Advent 2 Sermon

Advent 2 – December 7^th, 2014 – Malachi 4 and Luke 21

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

          Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets.  In fact, our Old Testament lesson today are the very last words of the Old Testament.  Malachi proclaimed these words right around 500 BC, give or take a few years.  And then, that’s it.  For 500 years, from Malachi to John the Baptist (the Elijah here promised), you don’t have any more prophets in Israel.  The Word had been proclaimed, and that was what was needed until the Messiah would come.  So – what did people need to hear, what did they need to know?   The text starts off ominously – “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble.  The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”  Well, that’s sort of blunt and dire, isn’t it?  Kind of a strong contrast to all the ho-ho-ho music we get on the radio this time of year.  And at first glance, this seems so inappropriate – why when preparing for Christmas should we talk about the end and judgment when it gives us the willies and makes us scared?  Well, that’s the problem – the end shouldn’t cause you fear, my friends in Christ Jesus.  Listen.

          “But for you who fear My Name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.  You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.  And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.”  You are in Christ Jesus – we all gathered here today in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – we are baptized, God’s own people.  And all we have to look forward to is joy, and healing, and total and complete victory.  You see, we often mishear the warnings about the end days, and this is because of centuries of bad doctrine.  Once you get to the middle ages, we fell into some messed up thinking about the second coming; we became terrified of Jesus and His return because of that stupid, false, made up, unscriptural teaching of purgatory.  Instead of joy and leaping like calves, Christians thought Christ’s return would mean millions of years in detention, burning in purgatory.  That’s not the point in Malachi, not at all.  No, his message for the faithful is this – yes, you still see wicked folks around you – but don’t worry about them.  You don’t have to try to outwit them or defeat them or even punish them.  God will take care of that – boy will He ever!  But as for you – wait on the Lord.  Show love to one another, seek and give forgiveness and mercy, and trust upon God – know that God is stronger than the world (for that is what the “fear of the LORD” is) and that He will deliver you when He comes.

          And in the intervening 500 years, the children of Israel saw enemies come and go.  Alexander the Great came – but there was no prophet.  No, your instructions are the same – don’t worry about the enemies; rather, remember the Word of God, His promises to you.  Then other enemies conquered, the Selucids, and they did horrible stuff.  Still, no prophet – carry on, I will support you.  Then Herod’s family and then the Romans, and still Israel was given to wait, wait 500 years… 500 years takes us back to before the Reformation.  A long time of waiting – but the promise is still sure.  The Messiah will come, and you’ll have the forerunner before Him, and He will take care of things.

          And then we move forward to our Gospel Lesson.  And this is in the midst of Holy Week, this is after Palm Sunday, on the way to Good Friday.  And Jesus knows what is coming.  He is going to suffer and die.  That’s why He came, that’s what needed to be done so that come the last day you all can go leaping in joy.  And yes, He will rise, but He won’t be establishing an earthly kingdom.  Instead, there will be a wait, again.  There will be time given so that more and more can come to faith – including every single one of us in this room.  But in the meantime, before His second coming… the waiting is going to be rough.  And so, He teaches, He tells us how to view and understand the world around us.  “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming upon the world.  For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”  What’s life before the second coming?  Well, the world is going to fall apart, and people are going to freak out about it.  I’ve been here 10 years – and we’ve seen tsunamis and hurricanes and earthquakes, and people freaking out over it.  Global warming, climate change, fracking – and this isn’t even getting into wars and rumors of war and nuclear power plant meltdowns and ISIS and terrorists.  The world is a messed up place.  Got any doubts – turn on the national news any given evening – it ain’t going to be pretty.

 

So – what is to be our response to this – what is our reaction when we see all this junk in the world?  Tremble with fear?  Wring our hands?  Panic and get angry?  Not according to Christ Jesus – “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  Now, when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”  What does all this tragedy and trouble point us to?  Christ shall come again.  And how are we to view His coming – straighten up.  Don’t hunch down in fear, get up, be ready, don’t cower in fear – raise your head.  Why?  Because redemption is coming, redemption for you.  Christ Jesus, who has conquered death with His own death upon the Cross, He is coming and it is going to be good.  Again, the idea of the last day is meant to be a joy, a comfort to you as Christians – because all this lousiness of life in this world will be done away with, and we will have the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come where none of these things will bother us – where the “former things” that vexed us will be remembered no more.

