Sermon by the rev'd. John C. Bauerschmidt

The Second Sunday of Advent, Year A
December 9, 2001
Christ Church, Covington

“Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7).

Christians believe that God made ready for the coming of the Messiah through the ministry of the Prophets, who in the time of ancient Israel pointed forward toward the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The prophets proclaimed renewal and reform in Israel, and called the People of God to hope for the future. Advent is a time in which we recall once again the prophetic ministry, which “prepare[d] the way for our salvation” as our collect says today.

That salvation is ours through Jesus Christ. The work of the Prophets, and in fact the whole of the history of ancient Israel, laid the foundation for what God would do in Christ, in his death and resurrection overcoming the power of sin. Advent gives us a chance to trace again the connection between the experience of Israel and the ministry of Jesus Christ; to rethread the connection between God’s promises to Israel and their fulfillment in the Messiah.

This is exactly what Paul the Apostle is about in our second reading. For Paul in the Letter to the Romans, the key issue is the inclusion of the Gentiles in the promises of God to Israel. In other words, the Messiah who has been foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures is not only the Lord of Israel, but also Lord of the Gentiles. The promise is not only to the family of Abraham, but to all the peoples of the earth.

Paul believes that this was God’s intention all along, and that the pattern of salvation for all peoples is a part of the witness of the Scripture. The Gentiles, Paul shows by quoting the Psalms and the Torah, are meant to praise God for his mercy: mercy in extending salvation, even to them. For the Messiah whose birth was foretold was to be king of the Gentiles as well: “The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope” (Is. 11:10). The quote from the Prophet Isaiah is the capstone to the edifice Paul is constructing.

What God is constructing through Jesus Christ is a community in which Jews and Gentiles both have a place: a community we call the Church. The community of God’s People Israel has become the community of God’s People the Church, made up of all peoples. Jews and Gentiles had been divided from each other; even, at times, enemies. Now all are to be included in the Church, which overcomes division in a community of welcome. “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God”, Paul says in our reading, reminding the Church in Rome then, and us today as well, of our vocation as a community. Jesus has welcomed us through baptism into his Body the Church, and we are called to share this welcome with others.

Welcome is a key part of what Christ Church is supposed to be about. Our parish’s mission statement mentions a four-fold pattern to our life together as a community: proclaiming, welcoming, forming, and sending. “As a Christian community, we are called to embody Christ’s life by proclaiming the Gospel of his death and resurrection, welcoming others into relationship with the Risen Lord, forming ourselves and others in the new life of discipleship, and by sending and being sent in the power of the Holy Spirit in mission to the world. This we will do through God’s grace.” Welcome is the mission not only of our Newcomer Ministry, of Greeters and Brunch servers and Bread deliverers, but ought to be a part of the mission of every member of our parish. If not this, what else are we about?

This morning we participate in a rite of welcome, as a part of “Journey in Christ”. “Journey in Christ” is a process in which proclaiming, welcoming, forming, and sending take place, with a firm emphasis on the world outside. All of our programs at Christ Church are about the same thing, of course, but this process is one in which the pattern is very clear. Today we welcome persons as baptized members of the Church who are preparing to become confirmed members of the Episcopal Church. This process reminds us that our mission as the Church lies outside ourselves, in a ministry of welcoming others as Christ himself has welcomed us.

The pattern we celebrate today, the pattern of salvation in Christ, is one we find in the Prophets of Israel. They looked beyond themselves, into the future, and saw the outline of his ministry, and the community he would bring into being. Advent gives us a chance to remember and recall, and to recommit to the pattern they discerned.

The Rev’d John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church, Covington.

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