This sermon was preached at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (7pm).
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse (Numbers 24:17)
A star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel.
Prayer: O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight. Amen.
Here we are again for the second sermon in our Wednesday night series on the well-known Advent hymn, O come, O come, Immanuel.
(Quick summary on the history of the hymn for those absent last week).
And last week had a look at the fourth verse of the hymn about the Key of David. So we’re going backwards through the verses, with this week’s study on verse 3, which goes like this.
O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight:
Rejoice, rejoice! Immanuel Shall come to Thee of Israel.
The original verse, on which this hymn is based goes like this:
O Day-spring, Brightness of the Light everlasting, and Sun of Righteousness: Come and enlighten those that sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
This word “Day-spring” is a very unusual word in English, and today we would probably say, “Day-break” or “dawn”. “Day-spring” means the time when the day springs up, the night gives way to the breaking out of a new day.
But we don’t get the full-sense of this word as it is in the original Latin verse. The word for Day-spring is Latin is Oriens. In English, we get our words “orient” and “oriental”, which literally mean “east” and “eastern”. Today, if you have cookbook at home with a recipe for something like “oriental Chicken”, it means that it’s usually a Chinese-style chicken dish. And the word “oriental” was used (it’s a bit old-fashioned now) to mean the same thing as saying the “Far East”, as opposed to the “Middle-East”.
And the word “Orient” comes from the Latin words which have to do with sunrise. “Oriens” literally means “sunrise” or as it says in the hymn “Day-spring”. For ancient people (and I think in Sudanese languages) the words for sunrise and East were inseparable, because of course the sun rises in the east. In English, these two things aren’t so closely connected.
And in the hymn verse today, we’re dealing with Christ being referred to as Light dawning upon a long dark night, bringing an end to the night, bursting forth into a new day, with new hopes, and new joys, bringing refreshment and new life. O Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here.
And one of the first references to this picture of Christ as a new light, is in our reading from the book of Numbers which we heard from tonight.
This reading is part of the final oracle of Balaam. Now we don’t often read from the book of Numbers in church, even though every week single week three verses from Numbers 6 are read at the end of every Sunday service. (Do you know which words they are?...)
And this character Balaam is a very unusual character – it seems as though not much is really known about him. We’re not really sure what his nationality is, but in Numbers 22 we read that Balak, the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, calls him to utter a prophetic message for him. He must have been considered some sort of prophet or holy man.
Anyway, the king of Moab has heard that the Israelites are coming out of Egypt, and he asks Balaam to curse them for him. But God doesn’t allow him to do this. But you might also know the passage, where Balaam is going along the road with the princes of Moab on his donkey, and the donkey has a vision of an angel blocking them on the road. And after Balaam strikes his donkey to get him to keep moving, the donkey speaks, and protests, saying, “What have I done that you strike me these three times?” And then the angel comes and defends the donkey saying, “Why have you struck the donkey three times?”
(I’ve often heard it said amongst pastors, “If God can speak out of the mouth of Balaam’s donkey, he can also speak out of my mouth!”)
But the little passage we read from the book of numbers, comes from the last of Balaam’s oracles, his prophetic words which he speaks.
We read:
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eyes is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall arise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”
So here’s the prophecy: a star shall come out of Jacob. It’s interesting how both this week’s and last week’s prophecies are connected to a person in history, one of Jesus’ ancestors. Last week, it was David – the key of David. Tonight, it’s Jacob – the star shall come out of Jacob.
And the star also rises out of the east. The word for “shall arise” in Latin is “orietur” which has the same root as the word “oriens” (day-break).
And a star often had special significance in terms of a “kingdom”. To say that a star shall arise out of Jacob means that a “king” or a “kingdom” shall come out of Jacob. Also, in the bible the moon, the stars and the sun are often spoken about like kings and queens. We read in Genesis 1: God made two great lights – the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And in Psalm 136: [He set the] moon and the stars to rule over the night.
And so compare a person with a star, is to say that they will rule, they will reign, they will be a king.
Then in the New Testament, we see that at the birth of Jesus, a star is very significant. The three wise men know about the birth of a great king! Why? Because, they say, “We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
Here we see the star, and we also see the reference to the East.
(Just as a little aside, the image of the Messiah coming like a light from the East, has been a big theme in Christian history. Even to this day a lot of Eastern Orthodox churches build their churches facing the east – if you’ve ever been past the Serbian church at Yallourn North, you’ll notice that that church faces the east.)
But also, I’d like us to have a look at a passage from the book of Malachi, where it says: “For you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”
Now this expression “Sun of Righteousness” has often also been used to speak about Christ. It’s like saying that Christ arises putting an end to all the darkness, and bringing about a new day.
You might not have heard about this passage used before, but you might know it from the famous Christmas carol: Hark the herald angels sing, where the third verse says:
Hail the heaven-born Prince of peace!
