Second Sunday in Advent. Romans 15:4-13

Romans 4 establishes justification by faith,
with Abraham as the example,
repeated in Galatians.

The Second Sunday in Advent, 2013

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10AM Central Time

The Hymn # 58 – Gerhardt              O Lord    4:49

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual      Romans 15:4-13

The Gospel            Luke 21:25-36 

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #71            Watchman     4.9 

Joy in Believing

The Hymn # 304 An Awesome Mystery            4.6

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 647 O Little Town   4.13

Second Sunday In Advent

Lord God, heavenly Father, who by Thy Son hast revealed to us that heaven and earth shall pass away, that our bodies shall rise again, and that we all shall appear before the judgment seat: We beseech Thee, keep us by Thy Holy Spirit in Thy word; establish us in the true faith, graciously defend us from sin and preserve us in all temptations, that our hearts may not be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, but that we may ever watch and pray and, trusting fully in Thy grace, await with joy the glorious coming of Thy Son, and at last obtain eternal salvation, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

KJV Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. 8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. 10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. 11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. 12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust. 13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

KJV Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Joy in Believing

Romans 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul had a mission to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. This modeled Jesus own mission – first to His own people and then to the Gentiles as well.

The New Testament is built up on the Old Testament, so we can see that genuine Judaism is Christianity, since Jews believed in the Messiah from the beginning, long before anyone else thought of such things.

Paul’s challenge was to include the Gentiles in his Jewish-Christian congregations. Each group had a set of traditions that did not mesh with the Christian faith, but the Jewish believers had that charter membership attitude that continues today. Charter members know more than anyone else. They like to remind everyone of the past, when they worshiped at the Masonic Lodge or the funeral home, when they only had paper cups and plastic silverware. How they suffered! But they endured!

There is a modern equivalent of Judaism among Lutherans today. They comprise the infallible sect known as the Missouri Synod. They hand down the Law as given by Walther at Zion on the Mississippi. They do not agree on much of anything, but they agree about their special status and everyone else’s inability to be what they are – charter members of American Lutherdom.

God ordained that the one truth faith would be revealed to the Jews first, even though many of them became apostate. One reason for the decline of Israel was Satan’s hot pursuit of the future Messiah. When he was ejected from Paradise and cursed, the Messiah was promised that would crush his head – Genesis 3:15. Therefore, as Luther noted, Satan pursued Israel until nothing was left but a stump when Jesus was born.

When Gentiles were converted to Christ, their training consisted of learning the Scriptures, which were the Old Testament (at first). They had a very large amount of knowledge to acquire. Jews knew the Scriptures already, so the tendency to feel superior was difficult to ignore.

This struggle is exemplified in Paul’s confrontation with Peter and with Peter’s indecision about Jewish kosher laws versus Christian freedom.

This verse is an appeal by Paul that both groups show patience with one another, not just one toward the other. Unlike the great Donald McGavran, Paul and Luther did not separate groups so they could grow together in cultural ghettos. The answer to unity was not separation but mutual understanding and patience.

When people emphasize their customs and traditions, they praise what they know from their own past. When Christians have divisions based on trivia (adiaphora in the Book of Concord), they do not create unity based on one being superior to another, but through their common faith and praise of Christ.

Paul’s appeal is thus – God has been patient and forgiving with you, so be patient and forgiving with each other. We find this genius, this wisdom of the Holy Spirit in all his letters. Starting with a problem, he answers with the Gospel, because the Gospel solves problems of conflict and resentment.

7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

The NIV translates this as “welcome one another,” which a bit more creative than the text allows. Of course it is appealing in one sense, since we want congregations to welcome outsiders, even though the clergy do not

Receive has a double meaning here, since John also uses it as a synonym for faith. Christ came into the world He created and His own people did not receive him (John 1), but as many as received Him, He gave the power to become the children of God.

So Paul is using Gospel motivation, since Christ receives not us based on perfection but because of faith.

Romans 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. 10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. 11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. 12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

This passage unifies the Jewish and Gentile mission. Each had its place, and they still do, since Judaism continues to be a source of Christian conversion and opposition. Just as we see within the visible church, faith creates unity and division, benefits and the cross.

So it is a great irony that this world religion for all races would come from a tiny nation so completely unified by custom. As we discussed in a class the other day, one common aspect of Judaism is kosher. They have a saying, “The Jews have kept kosher, and kosher has kept Judaism.” Few keep all the laws, but they know what they are, especially when breaking them on purpose.

Every detail of the Old Testament is part of the Gospel, so this tiny group became the launching point of Christianity, which was according to God’s plan.

Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Many verses in the Bible teach justification by faith if we have eyes to see. Romans 5:1-2 addresses the effect of justification by faith, which gives us peace and access to God’s grace.

In believing we have joy and peace, for the God of hope gives us hope.

Here is the Pentecostal passage – through the power of the Holy Spirit. By that we know Paul means through the Word, not through dancing and speaking in tongues.

If we waver, the Word reminds us and teaches us again that He is the God of hope. This is a rhetorical device, where a word is repeated in the same sentence to underline a point. The God of hope fill you…that you may abound in hope.

Hope comes from the source of all hope. Reading the history of God’s actions, as we do in the Easter vigil service, calls us back to the Promises of God.

There is joy and peace in believing in Christ.