C, Advent 4 - Hebrews 10:5-7,10 "God's Mighty Arms"

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.  Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”   And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  (Hebrews 10:5–7,10 ESV)

These are the strengths of God in our lives: For Jesus to save us, and the Holy Spirit to help us!

From his mighty arms he gives us all we need in this life.  Salvation and sanctification are two arms of love outstretched toward us, from the Father of light, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.  For God to save us and make us holy, is his will for all people on earth.  God’s will is your forgiveness of sin, and his will is for you to believe you are forgiven.

Not only is salvation through Jesus and being made holy by the Holy Spirit, God’s strength in our lives; it also pleases God when we take every opportunity to immerse ourselves in his salvation and holiness. 

When we do this, it’s a “win win” situation for us.  When one is immersed in salvation and holiness, God the Father is justified in his power and plan, and we are forgiven.  This forgiveness comes through the incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension of his Son, Jesus Christ.  And the Holy Spirit continues bringing forgiveness, first at Pentecost, then through the Word of God and through baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection and through his body and blood in the bread and wine.

When we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “your will be done”, it pleases God no end, to hinder and defeat every evil scheme and purpose of the world, the devil, and the old Adam within us.  In fact, when God’s will is done in heaven, he forgives us, sin is conquered by Jesus in his death and resurrection. He has victoriously ascended to the right hand of God the Father, finishing our separation from our Father in heaven.  Jesus now stands as the embodiment of the resurrection as the first born from the dead for all people who trust in him.  This includes you and me!

Although God’s will is done in heaven by God forgiving us our sin, and the devil has been conquered and thrown out of God’s presence, the devil still has limited power on earth.  And because of this, God’s will continues to be done on earth.

This makes earth the testing ground for humanity, where within each of us the battle rages between the will of God and the will of fallen humanity.  With his plan and power of salvation and holiness, God seeks to work forgiveness and good will as we live together.  Yet, the old Adam within each of us struggles to dominate with its knowledge of good and evil, driven by the devil.  And the devil is delirious and riddled with rage because he knows he is judged and is heading for eternal destruction with limited time left to deceive the world.

However, the contest between the devil and God is unbalanced.  God is not going to lose.  He is going to win, and it pleases him when we choose to remain with him.  It’s no wonder evil causes so much fury within those who desire to be in control and do not want to be delivered from evil by God into eternal holiness.

Not only is the devil on the losing side and is limited for a brief time in the restricted realm of creation amongst humanity, but he can only be in one place at one time.  On the other hand, God is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent.  This means God is present everywhere, he knows all things and he is all-powerful.  And the devil is not, nor is humanity, nor is the old Adam within each of us.

Furthermore, this evil axis of the devil, the world, and our sinful self, is up against the three-fold divinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  The Trinity is all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere in creation and outside of it.

Since God’s will is done in heaven, we know it is done on earth.  Jesus is at the right hand of the Father doing his work of interceding on behalf of you and me.  The Holy Spirit is at the left hand of the Father being our help, giving us the words to pray and leading us into knowledge of our sin and salvation in God’s Word.  The Holy Spirit also brings us into fellowship with the Father through Jesus Christ and with each other.

The good news for you and me is that the Triune God embraces all who trust in him with the steadfast love of salvation, intercession, and holy help.  And this pleases God when we allow him to love us with his Trinitarian holy hug.

Mary says of God, “for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.  He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.” (Luke 1:49–54 ESV)

Mary declares God’s love as an embrace of mercy.  Mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation… in remembrance of his mercy.  In his mercy, he helps, fills, and exalts those who look to him.  But dismisses those who won’t receive his mercy, but rather, trust in their thoughts, thrones, and treasures.

But, our thoughts, our thrones, and our treasures all come from God in the first place!  It doesn’t please God when we trust in them instead of him.  Nor does it please him if we give him what he first gave us as a sacrifice for our salvation. 

Both trusting, in what God has given us, and, giving it back to him, is a feeble attempt to justify the human spirit, the old Adam within or the collective spirituality of worldly humanity.  And it’s a deception of the devil seeking to have us believe we can deliver ourselves out of evil into the holiness of God by doing such things!

