I would add that this passage also derives from the "royal theology" developed by the house of David and Solomon. This theology tries to develop a reason to continue the house of David on the throne of Judah and the priesthood of the Levites at the temple of Jerusalem. As such it differs markedly from the theology of Jeremiah, who continued the theology of the covenant with Moses, a covenant which promised only that God would be God of the people as long as the people were fully loyal to God. The contrast between the two positions of "Moses' covenant theology" and "Solomon's royal theology" is one of the major tensions that exists in the Old Testament.

The second consideration is to take the passage at face value and see in it the promise of a son from the line of David. This is certainly the reason that the writers of the lectionary included it in this key place in the lectionary, as the first passage to be considered in the new cycle of Year C. This son will be like David. He will be a "righteous branch." That phrase looks to a tree that was seemingly dead, and yet out of its dead trunk comes a sapling that will grow into a new tree, a signal of life from death, a sign of resurrection. This righteous branch, this new son, will be like David. He will rule the people with justice and righteousness. This new son, according to the Christian reading of the text, will be Jesus Christ, the babe of Bethlehem, born in David's own city, bringing in a kingdom that will execute the justice and righteousness that David, at his best, was able to do.

PSALM 25:1-10: This psalm is an acrostic, that is, each line of the psalm begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The alphabet is in order except that one letter is omitted, and another is repeated twice. This artificial organization of the poem causes some of the stiltedness one experiences when reading it from beginning to end.

But there are important themes to which the psalm addresses itself. Verses two and three are a prayer for deliverance from enemies. Verses four and five ask for guidance and instruction. Verses six and seven are a prayer for forgiveness. Verses eight through ten are a declaration that the Lord is good and upright because he instructs sinners in the way, leads the humble in what is right, and shows steadfast love and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

Emphasis in the psalm falls on the words "the way." This reminds us that for the Jewish people of the time, their religion was not so much a set of beliefs as it was a "way of walking with God." God had walked with them in the events of the exodus and the liberation of Israel from slavery. God had walked with them in giving them the Torah, their instruction about life. God had walked with them in the exile and in their return to the land of promise. "God walked with them" was the Jewish understanding of faith. Now they were to walk with God.

These petitions point to the nature of the God to whom the psalmist prays. This is the God who delivers his people from his enemies; who leads us to the truth; who forgives sin; who instructs sinners in his ways; who leads the humble in what is right; who keeps his covenant and his decrees. Quite a God. No wonder the psalm begins with words of praise: "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust."

This Psalm is used both on the first Sunday of Advent and the first Sunday of Lent. This tells of the special place the psalm has had in the lives of Christian people.

FIRST THESSALONIANS 3:9-13: This lection is placed here because of its last phrase: "the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." As we enter Advent, we are thinking about the coming again into human life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without the benefit of a church calendar, the Thessalonian Christians were engaged with the same question.

Apparently, they were much more concerned about it even than we are. Some of these Thessalonian Christians had made it the chief idea of their faith. They were speculating wildly about what would happen when Christ came. They were divorcing their wives. They were afraid that those of their company who had already died would not receive the Lord at his coming, and that grieved them terribly. Paul wrote this part of his letter to calm their fears and to prepare them for the coming of the Lord.

"Abstain from immorality," wrote Paul. "Take a wife in holiness and honor. Aspire to live quietly. Mind your own affairs. Work with your hands. Do not grieve for your dead as do those who have no hope. Comfort one another. Love one another. Love God. The Lord is coming." (4:1-18)

We need to build on that last phrase. The Lord is here, that is the conviction of Christian people; the Lord is present with us. He is present in the words that he spoke and the parables that he taught. We need to internalize each of these in the most complete way possible. He is present in the loving acts that he did and in the loving acts that we show to one another. He presents himself to us in the supper that he gave us; it is his body, it is his blood, it is his very self. He is present as we worship together and as we hear the word of preaching; through his Word he changes our lives to be more like his. He is present in our moments of decision, guiding us. He is present in our sins and our confession of our sins, forgiving us. He is present when we experience our mortality and fear our death, holding hope of life eternal before us.

