Christmas 1 Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King +
    Finally the time for purification had come. For 40 days, since Jesus was born, Mary had to stay at home. That was the Law. For the first 40 days after childbirth, women didn’t go out in public – probably a good and safe practice for health, but think of it this way. Mary’s been cooped up. And now she finally gets to get out, she brings Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to make the appropriate offering for Him - of course Mary does since Jesus came to fulfill the law. But all of a sudden, old Simeon runs up, and he grabs little Jesus out of Mary's arms and starts singing – singing a song that we ourselves sing after Communion to this very day. Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace. Lord, I can die a happy man! Of course, think about what the past year has been like for Mary – Gabriel showing up both to you and to you husband – you had an angel tell your husband, “Yes, marry her.” How’s that for a confidence builder? And then there’s the birth, and even the Shepherds showing up and praising God. It’s been a non-stop whirlwind of praise and joy.

    And then this old codger Simeon hands you back your son, and then he blesses you, but then he says something quite strange. “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed…” Think about the shock of hearing that. It’s been joy to the world, happy holidays, have a holly jolly Christma… wait what? Talk about throwing cold water on the parade. This Child is going to cause chaos because of who He is, Mary – and people are going to hate Him. The wicked of the world will rally and fight against Him. And it’s true. Think about Jesus’ crucifixion – you have Herod and Pilate and the Priests all conspiring together – that was something unheard of. The priests hated anyone who was gentile, and Herod and Pilate hated each other until the events of Good Friday – they only became friends afterwards. Christ Jesus ends up being one of if not the most hated person in all of history. Do you doubt me? His very name is a curse, a vulgarity. Even 2000 years later people get killed for following Him – ask the Christians in Muslim countries what it means to follow Christ. He is a sign that is opposed.

Again, we’re not used to thinking this way, especially not at Christmastime – and I’m guessing poor Mary wasn’t either. Which is why Simeon especially notes that this will impact her – “And a sword will pierce through your own soul also….” Yes, Mary – this hatred that your Son will bear, it will hit home for you as well. It’s going to stab you. How’s that for a change of pace – it’s been joy, joy, joy, oh how great it is that you are the Mother of Christ… then wham. A sword is going to pierce your soul too, Mary. The time is going to come when He won’t be the eager Messiah that you want Him to be. The time is going to come when you will just be embarrassed by Him, when you and His siblings will beg Him to come in from preaching and teaching because He’s embarrassing you – and He will shrug you off. My Mother and My brothers are calling for Me – Who are My Mother and my brothers? These here who hear My teaching are My mother and My brothers. Gut punch. But even that will be topped, Mary. One Friday it will come to a head as this little child, your Son, hangs on a cross. Woman, behold your Son. A sword will pierce through your own soul also.

Why all the pain, why all the angst? “So that thoughts from many hearts will be revealed.” Christ Jesus comes, and He comes Holy and righteous and perfect and good. And we, we are not. We are sinful, fallen men. When people saw Christ, this was something else that they remembered too. And the question was how do you respond to this – when you see God Himself in flesh showing love perfectly, how do you react? And we know what our sinful flesh wants to do. The sinful flesh wants to tear down and destroy anything good that anyone else has. The sinful flesh feels greed and jealousy and hatred and anger. You know that feeling in your gut when you see someone else who has something better than you? That feeling when the other guy gets the job or has the car and you want to beat him? When you see the other gal who has the looks, the whatever, and you want to get all catty? Nothing gets ratings on the news shows like a good celebrity scandal – we love the rich and famous being taken down a peg. Now imagine what your sinful flesh would want to do when it sees not merely someone better than you, but Someone who is truly GOOD. Anyone who looked at Christ while thinking well and highly of himself, as the old sinful flesh is wont to do, would hate Him, and that hate would boil up to the surface – it’s why He even gets killed. And we see this pattern throughout the Bible. Joseph’s brothers throw him in pit and sell him into slavery. King Saul repeatedly tries to kill David, who is his most loyal and faithful servant. The Pharisees, who prized their own holiness, stone Stephen to death. It’s that same old sinful song and dance with Christ, but even more so – because He isn’t merely better than us; Christ Jesus is truly GOOD.

So why any singing, then, Simeon? So why is there any rejoicing? Here is the nuance, and it comes out from Anna, a very old widow lady. Had her husband 7 years, so probably until she was around 20 – and then was widowed for over 6 decades. There’s a woman who knows suffering, knows that this world isn’t all its cracked up to be. And she lived in the temple, fasting and praying, and when Christ comes, she gives thanks to God. And note what she does. Anna speaks “of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Israel.” And there’s the key. There’s the difference. For the folks who were waiting for redemption, for those who knew their own lack, who didn’t think that they were the best of the best, who knew that they were poor lowly sinners in a sinful world, for these folks this Christ Jesus brings joy and gladness, because He brings redemption. God had given Anna the gift of faith, and so she saw her need for a Savior, and then she saw Him, and it was good.

By faith, you too have been made to see your own lack. Do you see your sin, do you know it, do you understand that you are a poor, miserable sinner? Then the coming of this Child will be a cause for you to sing, for He comes bringing your salvation. He comes to be righteous for you, He comes to bear your own sin, your own weakness, your own frailty. He comes to die, He comes to rise, all so that you would inherit Eternal Life, so that you would spend eternity not in this fallen place, but in a New Heavens and a New Earth, so that you would have Eden restored. Life in this world is often cold and harsh – but by faith we don’t deny this, we don’t pretend it isn’t this way. Instead, we confess our sin, great as it is, and we look to Christ Jesus who is greater than our sin, Jesus Who triumphs over it. We do not focus on this world, but we look to Christ who has overcome this world – we look forward to the life of the world to come.

Listen again to Simeon’s song, the song we too will sing in just a few moments after we have held in our own hands the very Body of Christ, given for us. “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word.” Lord, I can die, I can die in peace. Death – where is thy sting, O Death? Where is thy victory, O grave? This Christ Child has risen from the tomb, and so even if I die – I will live. Sod off, death! Bite me, grave – you couldn’t keep Christ swallowed down, nor shall you keep me. “For my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all people.” God’s salvation is here – and it’s not something hidden, it’s not a secret. I don’t have to spend 25 years teaching you how to operate the hidden divine decoder ring. No, right here, God become Man, who for us men and our salvation. Here He is, here is salvation. And you have made me to see it, God – you have given me the gift of faith, and thus these sinful, dead eyes have seen with joy their Savior, the Lord of Life. There is salvation, there is forgiveness, there is rescue – and there it is – in Christ Jesus, open, proclaimed to all people. Yes, all people, for He is “A Light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of Thy people Israel.” Even the Gentiles, even stubborn headed Germans, even spoiled Americans millennia later will see this Child and know Him to be their God and Savior; the Holy Spirit will call folks from all nations. And yes, this is the Glory of Israel – not that we Jews were more holy, not that some how not eating pork makes one morally superior (ugh, how’s that for the false pride of the sinful flesh), but that rather look, there is God come as Man, born from the people whom He told He would come. And thus there is salvation for all, thus there is forgiveness and redemption and love. And by faith, dear friends, you see it.

