1.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our
Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The message from God’s Word this first sermon
in our Advent Midweek Series is taken from Isaiah 64:1-9. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
“Wait
till your father comes home!” How many of you remember hearing those words
when you were growing up? Maybe some of our young people are still hearing
these words today: Wait till your father
comes home! What images or events do these words bring to your mind?
3.
I can
think of one in particular. Since it’s now the season of Advent and soon
Christmas, it’s fitting that we can reflect on an event that took place with
one little boy years ago. It was close to Christmas. This boy was about 8 years
old. His parents were out of the house. Dad was at work; Mom was grocery
shopping. And they left him home alone. Never a good idea! His parents had not yet set up the Christmas
tree, and the boy wanted some Christmas decorations in the house. He had time
on his hands and he had paper, scissors, glue, and crayons. He had no adult
supervision. He was a very creative boy. This was a lethal combination! The little boy drew, colored, and cut out a
large number of decorations: Santa Claus, a Christmas tree, presents, a baby
Jesus, and people in his family standing around the tree. And then, after he’d drawn, colored, and cut
out all these decorations, he did the only reasonable thing he could think to
do. He glued them all to the living room wall.
His mother came home first. As
you can imagine, she said a number of things. The one thing the boy could
remember was this: Wait till your father
comes home! I don’t think that meant that his dad was coming to congratulate his
little boy on his creativity. We’re
now in the season of Advent, and at Advent,
God is coming.
4.
Advent
means “coming.” Advent has two
focuses: the first coming of the baby Jesus at Christmas and the second coming
of King Jesus at Judgment Day. Very often we only think of Advent in connection
with the joys of Christmas. We can’t wait for Christmas! We join Isaiah as he
declares in our sermon text, “Oh that you
would rend the heavens and come down” (v 1)!
5.
But, as
we read the Bible, we discover that both the Old and New Testaments connect
Advent to Judgment Day. In 1 Thessalonians, we read: “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come
like a thief in the night” (5:2). And also, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, .
. . with the sound of the trumpet of God” (4:16). Jesus himself said, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the
day nor the hour. . . . When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the
angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne” (Mt 25:13, 31).
6.
In the
Old Testament, the prophet Amos said, “Woe
to you who desire the day of the Lord!
. . . It is darkness, and not light. . . . Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light?” (Amos
5:18, 20). Isaiah says, “Wail, for the
day of the Lord is near; as
destruction from the Almighty it will come! . . . Behold, the day of the Lord comes, . . . to make the land a
desolation and to destroy its sinners from it” (Is 13:6, 9). Hmmm . . .
7.
Advent
means God is coming. A holy God is coming, and we’re sinners. Yes, in our text,
Isaiah first sounds eager to have the Father come: “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down” (v 1). But then
he rethinks what he just prayed for. He says to this God, “Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long
time, and shall we be saved?” (v 5). Oh, no. Now that I think about it,
Father, maybe I’m not so eager for you to come down. Isaiah realizes that God
has reason to come to us in judgment.
8.
Our
“good deeds” can’t prevent God’s judgment. Isaiah knows he has to admit, “We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (v 6). Some
suggest that the polluted garments of which Isaiah speaks refer to a women’s
monthly menstrual garments. These soiled garments make a person unclean and
unable to enter into God’s presence in the temple. Just so, our good works don’t
work in getting us right with a holy God. Even our attempts at good deeds are
sin. Our sin brings us destruction. Isaiah understands. He goes on to say, “We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities,
like the wind, take us away” (v 6). Are
you enjoying Advent yet? Are you looking forward to the second coming? Wait till your Father comes home! Oh, no
. . .
9.
But, this
is only half of the story. This is what we Lutherans call the Law. What about
the Gospel? What about the Good News? We
can say and believe: “Advent means God is
coming, hurray!” God is just and must deal with sin, but the Bible declares:
God is also our loving Father. We can wait for his coming and wait with joy. Oh,
I can’t wait till my Father comes home! Listen to what Isaiah tells us in
today’s sermon text: “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the
clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. . . . Remember
not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people” (vv
8–9).
10.
God is
our loving father. He’s the potter; we’re the clay. We belong to him. We’re the
work of his hands. He personally created us. We’re precious to him. He’s our
Father who loves us. Sorry for our sin, we humbly go to our Father for
forgiveness. What is the assurance of our forgiveness? It’s this: Advent
announces the coming of our loving God in the flesh.
11.
In John
1:14 we read, “And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us.” The Word is a title for Jesus. This verse is John’s
commentary on the miracle of Christmas. The eternal Word of God became a human
being, was born among us. We call this truth of Scripture the incarnation.
Incarnation means to become flesh. Carne
is a Latin word for flesh or meat. When you buy a can of chili at the store,
often the label will read chili con carne. That
means chili peppers with meat. At Christmas we celebrate that Jesus, the
eternal Word, became meat. He became a flesh-and-blood human being. He did so
to become our Savior.
12.
This
loving God-in-the-flesh comes to us at Bethlehem’s manger. Look inside that
manger. Look inside that feed trough. What do you see? You see not just a cute
baby boy. You see God in the flesh come for you! Look upon Calvary’s cross. What do you see?
You see not just a victim of an unjust punishment. You see God in the flesh
paying for your sins and the sins of the world! Look inside that empty tomb on
Easter Sunday morning. What do you see? He’s not there! He’s risen from the
dead. He is God in the flesh, victorious over sin, death, and the devil. And he
did this for you!
13.
When Judgment
Day arrives, look! Who is coming again? Look! Who is coming in glory to take to
heaven you and all who trust in him? Who is it? It is God in the flesh, the
King of kings and Lord of lords. Oh, wait till your Father comes home!
14.
Here’s one
more story about that little boy that I spoke about at the beginning of this
sermon. This one has a happier ending than the one about gluing decorations to
the living room walls. This little boy’s
family was poor. They lived on government assistance. They had to give up the
farm and move into town. His dad got a job as a hospital janitor. After a while
he desperately needed new work shoes. The ones he was wearing had holes in the
soles, and daylight could be seen through the holes. He’d been saving money to
get new shoes. At just the same time, the little boy very much wanted a new
baseball glove, which his family couldn’t afford. But his father put cardboard
in his shoes to cover the holes and spent that money for a new baseball glove for
his son! Oh, the boy loved that glove. His dad taught him to take care of it
and never to leave it outside in the rain. But one day he had done just that.
The leather glove was soaked through with the rain. The boy found it, and he was heartbroken. He
knew what his dad went through to get him that glove. His mother then said those famous words again,
“Wait till your father comes home.”
He wasn’t looking forward to his arrival.
Dad came home. His son showed him the ball glove. He waited for the
worst. What happened next was a surprise.
His dad didn’t get angry. His eyes
were wet with tears. He knew his son was sorry. He knew he loved that ball
glove. He knew he deserved punishment. Instead,
his dad showed him how to dry out the glove by putting it in the oven at a low
heat. He showed him how to rub some “mink
oil” into the leather to preserve it. After a couple of days of this, the
glove was as good as new. The boy waited
until his dad came home, and he came with mercy and forgiveness and love. Oh, how
his dad loved his son! He was so glad he came home, and that he came home for
him.
15.
Advent
tells us our Lord is coming. He’s coming as the babe in the manger and as the
king at Judgment Day. He’s holy and just and takes seriously our sin. But he is
especially merciful and forgiving and loving. So it’s only fitting that at the
beginning of Advent we pray that last prayer recorded in Holy Scripture and
pray it eagerly: “Come, Lord Jesus!”
(Rev 22:20). In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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