First Sunday of Advent (A) 2019

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: Matthew 24:44
Theme: He Comes With Authority



Dear friends of the coming Saviour,

God is present, but He is also preparing to condescend with finality. Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means ‘coming’. The season of Advent is not simply a prelude to Christmas. It is a call to preparation. The humble Child of the manger and victim of the cross is returning as the eternal King. So today we are called to preparation. We are called to alertness. We are called to spiritual sobriety. We are called to faithfulness until that day when the reward of our faith will be realized. When Christ returns, we will not be disappointed.

God too, is making preparations. Now, what could that possibly mean? Jesus said to His disciples, “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”1 The preparation He speaks of here involved His atoning sacrifice on the cross and glorious resurrection from the dead. Christ’s death, resurrection, and enthronement opened the kingdom of heaven for believers. These things are completed, so what preparation still needs to be made? What things still need to be finalized? The answer has everything to do with His word and the Holy Spirit’s work.

God is preparing hearts to receive Him. The Spirit does this through the on-going proclamation of God’s word; both the law and the gospel. Those still in the darkness of unbelief are unprepared to meet the Judge. Many don’t even know they are lost; some do. The judgment will be a time of terror for the wicked. It will happen suddenly and catch people completely unaware, as the Scripture says, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”2

Believers too are undergoing constant preparation. Peter says we are like living stones being fitted into the spiritual temple3, Christ’s body. Those stones need to be quarried, measured, and cut. Jesus says we are like branches attached to the vine. Those branches need to be pruned so that they bear much fruit4. Dear friends, the kingdom of God is continually breaking in on the dominion of darkness. Like waves breaking on the beach or the sun breaking over the horizon, Satan cannot prevent the light and truth of Christ from filtering into people’s lives or even fully illuminating them with its brilliance. Advent reminds us that this piece-meal operation will one day come to a complete and dramatic resolution. Christ, the Coming One, will bring an end to the dying regime, and initiate the eternal dimension for all of humanity.

These truths are matters of faith, but they are founded on the external validity of God’s word. The authority of the message is related directly to the credibility of the source. That, of course, is where the rubber meets the road in the preaching of the gospel. If people are skeptical of God and His authority, they will be doubtful about the biblical message and vice versa. Though misgiving about God and His authority always exist in some measure there is an ebb and flow throughout history.

A mounting crisis of authority confronts our age. Again, questions of authority are endemic to fallen humanity so it’s not a new problem. The devil continually recycles his schemes. Ancient falsehoods are cloaked in new disguises. From the moment Satan said to Eve, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"5 the question of authority has been paramount. The contentions of our society reveal how high the stakes are. Who has the authority to decide the great moral questions of our age? Who has the right to decide the parameters? Who has the authority to determine the gender of a human being? Who should decide if a life should be ended on the whim of another?

The struggle of authority is evident within the church too. How will contentious things among Christians be resolved? How will differing opinions about what is God’s truth be decided? Will it be the authority of the Scriptures? Will it be by the consensus of those who participate in the body politic? Will it be the latest trend or philosophy of the culture? The Bible makes it clear that the question of authority is very relevant to our spiritual well-being. No one has the right to alter God’s laws. No one has the authority to exonerate himself or herself from the guilt of sin. Advent is a season for repentance and repentance is never about self-defence or self-validation, but about confession, about disclosure of unworthiness.

Jesus Christ, and no one else, has the authority to forgive your sins. Don’t bother looking for it anywhere else. Civil authority can exonerate you if you’re wrongly accused in a court of law and you might feel justifiably cleared. That too is a responsibility given by God in the kingdom of the left. A spouse, a parent, a child, a relative or friend might unburden your heart by graciously overlooking some hurt or pain you have caused. That is a vocational duty also commanded by the Almighty. The Bible says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.”6

But, dear friends, God alone can free your conscience and cheer your soul with the certainty that you have favour in His sight. You need not have any other motivation to come to His house than to have the divine pardon publicly and resolutely proclaimed to you. His pardon is not the lenient tolerance of a soft-hearted figure. His blood was shed, His life was forfeit to secure for you the assurance that in the presence of the Almighty God the guilt of your sin has been atoned for. Jesus died and rose again for you. Christ has reconciled you to the Heavenly Father. It is a gift that is yours by grace, through faith. This absolution comes to you from the lips of a mere mortal, your pastor, but it is no less certain than if Christ stood before you in His all-encompassing glory. His are the promises and His is the authority.

Who has the authority to say that your baptism makes you an heir of the heavenly kingdom? Who has the authority to offer His own body and blood to nourish your faith? Who has the authority to declare at the hour of judgment your sins will not condemn you to the eternal punishment of hell? Who has the authority to declare those who are guilty innocent, to make those who are sick healthy, to make those who are orphaned part of a family? Who is so peerless that all must defer to Him?

Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”7 Now either that claim is arrogant and delusional, or we’d better take notice. Who has the power to reconcile to the Father sons and daughters who have rebelled, rejected, and denied Him? The Scripture says, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”8 This reconciliation brings freedom, and it brings peace. Jesus’ authority over us doesn’t burden us, it frees us. It puts us at ease because we can entrust our lives to Him and confidently sacrifice our energies for others.

Advent is a time of anticipation, and preparation. It is a season for both reflection and action. It is a season for joy and expectation. The Redeemer will return once more to His fallen creation and, as the Scripture says, “sorrow and sighing will flee away.”9 Come, Lord Jesus, Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

First Sunday of Advent
1 December 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 John 14:2 2 Matthew 24:38-39
3 See 1 Peter 2:5 4 See John 15:1-5
5 Genesis 3:1 6 1 Peter 4:8
7 Matthew 28:18 8 1 Timothy 2:5
9 Isaiah 35:10