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The Second Sunday of Advent
Today’s Reading: Luke 21:25-36
Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 26:1-19; 1 John 3:1-24
Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:36)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Are you ready? Will you be ready? Are you worthy to stand before the Son of Man when He comes again in His glory on the Last Day? You know what you do when you think no one is looking. You know the sins of your heart and the thoughts of which you are ashamed. With such sins, can you really be worthy to stand before the Son of Man?
When Jesus tells you to pray that you will be counted worthy, He’s not telling you that you can get ready by fixing your life and getting rid of your own sins. Rather, He’s telling you to live in His Word which never passes away. You ARE worthy to stand before the Son of Man, because the Son of Man stood before evil men. You are worthy to stand before God, because Jesus, the Son of Man, stood for you before His enemies and then hung in full view upon the cross. You are worthy to stand before the Son of Man, because you have been washed by His own blood and covered with His own righteousness.
Your Baptism is a call to you as a Christian to indeed struggle against sin and throw off the things that so easily entangle. It is a call to learn the Lord’s Word―what is pleasing to Him, and to live and do those things. But more than all of that, your Baptism is the promise and seal that your sins have been forgiven and that your standing before God has been set: You are a not-guilty child of God in Jesus.
The Second Sunday of Advent points us to the Second Coming of Christ in all His glory. Today, we are once again reminded of the promise of Christ that His Word never passes away. That means your Baptism can never pass away. The words of Absolution spoken to you can never pass away. Christ’s Body and Blood and the preaching of the cross will never pass away. And if those things do not pass away, then you cannot either. You will be raised to life on that Last Day when Christ comes again. Because of Christ, that Day is no longer one to be feared, but to be looked forward to with joy. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son that by His coming we may be given to serve You with cleansed minds; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for Advent 2)
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By Higher Things®Today’s Reading: Luke 21:25-36
Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 26:1-19; 1 John 3:1-24
Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:36)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Are you ready? Will you be ready? Are you worthy to stand before the Son of Man when He comes again in His glory on the Last Day? You know what you do when you think no one is looking. You know the sins of your heart and the thoughts of which you are ashamed. With such sins, can you really be worthy to stand before the Son of Man?
When Jesus tells you to pray that you will be counted worthy, He’s not telling you that you can get ready by fixing your life and getting rid of your own sins. Rather, He’s telling you to live in His Word which never passes away. You ARE worthy to stand before the Son of Man, because the Son of Man stood before evil men. You are worthy to stand before God, because Jesus, the Son of Man, stood for you before His enemies and then hung in full view upon the cross. You are worthy to stand before the Son of Man, because you have been washed by His own blood and covered with His own righteousness.
Your Baptism is a call to you as a Christian to indeed struggle against sin and throw off the things that so easily entangle. It is a call to learn the Lord’s Word―what is pleasing to Him, and to live and do those things. But more than all of that, your Baptism is the promise and seal that your sins have been forgiven and that your standing before God has been set: You are a not-guilty child of God in Jesus.
The Second Sunday of Advent points us to the Second Coming of Christ in all His glory. Today, we are once again reminded of the promise of Christ that His Word never passes away. That means your Baptism can never pass away. The words of Absolution spoken to you can never pass away. Christ’s Body and Blood and the preaching of the cross will never pass away. And if those things do not pass away, then you cannot either. You will be raised to life on that Last Day when Christ comes again. Because of Christ, that Day is no longer one to be feared, but to be looked forward to with joy. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son that by His coming we may be given to serve You with cleansed minds; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for Advent 2)