And Jesus gives a parable.  “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.  As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves 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.”  How many of you are going to say in Spring, “Oh drat, look, there are leaves on the trees, I was hoping we’d have 5 more months of it being freezing cold and windy”?  No, this is a good thing.  A cause for rejoicing.  Christ will come.  “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.”  And here we get a passage that can be somewhat tricky.  Some people say, “Well, all those people there died before Jesus returned… what went wrong!”  Nothing at all.  What is “this generation”?  For a hint, I’m going to bring up a theological term – we will talk about “Baptismal Regeneration” – the idea that we are born again in Baptism.  Jesus is talking to the faithful in Jerusalem, to the Church – and the Church will endure until the end.  There will always be Christians waiting for the coming of the LORD – they might not live where they used to, but the Church will remain.  Why?  Because the Word of the Lord does not pass away.  The Gospel is still proclaimed.  Baptism – it still brings people into Christ’s Kingdom.  Christ still comes to us in His Body and Blood in the Supper – these things remain – the Holy Spirit still calls people by the Gospel and richly and daily forgives our sins here in the Church.  So this wasn’t a “it’s coming right now” point – but again, like Malachi - don’t worry about the wait.  Don’t worry about the time inbetween.  I will preserve you, then I will come, and it will be good for you.

And one final note.  “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.  For it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth.  But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”  Ut-oh!  We need to escape!  It’s a trap!  Watch out!  Panic!  No… not quite.  It is a warning, a reminder.  People can fall away from the faith.  They can just stop caring, they can just live it up and get blotto-ed, they can just be too busy and successful to care.  And that’s when it’s bad.  But Jesus mentions two things, two ways of being prepared, of “staying awake” as it were.  Prayer and then also standing before the Son of Man.  Oh my, if only there were some place where we Christians came together to pray, where we stood before Christ Jesus Himself and received strength from Him.  If only there was some place where, instead of having my heart weighed down, I was told, “Lift up your hearts.”  If only there was some place where God would strengthen us in faith towards Him and in fervent love toward one another.  Did I lay it on too thick?  Jesus here is pointing us to Church, to coming to this place where we gather in prayer and then receive from Him His own strength, His own righteousness, His own forgiveness.  The Church isn’t an afterthought.  The Supper isn’t an afterthought.  It wasn’t as though the Apostles were standing at the Ascension and said, “Oh, um, hmm…  Guess we better make something up.”  No, God has always gathered His people together around His Word. And you today, you are no different. You are in Christ, gathered in His Name – and you are prepared for His coming, whether it is coming to this Altar today to bring you forgiveness or whether it is His coming on the Last day to give you the resurrection and the life.  It’s okay – in Christ it is all good, and all good for you.  Be at peace in Him.

We believe that He shall come again to judge the living and the dead, and that His kingdom will have no end.  Not only that, but we know that this is a good thing, because you are forgiven by Christ, you have been joined to Him in Holy Baptism, and until He comes again He will continue to come to you in His Word and in His most Holy Supper.  And yes, the world around you often will fall apart – so be it.  You belong to Christ, and because of Him, because of His Word of life, you will endure even when this heaven and this earth have passed away, for He will take you to the new and better heavens and earth.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus.  In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King + Amen.

Advent Midweek 1

Advent Midweek 1 – Isaiah 40

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

          This Advent Season, we will be looking at various passages that were used by George Frederich Handel when he wrote his famous “Messiah”.  It may be the most famous English language chorale in the world.  And it is one of those pieces that gets pulled from all the time – the Hallelujah Chorus shows up all the time.  And the Messiah shows up in the Advent Season a lot, because so much of it dealt with the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of Christ.  And so this Advent, we will look at three of the passages from Isaiah used by Handel which we hear quite often, and tonight it is Isaiah 40 – where you have that famous “Every valley shall be exulted” line.  But let’s start at the beginning of the passage and see what we hear from our Lord tonight.

          “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”  Again, another famous Advent passage.  Several hymns that we sing yearly are based off of this verse – but here is the question I will pose tonight.  What is comfort?  One of the things that comes up when reading the Scriptures is the use of language – words can start to shift their meanings over the centuries – so, what do we think of as 21^st Century Americans when we hear the word “comfort”?  If the word “comfort” is used during the week, or on the TV – in our commercialized day and age, it so often means “nice” or “luxurious”.  We can think “comfortable” – like I want a nice comfortable chair, or sure, you could buy a Ford, but this Christmas season go buy an Audi – it’s a more comfortable ride.  And that’s not the point of this passage in Isaiah.  It’s not that God wants to give Israel an upgrade from coach to a more comfortable first class seat – it’s something more, profound and important.

“Comfort, comfort My people, says your God.  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”  This isn’t about luxury.  This is about serious, heart-wrenching stuff.  This is about the impact of sin upon our lives.  Sin brings violence and pain and suffering and heartache.  And while it is true that many will use luxury to just deaden the pain and hardship of this life, it doesn’t work.  In the times of the Prophets, Jerusalem was constantly getting dumped upon.  Wicked kings, massive idolatry, wars, rumors of wars.  And the faithful there knew that as a people, they were just getting what they deserved.  Sin was ever before them – and life was going to be just dealing with sin until they went down to the grave and that was it.  Everything was ruined.  And it was to people who saw the world that way that Isaiah was sent to proclaim comfort, to proclaim pardon.  What is comfort – comfort is this.  You are forgiven, and even though you die, yet in Christ Jesus, because of the Messiah, you shall live.

