For Advent I’m beginning a series of sermons on the Old Testament lessons, thinking about the promises God made to His people through the prophets and then fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ.
The reading from the prophets for the first Sunday in Advent is Jeremiah 33:14-16. God promises a “righteous branch” from the “tree” of the house of David and promises that He will “execute justice and righteousness in the land.” He goes on to promise that “Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.”
The prophet’s focus on a corporate salvation runs a little counter to our usual evangelical focus on personal and individual salvation. We need to adjust our thinking a little to accept the Bible’s perspective that God’s salvation in Jesus Christ is meant to produce a righteous community who live together in peace and justice.
Jeremiah’s talk about the Branch bounces nicely off the words of Jesus in our Gospel lesson, Luke 22:25-36, particulary verses 29 and 30 which talks about looking to the trees and the sign of leaves sprouting as a parable for discerning the time of Jesus’ second coming.
I’ll be preaching a sermon that rifs on the Branch and and the new growth of trees with a parable about an apple tree. It tells of how God’s people had a rocky relationship with Him, how Christ came and was rejected, crucified and rose again, and how we wait in hope now for His return.
May you all be blessed this Advent to rejoice in God’s promises to you and to live hopeful lives in righteousness and peace.