3^rd Sunday in Advent at Epiphany on December 14, 2008

Isaiah 61:1-3,10,11 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, ² to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. ¹⁰ I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ¹¹ For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Time for Jubilee

At 32 years old, Jedidiah was the owner of Jedidiah’s Used Bactrians (that’s camels with two humps). It had been a thriving family business in downtown Jerusalem for many years. But then the fuel prices for hay and grain sky-rocketed. Everybody began dumping their two-humped camels for the much more fuel efficient Dromedary models (camels with only one hump). Jedidiah couldn’t sell anything and he began taking on huge losses and debts.

On top of that, the stock market – livestock market – crashed and the Big Three producers of Bactrians and Dromedaries went to the king to look for a bailout. Jedidiah lost his business.

Jedidiah once had a huge home, a successful business, and sent his kids to private Jewish school. But he lost it all. Very quickly he had become poor. He had to sell all of his kids Tickle Me Samson dolls and Sponge Jonah Square Pants toys. He had to sell the home his family had lived in for generations. He moved his wife and kids into the rundown, crumbling Walls of Jericho Trailer Park. It broke his heart to see his family so miserable. It eventually became so bad that Jedidiah sold himself as a slave to the owner of Camels, Llamas and Alpacas Emporium. Instead of sitting in the front office cleaning up on big deals, now Jedidiah found himself in the back stalls cleaning up camel dung. Jedidiah sent any money he made as a slave to his wife to keep her and the kids fed and clothed.

Jedidiah lived like this until he was 57. Then something wonderful, magnificent, jubilant happened. Something that only happened every 50 years. The trumpets blew! It was the year of the Lord’s favor! The year of Jubilee! Every 50 years in Israel, all debts were forgiven, all slaves were freed, and all inheritance land was returned to its original owner. The past was forgiven and forgotten, the slate was wiped clean, and everyone was given a new beginning.

Jedidiah had a new beginning. He was freed from slavery. He reclaimed his childhood home. He had his family back. His debts were forgiven and he was able to start a new business venture – Jed’s Judah Fried Chicken.  

We are living in a time of poverty brought on by big recession and job losses. A time of broken hearts from lost loves and fear from illness and trips to the emergency room. A time of captivity to debt and addictions. A time of darkness, depression and mourning over losses that dominate lives.

These are the oppressive realities in which many people live. It’s hard to find Christmas joy when captivated by fear or poverty or darkness. It isn’t easy to be excited as God’s children when we feel more broken than whole.

The audience for this Advent Scripture from Isaiah 61 are the afflicted, the brokenhearted, the captives and prisoners, the depressed and grieving. Their lives are devastated! In short, they are the average December congregation.

As we read Isaiah 61, we see faces and hear names – like Jedidiah – like you – among the oppressed, depressed, brokenhearted, captives and mourners.

Isaiah 61 paints a beautiful picture of jubilation and excitement – images that come alive with hope and anticipation. It speaks of good news, binding up, freedom, release, jubilation, beauty, comfort, gladness and praise. Promises that God fulfilled throughout ancient times. Promises that are happening right now. These are images of hope.

If you ask “what did Jesus do for us?” children, and even most adults, will generically answer, “He saved us.” As true as that is, that general statement doesn’t always convey how completely the Lord has changed our lives. The Lord Jesus, the Promised Messiah speaks through Isaiah telling us, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

The Lord anointed His messengers with oil and then sent them to proclaim the Year of Jubilee. The Lord anointed Jesus Christ with water and the Holy Spirit in the Baptist’s Jordan River and sent Him to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. “The Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” Isn’t that word “poor” an accurate, but unsettling description of each of us spiritually? Regardless of what our economic status may be, we all are spiritually impoverished. We may be well-off when it comes to earthly things, but that’s only looking at our bank account or our earthly possessions. There we are rich, especially when compared to ninety percent of the people in the world. But spiritually we are “poor.” Martin Luther often described people by saying, “Wir sind alle Bettler” – “We are all beggars.” When we come before God, we have only the filthy, tattered rags of our own unrighteousness. We are nothing but poor, wretched beggars.

And that’s why the Messiah’s second image is also so accurate. He says he comes to “heal the brokenhearted.” “Brokenhearted” means “one who is troubled or disturbed in heart, one whose heart or conscience gives him no rest.” Is that you? Sometimes we try to hide or ignore the seriousness of our sins, and outwardly it may seem that we are successful. But instead we are plagued by the memory of something we’ve done. We are disturbed by how easily we seem to slip back into the same-old sin. Our hearts are almost broken by our longing to be free of the guilt and shame of what we’ve done. We are the brokenhearted the Messiah describes here, those who need healing.

