Psalm 2 - “The Heir to the Throne is Born This Day”

Christmas Day (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)
Monday, December 25, 2006

Please take your hymnals and find Psalm 2 in the front. Right after the preface pages you’ll find the Psalms arranged in order. We’re going to look at Psalm 2 this morning. It’s the appointed psalm for Christmas Day; it’s used by the New Testament writers to point to Jesus; and it continues the psalm theme we’ve had here at Redeemer this month.

Psalm 2 is a coronation psalm—a hymn written to celebrate the coronation of the king, the ceremony where the crown is placed on the king, making him the ruler of the kingdom. We don’t know which of the Old Testament kings this psalm was written about, but the psalm shows how much the king is celebrated. Yet, even more than celebrating the king, it celebrates the true king of Israel, the One who gives the king his power, God Himself.

I’m going to ask you to imagine the scene at the coronation, because I want you to see the drama in Psalm 2.

But I’ll give you a hint about what’s coming after we use our imaginations: we’ll see how this coronation is connected with the birth of Jesus, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. The heir to the throne is born this day, so it’s no mistake that Psalm 2, a coronation psalm, is our focus today. See if you can guess the connections to Christmas as we go along.

But first I want you to imagine that this is the throne room of a king. I want you to imagine with me that today is a huge day of celebration as the new king receives his crown. Looking at Psalm 2, we can see all of the different voices heard in the throne room that day.

(center aisle, halfway back into nave, facing the altar)
It begins with the people who have come to the court for the ceremony. They’re asking,

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his anointed. (English Standard Version, ESV)

The people are distressed over how the other nations, their enemies are rallying against God and the anointed, God’s chosen king for Israel. The people are asking,

Why are the nations up in arms, and men drawn into insane dreams?
The world’s rulers are in accord—against God and the Lord’s Anointed (Gordon Jackson, gj)

So the people are in the court of the king asking this question, distressed by what’s happening. They’re asking God, “What’s going on?” And they report what those enemy nations are saying.

(outside back doors of sanctuary)
Outside of the court, outside of the kingdom, that’s where the other nations are saying,

Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us. (ESV)

In other words, those nations plot to overthrow the king, to reject any rule that Israel might have. The nations are standing at the door, so to speak, watching as the new king receives his crown, and they think they will beat him.

Old God’s authority is at an end – long live the Revolution! (gj)

(front of nave)
But then from inside the court of the king comes laughter, laughter that fills the room and echoes all around, echoes that are heard by those enemy nations.

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury. (ESV)

Perhaps these words are a report from a priest who answers the distress of the people. The people are concerned about what the other nations are plotting, but the priest reports that God Himself is not concerned. God finds it humorous that the nations think they will win the day.

Lord in heaven is laughing; to him their threats are a joke.
But one day his top will blow; and his fury flow like lava. (gj)

(from behind the altar)
Then we hear the very words of God. In the throne room of Israel, these words would have been spoken by the High Priest or a prophet, speaking for God.

As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill. (ESV)

The nations can plot all they want, but God has crowned his new king, God has put his king on the throne, God has given his king power and authority, God has established the kingdom, God will follow His will and the enemy nations will not disrupt God’s plan.

Here on my holy mountain, behold the man, the Anointed

(from the pulpit)
In response to this, we finally hear the new king speak. He says,

I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, (ESV)

The new king’s response to the enemy nations and their evil plots, the new king’s response to the worried questions of the people is to read the decree of God, the decree, the document that makes him king. And so the next words are again the words of God Himself.

(from behind the altar)
You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. (ESV)

This decree from God has placed the new king on the throne, and God has given a strong promise—a promise to be the king’s father, a promise to give the king victory over the other nations, a promise to give the king strength and power.

You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.
The nations are yours for the asking, the ends of the earth your estate;
With a sceptre of iron judge them; smash them to smithereens. (gj)

(from the pulpit)
The new king reads this decree to give confidence to the people—no more do they need to worry about the enemy nations. The new king reads this decree to warn the other nations—they need to know what they’re coming up against. The new king reads this decree to remind everyone that he is king at the invitation, instruction, intervention, institution of God—he is God’s representative on earth.

(center aisle, halfway back into nave, facing the back)
The new king’s reading of the decree is just what the people need to hear. Here they had begun standing in the court with their hands wringing, worrying about the other nations, and now that the king has reminded them that God Himself is in charge, now the people turn as if to talk directly to the enemy nations.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (ESV)

The people warn the other nations—while perhaps inviting them to realize the truth—that the only way to be safe is to worship the true God. The only way to avoid destruction to “kiss the son,” pay homage, give respect to the new king, the one who is like a son to God the Father.

Learn wisdom smartly, O Captains and Rulers, remember your place
Bow to the Lord in fear, and rejoice in him with trembling;
Kiss the Son, stay his displeasure; and beware his infolded fire;
Once it erupts it will engulf
all but the blessed he shelters. (gj)

The people are now ready to truly begin the celebration of the coronation of the new king, because now they see that all is God’s hands. Now they see that God will win the day. Now they see that salvation, power, honor, and glory belong to the Lord. God has given them a new king, but God is the true King who will save His people.

