Advent 4 Sermon

 

Advent 4 – December 17^th and 18^th, 2022 – Luke 1:39-56

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. Thus far the text. As we begin, I'd like to ponder just two very important words that shift how we understand the setting for our Gospel lesson. With haste. If we do something with haste, that means that there is an urgency, a quickness to it. A desperation. It needs to be done and it needs to be done now. Next Saturday afternoon many husbands will be shopping with haste – for there is no more time, and woe be unto them if they incur the Christmas wrath of their wife. And generally, haste isn't a good thing. When it comes to making a decision we are told, “let's not be hasty.” “Haste makes waste” is old, old wisdom. Better to be able to take your time, contemplate, and work well.

And yet, here we see young Mary going with haste. Mary is high tailing it to the hill country – and why? Well, just before our text the Angel Gabriel had come and visited her – told her that she would be the mother of the Messiah, that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her and she would be the mother of God. And Mary piously and famously says, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Fantastic, faithful words. God has said it; that's how it will happen to me. And yet, consider who Mary is as she says this. A young girl, engaged to be wed but not married yet. And she's pregnant, and not with Joseph's kid, and this is in a day and age when they would stone people for that. We hear in Matthew that Joseph is worried about this – that he thinks he'll have to divorce her, call off the marriage – and he's worried about how he can pull of the divorce without getting her killed. And then, just beyond that – even when Mary and Joseph are sorted out after Gabriel visits Joseph, too – you know your relationship is in an odd place when God has to send an angel to both of you – even when Mary and Joseph are good... there's still the simple fact that she's going to give birth to the promised Messiah. The whole of human history has been leading to this moment – all the promises of the Old Testament, promises to Eve, to Sarah and Abraham, to Judah, to David, to Solomon, promises to all the heroes of the Old Testament – and they are happening now, they are being fulfilled inside of Mary. There in her womb, He is growing every so slowly – Jesus, the Savior, God become Man, Emmanuel. Can you imagine how heavy, how intimidating that would be? We get nervous just handling things around the altar, did I light candles the right way, oh, don't let me spill something at communion – now put yourself in Mary's shoes.

And so with haste, off to visit Elizabeth. Gabriel had mentioned that her cousin, her relative, Elizabeth was 6 months pregnant with John when she was already old. And so Mary runs to her cousin – she's older, she's wiser, she's had 6 months to deal with a miraculous pregnancy of her own – maybe she can put this in perspective. And Elizabeth most certainly does! And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. So Mary gets to the door, peaks her head in quietly - “Auntie Beth?” And then, wherever in the house she had been, suddenly Elizabeth springs into action. John in her womb starts preaching and kicking – go mom, go! And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit – I told you last week John was a good preacher – he preached a humdinger of a sermon to his mom before she was even born – and she exclaimed with a loud cry. Okay, pause. This conversation that follows between Elizabeth and Mary sounds so... formal. So pristine. So... bible-y. And that's simply because we speak English and not Aramaic and Greek, and the Scriptures are read in Church where in there's some decorum and primness and you better be on your best behavior. This is not a prim and proper moment. This is Elizabeth bubbling over with joy and excitement and the words spilling out 100 miles a minute with joy and delight. We've all seen it – the two hand grab oh I'm so excited for you this so great firehose of joy, possibly some bouncing around with excitement. That's the loud cry that is going on here.

And what does Elizabeth say? Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! First off, Elizabeth sets the stage perfectly. You are blessed. You might be scared, you might be nervous, you might have all the typical fears and more besides, but let me spell this out. You are blessed. Let's frame this properly, Mary – scary or not, problems or not, hardships or not – this is nothing but an unbridled blessing from God to you. Period, end of story. God grant that the women who find themselves with child in our day and age would be so well reminded that they too have been blessed to be bearers of new life. But even beyond that, Elizabeth says: Mary, you are more blessed than any other woman whose ever found herself pregnant, more blessed than me even. Because your baby is the Savior, is the Messiah. This Kid's not just a blessing for you, He's not just going to be a blessing for His town for a few decades – He is a blessing for every man and woman that has ever lived or ever will live because He is the Messiah.

