Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent

“Behold, at that time I will judge all your oppressors.’

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There is doubt. Is this man
Jesus the one that is to come, or should we look for another? For
the one who would come to redeem Israel was to be a great king, in the line of
David, arrayed in glory; he would come with power to redeem Israel from the
unclean nations which oppressed them. He would ask of God, and be given the
heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his
possession. He would break them with a rod of iron, and dash them
to pieces like a potter’s vessel. He would reign in majesty; and dread
would be his judgments.

And yet this man Jesus comes in meekness, and John, his Elijah, his herald, was no honorable man, but a desert dweller, lost in wandering, a preacher of riddles, eating locusts, and wearing rags of camel hair.

To them that were there, this
John who baptized unto repentance would have not appeared as among greatest of
saints, exalted above all born of woman, as we know him to be. Rather, he is as
a madman, proclaiming a peasant-carpenter, of no influence, to be the true king
of the universe, the liberator of Israel, who would wash the world with fire.

What the Jews desired was
vengeance against their oppressors; what they wanted was freedom to worship
their God in power and in peace.

Now, do not be too quick to
chasten these Jews for their desire. They have desired rightly. They are right
to desire revenge, to crave liberty from the oppression of their enemy; they
were right to long for peace.

For it is written: ‘behold,
your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and
save you.’ ‘He shall scatter away your enemies.’[‘And your adversaries he shall
make his footstool.’] Their desire is born of faith in this promise.

Yet they have misunderstood who
indeed is their enemy, even as we misunderstand who indeed is our enemy, who
indeed is our oppressor.

It is not Rome who oppresses
them. Nor is it the rich and powerful of our time that oppress us. Rome is, as
any other nation, any other empire, raised up by the All-Knowing for a purpose,
and is disposed of once His purpose is accomplished in them, even as ‘God gives wealth, possessions, and honor to
men’ which ‘come in vanity, and
depart in darkness.’

No, the enemy of Israel is in fact the enemy of all mankind, the oppressor of
all humanity, our ancient foe, the devil himself, who in the beginning seduced
Adam and Eve into adultery against the God who loved them, the God who created
them.

For in the beginning, the
Spirit of the Lord hovered over the waters, and out of these waters, called all
of creation. And on the sixth day, when all the universe had been prepared, he
formed his masterpiece, Adam, drawn up from the earth. The Lord then breathed
into Adam, and he became a living soul, the image of God, and placed him in the
lushness of the garden. So man, as God’s viceroy, He set above all creation, as
the ruler of the universe. Yet the devil, in his consuming envy, caused man in
his weakness to sin, to rebuke the divine image within him, and so to fall.

In his fall, God cursed the
first man: ‘thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.’ ‘Man lives but a time, and his life passes
like a shadow.’ And for him ‘all is
vanity.’ For ‘death comes to all.’
And ‘in sheol, there is no work or
thought or knowledge of wisdom;’ ‘in death, there is no remembrance of the Most
High’ Such is the calamity imposed upon hateful mankind.

Yet we should not think that
God hates man merely because he has burdened us with this curse, for the Lord
chastises those whom he loves. No, the divine wrath is not poured forth
upon fainting mankind, rather, it has been turned against him that has mutilated
the Lord’s bride, who has bruised and shattered His image, who has stricken His
beloved: His wrath is turned against the devil and all his angels, the
true enemy of Israel, and the only enemy of God. It is against this enemy which
the Lord has promised recompense; it is from this oppressor that the Lord has
promised liberation. Therefore it is written: ‘Vengeance is mine, sayeth the
Lord, I will repay.’

‘Satan fell because of pride’
and so did man, as the devil tempted Adam and Eve with the promise of
exaltation. So it is fitting that the true exaltation of man should be
accomplished by Him that is most humble. So we look toward Christmas. The Lord
became flesh, and was born of a virgin, and ‘came not to be served, but to
serve.’

Yet the disciples of John the
Baptist are confused. Even more so, they are offended. They have kept watch for
the manifestation of God’s violent power; they see only this man’s gentle
meekness; so they doubt. ‘Are you the one that is to come, or should we look
for another?’ Christ answers them: ‘Go and shew John again those things
which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor
have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be
offended in me.’

It is as if Our Lord said: ‘Why
do you doubt? Do you not know that it is necessary that glory be made perfect
in humiliation? That power be made perfect in weakness? How else should
man be raised up, if the true Son of Man is not first brought low? For it is
not in majesty and might that the kingdom of God shall be revealed, but in
mercy, and in servitude; in binding and in healing. You remember well the
promise of Zephaniah for judgement, and of Isaiah for vengeance, and vengeance
you will have, for I came not to bring peace, but a sword.’ But if you
listened to the Prophets a little further, you would have known what form this
vengeance would take, ‘the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and
the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.’ ‘And I will save the lame, and gather
in the outcast.’

Yes, it is in the life of
humility that Our Lord’s divine wrath shall be revealed against Satan; and it
is in the ultimate act of His humiliation, the Crucifixion of Our Lord, that he
will finally overthrow that demonic tyrant, for in His dying, He shall descend
into the depths of Satan’s power, there to do battle with him, there to bind
the strong man in his own house, and to bridle Satan’s chief weapon, death, and
make it for God’s people the portal of everlasting life. The cross is lifted
up, Our Lord suffers every torture, and with his last breath, the earth is
shaken, the sun hides itself, the temple is riven, for there, in that moment,
the tumult of the cosmic battle has ensued. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man,
against the prince of this world.

And who then can speak of the
victory, who shall sing of the conquest of the Son against the evil one, and
exalt the Crucified above every infernal power? Our Lord is risen from the
dead, and the strong man is bound. Our Lord is risen from the dead with mercy in his wings. The vengeance
of the Lord is revealed against the devil and all unrighteousness, and
forgiveness is won for all who repent. See now, in the risen Christ, that ‘justice
and mercy kiss one another.’

Now Israel has its deliverance
from the power of the devil. Now Israel has its freedom from the oppression of
sin and death. Now Israel has peace, the peace which passes all
understanding.

Adam and Eve are drawn out of
hell, and once again ‘The King of Israel,
the Lord, dwells in our midst.’ ‘See
then, the Lord will judge all your oppressors’ ‘and He will exalt over you with
loud song.’ ‘He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you by his
love.’

Therefore ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.’ ‘Sing aloud, O
daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel. Exalt with all your heart, O daughter of
Jerusalem.’

‘For never again shall you fear evil.’

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Preached by Pastor
Fields

Sermon Texts:
Zephaniah 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 7:18-28.