By faith, God has called you here. By faith, you have been made to confess your sins, called to struggle against them and to strive to beat them down even daily by faith. By faith you have been brought here to this Temple, where Christ Jesus comes to you today, bringing You forgiveness and life. Yes, He comes to you this day – He comes proclaimed in His Word – Christ Jesus lives, and you are forgiven. He comes in His Supper – taste and know your forgiveness, drink and know your salvation. Yes, this world is scary, yes, being a Christian means seeing your own sin and that is a terrifying and rough thing; but behold Your Savior, Christ Jesus, who has redeemed you, purchased and won you from all your sins, and who lives so that you would live with Him both now and forever. In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King +

Christmas Day Sermon

 

Christmas Day, 2024 – Exodus and John 1

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our New Born King +

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Indeed, in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, He did so through that Word. It was the Word that declared, “Let there be light” and there was light. And it was the Word that spoke and separated the light from the dark, the evening from the day. It was the Word that brought forth all of creation. And in the beginning, not only was the Word with God, but the Word would come to be with His Creation. The Word would come and walk in the garden in the cool of the day to be with His Adam, with His Eve. The Word was Life, the Life and the Light of men.

Then, one day, the fateful day, the Word of God came to be with His Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, but He found not day, but darkness. The Fall had come, darkness forgot its place and spilled out in that garden, death creeping in, the Serpent sneering. Yet, The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome It. Satan, the old evil foe, sought in rage and jealousy to undo the Word's creation, to jumble into chaos all that the Word had separated, to pull assunder all that the Word had brought together. And the Word of God stepped into that Garden and called out to Adam, but Adam hid like a stranger, like he didn't know Him. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. Because of Sin, Adam hid from the Word.

So, how to fix this? How to make it so that the Word would be safely with His people, how to rescue them from darkness and death? How to be Emmanuel - God with Us – once again? Sinful man couldn't bear His presence. Death was already racking ruin upon His creation. The garden would not hold until sin was dealt with. So the Word declared that He would deal with Satan, that the Serpent's head would be crushed at the cost of the Word's own bruised heel.

Adam and Eve left the garden, and sin and darkness grew. Children wandered. Wickedness increased. The Word was by in large ignored. A flood cleansed creation, but it was not enough. Even then sinful man used speech to plot only wickedness against God, and so the Word confused their speech. Still wickedness grew. How, how to be God with man again? The Word came to Abraham, called Him friend – in you Abraham and in your Seed, Me Myself, will all the world be blessed. And Abraham believed the Lord – and the Lord would visit His friend Abraham, but it was only sporadically, only occasionally. And He would come to Jacob, but again, only on occasion, because Jacob could not bear it. And then there would be the time in Egypt, and His people would be surrounded by foreign idols, and the Word would be all but forgotten until the Word came to Moses, and then the Exodus. How, how to be God with us again?

The children of Israel passed through the Red Sea to Sinai, and there the Word spoke with Moses, gave Him a plan. In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected.... Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Here, in this place, in this tent, in this tabernacle, the Word would be with His people. He would lead them, and they would follow. Wherever they went, He would be with them. But still the problem of sin remained. He would be among them, in their midst, but they couldn't really come and be with the Word. Only the priests at certain times, only Moses, only with sacrifice and fear. And eventually the tabernacle becomes the Temple, right there in Jerusalem, for in the fullness of time that is where the Word would come, where His heel would be bruised. And generations passed, and the Word is routinely ignored, forgotten, His temple profaned.

Until Christmas. Then, then dear friends, the mystery of the ages. Then – The Word became flesh and dwelt – tented, tabernacled – among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. The Word would be with His people by becoming one of the people, by becoming Man Himself. No more would He dwell simply in a tent, in a building, behind a thick curtain separated from all but the high priest – No, the Word became flesh, was made man, for us and for our salvation, so that we would be able to see His glory, my own eyes and not another, my heart faints within me. This is the mystery, the wonder of the Incarnation – that God Himself would become man – that the way He would get around the separation that sin caused was by His coming to us as One of us. That He Himself would be the true tabernacle, the true temple. The better tabernacle, the better temple. And to be with us, to remove the stain of sin and the pall of death, He would do what only He could, what He had promised He would long ago. The true temple would be torn down on the Cross as the serpent sank his fangs into His heels, Satan's nails into His wrists, the Devil's spear into His side. But with His death, the Life of men would crush the serpent, would soak up and expend the wrath of God that our sin deserved, that He would make atonement so that forgiven and declared righteous on account of Christ we all would be able to stand again in the presence of God, and so we shall for all eternity.

We don't understand, my friends, how good we have it in these days of the New Testament. We don't understand the wonder of these last days in the fullness of time. We know how the mystery of the ages plays out. We participate in the mystery – the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us – indeed, He comes to us today, He dwells with us and we are forgiven and given life and salvation- even here, even now, even in this world still wracked by sin and darkness and death – no, the Light shines in the darkness, and He comes and He shines upon you this day. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. You are united to Christ in the mystery of Holy Baptism, and His life is your life. You received Him at the font as you were born again not by your will but born again by God, claimed by Him as own in His name.

And the Word gathers us together in His Name, in the Triune Name. And being brought together, the Word comes to you today in His Scriptures, in His preaching that you hear. And the highest mystery, the Word joins together His Body and Blood along with bread and wine so that He may join Himself to you for the forgiveness of your sins, for the strengthening of both your faith and your love, for you to have life and salvation. All this, so astonishing that even the angels broke forth in songs of surprise and praise at His birth. All this beyond what the prophets and patriarchs had beheld. And all for you, every time the Word calls you to this His house – and not only one house, one tabernacle, one temple in Jerusalem, but no, in countless hundreds of thousands of them – wherever two or three are gathered in His Name, and lo He is with you always even unto the end of the age, for He is Emmanuel, God with us.

And then the even fuller mystery to come, when He comes again and we see Him face to face, when all the saints of all times and of all places are gathered together around the throne, not only with lifted up hearts (we lift them up unto the Lord) but with resurrected bodies, flesh and blood, like our brother Jesus - Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see him as He is. The gifts, the wonders from that first Christmas continue to come, to be unwrapped and revealed. The feasts continue now, the celebrations ring out now, but shall even more so. Therefore, a hearty merry Christmas to you all, even until we reach the eternal Christmas without out end. Come quickly, Lord Jesus – In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King!

Advent 4 Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

It's almost time! Christmas is almost here – and while you still might have plenty to do on your social list this season, here in Church today our task is to get Spiritually ready for this Tuesday and Wednesday. So, to bring our Spiritual preparations into focus, today we travel with the people of Jerusalem, both the repentant faithful and the callous skeptics, out into the wilderness by the River Jordan, and there we behold John the Baptist. There you have John, out in the wilderness, calling people away from the hustle and bustle of their daily lives, crying out, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” John calls out for people to repent, to turn away from their sin, from their greed and anger and hatred and lust and disdain. Now, understandably, John’s preaching caused a bit of a stir. People were hoping, were wanting, were expecting the Messiah to arrive sometime soon – and then you have John, out in the desert preaching like one of the Prophets of old. Is it finally time? So some of the priests, some of the Levites – perhaps even relatives of John (whose father was a priest) come out and ask John, “Who are you?” Who are you John, what are you doing out here?