And Elizabeth gushes a bit – And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my LORD should come to me? I can't believe this is happening – the Messiah – right there Mary, your Baby, the Lord – how did I live to see this amazing thing happen? This is not refined talk, this is bubbling over. For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. The Pharisees and the Scribes thought John came kicking when he was preaching by the Jordan – that's old hat for John. This is God's plan of salvation kicking in sort of stuff, and it is dumbfounding.

And to wrap it up Elizabeth exclaims – And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the LORD. A fulfillment. Mary, you and I, we're passive. This isn't because of what we do – but God has spoken, and He has spoken a wonderful promise, a promise to you and to me for all people, and God is doing it. His Word is being fulfilled, because God is awesome – and we benefit from that, we get all the goodness of God being awesome.

And there in that hill country town, Mary hears precisely what she needed to hear. Mary had seen fear and trouble and confusion – and Elizabeth just slides it all into place. It's good, it's blessing. Why? Because God has spoken, God has promised, God is at work doing great things for you and for me. The Messiah is coming. Jesus is coming, and it is good. And hearing that, Mary is ready to respond, her faith refreshed and bolstered by the Spirit and the Word – My soul magnifies the LORD, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. It's all God. It's all stuff that Jesus has done and is doing. I'm humble – He has elevated me. People will praise my name, but that's because His name is holy. And He comes with mercy, with strength to save and rescue, to fulfill the promises of God. The Magnificat – Mary's song here, it's all praising God for His goodness. And then we hear And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. Mary hangs out and helps Elizabeth for the rest of her pregnancy, and then she heads off to handle the rest of her own pregnancy along with Joseph.

So, what do we make of all this? Let me say this. Sometimes we today are assaulted by a wicked and demonic idea that Satan has sowed among the church today – the idea that if we only had enough faith we would always be happy and joyous and we would always be confident and rearing to go... all on our own. And so when we see fears and doubts, there's that push, that temptation to curl into ourselves, to pretend that there are no fears, to bury those fears, to never share, to never get help, to struggle and try to do it all by ourselves and get stuck alone and isolated and crushed. That's a horrible lie of Satan. The Christian faith, the Christian life, is never mean to be an isolated thing. It is not good for man to be alone. You see, when we are in a situation, we are overwhelmed by what we can see of the situation, the fears, the troubles, the doubts that have grown. We need to hear what others have seen – we need commiseration, we need encouragement, we need the experience of those who have gone before – and most importantly, we need faithful Christians to speak the love and mercy of God to us. Which is what Elizabeth, guided, filled by the Holy Spirit, does for Mary.

And that is indeed the purpose of this place – my job as your Pastor is to be that person who you can know will speak Christ's Word of forgiveness and life whenever you see the burdens of life. That's why we confess our sins and receive forgiveness here, week in, week out. We need Jesus. But this pattern isn't supposed to be just a once a week in this room thing. It's also training. Worship is training you for every day of your life – training you to confess, to be honest about the hardships in your life, whether they are because of sins you have committed – where you've messed up - or whether it's because stuff has happened to you and the messes of others land on you. Be honest about that all week long. And worship is training you to know, to speak the Words of Christ's Jesus comfort to whoever's confession and lament that you hear in this week. When someone comes to you, and their heart is rent in two, or the burdens of life weigh upon them – you don't have mere platitudes – you have Jesus and His Word. You have the Holy Spirit. No, your suffering doesn't mean that God hates you – Jesus came and He suffered too, He knows and is with you. Ah, you have sinned – well, Jesus went to the Cross to take away that sin from you and crucify it, so that's not your sin, it's Jesus', He took it from you, and you are forgiven. Yes, this is scary – but Jesus is with you, and He will support you with what you need for all the days He gives you. When people see all this junk, you get to speak forth Jesus, so they hear again Jesus... because faith always comes by hearing. Even for Mary and Elizabeth.

