DEC 2, 2018
FR. PHIL EBERHART
Zech 14:(1-2)3-9
Ps 50:1-6
1 Thess 3:6-13
Luke 21:25-33
Welcome to Advent! Happy New Year, Church Year that is!
I have preached a multitude of Advent 1 sermons and each time I am amazed at the readings and their immediacy and relevance for our day. Sometimes its like reading the morning paper! There are things that sound familiar to us - even more familiar now - perhaps than ever before.
It's true that every age - every generation - has had its visions of Christ coming in the clouds, because of some of the circumstances which they are enduring, whether hardship and persecution, extreme weather, earthquakes, amazing things happening in the skies above ... whatever. All of these things are present in our news too. Earthquakes, tsunamis, nations in distress, people groups rising up against one another, ethnic strife and hatred on the rise - we can name a few right from our morning papers!
So whats the point - the point of ADVENT?
As we study the Word of God I think it is paramount that we remember what was said in our Gospel reading this morning from Luke - the last line of our reading.
Heaven and earth SHALL (say SHALL) pass away...
You know how important I say some words are? Like Therefore!. Well ... SHALL is one of those words too.
Every one say the verse together --
Heaven and earth shall pass away, BUT My Words shall not pass away!
OK, guess what "shall" means?!!
YEP... SHALL!
It's going to happen! NO doubt.
God is going to remake the heavens and the earth! It's here in the Book! And what does it say SHALL NOT pass away? My Words.
The Word of God is enduring - it alone is the creative force! God said, ... and BANG! IT WAS!
I read it in the first chapter! And now, here we are almost at the last chapter, nearly at the last page, and the Word of God is the thing that will remain!
Where should we put our trust?
Where should we draw our life from?
Where can we find Solid Ground to stand on?
One of the men yesterday at Mens' Group, commented that the point of Advent and of our readings this morning and throughout the 4 Sundays of Advent are Get Ready! Be prepared.
Next week we go further into what that preparation looks like - our collect is the Word of God Collect - one of our favorites here - HOLDUP YOU HAND- small finger up: Hear! Next finger: READ! Next: MARK! First finger: LEARN!! and finally the thumb, INWARDLY DIGEST.
Friends, this is the stuff that SHALL NOT pass away, and here we find a sure foundation, a rock that will stand the storms of life, even at the end of days!
And as we "see the day approaching" it behooves us to avail ourselves "more and more" to this WORD and what it gives us! PREPARATION - READINESS - FAITH - A SWORD IN OUR HAND -
Sounds like another list we are pretty familiar with, right? Ephesians 6:10 and following?
1. TRUTH AS A BELT
2. RIGHTEOUSNESS AS A BREASTPLATE
4. FAITH AS A SHIELD
5. SALVATION AS A HELMET
6. WORD OF GOD AS A SWORD
7. PRAYER IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
So this is what Paul calls the WHOLE ARMOR of God.
I've made these words live links in my sermon text that you can find on my blog site: rezpadre.blogspot.com
Take some time each day and click on just one and go through the meanings and the concordance references for each one: Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Faith, Salvation, Word and Prayer
All of these are intrinsically bound up with the living and enduring Word of God - and they are the way that you prepare - you "dress yourself for battle" in this way!
Is there anyone here that thinks we're really NOT in a battle?
I want to tell you that your worldview matters! What you believe to be reality matters! Is there a heaven and a hell? Moreover, is there even a GOD?
We live in a day that questions those realities more and more - there is and will be more and more push back - even to the point of persecution ... yes, right here in River City! It's going on now, as we speak.
Get ready. Get your mind and your heart, your finances and your household, ready. We pray, "Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus" -- but I believe we are in this for the haul. It's what one writer called "a long obedience in the same direction!"
If we're ready now, we will be ready whether there is a "rapture" - a catching away as some believe, OR whether we are to stand in the midst of the storm on the ROCK of obedience to Christ Jesus and His Word. However God wants to do it, we will be ready.
And THAT is the point of ADVENT.
Let's pray together:
Pray with me the very appropriate collect for today again:
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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