5
December 2012
St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
Advent 1
Midweek Vienna, VA
“Savior of the Nations, Come”
We’re doing something a little different
this Advent as for our midweek meditations we take a look at some of the ancient
hymns that we sing during this season. And the way we’ll do that is to intersperse some
brief thoughts in between the verses of the hymn as we sing it, so that we’ll think about the words that we’re singing and what they mean.
Tonight we’ll be
looking at one of Luther’s
favorite hymns, Savior of the Nations, Come (LSB
#332), written by St. Ambrose all the way
back in the fourth century, as best as we can determine. Luther loved this hymn
so much he translated it into German for his people to sing, and it has become
the tradition that this is always the Chief Hymn of the First Sunday of Advent.
We begin by singing the first two verses.
Savior
of the nations, come,
Virgin’s Son, make here
Your home!
Marvel
now, O heav’n
and earth,
That the
Lord chose such a birth.
Not by
human flesh and blood,
By the
Spirit of our God,
Was the
Word of God made flesh -
Woman’s offspring, pure
and fresh.
Marvel
now, O heav’n
and earth, that the Lord chose such a birth.
Not much
makes us marvel anymore. Or if we do, it doesn’t last long. Today’s marvels, especially technology, quickly become obsolete
tomorrow. Violence that once made us marvel in shock and horror now seems
commonplace. Even sins that not too long ago were hidden in shame are now
flaunted in public, and those who disagree dared to speak a word against them.
So maybe this is what we marvel at - how quickly our world has changed, how
completely many have fallen, and how resigned we have become to all this,
reduced at times to simply shaking our heads and wondering: What will they
think of next?
But
tonight, and throughout this season of Advent, we are called once again to
marvel. To marvel that the Lord chose such a birth. That God would
become man. The Creator become a creature. The King become a servant. The
sinless Son of God become a sinner under the sentence of death. And this for
you. For God’s love
for you never changes. He promised a Saviour and so sent a Saviour - His very
own Son - that you might be His sons and daughters. That you might love Him as
He loves you.
And so,
as we sang, the Word of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, was made
man, not by human flesh and blood - not in the normal way of birth, but by
the Spirit of our God. That born of a virgin without a human father, He
would not inherit the plague of original sin which would have disqualified Him
from being the perfect Lamb of God that could take away the sin of the world.
No, He was born perfect, woman’s offspring pure and fresh. And so the eternal Son of God, begotten of the Father
from eternity with no mother, is born a son of man in time with a mother but no
father. Uniquely qualified to be the Saviour of the nations. Is that not
worthy of marvel?
We sing
the next two verses.
Here a
maid was found with child,
Yet
remained a virgin mild.
In her
womb this truth was shown:
God was
there upon His throne.
The
stepped forth the Lord of all
From His
pure and kingly hall;
God of
God, yet fully man,
He
heroic course began.
In her
womb this truth was shown: God was there upon His throne.
The
early Church went through a controversy about whether or not Mary could be
called “the
mother of God,” in Greek: theotokos.
Some thought that was saying too much. But what the Church determined was what
we are confessing in the singing of this hymn: that we can and we must.
For that little developing embryo in the womb of Mary was the one true God.
While Mary was with child, her womb was God’s throne.
We
confess that, though we cannot fully understand or comprehend it. And it is our
joy to confess that, just as John the Baptist leapt with joy when he heard of
it, even though still inside his mother’s womb. That inside that womb is not just my Saviour, but
my God. He whom the universe cannot contain, is yet contained there.
And then
stepped forth the Lord of all from His pure and kingly hall. That’s what happened in Bethlehem that
night we celebrate at Christmas. The world saw a birth; the reality was this:
that God stepped forth from this throne to begin His march to His next
throne: the cross. From one unlikely throne to the next. God of God, yet
fully man. Yes, Mary is the god-bearer, the mother of God, who now
begins His heroic course. And where would that take Him? We sing the
next two verses of the hymn, verses 5 and 6.
God the
Father was His source,
Back to
God He ran His course.
Into
hell His road went down,
Back
then to His throne and crown.
For You
are the Father’s
Son
Who in
flesh the vict’ry
won.
By Your
mighty pow’r
make whole
All our
ills of flesh and soul.
Into
hell His road went down.
There
are two ways to understand that phrase. One is that Jesus suffered all the
pangs and condemnation of hell while on the cross. My God, My God, why have
you forsaken me? (Ps 22:1) All the separation and wrath against sin that we deserve,
He took in our place. And it crushed Him.
But
Jesus then also descended into hell, as we confess in the Creed. And this not
to suffer, but as part of His victory over sin, death, and devil. When on the
cross Jesus said “It is
finished” it was
finished. So when He descended into hell it was not as a prisoner but to
take some prisoners - to take captive what had held us captive, namely
death and hell, and so set us free. That we have nothing to fear. Not now, not
ever.
And this
victory - of His cross and His descent - He did as a man, in our flesh and
blood. As we sang: For You are the Father’s Son Who in
flesh the vict’ry
won. It was not just as God that Jesus
did all this for us, but as our brother. That we be His brothers.
But then
one more thing had to happen . . . By
Your mighty pow’r
make whole All our ills of flesh and soul.
And that’s the
resurrection. By joining us in our death and then rising from the dead, Jesus
promised that we would rise with Him from our deaths, and when we do, all
our ills of flesh and soul will be gone. No more sin, no more sickness, no
more weakness, suffering, or pain. As it was in the beginning before sin so
shall it be again. Jesus’ resurrection makes
all things new (Rev. 21:5).
We sing
the last two verses of the hymn.
From the
manger newborn light
Shines
in glory through the night.
Darkness
there no more resides;
In this
light faith now abides.
Glory to
the Father sing,
Glory to
the Son, our king,
Glory to
the Spirit be
Now and
through eternity.
When you
look at pictures of the nativity, they often have the light backward. Instead
of light shining from the outside in, the light comes from the inside out -
from the manger, from Christ to everyone else.
Now
while not physically, historically accurate, that is exactly what is spiritually
happening and what the manger is all about. And what we just sang. From the
manger newborn light Shines in glory through the night. And where this
child is, darkness there no more resides.
The
darkness of sin can no more reside where there is the light of His
righteousness.
The
darkness of pride can no more reside where there is the light of His lowliness.
The
darkness of death can no more reside where there is the light of His life.
The
darkness of satan can no more reside where there is the light of His truth.
But
where the darkness can no more reside, we do! For His light shines from the
manger and onto us. His light shines from His Word and onto us. His light
shines from His font and altar and onto us. And in this light faith now
abides. And not just now, but forever. When our Lord comes again and takes
us to that place where no sun or moon is needed, for the glory of God and the
Lamb will be our light (Rev 21:22-23).
And what
can we sing in response to that? Simply what we did to conclude such a
marvelous hymn:
Glory to
the Father sing,
Glory to
the Son, our king,
Glory to
the Spirit be
Now and
through eternity.
In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.