responsible for the safety and security of the members of congress, any visiting dignitaries, and tourists. He’s in charge of ceremonial duties involving funeral processions and presidential inaugurations. He restores order if a congressmen gets disruptive. Perhaps he is best known for announcing the arrival of the President to give his State of the Union speech.
If you have ever watched a State of the Union speech, you understand how important of a job he has. All the members of congress and senators stand in their little cliques scattered around the chamber, chattering and laughing, (head-)nodding and waving. No one pays attention to the time on the clock or who is entering or who is leaving the chamber. Everyone is focused on their conversation. Then, suddenly, Paul D. Irving enters the chamber and shouts: “Mister Speaker, the President of the United States!” and everyone snaps to attention. That’s a pretty important job, isn’t it? Mr. Irving prepares people for this great speaker. He announces who is coming so that people are prepared to listen and take the President’s words to heart. During this Advent season, God prepares you to meet Jesus, your Savior. He wants you ready to listen and take Jesus’ words to heart. And so, God sends out messengers with his simple message: The Savior is Coming! Prepare your heart and Prepare to meet him. That is an important message— and a message meant for everyone’s attention. So, God promises: I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way… The “you” (in this prophecy) refers to Jesus; people will benefit from someone announcing his coming. Why? Well, remember, Jesus does not start his ministry immediately. He is born Christmas Day. Angels announce his birth. Shepherds rush to worship him. Wise men come a few months later with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Elderly-believer Simeon praises God for allowing him to meet Jesus. A prophetess named Anna thanks God for the gift of a Savior from sin— but that’s it. For 29 years Jesus remains in his hometown of Nazareth, being a respectful son and working as a carpenter. Twenty-nine long years pass between Christmas Day and the time Jesus starts preaching and teaching. So, can you imagine the reaction if Jesus suddenly appeared in the in the synagogue one day, stood up, and started preaching? People there would ask: “Who is this man?” “What gives this man the right to preach?” “Which priest gave him authority to teach?” Most of all, “Should I listen to him?” No one knows if this man Jesus is God’s long-promised Son. And if no one knows Jesus is God’s Son, then they have no pressing reason to listen and take his words to heart. So, God sends a messenger to prepare hearts for Jesus. He sends John the Baptist, the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ In ancient times, before a king traveled down a desert road and into a new region, he would send servants ahead to fix the road. Those servants would fill in potholes and places where the road washed out. They would remove boulders and level cliffs and steep hills. They made the road straight so that the king could arrive. Yet, John the Baptist is not sent to fix roads; God sends him to prepare hearts because the Savior is Coming. Have you ever received a gift for which you saw no need? (For example), when I was a kid, someone always gave me a keychain as a gift— which a kind thought, but I had no use for a keychain. Unless you have a house key or car key, it’s a pretty useless gift. If you consider a gift useless, eventually you toss it away and forget about it. If a heart sees no reason for a Savior, then the heart will have no reason to listen to the Savior. And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. That’s the message for all people of all time— you and me included— “Repent!” “Repent” means to turn around or change. It has this picture of making a U-Turn (a 180-degree change of direction). If you are heading north on US-127 and make a U-Turn, then you have completely changed direction; you are now heading south. If you behave one way in life and “repent,” you are behaving in an entirely different way. Repenting, that is, living a life shaped by God’s Word prepares hearts for the Coming Savior. Yet, how often our hearts fall into thinking that repentance is not necessary. Instead of comparing your heart to God’s Word, it feels so much easier to justify and defend the way you (and I) behave. God makes it clear: Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul (Matthew 22:37), but greed feels good. So, make excuses as to why you cannot give an honest offering to God. Defend and justify your expenses so that you can cover up your love for the things money can buy. Trust yourself when you are scared, worried, or anxious. Believe the reasons that you cannot pray to God: “I just don’t have time.” “I’ll try to fix it one last time, then I’ll pray.” Make excuses as to why you cannot trust God to keep his promises: “I’ve been waiting a while and haven’t seen my health change.” “I don’t think God is overly concerned about my feelings of depression.” How the heart defends and