Tuesday after the First Sunday of Advent, 12/05/002 Samuel 7: 12-15 "When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, Who will come from your own body, and I will establish His kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever. I will be His father, and He will be My son. When He does wrong, I will punish Him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But My love will never be taken away from Him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.." --NIV
In the name of the King Who reigns forever, amen.
There is something to that song about Santa Clause coming to town. Yes, the focus is all wrong: it ignores Christ, and encourages righteousness by works. But we all approach Christmas with a certain amount of hypocrisy wondering if we have really been naughty or nice. We want it to be a wonderful time, and yet we think, "I know that she would really like this, but I'm not going to spend that much on her." We are dissapointed with the gifts that people buy us. Or we take our children shopping and do nothing but yell and scream at them because we are tired, hungry, rushed, and probably too warm from wearing a winter coat inside a heated store. Maybe we do pay the big bucks and get the person what he would really like, but in order to do it we spend money that we don't even have. When Christmas finally comes and we sit around the tree, all these thoughts haunt us quietly. What should be a time of great joy is a time of guilt. Christmas itself is such a let down because of our own selfishness, that we can't wait to tear down the tree the day after Christmas. But Christmas day is just the beginning of the celebration!
Some celebration of the new born King! Stop and look at the passage we consider today. It is a prophecy about Jesus the King. Look at how it says that when He does wrong, God will punish Him with the rod of men. How can Jesus, Who is sinless, do wrong? Remember that Jesus took our sins on Himself. We often think of that like a donkey carrying a heavy load. But it is much more than that. We are told that, "God made Him Who knew no sin to be sin for us…" (2 Corinthians 5: 21). The great King took our sins in such a way that they became His sins. So rather than punish you for your greed, selfishness, impatience, or whatever other thoughts and feelings you have this holiday season, God punished you King instead. Now you live in God's never ending love for Christ Jesus.
It is through this message that God builds the Church-His house. One by one as people see the reality of Christ the King taking our sins into Himself, God's church is built. This Christmas as you celebrate the birth of the great King, may the message of salvation shine brightly before your eyes. May you be strengthened so that you stand as a pillar in the house of God. Amen.
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, you are a great and mighty king. Your greatness is especially shown in this: You took our sins into Yourself and suffered the just punishment for those sins so that we could live forever in You. Have mercy on us this holiday season. Forgive our sins and make us stand strong in the True Faith, amen.
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