Advent 1 Year A 11/30/2025
Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
Happy New Year!
A new year in the Church Calendar begins today…
The first Sunday in Advent.
A season of preparation and longing…
A season of waiting and hoping…
Advent ignites four weeks of preparing for the coming of the Messiah.
The Promised One…
The Anointed One…
Jesus the Christ.
So, as we journey through this season, each Sunday, starting today,
we are going to look at the Psalm that is appointed for the day.
Not only considering what the Psalm is about and why it was written…
But also pondering why the Psalm is appointed for the season of Advent.
Psalms is the longest book in the Bible with 150 chapters…
Many of them were written by David, but not all of them…
Psalms is the worship book of the Bible…
Full of emotion and wisdom…
Full of desire and hope.
Jesus quoted from the Psalms more than any other book of the Old Testament…
And it is the only book of the Bible that is included in just about every Sunday of our lectionary.
The Old Testament reading is chosen from one of 38 books of the Old Testament.
The New Testament reading is chosen from one of 23 books of the New Testament.
The Gospel reading is chosen from one of the 4 Gospels.
The Book of Psalms is read every Sunday, except for a canticle 2 or 3 times a year.
And the Psalm appointed for today is Psalm 122.
You may have it before you, if you like (BCP, 779).
Psalm 122 is a psalm of David…
And it is one of the Songs of Ascent.
There are 15 of these in total…
And they are all found beginning with Psalm 120 all the way through Psalm 134.
The Psalms of Ascent or Songs of Ascent were just that…
songs that were sung while people ascended during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
When people travelled to Jerusalem, they were always travelling up to it.
Jerusalem sits on a plateau in the Judean Mountains…
And has an elevation of about 2,575 feet.
And during the Old Testament and New Testament time, Jews from all over would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for a High Holy Day and/or a series of Festival Days.
The population of Jerusalem during Jesus’ time was estimated to be around 40,000 to 50,000 during normal times…
but the population swelled to 180,000 or more during major religious festivals like Passover.
In this way, it’s kind of like Mount Dora…
A population of around 17,000 during normal times…
A population of over 100,000 during the Art Festival.
So these pilgrims would sing Psalm 122 as they made their way to Jerusalem.
And Psalm 122, in particular, was a song they sang when they arrived.
Now, looking at the psalm there is a major theme that stands out.
The entire structure of the psalm is focused on the city of Jerusalem.
There are three parts to it…
In the first part (vv. 1-2) the pilgrims celebrate arriving at the gates of Jerusalem… it says:
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem.
In the second part (vv. 3-5) the pilgrims sing joyfully about the strength and security of the city…
As well as the justice that reigns down from the king.
In the third and final part (vv. 6-9) the pilgrims pray for peace in Jerusalem and hope for its prosperity.
To understand this further, we need to understand the importance of Jerusalem.
Under King David, the city became the capital of Israel becoming the political and religious center of the nation.
In David’s time the ark of the covenant was housed in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle.
This most sacred place was where the dwelling presence of God was.
After David, the Temple housed the presence of God in the sacred space of the Temple…
That most magnificent Temple in Jerusalem, that Solomon built…
Only to be destroyed by the Babylonian invaders.
In the Old Testament and into the New Testament, Jerusalem was the place of God’s special presence.
Old Testament scholar, Tremper Longman III writes about Psalm 122:
The psalm is a hymn celebrating the city that hosts the special presence of God, as represented by the ‘house of God’, and ends with a prayer for its prosperity.[1]
The presence of God is understood a bit differently in our Christian culture.
On the one hand, we emphasize that God is omnipresent…
That he is everywhere…
We also emphasize that as Christians, the presence of God is with us…
In us…
The Holy Spirit is in us.
As we recognize and declare at baptism:
You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever (BCP, 308).
But in the Ancient Near East, if you wanted to go near the presence of God you would ascend to Jerusalem…
The city that hosts the special presence of God.
So that’s what is going on with Psalm 122.
It’s a song for pilgrimage to Jerusalem seeking the presence of God.
So why is it appointed for today on this first Sunday in Advent?
Well, I think there are a few reasons.
First, the psalm is a song of pilgrimage… so as we start this spiritual pilgrimage of Advent it fits the themes of longing, desire, hope, and excitement.
Second, the psalm emphasizes the special presence of God in Jerusalem and the longing to go to the house of the Lord…
The place where that presence is.
In Advent, we too long for the presence of God.
The whole trajectory of Advent is waiting and preparing for the coming of Jesus.
Which is why the anthem of Advent is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
Emmanuel being the Hebrew word for God is with us.
Advent is the longing for the presence of God…
O Come, O Come, Presence of God!
The expectancy and hope of God Incarnate…
God becoming flesh and dwelling among us.
It is preparing for Christmas Day when the presence of God takes on human form as a baby.
The fantastic mystery of the Incarnation.
So just as the Jews longed for the presence of God in Jerusalem, we long for the presence of God at Christmas.
But there is more, because Advent has two lanes…
One is the journey toward Christmas Day…
The Second is the journey that we are on…
waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus.
We are waiting for the physical return of Jesus Christ…
The physical presence of the Son of God.
And, Oh! we long for that day…
Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus come!
When we will be in the full presence of God for ever and ever.
And God will set the world at rights…
Bringing justice to His creation.
Just like the pilgrims sang in Psalm 122…
Wanting the justice that reigned in Jerusalem…
They sang:
There stand the thrones for judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.
So we long for that day in the presence of God where everything will be put at rights.
And I think there is one more reason that Psalm 122 is appointed for this first Sunday in Advent… a third reason…
And it has to do with the emphasis on the final part of the psalm.
The last four verses read:
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”
For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your prosperity.
Three times peace is mentioned…
A longing for the peace that comes with the presence of God.
A hope for peace that will last forever.
And this peace is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Remember the Christmas story…
The shepherds were in the field watching their sheep at night…
And an Angel shows up saying:
Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is the Messiah, the Lord. …
And then Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, (NIV)
Listen to this:
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (KJV) (Luke 2)
You see that peace found in the presence of God that the Jewish pilgrims longed for in Psalm 122 is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.
And that peace of the presence of God is for us today too!
In Jesus Christ we can receive his presence…
The hope of salvation…
The joy of life…
It is the gift of God…
By His grace he gives it to us, through faith.
We receive a peace that surpasses all understanding.
The peace we need to be reconciled with God.
Because of the cross and resurrection of Jesus…
We can have peace with God.
And be at peace within this world we live in.
In the presence of Jesus Christ, we have peace for today and peace for tomorrow.
The promise we have today is that we have the presence of God with us… Emmanuel…
God is with us…
in the person of Jesus Christ…
with the presence of the Holy Spirit.
So as we spiritually journey through the season of Advent…
As we get ready for the season of Christmas…
As we await and prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus…
Let us say with our ancient Jewish pilgrims:
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD.” (BCP, 779)
Let us go to the presence of God Almighty.
Amen.
[1] Tremper Longman III, Psalms, TOTC (Downers Grove: IVP, 2014), 416.
