Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
This second week of Advent, I want you to consider the idea of inheritance.
The Human Obsession with Inheritance
Inheritance is an important part of our human experience. It seems like from the beginning, the idea of who will inherit our money, lands, titles, and everything else we occupy ourselves with has been a fundamental concern for human beings. Wars have been waged, families split apart, marriages arranged all around this idea of inheritance.
As I considered our scripture lessons for today, that is the word that continued to emerge for me: Inheritance.
During this advent season, as we consider our faith and hope in the coming of Christ, we must consider our inheritance.
Two Kinds of Judgment
But before we talk about inheritance, we need to talk about judgment.
Human beings are obsessed with judgment, who’s right, who’s wrong, who deserves what. Yet our human judgment is always flawed. We judge by appearances, by wealth, by power. We judge based on our own interests and biases.
But Scripture speaks of a different kind of judgment: righteous judgment, divine judgment. And remarkably, in contrast to the judgement of man, this judgment isn’t something to fear. It’s the very foundation of our hope.
Isaiah’s Vision: Peace Through Righteous Judgment
The prophet Isaiah, as he tells about the coming of Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, describes for us a wonderful scene that echoes our scripture lessons from last week.
He tells us that in the days to come, Godly order will be restored, that the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard with the young goat. He tells us of a world without killing and destruction, without death and fear. He describes the world as it was in Eden, he is describing God’s design for creation, that we might live in peace.
This is our true inheritance, not the brokenness we’re born into, but the restoration God promises. Isaiah paints a picture of what God intended from the beginning: peace, harmony, the lion lying down with the lamb. This is the world we inherit through Christ.
The Messiah Who Judges With Righteousness
But notice what Isaiah tells us about this coming Messiah: “He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.”
His judgment isn’t like ours—partial, influenced by appearances, swayed by power. His righteousness brings vindication to the poor and equity to the meek. When Isaiah describes the wolf dwelling with the lamb, he’s not just painting a pretty picture—he’s showing us what happens when perfect justice reigns. The strong no longer devour the weak.
This is why the Psalmist can sing, “He shall deliver the poor when he cries, the needy also, and him that has no helper.”
God’s judgment isn’t something to fear—it’s the hope of every person who’s ever suffered injustice, who’s ever been overlooked, who’s ever cried out for vindication. Every abuse survivor waiting for justice, every victim of oppression longing for rescue—they don’t fear God’s judgment. They pray for it. They sing “Amen. Come Lord Jesus!” because His coming means their vindication.
Why We Blame God
It is far too easy for human beings to blame God for the hurt and pain in this life. Most of us, if not all of us, have done it before. We question Him, we get angry, we throw fits. For some, it is the reason they give for their lack of faith or faithfulness. For many it becomes the excuse they need to disregard the teaching of Holy Scripture, to reject God, to even deny His existence.
The question has been around since there have been people to ask it: “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?”
It is a good question, albeit disordered. It is a good question because it speaks to the very heart of human experience: suffering, pain, death.
Adam’s Inheritance
To be human is to suffer, that is our reality, that is our inheritance. We are born into it, without choice, much like the Israelites in Egypt were born into slavery or how one might be born into royalty. Who you are, your character, your intellect, your natural talents are of little consequence.
We get angry with God because we perceive Him as the source of this misfortune, but the reality is, it is of our own doing.
Now, we as Americans have a rather difficult time with this one, as we are so enamored with the idea of individualism. “To each his own.” Unfortunately that is not the case in reality, which is why I bring up the concept of inheritance.
We have inherited from Adam the condition of mortality and the inclination toward sin—not personal guilt for Adam’s sin, but the consequences of human fallenness that affect us all. Like being born into a war-torn nation, we didn’t start the conflict, but we’re born into its reality. Much like our national debt, most of us had little to do with it directly, but born into it so we were.
I often get the question, is it wrong to be angry with God? I think it is human to get angry with God, and He is big enough and faithful enough to endure it. He loves us.
It is more that it is misplaced to blame God for our human inheritance.
This is the world without Christ, surrounded by the pain, suffering and death of the human experience but with nothing more to hope in than themselves. This is why the Gospel is so important, this is why it must drive us beyond our comfort zone so that we may truly bear the light of Christ to the world around us.
Scripture: The Food That Sustains Hope
This is why our Collect today directs us to Holy Scripture, not merely to read it, but to “hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them.”
These readings from Isaiah, Romans, and Matthew aren’t abstract theology; they’re the very food that sustains our hope while we wait for Christ’s coming. Through “patience and the comfort of your holy Word,” we embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.
Christ’s Inheritance: A World Being Restored
We have an entirely different inheritance in Christ, it is not free of pain and suffering, but it is full of hope.
As we heard in our lesson from the epistle to the Romans, we who are strong have an obligation to those who are weak. To shoulder the burdens of one another, to serve one another, to be in community. This represents a stark difference in inheritance.
The Choice Before Us
Two inheritances lie before each of us.
Adam’s inheritance: a world where the strong devour the weak, where death reigns, where every person ultimately stands alone in their suffering.
Or Christ’s inheritance: a world being restored to Eden’s peace, where death is conquered, where we bear one another’s burdens because we’re united in Him.
Which will you choose?
We have inherited a selfish, or at least self-focused attitude as human beings, but in Christ we are called to selfless love. God himself, through the incarnate Christ gave us the example of humble service, love and charity, and sacrifice.
This flies in the face of the indulgent human experience that defines so many lives, to continue to feed oneself to the point of gluttony at the expense of others. This furthers the pain and suffering in our world and gives fuel to the despair that claims so many lives.
We are called to a much higher standard as we have an entirely different inheritance.