The Promised One says He’s come “to proclaim freedom to the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Both these pictures show us how serious and enslaving our sins are. Sin makes us “captive,” putting us under Satan’s power and giving him control over our lives. We were “slaves to sin.” We want to live a righteous life, but we are chained to our sinful nature, which keeps dragging us down to the depths of depravity. Captive to sin, depression, guilt, fear and worry. We were in a prison from which we could never escape. We were on “death row,” under the sentence of the worst death of all, eternal separation from God in the horrors of hell.

The Messiah comes “to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” There are people celebrating this Christmas holiday for the first time without a loved one. They feel as if they can’t go on. They are mourning and grieving, feeling dried up as ashes. Jesus has come to give them comfort, beauty, gladness and praise.

When the Lord Jeuss Christ walked among us, He didn’t pretend the problems of human existence we’ve mentioned weren’t really there. Instead, He was completely honest with these problems and confronted them head-on. He lived a life displaying God’s mercy, and in this way He restored to impoverished humanity the spiritual riches that sin had robbed from us. God’s children traded in God’s love and perfection for a piece of fruit. Since then we feel alone, destitute and broken. Yet Jesus has restored God’s compassion and love to us. His holy blood dripped onto the chains of the captives, tearing those chains in half. He broke the bonds of slavery with three nails and two pieces of wood. He released the prisoners from the darkness of depression, death, and even hell. He died on the rough cross and rose from the borrowed tomb to open the gates of heaven to all who believe in Him. This resurrection brings comfort to those who mourn the death of a fellow saint and gladness to those who attend a Christian funeral. To those who despair in difficult times, Jesus brings every reason for hope and praise.

Jesus brings the Jubilee, not just once every 50 years, but every day. The trumpets of Jubilee are sounding right now.   

The Christ-Child comes to us anew this year amid the fear of terrorist attacks, a year filled with economic uncertainty, a year filled with crime in our streets. Into this world Jesus comes to speak words of comfort. He comes among us and invites us to see the world as He sees it – a world in need of release, of healing, of gladness. A ragged world desperately in need of the new clothing of the garment of praise and crown of beauty. He sees the world God once created as good, now deeply in need of hope and salvation.

To those bent low with burdens, with heavy hearts, captive to sin and death, Jesus is here now as He was then – proclaiming forgiveness in Holy Absolution, giving new life in Holy Baptism, and feeding and strengthening in Holy Communion. These gifts aren’t new – these are the same gifts our Savior has always come to give. You don’t find these gifts under the Christmas tree only once a year, but you find these gifts at the Lord’s altar, His font, His pulpit and communion rail. These gifts are for all time. All the time loving you. All the time forgiving you. All the time lifting you up out of the pit of despair and releasing you from the prison of sin. All the time proclaiming the Lord’s favor.

This third Sunday in Advent has historically been called “Gaudete” – Latin for “joyful.” Jubilee comes from the Hebrew word “yobel” meaning “ram.” The Year of Jubilee was announced with a blast from a trumpet made of ram’s horn. This is a jubilant Sunday, as we hear once again of the Year of Jubilee. Today the mood changes from preparation to anticipation – to joyful longing for the Babe of Bethlehem, for the angel choirs, for the Son rising from the land of shadows, and to be filled with Jesus’ light.

If you have been laid off, Jesus may not give you your job back, but He preaches the good news that your treasures are stored up in heaven. If your heart has been broken by past and continuous sins, Jesus heals with the soothing balm of forgiveness. If your numerous sins and limitless guilt have held you captive, come to Jesus so He can once again smash the shackles and free you from your pet sins. If you feel a prisoner to debt, remember that Jesus has bailed you out of your greatest debt to His heavenly Father. If you are grieving and mourning at the loss of a loved one, Jesus brings comfort to your troubled heart and joy in the assurance of heaven for all believers. His whole purpose in coming is to change completely our dark and doleful situation – to turn our lives around, to usher in a whole new era.

We are the beggars, the brokenhearted, the prisoners, the people who have lost their inheritance. We were those people because of sins we committed so casually and unthinkingly or considered “not worth mentioning.” Yet Jesus has ushered in the Year of Jubilee. Our debt of sin has been canceled, the prison door of death has been broken open, our inheritance of heaven has been restored, and we have a new beginning. The Anointed Savior proclaims the Lord’s Jubilee. One day you will experience the eternal Jubilee with trumpets sounding, saints praising, and angels singing. Amen.