Sermon for Ad Te Levavi, 2025

Jesus rides towards that day we call Good, riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and thereby filling and fulfilling Solomon’s coronation and reign. Even so, it is right that we hear about and think about that day on this day, the First Sunday of Advent, also, because Advent means coming. Jesus’ triumphal entry—His riding to His coronation, crucifixion, and resurrection—His coming is a coming to the rescue of the poor, the meek, the lowly, the troubled, the sad, the sick, and the dying. 

Therefore, let it be in your heart today, the First Sunday in Advent, to make yourself among them, and not to be ashamed of being counted with the meek, the lowly, the poor, especially the poor in spirit. For that is what a Christian heart is, and must be: poor in spirit, saying, “Nothing is in me that is any good; all the good that I find is in Him. And so, I cry out, saying, ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’ ” That, Beloved, is the heart and cry of the Christian. And with such a heart and cry, you join the people lining the streets in Jerusalem, both in Solomon’s day and on Palm Sunday. 

Readings:

• Old Testament: Jeremiah 23:5-8

• Epistle: Romans 13:8-14

• Holy Gospel: Matthew 21:1-9

  
  

Sermon: