Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from the 66th Psalm:
Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations— let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
This Advent season we’re in is awesome. Awesome is a good word, isn’t it. It can describe a lot of things. In fact, it’s my son’s favorite new word. I think he picked it up at school since we don’t use it a lot at home. Now, brushing his teeth is awesome, my cooking is awesome, the dog sitting when she comes in front outside is awesome, even Paw Patrol is awesome. Everything awesome. Everything is cool when you’re only three.
And awesome does describe a lot. You can drive through a street and all their Christmas lights are on and it just looks awesome. Someone does something amazing, like a run on American Ninja Warrior, and it’s awesome. You get a good grade that your worked for and that’s awesome. Every time a new life comes into the world it’s awesome. It’s a great word.
But the word awesome is more than just an exclamation of how cool something is. It’s an invitation for us to have awe over something. I remember the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. You’re standing there, just looking at this giant hole in the ground, and it’s beautiful and you feel so small and you realize that God created it just for beauty and it’s awesome because you’re filled with awe, amazement, wonder at all He’s done. To awe over something is almost to be overwhelmed realizing the amazement over the fact something even exists.
Psalm 66 today invites the worshippers gathered together to consider God’s awesome works. Not the Grand Canyon, not the mighty oceans, not the highest mountains, but how God delivered the Israelites from their bondage. They would have first thought about God’s awesome deeds in saving the people from their slavery in Egypt and delivered them to the Promised Land. Then they would consider how they are also slaves to sin, yet God delivered them from this as well and delivered them to life eternal in His name.
God continues His awesome deeds even in us today. He gives us His forgiveness, His absolution, He gives us His body and blood, He gives us salvation, he gives us the promise of rising from the dead in the name of Jesus. But, God would have us, like the Israelites of old, consider what He has done.
You see, God takes these small things and makes them so important. He took tiny Israel, in slavery in Egypt, and turned them into the race from which would come the Messiah, Jesus. He took bread and wine and showed us His body and blood in them. He took water and made it wash us clean from our sins. Small to large.
So it was with the little town of Bethlehem. So it was with Mary, a young woman, not even out of her teens. So it was with Joseph, a carpenter, not a king. So it was with Jesus’ first home, a manger where the animals would rest for the night. By themselves, these things and people aren’t awesome. They’re small, tiny, insignificant. You’d pass right over them.
But, God’s awesome work is not in the people or the places. It’s how He uses them. The psalm says “He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man.” God’s deed was sending His only Son to be the Savior of sinners like you and like me. There’s nothing awesome about any of us. We might have some skills, talents, abilities, sure, but we’re sinful people who can’t please God. God doesn’t love sin, He hates sin, and He must punish those who commit sin. We can’t please God.
But God has chosen you to be His child, not because you can please Him, but because His very own Son pleased Him through His awesome sacrifice on the cross. It doesn’t look very cool, to watch a man suffer and die on a cross. It’s horrific. It’s awful. But God makes Jesus’ death awesome for you. Through Christ, you’re given the gifts of righteousness, faith, grace, mercy, salvation. Your sins are forgiven in Christ and you’re promised the blessings of heaven where everything will be awesome forever.
The psalm invites us to come and see what God has done. It’s awesome to be in this season leading up to Christmas. It’s awesome to see all the sights of the season, the lights, the trees. It’s awesome to hear good music played giving worship to God for all He’s done. But we have an even greater blessing than what we see or hear out in the world. We get to come and see Jesus, and more than that, we can come to the place where He’s promised to be found, right here, in His Word and in His Sacraments. We come and see the salvation He’s promised us. We come and see the awesome deeds He does right here. And it really is awesome. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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