on a day not long off.

Who is This?

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Biblical Text: Matthew 21:1-11

First Sunday of Advent. The text is always the Triumphant Entry – Palm Sunday. Now it could just be a replay of the previous Sunday’s sermon from Christ the King, but that misses the import of this procession. It is Christ presenting himself to his people. And I think parts of the opening of John’s gospel are a reflection on this. Historically, the King presented himself and his own would not have him. Christ continues to present himself to his people. And those who believe he gives the power to become children of God. What the procession does is show us just what kind of King this one is. The sermon does this by looking at three movements of the story: the donkey, the procession and the answers to “who is this?” The answers to that question are in the actions, and they are in the names. And then it is left on our hearts. Will we have this king?

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The King’s Order

I don’t know if it has passed Gunsmoke yet for the longest running TV show, but Law and Order has been on forever. And I’ve always had a bit of a bone to pick with that name. In that show the first half is supposed to be “law” which is taken up with the police while the second half is the “order” which is the lawyers in the courtroom. Lawyers may think their operations are the working of order, but already that is at order’s breakdown. True order springs from the place where the law is just and the people desire to live in peace. In a perfectly ordered society the law becomes an afterthought because it is written on hearts and hearts are attuned to follow, and the law is no longer necessary as even a curb. Isaiah’s picture of the Messianic society in our Old Testament lesson is a picture of perfect order.

The nations’ and peoples’ statement is “let us go up to the mountain of the LORD…that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths (Isaiah 2:3).” It is on the mountaintop that the law is given, but what the nations’ desire is the ways of God. The desire to walk in his paths. The law at best defines the boundaries of those things. The law states what is off the path or what is outside of the way of God. But the desire is the fullness of divine order. To live in harmony with the will of God.

The start of that order can be the law. “Out of Zion shall go the law (Isaiah 2:3).” But the law is not the end. For by the law we only know where we have trespassed. The law multiplies the sin. As Paul would say, those under that law are being tutored. They are under the pedagogue. But Isaiah says parallel to the law “the word of the LORD (goes our) from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3).” It is that Word – the order of God that we seek. Because it is only within that order that we find true peace.

As long as we are testing the boundaries of the law – sinning – we find ourselves at war. We find ourselves at war with the King and his law. We find ourselves at war with our neighbor as we attempt to advantage ourselves at their expense. We find ourselves at war with ourselves. For in our hearts we know the law, and the Spirit in us longs for the Order of God, but we continue the war in our members. It is only when we submit ourselves to the King that we shall find peace. “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples (Isaiah 2:4).” As the song says “I fought the law and the law won.” God is sovereign. His law is the only true law. And it ultimately decides between nations and peoples. The only question is if we are brought before it as outlaws or as those who desire true justice.

Those whose hearts are submitted to Christ there will find peace. “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4).” We can put down our war against God and our neighbor and ourselves. We can do that in repentance and seeking God’s order for our lives. Isaiah’s ultimate vision is that “nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore (Isaiah 2:4).” The peace of the Kingdom of Heaven is what stands as the promise. God’s order will be established. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. And that is not some Star Trek Borg like forced compliance – “Resistance is futile.” No, that is the desire of nations. Peoples and Nations tired of war, tired of the disorder, tired of testing laws and finding them wanting at exactly the point they are needed. Tired of sin and its degradation. “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2:3).” We are tired of war. May the LORD grant us his peace, his order. And then the King shall come.

Thanksgiving 2025 – Common Grace

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Biblical Text: Psalm 104

Introduction

Blame my going to a Presbyterian associated school. The Calvinists have a distinction that I do think is helpful that Lutherans tend to look askance at. They make a distinction between common grace and saving grace. This is roughly what they mean by it. Common grace is what it called providence. “You given them their food in due season.” It is more than food. You can call it any good thing that happens to this body and life. This is what Luther talks about in the first article. “He daily and richly provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.” Saving grace is the creation of faith. “When you send forth your Spirit, they are created and, and you renew the face of the ground.” The Calvinists make this distinction because they will teach that while common grace is – common- given to everyone; saving grace is only given to the elect. Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated. This is something that Lutherans disagree with them about. God does not withhold his grace – common or saving. It is just that it is easy to receive common grace. When good things are given us for this body and life, nobody rejects them. Saving grace is tougher. For it is universally offered, but few accept it. And the reasons for their rejection might be as many as there are human hearts. Although at the base of all of them is pride.

Common Grace

This is one of the reasons why Thanksgiving – even thought it isn’t a church calendar day – is the best American holiday. It forces us to consider exactly what Psalm 104 puts forth in its fullness. Sometime between the Turkey and the Dallas Cowboys it is worth reading the entire Psalm. It is first and foremost a meditation on the common grace of creation. The great and mighty LORD – “clothed with Splendor and majesty” – the one who “makes the clouds his chariot and ride on the wings of the wind.” – has “set the earth on its foundations, so that is should never be moved.” That LORD “makes the springs to gush in the valleys…they give drink to every beast of the field.” He “causes the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate.” Including, “wine to gladden the heart of man and oil to make is face shine, and bread to strengthen man’s heart.”

And the psalm continues how everything in this creation is made to provide for man and beast alike. “The moon to mark the seasons, the sun knows it’s time for setting.” The rhythms of life of labor and rest. It has all been given by God. “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all.” And it as that the Psalmist ponders the sea and all her creatures. The ships that plow the waves and leviathan who plays in it. The immensity of all of it. And it is all for the creatures that God has made. That we might “receive our food in due season.”

The common grace of God is anything but common. It should cause us to quake at how the one who made us all had provided it all. And being humbled, we should give thanks for that common grace.

But we tend not to. We tend to take it for granted. Or even worse, far from grace it is an entitlement. We deserve all that has been given to us. From the Sun and Moon and Stars to our daily bread. Only 1 of the 10 lepers – and that one a foreigner – returned to thank Jesus for healing. The Psalmist I think gets a bit of this. When God ‘opens his hand, we are filled with good things.” We are happy to receive. But when God “hides his face, we are dismayed.” What the heck are you doing God? Where is my daily bread that I deserve. I can’t believe you would treat me this way.

But even the common grace – the providence – is not an entitlement. It is grace. We are receiving that which we don’t deserve. And we are receiving it from God who desires to give it to us. So much that his bow marks the sky that seedtime and harvest will never again be done away with. That the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.

Saving Grace

The distinction is in how we receive it.

If we receive it as our due. We have already received our reward. The 9 lepers were healed and supposedly lived out their lives. But these lives are eventually called back. “when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.”

But God does not desire the death of man. He “sends forth his Spirit.” To create and renew the ground. God send his Spirit with the invitation not to receive our due, but to accept the Grace of almighty God. We will certainly get out daily bread, but God wants to and has given us more. He has given us His son. And in Christ we are invited to the eternal feast day.

But it comes by grace. We don’t deserve any of it. Which is tough for pride.

Conclusion

The Psalmist, if you read the rest of Psalm 104, concludes with what our Introit brought to the beginning. “I will sing to the LORD as long as I live, I will sing praise to my God while I have being.”

In this common grace I will return thanks. For I have not deserved it, yet the LORD has provided.

But even more, I have not deserved salvation, yet God has given it to us. “While I have being” the psalmist intoned. And he does not presume, but even in the Old Testament there is hope. The Spirit creates and renews. And we are the heir of that promise. Not just of common grace. Of a land flowing with milk and honey. But we are the heirs of an eternal kingdom. Of a being that will not end.

For which we rightly give thanks and praise.

A Strange Coronation

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Biblical Text: Luke 23:27-43

This was the Last Sunday of the Church Year, often called Christ the King Sunday. The sermon elaborates a little more on that source. But the three year cycle of reading in the year of Luke throws an oddity. The Gospel reading is the Via Dolorosa and Crucifixion. Why on Christ the King would we get this? The answer is that this is the coronation walk of the Universal King. The cross is the throne of the King in this world. The posting above the cross – “This is the King of the Jews” – INRI (iesus nazarenus rex iudaeorum in Latin, Pilate’s judgement, Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews) – is the divine irony. It is the sentence that the world gave; it is also the truth.

And on this walk and enthronement the King grants alms and blessings and benedictions. We also see the division, the judgement as it is actually carried out. For it is at the foot of the cross that the judgement takes place. Are we mockers? Or are we beggars?

That’s a bit of the sermon. Give it a listen for the elaboration.

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Christ the King

“For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20 NLT)

The Epistle lesson for the Last Sunday of the Church Year, sometimes known as Christ the King Sunday, focuses first on the cosmic and majestic nature of Christ: image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation, by him all things were created, for him all things, head of the body the church, firstborn from the dead. Paul has a long list of sobriquets he applies to Jesus like any king with all his titles and honors spelled out. We had our share of funerals recently. Thinking about this passage and those funerals brought to mind the funeral of Otto von Habsburg, that last of the Archdukes. The Habsburg family used to rule almost all of Europe, everything except England and France. The family crypt is in Vienna, Austria, but Otto would be the last interred. The reason it was brought to mind is that the procession arrives at the crypt and announces who it is with all his titles and honorifics. And the monks deny him entry. They scale it down and he is still denied entry. Eventually they just say “Otto, a child of God” and the monks open the door. Death is no respecter of person. Paul eventually stops with all the honorifics and just scales it down. He scales it all down to three things.

First, “the fullness of God was pleased to live.” That is the mystery of the incarnation. The God whom all those titles apply to became a man. He became a specific man – Jesus of Nazareth. He did not disperse himself as a divine drop living in every man which is roughly the start of every other religion. The eternal God became one man, born of the virgin Mary. And that man was not by human standards a King, although he was descended from King David. And that man was not mired in sin, although he was a descendant of Adam. Neither was he just an avatar of God soon to be discarded, but Jesus is “the assumption of the humanity into God (Athanasian Creed).” He became the second Adam, the second universal man.

And what was the immediate purpose of this incarnation? Why did God go to such great lengths? Paul’s second summary, “God reconciled everything to himself.” The dictionaries will tie the word for reconciliation together with the third summary of word peace. Reconciliation is the process, peace is the state. Reconciliation is how things were put right. And God didn’t just reconcile man. He didn’t just reconcile a part of his creation. God reconciled in Christ everything. By God the King of creation entering into the creation he made a way for all creation to enter eternity. That way – the process – was by means of the blood of the cross. Satan, the King of this old world, attempted to claim that which was not his. And he lost his Kingdom. He lost his claim on all humanity. Because we are reconciled to God by the blood. We can appeal in faith to the blood and all is made right.

Which brings us to the ultimate purpose. Through the incarnation and the reconciliation what it brought about? Peace. The English word peace has basically come to mean “not war.” Which is too limited a view of peace. The old line about the Roman army is that they conquered and salted the land and called it peace. You can call something devoid of life peace, but it is not the peace of God. It is not the peace that passes understanding. The peace talked about here might be better thought of as cosmic wholeness. Everything is at harmony with everything else. The medieval concept of the music of the spheres is a notion of peace. Everything is singing as the appointed rounds are done. Such moments of peace are few and far between in this world. We rarely know what we are to do. We often grumble while doing it. And what gets done is often not in harmony with our neighbor but at odds. Cold Wars abound. But the reconciliation of Jesus – the blood of the cross – was done to bring peace.

It’s my favorite Christmas verse. All idols then shall perish/and Satan’s lying cease/And Christ shall raise his scepter/decreeing endless peace. A worthy work of a King