Sermon 12162012 Advent 3

This morning we have enjoyed the Children's Christmas Program.  Unique in a wonderful way this story is told from the animals perspective.

May everyone who has enjoyed this program understand the real reason for the season.

Yours In Christ,
Pastor Darian L. Hybl

Sermon 12122012 Advent 3 Mid-Week

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray! Gracious Redeemer, You came into this world heralded by John the Baptist, the son of Elizabeth and Zacharias.  Yet, even before either of You left the womb, John’s reaction to hearing Your mother’s voice was unmistakable.  John you lept in your mother’s womb, because of the promise being fulfilled by Jesus coming to set His people free for all mankind and Mary’s special role as ‘theotokos’, the ‘Mother of God’.  May we who hear the message of salvation understand it is spoken to and for each of us today, especially for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this evening.  AMEN.

One of the neatest things that one can do as a child is to go swimming.  For some children the water is a scary place, but for others it is calming and soothing.  A peculiar characteristic of water is how sound travels.  Whales and other mammals that live under the sea use sound to converse, like we do to talk, but unlike sound outside of water that travels only short distances, water carries sounds for hundreds if not thousands of miles.  This characteristic of water allows the creatures of the deep to not only communicate long distances, but the message carried remains clear and unmistakable.

So to tonight, the message that we heard from Luke is very clear and unmistakable.  “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb”.  Clearly, even with the sound of Mary’s voice, John still in his mother’s womb heard the voice of the woman who was carrying the Savior of the World.  Even through the skin, the amniotic sac and fluid, John, the one who would herald the coming of the Messiah was sending a message not only to his mother, but for all of us today.  John lept in his mother’s womb for joy that the Savior was so near to him and clearly shows us today that life does begin from the time of conception.

But what is more profound is what occurs next.  “And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”  The coming of the Holy Spirit upon Elizabeth and her inspiration and acclimation of Mary and especially the ‘fruit of her womb’ not only indicates the gift being born in Mary’s womb, but the gift that we prepare for even and especially today.  The gift is of the coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ for all of mankind.

Tonight we continue to prepare the hard soil of our hearts for the coming of the Savior.  Yes, we have not had moisture to soften the soil for the sprouting of the wheat for our spring harvest, but tonight we hear the greater message of salvation of our souls in the coming of the Savior for each and every one of us.  This message of salvation borne and inspired by the Holy Spirit in Elizabeth is the same message heralded for us today.  It is the message of the coming Messiah Jesus Christ Who saves us.  It is not only of His being borne by Mary, but of His coming to set us free from sin, death and the devil.

How can this occur with a little babe?  Come and see, come and experience the grace, joy and peace offered by Jesus Christ.  Just as the people experienced Pentecost, with the coming of the Holy Spirit and Elizabeth was inspired by the Holy Spirit to make the bold acclimation she did, we to, who come on bended knee are called, gathered and enlightened by the Holy Spirit to make the same clear and bold acclimation and declaration about Jesus Christ.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, just as the rain softens the soil to allow the wheat to germinate, the Holy Spirit works in all of us our salvation that is offered by Jesus Christ and His coming.

In, through and by the Holy Spirit’s work, we are set free to be the people of God.  By example here tonight we hear how John the Baptist even with unspoken words, once he heard Mary’s voice, knew the Savior was not just a promise, but a reality.  We to who hear Jesus call for each of us have a Pentecost moment where we like Elizabeth can be filled with the Holy Spirit and clearly proclaim our “Emmanuel”, our “God with Us”.  For this is the promise we not only hear about, but we receive when we come and hear His Word, heed His call and herald the message for all of mankind.  This is not the sound of a clanging gong, but the sound of our Savior Who comes to set all of mankind free, especially all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this evening in preparation for the coming of our Savior.  AMEN.

Sermon 12092012 Advent 2

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray!  Lord of hosts the day that is coming, burning like a furnace where for some it will be a refining fire, for others it will consume.  May we be refined and not be ashes under the soles of others feet, so we may become perfect and more like You and hear the words of the prophets foretelling of Your coming to save all of mankind.  For this promise is made, from Genesis to Malachi and for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

This past summer when four of our confirmands attended Confirmation Camp, we were part of a group in exile.  As you know we usually go to Sky Ranch to experience God in a more deep and profound way, but with the fires raging Sky Ranch was evacuated and we were able to attend Highlands Presbyterian Camp.  Sitting on the benches outside of the main hall you could see straight North and without fail see the plumes of smoke lofting into the sky from the fire that caused the evacuation of Sky Ranch.  Matter of fact on our drive there we saw from over 100 miles away the smoke and debris of that fire.

Consider our Old Testament Lesson this morning. Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, whose book and in fact our lesson is the book end of the entire Old Testament, specifically the last recorded words of the Old Testament foretells of a time that seemed eerily similar to the fire we could see from both Highlands Camp and our drive.  Malachi writes, “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace”.  With allusion to similar circumstances of the book of Daniel of the burning furnace, Malachi tells of a furnace that is burning, not gently, but with vigor and destruction.  He continues, “and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff, and the day that is coming will set them ablaze…so that it will leave them neither root nor branch”.  This fire will not be quenched, fed by the chaff of the evildoer and arrogant of this world it will not burn gently but consume everything it touches that is evil.

Yet, the promise revealed is not only crystal clear, but full of sweet Gospel.  Malachi writes, “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings”.  This promise given by Malachi is directly from God for His people and for us today.  It is a promise for those of us who fear God’s name, who humble themselves and bend the knee and who are not arrogant and ‘self-appointed righteous people’.  The promise is what we are preparing for this morning and this entire season of Advent.  It is the promise and the fulfillment of the promise found in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

During the mid-week and last Sunday we sang the hymn of “Prepare the Royal Highway” and that is exactly what John the Baptist job was to prepare for the promised Messiah.  As a kind of “Elijah” John’s calling was to call the people to repentance and return to prepare for the coming Messiah.  For the Messiah is coming to “restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers”.  Jesus coming is a restoration or return of our hearts to the purity that was originally intended in the Garden of Eden before the Fall of Adam and Eve.

Jesus Whom we are preparing for with every passing day of Advent comes to restore us to Himself.  Jesus Christ comes “so that He [I] will not come and smite the land with a curse”, but comes to restore us and return us to the kingdom of God.  Fallen creatures as we are, John came to begin the process and the Christ child we look for in the manger fulfills this process with His life, death and resurrection.

Therefore, we who believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah Who came and died to take away our sins and confess our sins, receive the greatest gift offered mankind, the forgiveness of sins won on the Cross of Calvary for all of mankind by Jesus Christ.  This is our preparation for the promises foretold by Malachi in the Old Testament and which we prepare for during this season of Advent.  May all of us who hear the Gospel of salvation freely offered by Jesus Christ be changed by the Holy Spirit Who sanctifies us and calls us to the one true faith.  And may our preparation during Advent, not only be a preparation of our houses and homes, but true preparation of our hearts, not to be ashes under the feet of others, but may we be refined in order to enter the manger and on bended knee welcome the Christ Child Who comes to set us free to be saints gathered here at Emmanuel Lutheran in Goodland, KS this morning.  AMEN.