(front of the nave)
Do you remember that I said we’d connect this to Christmas? Do you remember that I said this coronation psalm has everything to do with Jesus because He is the heir to the throne born this day?

Take the picture that you just had in your head of the throne room and the people and the enemy nations and the priests and God and the new king, and now let’s imagine this scene is in the throne room of God. Watch as the scene unfolds and leads us straight to Bethlehem and a baby born in a manger.

(center aisle, halfway back into nave, facing the altar)
God’s people since Adam and Eve have been aware of their sin. We come before God knowing that His enemies surround us, that even if we come to His court, still we’re surrounded by enemies. We ask,

Why are the nations up in arms, and men drawn into insane dreams?
Why are they against your ways, God?
The world’s rulers are in accord—against God and the Lord’s Anointed
The people are against you, and they’re dragging us down with them.

(outside back doors of sanctuary)
The people who are against God are all around us—and sometimes we even that we’re part of them—as we rebel against God. We stand with sinful pride and say,

Old God’s authority is at an end – long live the Revolution!

(front of nave)
But then from the Church, from God’s Word, from God’s messengers comes the reminder that God isn’t concerned about His enemies. He’s not concerned about the evil ones who surround us; He’s not even worried when we claim we’ll rebel against Him. God’s Word tells us,

The Lord in heaven is laughing; to him their threats are a joke.
But one day his top will blow; and his fury flow like lava.

(from behind the altar)
Then we hear the very words of God.

As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.

God has a plan to break the evil of the world; God has a plan to save us from the enemy; God has sent One who will be King.

Here on my holy mountain, behold the man, the Anointed

The Anointed—an English word for the Greek word, Christ—which is a translation of the Hebrew word, Messiah. God is crowning His king, Jesus Christ, who will come to break the cruel oppressor’s rod and save His people from their sins. This Messiah, Christ, Anointed One, the newly crowned King, was born this day in the town of Bethlehem.

(from the pulpit)
The heir to the throne is born this day, and when He grows up, He will rightfully claim His throne. But He doesn’t make this claim on His own authority; the authority comes from God the Father. So Jesus Christ-Messiah-Anointed One says,

I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me,

(from behind the altar)
You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

God is the Father of Jesus from all eternity. God gives Jesus victory over all enemies—sin, death, and the devil. God gives the Son strength and power. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to this new king, this heir to the throne born this day.

(from the pulpit)
The new king has announced this decree to give us confidence—no more do we need to worry about the enemies—sin, death, and the devil. The new king reads this decree to warn those who don’t believe—they need to know what they’re coming up against. The new king reads this decree to remind everyone that He is king at the invitation, instruction, intervention, institution of God—He is God’s representative on earth.

(center aisle, halfway back into nave, facing the back)
The new king’s reading of the decree is just what we need to hear. We began standing in the court with our hands wringing, worrying about the other people, the enemies of the Lord, and now that the king has reminded us that God Himself is in charge, now we have the confidence to turn as if to talk directly to all of the Lord’s enemies.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

(front of the nave)
Today we celebrate Christmas, and perhaps it serves as a warning to those who don’t believe in Christ—while also inviting them to realize the truth—that the only way to be safe is to worship the true God. The only way to avoid destruction is to “kiss the son,” pay homage, give respect to the new king, the Son of God the Father, the One born today. More than just warning the non-believers around us, our announcement today to all people is that you will be blessed if you take refuge in Jesus. You will have the promise of forgiveness and eternal life if you believe in Jesus.

We are now ready to truly begin the celebration of the coronation of the new king, because now we see that all is in God’s hands. Now we see that God will win the day. Now we see that salvation, power, honor, and glory belong to the Lord. God has given us a new king, Jesus, the true King who will save His people.


English Standard Version, © 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles. All Rights Reserved.
Gordon Jackson, The Lincoln Psalter, London: Carcanet, 1997.

Isaiah 11:1,6-10,12 - “What Hope! An Eden Promise Among Us”

4th Sunday in Advent (Year C - Lutheran Service Book readings)
Sunday, December 24, 2006 (morning)

In a moment, we will sing Stephen Starke’s hymn, “What Hope! An Eden Prophesied,” which is based on those verses from Isaiah chapter 11 which we just heard. In your bulletins, you have both the words of the hymn and the verses from Isaiah.

Those verses from Isaiah talk about the new Eden. While Isaiah doesn’t call it the new Eden, certainly that is what he is describing in this prophecy from God—cows and lions and children laying down together, cows and bears raising their young together, the vegetarian bears eating grass not thinking of eating the cows. It’s a description of a peaceful paradise, a return to the way God designed things in the first Garden of Eden. This is a prophecy, a promise for the future when God will take us to a new earth for eternity. Eternal life will be like Eden restored, the way He meant for us to live

Starke’s hymn gives us words to sing about this new Eden:

What hope! An Eden prophesied
Where tame live with the wild;
The lamb and lion side by side,
Led by a little child!