But God has a Mighty Righthand Man praying for us.  Jesus Christ is the almighty power of God’s right hand!  God has fought and won the battle with the strength of Jesus’ love, faithfulness, and submission unto death.  And even despite God giving the knockout punch to sin and death in Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Father and the Son to help us, and deal with the human spirit with which the old Adam seeks to control and deliver us into self-destruction and death.

God’s will for you is to give you life, today and into eternity!  Psalm 80 testifies to God’s righthand man, the son of man, Jesus Christ, who is made strong for God’s good pleasure, for our salvation, and for goodwill amongst humanity. 

Yet, in our existence it might not always be apparent that God’s will for you is to give you life.  In fact, most of the time it appears God has delivered us over to death and decay.  

Similarly, when you look at Jesus’ ordinary entrance into the world, his life of struggle and opposition received, it looks like Jesus was not God’s righthand man.  That God had left him to die and decay also. 

Still, as Jesus stared death in the face, as the cross and crucifixion awaited him, he was faithful and steadfast towards God’s will, which is your forgiveness.

You too are called to faithfulness and steadfastness, despite what might appear as if you have been left for dead.  But just as Jesus was raised, you too are called to see your resurrection in Jesus’ resurrection.  It pleases God when you see and hear his plan for your salvation fulfilled in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

For God to give you life, he needs to show you darkness, destruction, and death within yourself, so you might willingly receive his restoration and let his face shine on your darkness so you might be saved. 

Hear Psalm 80… But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!  Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name!  Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!  Let your face shine, that we may be saved!  (Psalm 80:17–19 ESV)

Jesus now shepherds you in his forgiveness.  His face shines on you in his good pleasure.  But it also shines in the darkness to show the way of peace.  Jesus, together with the Father, sends the Holy Spirit to guide you and help you remain within his boundaries and to live, the life he won for you, in peace. 

God promises Jesus will shepherd you in his church.  The prophet Micah declares on God’s behalf, “And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.  And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.  And he shall be their peace.” (Micah 5:4–5a ESV)

In God’s mighty arms there is peace and love, to the ends of the earth.  Amen.

C, Advent 3 - Zephaniah 3:14–20 "On that Day, At that Time"

Zephaniah 3:14–20 (ESV) Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!  The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.  On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.  The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.  I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.  Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.  At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.

On that day, at that time, God has made a promise to you. 

What is the promise?  What is the time?  What is the day?

Zephaniah announced these things, to Judah and Jerusalem, when the Assyrians had been the dominant force in the world.  The northern kingdom of Israel had long been carried off by the Assyrians into captivity.  Israel and their kings no longer existed. 

Judah and Jerusalem with all other nations were under oppression from their captors.  So powerful were the Assyrians they had captured southern centres far into the interior of Egypt.  Under their influence, King Manasseh, and then his son, King Amon, led Judah in practises of shameful proportions.  Child sacrifice, fortune telling, mediums and talking with the dead were commonplace along with Baal and Asherah worship.

These were the darkest of times for Judah.  The twelve tribes of Israel were all but gone.  God promised to act, on that day, at that time!  On God’s behalf, Zephaniah announces judgement on Judah and the king for what they had done.

And on the day of the LORD’s sacrifice — “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire.  On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’  Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.” (Zephaniah 1: 8–9, 12–13 ESV)

The people of Judah responded against the violence, blood, and sins of King Manasseh and his succeeding son, King Amon.  King Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed him and place Josiah on the throne of Judah at the tender age of eight.  This boy king reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem in a renaissance of peace, rebuilding the temple and the worship life of Jerusalem.

Zephaniah prophecies not just the restoration of Jerusalem and Judah but he promises the renewal of Israel. He says, “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!”(Zephaniah 3:14 ESV)

At that time, God overthrew the Assyrian empire by the hand of the Babylonians.  However, the peace of Judah was not to survive, and the Jews were exiled to Babylon for seventy years.   In Psalm one hundred and thirty-seven we hear of the bitter anguish of God’s people struggling under God’s judgement.

