NO AUDIO
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem to came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord need them,” and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your King is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” (Matthew 21:1-5)
“What do you want for Christmas?”
Perhaps you’re asking this question and being asked this question.
There is some good to this question. If you’re going to give a gift to someone, it’s nice if someone wants that gift.
Today, I’d like for us to consider that the Holy Scriptures – the liturgy, the Church service, the Lord’s Prayer, and especially today, we’ll consider how the Church season of Advent – is leading us to ask a similar question:
What do I want for Christmas? What do I want?
Every once in awhile, our family will be watching T.V. and a commercial will come on advertising some toy that the children didn’t even know existed and they will cry out, “Daddy, can I have that? Mommy, I want that.”
Now, they didn’t know they wanted it until the commercial told them they wanted it.
Or, another illustration, there are also relationships in our lives, husbands/wives, fathers/mothers, brothers/sisters, children, in which they give us something or do something for us or say something to us that is exactly what we needed or wanted and we didn’t even know that was what we needed or wanted.
So how does Advent and our Lord’s emphasis in His Word during this season right before Christmas help give to exactly what we want or need even if we didn’t know we wanted or needed it.
Behold, your King.
We pause this season, with its chaos and business and planning and buying and emphasis on stuff, stuff, and more stuff,
We pause in this world, with its emphasis on power and force and anger and riches and honor and glory,
We pause in our culture, with its emphasis on pleasure and selfishness and greed and doing it my way, and we
Behold, your king, coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden [Zechariah, from whom Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy adds: your King comes righteous and having salvation is He.
Do you see your King?
Rightfully having power, He comes humbly.
Rightfully having anger at sin, He comes to bear our sin and to distribute righteousness and salvation.
Rightfully having riches, He comes in poverty, having no place to lay His head, having to even borrow the donkey He rides on.
Behold, your King.
Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna in the highest – “hosanna” means, help, save, deliver us.
It’s the same word that is behind the name of Jesus – which means “Savior, deliverer, helper, rescuer,”
We prayed today, “Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord,” in which we’re praying to our gracious Jesus to be Who He is, who He has promised to be, our Savior, the One who Hosanna’s us.
Advent helps us pause and ask the Holy Scripture’s, “What do I want for Christmas?” by helping us consider who Jesus is, how He came, how He comes, that He will come again and who I am and ought be with Him as my King.
That’s what you want.
You’re a Christian.
That’s what you want.
That you need.
That’s what God is beginning again and again to create a desire in you for.
But if you’re honest with yourself, you often want more than that.
As Jesus was riding into Jerusalem with the cries, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” fulfilling the prophecy of the King, coming to them, if you would ask most there, “What do you want this King to do for you?”
Most would say, “Deliver us from Roman rule.
Give us prosperity.
Give my family more security.
Help me and my family to live longer, happier, healthier and wealthier.”
Most would be ok with the donkey as long as the war horse that promised deliverance was going to follow soon after.
Most would be ok with the humility and poverty as long as the prosperity and wealth and health would soon follow.
There is nothing new under the sun.
And it’s so very important that we have our Lord in this Advent remind us, shape us, change us and our desires, our wants, so that the things that we want the most are in fact the things that He comes to give us.
He knows us better than we know ourselves.
Church is like one big commercial reminding us, “Hey, Daddy, Abba, Father, can I have that?”
His Kingdom is not of this world, yet! Yet, the King comes to you, promising you an everlasting Kingdom of righteousness, peace, the Holy Spirit, and salvation.
His riches are not seen, yet! Yet, He who became poor for our sake, gives us His riches.
His deliverance, His healing, His security, are not yet fully seen! He comes humbly now. And that’s still frustrating for us, at times. But we who trust our King and His power and authority over all things, who pray “Thy Kingdom come,” also boldly pray, “Thy Will be done” in boldness and faith.
Our King came, not to shed the blood of His enemies, but to shed His own blood, so that we who were His enemies might know He is at peace with us,
He calls us His friends,
His promises us He is our King who is good to us.
Advent picks up a Christian theme of waiting.
We wait for what we know is true. Even if we don’t see it, even if it doesn’t look like it, even if things don’t look good, we come to Church to hear God is good, and all things work together for the good, and our King comes to us to give us good things.
What do you want for Christmas?