In the fourth stanza, Starke references the fact that when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden, God placed an angel to keep guard so no one would be able to enter Eden again. Now, through Christ, the garden is open again.

, Jesus, come Messiah Lord,
Lost Paradise restore;
Lead past the angel’s flaming sword—
Come, open heaven’s door.

This hymn makes me think of how as a congregation we’ve been studying prophecy, the promises of God. Starke’s hymn is called “What Hope! An Eden Prophesied,” but it’s not just some dead promise, some old words that we dig up and dust off once in awhile. The prophecies of the Old Testament are fully a part of what we do together—because those promises point to Jesus Christ. And so we say, “What Hope! An Eden Promise Among Us.” An Eden Promise Among Us.

That Eden Promise has been among us in many places in our congregation lately.

This month the 7th Graders on Sundays and Wednesdays have been studying this very passage from Isaiah 11 about Jesus being from the family tree of David and Jesse.

The Tuesday Morning Men’s Bible Study was studying Leviticus and all the ways that “Christ came to suffer loss” as a fulfillment of all of the Old Testament sacrifices.

The Tuesday Morning Women’s Bible Study was studying Micah and seeing there the promises that God would send His “Prince of Peace in Bethlehem.”

As Pastor Miller’s Sunday Morning Bible Study looks at the readings for the next week, they encounter the Old Testament prophets, especially in Advent, who show us that Jesus is the “banner of God’s love unfurled.”

Last Sunday’s Children’s Christmas Program took so many of these Old Testament promises and showed that they come true in Jesus.

The sermons for our Advent Midweek services focused on three different psalms—words that applied to the people of the Old Testament but psalms that all point to Jesus, “the fruit of God’s design.”

Those of you who have experienced the death of loved ones, or seen people struggling in health — you’ve taken comfort in knowing the Eden promise. What hope! we have in Christ knowing He will take us to an eternal paradise. That hope for you comes directly out of the prophecies of the Old Testament, fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

But even as we’ve studied prophecies, and seen how Jesus fulfills those promises, we’ve seen that we’re still waiting for the final promise to come true, the day when we will be with Christ forever. And so. . .

(Usher brings up rope attached to a cart with a manger on it that is in the center aisle at the back of the church).

Today’s service is built around the simple Advent prayer: Come, Lord Jesus. (pull cart towards front of church)

It’s in Stephen Starke’s hymn: “Come, Jesus, Messiah Lord…Come, open heaven’s door.” (pull)

Our prayers have all concluded: Lord, come soon. (pull)

In our opening hymn, we prayed: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus. (pull)

We sang that familiar Advent hymn: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. (pull)

Soon the Senior Choir will use that hymn as part of their anthem, “Every Valley,” singing: “Emmanuel shall come to Thee, O Israel.” (pull)
We’ll sing, “Savior of the Nations, Come.” (pull)

The Hmong choir will sing about how Jesus did come, He “came upon the Midnight Clear.” (pull)

The final anthem by the senior Choir gives this prayer another name: The Advent Cry. In Latin, you’ll hear the choir singing, “Veni, veni, Redemptor,”—“Come, Come, Redeemer.” (pull)

(manger cart arrives in front)
Come, Redeemer. Lord, come soon.
Come, Lord Jesus. . .to be born in Bethlehem

But the Advent Cry isn’t just about a manger. It’s also about what comes from this manger.

Come, Lord Jesus . . .to live a holy and perfect life. (pull out a picture of Jesus from manger’s straw)

Come, Lord Jesus . . .to preach the Good News. (pull out a Bible)

Come, Lord Jesus . . .to die on the cross. (pull out a cross)

Come, Lord Jesus . . .to return and take us to the Eden promised. (pull out a globe)

Right now, we have the manger. We have the cross. Jesus came and was born. Jesus came and He died. But now we’re asking that He come again, that He come to rescue us forever from sin, death, and the devil.
Come, Lord Jesus. . .to return and take us to the Eden promised.

While we can’t actually pull a rope and make Jesus come back, that’s the sense behind the prayer: Come, Lord Jesus. It’s that urgent; it’s that powerful—wanting to bring Jesus to be among us, to be here. The Advent prayer is a big tug on the rope around the waist of Jesus, pulling his pant leg, as it were, asking Him to come.

Stephen Starke’s hymn is our Advent Cry. See how his hymn is like the Advent prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus.” His hymn is urgent; it’s hopeful; it’s expectant; it’s a tug on Jesus; it’s looking to the sky with the sense that he might just answer us right now. As we sing, remember that we are asking Jesus to come again, to save us, to bring us to the Eden promised, a promise among us through God’s Word. He will come again and open heaven’s door for us. What hope! An Eden promised among us!


“What Hope! An Eden Prophesied” Text: © 1988 Stephen P. Starke, admin. Concordia Publishing House.

