Worship Helps for Advent 3
Artist: Francesco Barbieri
Date: 1621
(Salome
is the daughter of Herodias, the step-daughter of King Herod. It is Salome who
dances for Herod and then asks for the head of St.
John
Worship Theme: In the Messiah’s kingdom things are not
always what they seem. Appearances can be deceiving and lead to doubt. Today
the Church asks Christ to drive the darkness of doubt from our hearts and fill
us with the light of the knowledge of Christ. Faith in Christ leads us to
patiently hope in the Lord’s caring plan despite any appearances to the
contrary.
Old Testament: Job
1:6-22
One day the angels came
to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7
The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered
the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in
it." 8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered
my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright,
a man who fears God and shuns evil." 9 "Does Job fear God
for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge
around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work
of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.
11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will
surely curse you to your face." 12 The LORD said to Satan,
"Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man
himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the
LORD. 13 One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and
drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 14 a messenger came to
Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,
15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants
to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" 16
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of
God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the
only one who has escaped to tell you!" 17 While he was still
speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three
raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put
the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell
you!" 18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger
came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at
the oldest brother's house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in
from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them
and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he
fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: "Naked I came from
my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken
away; may the name of the LORD be praised." 22 In all this, Job
did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
1. How does the account of Job show us that things in
God’s kingdom are not always what they seem?
Epistle: James 5:7-11
Be patient, then,
brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to
yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.
8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.
9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The
Judge is standing at the door! 10 Brothers, as an example of
patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of
the Lord. 11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have
persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord
finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
2. In what way is a believer waiting for Jesus’ coming
like a farmer?
3. How does the account of Job remind us of the Lord’s
compassion and mercy?
Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11
When John heard in
prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him,
"Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
4 Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see:
5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are
cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the
poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of
me." 7 As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak
to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A
reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man
dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces.
9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more
than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
"'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before
you.' 11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has
not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
4. How could John the Baptist have doubts or be confused
about the identity of the Messiah?
Answers:
1. In the second lesson, James points to Job as an example
of perseverance in the face of suffering and God’s resulting blessing. To Satan
it appeared that Job served God because he was blessed. That was not so. After
great suffering and tremendous loss, it appeared to everyone else that Job had
absolutely no reason to praise God. That was not so either. Job knew that for
the children of God, things are not always what they seem. He had the patience
to wait for the rain—to wait for God to make fruitful again the fallow parts of
his life.
2. James says the Lord’s coming is near. Yet we wait for
him to come. The farmer knows every spring that fall is near, but he still has
to wait for it to arrive.
3. While most of us recognize the name Job and remember
the hard times he faced, maybe we don’t remember how that account ended. Read
Job 42:12–17 for an example of God’s compassion and mercy.
4. Things were not what they seemed. John languished in
prison for preaching righteousness. When he saw the works of Jesus questions
rose in his mind and doubt filled the hearts of his followers. John knew that
Jesus was the Christ, but where were the acts of judgment promised? Why did
John look like a failure and the wicked look like they were winning? John sends
his disciples to the right place, to Jesus. When we take our doubts and
questions to Jesus, he drives the darkness from our hearts and fills us with
light. Jesus pointed to his works as signs from God fulfilling the words of the
prophet and marking him as the Coming One. Jesus was far more than he appeared
to be: he was the Messiah who makes the blind see, the dead live and the poor
evangelized. Jesus then points to John and shows greatness hiding behind the
cross and persecution. Though John did not seem it, he was the second Elijah
and a prophet without peer.
God’s foreknowledge is nothing
else than this: God knows all things before they happen.
This foreknowledge extends
over the godly and the wicked alike. But
it is not the cause of evil or of sin.
In other words, it is not what causes people to do wrong (which
originally arises from the devil and mankind’s wicked, perverse will).
Predestination, or God’s
eternal election, covers only the godly, beloved children of God. It is a cause
of their salvation, which He also provides.
Our salvation is founded so firmly on it that the gates of hell cannot
overcome it.
God’s Word leads us to Christ,
who is the Book of Life, in whom all are written and elected who are to be
saved in eternity. For it is written in
Ephesians 1:4, “Even as He chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the
world.”
Christ calls all sinners to
Himself and promises them rest. He is
eager ‹seriously wills› that all people should come to Him and allow themselves
to be helped. He offers them Himself in His Word and wants them to hear it and
not to plug their ears or ‹neglect and› despise the Word. Furthermore, He promises the power and
working of the Holy Spirit and divine assistance for perseverance and eternal
salvation ‹so that we may remain steadfast in the faith and gain eternal
salvation›. – Formula of Concord ,
Epitome, Article XI, God’s Eternal Foreknowledge (paragraphs 3-5, 7-8)
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