This is why Jesus came. This is why we celebrate His coming in Advent. Because Jesus continues to come – He comes to you here in His Church – in preaching, in the Supper – but He comes to you also by the Word proclaimed to you by faithful friends, and He comes through you when He has you speak to those in need. And Jesus keeps on coming, the Holy Spirit keeps working through the Word – and this is what it will be, even until He comes again on the Last Day and we all exclaim with wonder “why is this granted to me, that the Lord should come to me” and enter into the joys of life everlasting with Mary and Elizabeth and Adam and Eve and all the saints of God. Jesus is coming to give you this gift, this victory. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen. In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

In Praise of the Theology of Glory

 One of the Lutheran terms that has been recently (for the Church) reintroduced into the Lexicon is that of the idea of the "Theology of Glory" - an idea that Luther brings out in the Heidelberg disputations on 1518, where this theology of glory is contrasted with a theology of the cross.  The theologian of glory craves earthly success and power, thinking that faithfulness will have tangible success here and now; the theologian of the cross knew that there would be suffering but rather we are to remain faithful to God and His Word of forgiveness.

Back in the early 2000s when Confessional Lutheranism wasn't exactly dominant in the LCMS, and the Church Growthers and the libs were running the show, this distinction was quite popular.  It was a great comfort when we would suffer defeats in elections at convention.  It was a great contrast over and against the touting of numbers and Ablaze counters and all that corporitized, business based "leadership" swill that we all knew was unscriptural.

However, in the past decade, there's been a shift.  Surprise of surprises, the Confessionals won elections.  The Synod isn't moving in as liberal a direction.  Of course, this is in direct opposition to what we see in the US, where there's been a massive swing towards liberal, progressive policies.

And now, in this setting, the "Theology of Glory" has fallen out of vogue.  It's been abandoned by many.  Discarded.  It's not trust worthy since it was found and publicized by those in that evil ELCA, and besides, Luther doesn't keep using the term later on - so we should get rid of it!

This is a foolish idea.  First of all, the idea that gems from Luther would be lost and not used for a while is utterly typical.  The rediscovery of Luther at the 300th anniversary of the Reformation is what sparked the revival of "Confessional" Lutheranism in Germany and led to our own synod's founding in the US.  We should never be surprised when something from that deep well of Luther's thought bubbles to the top.

But what of the fact that Luther doesn't use the phrase later on?  Answer: who cares?  It's not like Luther was really big on coining systematical phrases and demanding their use.  But does Luther still hold the idea throughout his work - that a desire for earthly glory, an expectation of earthly victory is utterly dangerous theologically and false?  

Consider the end of the Small Catechism - Christian Question 20 - "Second, he should look around to see whether he is still in the world, and remember that there will be no lack of sin and trouble, as the Scriptures say in John 15-16 and 1 John 2 and 5."

Consider his hymns.  They aren't full of "Onward Christian Soldiers" or "Battle Hymn of the Republic"  earthly triumphalism.  No - you know that for the faithful things will go lousy.  "This world's prince may still scowl fierce as he will... and take they our life, goods, fame, child and wife." "Fast bound in Satan's chains I lay."  "Support us in our final strife and lead us out of death to life."

His lectures on the Scriptures are all replete with warnings and laments of how the world is twisted and evil.  His comment on the Gospel being like a passing rain shower certainly isn't triumphalistic.

So this warning against a "theology of glory" remains steadfast throughout his life... (really only wavering when it came to how Luther handled the Jews.  His own personal dream of glory was that the Jewish people would convert en mass having heard the Gospel and his own clear reading of Christ in the OT; when this didn't happen and his own glorious dreams were shattered, it fueled his well criticized rantings that we condemn to this day).  The idea remains - in this life there will be wickedness and hardship, and being a Christian doesn't get you out of it.

So why is this idea so abhorrent to some now when it wasn't 15 years ago?

I don't wonder if we haven't taken victory in Church politics and think that this ought to mean earthly political victory.  I wonder if we aren't being lured in by that drug of "winning".

"Winning" is dangerous.  It was the high of winning the Battle for the Bible that let us start playing footsie with the Evangelicals and starting to ape their worship styles and lusting after their numeric success.  "Evangelical Style, Lutheran Substance" was widely understood to be a theology of glory 2 decades ago, after all.

Winning is intoxicating (ask Charlie Sheen, if you are old enough).  And as Americans we're used to winning, to success, to more and more wealth.  The current economic troubles are the worst we've seen in 40 years -- only the oldest of us remember before WWII and real economic hardship.  We're accustomed to ever increasing luxury, power, and convenience.  The idea that we might actually have to face suffering for the faith is utterly antithetical to the Americana that we've grown up with.

Ah well.  

Now, a few more notes from Luther, just pulled quickly from "What Luther Says".