justifies its actions! Justify the reasons as to why your relationships do not need to match up to God’s directions for relationships. “I know God wants sex in marriage, but that just doesn’t work in this world anymore.” I know God wants me to forgive and let go of grudges, but that other person would just walk around all smug if I forgive him.” “My friends do not deserve my kindness; they hurt me too much.” God gives clear commands as to how you (and I) are to live. When we fail to measure up, it’s called “sin” or “transgression.” You (and I) have not done what God demands. The trouble is, so often our hearts want to make sin “small,” meaning, thinking our transgressions are no big deal, thinking our failure to be perfect holds no eternal consequence. Yet, if you make sin “small,” then you make Jesus “small.” If you (and I) think sin is not serious, then you have just said, “Jesus’ death on the cross was unnecessary. He did not need to suffer and die for you because you did nothing wrong. If you consider a gift useless, eventually you toss it away and forget about it. If a heart sees no reason for a Savior, then the heart will have no reason to listen to the Savior. And that heart will be completely unprepared to meet the Savior when he comes. That is why God sends out messengers with his message: to prepare hearts to (1) listen to Jesus’ teachings and (2) take them to heart. And so John comes—not with words that he thinks you need to hear, not with a message he wrote down, but with a message God himself put into John’s mouth: “The Savior is Coming!” John points you to the Savior who has come once already for your benefit! Jesus lives prepared to stand before his God and Father. His life always matches what God expects. So, he loves his God with all heart, mind, and soul. Never once does he try to hold a grudge. Never once does he try to excuse himself out of worship. Never does his heart need to repent and change its behavior. Instead, his heart is perfect! Jesus marches on ahead of you—to prepare you to stand before his God and Father. His innocent blood fills in our spiritual potholes. His perfect life levels our self-trust and arrogance. His perfect heart makes our hearts perfect. Jesus prepares your heart for his second coming. Yes, the Savior is Coming again. This time not as a little baby born on Christmas Day, but rather to come and bring every believer home to heaven. The Savior is Coming! and your heart is prepared for that great day! Live now prepared to meet him! Prepare to meet your Savior by taking the words of God’s messengers to heart. Yes, those Pastors God has given you. These messengers do not create message of their own. Rather, they bring the life-saving Word to you. Listen to the Word of God read Sunday mornings. Listen to the Word of God applied to your life. Take those Words to heart, letting it expose error and redirecting you on a God-pleasing path. As you make it your habit to connect yourself to God’s Word in worship and personal reading, you increase your knowledge of what God calls “right” and “wrong.” When you recognize when you have done wrong, like those of years past, confess your sins. Recognize the loveless words, the careless actions, the self-centered thoughts. Do not defend them. Rather, acknowledge them as the wrong they truly are. Hear God’s gracious forgiveness—that he does not rush against you in anger. Rather, he declares you “Forgiven” because Jesus has lifted off those wrongs. Now forgiven, live a life which continually turns from evil and delights in God’s commands. You can— and you already do that— because God has filled you with the Holy Spirit. At your baptism, plain water ran down your head. Yet, God attached a promise with that water-- You are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That “in” means God has put his name on you. And if God has put his name on you, then it means your identity is: “Child of God.” And if you are a child of God, then it means you are different from a “child of the world.” You will stand out in this world. How can you not? Your heart delights in living in a way pleasing to God! So, you set aside an honest offering for your God—not because you must, but because God set aside the life of Jesus for you. You seek to forgive others—not because you fear being punished, but because God, in Christ, forgives you! Your friends, neighbors, and family may think marriage is not necessary or feel it is acceptable to abuse their bodies. Yet, you shape your relationships around the Word— because God has made your body his temple. You live a life of repentance— that is, acknowledging the wrong and delighting in God’s good. Through God’s Word and God’s sacraments, the way into your heart has been prepared. The King of the universe sits in your heart reigning and ruling. You are prepared to meet the Savior. What an important message that is! During this Advent season, God prepares you to meet Jesus, your Savior. He wants you ready to listen and take Jesus’ words to heart. And so, God sends out messengers with his simple message: The Savior is Coming! Prepare your heart and Prepare to meet him.