And right off the bat, we hear this: “[John] confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’” This is interesting. It doesn’t seem surprising that John would say that he isn’t the Christ – but note the focus our Gospel lesson puts on it. He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed. Do you hear the emphasis? Why such emphasis on this idea of “confessing”? Because, dear friends, like John the Baptist, we too as Christians are called upon to confess Christ, to point others to Him. We are not to deny Christ – we are to confess Him. And this situation with John shows us a common way in which Satan can try to tempt us to end up denying Christ. There you have John, and people are flocking to him, important people are paying attention to him. It would be so easy for John to get a big head, to start pointing to himself. I mean, this would be really easy with John – John’s able to point to passages in Isaiah and say – see here, this is me. He’ll do that eventually after people keep pressing him – but no, that’s not first and foremost on John’s mind. John isn’t worried so much that people know him, understand him – rather, his goal is to point to Christ. So right off the bat – I’m not the Christ – we’ve all got another one that we all are to be looking for. John doesn’t deny Christ by seeking his own attention and glory – rather, first and foremost, John is concerned with confessing Christ so that others might see and know the Lord and His salvation as well. Even when they keep pressing him – are you Elijah, are you the Prophet? Are you someone cool and awesome – John ends up replying simply – No. Finally, when they demand an answer, something they can tell the big wigs in Jerusalem, John says, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.’” When it boils down to it – I’m not important – I’m just a voice, just an instrument pointing to the One who is to come. You should be seeking Him.

This humble focus and determination to point to Christ is something we need to learn and emulate today. Americans are glory-hounds. We are. Our news is dominated by celebrity – by “celebrated persons” – that’s where we get that term celebrity. And not just movie starts or musicians, now we have people who are famous apparently for nothing other than being famous. You've got reality stars or Social Media Influencers. But it's not just celebrity – even us normal people have become a culture of constant awards and validation and affirmation. We are so used to, so focused upon getting recognition that we almost don’t know how to act without anyone patting us on the back and telling us how good we are. We thrive on encouragement and recognition. Now – encouragement and recognition in itself isn’t a bad thing – go encourage one another, it’s good to do so. But here is the danger – as Americans we are so used to the focus being placed upon us, so used to people taking note of what we do and then rewarding us accordingly that we end up being easily tempted towards self-centeredness, where even the good that we do ends up being for our own glory, is done so that people will see how wonderful we are.

That’s not to be our focus as Christians. Rather, all that we do is to point people to Christ Jesus. Before service, in my prayer with Paul I generally end up praying something along the lines of “guide us so that all You've gathered to Your house would sing Your praise.” That’s why we have candles, they point to, they are reminders of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World. That’s why I am wearing white, because the focus isn’t to be upon me as an individual or my style but upon Christ who covers all our sins and washes them away. Christ's Word preached, His Body and Blood given for you is center. Our focus is to be upon Christ. And the thing is, this is supposed to be our focus not just one hour a week, or maybe two or three hours when its Christmas – but in all things throughout our lives we are to be pointing people to Christ. Even our works, the good things that we do, these are simply suppose to shine forth the love of Christ, that through them God would be glorified, for indeed we proclaim that it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us, Christ who works through us – to Him alone be the glory. Keeping this attitude is hard enough for any sinful person, but for us Americans, in our culture of celebrity and affirmation today, it’s even harder.

So we need to remember why we put our focus upon Christ. The messengers ask John why he is baptizing if he isn’t the Christ. John’s reply is wonderful – “I baptize you with water, but among you stands One you do not know, even He who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” John admits his own lack – eh, I’m not much – but Christ Jesus, the One who is coming – ah, now He’s something else entirely. This Christ Jesus is so righteous, so holy, so good, that I by rights shouldn’t even be allowed near Him, not even to pull off his sandals. And indeed, Christ Jesus is righteous and holy – but did you note where John said the Christ was? “But among you stands One”. This is why we focus upon Christ. It’s not just that Christ Jesus is holy and awesome and cool – but rather this. Christ Jesus is God Almighty who comes to be with sinners in order to forgive them. This whole season of Advent we have been focused upon the coming of Christ, that Jesus is coming – and this is the beautiful thing. This holy, righteous, almighty God comes to you to be with you to forgive you your sins. He comes to be with you to save you.

Are you mired in sin and death? Christ Jesus comes to take up those sins and suffer death for you upon the Cross. Are you in a world that is cold and callous? Christ Jesus comes to shower His love upon you and show His own love through you. Do you have fear, doubts, concerns; are you simply and often overwhelmed by this life? Christ Jesus has His Word of forgiveness proclaimed to you, so that you would receive His forgiveness and life. Christ Jesus comes to be with you. John, he baptized with water – but you have been Baptized, at Christ’s own command, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, baptized by Water and the Spirit, so you know that Christ Jesus is with you and that you shall be with Him forever more, whatever this world shows you. Christ Jesus comes to be with you. And of course there is our Lord’s own Supper. In the verse following our Gospel, we hear this – “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and saying, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’” In just a few minutes, on this very day, and indeed every day when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we will say those very same words that John says here. Why? Because we in the Supper behold and receive the very Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world as Christ Jesus comes to us at this altar. In so many ways, over and over and over Christ Jesus comes to you to give you life and forgiveness.

What we will celebrate this Tuesday night, this Wednesday morning, this is not a one time event. Christ Jesus, who came down from heaven, born as a human being to be with us and save us, always, always comes to us. He has promised to be with us always, even until this world passes away and yields to the new heavens and new earth for all eternity. And this is what we look for – we look for it daily in the Word, weekly in His Divine service and meal, and we look forward to the consummation when He comes again. But always, it is Christ Jesus come to save. This is the message we will hear, the message we will declare, the message we too will confess in all the different services we will have in the next 2 weeks. Your Lord and Savior comes to be with you – it is all about what He does for you, and thus it is joy and celebration that the world might try to imitate, but can never match. The Lord be with you as you finish your preparations for Christmas, and if you are not traveling to be with family, I look forward to seeing you this Tuesday night as we rejoice in our Lord’s birth. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. In the Name of Christ Jesus our Advent King + Amen.

Advent 3 Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

    Picture yourself in a prison cell, cold and dark and damp. You’ve not been treated well or respectfully, probably haven’t been well fed. The hygiene isn’t the greatest. And you sit there, waiting, your life in the hands of a king who isn’t all that stable. You have no rights, no protection under the law – you do not know what precisely will happen to you, but you do know that it will not be pretty. And you sit there, in that dark cell, all by yourself. And why are you there, are you a thief? A thug? A murderer? No, you are there because you came preaching the coming of the Christ. You declared out loud “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” You strove to prepare the people for His coming – including this King Herod who has you imprisoned, whom you admonished for his immorality. And now, the simple reality is that the next time you leave this cold, dark cell, it will be for when they come to take you and kill you.

    You do get visitors – your students do come, they talk a bit about the news of the day. You hear bits about the stir Jesus is causing, the One who you had pointed to – but He’s out there, and you’re in here, and in here it’s dark and cold and you are so often left alone with your doubts and fears. Your life is on the line. And so you ask your disciples, your friends, to go and ask Jesus a question. “Are You the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Is it really You, Jesus? Are You the Messiah? Am I stuck in jail for the Right Person?

