Rev. Stephen E. Stults
St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Sunday
Next before Advent 2017
‘STIR up, we
beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously
bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Every year we read this Collect, the Sunday next before Advent. We
petition God to “stir up” the wills of His faithful
people. Historically, this Sunday is known as “Stir up” Sunday. Why? We are preparing for two momentous church
seasons, Advent and then, of course, Christ-mass. We Christians beseech the Lord to “stir up”
our wills, that we may be filled with faith and plenteously bring forth good
works. It is vital to our spiritual health that we appreciate these two
upcoming seasons for what they are and not the mere counterfeit the World
offers us.
Turning to our Epistle from Jeremiah, we read: ”Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise
unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall
execute judgment and justice in the earth.”[1]
How do these
two thoughts come together on the Sunday Next before Advent? What is the unifying theme here and what
significance do they have for us?
First, it is
that we see God being 100% consistent in His Holy Word. What we mean here is that the lessons from
this Sunday are purely and simply a fulfillment of prophecy.
In this case,
it is the prophecy of Jeremiah coming true in the days of Jesus. The O.T. prophet Jeremiah clearly proclaims
the kingship of the Messiah. He is to be the “righteous branch”, the “King” who
“shall reign and prosper” over Israel and Judah.
Then, in our
gospel selection from St. John 6, Jesus performs a miracle that clearly gives
evidence of His Kingship over all creation.
To the spiritually discerning, the prophecy is fulfilled.
But wait, one
might say, how is it that Christ showed himself, really and symbolically, as
King and Ruler over Creation? If it
weren’t for a grassy hillside near the Sea of Galilee, one could argue that He
was not. After all, what Jeremiah was
prophesying was the standard Messianic vision several prophets had or would
have in their ministries. This type of prophecy fed right into what Judah hoped
for during the Roman occupation and the vision Judah had for herself: a strong,
independent Jewish nation, led by their warrior-king-messiah, subduing all
nations and bringing the light of God’s Law to the heathen. In some ways, it is also the vision some 21st
century Christians have of Christ as well.
Today, some
members of Christ’s body on earth support Israel for this purpose. Not only to
participate in the blessing on those who support her, but in some way to
advance an agenda whereby Christ returns to earth in power and great
glory. It has been said, for example,
that President Harry S. Truman believed this and thus helped advance the
formation of the state of Israel. He did
this to prepare events for a certain end-time scenario. He thought that by
causing Israel to be created, he was setting the stage for the Second Coming of
Christ. In the mysterious sovereignty of God’s Will, he did help, just not with
the short-term payoff he may have envisioned. It is true that all of us fulfill
God’s Holy Will in some way, even when we are unaware of it. For the spiritually introspective, most of us
only see the glorious working out of God’s Will in our lives in hindsight. Looking back, sometimes we are blessed with
an “ah-ha” moment. It is those times
that we should bow our heads and worship most fervently as we see God’s
Kingship in our lives.
It is precisely
this Kingship that Christ revealed in Galilee when the hungry crowd followed
him and listened eagerly to His teachings. As Lord and Pastor of their souls, he fed them
spiritually and then, fed them physically.
First, he tested his first disciple Philip by asking him where they
might buy bread, in order that the crowd might eat.
Philip
acknowledges the impossibility of earthly means to feed them. Andrew then informs Christ of the lad with
five barley loaves and two fish, while also acknowledging the paucity of means
to feed so many. Christ does not respond
to this, but tells the disciples to have the people sit down.
He then
performed four important actions: he took, he blessed, he broke and he gave.
The liturgical Christian will recognize these as the same actions a presbyter
performs during the Eucharist. The symbolism is intentional. Christ feeds all
of us in the Eucharist, just as he did the multitude. All the faithful who come to communicate with
Christ are the new multitude of the Church. After distribution, the men eat and
are satisfied, just as we who come to the Holy Table are satisfied with Christ.
Note that the
significance of this kingly sign was not lost on the people. In fact, it was so evident that they wanted
to make Christ an earthly king by force by necessary. Christ rejected this and
withdrew from them into the mountains.
The message is
both clear and mysterious. Clearly,
Christ was the expected One, the Messiah of God by the signs He exhibited. Yet, it was unclear how He exercised his
power once he began to appear among men.
Not as the powerful earthly ruler, with pomp and magnificence, did he
manifest Himself to mankind. Yet, as possessing all power He showed Himself to
man through His miracles. Note that He
did not create the bread out of nothing, using some manipulation of Nature or
magic, but magnified that which already existed. Bread comes through the
bounty of God and the labor of Man. The
message is clear to those who have a heart for God: Jesus is Lord and King,
just not in the earthly sense of these terms. Rather than exercising lordship
through coercive or terrible means, Christ exercises Lordship through loving
authority. He doesn’t need to extract
fealty from us through fear or raw power, but through the attraction of love.
This is the standard that God
expects of us. We are to love God with
our whole being, with our heart, our soul and our mind. We are to love Him with every fiber of our
being, the One who loved us so much that, in the words of John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.” (NKJV)
Then, we are to love our neighbor as
ourselves. We are, in the words of the Golden Rule, to treat others as we would
have them treat us. We are to love them as we love ourselves. These two
commandments, to love God and to love our neighbor, are at once very simple and
very profound. We can only do this through
Christ and the help of the Holy Spirit.
That leads us to contemplate the
great Season upon us, the Season of Advent
One cannot underestimate the value and importance of this
brief and wonderful season.
Are we ready, as faithful Christians, to re-commit to
Him, as we prepare for another year in the life of the Church? Will we permit ourselves to experience the
full joy and peace of Christ is our life? These are all serious, but wonderful
questions that Advent helps us to answer.
To us today, the same message applies: there is hope, for
our “King and Redeemer draweth nigh.”
The Season of Advent is meant to help prepare our hearts and minds to
receive the One to whom all Biblical prophecy points. Advent helps us prepare for the One who brings
light and life to a dark and despairing world. Advent helps us to maximize the spiritual and
temporal joys of Christmas, as we embrace the eternally momentous Nativity of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We pray you, let this Advent
season be the richest you’ve ever had, full of the joy of Christ.
Glory be to God
the Father, and to God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, now and forever. AMEN
