Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
December 3, 2023
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
Advent 1
This Is Not A Drill
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed be the coming Kingdom of our father David, Hosanna in the highest! (Mk 11:10)
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On September 11, 2001 a contingent of Cleveland’s FBI agents were at Camp Perry Ohio, some 90 west of Cleveland, doing their quarterly firearms training. In the midst of the training they heard a call over their communications system that said, “The WTC in NYC has been attacked,” but no one was concerned. Not concerned because such mock calls were a regular part of their training. But then another call came: “This is not a drill.” The WTC and the Pentagon have been attacked. No! This was most certainly not a drill!
Nor is today’s gospel just a drill. Just another repetition of the account we hear annually on the First Sunday of Advent. Instead the Lord’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and the liturgy we are currently engaged in, are one and the same. The real thing. Not a drill, not a dress rehearsal.
And the hinge on which these events turn – Jesus’ historic entry into Jerusalem then, and his Eucharistic entry into his church today; his procession then, and our procession to the Christian altar today, are the words of today’s text:
"Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed be the coming Kingdom of our father David,
Hosanna in the highest!
Do those words sound familiar? The church of heaven and earth chants them every Sunday as Jesus is about to arrive on the Christian altar, from where he proffers his life-giving, sin-forgiving Flesh and Blood for his Christians not simply to adore, but to eat and to drink.
Today we are part of the crowd, part of the procession which is liturgically enacted as the crucifix enters the church to the sound of holy song. And especially as we throw off the garments of our sins and sorrow, and follow Jesus to the New Temple, the New Jerusalem, his holy altar. And there receive what every heart has ever hoped for. To be one with our Lord. To be incorporated into the Person of Jesus, and thereby into the Blessed Holy Trinity.
And like the crowd then, we too hail our matchless King, as we desperately cry out to him to come into our fainting hearts, our homes, our church and our world and restore sanity, goodness and godliness to us by his atoning sacrifice. For where there is no sin, there is only goodness, gladness and a bright eternal future.
This is not a drill!
As we hear Verse 1 of today’s gospel let us understand that St. Mark is not giving us a travel log, or simply interesting information. Not at all because this is not a drill. When he writes that they, “neared Jerusalem via Bethpage and Bethany on Olive Mountain,” he is letting us know that Jesus’s final entrance into Jerusalem before his redeeming death is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 14:3
“Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east.”
Here we learn what is repeated throughout scripture, namely than when Jesus comes again he will come from the east, from the direction of the rising sun, which reminds believers daily that our Lord’s Advent is “nearer now than when we first believed.”
Because of this Christians worship facing the east. Or if a worship space is not oriented geographically east, like ours is not, then the altar becomes the liturgical east. But he doesn’t just come from the east, but from the Mount of Olives, or better stated “Olive Mountain.”
Olive Mountain!
As the Rocky Mountains are known for their rocks, Olive Mountain was known for its magnificent olive trees, their fruit, and especially for their precious oil.
How does this come to be? When Noah sent out a Dove from the Ark to see if the waters had receded, and the Dove returned with an Olive Branch in its mouth, olive oil became the “sacramental element” of the Holy Spirit; which the Spirit then used it to anoint prophets and kings by pouring olive oil over their heads.
But it is at the Lord’s baptism that everything comes together. Jesus was not anointed with oil then, but with the Spirit himself, whom the oil represented. There Jesus both received the Spirit of God without measure, and pours the Spirit on us without measure – making us holy as his name implies.
Now fully empowered by the Breath of God Jesus sprang into action from Olive Mountain to commence the war against Gog in Magog. Gog is Satan who commits and inspires all cruelty in Magog which is the world, where he is the “prince of the power of the air.”
This is who Jesus came to engage from Olive Mountain as St. John says, “The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 Jn 3:8)
On the cross as prophesied in Gen 3:15, the devil bruised the Lord’s heel, but the Lord crushed the devil’s head. And now the one who is unremitting evil; from whom you can expect nothing but rape, plunder and abuse can no longer own us, or control us: though he is always looking for opportunity. But St. Peter says, “resist him steadfast in the faith,” and James says, “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Resist him and send him packing every time with the Lord’s own trusty words: “Satan! Be gone!”
In the Great War against Gog in Magog Jesus emerged Victor. He entered death’s house by dying – for all sins, and all sinners. But he did not stay there. Instead he who willingly laid down his life for the Sheep, took it up again, and now bestows his Life upon us in baptism. And regularly in the Holy Communion we receive here every Lord’s Day.
Indeed the words the church used then, she uses now and will never stop. “Hosanna!” Hosanna is a desperate cry to our Lord to "deliver us from evil." Yes we are set free from sin, death and Satan but, dumb oafs that they are, they don’t know they are finished. And so they dog us day and night so that we can never rest except in Christ. So that we can never sleep unless we first pray: “Let you holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me.” And rise up in the morning with the same prayer on our lips.
Hosanna is the prayer, and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” is the answer. We howl out for mercy and the answer comes! Jesus appears in the Flesh. “In with and under” the Bread and Wine and when his Holiness touches our flesh it imparts full remission of sins, life, salvation, calm, courage, peace and rest.
And so the procession continues; the chant continues in triplicate because once is not enough. Holy Holy, Holy! Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he, Blessed is he, Blessed is he who comes in the name and power and love of our God and Father!
No! Today’s Advent Eucharist is not a drill, or dress rehearsal, but the church’s ongoing prayer to Jesus who is the fountainhead of salvation to come to us, and deliver us from all our troubles. But don’t look for a donkey. Look rather to the altar. To the consecrated Bread and Cup which are Jesus. His very Body and Blood. Take eat! Take drink! Amen.