STIR up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and come; that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins, and saved by Thy mighty deliverance; Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

-- Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church

Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!”

-- Matthew 21.1-9 (NKJV)

Happy new year! Advent marks the beginning of the Christian church year--claiming the start of our new year about a month before the rest of the secularized Western world (or our regular calendars) makes us quirky and out of step with the rest of society, as good Christians should certainly be.

The readings for the new church year begin, perhaps paradoxically, with St. Matthew's account of Jesus entering into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Mt 21.1-9). Let's not get tripped up on the chronology! The key is not the timing of this account but the attitude with which Christ came, both during his birth and then into Jerusalem--in meekness and humility--first as a baby, then as a king on a colt. Each time we celebrate Holy Communion, we echo the cries of the crowd from this passage as we say together, "Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Coincident with the Epistle reading (Rom 13.11-14), Advent and the celebration of Christ's first coming and eventual return reminds us that "now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." As a result, "let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light."

With both of these passages in mind, the church prays for deliverance from our sinfulness by the mighty power of Christ as look back in celebration on his First Advent, celebrate his coming to us in grace each time we gather as the church, and wait with countless other saints through history as we look forward to his Second Advent.

Photo by David Tomaseti on Unsplash