December 23, 2018
ANCIENT OF DAYS
Advent 4, 2018
Micah 5:2-5a
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
As you grow older you realize that you start sounding like your mom or dad. You begin sentences and stories like they do with the words “I remember when” or “back when I was growing up” or even for some of us “back in the day…” Those phrases reminded me of a show that I sometimes watched with my mom in my youth that opened with the lyrics: “Boy the way Glenn Miller played. Songs that made the Hit Parade. Guys like us we had it made, Those were the days. And you knew who you were then, Girls were girls and men were men, Mister we could use a man Like Herbert Hoover again. Didn’t need no welfare state, Everybody pulled his weight. Gee our old LaSalle ran great. Those were the days.”
Maybe you used to watch the show All in the Family and remember those words. Maybe you think back about your life growing up and agree “those were the days.” I’m 40 years old and I sometimes think like that. Don’t you remember when everything was closed for the holidays and for Sundays?…at least most things were closed when I was growing up except for the Chinese restaurant and the Blockbuster Video…and if stores were open on Sunday they would close at around 4 or 5 p.m. Do you remember when you had no phone…or internet…and your friends would show up on Saturday morning to go play ball at the park? Do you remember when gas was under $1.00 or even 25 cents (my dad used to recall)? Do you remember when there were no school shootings?
I’m sure that each generation thinks that times were better when they were growing up and living than times were later in life. The prophet Micah spoke to a people that believed they lived in the greatest era of Israel. Sure Israel had been divided into two nations but things were great. Yeah they had prophets that kept bringing up the past…and how things used to be…and what God did way back when…but now they had better gods like the other powerful and hip kingdoms. Their nation was still wealthy. Their armies were still considered strong. They had alliances with the right people. Things were great and getting better.
But Micah, like many other prophets, called the people to repentance. Micah told the people that if they did not repent both Judah and Israel would be destroyed. He called for the people to repent of their arrogance, their mistreatment of the poor, their abandonment of faith in the true God, and their trust in corrupt leaders that introduced pagan gods. Micah warns them that the day is coming when all that they will lament about how things used to be before the destruction of their country.
But Micah wasn’t pointing to the past as being perfect. Micah wasn’t saying that life used to be better or easier. Micah pointed to the past to remind the people of what God had done and promised. Micah recalled the past in order to point them to the future. Micah pointed to the joyous day we are soon to celebrate. Micah proclaimed:
“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
(Micah 5:2)
Micah prophesied that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. Little, unimportant Bethlehem. He prophesied that a Savior would be born that would rule over Israel forever. That the Savior would restore the fortunes of His people. That He will watch over them like a Shepherd. And that this Savior; this King of Kings that would be born hundreds of years in the future is actually from ancient of days; from the foundation of the world; from before creation. This Savior would be God Himself.
This is the Lord Jesus himself who comes forth for us. He came as a baby, heralded by John the Baptizer, and healed the lame, made the blind see, loosened the tongue of the mute and raised the dead. He proved to the world in that day that he was who he said he was. The one who was, who is and who is to come, comes for us! That is what we prepare for during Advent and celebrate at Christmas.
We talk about the good old days but Jesus comes from before there ever was a day. He who has seen every day unfold from the beginning of time comes to us as one of us. Of course he can heal the lame and give the blind their sight. He not only comes from ancient days, he is The Ancient of Days.
And the Ancient of Days; God Himself doesn’t tell us…back before I created all of you things were better. God doesn’t point us back to before creation and laments that He created you…no…instead…He points us to the birth of Jesus. He points us to Good Friday and our Lord’s Resurrection on Easter. God points us to the future when Jesus shall come again. And then on that glorious day…we shall know God fully. We shall see Jesus face to face. We will be reunited with all the faithful from every generation. We will be perfect and holy. And every day will be the best day.
And so we wait. As Christians we wait patiently and expectantly. We wait with joy even as the world doesn’t believe and ignores the signs and wonders of our Lord. We wait with confidence knowing that He who rose from the dead as He said will come again. We wait…but not alone…for Christ has given us a Church family and promises to be with us always. We are strong to wait as we are strengthened but Jesus very body and blood and forgiven of our sins. We wait because we know that we will never have “our best life now” nor should we want our “best life now” because our best life…is our life to come with Jesus in paradise.
Give thanks to God. He is Ancient of Days. And before you were born…before any of creation…God loved you, God knew you, and God planned to save you through the birth, death, and resurrection of His only begotten Son.
Await patiently Jesus return…but also await joyously…for Christ our Ancient of Days was born to save…and save us He did. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
