Fourth Week of Advent & Christmas

Dec 21 - 27

Isaiah, Revelation, Matthew

“The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” We might recognize those words from Handel’s famous Hallelujah Chorus, just one small part his greater oratorio, The Messiah. It sets to music the triumphant declaration from an angel in the book of Revelation. In Handel’s arrangement, it was included as part of the passion of Christ, but these days, we often hear it sung at Christmas.

In this life, of course, it is easy for us to look around and ask where the triumph really is. Nations war with one another. Greed consumes the human heart. Abuse runs rampant and heartbreak is everywhere. All the hallelujahs we hear at Christmas would seem to ring hollow – but this week’s readings tell us otherwise.

Just as Isaiah repeatedly shows how all the nations around Israel will fall, so John is shown how Satan and all the powers of this world crumble before the new Israel, those redeemed by the Messiah. Satan waged war against Michael and the other angels of heaven and failed. The red dragon tried to devour the infant Son of God and failed. The deceiver tempted Jesus to worship him by promising all the powers of this world and failed. Banished from heaven and doomed to the earth, the accuser turns his efforts to tormenting us. But against the power of baptism he fails yet again.

The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of the Christ, the Messiah. He alone reigns, and no one will overcome it. His humble birth at the manger ushers in the beginning of permanent, eternal triumph. As dark and cold as the days may seem, the light has already entered them. We are closer than ever to the first dawn of the new world, where the darkness will be no more. Nothing will be left of this world’s desparate attempts at power or Satan’s vicious attacks. The Lord already reigns, and it will be so forever. Hallelujah, indeed. As we celebrate the birth of our king, may this praise continue to be in our hearts and on our lips at Christmas and in every season after.

Holy Innocents

Dec 28 - Jan 3

Isaiah, Matthew, Luke

“He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly.”  

This week, the church remembers the holy innocents, those small children whom Herod slaughtered out of a jealous protection of his own earthly throne. For him, the Messiah is a threat to be reckoned with, not a bearer of salvation.

We might insist that we would never stoop to such unthinkable violence, but we must admist that often, our hearts are in the same place. As kings over our own little domains, we can find ourselves willing to stoop to great lows to serve ourselves and spurn the rule of the true king. Whether for Herod or the monarch in our hearts, the arrival of the Word made flesh brings terror. But this is not the case for the penitent, for the lowly of heart, for the hungry who need the food of the Gospel. To those people, the song of Mary brings long-awaited joy. The Messiah has arrived, and with him, profound grace and mercy that he delivers in spades to all who need it.

Still, in this world, that arrival can result in great trouble. Already, before Jesus can grow out of infancy, the powers of the world act, and act with aggression. As brothers and sisters in Jesus, you and I should not be surprised when the world turns its anger against his church. It hates us because it hates our king.

 However, just as no king could destroy the one promised, no king will destroy those under Jesus’ rule. It has already begun! By Jesus’ innocent death and resurrection, he has brought us into his everlasting kingdom. In the world to come, a crown awaits - not a fading crown lost to history, but an enduring one given to us by Jesus himself. And so, with the arrival of our king, we rejoice in what he came to do, and in the kingdom to come, where the kings of the earth cast down their crowns and our Lord rules forever.