35 - Afflictions Actually Proofs of God's Love: "The more terrible the sufferings are, the greater and more admirable are their effects in the saints.  The fact that Christians are exercised by the cross and by afflictions is a proof that divine grace and benevolence rest upon them.  For when they persevere in faith in the promise and hold out, very great and incredible blessings follow."

43 - Removal of Afflictions Often Makes Man Worse: "Those who by their importunate pleadings are freed from the chastisement and castigation of God almost invariably become worse, so that it seems as though God would thus convince us of our folly, namely, that we do not understand that when He is chastising us, He is healing us; and when He withdraws His hand in answer to our pleasing, He is rather letting us become sicker.

48 - God's Purpose: Strengthening Us By His Word: "The ultimate purpose of afflictions is the mortification of the flesh, the expulsion of sins, and the checking of that original evil which is embedded in our nature.  And the more you are cleansed, the more you will be blessed in the future life.  For without a doubt glory will follow upon the calamities and vexations which we endure in this life.  But the prime purpose of all these afflictions is the purification, which is extremely necessary and useful, lest we snore and become torpid and lazy because of the lethargy of our flesh.  For when we enjoy peace and rest, we do not pray, we do not meditate on the Word but deal coldly with the Scriptures and everything that pertains to God or finally lapse into a shameful and ruinous security."

1011 - The Grass on the Other Side is Not Always Greener: "There is no position on earth in which a man does not have to put up with much that is painful both from those who are his - his wife, child, servants, and subjects - and from neighbors and all kinds of accidental mishaps.  When he sees and feels this, he soon tires of his position and becomes discontented with it or flares up in impatience, scolding, and cursing.  And if he cannot avoid, or get rid of, this annoyance, he will want to change his position, thinking everybody's position and condition better than his own.  but after much changing he finds that he has gone from bad to worse; for changes are easily and quickly made, to be sure, but to improve matters is a doubtful and difficult undertaking. 

1623 - The Lust for Glory is Deeply Rooted in Man: "No one is so firm in repelling the most deadly vice of vainglory that he does not need constant prayer in order to be able to do so. For who, even when he is pious, does not delight in the praise people accord to him?  The Holy Spirit alone is able to keep us from being infected with this pest."

 3300 - Endure or Flee. Do Not Resist: "Where the governmental authority is an enemy of the Gospel, we withdraw, sell, relinquish everything, and flee from state to state, because no tumult should be stirred up by resistance for the sake of the Gospel, but everything should be endured."

3304 - Ease is a Greater Danger: "We should not fear harsh treatment, but prosperity and good days we should fear.  These may harm us more than fear and persecution Nor should we fear the wisdom of the world, for it can do us no harm.  In fact, the more the wisdom of the world rises up against the truth, the purer and clearer the truth becomes.  Therefore nothing better can come to the Gospel than the opposition of the world with its might and wisdom.  The more my conscience, sin, and the devil assail me, the stronger my righteousness becomes.  For the sins that oppress me cause me anguish.  So I persist more earnestly in prayer and crying to God; and in this way faith and righteousness become constantly stronger and stronger.  This is what St Paul means when he says (2 Cor. 12:9): 'Strength becomes stronger through weakness.'  Since, then, we have a treasure which becomes stronger through temptation and adversity, we should not fear but be of good courage and rejoice at the tribulation, as St. Paul says to the Romans (5:3), and as the apostles did who left the courthouse with great joy and thanked God for having been worthy to suffer shame for the sake of Christ's Name (Acts 5:41).  If the devil were wise enough to be silent and let the Gospel be preached, he would sustain less harm. For when the Gospel is not attacked, it rusts, and has no opportunity to reveal its power and might."

4443 - Dwell on the Word, Not on Your Worries: "Whatever temptation may be disturbing the heart, the best remedy is to take to reading Holy Writ and meditating on the Word of God. But if the heart should also dislike reading the Word of God and meditating on it (for Satan tries to hinder this and instills a dislike of reading), then you must force yourself to do so, that, if not the heart, at least the tongue, the ears, and the eyes may be occupied the while with seeing, hearing, and doing something different from what the heart thinks.  But you will certainly feel that when the external senses are occupied with the Word of God, the heart will then easily come to rest."