Psalm 42-43 - "Laments That Repeats the Sounding Joy"

Advent Midweek
Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Tomorrow night is the longest night,
The winter solstice,
Thirteen hours of darkness.
On this eve of the winter solstice,
Perhaps you’re in the middle of trouble and dark—
Your life feels like the longest night.
People tell you,
“Stop being so glum; it’s Christmas!
But having a positive attitude,
trying for that Christmas spirit,
can’t chase away your darkness.




This sermon is a compilation of poetry that reflects the teaching and thoughts behind Psalm 42-43. Because of the formatting, I have posted the sermon using Google's Docs and Spreadsheets function. You can view the sermon by clicking here.

Compilation by Pastor Benjamin C. Squires. © 2006
All text in handwriting font by Pastor Benjamin C. Squires. © 2006




Sources
Irving Berlin, “White Christmas,” © 1942 Irving Berlin.
Richard E. Bryd, Alone, New York: Putnam, 1938, pp. 104,280.
William Cowper, “O for a Closer Walk with God,” in Conyer’s Col¬lect¬ion of Psalms and Hymns, 1772.
Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1957, pp. 174,195,217.
English Standard Version, © 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles. All Rights Reserved.
F.B.P., “Jerusalem, My Happy Home,” as appears in Lutheran Service Book, St. Louis: Concordia, 2006.
Peter S. Hawkins, “A Howl of Despair (Psalm 42),” The Christian Century, June 6-13, 2001, p. 12. © The Christian Century Foundation.
Billy Hayes and Jay Johnson, “Blue Christmas,” © 1948, J. Albert & Son.
Gerard Manley Hopkins, “I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day,” Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins, London: Humphrey Milford, 1918.
Gordon Jackson, The Lincoln Psalter, London: Carcanet, 1997.
John Henry Jowett C.H., M.A., D.D, Arthur Proitt, New York: George H. Doran, 1924, p. 290.
John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary, © 2005, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., p. 626.
Reynolds Price, A Palpable God, New York: Atheneum, 1978, p. 14.
Ray C. Stedman, “A Song of Confidence,” from Folksongs of Faith, © 1969 (as at www.pbc.org).
Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, “Psalm 42,” New Version of the Psalms of David, 1698.
Arie Uittenbogaard, “Psalm 42:7,” Abraim Publications’ Bible Commentary, www.abarim-publications.com.
Ann Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem, “Yesterday’s Pain,” “In December Darkness,” “The Christmas Spirit,” “Into This Silent Night,” Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987, pp. 14,15,51,52.
Eldon Weisheit, 150 Psalms for Teens, St. Louis: Concordia, 2002.
Richard Wilbur, “Ballade for the Duke of Orléans,” New and Collected Poems, Harcourt Brace, 1988.
Philip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000, pp. 87.


Art
“03-Assurance”, Lament Sequence, © Steven Koster, www.leadingwithlight.com. Used by permission.
#223 and #232 from the Lament Collection, © 2006 David Sweeney. www.davidsweeneyart.com. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Psalm 24 - “Dancing Before the Lord, Christ Supplying the Beat”

Advent Midweek
Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Psalm 24

Dancing on the Way to Jerusalem
The globe is God’s and everything it is full of,
all of the earth and all that the earth sustains;
He made it like a ball and set it spinning,
Gave it its place among the scheme of stars.

Priest:
Who dare visit the Lord on his holy mountain? Who dare walk up to his door?

The Answer from the Congregation
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart
and does not long for what is false or lie when he is under oath.
The one with an undissimulating heart,
Who has not sacrificed honesty to importance.
This person will receive a blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from God, his savior.
Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Congregation’s Shout
Stand up, you gates, stand tall,
Swing open wide to let the King of glory come in.

Gatekeeper:
Who is this King of glory?

The Answer from the People and Another Shout
It is the Lord, it is the Almighty,
who comes victorious from all his battles.
Stand up, you gates, stand tall,
Swing as wide as you can to let the King of glory come in.

Gatekeeper:
Who is this King of glory?

The Answer from the People
It is the Lord, it is the Conqueror
Who comes victorious with all his armies.

This version of Psalm 24 is compiled from the following versions: New Revised Standard Version, God’s Word to the Nations, and Gordon Jackson’s The Lincoln Psalter (1997). Compilation, alterations, and titles by Pastor Ben Squires. For more information, see endnotes.

(play a clip of Guem’s “Secret” from Rose des Sables)

(fade music) I wanted you to hear that beat, a song by the Algerian-French musician named Guem, because there’s a beat to Psalm 24, the psalm you have printed in your bulletins tonight. Psalm 24 is a psalm of dancing, the dance song of King David as he danced on his way to Jerusalem. I want you to imagine the scene as David, the Old Testament king, led a train of people towards Jerusalem. They had conquered the city and were making it the royal city, but now they were bringing the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred chest that carried the tablets with the Ten Commandments on them and the Law of God, they were bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, asking God to be among them in the city.

(music up) It’s a cause for celebration, and so David dances and the people are singing, praising God with the beginning words of Psalm 24 that you have printed for you:

The globe is God’s and everything it is full of,
all of the earth and all that the earth sustains;
He made it like a ball and set it spinning,
Gave it its place among the scheme of stars.