This Christ, who is present with us now, is still to come to us in a more full and complete way. We do not know when, we do not know how. The words Jesus spoke to his disciples as he took leave of them on the Mount of Olives after his resurrection he speaks also to us: "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:7-8) This is the word to us in Advent, as we await the return of the Lord. Receive his power. Be a witness to his love. Abstain from immorality. Conduct your family life in holiness and honor. Aspire to live quietly. Mind your own affairs. Work with mind and hand. Do not grieve for your dead as do those who have no hope. Comfort one another. Love one another. Love God. The Lord is coming.

LUKE 21:25-36: Each of the first three gospels contains a section about the coming of the Son of Humankind. In each gospel this section immediately precedes that account of Jesus' death upon the cross. The sections are placed in the gospels to remind Christians before Jesus' death comes that his death is but one event in God's dealing with the people. Jesus will suffer and die. He will also be raised from the dead, and he will come again to the world to bring in fully the Rule and Reign of God.

This, vss 25 through 36 in the 21^st chapter of Luke, is the section in Luke's Gospel that brings this good news to us. We need to see each line in its own meaning and in its relationship to the other verses of this text.

25 "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

I want to focus on the last part of these lines: "The powers of the heavens will be shaken." Each of us has made some kind of peace with "the powers of the heavens," that which gives structure and meaning to our lives. But there come times when these "powers" are shaken. A death in the family can do it. Loss of a job can do it. The unexpected betrayal of a trust by a friend can do it. Outside events - wars and rumors of wars, a tornado that sets down near our house, a hurricane that rushes up the east coast and a typhoon that blows against the west, torrents of rain, mud slides that take away houses silently, fires in the forests - can upset us badly. The structure and meaning of our lives are attacked, and everything else that had seemed stable has come loose. Jesus' words describe it as "signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world." This is the response we see in the world around us when "powers of the heavens" that have given structure and meaning to our lives seem to be shaken to their very roots.

27 And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

This description of the coming of the Son of Man is drawn from Dan 7:13: "I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven." The reference to "the clouds" links Jesus' ascension with the coming of the Son of Man (Acts 1:9-11). It also relates his coming to his baptism and to his transfiguration. It makes us recall the cloud that led the Israelites through the wilderness. With its translucent nature, a cloud both reveals the heavens to the watcher, and it hides the sun and stars from those who look for them. It is the great symbol of Old and New Testament for God. When "The Son of Humankind" is said to "come in a cloud," this is the immediate relating of Jesus with God himself. God is seen in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ has God's power of attorney to act for God in God's dealings with human beings.

28 Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

When you begin to see that God is indeed in Christ, and that Christ re-presents God to us, then our redemption is drawing near.

29 And he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

A peculiar feature of a fig tree is that it bore fruit before it bore leaves. All the leaves did, therefore, was tell you that summer was near. So all the signs are telling us that the Kingdom of God is near. Amidst the calamity and catastrophe around us, we can respond every day to God's mercy and justice, the mercy and justice that is at the heart of the Kingdom of God.

32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

The generation of Jesus Christ was the one that witnessed his ministry and teaching, his arrest and conviction, his crucifixion and resurrection, his ascent into heaven. When these things had taken place, the structure of the kingdom of God was firmly established among us. "This generation" did not pass away until it had seen all these things take place.

Moreover, Jesus said that his words would not pass away, and in truth they have not. We still remember that he said, "Our father, who art in heaven . . . Blessed are the poor in heart . . . Love one another as I have loved you . . . Father, forgive them, they know not what they do, . . . This day you shall be with my in Paradise." It is one of the amazing features of history that Jesus' words continue to sound through the years and resonate through human life. The words of none of his contemporaries are remembered as are his words. The words of no one who lived before him or after him are still so powerful in the lives of so many. Jesus was not exaggerating when he said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

34 "But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare; 35 for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. 36 But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man."

Jesus is about to take his final step into Jerusalem and to his own death. As he does this, he warns the disciples to take heed lest their lives be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness. Indeed, this happened, the very thing he had warned them against. Jesus celebrated a meal with them, but they did not understand the meaning of it. He brought them into a garden to pray with him, but their eyes were heavy with sleep, and they refused to "watch with him for even one hour." The disciples witnessed his arrest at the hands of the police, and "they deserted him and fled." Drunkenness, dissipation, and the cares of this life wore heavily upon his disciples, and those critical moments came upon them "suddenly like a snare," a trap that tripped them up. But his words remain: "Watch with me, . . . Pray." These are the words he speaks to us as our Advent season begins.