Christ The King Free Lutheran

Sermon for the 4th Sunday of Advent. The Scripture readings are Philippians 4:4-7 and John 1:19-29.“Let your reasonableness (the Greek word there is pronounced epieikēs) be known to everyone” (Php. 4:5). There really isn’t a good English word for epieikēs, which is utterly unfortunate. Other translations will use words like gentleness, graciousness, and moderation, but they only convey part of the word’s meaning. The ‘reasonableness’ – the epieikēs – refers to strength that doesn’t have a need to prove anything to other people because that strength is accompanied with a gentleness and meekness. We could compare it to a football player scoring a touchdown, calmly handing the ball to the ref, and heading to the sidelines to get ready for the next play because the player is confident and humble enough to know that he has the strength and ability to find his way back in the endzone again. Because of what Christ has done for us in His death and resurrection we can, “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Php. 4:4). Jesus ha