    John’s disciples go, and again, John waits, alone in that dark prison cell. We don’t know how long – he himself probably couldn’t tell, probably lost track of time. Time passes. And then, your disciples return. And they say, “He told us to come and tell you what we see, what we hear – the things that have been happening out here while you’ve been in jail. This is what He told us to tell you. “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” And there, in that dark cell, John the Baptist rejoiced, was glad, was filled with joy and hope. There he would have been able to speak once again the words of our introit, Rejoice in the Lord always. And why – because of what Jesus says and does.

    John had his doubts. Is this Jesus really the Messiah, your Cousin who you knew growing up, is He really the Lord God almighty? You know, but you have fears – and then you hear what He does. The blind receive their sight and the lame walk. Yes, that is something that the Messiah does – God Almighty who made heaven and earth will come, and He will fix His creation – the blind, those whose eyes have been destroyed in this sinful world, they are healed. Those who are lame, whose bodies are broken, they are healed. Creation is restored. That’s something the Messiah would do.

    But it's more than just that – the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up. Leprosy and deafness, and even death, all had a common idea, a common theme. They separated people, they tore loved ones asunder. If you were a leper, you were banished, you would never see your family again. If you were deaf, you were cut off from your family, you could never hear them, never have a conversation with them again. Isolated and alone. And if you were dead, well, you were dead. But look at what the Messiah comes and does – He restores relationships – those lepers who were cut off from their family and friends now rejoice, they now dance and touch and hold and hug their loved ones again. Those people who were deaf, who could not hear, they now hear the sounds of their loved ones again. And the father weeping over his daughter, the mother weeping over her son, they now hold in their arms their children alive again. The relationships that sin and the impact of sin tear apart – the Messiah has come, and He is beginning to put them aright.

    But it's more than just that! The highlight of it all – the poor have good news preached to them. The poor, the ones whom the world overlooks, the ones whom the world would rather not deal with, they have good news preached to them. This Jesus is no charlatan trying to make a quick buck, this is no placater of persons, this is no false prophet trying to grease the wheels of sinful society – No! The poor hear, the folks who have no way to repay, who have nothing in them that would make them worthy, the ones who are helpless and lost – they hear good news preached to them. Indeed, even those who are stuck in a prison like John is, who no longer will be able to do anything for this Messiah, people who according to the standards of this fallen world are worthless – they too have good news preached to them. This is the Messiah, come for them, come for all people.

    But our Lord had included one line there for John, for uplifting him and supporting him. John’s disciples also add in that little line – Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. John would have heard what the Messiah is doing, what is going on, and he would not have been offended –rather, this was his hope – his hope that Jesus is the Messiah is proved true – and Jesus tells him that he is blessed. Do you know what that means? By saying this, Jesus says, “Yes, John, you are in that cold, dark prison cell. Yes, John, it will be your head on a silver platter. And yes, John, even with all of this, you are blessed, for I am the Messiah, I am God come to save His people, come to save those who are stuck blind in prison cells and shackled to the wall, those separated from family by prison bars, those who are even going to die – I am your God and Messiah, and because I am here whatever Herod does to you now, you are blessed for all eternity. This is what our Lord has John’s disciples preach to him, and John rejoices, and sounds of joy and wonder that cell had never heard echoed throughout Herod’s dungeon. And John was refreshed, and John was prepared to face whatever came. The Messiah had come, and all would be made right in the end.

    This Sunday of Advent is named in the Latin “Gaudete” – the first word of our introit – Rejoice. That is the point, the theme of this day. That’s why the pink candle is lit today. Because this is the day where our focus is upon the fact that the coming of the Messiah brings joy even to the darkest, dampest places we are in. This story here of John in his cell serves to highlight the joy that we have as Christians in hearing of Christ and what He has done. It is a joy that nothing in this world can trump, can triumph over. Whether it be illness or frailty or poverty or loneliness or even persecution and death, the fact remains that the Messiah has come – that God Himself has come down from heaven, fulfilled the Law in our place, gone to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, and He has been raised to life so that we too have life ever lasting in His name. Nothing can change that – it is the truth – it is the truth that surpasses everything else. And so we take comfort, as Isaiah says, because our warfare, our rebellion against God is over – and Christ is the Victor, and He gives us all the rewards and spoils of His battle to win us from sin and death and the devil. This is our joy – the joy that Christ tells John’s disciples to proclaim to him.

    This is the joy that Christ wants us to be focused on. In our text, after John’s disciples leave to bring their joyous news to him, Jesus turns and asks the crowd a question. What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” You all went to see this John preach, why did you go? What did you want to see? “A reed shaken in the wind?” Were you going to see fluff? Someone who would put his finger to the air and just say whatever society wanted him to say? That wasn’t John. What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.” Did you go to learn about earthly wealth and power and might? You wouldn’t hear that from John. What then did you go out to see? A Prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.” No, you went because John was preaching the coming of the Messiah, and here I am. The focus of John was upon Christ Jesus – and that’s where John’s preaching and focus was supposed to be.

    How about you? What do you come here to see? Do you wish to see a reed shaken in the wind – someone who will just tell you and teach you whatever it is you want to hear, whatever society says is good? Who will give you the good, entertaining song and dance? Is that what Church is supposed to be? Or should it be a time for learning how to get those fine clothes, that fine house, that nice car? A place to meet people and make connections so you can get that better job? Is that what Church is supposed to be? God forbid that this place ever crumbles and decays into that. No, this place is to be a place where Christ is pointed to and proclaimed – where we who are spiritually blind would be enlightened by God’s Word, where we who are made lame by sin would learn how to walk as God’s faithful, where our relationships with God and neighbor would be restored by the power of Christ’s forgiveness, where we would be given new and eternal life in Christ Jesus. And this is something that is done not by our strength, not by our power, not by our actions – but all of this is done by Christ through the power of His Word and Spirit. St. Paul says that he, and those pastors after him, should be considered servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. And here we receive, we participate in those joyous mysteries of God – we hear absolution. We hear good news preached. We receive the very Body and Blood of our Lord for forgiveness and for life. These are the wonders and joys that happen here, that God brings to you and makes real for you here. This is the joy that you receive here no matter what your week was like, no matter what trial awaits you in the week to come. Christ Jesus has won for you forgiveness with His death and resurrection, and He now comes to you and gives you salvation. And we know that He shall come again. This is our joy, this is the joy to which we cling as we await His second coming, this is the joy that we hold to as we await the resurrection of the dead on the last day when we will be given glorious bodies like His. Christ has come to win us salvation, and He will come again to see that we have it in full. In the meantime, He comes in His Word, in His own Body and blood in His Supper as a pledge and token of this promise that the world can never take away. Let us rejoice in the Lord always, again, I say rejoice. In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King. Amen.

Advent 2

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

    If you are going to be a Christian, you simply have to accept the fact that you will be weird. You will be strange. You will be different. If one is a Christian, then one will have a fundamentally different way of approaching everything in life as compared to the rest of the world. And that is the background, the underlying truth that will enlighten what our Lord is talking about in our Gospel lesson. Today we hear our Lord in the Temple during Holy Week, warning of the end times. Warning the folks then, warning the world, warning us here today. However, my friends, I would have you remember that you hear this warning, this preaching of Jesus not as the world does, but you hear it as the Baptized. You hear it as those who are joined to Christ Jesus, as those who are forgiven. As such, since you are in Christ, what you hear today is different from what the world hears. Listen.

