What if I was to tell you that because of you someone else will get
something great? Something wonderful! In someway they, because
of you, will be blessed? How would that make you feel? Would you
feel pretty good? Or pretty confused? Maybe you would ask yourself
"What could I ever do that someone else gets something wonderful?"
That's a pretty normal response. But these are not normal times are
they? Its Christmas time, the time of giving! Today, during this time,
it's easier to see that other people will get "blessed" because of you.
Gift giving is pretty big this time of year. And some gifts are given
unawares. You kids are nicer and "more good" this time of year,
aren't you? Because "Santa Claus is coming to town" and he knows
if you've been naughty or nice, or so the song tells us. So you behave
yourselves at home. But also at school because you know that your
teachers will probably tell your parents if you've been good or not!
And if you give that some thought, being good is a gift to your
parents and teachers. It's easier on them when you behave! They
have an easier time of it when they don't have to worry so much
about you getting into trouble. Of course that 's not the motivation to
be good, but the motivation doesn't seem to matter too much to your
parents and teachers during this season. And of course, this is not
the real meaning of Christmas. I mention that lest you think that I
am getting a little too cynical about this time of year. As we get
nearer to Christmas the focus from this pulpit will be more and more
on the true meaning of Christmas. But back to my original point.
People being blessed because of you.
This is not as such a strange thing in this day and age as you
might think. It fact, it’s a fundamental part of being a Christian.
This is the way God set up Christianity from the beginning.
Throughout Advent we're using the Old Testament lessons to get us
to Christmas. The lessons are from Isaiah, but Isaiah wasn't the first
to foretell of the coming Messiah, which we celebrate on December
25th. The promise goes back to a time before Isaiah. Isaiah knew of
them, however. The promises foretold through Isaiah are bound and
understood through these earlier promises. The promise I'm talking
about in this introduction is found in Genesis. It's one that the
people of Isaiah's day would be most familiar with. It is also a
promise that has everything to do with you, today.
The promise is this. God says to Abraham
"I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous
as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your
descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and
through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
because you have obeyed me."
There are three aspects to this so-called Abrahamic promise. One:
many descendants. Two: Land. Three: through your offspring, all
nations will be blessed. This third aspect is the one I draw your
attention to. Because this, as it turns out, is a Messianic prophecy
that also involves you.
Ok, here is where you can get confused. It's ok to say, "Huh? It
involves me? How?" Well, here's how. As you know, Abraham had
only one child, Isaac. Yet, God kept his promise to him about
numerous descendants. As you will remember from Sunday School,
Abraham had only two grandsons. But one of them was Jacob who
went on to have 12 kids. An in the span of some 400 years, these 12
kids had many sons and daughters and grandchildren and great-
grandchildren until, when they left Egypt, they were rightly called a
nation! The Nation of Israel. That part of the promise to Abraham
came true. The second part of the promise came true soon after they
came to possess the Land of Canaan, which God gave to them. But
the part about all nations being blessed would only come true much
later. It wouldn't be until a Jewish child was born to parents who
were descendants of King David and ultimately, of Abraham, that
the third part of the promise would come true. And that is where you
come in. Jesus was the fulfillment of the third part of the Abrahamic
promise. Through Jesus, an offspring of Abraham, all nations are
blessed. Because it is through Jesus that all people of all nations can
receive forgiveness of sins, the ultimate blessing. And they find out
about this blessing because the people of God, Christians, YOU, tell
them about it. You've been told how to do this ever since there has
been a preacher in this pulpit. In many and various ways you can tell
the world of their blessing. You can, but do you?
Do you really have the time and ability to tell the nations of the
world? Time, as you well know, is a very rare thing. Do you have
time to do this important task? You spend at the very least, 40 hours
a week at work or 40 hours a week at school. After work you have
to cook and clean the house and do other things around the house.
After school you have to spend a couple of hours, at least, to do
your home work or study for a test. You don't have time to tell the
nations of the world about their blessing, about Jesus! Or do you?
Or maybe you don't have the ability to tell the nations. You don't
talk well, or write well, or even read well enough to be able to tell
the nations. You're too young to go out into the world to tell the
nations. Or you're too old, or not smart enough, or not strong
enough. In short, you just don't have what it takes to tell the nations
of the world of their blessing through Jesus Christ. Or do you?
You do have the time, you do have the ability. For the same reason
that all nations are blessed, because of the offspring of Abraham!
Jesus is the reason for the blessing, Jesus is also the reason that you can and will tell the nations that they are blessed. That's Isaiah's
message to you today! Isaiah says
"the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as
chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it. "
This mountain is Calvary itself! The Mountain on which God and
the crown of His creation, Man, are reconciled, ultimately blessed!
Calvary is chief among the mountains of the world, it is the most
important mountain! All the nations are blessed at this mountain.
This is also where you were blessed. When you hear, "all the
nations will be blessed", it can sound somewhat impersonal, a
"blanket statement" so to speak. But it is really a very personal
thing. You were ultimately blessed. You were reconciled to your
God through Christ's action on Mount Calvary. You were taken care
of for all time, you are blessed for all time and even beyond time, for
all eternity! What about the nations? That's where you come in
again. You may think you don't have the time or ability to pass on to
the nations what has happened to you. Isaiah gives you this answer,
"He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths."
His paths are to tell the nations of this blessing that has occurred at
Mount Calvary. Everything you do as a Christian is to tell the
nations of this blessing that has occurred! No time you say? No
ability you say? I say to you there is nothing else that you can do!
Does that mean you don't have to work or go to school then? Sorry,
that isn't the case. Work and school are simply some of the places
that you have the time and ability to tell the nations of the blessing!
Remember, everything you do is to be the way you tell the nations of
the blessing, and I mean, EVERYTHING! Going to work, going to
school, working around the house, studying for a test, doing your
homework, make Christmas projects at school, driving around town,
going to the grocery store, dropping the mail off at the post office,
EVERYTHING you do is to tell the nations of the blessing that is
Jesus Christ dying for a sinful world and rising from the dead and
giving forgiveness of sins! Now, what is the Advent message here?
Simply this,
"the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as
chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it. "
Because of you and everything that you do, all nations will stream
to God's Holy Mountain. This doesn't mean that all people will book
flights to Israel and visit Mount Calvary. This is figurative language
that Isaiah uses to tell you that when people hear of the blessings of
God because of Jesus they will flock to God. They will stream to
where God can be found! Where can God be found? Good Lutheran
language puts it this way
"Where God's word is preach in purity and His sacraments are
rightly administered."
Or more simply put, right here! When the people of this world
actually see you telling them of the blessing of God through Jesus,
they will want to come to God. And here He is! Tell them to come
here to hear more of this blessing, which is exactly what I am doing
right now! The Advent urgency is this: "don't wait!" Time is short,
because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The
night is nearly over; the day is almost here. Remember that our
salvation is also the non-believer's Judgment. Tell the people of the
nations that you see, every single day, of the blessing that they can
have. Tell them to hear more right here. Don't wait because if you do
it may be too late. Now is the time to tell the nations of their blessing
so that they may stream to the God's Mountain before it's too late.
Advent's lesson is one of urgency, that the time is short. Just as
Christmas will be here before you know it, so the last day will be
here before you know it. Amen.