The people are celebrating that God is the Creator of all things, that He is Lord over all things. (music down) Just in case you’re wondering, I’m using a translation there that helps put the psalm into modern terms. The original didn’t understand the world to be a globe, obviously, but that’s the way we celebrate the Lord—He is the One who set the world spinning on its axis, and He’s the One who still watches over this world.

(music up) So this is an incredible day of celebration, singing and dancing on their way to Jerusalem. But on the way, the priest stops the group and asks (music stop): “Who dare visit the Lord on his holy mountain? Who dare walk up to his door?” Those are the next words of Psalm 24, the voice of the priest. In other words, he is asking, “Are you really prepared to go up and enter God’s sanctuary? Are you truly ready to go before God’s holiness?”

The people answer in the next verses:

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart
and does not long for what is false or lie when he is under oath.
The one with an undissimulating heart,
(a heart that doesn’t hide it’s true feelings)
Who has not sacrificed honesty to importance.
This person will receive a blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from God, his savior.
Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

With that kind of answer, perhaps it sounds like the people are confident in their own worthiness to go before the Lord. It kind of sounds like they think they’ve gotten clean and pure by themselves, that they don’t sin, and so they can go up to meet with the Lord.

Yet, the people understand that their relationship with God is based on grace, a gift from Him; it’s not based on what they do. The language they’re using about being clean and pure and true, receiving a blessing and righteousness from the Lord, that’s the language of the sacrifices and rituals that the Lord had established to cleanse the people from their sins. The people aren’t saying they’re able to go up to meet with the Lord because of their own actions; they’re saying that going up to see the Lord can only happen through the sacrifices, through the gift of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

To really understand this, I want you to look at the picture of Guem in your bulletins. It’s the picture on his CD, and it makes a fine reminder that God supplies our righteousness, makes us holy so that we can approach Him. The picture of Guem’s hands makes me think of Christ’s hands. Guem’s hands supply the beat for the dance. The hands of Christ supplied our salvation when they were nailed to cross.

So David dances on his way to Jerusalem, but all of his worship is based on things supplied from God. God supplies the victory, power, glory, and honor, all of the blessings. The people dance and sing and celebrate, but the entrance of the people into God’s presence is based on God’s actions. God supplies their holiness and purity of heart through the sacrifices.

We dance before the Lord based on what Christ has done for us. We dance—maybe only figuratively—we dance before the Lord, but Christ supplies the beat. We celebrate that we come before the Lord this evening, but it is Christ who supplies the salvation and forgiveness making it possible for us to approach God with confidence.

So look at those words of Psalm 24 again and realize that they are about you because of Christ:

You have clean hands and a pure heart—because of Christ
You do not long for what is false or lie when you are under oath
—because of Christ working in you.
You will receive a blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from God, your savior.

You may dance before the Lord, because Christ is supplying the beat. We approach the Lord based on what He has done. Advent is about dancing before the Lord, celebrating the beat that Christ give us. So, then, the dance continues. . .with Christ supplying the beat. (music up)

(music low underneath) After answering the priest, after showing that they understood they could only approach the Lord because of what the Lord did to give them forgiveness, the group continues singing and dancing on their way to Jerusalem. They approached the wall of Jerusalem and the gates of the city. With singing and dancing, the group shouts those next verses of Psalm 24,

Stand up, you gates, stand tall,
Swing open wide to let the King of glory come in.

The Gatekeeper asks the group: (music stops) Who is this King of glory?

The gatekeeper’s job is to keep the gate closed unless the people were Israelites or friends. This group approaching—well, you couldn’t easily identify King David among them, because David wasn’t wearing his royal robes. Instead he dressed humbly, plainly, wearing a linen robe more like a priest. So the gatekeeper doesn’t automatically open the gates for them.

Plus, this group was dancing and singing praises to the “King of glory.” The gatekeeper might have been thinking, “No other king should enter except David, and I don’t see him,” or maybe this was simply part of the liturgy, the ritual, the celebration, checking to see what the people would say. Were they dancing and singing, celebrating David as the King of glory? In that case, they would be forgetting that it was God who supplied the beat for the dance. The gatekeeper’s question seems to be double-checking: who is your King of glory—David or God?

The people’s answer in the next verse shows that they remember who supplies the beat. They said,

It is the Lord, it is the Almighty,
who comes victorious from all his battles.

And with that, the people shout again to the gatekeeper:

Stand up, you gates, stand tall,
Swing as wide as you can to let the King of glory come in.

And the gatekeeper checks one more time. . .

Gatekeeper: Who is this King of glory?

And again, the people show that they remember who supplies the beat for the dance:

It is the Lord, it is the Conqueror
Who comes victorious with all his armies.

So the gates open wide to allow the group to bring in the Ark of the Covenant. The King of glory comes to dwell in Jerusalem. The Lord comes to live with His people there in the royal city. The people have access to the Lord, because of what God did for them through the sacrifices, through the rituals, through His forgiveness, love, and mercy. God was in the city and supplying the beat, so that people could dance the dance of salvation.

The Lord is the victorious king, He is the true leader of the people. He is the one supplying the beat. The dancing and singing continue all the way inside Jerusalem, but it is because God is victorious and strong and glorious. It is the Lord’s power that is celebrated.

It is the same with Christ. Christ doesn’t live among us because we did something. Christ comes into our world at Christmas, and there it is God who supplies the beat, who supplies the way for His Son to come and rescue us from sin. Christ is the victorious one who defeated death and rose again. Christ is the King who brings salvation It’s the hands of Christ, His hands nailed to the cross, that supply the beat to this dance of celebration.

So as you’re “Rockin' around the Christmas tree,” remember that you’re not the one doing the rocking, you’re not the one on the guitar, you’re not the one on the drums. You’re not supplying the beat for this Christmas celebration. You didn’t get yourself clean and pure and holy and true; you didn’t go out and find your own salvation. You didn’t end up on Santa’s good list by your own actions.

No, if you’re “Rockin’ around the Christmas tree,” it’s because Christ is supplying the beat. Christ is the one-man band playing guitar, drums, bass. Christ is laying down the music for this celebration through the forgiveness He brings. Christ laid down His life to make you clean and pure and holy and true; He came down and found a way to bring us salvation.

I want you to pay careful attention as we sing the next hymn, “Lift Up Your Heads, You Everlasting Doors.” It’s Psalm 24 set to music by Stephen Starke, written for the Lutheran Service Book. The hymn puts the words of Psalm 24 into our mouths: “Lift up your heads, you everlasting doors. . .to greet your coming king/Lift up your heads, you everlasting doors, Your King awaits!” It’s another way of translating what we have in our bulletins, “Stand up, you gates, stand tall, Swing as wide as you can to let the King of glory come in.”

Yet, the rest of the hymn shows us that the gates don’t open by our power or works or because we’re so wonderful. The gates open because Jesus is the King of glory, the Messiah who came to save us, the One who is worthy, because He came into the world to save us from our sins.

This hymn won’t have the same beat as Guem’s drumming, but Christ is still supplying the beat, the rhythm, the reason for singing. With this hymn, we are singing to the Lord, we are dancing—at least, figuratively—celebrating what Christ has done, but Christ supplies the beat. He is the One who forgives us, loves us, shows us His mercy and grace. Please stand to sing and dance before the Lord.


Exegesis of a Translation: Psalm 24
Compilation, alterations, and headers by Pastor Ben Squires. This version of Psalm 24 is compiled and/or inspired by the following versions: New Revised Standard Version (nrsv), God’s Word to the Nations (gwtn), and Gordon Jackson’s The Lincoln Psalter (1997) (gj). Abbreviations below show which version(s) are represented or provided inspiration for that line (alt.=altered).

The globe is God’s and everything it is full of,
all of the earth and all that the earth sustains;
He made it like a ball and set it spinning,
Gave it its place among the scheme of stars. (gj)

Who dare visit the Lord on his holy mountain?
Who dare walk up to his door? (gj)

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart
and does not long for what is false or lie when he is under oath. (gwt)
The one with an undissimulating heart,
Who has not sacrificed honesty to importance. (gj, alt.)
This person will receive a blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from God, his savior. (gwt)
Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. (nrsv)

Stand up, you gates, stand tall,
Swing open wide to let the King of glory come in. (gj)

Who is this King of glory? (gwt)

It is the Lord, it is the Almighty,
who comes victorious from all his battles. (gj)

Stand up, you gates, stand tall,
Swing as wide as you can to let the King of glory come in. (gj)

Who is this King of glory? (gwt)

It is the Lord, it is the Conqueror
Who comes victorious with all his armies. (gj, alt.)

This arrangement © 2006 Benjamin C. Squires.

"Lamb of God" (Twila Paris) - “TLH, LW, LSB: The Letters of Worship”

1st Sunday of Advent (Year C - Lutheran Service Book
Saturday, December 2, and Sunday, December 3, 2006

“Lamb of God”
Hymn #550
Lutheran Service Book
Text and tune by Twila Paris
©1985 Straightway Music; Admin. by EMI

Your only Son, no sin to hide,
But You have sent Him, from Your side
To walk upon this guilty sod,
And to become the Lamb of God.

Refrain
O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God,
I love the holy Lamb of God,
O wash me in His precious blood,
My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

Stanza 2
Your Gift of Love they crucified,
They laughed and scorned him as he died:
The humble King they named a fraud,
And sacrificed the Lamb of God.
Refrain

Stanza 3
I was so lost, I should have died,
But You have brought me to Your side
To be led by Your staff and rod,
And to be called a lamb of God.


That was beautifully done—a new hymn from the Lutheran Service Book, our new hymnal, which we will dedicate during today’s service. The accompaniment edition of the Lutheran Service Book includes two options—one for the organ, and one for the piano—and Stephanie chose the piano version today, highlighting the more contemporary feel of this hymn.