    There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the seas and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming upon the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Here Christ Jesus describes the world as the end approaches, and He describes a mess. Things will just go utterly sideways. There will be natural disasters and the nations will be freaked out. It will seem as though the earth itself is trying to destroy us. And the leaders, the powers that be, will be helpless and bumbling and threatening each other. Everything will be all caddywampus, nothing will be working right at all. Sounds scary, right? Actually, if we are honest, it sounds typical. We are approaching the end of the year 2024, and so of course there will be all sorts of “year in review” shows that come on. So, what do you think? In those year in review shows will we see stories recounting distress and chaos in the the world this past year, with roaring waves and all sorts of troubles and inept rulers and all that sort of stuff? Of course, just like we did in 2014 or 1994 or pick any year. Because this is the thing – Jesus is not describing anything too bizarre – He is describing situation normal for the fallen world. And while the world will wring its hands and come up with desperate plans or utterly foolhardy denials – you know this for what this is. It is simply sin messing with world.

    As a Christian, you know this to be true. You know sin and its impacts for what they are. You know it, you see it in the world. You know it and you see it in yourself. Let us be honest about this, shall we? How often when we see sin and its impacts come crashing down upon our lives do we not let our sinful flesh run a bit wild and panicked? How often can we make stupid plans all full of bragadoccio and ignore reality, how often can we retreat to la-la land in denial, ignoring the decay, the shame, the guilt right in front of us. That is how the world and your sinful flesh think to handle sin and its consequences – to panic, to fly in fear, to try to pretend it away.

    But you are not just a sinner. You are not like those in the world left to their own devices, left to try to sort all this out on your own. You are different. You are baptized into Christ Jesus. So, you do know your sin for what it is, but even more wondrously you know Christ Jesus for who He is. And this is what He promises you – that even as the world rages in fear and panic, and even as they mock you, O Christian, “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” You know something that the world doesn't. Jesus will return, and He will put an end to sin. And therefore, your reaction, O Christian, in view of Christ, your reaction as a baptized child of God is radically different than the rest of the world. “Now, when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Do you see? Do you see how wondrously different you life is because of Christ Jesus? When the world sees wretchedness and a cause to panic, you straighten up, shoulders out, broad and bold and ready to go, because you know what? It's just sin, and Christ Jesus your Lord already came once into this world already to deal with sin and death. He dealt with it by going to the cross and crucifying it. Jesus defeated it with His own death. And this Jesus will come again, and when He does redemption – your redemption, your being set free from sin and its impact – be it sin in this fallen world where nature is a disaster and countries are crazy and people are wicked... or be it your own sin, the stupid and vain and wicked desires of your flesh that keep popping up, the age and decay that are creeping up – your redemption from all these things draws nigh. When you see these things, straighten up O Baptized. Christ Jesus is coming to rescue you. That's what all this really means – it means that Christ your Lord and Savior is coming to rescue you.

    Patriotic Americans should understand this straightening up, this attitude of defiance, more than anyone – it's part of our national anthem. Consider: Generally speaking, if I said, “hey, we're under attack and they are shooting at us,” we'd think that would be bad. But how does our national anthem go? “And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.” Bring it on Brits – as long as you keep shooting that's just proof that we're not done yet and are going to win. Bring it on, Satan – you and the world and my flesh can keep on hounding all you want – I am baptized into Christ Jesus and He has won the victory already, so tthhhpppt. In Christ Jesus you live defiantly – defying Satan, defying the world, even defying your own flesh – because you belong to Christ Jesus your Redeemer, and you stand tall and safe in Him.

    So Christian, you're different than the world. You see beyond just the surface, beyond just the here and now. And He told them a parable: Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourself and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Oh look, it's spring! Well, more than that – it means that the summer's about here, that it's near. Not just the surface, but the implications – that's what we see. And so when we see tragedy and trial and hardship and sin, you know what that reminds us of? That the kingdom of God is... did you hear what Jesus did? He didn't say “coming” - he said near. When you look at the world, when you see all this stuff, it's not just that one day, someday down the road, Jesus will return and things will be good then, but until that point... maybe we ought to panic. Nope. Even as you look and see sin in the world, sin in your flesh – you know, O Christian, that the kingdom of God is near – near, right here, right now. Christ Jesus is not distant, He is not absent from you until the Last Day, but He is present. He is here in His Word. He is truly and bodily present for you in His Supper to forgive you your sins and to give you life and salvation even over and against sin and death and your flesh. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. Everything around you can go to pot – doesn't change the fact that Christ Jesus has died and risen for you. Doesn't change the truth of His Word of forgiveness. Doesn't change the fact that He has claimed you as His own in Baptism. The world can do nothing to you at all. You, whenever you see all this junk – that's when you repent, confess your own sin, and receive Christ's love and mercy and forgiveness, that is when the Kingdom is near, again and again.

    Note that – repent and confess and receive Christ's love again. There is a danger that we should be wary of – not the dangers of earthquakes or super-volcanoes or political strife and war or any of that. That's not fun, but that all ought to drive us to Jesus. Listen to Jesus' warning – But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkeness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. Remember, O Christian, your Baptism! Remember that you are in Christ and therefore different from the world. How does the world handle seeing sin and its impacts? Well – they can dissipate: spread themselves so thin trying to get their best life now that they are too busy for anything. Or they can get blottoed. Or they can spend all their time in fretting and worry about their cares. And these are the ways our flesh attacks us – that's how our flesh tells us to handle our sin – but that is not who you are in Christ. No – as for you – But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. No, as Christians we pray. We pray even as the world mocks prayer. We pray for strength to escape, we pray “deliver us from evil”. You realize that the strength by which you live, by which you will stand before Christ isn't your own strength, but rather it is a strength that is given to you, it is Christ's own strength that is spoken into you in His Forgiveness, that is poured upon you in Baptism. It is the strength that comes from His Supper as He Himself gives you Himself so that you may rise from this rail and go in peace about your life out in the world, not matter how weird or scary Tuesday will end up being. Because you are in Christ.

    Do you see? As a child of God you prepare for the end by coming to where Christ Jesus comes near to prepare you, to come to where Jesus Himself has promised to come near to you with forgiveness and mercy and redemption. Jesus came to win you salvation, and He comes here to bring that salvation to you now, to strengthen you and keep you in it all of your days, so that in Him you will endure well beyond anything this world or your flesh throws at you. You're in Christ. And He comes to you today in His word, in His Supper so that you would never forget that He is your Lord and Savior, that you would never be distracted or scared away from this truth. So straighten up, raise up your heads, and rise for prayer – come quickly, Lord Jesus, Amen.

Last Sunday of the Church Year

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
    Today’s parable is the old familiar ending to the Church Year – the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. With the end of the Church year comes a reminder that Christ’s coming could happen at any time, that we ought to be ready for it, and indeed, this parable teaches us how to be ready for it. So, let us hear this parable and listen to it once again.

