16. Saturday after Second Sunday in Advent.
Lord, wake us and keep us awake
by thy Spirit and word. Amen.
Malachi 4, 1-6. For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
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Should not the word concerning the day of the Lord wake us, make us humble, yea, even crush us and make us sincerely contrite of heart? When the Lord through Jonah spoke of doom and destruction to the people of Nineveh, it caused them to put on sackcloth and ashes, for they believed the word. Whosoever believes the word of God concerning the return of the Lord, bows the head in acknowledgment of sin, and is afeared and seeks grace. The ungodly despise the word; therefore they feel so secure, and haste without fear toward destruction. There is no lack of warning from the merciful God. Even as he sent Elijah to the apostate Israelites and chastised them with the fiery tongue of the prophet and with hunger and the sword; and as he sent the Baptist to the Israelites of a later day and by his powerful exhortation to repentance shook Jerusalem and all Judæa; in like manner he continues to send new witnesses who cry out, calling people to repentance, and start spiritual movements in this place and that; while unbelief is compelled to show its poverty, as was the case with the Baal-cult in the time of Ahab. And during the time yet to come he shall give his witnesses great power before the peoples and the tribes. (Rev. 11). All in vain! The many will continue in fancied security in their sins and will not repent. Therefore the day of doom must become a burning oven and burn them up, leaving them neither root nor branch. For they alone who have been born again and are holy can stand before him that cometh.
Christian soul; live in repentance day by day unto the last. Never feel too secure, be not puffed up, but walk in holy fear, and with David become all the time less worthy in your own eyes. You have learned to lay all your sins on Jesus and have found healing under his wings; never desert your first love. By the light of the Spirit you shall see yourself more and more clearly and feel more deeply your need of grace; neither shall there be any want of the trials necessary to your daily revival and your humiliation; you also shall be led with the Lord from the judgment hall along the path of pain to Calvary; still, push your way deeper into the fellowship of his suffering and deeper into the salvation of grace. The way leads to the Ascension hill, and soon you shall with unclouded eye see that sun which gladdens all the saints with eternal gladness, but sends the horrors of death through all who are puffed up.
Lord Jesus, give us god-fearing and humble hearts, and prepare our souls by thy grace, that we may await with joy the coming of thy day and be accepted of thee. Amen.*
Lord Jesus Christ, do not delay,
O hasten our salvation!
We often tremble on our way
In fear and tribulation.
Then hear us when we cry to thee;
Come, mighty Judge, come, make us free
From every evil. Amen!
[TLH 611, LSB 508, ELH 538; listen below]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.