{"id":849,"date":"2021-12-01T04:45:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=849"},"modified":"2021-11-30T22:17:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T06:17:21","slug":"he-humbled-himself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=849","title":{"rendered":"He Humbled Himself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Luke 19:28-40)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does your to-do list look like this year? Christmas gift budget. Send a letter or cards. Schedule gatherings. Finalize travel plans. Decorate the Christmas tree. Trim the palm branches for display\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wait, palm branches? Well, based on our verses from Luke for today that would seem to be appropriate. Even though Luke doesn\u2019t specifically mention them in his account from our Gospel this morning, we can hardly reflect on the Palm Sunday account of Jesus\u2019 entry into Jerusalem without thought of palm branches. But what do palm branches have to do with Christmas, or to be more liturgically correct, the season of Advent, which begins today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, more than you might think. The season of Advent, after all, isn\u2019t merely the precursor or warm-up act to get us ready for Christmas. Rather, its focus on preparation and readiness includes the bigger picture of all the ways Jesus came to us, comes to us, and will come again. God\u2019s people had been waiting thousands of years for Christ to be born. And what happened after that? They waited some more. They waited for thirty more years to discover what his coming to earth really meant, what it was all about. Even on the day of our text, when Jesus made his final grand entrance into Jerusalem amidst all the fanfare, the crowds – and even the disciple themselves – didn\u2019t fully comprehend what it was all going to amount to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That wouldn\u2019t be revealed until the end of the week. Then it became clear. The cross. Not Pilate\u2019s palace. Not one earthly empire. Not an earthly king\u2019s crown. The cross. That\u2019s why he came. To die. When we fail to connect Christmas wreaths with palm branches, when our celebration of Christmas is divorced from his Good Friday sacrifice, we open the door to a rather secular celebration of Christmas. We are more inclined to take a page out of the world\u2019s celebration of Christmas rather than a Christian celebration, which is keenly aware that the real wonder of Christmas isn\u2019t found in movie miracles, but in the Gift who came to give Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin. Keep Christmas connected to that and this year will not only meet, but exceed, your expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of which, what are your expectations? Even as we\u2019re still working on clearing out the Thanksgiving leftovers, our focus shifts to the holidays and the preparations and expectations. We recognize that this year will differ from the last regarding our preparations and expectations. But I wonder something: do we take the time to reflect and consider exactly what our expectations are each year? Or do we just rush from one thing on the schedule to the next, as if our next month is already determined for us, as if this time of year is filled with obligations and we don\u2019t have a say in how we\u2019re going to prioritize what matters to us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s just it. You do<\/em> have a say. No one is forcing you to get swept up in commercialism. You don\u2019t have to buy the lie that the world knows better how to prepare for and celebrate this time of year than Christ\u2019s church does. There\u2019s no need for any FOMO in deliberately emphasizing the spiritual over the secular. Tempering those expectations and aligning them with God and his Word is really what this series is about. And this morning, it starts with Jesus setting the tone as he humbled himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever met a celebrity or famous individual? Some of us have probably met multiple famous or prominent people. If I asked you which experience was the most memorable, why would you pick the one that you did? Might it be that the one that stands out to you is the one who seemed to you to be the most down-to-earth? The one who didn\u2019t leave you feeling as if you were somehow beneath them or inferior, but that they were just another person like you? The one who was\u2026 humble? It\u2019s kind of ironic, isn\u2019t it, that the people we are often enamored with or think so highly of are more likely to leave an impression on us by how much like us they really are? We may think the world of them, but your interaction with them made you feel as if you<\/em> were just as important in their eyes as they<\/em> were in yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This morning we begin our Advent focus under the theme, Humble Expectations, <\/em>and we begin the series looking at how Jesus humbled himself for us. Unlike a down-to-earth celebrity, however, Jesus had a different reason for humbling himself: your salvation. Think of how God appeared to his people in the Old Testament accounts and what accompanied his appearing – terror, fear, dread – and rightfully so! A holy, righteous God who alone sets the standard of right and wrong, who determines mankind\u2019s moral compass, is not one before whom sinners can stand! If God and men were ever to have the eternal relationship he craved, it could never be on the basis of our rising up to his level to meet him. No, it had to be God who humbled himself to our level, that through his work we might be taken up to him. Drawn to him versus driven from him. The difference is he humbled himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he humbly entered Jerusalem, it wasn\u2019t Jesus who made all the fuss; it was the crowds, and their excitement was all based on expectations. Jesus wasn\u2019t the one who needed to ramp up the public relations efforts when he came into Jerusalem. The only directions he gave were to secure the foal of