We Light the Advent Candles - We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word

For the last ten years, we've sung all or part of "We Light the Advent Candles" during our Advent worship services. You see, as we go through the four weeks, we sing the verses sung during the prior weeks, and we add a new verse recognizing the candles that have been and are being lit on that particular Sunday. During this Advent season, we're going to focus on the meaning of each verse, as expressed in the song. 

The second message dealt with "We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word."

I think it’s really important for y’all to know, that right now we have about 16½ days before Christmas. Which means that, in just over two weeks, all the presents must be bought, all the cards must be sent, all the food must be fixed, and all the decorations must be put out. And if they aren’t, in less than two weeks, we’re out of luck. Maybe that’s why they call this the most wonderful time of the year.

But you know, when you think about it, this period before Christmas really is interesting time of year. Now you remember what I just said, you know, about all the stuff that we’ve got to get done in 16½ days: I’m talking about the chaos of shopping and sending and cooking and decorating. Man, it’s like Black Friday for a month.

It makes you crazy. Of course, I think we’d all agree that this kind of thing forces us to almost obsess on the future, because the future is going to be present and then the past in, what, 17 days! Now I think this kind of thing happens to us all this time of year. But what’s interesting is that, at the same time, we’re all kind of reminiscing about the past. I mean, this is the time of year that even teenagers are willing to watch black and white movies. And half the ornaments on the tree have some king of back story. And let me ask you, what tastes better than eating a wedge of pumpkin pie or a piece of gingerbread or about two dozen sugar cookies made just like mom, or if your like my dad’s family, Mrs. Smith, Sara Lee or the Dough Boy? Still it brings back memories. I’ll tell you, the past never feels as warm and fuzzy as it does a couple of weeks before Christmas, at least that’s how I feel.

And you know, that’s going to be our focus this morning. I mean, remember, last week, when we lit the first Advent candle we sang, “The first one will remind us that Christ will soon return. We light it in the darkness and watch it gleam and burn; we light it in the darkness and watch it gleam and burn.” And so, we talked about Jesus’s return. And this week, when Linda lit the second candle, we sang, “We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord!” Now that’s what we sang. And with that in mind, we’re going to spend a little while thinking about what the Old Testament had to say about the one whose birth we’re about to celebrate. And just like we did last week, we’re going to focus on three aspects of these expectations: first, who did they expect him to be, and second, what did they expect him to do, and third, how might we respond. Now that’s the plan for this morning.

And it all starts with who they thought he would be. In other words, what kind of expectations did folks who lived way before the manger and the shepherds and the wise men, what expectation did they have as they looked forward to the one they’d call the Messiah in Hebrew or the Christ in Greek. And I’ll tell you, we can see the one they expected all over the place in the Old Testament. For example, they certainly believed he would be closely connected with God. I mean, just listen to what the Psalmist wrote. “Why do the nations and why do their people make useless plans? The kings of this earth have all joined together to turn against the Lord and his chosen one. They say, ‘Let’s cut the ropes and set ourselves free!’ In heaven the Lord laughs as he sits on his throne, making fun of the nations. The Lord becomes furious and threatens them. His anger terrifies them as he says, ‘I’ve put my king on Zion, my sacred hill.’ I will tell the promise that the Lord made to me: ‘You are my son, because today I have become your father. Ask me for the nations, and every nation on earth will belong to you. You will smash them with an iron rod and shatter them like dishes of clay.’ Be smart, all you rulers, and pay close attention. Serve and honor the Lord; be glad and tremble. Show respect to his son because if you don’t, the Lord might become furious and suddenly destroy you. But he blesses and protects everyone who runs to him.” [Psalm 2:1-12, CEV] And so they were looking for the Son of God.

But they weren’t looking for some kind of God-man. No, this one would also be one of us. For example, he was going to be a descendant of the greatest king of all, King David. I mean, this was what the Lord said to David. “I’ll choose one of your sons to be king when you reach the end of your life and are buried in the tomb of your ancestors. I’ll make him a strong ruler, and no one will be able to take his kingdom away from him. He will be the one to build a temple for me. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I’ll see that he is corrected, just as children are corrected by their parents. But I will never put an end to my agreement with him, as I put an end to my agreement with Saul, who was king before you. I will make sure that one of your descendants will always be king.” [2 Samuel 7:12–16, CEV] You see, the one they expected would be in David’s line. As a matter of fact, they believed he would be born in David’s city. As the Prophet Micah wrote, “Bethlehem Ephrath, you are one of the smallest towns in the nation of Judah. But the Lord will choose one of your people to rule the nation—someone whose family goes back to ancient times.” [Micah 5:2, CEV] No, this guy was going to be real, and I’m talking about flesh and blood. And even though he could be called God’s Son, he’d also be the son of man, which means “human,” you know, like us, just like Daniel wrote. “As I continued to watch the vision that night, I saw what looked like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, and he was presented to the Eternal God. He was crowned king and given power and glory, so that all people of every nation and race would serve him. He will rule forever, and his kingdom is eternal, never to be destroyed.” [Daniel 7:13–14, CEV] And so, as these prophets and priests looked forward toward the Messiah, the Christ, they believed he would be uniquely God’s Son but also like any other son of man. That’s who they expected.

And when we look at Jesus, he really fulfills both sides of this expectation. I mean, we can certainly see an undeniable connection with God. As John wrote, “We know that Jesus Christ the Son of God has come and has shown us the true God. And because of Jesus, we now belong to the true God who gives eternal life.” [1 John 5:20, CEV] And at the end of his gospel, he said this to the reader, “Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.” [John 20:30-31, CEV] And so, on one hand, his followers understood his divine sonship.