And indeed, the hymn is fairly contemporary, written in 1985 by Twila Paris, one of the early stars in the Contemporary Christian Music scene. Take a listen to what it sounded like when she originally recorded it.

(play clip)

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s hymnal committee chose to put “Lamb of God” in the Lutheran Service Book, because the song is faithful to Scripture and to our Lutheran Confessions. The song is Christocentric, meaning that Christ is the center of the song, He is the true actor, the One who brings our salvation. Plus, there is biblical imagery in the song; the song works to develop the picture language of God’s Word.

I want to celebrate our new hymnal today by finding the connections between “Lamb of God” and the rest of our service. This song works wonderfully with our Scripture readings for the first week of Advent, and it picks up on the themes of the hymn we sang earlier, “The Advent of our God”—an old hymn that’s in all three of our hymnals.

“The Advent of our God” is in the red one, The Lutheran Hymnal, from 1941. It’s in the blue one, Lutheran Worship from 1982. And it’s also now in the burgundy one, Lutheran Service Book (a different translation titled “The Advent of our King”). A lot of times, we’ve just referred to our hymnals by acronyms: TLH—The Lutheran Hymnal, LW—Lutheran Worship, and now we have LSB—Lutheran Service Book. TLH, LW, LSB, those are the acronyms of our hymnals. You could say that TLH, LW, LSB are the letters of worship. But all of those letters stand for the same thing: hymns that teach God’s Word. TLH, LW, or LSB, all point to Christ.

As I said, we’re going to look at the connections between “Lamb of God” and God’s Word, and the insert in your bulletin will help us walk through the hymn. While you’re taking out your insert, I’m going to play you a clip of a worship band from Mars Hill Church in Pennsylvania doing “Lamb of God” in a pretty different way.

Click here to see insert.

Click here to listen to Red Letter.

I wanted you to hear that clip, because I want us to see that just because a song is in a hymnal, a formal leather-bound pew book, doesn’t mean that there isn’t more than one way to sing and play a hymn.

Anyway, I want to celebrate our new hymnal by finding connections between “Lamb of God” and the rest of today’s service. Dedicating a new hymnal is a great time to pause, really study a hymn, and see just how it much it has to teach us about God’s Word.

So then, on the left hand side of the insert, A. Today’s Old Testament reading from Jeremiah chapter 33 in verse 15 says, “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” God’s promise to send a Savior, the Savior who came as a baby at Christmas, Jesus Christ, that promise connects with the first stanza of the hymn where Twila Paris wrote, “Your only Son, no sin to hide,/But You have sent Him, from Your side.” Indeed, God promises to send His righteous Son, His holy, sinless Son, and that’s the gift He sent on Christmas Day.

B. As the song says, Jesus left His heavenly throne “to walk up this guilty sod/and to become the Lamb of God.” That’s what is happening in today’s Gospel reading from Luke 19. Verse 36 talks about Jesus entering Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, coming among the people on this guilty Earth, this sinful planet.

Perhaps this is a good time to mention that the Palm Sunday Gospel is the traditional reading for the First Sunday of Advent. The Palm Sunday Gospel shows Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey while people wave palm branches; it’s the Sunday before He is crucified. We can see His humility as the King of all Creation rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. And Advent is about preparing to celebrate that same humility, how Christ humbled Himself and was born as a child on Christmas. That’s the amazing part of Christmas and Palm Sunday: Jesus is a humble King—no one would even think He is a King—and yet, through faith, we celebrate Him as the Savior of the world.

C. As Jesus rides into Jerusalem, the crowds shout, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” They celebrated Jesus with those wonderful words that compare to the refrain of “Lamb of God”: “O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God,/I love the holy Lamb of God.” Those are words of praise, words that come from faith seeing that Jesus is truly the Son of God.

D. The refrain continues, “O wash me in His precious blood,/My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God”; it’s a celebration of what the Son of God does for us. He forgives us, takes away our sin, and does just what today’s Epistle reading from 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 13 says: “So that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” We have been washed in the blood of Jesus; we have been made blameless in God’s eyes.

E. Knowing that we’ve been forgiven, stanza 2 of “Lamb of God” reminds us of what Christ had to go through in order to forgive us. “Your Gift of Love they crucified,/They laughed and scorned him as he died.” Jesus died after being mocked, threatened, beaten, and falsely accused of crimes. Even in the middle of the celebration as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, “[S]ome of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’” In other words, “Jesus, make your disciples stop celebrating you as King, because you’re not a king.” They didn’t believe in Him, and they made His life difficult, and they killed Him. Jesus went through all of that, so that our sins could be forgiven.

F. Here’s another reminder that humility is the connection between Palm Sunday and Advent. The song calls Jesus “the humble King,” and indeed, while Luke says, “Throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it,” while it looks like the disciples were giving Jesus a royal treatment, really, it was a borrowed donkey with some ratty cloaks for a saddle. And from there, He rode on to die; they “sacrificed the Lamb of God.”