a donkey so that Scripture could be fulfilled. The rest of the fanfare was not of his making – it was the peoples\u2019. It was the crowds shouting, the people placing cloaks before him and waving palms. The fanfare was not of Jesus\u2019 making – he didn\u2019t pay to pull in crowds from out of town to serve as his entourage. It was the crowds who ramped up their efforts to make the event such a big deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t we often feel the need to do the same with Christmas? We go big with everything, as if Jesus needs us to make Christmas a bigger deal than he already did by his flesh and bone birth into our world, taking on the human body he needed to serve in humble obedience and so that body born on Christmas could experience death in our place. Was that not enough? Does he need the flashiest front yard decked out with a display that will be the envy of all the neighbors? Does he need the gifts we exchange to be bigger and better than the past – especially after last year\u2019s limitations, so much so that we also find our credit card debt bigger as well? Does he need us to deck the halls to make Christmas matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know what I enjoyed about our celebration of Christmas last year? We were forced to scale back. Our gatherings were limited, our celebration in general was rather muted. Because when all the other stuff was stripped away, all we were left with was\u2026 Jesus. As it should be every year. Pondering. Reflecting. Marveling. Quietly. Undistracted as the world whirls restlessly by. Just Jesus. Will this year be like that again, or\u2026 will we slip back into the older practice of thinking Christmas will be less if we can\u2019t somehow make it more? Do the holidays (holy-days) need our help to make them matter? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is not a part of our text this morning, in the very next verse, Luke records Jesus\u2019 lament as he overlooks Jerusalem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it\u00a0and said,\u00a0\u201cIf you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace\u2014but now it is hidden from your eyes.\u00a0The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.\u00a0They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.\u00a0They will not leave one stone on another,\u00a0because you did not recognize the time of God\u2019s coming\u00a0to you.\u201d (vs. 41-44)<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would it be too much of a stretch to question if Jesus\u2019 reaction to our Advent preparation and Christmas celebration would perhaps be similar? What led to his lament? The people of Jerusalem failed to see the peace he came to bring and they \u201cdid not recognize the time of God\u2019s coming\u201d (v.44)<\/em><\/strong>. How many in the weeks that follow will not only completely miss out on the peace Jesus came to bring, but will actually add more distress in their misguided preparations and oversight of what this season brings? How many will remain oblivious to God\u2019s coming the first time in Bethlehem at the birth of Christ, his ongoing coming to us in Word and sacrament, and his promise to come to us again on the last day? Jesus\u2019 lament over Jerusalem before he rode into it to die could just as well be his lament over our world today in 2021! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May it not be his lament over you. Set the tone for the season by revisiting – and repeating as necessary – the reason behind Christmas. He came to us. God <\/em>came to us. <\/em>It\u2019s the only way it would work – for him to descend to us. Do not, as so many in Jerusalem did in Jesus\u2019 day, keep hidden from your eyes the peace that he came to bring. Peace to slow down our frenetic pace. Peace as an anchor for our anxiety. Peace to cease to our stress. Peace to forgive and restore and refresh weary souls. And that peace is<\/em> ours because he humbled himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humility marked Jesus\u2019 first coming as the Babe of Bethlehem. Humility marked Jesus\u2019 life. Humility marked this day as he entered Jerusalem. Humble Jesus, though, is not a picture of whimpering weakness. He did not humble himself because there was no other option or because he was somehow incapable of displaying his divine power or majesty for all the world to see. No, he humbled himself so that it might be possible for the Almighty God to come among his lost and fallen creation to rescue and redeem. He became less to save those who are the least: rebellious sinners like you and me. He became less and humbled himself to walk the path of perfect obedience upon which we daily stumble and fall. He became less and humbled himself so that an immortal God could die the death that all mortals deserve. He became less and humbled himself so that hell could be his to suffer and not ours. He became less and humbled himself so that his heaven could be our heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does your to-do list look like this year? Don\u2019t overload it with stuff that doesn\u2019t matter. Humble your expectations and direct your focus on the One who humbled himself for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Luke 19:28-40) What does your to-do list look like this year? Christmas gift budget. Send a letter or cards. Schedule gatherings. Finalize travel plans. Decorate the Christmas tree. Trim the palm branches for display\u2026  Wait, palm branches? Well, based on our verses from Luke for today that would seem to be appropriate. Even though Luke… Continue reading He Humbled Himself<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[182,65],"tags":[184,183,5,139,36,108],"class_list":["post-849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humble-expectations-series","category-sermons","tag-advent","tag-expectation","tag-jesus","tag-preach","tag-sermon","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p842FN-dH","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":850,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions\/850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}