4948 - Children of Heaven Should Be Otherworldly: "Conduct yourselves as those who are no longer citizens of the world, for your possessions lie not on this earth but in heaven; and although you may have lost all temporal goods, you still have Christ, who is more than all else.  The devil is the prince of this world and rules it. His citizens are the people of this world. Therefore, since you are not of the world, act as a stranger in an inn, who does not have his possessions with him but merely procures food and spends his money for it. For this world is merely a place of transit, where we cannot stay; we must travel farther. Therefore we should use worldly goods only to shelter and sustain ourselves before we depart and go to another land. In heaven we are citizens; on earth we are pilgrims and guests."

4972 - The World is Bad, Whether Good or Bad: "It is really disgraceful, the way the world carries on: it may be pious, or it may be wicked; but either way it is worthless. Either it tries openly to be a devil with its wicked works, or it tries to be God Himself with its good works. And both of these are intolerable."

4973 - The Difficulty of Helping the World: "The world resembles a drunken peasant; when you lift him into the saddle on one side, he tumbles off on the other. There is no helping the world. No matter what attitude you take, it wants to belong to the devil."

Yes, the warnings against a "theology of glory" (or whatever term you prefer) and its love of earthly success and power and comfort carry all throughout Luther.  And wisely so!

Advent 2

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

Part of living, part of survival, is the ability to pick out danger. It's really one of the things our senses are good for. Hmm, this milk smells off, maybe I shouldn't drink it. Oh look, there's a coiled up snake, oh, listen there, there's an angry rattle – maybe I better not go step on it. This was the basis of the old defensive driving classes we had – eyes up on the road, see potential threats, be prepared to respond. Of course, you also learn what threats aren't really threats at all. No, there isn't a boogey man under the bed; no, that's just the draft ruffling the curtains. This is what we do as we grow – we learn what is dangerous, and we also learn what isn't really all that big of a threat. In our Gospel lesson, this is what Jesus does. He is teaching us how to see, how to understand what threats and dangers there are around us and also what isn't really that big of a deal. Listen.

There will be signs in the sun and the moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the seas and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. As we get closer to “the end” - as we get closer to His return, this is what Jesus tells us we will see. And man, if it doesn't sound scary. Signs in the sun and moon! Distress throughout the world! Big, giant waves, the sea is rising. People freaked out with fear – oh no the sea level might rise 3 feet in the next hundred years, we're all going to die. There is terror, there is a dread foreboding over what coming upon the world, where there's a sizable chunk of people who are convinced that they should never have children because this world is just too horrible and hard pressed to handle it. And the thing is, Jesus isn't just describing our day and age – it's every day and age. There's always some disaster that we are worried about that is going to destroy the earth – there's another ice age coming – that was popular just before I was born. There's always nations in distress, people riled up, fighting, panic over everything. This is the story of the fallen world – people seeing dangers and panicking. And some things are quite dangerous – if there's war, that's deadly. If there's a natural disaster, a flood, a fire, don't mess around with it. But these things always come and go and they always will until... the end.

The end. Well, what is the end? What is the conclusion of all these things? For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. What the world doesn't grasp, what the world doesn't understand is this – And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead. That's how this world will end – not by disaster, not by CERN in Switzerland splitting the wrong atom – no, this world will still be impacted by sin and troubles and problems of the typical and normal kind right up until the day when Jesus comes back. Because Jesus is coming back – He's the Lord of creation, He still cares for and maintains this creation over and against the destructive powers of sin, and He will return to bring forth the New Heavens and the New Earth – and of this Kingdom of His there will be no end.

If you don't know Jesus and that He is coming, there's going to be nothing but panic over the future. There's going to be nothing but fear and foreboding – because you will see more and more the danger and evil in the world, but without seeing Jesus you don't see life and salvation, you don't see hope. That's why the world is constantly panicking – they don't see Jesus, they don't know that He is coming. They can't see accurately. However, thanks be to God, you do know Jesus, and Jesus knows you by name, O Baptized child of God, and thus your reaction to all the things in life, even the wild and woolly disasters is different. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Come Lord Jesus! Come and interrupt this meal and take us to the heavenly feast! And we're ready. Look up, straighten up. Hark the Glad sound, the Savior comes! And it's a good thing when Jesus comes – He is your redemption – you're being freed from sin and death.