    “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.” Now, let’s consider this set up. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to us at first – why are there are bunch of virgins, a bunch of young unmarried gals waiting for the groom? Generally today brides don’t like their husband to be cavorting with a bunch of 18 year olds on the way to the wedding. But perhaps the best way to think of these would be that they are like our modern bridesmaids. It’s a big wedding, there’s 10 gals, and their job is to make everything look pretty. That's their job. However, there is a problem. “Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.  For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.” The main job of the virgins back in the day would be to be part of the procession, and they would carry lamps, candles, and the light would make everything look just so and perfect – plus they wouldn’t look too shabby for any of the groom’s single friends. But there’s a problem. A lamp without any oil isn’t very useful. It doesn’t work, it doesn’t do its job – and a gal without any oil for her lamp would have been rather useless. What might be the modern equivalent? Bridesmaids showing up to the wedding without their shoes – you know, you’ve seen the bridesmaids where they all have their shoes died fuchsia or periwinkle or whatever strange color the bride had picked out? It’s nice that you are there – but if you don’t have your shoes, bridezilla over there is going to be sort of upset, and you’ll look really, really tacky up front instead of just so and picture perfect.

    And then something unexpected happens, or maybe it’s better to say something expected doesn’t happen. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ The groom is late. Things are getting drawn out, and all the gals, wise and foolish alike fall asleep. The wedding is supposed to start at 6, and by 10:30, and they are all out cold. Now, there are few things one can bring out from this – one being that they are all asleep, that no one stays up and is awake when groom shows up midnight. The point of this parable isn’t that the wise are bright-eyed and bushy tailed and perfect little gals – almost like the wedding equivalent of those royal guards in England who never move. No, these verses are designed to take away any sense of pride or smugness the wise might have. But there is another aspect – it does highlight how foolish the foolish ones are. Let’s jump back to our modern bridesmaids – and let us say the wedding is supposed to be at noon, and you aren’t ready, but then there is the news that it’s going to be pushed back a few hours. So, what do you do – do you go get ready then, do you quickly run to the shops and finally buy the shoes you should have gotten well beforehand? In the case of the parable – no, because they are foolish. And at any rate, the time for the wedding arrives.

    Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’  But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And it’s time for the wedding, and the foolish gals aren’t ready. Do you know what their request to borrow oil would be like? It would be like saying, “Oh no, I forgot my shoes, hey, can I borrow one of your's Let's just both wear one?” That’s how foolish the request in the parable is. Hey, I’m not ready, how about we all not be ready? How about none of us have oil to do our job? It’s not that the wise are mean and won’t share, it’s that the foolish are foolish. Off you must go.

    And we know how it ends. And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ And they miss it. The foolish gals are off and about, and the groom shows up, and the wedding starts, and they are shut out. And they have no one to blame but themselves – they can’t blame the groom because he was delayed – they weren’t ready 6 hours earlier. They can’t blame the wise, I mean, why would you show up to the wedding you’ve known about for so long without your oil, why would you not have gone to the store and bought your shoes already? And so they are left out of the party, they miss it.

    So then, let us ask the Lutheran question. What does this all mean? What’s the point of the parable? Jesus answers by saying, Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. The time for the wedding is coming, you need to be ready. You can’t assume that there’s more time… because let’s face it, if you aren’t getting ready now, are you really going to be getting ready later? You see, this image of the wedding is the image for the life of the world to come, it is the image for all the happy stuff at the end of Revelation – in fact Revelation 19 talks about the marriage feast of the Lamb. The call goes out! We are to make sure that we are ready, that we are prepared for the Second Coming, for the End, for the great feast that never ends.

    So how? What distinguishes the wise from the foolish in this parable, what ought we be looking for? It’s not the distinction between those who have heard and those who haven’t heard. The wise and the foolish both know there’s a wedding, they know it’s going to happen, and they even want to be there. The foolish in this parable aren’t those who turn up their nose at the idea of the wedding – no, the wise and foolish all know it’s a good idea. And the difference isn’t the great moral character of the wise and the terrible moral character of the foolish. It’s not as though the wise are waiting for the wedding but the foolish got so drunk from the bachelorette party at the bar the night before that they couldn’t wake up. No, they are all together, they all fall asleep at the same time, they all are awakened together. They are in the same boat in terms of how they live. No, the key difference, the thing that separates the wise from the foolish is whether or not they have their oil.

    Consider this. If you are to be an old fashioned virgin here – you are at the wedding in the company of the groom, you are there to provide light with your lamp. If you don’t have light for your lamp, you are pretty much ignoring the whole reason you were invited. If you are asked to be a bridesmaid, but you don’t care enough to have your outfit ready, what’s the point of you being a bridesmaid? And that’s the difference, that is what separates the wise from the foolish. The wise understand their part in the wedding feast; the foolish don’t and thus aren’t prepared. The wedding isn’t about your plans, or what you would like, this wedding is about the Bridegroom, and you are there for the great and fantastic joy.

    So, consider the Christian Faith. Consider what we confess in the creeds each week. That Christ Jesus, the great Bridegroom, has won us the forgiveness of sins, and that we receive this forgiveness and life everlasting from Him. That we are those who have been baptized for the remission of sin, and so therefore we look forward to the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. That’s the story, that’s how all this stuff works. We are those who are forgiven – that’s our job. We are those who receive forgiveness, so that for all eternity Christ Jesus might be glorified as our Redeemer. Because this is the cry of heaven, this is the praise that is shown forth – Revelation 19 puts it like this: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God” Salvation! That’s the first thing on the list. Do you want to know how awesome Christ Jesus is, how awesome the Reason for this eternal party is? He saves people – in fact, He has saved me! That’s the heart of all the praise we will sing out, that’s the heart of Christ Jesus showing His glory – that’s the great demonstration of His Power, when He lays down His life – that’s why you are always hearing about the Lamb who was slain in Revelation – because it’s in His salvation that we see just how wonderful Christ Jesus is.

    And that’s how we are brought to that feast. We receive by faith this salvation. We receive by faith this forgiveness and life. And that is wisdom – remember, wisdom in the Scriptures is always tied to the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit who opens our ears to hear, who focuses us upon Christ, who makes us see Him and His salvation. And as for the fool – well, the fool says in his heart there is no God. Or at least not a God who saves… not a God who wants the point to always be about what He does. And so the fools ignore everything going on – they ignore the plans for the wedding, whether it be having oil for their lamps, or shoes for their feet, or hearing the Word, attending the Supper, receiving Christ’s forgiveness. They have better things to do, they know better, and so they miss out on it.

