Fourth Sunday in Advent
December 22, 2013
“Rejoicing in the God Who Has Taught Us” (Psalm 71:17-18)
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” These words from Philippians remind us that we have much to be joyful over. And indeed we do. Think of it: It’s Advent, almost Christmas, and so we rejoice over the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, first at Christmas, coming in the flesh to be born and live and die and rise again as our Savior, and coming again at the Last Day, a day we look forward to with great hope and anticipation, knowing that God will raise our mortal bodies to everlasting life and restore this fallen, sin-damaged creation to new and greater glory. This is real Advent hope, and it fills us with joy.
And if that’s not enough, today we have even more cause for joy. Today we rejoice in the confirmation of our adult catechumen, Michelle. She has been through our instruction class and is now ready to confess her faith and to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. We rejoice to welcome you into our church, Michelle! What a joy and a blessing it is to see how the Lord has been working in your life! What lessons he has been teaching you–and giving you the faith to believe and confess these sacred truths of Scripture. Oh, make no mistake, we may have been using Luther’s Catechisms in our instruction, and I have had the privilege of being your teacher, but ultimately it is the Lord himself who has been teaching you, through his holy Word.
And you know, all of us here who are confirmed, communicant members–we all have been catechized in this same doctrine. We all share in the same divinely given faith, all of us having been instructed by the same Lord in the same Word. And so our theme this morning: “Rejoicing in the God Who Has Taught Us.”