First Sunday in Advent (Morning)

God, be gracious unto us, bless us, and make thy face to shine upon us. Amen.

Gospel Lesson, Matthew 21:1-9

And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying. Tell e the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting: upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest!

Jesus Christ is the king of the church. He governs it with meekness and justice, and defends it with divine omnipotence. Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, who took our sin upon himself, who died for us on the cross, and bought us with his blood; he is our king. What a wealth of joy and comfort there is in this truth! In the heart of every Christian is the prayer: Lord Jesus, rule thou over us. Thou, and none other, shall own
my heart. Do thou protect us; thou alone art our sun and our shield, and we will have none other beside thee. Then the words which we hear today, “rejoice exceedingly, daughter of Zion; behold, thy King, the Lord Jesus, cometh unto thee,” nothing more glorious could be said to us on the first day of the church year; it is the best possible answer to the prayer of the Christian heart. He is the king of the church.

No enemy, then, however strong, shall prevail against it. No matter how threatening the outlook may seem, the church shall obtain the victory and be saved. With eternal fidelity he keeps watch over his bride, who has been bought with a price; and in his omnipotence he is able to defend her against the most terrific assaults on the part of all the hosts of hell. Beyond question the church will soon be called on to face great tribulation all manner of lying attacks by false spirits, and bitter persecution on the part of the world. Let all who belong to the army of the Lord put on the true armor of the Spirit ; but let none lose hope! Christ reigns in the very midst of his enemies, and his church is victorious even while the world rejoices over her destruction. He is the Lord of the church by reason of his rule in the hearts of his own; and they, only, whose hearts he governs are of his people. But he is, in very truth, the king of your heart, you poor
sinner, who believe in him and put your trust in him alone. Truly, he is the king of your heart; you are his, and he is yours ; do not let the devil persuade you to the contrary.

Have faith in the kingly name of Jesus, and trust in the power of his love. Give yourself wholly to him; you can do it by the grace which he bestows; and he will direct your mind and your conduct, protect you, and lead you in the path of righteousness. Serve him willingly, obey him always, praise his name, extend his kingdom. You are blessed, and shall be a blessing. All things in him, by him, and for him. In this church year you shall again, with all the saints, experience that he is the same faithful and mighty Savior that he always was. He shall keep you in the state of grace, strengthen your faith, increase your charity, purify your soul in tribulations, and give you victory over the flesh, the world, and the devil.

Beware of trusting in your own, or of doubting his strength. You are
baptized unto Christ, you hear his voice, you eat his body and blood, you live and breathe in his saving grace and love; he knows you, and he has you in his eye and in his hand day and night. He is meek, and bears with our infirmity; just, and does away with our sin.

Praise be to thee. Lord Jesus, who didst make us thy people Give us grace to believe in thee with our whole heart, to serve thee in all that we do, and thus to work with all our might for the extension of thy kingdom on earth. Let this year be a blessed one for us, and for all who are thine. This is our most earnest prayer; thou wilt hear it, and thus fulfill thy promises. Amen.

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud Amen.

By Niels Jakob Jensen Laache, Bishop of Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway From 1884-1892

Taken from his book: Book of Family Prayer
(1902 edition translated by Peer Strømme)

Thoughts on loving your neighbour.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt 22:37 40)

“When you open the door which you shut in order to pray to God, the first person you meet as you go out is your neighbour whom you shall love. Wonderful!” (Soren Kierkegaard)

“The commandment is that you shall love, but when you understand life and yourself, then it is as if you should not need to be commanded, because to love human beings is still the only thing worth living for; without this life you really do not live.” (Soren Kierkegaard)

“The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists of listening to them. Just as love of God begins with listening to his word, so the beginning of love for our brothers and sisters is learning to listen to them.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Let’s find ways to help and serve our neighbour.

First of all, God has commanded us in faith to love and help our neighbour-

Jesus said:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34

We should always remind ourselves that God doesn’t need our good works, our neighbour does.

Secondly, God has ordained that He would have us humans help our neighbour-

“Our works are God’s masks, behind which He remains hidden, although He does all things. If Gideon had not obeyed and gone to battle with Midian, the Midianites would never have been conquered, although God could, of course, have conquered them without Gideon. He could also give you corn and fruit without your ploughing and planting, but that is not His will; neither is it His will that your ploughing and planting should produce corn and fruit; but you must plough and plant and say a blessing on your work and pray: ‘Now help, O God; give us now corn and fruit, dear Lord; for ploughing and planting will not yield us anything. It is Thy gift.
God is the giver of all good gifts; but you must fall to, and take the bull by the horns, which means you must work to give God an occasion and a mask.” (from Martin Luther’s exposition of Psalm 147.)

He has created a world in which we are given the task of doing good.

When we serve another person, God is serving them, as if He was wearing a mask. This sounds like a challenging idea, so how can we explain it?

Swedish Theologian Gustav Wingren summarises this beautifully:

“In his vocation man does works which effect the well-being of others; for so God has made all offices. Through this work in man’s offices, God’s creative work goes forward, and that creative work is love, a profusion of good gifts. With persons as his “hands” or “coworkers,” God gives his gifts through the earthly vocations, toward man’s life on earth (food through farmers, fishermen and hunters; external peace through princes, judges, and orderly powers; knowledge and education through teachers and parents, etc., etc.). Through the preacher’s vocation, God gives the forgiveness of sins. Thus love comes from God, flowing down to human beings on earth through all vocations, through both spiritual and earthly governments.”

What does this mean? It means that when we pray “give us this day our daily bread”, God answers. He answers through the farmer, the delivery company, the market and the person behind the counter. It also means when others are not getting their daily bread, or justice, or care and
love, or whatever is truly beneficial for them, it is not God’s fault- it is ours. Human beings are naturally inclined to be selfish or unaware of their neighbour’s plight. For us, it is easier and more natural to be selfish than it is to be giving.

We need a correction of the heart in order to awaken our love of God and
neighbour.

This occurs when we come to faith in Christ and believe the good news that our sins are forgiven on the Cross. We are given a new life, which begins with turning away from our past sins and having trusting faith in Jesus, who sends us the Holy Spirit which changes our hearts.

So, how then can we help our neighbour?

Here’s some very easy steps.
Step 1- Repent of your wrongdoings and have faith in Jesus. God will begin to change your heart and assist you.
Step 2- Know that serving your neighbour is God’s work, not yours. Do your best and He does the rest.
Step 3- Expect no reward. Do it for the benefit of others, not your own.
Step 4- Find a way to serve in your daily life. God has put you wherever you are to be the best server of people in whatever station of life you find yourself in.
Step 5- Serve boldly.

+ Ps. T. Harris

Prayer:
“Bestow on me, Lord, a genial spirit and unwearied forbearance; a mild, loving, and patient heart; kindly looking, pleasant, and friendly speech and manners in daily life; that I may give offense to no one, but as much as in me lies, to live in charity with all people. AMEN.” Johann Arndt (1555-1621)