G. The last connection on the left side of the insert shows that a couple of the other verses from Jeremiah line up with stanza 3. God says, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'” Judah and Jerusalem were lost, but God saved them from their sin and their rebellion. Twila Paris writes that same promise into her lyrics: “I was so lost, I should have died,/But You have brought me to Your side.”

In these verses from Jeremiah, God promises to save His people. In another passage in Jeremiah, God makes the same promise, saying that He will come as the Shepherd of His people. God did this through Jesus, and the song makes a fine connection with that image: “To be led by Your staff and rod, And to be called a lamb of God,” helping us to see that while Jesus is the Lamb of God, we are also His lambs and He is our Shepherd.

So there are many biblical connections in “Lamb of God, ” but we can also see that “Lamb of God” picks up on the tradition of our hymns, having a lot of similarities with “The Advent of our God”.

“The Advent of our God” was written in 1736 by a Frenchman named Charles Coffin. Perhaps an unfortunate last name, but Coffin wrote many hymns in French that have been since translated into English. “Lamb of God” was written 249 years after Coffin’s hymn, but there’s no doubt that both songs are working with the same truths of God.

Point H. on the right hand side, the first stanza, “The advent of our God/Shall be our theme for prayer;/Come, let us meet him on the road/And place for him prepare.” Advent means “to come, approach, arrive,” and so this stanza is talking about Jesus coming into the world. That’s what we’ve already seen in stanza 1 of “Lamb of God.” Jesus left His Father’s side to enter our world, and He came and walked among us. “The Advent of our God” uses the imagery of Palm Sunday, the crowds lining the road as Jesus entered Jerusalem, but that is symbolically what happens in our heart’s through the Holy Spirit. Through faith, we meet Jesus on the road.

I. Stanza 3 of “The Advent of our God” continues the imagery of Palm Sunday, a picture of the crowds celebrating Jesus as He enters Jerusalem: “Come, Zion's daughter, rise/To meet your lowly king,/Nor let your faithless heart despise/The peace he comes to bring.” The stanza makes you picture the crowds lining the roads, shouting, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” It’s the celebration that we sang each time in the refrain of “Lamb of God,” “O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God,/I love the holy Lamb of God.” Where Coffin wrote “the peace he comes to bring” in his hymn, Twila Paris wrote, “O wash me in His precious blood”; both pointing to the forgiveness that Jesus came to bring. More than just on that one Sunday 2000 years ago, though, the imagery helps us to celebrate Jesus entering into our hearts through faith.

J. With stanza 2 of “The Advent of our God,” we have the theme of humility: “The everlasting Son/Incarnate stoops to be,/Himself the servant's form puts on/To set his people free.” Jesus, the eternal Son of God, humbles Himself, comes down to our level and takes flesh, becomes a human, so that He can be the servant and redeem us from sin, get us out of slavery to sin and Satan. It’s the humility that we also sang in “Lamb of God”’s second stanza, “Your Gift of Love they crucified,/They laughed and scorned him as he died:/The humble King they named a fraud,/And sacrificed the Lamb of God.” God sent Jesus as this wonderful gift of love and mercy, but He was crucified—by the sinners in His day and by our sin which made it necessary for Him to die in our place. Where Twila Paris uses the imagery of sacrifice in stanza 2 to talk about how Jesus forgives our sins, Coffin in his stanza 2 uses the image of slavery, that Jesus came “to set his people free.” Both are talking about this incredible act of humility that allows us the hope of eternal life.

K. When we first look at “Lamb of God”’s stanza 3, it might just seem to be about our experience of Jesus working faith in our hearts: “I was so lost, I should have died,/But You have brought me to Your side/To be led by Your staff and rod,/And to be called a lamb of God.” But when we lay it side-by-side with stanza 4 of “The Advent of our God,” we realize that both work with the Advent theme of being prepared for Jesus to come again, waiting in faith for Jesus to return and bring this world to an end. Coffin’s hymn says, “As judge, on clouds of light,/He soon will come again/And all his scattered saints unite/With him on high to reign.” Where Twila Paris talks about us being “lost” and deserving death, Coffin talks about being scattered. Where Twila Paris talks about Jesus coming to be our Shepherd to lead us, Coffin talks about Jesus coming as the Judge to take us to be with Him forever.

Stanza 3 of “Lamb of God” seems like words we might sing on that Last Day, standing staring into the sky, celebrating Christ returning, overwhelmed with awe and fear, saying, “I was so lost, I should have died,/But You have brought me to Your side/To be led by Your staff and rod,/And to be called a lamb of God.”

So, then, the letters of worship, TLH, LW, and LSB, plus A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K, all of these letters of worship lead us right through the themes of Advent—the entrance of Jesus into the world, humbling Himself in order to save us, forgiving us of our sins, preparing us to be with Him forever when He comes again. These letters of worship lead us to stand here waiting. . . . .stand here waiting for Jesus to return and take us to be with Him forever. . .stand here waiting for that day when we will stare up into the sky and see our Lord coming in all of His glory. . .and as we stand here waiting we will sing His praises.