    But you, dear friends, God has given you wisdom. He has washed you in the waters of Holy Baptism, He has given you your garments for the everlasting feast. He has kept you in the faith; He has brought you again to this place to hear His Salvation proclaimed, to receive the forgiveness of your sins. He even brings you to the altar for the Supper, for the foretaste of the great feast to come. And why? Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. You do not know when your call to the feast will be – whether it be at the hour of your death when you fall asleep and then awaken to life everlasting, or whether you live until Christ returns with trumpets and archangels. But here in this place, your eyes are focused once again upon Christ Jesus, you are made to watch Him. Here we all are focused not upon our own plans or wants or whims, but upon Christ Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. He has provided for us all we need – and now we simply wait for the great feast, the great party, the life of the world to come. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

2nd to Last Sunday

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    Last week I noted in passing the idea that the Church is hidden. This was one of my favorite things from reading Luther – this idea, this focus that the reality, the fullness of our lives as Christians right now is hidden. It will be revealed, there will be the great Revelation – that's why the book is called Revelation – but right now there are profound realities of who we are in Christ Jesus that just aren't obvious, that we do not see. And there is no story that Jesus tells that teaches this more clearly than our Gospel lesson today – the Sheep and the Goats. This is the last bit of teaching we hear in Matthew's Gospel – after this it's on to our Lord's Passion. And so we ought listen to what our Lord wishes to tell us about what we do not see now but at the last day will see and understand.

    When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. When. At some point in the future, this is what Jesus will do. He will come back, and then it will be obvious who He is. During His earthly ministry people didn't get to see Jesus in His glory – they saw a poor working man from the sticks. They didn't recognize God Almighty – they saw a guy whipped and beaten and dying on a cross. But come the Last Day – who Jesus is will be fully and totally revealed, and there will be no confusion, no doubt, no hemming and hawing about it. Jesus will come fully revealed as God and Savior, and He will do His thing. He will separate the sheep and the goats, He will judge the living and the dead. It's Judgment Day.

    But it's not Judgment Day as we sadly often think of it. It's not a Judgment Day where Jesus pulls out the laundry list of complaints to nag us with – it's not going to be, “oh no, I was out too late with the boys, boy am I gonna get it when I get home.” “Oh no, when he sees how much this dress cost, he's going to flip out.” No, it's not like that at all. Not for you, O Christian. Listen. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.” Oh, there's a list alright, but it's a giant list of praise. Come – get on over here, how great that you're finally here. Look at this, the Kingdom is yours, it's so awesome that you're here because you've done so much and the Kingdom of God will be better with you in it.

    That's Judgment Day for you O Christian. Not an angry judge combing through the fine print looking to throw the book at you. No, it's Jesus literally praising you to High Heaven. You made the world better, you'll fit in heaven. Look at all that you did. And here's where it is important to note the reaction of the Sheep, what your reaction and my reaction will become come Judgment Day (even though we've heard the story). Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry...” And it's actually humorous – what's being described is not a well reasoned response from the sheep, but just a torrent of words spilling out in wonder – a dumbfounded blathering. All this stuff You said we did for You and to You, what are You talking about Jesus? And then, the revealing of the Mystery – And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.”

    Jesus says, “Yes, I know I am literally praising you to high heaven, but stop trying to find grand things that you've done. The good works I've given you in your life aren't Super-hero works. It's not the leaping over tall buildings I'm praising here – it's the simplest things, the things done to the least of My brothers.” And this is the reality. Any of y'all changed a diaper – well done good and faithful servant, for in so doing, in that little bit of your normal, humdrum life, you have served Christ Jesus. This is the mystery of Good Works, and why frankly we shouldn't be trying to judge our works. We don't understand good any more – that's part of the Fall. Adam and Eve ate the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, and ever since then we think we know better than God what is good. Our understanding of good is warped. We think of good works as extra credit works, or medals that we would win for going above and beyond the call of duty. No, that's not how God uses the word good.

    Again, consider creation. God creates, and things do simply what they are supposed to do. Trees grow. Birds fly. Cows eat grass and go mooo. And it was good. Good is simply being what God has created something to be. It's not super crazy awesome – it's the simple things. God delights in the simple things of your life. You are a forgiven, redeemed child of God – your sins are taken away, they aren't yours anymore. God doesn't see them on you, He sees them on Christ on the Cross well and thoroughly done away with. So all that is left is your simple, everyday life, simply you doing all those normal things. Cooking. Cleaning. Helping out at work. A diaper. Laughing with a friend. Crying with a friend. All of these simple things that fly by in our life without nary a second thought – God sees all of these and He is pleased to bits, He is delighted by it. Because you're living, living in faith, and He created you to live. Those are your works, and Jesus calls them good.

    But right now, we don't see this, we don't see the fullness of this truth – and that's a good thing for us, because in our sinfulness we will mess things up, we will miss understand. We can ponder works, and we can think that they earn us something, that they merit us something. We want to boast in them, instead of seeing and understanding that our works are given to us as a gift from God. I make a sandwich for my son – sure that's a good work, but it's a gift to me. I have a son to make a sandwich for – and quite of a few of you here can think back a little bit wistfully on those days with your kids. It's a gift. Or what about this – I preach a sermon. I get to be your pastor, what a gift. You come to church – what a good work. Yes, but what a gift, that you were able to be here today, to receive forgiveness, to sing with the people of God. It's not that we do stuff and then earn things from God – it's that God gives us good gifts and we walk in them, we live in them, and it is really and truly good – good in a way that is too deep and too high and too profound for us to fully grasp in this life, for us to understand while we still struggle against sin in this life. But that's the truth, that's the reality of you who you are in Christ Jesus. You are a forgiven redeemed child of God, and you cannot comprehend just how delighted with you God is, how thoroughly Jesus loves you. Jesus loves me, this I know... but we only know it in part – come the last day we get the mind blowing fullness of what that looks like.

    Now a word on the goats. There is condemnation, off to hell with you jerks, because you always treated Me like dirt. The goats are confused, when did we do this to You, surely if we saw You we wouldn't have. Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. Just as good works are hidden, sin is hidden – we don't understand sin, we don't understand the profundity of our sin – that our sin is always against God. And so we simply confess our sin, the sin we know and the sins we aren't aware of. We don't know all of our own wickedness. And frankly, we don't need to, lest we become overly terrified and paralyzed. The thing that separates the sheep and the goats isn't some level of sin – the difference is this. The sin of the sheep is taken away, is taken up by Christ. The Sheep are absolved, their sin is cleansed off of them and taken away by Christ. But have sympathy for people who sin against you. They literally know not what they do, they don't get the full implication of what's going on. Many times they don't have a clue as to what they've done, but even if they are trying to sin against you, trying to hurt you – oh, they don't really know, they don't aren't thinking of how they are sinning against God. This is why we live in the forgiveness of Christ Jesus, we live receiving Christ's forgiveness and giving out Christ's forgiveness... because we have an idea of how wretched sin is, and no one should have to live with that.

    So live in forgiveness, O sheep. Live as one who is richly and fully forgiven by Christ Jesus. Because this is the truth, the reality, that you are a Baptized, forgiven child of God, someone who has been called out of darkness into God's marvelous light, someone prepared to inherit the kingdom of heaven. You might not always see this, and you certainly won't see the fullness and true wonder of this – we're always just going to be a bit clueless in our earthly days. But Christ Jesus has won you life and salvation, and He gives you every blessing of body and soul. He has taken away your sin and filled you with His own righteousness. He sees this, the Father sees this, and God delights in you, His forgiven child. Fear not the judgment; all it means is that you will know God's love for you more fully than ever before. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

Trinity 25 - 3rd to Last Sunday of the Church Year

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    In the meantime. What a wonderful little phrase – in the meantime. You want to be doing something, but you can't right now, you've got to wait. It's not ready yet, so you get to do something else. In the meantime. In our Gospel lesson today, our Lord Jesus warns us that there will be quite a lot of our life spent in the spiritual meantime. We indeed wait for Jesus to come again, we look forward to the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come, we want Jesus to return and put and end to wickedness and bring us to our eternal home... but it's not yet. The Father, in His wisdom and love, has not yet sent Jesus to return (though if He chooses to interrupt this sermon and bring us all to the feast, well, who am I to argue). And so Jesus tells his followers, tells us, that we must be prepared for life in the meantime.

    And it won't always be pretty. The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. Think about this. The disciples were used to hanging around with Jesus. With just chatting with Him, bouncing ideas off of Him. After the Ascension, they don't have that anymore – not in the meantime at least. And the problems that Jesus would have directly handled, well, they are called to handle them. So there will be times, rough times, when they will wish Jesus handled things directly like He used to. Most of us who have faced responsibility can understand – there are times where we think, “Grandpa would have handled this better” or “how would mom have done this”. I'm not knocking our earthly family here, but they've got nothing on Jesus. And even then, we ourselves as Christians, we face challenges, and we pray, we ask Jesus for strength (which He does give), and we can wish He would just show up and fix things... and we have to wait for that. And that's lousy.

    And the temptation, when we are faced with the difficulty of waiting, the difficulty of facing the responsibilities that Jesus hands to us, is that we can become impatient. And we can start being tempted to follow off after foolish, false rumors and tales. And they will say to you, “Look, there!” or “Look, here!” Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in His day.” In the first century, there were a lot of false messiahs, people claiming to be Jesus come back, Jesus reincarnated. We still get them on occasion today, but they were really common then. And Jesus warns the disciples, no, don't go running off after rumors about My return – when I return, it will be sudden – as sudden as lightning, and it will be obvious to everyone – you aren't going to miss it. And this warning still holds, still applies to us. There are a lot of false teachers out there who will dangle secret, hidden information about Jesus, about the second coming, about the end of days in front of you. And those types of lines are so appealing because we want Jesus to come back, we want to know how things will play out... we even want to be able to make them play out. And Jesus says no, you're just going to have to wait. And anyone who says otherwise isn't just selling something; they're also calling Jesus a liar and saying that they know better than Him. If Jesus says, “No man knoweth the hour” then the guy who says he's figured out when Jesus is coming back is a snake oil salesman at best.

    No, we must wait. And it won't always be a comfortable waiting. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. The disciples thought that since they were following Jesus, they were going to literally get to run the world. That following Jesus would mean they would be ruling Israel and it would be earthly glory days, because Jesus is the Messiah and doesn't that mean glory? Well, yes... but... Jesus is going to go to the Cross. The point isn't merely glory, the point is winning life and salvation for you by taking up your Sin and crucifying it on the Cross. Jesus suffers. And also, Jesus is rejected. Jesus gets denigrated. Jesus gets spat upon. It's not all lifestyles of the Rich and Famous for Jesus in this world... and disciples, it never becomes that in this world. That's heaven, that's the life of the world to come. You'll have to wait for that.

    And my dear Christian friends, well, I've got to say, you'll face the same sort of things. Jesus has told us that no servant is above his master. In this world, you won't always be celebrated for being a Christian. You won't always be encouraged in your faith by the people around you. In fact, many people you know, people you love, even people you respect, will throw up obstacles to your faith. They'll try to pull you away from Church, from worship, from the faith. And you'll even face disdain, mockery, and rejection. That's all part of this meantime that we are in. And yet, in this meantime, in the face of rejection, we're called to bear witness to Jesus, to proclaim that He has died and risen for the forgiveness of sins, that what Jesus did on the Cross and the forgiveness which He gives is the most important thing in the world. And why?

    Because Jesus is coming back. And we need to be ready, and those people who reject us, God grant that they come to faith even though our witness so that they will be ready too. For Jesus says – Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Noah was rejected. His friends, his neighbors saw the ark, and I'm willing to guess Noah told them why he was building it, that there even was room. And then the flood came, and it was their end. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot – they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all – so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Another example with Sodom and Gamorah. Abraham couldn't believe how few faithful people there were left in Sodom when God delivered Lot and his daughters from that wicked place. Abraham had taught them of God; Lot had taught them of God. Then the destruction. We've seen the pattern – and it will play out one last time when Jesus comes again. And so in the meantime, we remain faithful, we tell others, we hope. And we wait.

    However, I want you to note something about this waiting that we have. We are not waiting for an absent, distant Jesus to return after having left us alone for thousands of years. Did you not the last word? When the Son of Man is... revealed. It's the same word for the book of Revelation (note, Revelation, singular, one Revelation – the revelation of Jesus). That word for revealed is the word Apocalypse, and it literally means to pull the cover off of something – it's ta-da. This thing was here, but now the veil is pulled back so you can see it. And that's the thing – while we wait for Jesus to return, it's not that Jesus has been absent or gone, it's that He is present with us in His Church, with us – but not in an open and obvious way. And theologians will use different images to describe this wonder, this mystery – Paul will talk about how we are buried with Christ by baptism – we're joined to Him in a way that is hidden and not obvious, but it's real, and we are united with Him. And the end, it's really just when all these truths of Scripture that are real and present are shown publicly and fully to be real – when the meantime, when the “now we see through a mirror dimly” becomes the “then we see face to face.”

    And this is where Jesus in fact started off our lesson. Don't expect everything about God and Jesus and the faith to be open and obvious all the time. The Church is invisible, is hidden (I like hidden a little bit better), the realities are deeper than our mere observation. And we aren't to go chasing off after wild obvious displays of God's power in the meantime. Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, [Jesus] answered them, “The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, 'Look, here it is,' or 'There,' for behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” When's the kingdom coming, Pharisees? Well, I'm right here – Christ Jesus, the Lord, is right here in your midst, and even though you might not see it, the Kingdom of God is right here. And this remains true for us – right here, right now, among us, Jesus is here. God Himself is Present. Where two or three are gathered in My name – you know, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – there I will be. Take and Eat, Take and Drink, lo I will be with you always, even until the end of the age – even until the revealing of the Son of Man. In the meantime we are called by the Holy Spirit, we are gathered by the Holy Spirit to live in the Gospel of Christ Jesus, to live in His Word, in His Sacraments. These simple things which the world disdans and scoffs at, preaching, baptism, the Supper, the Word of God – God is present and active for you in them, to forgive you, to strengthen you, to guide you, to preserve you, to enlighten you. To keep you in His Kingdom, His Power even until the last day.

    And there are so many temptation, temptations away from the Word, temptations away from the Church. Temptations dangling pleasures, temptations threatening us, even temptations telling us that we don't need to wait. Oh, this is a sore one for us 21^st Century Americans, because we hate waiting for anything, and we have so little patience. Oh well, Jesus has spoken, and He has told us the truth, the reality. He is with us now in His Church, in His Word and Sacraments, and He will come again – and whether His second coming is in our lifetimes or not, we are called to wait, we are called actually to rest in Him, to have our Sabbath rest in Him, to hear Him, and thus be in His kingdom now and forever. The meantime is the time of the Church, and while it is difficult, in the Church, even the Church militant here on earth, it still is all good in Jesus. Amen. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +