Advent Midweek 2
“Set free from all sorrow”
Matthew 2:1-12
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Don’t you just love this time of year. It seems that every store you enter is playing Christmas music. You can close your eyes and recall Christmases past. The smell of coffee shops and confectioners brings sweet memories as well…maybe of grandma’s baking of Christmas cookies. And as you purchase that perfect gift for a loved one you imagine the beaming face that your loved one will have as they open their present. Advertisers use all of our senses… sights, sounds, smells…to promise that perfect Christmas we so desire.
But for all the joy that advertisers promise and we desire…joy can be hard to come by. There are many far removed from joy. Mourning loved ones, anxious over strained finances, saddened by family strife or broken relationships…many aren’t looking forward to a joyous Christmas…but instead a blue Christmas.
But true joy may still be found for all. Where? Right here. True joy comes not in shopping malls, not at Starbucks, not in our sinful brokenness…but here in God’s house where we celebrate once again the birth of our Savior. Tonight, as we seemingly jump ahead in the season, we rejoice with the Magi, for Christ is the answer to our brokenness and sorrow.
In the midst of this fallen world and all of the problems that sin brings upon us we have reason for joy. Consider all the blessings God has bestowed upon you. God provides house and home, food and clothing, family and friends…and a Church family. But too often the wants of this world and the problems we face distract us from God’s blessings.
Herod was distracted too. The Magi arrive in Jerusalem looking for the One who has been born King of the Jews. That doesn’t sit well with Herod the puppet king. Herod calls the scribes together asking where Jesus was to be born. The answer is found in the prophet Micah. The promise of a Savior prophesied of old is fulfilled in Jesus. What generation upon generation of faithful believers had been longing for, what so many had spent their lives desiring, now stands fulfilled. That is reason for great joy!
But it brought no joy to Herod. Herod was distracted by his own wants and desires. He wanted to rule and be king and have power…not just the power allowed him by Rome…but real power. This Child; this truly powerful King, the hope of the nations left Herod reeling. He could not and would not tolerate a rival. The hope Herod should have had in the Savior was not found, joy departed and sorrow made its home in Herod…along with jealousy and anger.
We face those same problems. When joy is fleeting sorrow and jealousy and anger enter our hearts as well. Why can’t things go right in my life? Why didn’t I get the promotion? Where is my new car…house…or even T.V.? Why doesn’t my marriage or family look like that perfect marriage, family, and life I see on the Hallmark channel? Why do these things happen to me? And our sorrow brings with it jealousy for what we don’t have and anger over things we think we should have. Sorrow forgets about blessings.
No matter what the cause of your sorrow is…Christ is the answer. Jesus wouldn’t be the King Herod wanted him to be…a king that would submit to Herod… he wouldn’t be the king many Israelites wanted… a king that would restore their nation to power…and he isn’t the king many in this world want…a king that grants anything and everything a person wants; nor would Jesus be a mere miracle worker. Jesus is the King and Savior we need. And He is far more than we could ever want.
What kind of King is Jesus…one in whom the Magi fell down to worship with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A King in whom Mary Magdalene and the other Mary would fall down and worship outside of the empty tomb. A King in whom the Eleven would fall down and worship after Jesus appears to them after rising from the dead. You only fall down, prostrate yourself, before Almighty God. The Magi knew it, The Marys knew it, the Eleven knew it.
And that worship reveals joy. The women at the tomb were overjoyed to see Jesus resurrected, and so were the disciples. This is the kind of God and King you have—the kind that chooses to humble Himself. Jesus wasn’t born in legendary Jerusalem but in lowly Bethlehem. Jesus didn’t live a carefree life with every luxury. He didn’t hang out with all the cool and important people. He didn’t use His divine power to do or get what He wanted. Instead He led a humble life, was found preaching to and healing the most needy and suffering of people, and gave up His life for a world that despised Him.
Jesus was born in order to die…for you…that you would be forgiven, made a child of God, receive salvation, and the riches of heaven. The reason we Christians have such great joy… isn’t found at the mall… isn’t found in sinful desires…isn’t found in the riches of this world…but is found in the Christ child born of the virgin Mary and laid in the manger. Our joy is found in the forgiveness of our sins. Our joy is found in salvation. Our joy is found in Jesus “lying helpless in a manger, poor and bare and lowly, To set you free from all your sorrow wholly.” And this joy does not fail. This joy never ends. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Comments