Introit for Rorate Coeli
(Psalm 19:1, 4–6; Antiphon: Isaiah 45:8a)
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Introit this morning is full of nature metaphors—beautiful descriptions of clouds raining down, the earth bearing fruit, the glorious stars and the magnificent sun. But what does it all mean? And does it have anything to do with Jesus? Absolutely.
The Introit verses are from Psalm 19—a psalm not only about creation but also about the Word of God. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. The stars and planets are speaking to us. The things of creation echo the very words of God spoken to bring them into existence. When you see a star, you see God’s words, “Let there be stars.” When you see a tree, you see God’s words, “Let there be trees.”
But the main figure of this Psalm is the sun: In the heavens God has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The sun does the Creator’s bidding. Each morning, it’s as if the sun leaves its bedroom and rouses the world with the joy of a new husband, like an athlete running his race. The sun goes the way God has directed it and its light and heat are spread over the entire earth.
But then in the Psalm, the great light of the sun gives way to that greater light, the Law of the Lord—the Word of God. The symbol gives way to the reality. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether (Ps. 19:7–9). We don’t have these verse in our Introit, but they are the interpretation of the metaphor that was given with the heavens and the sun. The Word of God is the true voice that goes out through all the earth.
And as New Testament Christians, we know that the Word is not only the Holy Scriptures. First and foremost, the Word of God is the Word made flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ. And He is the true Sun of righteousness. The womb of the Virgin Mary was His chamber, His throne room, and He came out like a bridegroom, like ours, the Church’s Bridegroom. He came out like a strong man, running His course with joy all the way to the cross and out of the grave. So, when you see the sun come up and make its grand procession across the sky, be reminded of your Savior, who brings His light to all. Be reminded of your Savior’s Word which is preached to all.
The beauty of creation reflects or echoes God’s saving work. The sun and the heavens give us reminders of our Lord and what He has done for us. And if the metaphor is good in Psalm 19, it’s good in Isaiah 45 too. That’s where our Introit antiphon comes from: Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout. This is a planting metaphor. Just as the clouds in the heavens give rain, so also God showers His grace and mercy. And just as the earth, when it’s watered, sprouts and bears fruit, so also when God forgives our sins we grow and bear the fruit of holy lives and praise to His glory.
This metaphor could be used to describe salvation at any time, but the Church in her wisdom chose this verse for the Sunday before Christmas because it paints a vivid picture of the event we are about to celebrate. The heavens rain down righteousness. That is, the eternal Son of the Father, for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And salvation sprouts up from the earth and bears fruit. That is, the Son of God was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man. Our Lord Jesus Christ is both from heaven and from earth, raining down and sprouting up. He is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true Man, born of the Virgin Mary. He unites God and Man, heaven and earth, in His person.
And that means He is also our Substitute. Our Lord became a man born of woman, born under the Law, like you and me (Gal. 4:4). He lived, died and rose in our place so that we might be made righteous and saved in Him. To continue with the planting metaphor, the Seed of salvation was planted and watered when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear the Savior. So then, He germinated for nine months in the earth, in the womb of a sinful woman saved by grace. Until the time came and the Seed sprouted at His birth. And then finally bore fruit of righteousness and salvation at His death and resurrection.
But isn’t it a bit strange that we use a planting metaphor in the middle of winter? Here we are at the darkest time of the year, when everything is cold and dead. Nothing is sprouting up right now. The Christians of northern Europe loved the strangeness of this and they put it in their Christmas carols. One of the most famous being our closing hymn today, Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming. It’s based on the vision of Isaiah, where the Messiah is likened to a newly sprouted plant: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit (Is. 11:1). Jesse was the father of King David, the ancestor of all the kings of Judah, and yet this line of kings failed to be faithful to God, and so it was hacked down, until nothing was left but a worthless stump. And yet, God did not forget His promise. From the line of Jesse and David, King Messiah would come. From the dead, dried up stump, would sprout a beautiful rose.
That’s what the writer of this Christmas carol is expressing:
Lo, how a rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming
As prophets long have sung,
It came a flow’ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half-spent was the night.
Isaiah ‘twas foretold it,
The rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to us a Savior,
When half-spent was the night (LSB 359:1–2).
Amid the cold and darkness of dead winter, amid the cold and darkness of sin and death… Out of the old stump, out of the womb of a lowly virgin… A Savior came. The heavens rained down righteousness. The earth received it and gave birth to salvation.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has been born—He is already come. Yet, we delight to mark and celebrate His birth each year. Because we are surrounded by cold and darkness, we are filled with sin and sadness, we are attacked by death and the devil. So, once again, we make this Christmastime our prayer to the Lord: that He would rain down His righteousness upon us and forgive all our sins. That we would believe the Word proclaimed by John the Baptist, who confessed the Christ and still points us to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. We pray that we would always receive the refreshing shower of God’s grace rained upon us in Baptism. And we pray that the earth of our hearts would sprout forth with new life, and bear fruit for our good, for the good of our neighbors, and for God’s glory.
Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout.
Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.
