“O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” Advent is as much a time of waiting for the glorious light of Christ’s birth which marks the beginning of our future of eternal life as it as about remembering the past, for Christ’s birth took place in the past after all. We wait for Christ’s birth which is God’s decisive act of grace in history. Christ’s birth is somehow the beginning of the end of all things and Christ’s birth is somehow God’s fulfillment of God’s desires for all creation. It is both waiting on the beginning and the fulfillment of the end. Christ’s birth is simultaneously the start, or advent of something new and the completion, or climax of God’s work in creation. These are the things of the season of Advent that generations of Christians have pondered. The dawn of God’s light in Christ’s birth is something so powerful and joyous that it brings angels to tears, kings to their knees in adoration, and fear to those who would oppose God. The birth of Christ is where our gaze is focused throughout Advent, both to God’s incarnation in human form as well as Christ’s coming again, to the fulfillment of God’s promises which inextricably wrap themselves around the beginning of all things and their end. Advent then, is a time, which looks backwards to Christ’s birth and forwards to Christ’s coming again, because all things are wrapped in Christ.
For some, Advent and Christmas are a time of joy where families gather together, where parties are thrown in the name of good cheer and glad tidings, where church services typically grow in attendance, and where the darkness of the night is temporarily lit up with tiny little Christmas lights perhaps guiding wayward shepherds and kings to the manger where Christ was born. And for others, the holiday season brings a feeling of absence of those who are no longer present in their lives. There may also be a feeling of inadequacy because some may not have enough money to by all of the gifts that society tells you that youshould have. So, as much as Advent is simultaneously about the beginning and the end, it is both joyful and sad, for the shadow of the cross looms large by the light cast from the Eastern Star that guided the wise men to the manger. “O come, thou day-Spring, come and cheer our spirits by thine advent here, disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.”
Luke 2:7 said, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” In a Christmas sermon, Martin Luther said:
The Evangelist shows how, when they arrived at Bethlehem, they were the most insignificant and despised, so that they had to make way for others until they were obliged to take refuge in a stable, to share with the cattle, lodging, table, bedchamber and bed, while many a wicked man sat at the head in the hotels and was honored as lord. No one noticed or was conscious of what God was doing in that stable. He lets the large houses and costly apartments remain empty, lets their inhabitants eat, drink and be merry; but this comfort and treasure are hidden from them. 0 what a dark night this was for Bethlehem, that was not conscious of that glorious light! See how God shows that he utterly disregards what the world is, has or desires; and furthermore, that the world shows how little it knows or notices what God is, has and does.
The Savior of the world was born on a vagabond’s bed while thieves wined and dined in the inn that casually denied the Savior a comfortable place to lay his head… So while the great Light of the world was born, some slept while others celebrated, but with the exception of a few kings and shepherds, the Lord’s birth passed silently in the night. God’s grace, then as now, is always a surprise. It is a glorious contradiction of our expectations for what God’s grace ought to be. Still, the light of the Eastern Star guides us to the manger year after year. The star beckons us to follow it as it did the wise men in Matthew’s gospel.
There will likely be wayward travelers, those who do not usually goto church who will show up at Zion this year for Advent and Christmas services. There will be room in God’s inn, Zion Lutheran Church! There will be people who are starving to hear God’s word, those who’s joy produced by the dawn of grace is matched by the melancholy of loss and financial inadequacy. I pray that the angels will shout from the heaven’s as they did for the shepherds seeking the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11).”
So with Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, the kings, the wayward travelers, the joyous, the melancholy, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us (Luke 2:15).” Let us sing with the choirs of angels, “Glory be to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.” “O come, thou key of David, come and open wide our heavenly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” Amen, come Lord Jesus!
Pastor Carmine Pernini
