12/3/06 - Advent 1 - Jer. 33:14-16

THE DAYS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS ARE COMING
- Righteousness born
- Righteousness given

Oh, how we have strayed. I say that because we have now entered into the last month of the year. Eleven full months of 2006 are now behind us. So that gives us an occasion to look back and remember all those things we’ve done, all those things we’ve said, all those horrible, nasty, vile things we’ve thought. Oh, how we have strayed. Oh, how we have sinned. Oh, how we have miserably failed to do what is right. We have fallen far short of righteousness.
And the sad thing is: that’s nothing new. Every year at this time, as the season of Advent begins, we realize once again that the righteous life we were supposed to lead as Christians was a sham - it was nothing close to righteousness! It was uglier than ever, it was pitifully inadequate, it was filled with missteps and blatant rebellions. Over this past year we have worked our way as far from righteousness as humanly possible.
That’s why it’s so nice to have the beginning of the church year come at the end of our calendar year. Because by this time of the year, we are so immersed in the sins we’ve committed that we need the kind of reassurance Advent brings. The reassurance of righteousness. So look ahead, my friends, to the end of this month. To the days of Christmas. To the days of Christ. Because the days of righteousness are coming.
Righteousness. It’s a big part of our text today in Jeremiah 33. And righteousness is a word you know. It’s a concept that you have used. But do you know what it is exactly? Righteousness really comes from a word meaning “straight.” Something that is not crooked, no bending, no veering to the one side or another. And so the word also came to mean a moral and ethical “norm” or a “standard.” A standard, of course, set by God. Righteousness is meeting the moral standard set down by God in his word. Walking that line perfectly. Not turning to the right or to the left. Not taking a misstep of any kind. Not breaking stride as you follow each and every one of the Lord’s commands in full.
That is righteousness. And oh, how we have strayed! And in so many different ways! I don’t want to know how you have strayed from the fine line of righteousness. I don’t want you to know how I have strayed! If God wrote a list of all the sins you had committed in the last year and gave that list to you, you would rip it up and burn it as soon as possible, right? I know I would! I wouldn’t want anyone to see the multitude of sins I have committed. There are thoughts I never should have thought. Criticism I never should have vocalized. Things I should have done that I never did. And I’m sure there would be plenty of things on that list that I wasn’t even aware of. I don’t even want to think about how far away from that straight line of righteousness that list would prove me to be. And I would imagine it wouldn’t be all that different for you.
I thank the Lord at this time of year that the days of righteousness are coming. I thank the Lord for a text like we have today. “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.’” The days are coming, less than a month away, the days are coming when we will celebrate once again the birth of the Branch. The righteous Branch. The one who follows the straight line of God’s righteousness. Not turning to the right or to the left. Not taking a misstep of any kind. Not breaking stride as he follows each and every one of the Lord’s commands in full.
The righteous Branch, of course, is Jesus. But can you imagine Jesus doing that from birth? Have you ever thought about that before? That means he was a baby who never selfishly screamed in the middle of the night because he was hungry. That means he was a two-year-old who never threw a temper tantrum. That means he was an eight-year-old who never lied. That means he was a teenager who never once talked back. That means he was a young man who never showed disrespect. That means he was a human being who never had a belittling thought cross him mind about anyone he ever met. Jesus walked the line. Perfectly. He did “what is just and right” just as our text says. That’s what makes him the righteous Branch. He wasn’t just another descendant from David, he was THE descendant from David. The one everyone talked about and looked for and hoped in. And once again for us, his days are coming. In the days of Advent we talk about and look for and hope in his coming. The days of righteousness are coming. The celebration of Christmas when God himself came into the world. When righteousness incarnate was born.
When that righteous Branch was born in that feeding trough in the town of Bethlehem he, of course, received the name “Jesus.” That’s nothing new to you. And throughout his life and throughout Scripture Jesus was given many names that mean a variety of different things. Beautiful, picturesque names that describe his work and our salvation. So without taking anything away from those wonderful names, I want to point you to the incredible name God the Father gives Jesus in our text. The Lord says, “This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” Wow. How beautiful is that name? How telling. How simple. How profound.
First of all, the Lord calls Jesus “the Lord.” But even beyond that obvious and amazing revelation about Jesus’ deity, the second part of that name is even more remarkable. “The Lord Our Righteousness.” His name includes us! We are part of the Lord’s own name! Why? Because that is why he came. That is why he walked that straight line of righteousness. So that he could be Our Righteousness. The New Testament says the same thing. “God made him, who had no sin, to be sin for us. So that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” God the Son gives us his righteousness. He walked the straight line of God’s will perfectly, and we get the credit! We get the credit for something we had no part in! Yet another wonderful example of God’s amazing grace.
And that’s exactly what it is: grace. We are so completely lost that God had to send his Son to this earth. We have walked so far away from the straight line of righteousness that Jesus had to walk it himself. We are so hostile to God as sinful human beings that the only way we were going to be saved was if Christ took a hold of us and yanked us back into his arms. We had nothing to do with our salvation. We have nothing to contribute to our faith.
That is why the Lord is called Our Righteousness and not called everyone’s righteousness. Because of faith. The Holy Spirit has worked faith in our hearts. Not because we were more accepting than someone else. Not because we were better than someone else. Not because we didn’t reject the Lord quite as much as someone else. The Holy Spirit worked faith in our hearts because of grace. Because of undeserved love - pure and simple. Why us and not others? I don’t know! Ask the Lord that question when you get the chance. All we know from his word is that we get all the blame if we reject the Lord, but the Lord gets all the credit if we are brought to faith.
The result of this wonderful gift of faith is righteousness. And it’s not just that we’re credited with righteousness, but we will eventually live in righteousness. Peter says, “We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” When we are in heaven, we will be living in righteousness. We will finally walk that straight line perfectly. We will not turn to the right or to the left. We will not break stride as we follow each and every one of God’s commands in full. Our wants and desires will be perfectly in line with God’s wants and desires. To me, that is going to be one of the greatest things about heaven. We will know exactly what God wants. We will know exactly what God thinks. We will understand why he does what he does - and we will be extremely happy about it! We will be completely content with everything forever because we will be living in the home of righteousness with Our Righteousness.
The days are coming, my friends. The days of righteousness are coming. 22 days, in fact, until we celebrate the birth of the righteous Branch. Look forward to that day. Look forward to Christmas. And rejoice in these weeks of Advent as we see Our Righteousness coming for us.
Amen.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”
- Rev. 4:8b