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!  Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!  O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock! (Psalm 137:1,4-6, 8-9 ESV)

Zephaniah’s prophecy stood partially fulfilled and stayed that way till the coming of Christ Jesus some five hundred plus years later. On that day, at that time, God fulfilled the prophecy of Zephaniah.

Yet, on this day at this time, we seem to be in the same predicament as that of the Jews.  Apathy and testing on a global scale are fragmenting God’s people into fault and failure.

Many are departing from the faith because God seems to be not conforming to their day, and he seems to have not acted in their time.  Am I guilty, are you guilty, are we culpable for seeking to nail God to our time frame?

Equally, we in the church have forced others out, through our judgement, because they have not conformed in our day, and at the time, of our desires and expectations.  Are you and I called to repentance for not allowing God to work in his day and in his time?

And with our idols of expectation, how are we using ourselves, our times, and our possessions in the service of furthering God’s kingdom as we wait for the return of our Saviour?  I fail dismally, just as the Jews failed, and as we all do in God’s church.

It is the day, and it is the time, to weep and repent because many of God’s baptised children are choosing not to remember Zion!  Are you one of them?  Is God no longer your highest joy?  Would you rather bless and weep over Babylon and her little ones, rather than remember Jerusalem?

In that day, at that time, John the Baptist proclaimed, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:8-9 ESV)

And of the Christ, John the Baptist prophesies, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:17 ESV)

So, what does that mean for us in this day, at this time?  What does this mean for your guilt or for your lack of it?

On that day, at that time, you were baptised into the Holy Spirit and the fire of Jesus’ baptism, perfect life, death, descent into hell, and resurrection from death and the grave. On this day, at this time, believe your guilt is forgiven!

The crowd, the tax collectors, and the soldiers, at the hearing of John the Baptist, were cut by his words and asked, “What then are we to do?”  Your guilt or a disturbing lack of it might make you ask the same. 

The answer is given by Jesus himself, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”  Then they (the crowd) said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”  Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:27–29 ESV)

And he also says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16 ESV)

On that day, at that time, Jesus has come, and he will come again.  On that day, at that time, he has given you the Holy Spirit in baptism.  On that day, at that time, you were baptised into three pm Good Friday and are baptised into your Easter Sunday resurrection from the dead.  But you also have been baptised into eternal life with Jesus that continues on this day and at this time.

Despite all the difficulties, even though we struggle to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land, we wait for the day and the time of Jesus coming to take us home.  On that day, at that time, God’s eternal love will be completely realised.  Let his love of forgiveness, quieten you now on this day, at this time!  

“On this day at this time, the LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies.” The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.” (Zephaniah 3:15 ESV)

In confession and absolution, we say or sing, “I will confess my sins to the Lord.  Then he forgave the guilt of my sin.”

So, let us confess! Then, let us believe! God is forgiving our iniquities and will remember our sin no more! (Jeremiah 31:34 ESV)

Let God clear the enemy from within you.  Your old Adam, and his human spirit, your human spirit, is your greatest enemy.  Christ has conquered him though!  And has removed all judgements and blame against you. 

Therefore, as Paul says to the Philippians, I say to you, on this day, at this time, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” That is, let the reflection of Jesus, from within you, be known, to everyone! 

“The Lord is at hand;  do not be anxious about anything.” That is, do not be double faced about anything because Jesus is with you! “But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

And this is the promise, that, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)

Amen.

C, Advent 2 - Luke 1:76-80 "Salvation Through Forgiveness"

Luke 1:76–80 (ESV) And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,  because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”  And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

There was silence in the land of Judah for four hundred years.  God was absent since the days of the prophets when Malachi was called to petition problematic priestly practices. Now Zechariah stood in the temple at Jerusalem to fulfil his priestly duties.

The glory days of Israel and its kings were long past.  The Jews, a fragmented dispersed people, after the rule of Alexander the Great and his Greco-Macedonian government,  now were being ruled by Rome and their appointment of Herod as the subordinate King of Judah.  To the displeasure of the Jews, Herod was not a Jew but an Edomite.

Zechariah came about his turn of duty in the temple through being chosen by lot.  Zechariah would have been honoured to have been chosen to perform this task.  His life would have been a quiet existence and this service at the temple would have been a high point even though events at the temple would have been far less grand than during the time of David and Solomon. Little did Zechariah know things were about to change.

And change things did!  Four hundred years of silence from God and then an angelic messenger speaks to him while he is in service to God.  Now having heard the message, Zechariah is struck with silence as a result of not believing he and his barren wife, Elizabeth, were to have a son and name him John. 

The angel says of John, “He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,  and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16–17 ESV)

Four hundred years beforehand, Malachi had proclaimed similar. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.” (Malachi 4:5–6a ESV)

The silence of God for four hundred years is broken.  Now Zechariah endures nine months of silence, knowing God was to announce the Christ through his son which his wife, Elizabeth, was carrying. 

After John’s birth and at the time of his circumcision, full of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah’s lips are loosed, the silence is broken.  Zechariah praises God for John and what John was born to do. To be the messenger of God preparing the people for the way of the Lord.

Here again, Malachi had announced this, some four hundred years beforehand, saying, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1 ESV)

Even during Jesus’ journey to the cross, he points to what Malachi had prophesied about the witness of John the Baptist. Jesus says, “What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’  I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7:26–28 ESV)

But before Jesus’ ministry began, John had also been silenced.  He grew and became strong in the Holy Spirit, but he was consigned to a place in the wilderness until it was time to fulfil God’s mission to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins… to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:77& 79 ESV)

So, in God’s time, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” (Luke 3: 2b–6 ESV)

When Zechariah’s lips were loosed, he reveals how John was going to prepare people for Jesus. This is by a knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins.  Sin was put on the agenda.  John was proclaiming and giving a baptism of repentance to all who heard his call. John the Baptist was showing people that they were in darkness and needed a light.

We too are being prepared for Jesus’ coming!  Advent is a time of light in the darkness.  John the Baptist was called to be a messenger of light in the darkness, today as we travel through Advent towards the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, we too are called to see the shining light in the midst of our darkness.

However, what most of us seek for a saviour is not Jesus.  There are so many other things in the world that promise empowerment, luciferous light, and love.  It seems since we have seen the salvation of God, we struggle to stay in the light, and hinder hearing the Holy Spirit reveal Jesus through his word to us increasing faith.

We live in a dark world.   But we are further deceived when we relegate the darkness as something we are without, as if we are not contributors to the darkness.  We live in a dark world because of the darkness within!  Within each of us burns the light of human desire that seeks to make us shine as lights of the world. 

We all do well to determine what kind of light we are seeking to shine.  Are we reflecting and shining knowledge of salvation?  Or are we shining a knowledge of our good and evil? 

This light of good and evil is a little light of Lucifer.  It is a deception leading one away from the light of God. Many are finding themselves and many more will find themselves in complete darkness and all alone. This light of Lucifer is a temporary temptation to follow a light that’s transitory then terminates. This light does not give us the gift of the knowledge of salvation.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5–10 ESV)

It’s time for us as the church of God to allow the light to shine on sin. It’s time to practice the truth!  Just as people came to John the Baptist confessing their sin, and received a baptism of repentance, we too are called to return in repentance to our baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Know and believe you have the light of Christ within you, willing you to confess your sin, so you receive the forgiveness of sin.  The Holy Spirit is shining the light of Jesus in the darkness within you, so you can stand before God without the consequences of sin. We have had our darkness demolished and it continues to be destroyed with the love and light of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, when we seek relief from long-felt grief turn us to the light of Jesus. When temptations come alluring, send your Holy Spirit to make us patient and enduring; guide our feet into the way of peace show us that bright shore where we weep no more. Amen.

C, Advent 1 - Luke 21:27-28,36 "Stand Before The Son Of Man"

Luke 21:27–28, 36 (ESV) And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.