Because the scary part has already happened. Well, for us. Jesus in this text, which He preached during holy week, just before His crucifixion, isn't just pointing to the Last Day – He is also pointing to His Crucifixion. And He told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and Earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” That Friday, on Good Friday, what would the people of Jerusalem see? They would see a strange and dreadful tree leaf out – the tree of the Cross, and on it the Lord of Life. And when Jesus was crucified, there were signs in the sun and moon and stars – there was darkness over the land from noon until three. And there was great roaring and distress – the earth shook, the tombs opened, the temple curtain torn in two. And there upon the Cross, with a loud voice Christ Jesus declares with words that will never pass away “It is finished” and He gives up His Spirit and dies. Your redemption draws nigh. The kingdom of God is near. And even the Centurion in fear and wonder declares that this surely was the Son of God. And come the third day, Jesus rises. Sin and death and the world cannot defeat Him – He has won. Jesus lives, the victory's won – death no longer can appall me! And if you see this, if you know the death and resurrection of Jesus – everything changes. Let the wind rattle the leaves on the trees – you know what is coming. Whatever comes, whatever tragedy, whatever terror, even your own death – Jesus is coming, and when He comes, you will rise and be with Him, so all this junk in the the world can sit on a tack, you're with Jesus.

See, not so scary. See, that's something you don't have to worry about. And no, Jesus isn't telling us to be risky or foolish – I'll have some extra lead with my water – no, don't be dumb, and indeed, be good stewards of creation, that's part of why you're here. But all these things that the Christ-ignoring and Christ-hating world freak out about – they aren't a threat to you, because Christ Jesus is bigger than all of them.

However, there is a danger. There is a threat to you that Jesus says you need to look out for. But watch yourselves lest you be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you like a trap. The threat, the danger isn't out there – it's right in here. Watch yourself. Why? Because by hook or by crook Satan seeks to distract you away from Jesus, to rip you away from Him, and that's how you get trapped, that's how you get caught up in the dreck of the world and get lost. And so Jesus here wants to teach you what you really should be on the lookout for, what really is a danger. It's not a natural disaster that's a real threat to you, it's not war, it's not even death. So you die and and we bury you – we did that to Jesus and He rose, and guess what, you're with Jesus, what happens to Him is going to happen to you, it's all good in Christ. So watch out for how Satan tries to get you out of Christ.

Satan and the world will use dissipation and drunkeness. Okay, y'all know that I like words, and I love this word “dissipation” although it's a word that I really only use this time of year. It's the idea of being spread so thin that you evaporate – and really the idea that you are spread so thin celebrating and partying that you are just worn out and miserable. It's basically the ancient world's word for being hungover. The world will try to run you and work you so hard in a quest for fun and excitement that you are either dissipated – too worn out and miserable to actually enjoy anything – or drunk – so overwhelmed by what you are doing that you aren't actually aware of what's going on. And both of those are dangerous times. You don't want to be driving when drunk, and really, it's not good to be driving when hungover because both are utterly distracting. And so the world will offer its so called fun but offer it in a way that it isn't all that it's cracked up to be and leaves you vulnerable to all sorts of calamity, sin, and vice. Watch out, that's the world trying to shake you off of Christ.

And then there's the other side – if Satan can't lure you with “fun” he'll try to drive you with worry and fear. Satan will use the “cares of this life”. You see this, you see that, there's this thing to do, and then there's that thing to do, and oh, I forgot that... and there's weight upon weight and burden upon burden placed upon you – and none of them really important, but Satan will make you think they are vital, and all joy and all time and all peace is squished out of you. That's all an attempt to make you too busy for Jesus, too loaded down to pause and rest and be still and know that He is the LORD and that He has won you forgiveness, life, and salvation.

So grow, Christian! Learn to spot the actual dangers. Use the Word that Christ has spoken to you so that you know what actually is going on. The world will throw so, so much at you, all in an attempt to terrify you, to distract you, to drive you away from Christ. But Christ Jesus has already won – Satan could not and cannot defeat Him. All Satan can do is try to distract you away from Jesus. But you know what all this means – it's just a reminder that Jesus is coming, coming for you, for your good, to be your Redeemer. So straighten up, don't let Satan bog you down. In Christ it is all good for you! In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +