The Text: Matthew 1:18-25

Today’s focus is going to be on Joseph and his part in the coming of our Lord Jesus. So let’s begin with a little Bible quiz about Joseph—just three quick questions…

1. 1. Do you remember what Joseph’s trade was?

He was a carpenter. We think of Jesus as a carpenter, but that’s mainly because we know Joseph was a carpenter. In the Gospels according to Matthew and Mark, people ask of Jesus, ‘Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?’

2. 2. Here in today’s Gospel Reading is the first time we hear of Joseph. Do you remember the last time we hear of him in the Gospels?

It’s in the Temple twelve years after Jesus’ birth, when Mary and Joseph lost Jesus because, as Jesus says, he was in his true Father’s house. We hear of Mary right up to the crucifixion, but the last we hear of Joseph is when Jesus is twelve years old, which leads most people to guess that Joseph probably died some time after that, perhaps because he was older than Mary. But we don’t know that for sure.

3. Now for the last quiz question. Do you remember how many things Joseph says in the Gospels?

It’s a trick question actually. The answer is…none; not one recorded word from Joseph. Joseph comes across as the ‘strong, silent’ type and we’ll return to this later in the sermon. 

For these sorts of reasons, Joseph is an intriguing and even mysterious character. But what we want to see today is that his role in God’s plan of salvation is no less significant because of it.

So, as we think more about Joseph, let’s look first at his predicament; second, at his task; and third, at his response.

First, what is Joseph’s predicament? His quandary? His dilemma? In simple terms, Joseph’s predicament is that he is pledged to be married to Mary; Mary is pregnant and the one thing Joseph knows for sure is that he is not the father. So what to do? 

If we probe a little deeper we can discover there’s actually two possible ways of reading this situation, both of which could leave Joseph in a difficult spot. The one we most commonly hear, is that Joseph assumed that Mary had been unfaithful to him. Now this may have been difficult just on the personal level. But more than that, according to the law and social custom, it would’ve created big problems for Joseph to take Mary as his wife if it was known she had been unfaithful to him. So divorce seems to be the inevitable end. The problem, then, is that this sort of thing could be punished quite severely according to the law. So Joseph is in a predicament. He is a righteous man, and comes across as a kind and merciful man. So what is he to do?

Well, he arrives at a less than ideal solution but the best he can work out—arranging the divorce, but doing it quietly and so not creating more problems for Mary. Quite a predicament! This is the most common way to read this situation, and I think is the most likely. But there is another possibility that is worth considering, which is how many in the early church understood this story.

According to the alternative understanding of this story, Mary told Joseph about the visit to her by the angel and the news that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit, and that Joseph believed her. So he wasn’t suspicious of her, but he believed her. One of the things to remember here is that Joseph wasn’t a modern materialistic sceptic. He was a faithful, believing first century Jew who would’ve been much more open to God’s miraculous intervention than people today would be.

So if this understanding of the story is correct, then the predicament of Joseph is that he is overwhelmed by the magnitude of what is happening and what he is being called to do. He perhaps feels unworthy about caring for the holy child. So again, what to do?

Okay, divorcing Mary and running away from the situation may not be the best option. But it’s the sort of thing a lot of the prophets felt like doing when God called them into his service. So whether Joseph is suspicious of adultery, or he is overwhelmed by the presence of God’s holiness, he finds himself in a predicament.

Now let’s pause, because there’s a connection here with our lives today.  

As people of God today, as married people, as Christian families, we find ourselves in our fair share of predicaments, don’t we? And if we take our faith seriously, if we want to hear what God has to say to us and live according to his will, this doesn’t necessarily mean we have less difficult situations. In fact it can mean we have more of them.

Let me give you a very simple example, which perhaps some of you are facing right now. Let’s say Christmas lunch this year is scheduled for 12:30 at the rellies’ place. This part of the family isn’t involved in the life of the church. The problem for you is that it’s a two hour drive to their place. Church is at 9:30. So by the time we finish and get on the road you’re thinking: “Hmm, are we going to make it? Are they going to be upset if we’re late?” And so on…

Now at one level this may not sound like a big deal. But still, this small example can simply illustrate for us that our faith constantly raises these predicaments, dilemmas, and difficult situations. Many of you are facing your own particular ones right now, no doubt. In these experiences it can simply be good to remember that even the ‘holy family’ of Joseph, Mary and Jesus was not exempt. God’s interaction in their life is disruptive and confusing, at least at first.

Do you think it’s hard being late to lunch because of church? Imagine explaining that you’re late to lunch because an angel had just visited you! And in fact it gets a lot worse after this for the holy family, because they are forced to flee to Egypt to escape Herod. But notice too, that God does not leave Joseph in his predicament. God intervenes through his angel and reassures Joseph, comforts him, and assures him who this child is and where he is from. God’s enters into Joseph’s predicament.

Now we are not promised such extraordinary angelic interventions in all our difficult situations. But let us be open to God’s coming into them, to lead us through them, and to work all things for good according to his purposes.

So that is our first point: The predicament of Joseph.

Now we move onto the task of Joseph. What is Joseph actually called to do?

The reality is that biologically, Joseph was not needed. We confess from this text and from Luke’s account that we believe… ‘In Jesus Christ our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit…’ The Christian church has always confessed that the conception of Jesus was a miracle. The church confesses that the Son of God became a human being in this world not through the normal processes of a man and woman coming together, but through the power and work of the Holy Spirit in Mary. Biologically speaking, Jesus had no human father. So what is the task of Joseph?

You could say Joseph is called to be a foster-father of sorts—to adopt and care for and protect Jesus as his own. He certainly does a good job of that especially in the flight to Egypt. So Joseph is sometimes called the guardian of Jesus. Notice too that Joseph is addressed by the angel as ‘Son of David’.

So, there’s something going on here to do with the fulfilment of the covenant that God made with David—that by Joseph becoming Jesus’ legal father the rightful King will come to his throne. But connected to this in the text, we read of a very specific task Joseph is given, which is the naming of Jesus: ‘Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him… Jesus…’

 Now, you’ve probably noticed that names seem to carry a lot more significance in the culture and time of the Bible than they do for us today in our culture. But even today we still often spend a lot of time thinking about what to name our children, don’t we? It’s fairly important to us. Just imagine if someone tried to restrict this freedom. Imagine if the government tried to tell people what they could and couldn’t name their children! We seem to instinctively know there’s something very important about names, and so there is a certain honour and gravity in the giving of a name.

So Joseph’s task is to name the child, not using a name of his own choosing, but with the name the Lord supplies: ‘You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’

Let’s think a little about the name Joseph is to give the child. The name ‘Jesus’ comes from two Hebrew words, which together mean ‘the Lord saves’. Notice the emphasis in his name—Jesus comes to save. This is who he is; this is his work; this is his mission. He comes to save his people. He comes to save you.

Jesus does other things. He teaches, he heals, he works miracles, and so on. But everything else serves this main purpose of being the Saviour. This is no small point. Just about everyone is willing to acknowledge Jesus in some way—as a great teacher, as a spiritual guru, or as a nice guy. But the only way to truly know him is as the Saviour.

The reason that it’s difficult to acknowledge him as Saviour is that it also requires realising your problem is much deeper than you think. So, for example, if all we need is a bit more information and guidance, then Jesus the teacher will do. But if our problem is that actually we are broken from the core; if our condition is terminal, then we need a Saviour. And notice what he saves from!

Many people of that time were hoping for a saviour—a saviour from the Romans, a saviour from their enemies, a saviour from all the problems out there. But the angel says he comes to save his people from their sins. Salvation is about delivering us from the problem inside of us—in our sinful hearts.

Jesus comes to save you from your sins. He does this by taking your sins on himself on the cross, and so removing their power. And he’s not only Jesus, the Saviour. He’s also Immanuel; God with us, God for us. So that’s the awesome task of Joseph—naming Jesus.

Now finally and more briefly, let’s note the response of Joseph, which is the obedience of faith. ‘When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.’

One of the striking features of both Mary and Joseph in the Christmas event is that when the angel comes with the news of Jesus’ birth and gives instructions concerning it, to use the words of the old hymn, they simply ‘trust and obey’. With Joseph it stands out even more because of what we said earlier about there being no record of anything he said. All we have is his action. Joseph hears, trusts, and does what God has called him to do. At the beginning he was in a predicament and he was unsure and unclear about what to do. He had to work it out as best he could and choose a course of action.

But with a clear word from God to him, there’s no great deliberation, no argument, and no second guessing. He simply hears, trusts, and obeys.

So what about for us?

It’s true that there are situations we find ourselves in in which it is not always easy to know what God would have us do. Things can be unclear to us, and so we are called to use our Christian wisdom to find the best course of action we can. But perhaps there are not as many of these as we think there are, and in our lives there are often situations which we make more complicated because we have trouble simply obeying the clear and simple word of God.

There’s a time for deliberation and discernment. There’s even a place for wrestling with God, and asking our questions, and pouring out our hearts’ struggles to him. But there’s also a time for simple, trusting obedience. This obedience does not put us right with God. We stand right before God by faith in Jesus Christ. But from our faith flows a joyful obedience.

So as you face predicaments in your Christian life, remember Joseph, and, as Joseph did, trust God to intervene and lead you through them. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, remember Joseph, the one charged with giving the child the name and all it means, Jesus, the Saviour from sin. And as you believe in Jesus, your Saviour, may a simple and joyful obedience to God’s will overflow in your life. Amen.

The Text: Matthew 11:1-12

¹After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.

²When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples ³to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

⁴Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. ⁶Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

⁷As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? ⁸If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. ⁹Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰This is the one about whom it is written:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,

    who will prepare your way before you.’

¹¹Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

In today’s text, Matthew tells us that John is in prison. He had been arrested by Herod because John had condemned Herod’s adulterous relationship with his brother Philip’s wife. John was simply being faithful to God’s Word. John the Baptist showed his love for God by not compromising his word, and he loved Herod too―really loved him by pointing out the hard truth to him and calling him to repentance, in accordance with God’s own definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13―that love rejoices in the truth.

Okay―people don’t like to hear the truth that hurts―but being imprisoned for speaking it? It wasn’t meant to turn out like this for John, was it? Maybe that’s the reason for John’s question of Jesus: “Are you the one to come, or should we wait for another?” The reason behind John’s question has resulted in quite a deal of debate and uncertainty among scholars for a long time. Was John doubting that Jesus was really the Christ? After all, John has faithfully prepared the way for him. Yet instead of the situation getting better it has only become worse. John had proclaimed that the Christ would come to bring judgment on evil―and now languishing in prison as a victim of injustice perhaps that is what John is longing for Jesus to do for him.

Or perhaps John was uncertain or confused because his proclamation was of a Messiah coming to bring judgment. He had heard in prison of the works Christ was doing―but where was the swinging of the axe that had gone below stump level and was already at the roots? The only works John had heard were those of forgiveness, healing, and mercy―would another follow Jesus, who would perform these works of judgment?

Or could it be that John’s question is not one of doubt, but really a question of trust―expecting confirmation and verification for what he already knows? The fact that John sends a delegation to Jesus with his question and awaits an answer from him proves his faith in Jesus. I’m not so sure it need be an either/or answer. Could it not be all of these thoughts are running through John’s mind while he waited and waited in prison?

It seems like we wait and wait too. Come Lord Jesus we pray. We don’t like waiting, especially in today’s society. But today’s text doesn’t just leave us with the questions. Jesus gives his own response. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say: “Yes, go and reassure John that I’m the Messiah.” But Jesus says: “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.” This is the best assurance possible, for what Jesus says is the direct fulfilment of what God promised through Isaiah in today’s Old Testament reading. Jesus is the fulfilment of what has been promised from of old. He has been doing precisely these things since the beginning of his public ministry. He has preached in the synagogues. He has cast out demons. He has healed many from their sicknesses including a lame man and a blind man. The miracles point to his authority and power over all things, even to release people from their sin and the kingdom of darkness, and to be victorious over the power of death itself. It’s no wonder Jesus tells them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard.”

Perhaps at some point or other we can all relate to John the Baptist as he waited in prison. Just like John, everything we might expect or hope for from God is not always fulfilled in the way we’d like, or with the timing we’d like. Maybe it’s an illness that we or a loved one suffer, or the troubles of our family. Maybe it’s a time of difficulty we’re going through, or maybe it’s wondering about an uncertain future. We might feel trapped and isolated with burdens nobody else could understand. We might feel imprisoned by our frail bodies or our own sinful human natures.

Yet the season of Advent focuses our attention on God who did not abandon his creation but stepped into it in the person of Christ and was born in that stable at Bethlehem. However if Advent were just a reminder of what had happened in salvation history then it becomes emptied of so much hope and power. Neither is Advent only about hoping Christ will come again one day. In The freedom of a Christian, Luther says

“…it is not enough…to preach about Christ just by telling what he did and said, simply as a story or as historical facts. Just knowing these things doesn’t necessarily make any difference to how a person lives.

Instead, Christ ought to be preached about in such a way that faith in him is kindled and kept burning, so that he is not only Christ, but Christ for you and me; so that what we are told he is and does takes effect in us. Such faith is produced and grows in us when we are told why Christ came, what he has brought and given us, and what good things we have when we have him.”

Together with our remembering and hoping, this is why the season of Advent is so special. Jesus came for us. He was born, truly human, for us. Born there in a stable surrounded by dirt and animals and their waste, Jesus came to us to know what it means to be a person and live in vulnerability and weakness and brokenness. He overcame temptation for us and lived perfectly for us. He came to rescue us and bring us true freedom by calling us into God’s Kingdom.

No one knows when he will come again but he tells us where he comes now with his re-creative power at work. He tells us where he comes in the midst the suffering of this world to bring the Good News to the blind, the lame, the sick, and the poor. Through the Holy Scriptures he continues to teach us, just like he taught his disciples in verse 1. He raised us from the dead and brought us his new life and resurrection power in baptism. He continues to bring freedom and release through the holy meal he serves his people which is not just bread and wine but his own flesh and blood. As he ministers to us through these ways, he calls us to wait―and to wait with him. As we do wait for his return we can rejoice that he will never leave us. As we wait with our Advent King and gather around him to be served by him, we proclaim to the world that he has trampled over death and lives today, and that he uses his authority to bless unworthy sinners with the abundant grace of God, so that there is hope and strength, joy and refuge in even the darkest places of human experience.

Blessed are those who do not take offence at Jesus’ words! For those who cherish Jesus’ words rather than taking offence at them can only do so because they have first been blessed by God. And those who have been blessed by God so that they do not take offence at the words of his Son—but hold firmly to them in faith—will see John the Baptist and all the other saints of all times and places, as we gather around the throne of the Lamb in heaven.

Amen.

 

God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give us grace and peace. Amen.

People can often think of repentance in negative ways. The call to repent can bring to mind a person standing on a street corner, telling people to turn from their sins because judgement is coming which will bring condemnation to all who are not living the right way. Repentance can often be understood as being based on threats, motivated by guilt and fear.

When we listen to John the Baptist’s call to repentance in Matthew 3, we can hear him urging those who are listening to him to turn from a particular way of living. What is important is that John was talking this way to the Pharisees and Sadducees who were the most religious people of his day (v7). John was telling them that going through a religious ritual with no intention of making changes in their lives was worthless. Instead of thinking that they had no need to repent because of their own perceived religious goodness, John was telling them that they needed to produce the fruit in their lives that came from a changed heart and mind.

John’s words are a challenge to all of us. It can be easy for us, too, to go through the motions of turning up to church, saying a prayer of confession and hearing God’s forgiveness in the absolution, without it making a difference in our lives. When John the Baptist calls us to produce fruit in keeping with repentance, he is saying that repentance will show in the way we live and in our relationships with other people.

For example, during Advent we celebrate God’s gifts of hope, peace, joy and love to us through the birth of Jesus. This is a good time to look at our lives and ask whether we are producing the fruit of God’s hope, peace, joy or love in our lives. If we are turning up to worship, lighting the candles each week, singing carols and other songs, but not finding hope, peace, joy or love in our lives, then we are not too different from the Pharisees and Sadducees who turned up to be baptised by John but were not willing to change their ways of living. It might sound harsh, but when John says that the axe is at the root of the tree, ready to cut it down if it is not bearing fruit (v10), he also warning us that God wants to see the fruit of hope, peace, joy and love in our lives.

What produces this fruit is trusting in God’s promise of his coming kingdom. Matthew writes that John’s message of repentance was the same as Jesus’ message at the start of his ministry when he said, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’ (Matthew 3:2; 4:17 NIV). They both call people to turn to God and be part of his coming kingdom on earth. The Kingdom of Heaven which comes to us in Jesus is good news for us because Christ’s kingdom brings with it all the goodness of God in the person of Jesus. John and Jesus both call us to repent, to turn towards God, on the basis of the promise of God’s goodness which comes to us in his kingdom. We can hear this call to repentance as the promise of something good, not a threat of punishment.

