Well, as most of you here already know, Advent is that season leading up to Christmas where we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
And during this season, we often go back, as we were just singing, to reflect on how things were before Jesus came.
We think about the darkness. We think about the upheaval.
We think about the brutality and the conquest of the years before his first coming.
We think about the people of Israel. We think about God's patient love.
We remember how time and time again God sent the messengers, prophets, to graciously call the people to repentance.
It's all too easy to forget the darkness of those days.
I just happened to be in the Old Testament in my Bible reading this past week, and those days were awful.
Wicked kings built altars and set up idols to other gods and worshipped them.
They even brought some of these idols and altars right into the temple of the Lord.
They had male prostitutes in the temple of the Lord.
They were sacrificing their children to Baal.
The rich and the powerful were brutally oppressing the weak and the poor.
And bloodshed and murder was rampant.
Finally, God said, enough is enough.
They had repeatedly refused to listen to his call to repent that came through the prophets.
And so God gave them into the hands of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.
Many who survived went into exile, and they were scattered from their homeland.
But God is so rich in mercy and grace and love, even towards sinners like you and me.
He brought the children of those who were exiled back to the land of Israel by moving the hearts of the most powerful rulers in the world at the time.
And there they were, a small remnant of the people of Israel in the province of Judah,
rebuilding Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple of the Lord amidst regional pressures and opposition,
like a candle flame shining that just will not be snuffed out.
And again, God sent them a prophet, a man named Zechariah, some 500 years before the birth of the Messiah.
Imagine yourself there in the streets of Jerusalem,
the once glorious city now looking better, but still very much under construction.
Feel the anxiety and the uncertainty of those days when a neighboring city or people could just kind of come out armed for battle at any time looking for plunder.
And imperial taxes consumed so much of what you had worked for each month.
And here's this weirdo, Zechariah, in the midst of all this, saying,
This is what the Lord, Yahweh Almighty, says.
Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion.
Shout, daughter Jerusalem.
See, your king comes to you.
Righteous and victorious.
Lowly and riding on a donkey.
On a colt.
The foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war horses from Jerusalem and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea.
And from the river to the ends of the earth.
This was God's message to the remnant of Israel and Judah 500 years before the Messiah's birth.
Rejoice.
Shout for joy.
Why?
Because, said Zechariah, your king is coming.
A king not like the wicked kings of old.
This king will be the righteous king.
Not like the kings of old who again and again were defeated in battle.
This king will be victorious over all enemies.
Over all who would dare to come against him.
Doesn't that sound wonderful for a people living in dark and dangerous times?
And what will this king accomplish?
Through him, God will take away the chariots of Ephraim and the war horses of Jerusalem.
He will break the battle bow.
These words paint a picture of how this king will put an end to war.
No longer will there be need for these implements of war because conflict will cease.
He, this king, will proclaim peace to the nations.
He won't just be a local governor or a regional ruler.
He will usher in global peace.
His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the river,
kind of a reference to the Euphrates in those days,
to the ends of the earth.
Zechariah appointed the people there in Jerusalem to a worldwide kingdom
ruled by this king.
What are you picturing as you hear this?
Perhaps a legendary conqueror,
a man of great military prowess,
courage and valor,
riding his horse into battle
with countless multitudes behind,
armed and ready.
Is that what Zechariah sees in his vision from God?
He says,
See,
your king comes to you righteous and victorious,
lowly,
and riding on a donkey.
Now, I know this passage is a Palm Sunday favorite.
Some of you might think I got the wrong holiday here.
But it speaks to Christmas as well.
The manner in which this king will come,
says Zechariah,
will be lowly
and peaceful.
Not only is this fulfilled as Jesus rides into Jerusalem
on that first Palm Sunday,
but it's fulfilled in Jesus' birth.
Lowly.
Jesus came not to the capital city of Jerusalem,
but to the lowly Bethlehem,
the shepherd's village.
He came not to a luxurious palace,
but to a stable,
because there was no room in the inn.
His little crib was not finely crafted of exotic woods,
but it was a feeding trough
for animals.
And his royal birth announcement
and first visitors were not kings and rulers,
but sheep tenders.
It seems that God has had it in his heart
to surprise the world
and to humble the proud
by the way his Messiah came.
Lowly.
And peaceful.
What kind of God is this?
This glorious creator
promising to bring everlasting peace
on earth
in such a humble and gentle way.
This is one of the many things
we celebrate at Christmas.
The birth of this very King.
Jesus, the gentle and lowly.
But there's another way
that all this speaks to us today,
all these years later.
You know, we live in different times,
but in some ways
the times are similar.
We look out into the world
and we see all kinds of darkness
and upheaval,
brutality,
and even war in our world today.
We look at the news.
We lament at how things are going.
We look at our government and leaders
and we're often left wanting more.
We see self-interest.
We see hypocrisy and even corruption.
We see division in our communities,
in our nations,
tensions and conflict.
We see the vitriol flowing back and forth
between people on social media.
We see the war
between Russia and Ukraine
and tensions rising between China
and other nations.
and I could go on.
Again, our hearts are drawn back
to these words of Zechariah.
We too are waiting for the advent of this King.
Not His first coming,
but His second and final coming.
We're waiting for the day
when this baby who was born in Bethlehem,
now a man,
will return from heaven
and establish this peaceful kingdom
from sea to sea
to the ends of the earth.
A glorious global kingdom
and not a kingdom won by vicious brutality,
treachery, or lust,
but a kingdom founded on goodness,
righteousness,
and love.
We are looking for the day
when the weapons of war,
bombs, missiles, artillery, tanks,
will be taken away,
broken,
never needed again.
Do you know that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Christ, the King,
who will bring this to pass
when He returns?
This too is a part of what makes Christmas special.
It's not just the birth
of a good man
who died long ago
that we celebrate.
No.
It's the birth of this King,
this one,
who died, yes,
but rose again,
who reigns on heaven's throne,
and who one day,
when He returns,
will put our broken world
to right.
Do you long for the coming
of this King,
Jesus?
Jesus.
When Jesus came,
His message was this,
the time has come.
The kingdom of God
has come near.
Repent
and believe the good news.
Have you done that?
Have you put your hope,
your faith,
your trust
in Jesus,
the King?
Have you surrendered
your life to Him?
For when He comes,
He will be King.
Does He have your allegiance?
Let's pray.
Father in heaven,
we thank You for Your Word,
which You spoke long ago,
and that even though
You said it so many years ago,
thousands of years ago,
it still speaks to us today.
We too are waiting.
We too are longing
for that day
when Your Son will
bust through the clouds
in glory
and bring this world
to its grand finale,
its good
and rightful close.
And I pray
that in anticipation
of that day,
each one of us
would be ready.
Each one of us
would have a firm faith
in You
and know You
and be Your servants.
I pray that you
will find faith
here in Davidson
on the earth
when You return.
Bless us now,
we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I'll invite the worship team
to come back
and we'll sing
one more song.
Thank you.