heater fired on, the adhesive ignited, and the house exploded. The two men claimed the warning label: “flammable” and “keep away from heat” did not prepare them for the explosion. They filed suit against the adhesive manufacturers and the jury awarded them $8 million. (https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/top-ten-frivolous-lawsuits)
The city council of San Francisco, California prohibited McDonald’s from handing out free toys in Happy Meals. Litigation director Stephen Gardner concluded that children will pick greasy, obese-causing food for the sake of receiving a toy. “It's a creepy and predatory practice that warrants an injunction” he claimed. Some Californian cities now ban McDonald’s from including toys in Happy Meals. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-hit-by-happy-meal-toy-ban/) Last Sunday, a 23-year-old Traverse City man flipped his car into a ditch. He claims another last-minute heart-wrenching Detroit Lions loss made him take the right hand turn too fast, thereby rolling his car. Deputies later determined the man was legally drunk. (http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/drunk_fan_rolls_car_blames_lio.html) A chemical company pays out $8 million because two men carelessly place a flammable substance beside a flame-producing object. No more Happy Meal toys because parents will not tell the child “No”- Happy Meal, “No”-deep-fried foods, no McDonald’s. A car crash blamed on the results of a football game. Those are all examples of a common occurrence, are they not? Shift the blame. Defend the action. Declare innocence. Is that the way God views accountability? This stubbornness is really nothing new. From the beginning of time, human beings have refused to take accountability for their actions. Adam blames Eve for him eating the forbidden fruit. Eve blames the devilish serpent for her touching the forbidden tree. Cain defends, “I’m not in charge of my brother’s whereabouts!” King David kills a man because he slept with his wife and impregnated her. When the heart is confronted with its evil, it scurries away from its guilt. Or, consider the accusations spewing out from the Israelites. “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” What do they mean with that? Well, their fathers ate the grapes, and they, the children, suffer the effects of crooked and dull teeth; the sourness still makes them pucker. Their fathers committed the action; they suffer. “God, my father bribed the corrupt judges, not me.” “God, grandpa shacked up with the temple prostitutes; I did not.” “God, your kings are the ones who cheated widows out of restitution! We did not.” “God, you punish us for the wrongs we did not commit.” It’s true— sort of. Yes, the sons did not bribe judges, but they showed no remorse after trampling down God’s commandments. Yes, the sons did not sleep with prostitutes, but they tolerated the seductive lies of false prophets. Yes, the kings cheated widows, but the sons worshipped little statues— cheating God out of the respect and praise owed him. That is why these Israelites, who accuse God of injustice, suffer! They committed crimes against God, and God punished them. He allowed the Babylonian army to swarm over the city walls, seize the upper class, rip them from their homes, from their families, from their land, and drag them away to Babylon! God is not at fault. They are. And if I am honest with myself, that’s not too easy to admit. How often does your heart point its finger at your spouse as the reason for your marriage woes? “He’s too demanding.” “She’s too selfish.” ‘He sits around doing nothing.” “She spends all of your money!” Or, do you blame your teacher your failing grades? She assigns too much homework and you have band, sports, and clubs after school. She should not reprimand you for homework you chose not to complete; you didn’t have time to finish it! She should not hold you in detention because she deserve every word you mouthed off to her. How often are you the supposed innocent victim of budget troubles? (I am not talking about those times when expenses do rise over income). Rather, you can’t afford gas because it’s the fault of gas companies! Your accuse the landlord of being greedy. It’s the government’s fault you can’t give more of an offering! It’s all someone else’s fault! They are the reason you suffer! Is it really? Could it be, that even when you argue, that maybe it is you who is selfishly defending your wants to the exclusion of the other’s requests? Could it be, that your teacher is demanding because you first fail to respect her authority as a teacher? Could it be, that budget woes come because of your misplaced priorities? The truth is, regardless of how you feel about your actions, God sees it differently: You are accountable for the things you do. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. God does not excuse the overbearing, manipulative wife because her mother was just as conniving. God does not ignore your fist to the face because the other guy “started it.” You cannot blame your parent’s poor marriage as to why you refuse to marry your boy/girlfriend. God holds each individual life to the standard of his Ten Commandments—yours included. The soul who sins, the person who does not perfectly obey them, is the one who will die—and not the “someone else” you want to blame. If that sounds unsettling, it’s because it is. Really, when you read these words, what does your heart immediately want to scream? “No! God’s saying something else here.” “No! God is not serious. He’ll overlook some things.” “No! God doesn’t understand every single reason for every single action!” Or, does your heart even scream what Israel did? “The way of the Lord is not just!” My friends, your (and my) heart will try to defend its wicked actions to the very end. Your (and my) heart will try to remove the hellish penalty you deserve. Your (and my) heart will try to cram a new message into the mouth of God. It will deny accountability for your actions. It will deny that you are responsible. It will deny that you ever committed any wrong! The heart will even stand up to God and say: “I don’t see how I sinned. If I haven’t sinned, then I don’t need Jesus.” That is not the answer to removing rebellious transgressions. The truth is, it is fair that if God etches Ten Commandments into your heart, that he enforces those commandments. It is fair that your Maker holds you, the person he knit together in the womb, to his standard of perfect obedience. What is not just, what is not fair, is that God would place Jesus onto the cross to be held accountable for my actions. It is not fair that Jesus is accused of being “guilty” for the crimes I have committed. It is not right that God holds Jesus accountable for my self-righteous pride which refuses to believe that I am wrong. But God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone. And so he delights to declare you “Forgiven!” It is Jesus who lifts up your earned consequences and removes them forever! Jesus is the reason God still cries out: Repent! Turn away from all your offenses. To “repent” means to turn away, like taking a U-turn, turning 180degrees in a different direction. If you drive a car north and take a U-turn, you are now heading south. If you behave one way, you will turn and do the opposite action. If you repent of gossiping, you will encourage. If you turn from drunkenness, you will be sober. If you repent from manipulating others, you will live as an honest spouse. Why would you do this? So that sin will not be your downfall! Literally, God says: So that iniquity is not your downfall. “Iniquity” pictures rebellion against authority or rioting against established leaders. To say “I’m sorry,” but continue in a willful habit, addiction, or behavior, really says that you are not sorry. To know drunkenness is a sin, but gladly going too far—really says that drunkenness is not as bad as God makes it out to be. Or, God desires you to make worship your number one priority each week. Yet, making up excuses as to why Sunday mornings do not fit into your schedule is to defend your act of staying out of worship. You are rebelling against God’s command. If you find fault with the commands God gives, you will try to change them. Yet, God asks you: “Where do you draw the line?” Sin will be your downfall because you will always find a new excuse to defend disobedient behavior. If you defend disobedience, you will very little reason to listen to God at all. You will eventually stand over God and tell him what you will and will not follow. What a reason to examine your heart’s beliefs! What a reason to do what is just and right! How do you know what is just and right? Compare your life according to God’s commands. Have you been the loving spouse God calls you to be—always giving love instead of waiting to receive love? Have you been the helpful neighbor—standing up for the oppressed, helping the poor, defending reputations? Have you honored God’s gift of your body? When you realize that your actions have bent away, turn! repent! and live! Run to Jesus and remember that he dies to purify us from all sin. Be assured that God has removed those wrongs as far as the east is from the west. Live a new life—with a new heart and a new spirit. This new heart and new spirit never comes for you trying hard to be a better person. It does not come by shaming yourself into being a better Christian. The only way you receive a new heart and new spirit comes from listening to the Word of God. As you hear, read, and learn, the Holy Spirit plants those teachings into your heart. That is why we sing after some sermons: ‘Create in me in me a new heart.’ You are asking that God the Holy Spirit take the message you just heard and bury it into your heart. You are praying that he shape your thoughts, words, and actions to match up to God’s perfect will. You pray that he put to death every evil desire and impulse and give you a new desire, a new heart, a new spirit to live according to his commands. Do You Want to Live? Then, turn from evil and receive a new heart. Examine your life according to God’s commands. Remember that God holds you accountable for your actions. He will not punish another for the things your hands have done. Sin is that serious. It is so serious that Jesus steps into life to cleanse your heart from all evil. He wipes your heart clean—and that is what God, your Father now sees. A new heart. A new spirit. A new desire within you. A new life bent on obeying him. A new life—not heading for death, but for life. And God makes that clear. Do You Want to Live? Then, turn from evil and receive a new heart. |
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