Hail, Thou Sun of Righteousness,
Life and light to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
We see in this verse as well, that with new light comes “healing”, refreshment, the end of disease, and most importantly the end of sin. And at the end of time, there will be an end of sin, just as we read in Revelation, “he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Jesus is called the Sun of Righteousness, because he brings righteousness, and he shares it. He shares it in one way that we are made perfect and holy through his word, and also he shares it in a way through our works that in this life we still need to be forgiven and are not perfect.
For us, who are Christians, we live in the “now”, but “not yet”. We are forgiven from our sins, but we still live with sin. Christ does bring his healing light to all of us, but we still add every day to our corruption. Christ does pour his light out on the world, but there is still sadness, suffering and pain. So in the Christian church, we believe by faith that Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, as St John says, “the light who enlightens all people” even though when he performed his greatest work, by suffering and dying on the cross, darkness covered the face of the earth. So in the psalms we sing, “The Lord has done great things for us. We are glad!” but we also sing, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?”
So we see all sort of passages where Christ is called a light:
Ephesians 5 says “Awake sleeper from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
We also know the prophecy that gets read at Christmas time: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” And at Epiphany, “Arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”
And also we know the famous passage, where Christ calls himself “the light of the world” (in John 8) as well as calling us “the light of the world” (in Matthew 5).
Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden… let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Christianity is a light in a dark, dark world, because Jesus Christ promises to be with his church. It’s not our light that shines in the world, but his. And so as the church shines its light on the world, Christ shines his light on the world.
But I’d like to read the Latin verse once again: It says:
O Day-spring, Brightness of the Light everlasting, and Sun of Righteousness: Come and enlighten those that sit in the darkness and the shadow of death.”
We’ve had a little look at the word “Day-Spring” and the phrase, “Sun of Righteousness”. But what’s this expression “Brightness of the Light everlasting”?
This expression comes from the book of Hebrews, where Jesus is called the “radiance of the glory of God”. In the Nicene Creed, we call him, “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God”.
Here we say that Christ is the Son of God, he is begotten of the Father, he is the Son of his Father, but also he is God himself. He is equal to God. He isn’t less than God.
So in the Gospel of John, Jesus says to Mary Magdalene, “I am ascending to your Father and my Father, to your God and my God”. But then also Thomas calls him, “My Lord and my God!”
We have to make sure we understand what this means today, because Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons will tell you that Jesus is beneath his Father, that he is less than his Father. And just because Jesus is submissive to his Father, doesn’t mean he isn’t also equal to him. Jesus says in the Garden, “Father, let your will be done.” But also it says in Philippians, “He took the form of a servant, not counting equality with God a thing to be grasped.” So even though Jesus was equal to God, and equal to his Father, by becoming a baby, and becoming a man, he chose to become a servant for us, and died on the cross for us. But if he wasn’t true God, then his sacrifice on the cross wouldn’t have been a perfect sacrifice. The Jesus that the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons believe in, and the death of Jesus that they believe in, doesn’t do them any good, because he’s not truly God, and equal to God.
In the book of Genesis (I don’t know if you have ever given this any thought) we read that on the first day God created Light. But on day four, he created the sun. Now in the early church, Jesus was often compared to this. God doesn’t need a sun to shine his light, but he chooses to delegate light as the sun’s job, if you like!
And because of sin, we know that if God showed himself fully to us, we would crumble up and burn up before him. Deuteronomy says, “Our God is a consuming fire.” But then God chooses to shine his light upon us through means, for example, when he spoke to Moses out of a burning bush. The fact that the bush didn’t burn up, shows us that God was exercising restraint, and that he was showing love for people.
Now also, the fullness of God dwells in the body of Jesus. We don’t go looking for God with all his brightness directly. That’s not possible! We’d burn up! We wouldn’t be allowed to access that. The Jews were only allowed to access God through the temple, through the priests, and through the sacrifices.
But as Christians, we access God and his bright light, through the body of Jesus Christ, his Son, who is the Light of the World, and radiance of God’s glory. As St John also said, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.” So just as God uses a sun to shine his light on us in the world naturally, God uses Jesus Christ to shine the light of his word and his truth and his holiness through the body of Christ.
And that’s why it’s so important that we believe that Christ is actually here, present in the church. It’s no good to say that we go to pray to God in church, if we don’t pray to him through the blood of Jesus. It’s no good to say that I’m full of the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit was not spoken into us through God’s Word and the words of Jesus. The main place where we should be coming to receive the Holy Spirit is from the wounds of Christ himself as he comes to us in the Lord’s Supper feeding us with his own body and blood, knowing that he also showered the Holy Spirit on us in Holy Baptism – not trying to reach up and pluck the Holy Spirit out of mid-air.
When we come to church, we are coming to be enlightened by the true light that enlightens all people, Jesus Christ.
In Hebrews we read: For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them…But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word that the blood of Abel.
Jesus is our light. He is the Brightness of the Father’s glory. Jesus is our star, our sun, our dawn, our Dayspring. He is God of God, Light of Light. Lo, he abhors not the Virgin’s womb. Very God, begotten not created. O Come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.
Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, you are our only light. You are the true light which enlightens the whole world. Come, and enlighten our dark hearts with the gift of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment