The sermon for December 1st was based on Matthew 21:1-9.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The beginning of the Church year is a time of reflecting on the past and looking forward to the future. For Christians, one event in the past shines brighter than any other, and one event in the future demands your attention more than any other. Both events are the coming of Christ. In the past, Christ came to take away the sin of the world. That first advent you will celebrate at Christmas. The second advent is still to come, for on the Last Day Christ will come again to judge the world.

During Advent, the Church keeps both of these events in vivid focus. Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem is an example of this dual focus. He came in lowliness to die for your sins and as He will come again in triumph to His Church, His holy Jerusalem.

In the series of lessons which the Church has heard for over a thousand years, this text is also read on Palm Sunday. Then the week of His Passion begins and Jesus enters Jerusalem to die upon the cross for your sins on Good Friday. So, why is this text the Gospel lesson for the first Sunday in Advent? Why does the Church have you think about Jesus' death when you want to think about Jesus birth at Christmas?

As Jesus meekly rode into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey, what did the people proclaim? They cried out, "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' They believed Christ was going to be king, the one promised, who was coming to save them. They were right! Yet, they were also wrong, for they wanted a king to rule over them and end the occupation of their Roman conquerors. Instead, He came as a king to save all people from their sins.

The people of Jerusalem wanted something different than Jesus came to deliver. So do people today. The stores began to celebrate Christmas weeks ago. You also may have already begun your Christmas celebration. You want to focus on the happy occasion of the Babe born in Bethlehem. You don't yet want to think about the week of Christ's Passion, His innocent suffering and death. That is why it is so striking to top a Christmas tree with a crucifix. Yet, to observe Advent is to think about why Christ came, that He came to die for your sins. He came to die for selfish preoccupation with only the happy things. Still, you would rather focus on His miraculous birth from the Virgin Mary. You would rather think about the marvelous angels who visited the shepherds and sang their Gloria.

The people of Jerusalem were also preoccupied with the marvelous and the miraculous. On that day they were marveling at Jesus, amazed at His miracles of which they had heard. Yet, they were confused about His identity and His purpose. St. Matthew records this confusion, "And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, 'Who is this?' So the multitudes said, 'This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.'"

If Jesus were only a prophet, there would be no reason to focus on His advent. If He were only a prophet, He, like the other prophets, would have foretold the coming of the Messiah to save the people from their sins. If He were only a prophet, you might have heard a reading from one of His writings this morning.

Jesus is a prophet, but He is so much more than a prophet. He is Prophet, Priest and King. He is a prophet, for He proclaims the Word of God, calling people to repentance. But He rode into Jerusalem especially as the ultimate Priest, to sacrifice Himself as the one atoning sacrifice that would pay for the sins of all mankind for all time. He also came to Jerusalem as the warrior King, to triumph by His death over man's most dread enemies: sin, death, and the power of the devil.

Such was the purpose of Christ's first advent. On His second advent He will return as the King of Glory to take all His faithful subjects to reign with Him in His eternal Kingdom. Both advents are the subject of this season, and both advents are connected to one another. Christ's first advent made it possible for you to look forward to His second advent with joy and hope instead of with fear and dread.

As you begin to wend your way toward Christmas and the birth of God, remember why He came. He came because you are a disobedient child. You know the will of God for your life, yet you fail to do His will. God's will is for you to cherish His Word and gladly hear and learn it, yet you skip Bible class. God's will is for you to receive all His gifts with thanksgiving, yet you grumble and complain. God's will is for you not to worry about your life, yet you fret with anxiety about finances and health. God's will is for you to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. In all this you have failed miserably.

This sinful failure can cause you to dread the second advent of Christ on the Last Day. Your sin also gives you reason to fear your own death, which is your last day. The reason for this fear is simple. You fear the judgment of God. But this fear comes from a lack of understanding Christ's first advent on earth. At His first advent, Jesus conquered your fears as He conquered your own sinfulness. That is why Christ came: to humbly enter into Jerusalem and give Himself as a sacrifice for sin-your sin included.

The blessing of Christ's first advent gives you a hopeful longing for His second advent. Jesus' triumph over sin and death gives you the proper perspective about the Last Day. Consider the tone of the book of Revelation. It isn't a book about fear and dread, but about hope and joy. It speaks about Christ as Victor over sin, death and the power of the devil. This truth helps you remain properly focused on Christ's second coming. This truth comforts you, in spite of all that will happen in the world, in spite of all the pain and suffering brought about by sin, in spite of the fact that the end of this life is certain, there is joy and hope in the second advent of Christ.

Christ's first advent takes all the fear and dread out of His second coming. In His first coming, by His death, Christ opened the kingdom of heaven to all who believe His Word. When He returns, as He prophesied that He would, He will take those who believe His Word to be with Him where He is. In His first coming, Jesus came to defeat your enemies, to sacrifice Himself and purchase you from the grip of sin, death and the power of the devil. Now you are His and you can look forward to the day He will return and take you to be with Him.

Yet you still live here in the midst of a fearful, dreadful world. Therefore, in the time between His advents, Jesus comes to you. He comes with the blessings of His first advent to prepare you for His second advent. He speaks to you through the mouths of your Pastors and says, "I forgive you all your sins-there is nothing left to fear." He comes in holy Baptism and marks you as His own, washed and robed in white, ready for the Last Day. He comes with the strengthening food of His precious Body and Blood in this meal set before you to give you forgiveness and to preserve you in the one, true faith so that you are ready for His final advent.

Jesus came to Jerusalem to die for you. Jesus comes here today to give you forgiveness and strength. And Jesus will come again on the Last Day to raise you up into the glory of the heavenly Jerusalem. This is the focus of Advent, and of the whole Church year. This is the message of the Church for you, and for the whole world. May God bless this new year as He comes to you and to your friends and neighbors through His Word and Sacraments. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008