December 5, 2012 at Calvary
Evangelical Lutheran Church – Mechanicsburg, PA
“Stir up Your power, O Lord,
and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils
of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance….”
The Church’s cry in Advent is
for the Lord to stir things up for our benefit. So we pray during the weeks of
Advent. This week, the cry is for the Lord to stir up His power and come to us.
But we do not wish the Lord to come aimlessly. Our prayer is not an invitation
for Him to make plans and take a holiday, do a little tourism among our famous
sites. No, it is for Him to come with a purpose: to rescue us from the perils
of our sins, to save us by His mighty deliverance.
Such arrival of the Lord has
been seen before. He has answered His people’s cries in such ways. The greatest
way is in the appearance of the Messiah. You were given a report of that. The
Gospel Writer records: “Jesus returned in
the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all
the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by
all.” Jesus’ appearance in Galilee was a demonstration of the stirring up
of divine power. It was a showing that He was the Promised Messiah.
What did this power-stirred
appearance look like? Jesus taught in the synagogue. He read the prophetic
statements about Him: “The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to
the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of
the Lord’s favor.” This was His agenda. And Jesus declares: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in
your hearing.” He says to the Nazareth synagogue, “I’ve come and done this
for you. You wanted divine power exercised on your behalf. So I’ve done that to
answer your cries.”
“O Lord, rescue us from the
threatening perils of our sins. Save us by Your mighty deliverance.” Those were
the prayers of the faithful in Nazareth, just as they were the prayers of the
faithful throughout history. They are the prayers offered by you now. The words
are spoken because you know the hazards and dangers that you face. The poverty
of your virtue is laid before you, as the Divine Law speaks its demands. The
captivity of your sinful natures is felt. You suffer blindness to what is truly
right in situations of moral quandary, large or small. Oppression from those
who are enemies of the Lord’s will is felt and experienced. So you consider yourselves
to be outside of the Lord’s favor.
But the promise has been given
to you. The Lord says, “I’m going to do something about it. I’m going to
exercise the power of My Spirit to remedy this state of affairs.” This is what
Jesus accomplished, not only as He “returned
in the power of the Spirit to Galilee,” but also as He uses that same power
here among you. Jesus declares that the Scriptures are fulfilled among you, in
your hearing. The Scriptures that promised divine remedy for your sins are kept
by Him, fulfilled by His obedience, His sacrifice, His resurrection. And Jesus
declares the outcome of that divine, powerful work done for you, so that you
may hear and believe.
What does Jesus declare to you?
He says, “I give you the richness of my righteousness. I set you free from the
bondage to sin. I make you see what is pleasing to the Lord. I call you My own people
and set you in My kingdom, where you will dwell securely. I am the favor of the
Lord shown to you, despite all that you have done which should rightly forfeit
it. I do not treat you as you deserve; I show you pity because I have seen your
plight and know that only I can do something about it.” This was the message in
Nazareth, just as it is the message here in Mechanicsburg. And the reaction is
the same for those who hear and believe: “All
spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from His
mouth.”
But this same Jesus gives you
another promise. He says, “I will return in divine power and glory, so that you
will never suffer such perils again.” As you have marveled at the gracious
words that come from His mouth about your salvation, so you marvel at this
promise. But you trust that it will happen. You trust that it will be so, just
as Jesus exercised His divine power to fulfill the prophetic words about Him.
And this is what allows you to abide by what the apostle says: “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the
coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the
earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.
You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at
hand.”
Your hearts are established on Jesus’
promises. You pray for them to come to pass. You cry out for the divine power
to be stirred up again, for the Lord Jesus to come and exercise His total
authority over all things. You look for the time when the King of glory will
come, ushering in the eternal era of the Lord’s favor. But this is not done hopelessly;
no, you believe that it will be so. You can be patient and wait for it, because
“you have seen the purpose of the Lord,
how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” That compassion and mercy is what
Jesus showed in Nazareth, in Jericho, in Jerusalem. It is what He has shown to
you now, forgiving your sins, calling you His people, giving you a place in His
kingdom.
Glorify Jesus for His mighty
works that bring you salvation, for they will not be known only in your
hearing. Like those in Nazareth, you will see Him with your own eyes and witness
His glorious return, when He brings resurrection and life everlasting to you. It
is the promise of the Scriptures for you, the promises that Jesus fulfills. And
so He will fully answer your cries, rescuing you from the perils of your sins
and saving you by His mighty deliverance.
+ In the Name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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