The Kingdom Breaking In Now
And here’s what’s remarkable: this peace Isaiah describes is not just “someday, somewhere else.” Saint Paul shows us it’s breaking into reality now, in the Church.
When we who are strong bear the burdens of the weak, when we welcome one another as Christ welcomed us, when we worship together in one voice glorifying God, we are living into that Isaiah vision. The wolf and lamb are not just animals, they are us. The predator and prey learning to dwell together because we’ve been brought under the reign of the one the Psalmist calls “the poor man’s refuge.”
Every act of bearing another’s burden, every moment of choosing service over self-interest, is a foretaste of Isaiah’s restored Eden. The Kingdom is not just coming. it’s here, breaking forth wherever Christ is Lord.
How the Lessons Speak Together
Are you starting to see how these lessons from Holy Scripture speak to one another?
Isaiah promises a world restored to Eden’s peace.
Paul shows us that this restoration begins now, in the Church, as we bear one another’s burdens in Christ-like love.
And John the Baptist calls us to active preparation, not passive waiting, but the hard work of repentance that makes us fit vessels for this inheritance.
John’s Call: Bear Fruit in Keeping With Repentance
John the Baptist stands in the wilderness crying out, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance!” He warns against being presumptuous about our inheritance, “We have Abraham as our father,” just as we might presume on our Christian inheritance without the transformation it demands.
The axe is laid to the root of the trees. Our inheritance in Christ isn’t a passive possession; it requires the active fruit of repentance, the ongoing turning away from our bondage to selfishness and toward the freedom of serving others.
What Repentance Really Means
But let’s be clear about what repentance truly means.
John is not just calling for regret over past sins, he is calling for a complete reorientation of life. The Greek word metanoia means a transformation of mind, a turning of our whole being toward God.
Repentance isn’t a feeling; it’s a direction. It’s not just confessing “I’ve done wrong,” but declaring “Christ is Lord” and then living as if that’s true.
When John baptizes with water for repentance, he’s preparing people to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, to have their lives so consumed with God that everything else becomes secondary. This is the inheritance we’re called to: not a life occasionally punctuated by religious moments, but a life wholly oriented toward Christ, where every decision, every relationship, every ambition is brought under His lordship.
The question isn’t whether you’ll have an inheritance, you already have one. The question is: which inheritance will you claim? Will you live oriented toward self, or toward God?
Preparing for His Coming
So, as we prayerfully examine our lives this season of advent, preparing our hearts and our minds to again consider the coming of our Lord—to ready ourselves, our hearts and our homes to celebrate the feast of his first coming and to prepare our hearts and homes to be ready for his second coming.
Why We Eagerly Await His Return
Why should we eagerly await His return? Because His coming means vindication.
Think of everyone who’s suffered injustice, everyone who’s been abused and never seen justice, everyone who’s watched the wicked prosper while they struggle. Isaiah’s Messiah comes to “strike the earth with the rod of his mouth” and “kill the wicked with the breath of his lips.” That’s not cruelty, but rather justice finally, fully realized. His return means every wrong will be made right, every tear will be wiped away, every abuse will be accounted for.
The same judgment that terrifies those who’ve built their inheritance on oppressing others is the hope of those who’ve been oppressed. This is why we can pray “Amen. Come Lord Jesus!” because His coming isn’t a threat to those who’ve oriented their lives toward Him; it’s our vindication, our rescue, our final homecoming.
The Hope of Our Inheritance
Let us not forget that ours is an inheritance of hope and that hope is the fruit of the Gospel. So may we not grow weary in fulfilling our calling, may we not get so distracted by the shiny things of this world that we become lost in ourselves and forget our Lord. May we each stand firm against the temptation to trade our inheritance of hope for an inheritance of bondage to the things of this world, to the ways of this world.
Advent: Hope and Anticipation
Advent isn’t meant to be dreary or burdensome. It’s like a child counting days until Christmas, yes, there’s discipline in the waiting, but it’s filled with hope and anticipation. We’re not just enduring until Christ comes; we’re actively preparing, making straight the paths, clearing away the obstacles of selfishness and indifference, so that when He comes, He finds us ready and rejoicing.
Just as Saint Paul affirms to the church in Rome, we serve a God of hope, may He indeed fill us with all joy and peace, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may abound in hope this advent season and evermore.
A Challenge for This Week
So, this week, as we continue our journey through Advent, I challenge you: How will you bear the burdens of the weak?
Perhaps it’s as simple as calling someone who’s lonely, sharing groceries with someone struggling, or choosing to listen rather than speak. These aren’t dramatic gestures, but they’re the fruit John calls for, the evidence that our inheritance in Christ is changing us from the inside out.
Constant Reorientation
Remember, repentance is not just a one-time transaction; it is a constant reorientation.
Every morning we wake up, our hearts have drifted back toward self, that’s our inherited inclination. Every morning, we must turn again toward Christ. Every decision is an opportunity to either orient toward self or toward God. This is what John means by “bearing fruit” not one big dramatic conversion, but the daily, hourly choosing to live with Christ as Lord rather than self as lord.
It’s in the small moments: when you are cut off in traffic, when your spouse disappoints you, when anxiety rises about tomorrow, will you turn to self-protection and self-service, or will you turn to God and His kingdom?
That’s repentance. That’s the fruit. That’s how we “make straight the paths” for His coming.
Let us pray,
Almighty and gracious Lord, through You, our Lord of Hope, we have an inheritance of peace and of life everlasting. Give us the grace to serve you faithfully, to bear one another’s burdens, to serve the weak and to share the strength we have in You. Grant that we might not be lost to ourselves, distracted by indulgence and self-serving, but that our eyes might remain fixed on You as we prepare ourselves for your return. We ask this through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and evermore. Amen.
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-15; Romans 15:1-13; Matthew 3:1-12