Christ’s kingdom comes to give us everything we need to produce the fruit God is looking for. If I am trying to grow fruit on a tree, the best way to help it produce a good crop is to feed it, water it, care for it and nurture it. God does the same with us by giving us what we need through Jesus to produce fruit in us. We call this ‘grace’. If we are lacking hope in our lives, Jesus gives us hope as the one who defeated death and whose life is stronger than anything that might try to take our hope away. If we are in conflict, either with others or within ourselves, Jesus’ reconciling work on the cross establishes peace between us and God which we can live out in our relationships with others and within ourselves. If we are lacking joy, the good news of Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection can give us joy as we live in the reality of God’s grace and love for us. And if we are finding it hard to love God, others or even ourselves, the love that God show us in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection creates and grows love in us for everyone who needs it. Whatever fruit we may be lacking in our lives, by turning towards Christ’s kingdom in faith, the Holy Spirit provides us with all we need to produce the fruit of repentance in our lives.

That is why John the Baptist calls us to repent. Instead of spending our lives looking for hope, peace, joy or love in ways that will ultimately fall short, John is calling us back to the one place where God provides us with everything we need to produce what he is looking for. Repentance is a vital part of the lifestyle of the follower of Jesus. It grows when we trust that God has everything we need for this life and the next, and gives us what we need as an on-going act of grace through the coming of his kingdom in Jesus.

Repentance is much bigger than turning up to church sometimes and saying a ‘sorry’ prayer. As we hear the good news of Jesus and turn to him as the source of every good thing we need for life in this world and the next, the Holy Spirit continues to grow us to maturity so we can produce the fruits of repentance which God is looking for in our lives.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

Matthew 24:36-44
But concerning that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven or the Son, only the Father. ³⁷For just as in the days of Noah so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, feasting and marrying until the day Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all. So will also be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹Two will be grinding with a millstone; one will be taken and one will remain. ⁴²Keep watch therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been vigilant and not have let his house been broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, because you do not know at what hour the Son of Man is coming.

 

Today we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the church year. The word ‘advent’ is from a Latin word, adventus, which means ‘coming’ or arrival of an important occasion or person.

During the four Sundays of Advent we look forward to the important occasion of Christmas and its celebration of our Lord’s coming as a human baby born at Bethlehem as the Saviour of the world. It is Jesus’ birth, this Advent of the promised Saviour, which marks the beginning of the end times. The end is near.

During these four Sundays of Advent we also focus on preparing for Jesus’ final coming as King at the end of time. That preparation for His arrival involves self-examination and repentance.

The end is near, but, Jesus Himself tells us in today’s Gospel, nobody knows the day or hour of His return. We can only join in the confession of the Apostle Paul, who in our second reading from Romans 13 declares that “…our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed”.

Jesus explains His imminent coming and what that will mean with an example from history: His coming will be like the flood in Noah’s day. In verses 38-39 Jesus says:

“In those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, feasting and marrying until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all.”

Jesus is not condemning the eating and drinking, feasting and marrying, but the state of indifference to life with God. Noah and his family heeded the word of God and were saved. The building of the ark was a sign to the people for repentance, the sign that judgement through the flood was coming. Yet they carried on with their daily lives, eating and drinking, feasting and marrying oblivious to their need for God and the blessing of His forgiveness, so that when the flood came, suddenly, unexpectedly, it took them all.

So will the coming of the Son of Man be, Jesus says: sudden and unexpected. Which is why vigilance for His return is a critical matter. Jesus tells us a parable of a thief breaking into a house to help us understand this. If a thief consulted with the owner of the house prior to their burglary, and notified them of the precise time they were coming, the owner of the house would not be otherwise occupied or asleep, but present and vigilant, waiting for the arrival of the thief so that they could take the appropriate measures.

Thieves don’t publish a schedule for their criminal activity. It is sudden and unexpected. That is why, if that owner of the house in the parable had known at what time they were coming, he would have kept an eye out for them. Vigilance is necessary. So too for Jesus’ coming. Jesus says: ‘Therefore you also must be ready, because you do not know at what hour the Son of Man is coming.

Some years ago a tourist was travelling along the shores of Lake Como in Northern Italy. He wanted to visit a particular castle called Villa Arconti. When he reached the castle, an elderly gardener opened the gate and showed the tourist around the grounds which he had kept in perfect order, for over 24 years. “How often has the owner of the castle been here during that time?” The tourist asked. “Four times,” the gardener replied. When was the last time that he was here?” The tourist asked. “Twelve years ago,” the gardener replied. “Does he call or write to you?” “Never,” answered the gardener. The tourist was amazed, and said: “But you keep this garden in such fine condition and take such excellent care of it, just as though you expected your master to come tomorrow.” “Today, sir—today,” the gardener replied.

How about us and our preparedness for Jesus’ return? Would we be thinking: ‘Today my Lord may return. I must watch and be ready. I must attend to the state of my spiritual life and devotion.’

How many days in this past week have we thought that? How often have we lived each day as if we expected our Lord to arrive that very day?

Our work and leisure are two big areas of our daily lives that often crowd out the thought of being ready and keeping watch. We hear that from our text. Two people were in a field, one was taken, the other left behind. Two were milling the grain, one was taken, one left behind. So while there were two people carrying out their daily work, one was focused on work and its rewards; the other was focused on Christ!

In whatever work we do, it’s easy for us to become consumed in it. Would Jesus want us, in whatever line of work we are in, to be so busy that we do not come to Him in a time set aside for daily meditation and weekly reception of His grace and blessing through His presence to bless us in Sunday worship? That is the whole purpose of our text: to work in us the desire for daily baptismal living and the presence of God through the holy things he offers to us: His word and sacraments, as we await His final coming.

Yet these things easily go onto the backburner as we go through the daily motions, the weekly grind. It is easy to work ourselves into the ground. Our thoughts shift to taking time out. Of eating, and drinking, and feasting, as it were. How often is our immediate thought when we do have time off to say: “At the beginning of the day I will read my bible for 30 seconds, a precious half minute when I can meet with Jesus my Lord who will be there with His Spirit to bless me.”

But during Advent, we are not just keeping watch over our hearts and minds. Advent is also a time of joyful expectation and a time of hope. Advent is a time of waiting – not just waiting aimlessly, but waiting expectantly; a waiting for God to fulfil His promise. It is why we have the fifth candle on Advent wreaths. The candle in the centre, symbolising Christ, God born in flesh for us as a human baby, the light of the world who has come and who will come again. Christ the one who is at the centre of our expectant waiting, the One who our faith and hope clings to, and the one who fulfils it.

The gospel in our text is the very fact that Jesus is coming again to take His faithful people to be with Him in heavenly glory forever. For His faithful people, Jesus’ coming again is a time of joy and comfort, a time of fulfilment.

How will Christ’s second coming actually happen? Will we have time to blink? Will we be overcome with fear or rush to meet our Lord in jubilation? At His coming will we give extravagant praise or fall on our face in spontaneous reverence at the holiness of God before us? How would we know if it were really Jesus, or if we were being led astray by a false Christ?

Today’s text tells us that just as our entire salvation is completely the work of the one who was nailed to the Cross for us, so also our final rescue is completely up to Him. Jesus never speaks of us going anywhere! We are simply there. We are just waiting, the ones open to his work; the recipients of His grace. The action is on His part. He is coming to us. That, after all, is what adventus means. He comes – and those who belong to Him will be taken.

As we wait for His coming, His taking of us into eternal glory, may He, as the God of all hope, bless and keep each of us in true faith and hope.

And for those of us whose spouse or children or parents do not yet know the Lord, and for whom today’s reading consequently fills you with anxiety over your loved ones without faith, may you receive true peace and hope knowing that the Lord who is coming again, is the God of all hope.

The God of all hope who humbled Himself and became man, who broke into our world which groans for deliverance from transgression, the God of all hope who came to bring forgiveness and compassion to our human race tearing itself apart. The God of all hope: who came in human flesh and shared our weakness, and took upon himself the most sickening of human sin and depravity, so that those in the depths of despair could have a true and lasting joy of knowing God.

He continues to come into our world, into the homes and hearts and minds of those who, like the Apostle Paul once did, even proudly and publicly reject and persecute him. The God of all hope continues to come, even to the faithless, to create life saving faith in those, who like us, were unable to come to our Saviour by our own strength or choose Him.

Because God kept His promise to send His son, the world’s Saviour, He has shown Himself to be trustworthy. We can count on Him. We can count on His promise that Christ our Lord is coming again to take all His faithful people to be with Him.

Until then He continually comes to us in His holy Word as He has done again this morning, in the waters of Holy Baptism and in bread and wine which is his true body and blood.

Through these means He graciously bestows upon us the riches of His grace and all the benefits He won for us on the Cross through His shed blood: forgiveness, righteousness, reconciliation and peace with God, freedom from sin, death and the devil, and eternal life.

Through these means your King comes to you, humble and gentle, giving Himself, forgiving you, blessing you, and strengthening you in the one true faith until life eternal. Come Lord Jesus, come!

Amen.