But on the other hand, his humanity was also clear. And if there’s any question about that, I don’t think we need to look beyond the birth story in Luke. “About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books. These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David’s hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David’s family. Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, and while they were there, she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.” [Luke 2:1-7, CEV] I’m telling you, this is the birth of a baby, not the coming of a god. As a matter of fact, I think this combination of divinity and humanity was best expressed by Paul. He wrote, “Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us.” [Philippians 2:6-7, CEV] You see, in the past, they looked for the one who would be both Son of God and son of man; that’s who they expected. And that’s who we received in Jesus Christ.

But the hope of those Old Testament people went beyond identity. They also expected him to do certain things. And again we have a contrast. I mean, they expected their Messiah, their Christ to do incredible works. For example, they believed he would be a prophet like Moses, just like it was written in Deuteronomy, “Instead, he will choose one of your own people to be a prophet just like me, and you must do what that prophet says. You were asking for a prophet the day you were gathered at Mount Sinai and said to the Lord, ‘Please don’t let us hear your voice or see this terrible fire again—if we do, we will die!’ Then the Lord told me: ‘Moses, they have said the right thing. So when I want to speak to them, I will choose one of them to be a prophet like you. I will give my message to that prophet, who will tell the people exactly what I have said. Since the message comes from me, anyone who doesn’t obey the message will have to answer to me.’” [Deuteronomy 18:15-19, CEV] And they believed he would be able to heal those who were sick. When he comes “...the blind will see, and the ears of the deaf will be healed. Those who were lame will leap around like deer; tongues once silent will begin to shout. Water will rush through the desert.” [Isaiah 35:5-6, CEV] They even believed he’d be raised from the dead. As the Psalmist wrote, “I am your chosen one. You won’t leave me in the grave or let my body decay. You have shown me the path to life, and you make me glad by being near to me. Sitting at your right side, I will always be joyful.” {Psalm 16:10-11, CEV] I think the best word to describe their Messiah’s life would be “miraculous.”

But for all the glory and power, they also believed he would suffer. And no where in the Old Testament is this suffering described in more detail than in two chapters within the prophecy of Isaiah. And this is how the description begins. “The Lord says: ‘My servant will succeed! He will be given great praise and the highest honors. Many were horrified at what happened to him. But everyone who saw him was even more horrified because he suffered until he no longer looked human. My servant will make nations worthy to worship me; kings will be silent as they bow in wonder. They will see and think about things they have never seen or thought about before.’” [Isaiah 52:13-15, CEV] And this was the goal of this suffering servant: “By suffering, the servant will learn the true meaning of obeying the Lord. Although he is innocent, he will take the punishment for the sins of others, so that many of them will no longer be guilty. The Lord will reward him with honor and power for sacrificing his life. Others thought he was a sinner, but he suffered for our sins and asked God to forgive us.” [Isaiah 53:11-12, CEV] You see, this is what they expected him to do.

And I’ll tell you, when we consider his life, that’s really what Jesus Christ did. I mean, he certainly did magnificent things when he was alive. For instance, Mark wrote, “Everyone was amazed at his teaching. He taught with authority, and not like the teachers of the Law of Moses.” [Mark 1:22, CEV] And when some of the followers of John the Baptist came and asked if he was the one or if they should wait for another, “Jesus said to the messengers sent by John, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. Blind people are now able to see, and the lame can walk. People who have leprosy are being healed, and the deaf can now hear. The dead are raised to life, and the poor are hearing the good news. God will bless everyone who doesn’t reject me because of what I do.’” [Luke 7:22-23, CEV] And as to the resurrection, Paul wrote this to the Corinthians: “So if the dead won’t be raised to life, Christ wasn’t raised to life. Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins. And those people who died after putting their faith in him are completely lost. If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else. But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life.” [1 Corinthians 15:16-20, CEV] And so the miracles are certainly there.

But so is the suffering. I mean, just listen to what Jesus said, “Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, ‘The nation’s leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make the Son of Man suffer terribly. He will be rejected and killed, but three days later he will rise to life.’ Then Jesus explained clearly what he meant.” [Mark 8:31-32, CEV] Now that’s what Jesus believed would happen, and he was right. And you know, Paul said the same thing to the Philippians. Remember when he wrote about how Jesus had given up everything and had become a slave. This is what he said next. “Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a cross. Then God gave Christ the highest place and honored his name above all others.” [Philippians 2:8-9, CEV] You see, Jesus did exactly what the Son of God and son of man was expected to do. And all that we can find when we look back into the Old Testament.

But there’s one thing we can’t find in this book. You see, it’s really up to us to decide how we’re going to respond. I mean, are we going to reject the one who fulfilled hope and did exactly what he was expected to do? You see, we can reject all of that and live as though we don’t have a God who loved us so much he sent his son to be our savior. Or we can choose to believe that Jesus is who he was expected to be and to trust that, through his life and death, he opened the possibility of a new kind of life that’s moving towards a glorious future. That’s also an option. But how we respond, that’s up to us.

But you know, maybe the song we sang as we lit the second candle, maybe it offers some solid advice about what we should do. Remember, this is what we sang: “We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord!” You see, if we accept the expectations and fulfillment right there in scripture, we really will be clinging to Jesus. And we’ll be doing that right through the next 16½ days and beyond. And next week, we’ll consider verse number three: “Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way, rejoice, the Baptist cries out, your Lord has come today, rejoice, the Baptist cries out, your Lord has come today!”