A man and woman, a dog, a horse, and a chicken, all find themselves standing before God after their time on earth, and he asks them, “What was your purpose while you lived in the world?” 

The chicken tells God that her purpose was to lay eggs for food for the man and the woman and to have baby chickens so they too could produce eggs and more chickens.  Some of us chickens would also be food for humanity too.  The chicken testified to its practice of scratching around the place eating insects, grubs, and grains of seed during the course of each day.  The chicken also joyfully tells of its production of chook poo and how it fertilises the ground.

The horse is then called to testify to its purpose to which it tells God it is a beast of burden.  We horses carry humanity on our backs, pull loads of goods, and plough paddocks with our horsepower. And, like the chicken, the horse also confesses its poo is good for the garden.

The dog is then brought forward to attest to its function in the scheme of daily activity.  The dog reveals its purpose as a protector and a friend of the man and woman.  It tells of its dogged determination of chasing down other animals like cattle and sheep, to help humans round up their herds and flocks.  But the dog also freely bears witness to the not so nice practise of eating rotten flesh, scavenging, and even returning to its own vomit from time to time.

Finally, the humans stand before God to give evidence of what their function is in the world.  But the humans don’t know what to say to God.  They didn’t realise they had to stand before God.  In fact, they had forgotten God existed and thought they were the ultimate reality on earth.

Humanity has forgotten its function!  What is our purpose in life?  When Jesus returns how will we stand before the Righteousness of God. 

How does one stand before the Son of Man?  Face to face, toe to toe with Jesus Christ on the last day we will all stand before the Son of Man!  And as we stand before him, the full account of our lives will be revealed down to the last dot and tittle. How does one stand before the Son of Man?

The Son of Man is a title that Jesus often used for himself and often connected with his coming at the end of time.  Jesus is also the Son of God, but he never uses this title. Rather, it is spoken of him by Gabriel the Archangel when Jesus was conceived in Mary. He is named the Son of God in the linage of man in the genealogy of Adam.  The Devil, demons, and the Jews all accuse him in connection with being the Son of God.  But Jesus lived, suffered, and died as the Son of Man, and during this time promised his return as the Son of Man.

In stark contrast to Jesus calling himself the Son of Man, we position ourselves as sons of ourselves, second to no one.  Each of us would prefer to be recognised as heroes of humanity rather than a son of man. 

Man in his misogyny and females in their feminism, both challenging each other and turning in on the centrality of their humanity, seek to stand aloof in one’s own righteousness. Being a son of man like Jesus doesn’t appeal to us, as something to which we might want to attain or to one whom we would want to submit.

But Jesus promises, “…they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”  (Luke 21:27–28 ESV)

And he continues, “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36 ESV)

To understand what Jesus is telling us about straightening up, raising your head, and standing before the Son of Man in the future, we need to see what Jesus teaches us about standing before the Son of Man in the word of God.

Jesus addresses how a person stands when he tells a parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.” (Luke 18:9–14a ESV)

Jesus stands before humanity as the servant Son of Man.  Then Jesus will stand before humanity with power and great glory at the end of time.

Jesus tells us, the Son of Man comes to us in this life and knocks, he says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20 ESV)

And, “…once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’  Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’  But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.”  (Luke 13:25–28 ESV)

Jesus stands to serve, and he will come and stand to see if we have received his service.  Those who do not want his service in this life will continue in that.  Those who realise they need his service and allow him to be our servant will enter the eternal service of God the Father where there is eternal peace.

Jeremiah looked forward to the time of Jesus’ service of righteousness in a time when salvation and security on earth seemed fleeting.  He says, “In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 33:16 ESV)

It is advantageous for us, as we enter the Advent season,  to let the light of Christ serve you.  Let him illuminate your sin and save you as he stands before you and knocks.  Let God function in your life as your God so you can stand in his eternal kingdom functioning as saints saved for all eternity. 

For the kingdom and the power and the glory belongs to the Son of Man. And he stands before us, offering himself as gift, today and every day, until he returns with all power and glory. Amen.