This is shown in the next section.  A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain shall be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.”  Let’s talk a little bit about geography.  You have the land of Israel, on the west side of the Jordan river – and it’s a good place, however, it’s rather rugged, mountainous, hard to get around.  But then, when you cross the Jordan, you start moving into the wilderness.  For a Jew, the word wilderness brought with it both terror and shame.  Remember, what happened to the children of Israel in the wilderness?  That’s where they were left for 40 years to suffer for their sin!  And during the Exodus, God took care of them – gave them Manna, their clothes didn’t wear out.  But now – you cross the Jordan… the wilderness is bad.  It’s harsh, it’s dry, there are wild and dangerous animals – you go to the wilderness and you suffer.  The wilderness is the highest example of what is wrong with the world, with what happened when Adam and Eve fell and creation got messed up.  Sin makes a garden turn into wilderness.

Be comforted, God’s people.  Be comforted you who dwell in a land and world impacted by sin – the LORD comes to you here in this “desert drear”.  Why is Jerusalem to be comforted, why is she pardoned?  Because the LORD Himself will come; He will come to this wilderness of a world, and He will be tempted, and He will over come, and He will drive away Satan, and He will affect your rescue.  Jesus, the Messiah, will run roughshod over Satan.  And then what happens – “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain shall be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.”  And there’s the thrust of Handel’s music – that lilting “every vall-hal-ley”.  Do you see what is going on here?  The Messiah has come, and what is He going to do?  He is going to fix creation.  Don’t get me wrong, the Jewish people loved the promised land, loved their home – but it was hard to get around.  And one of the things that they understood was that this ruggedness of the land – that’s part of the fall.  It’s when you have the raging flood waters come, the rending of the earth to open the fountains of the deep – that’s when you get all this geological confusion kicking in.  That’s when walking from here to there means instead of a straight line (like you’d get on a plain) became over the hills and through the woods and around the bends and the like.  Geography was a reminder of sin, of sin’s impact upon the world – that’s why the end will be accompanied by earthquakes, and thunder and lightning.  But the Messiah comes to comfort His people, to put an end to sin, to bring forgiveness – and even to fix creation, to restore, to make things the way they should have been in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

That is what we look forward to.  Yet, it’s not always what we see.  A voice says, “Cry!”  And I said, “What shall I cry?”  All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.  The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.  The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.  Isaiah sees reality in this world.  Yes, we are waiting for the Messiah, but what is life like?  We suffer and die, like the grass.  Israel could be dry and warm and windy – just like Oklahoma summer.  And what happens when the good Lord blows upon our lawns with that warm south wind?  The grass withers, the flower fades. That’s the reality that we see in this life so often.  Yet over and against that – the Word of God stands forever.  In the face of the trials and difficulties of life, in the face of sin and its impacts, Isaiah pointed forward to the promise of the Messiah – that promise is good, and we will see it. 

And we are somewhat in the same boat at Isaiah. Yes, we know that the Messiah has come – but we will await His second and final coming.  We still walk by faith and not by sight.  We still see heartache and pain and a world racked with sin and violence and suffering.  Yet the Word of the Lord remains.  Comfort, comfort my people.  Your warfare is over.  Your sins are forgiven, for Christ Jesus has won you full pardon, double pardon, with His death and resurrection, and He shall come and bring you to the new heavens and the new earth, where you too, by the power of the Word of God, shall stand forever.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus!  Amen.

What's Attacking Your Pastor (A Bit of Advice)

I ending up bringing up an interesting tidbit with the Bible class this past Sunday.  In the course of conversation (I cannot remember exactly how) preaching came up - wait, I do remember.  Saul was paranoid and wicked and rebellious, so he expected David (post the defeat of Goliath) to be tricksy and false and rebellious.  And from there preaching came up.

I noted that to most preachers, hearing the tales of the Fire-and-Brimstone anti-sex preacher getting caught in an affair or the strong "anti-gay" preacher being caught in "that" park in "that" side of town was never really surprising.  This is because, well, most of the time when a preacher is attacking a hobby horse its because he's been riding that hobby horse.  There is a certain theological truth to the adage "he that hath smelt it, hath dealt it."

Here's phase one of advice - Pastors - get off the hobby horses of the Law.  If you think every sermon has to deal with topic X... well, your own struggles with X are showing!  Just stick to the lectionary and deal with all the points of the Law.

But this also brings up another truth.  Pastors are constantly under attack.  Satan and their flesh hound them -- there is nothing Satan loves more than a pastor who falls off the wagon.  And perhaps, this should temper our approach.

If you are a parishioner - remember, your pastor is a sinful human being who suffers temptations, just as you.  Take opportunities yourself to build him up and encourage him - especially in the holidays when the number of services and social obligation triples.

If you are a pastor looking at other pastors - remember, those foibles, those problems, even those errors.  That's how Satan is attacking them.  That works-righteous guy -- he's tortured with guilt and denial.  That growthy guy -- utter fear of failure and disdain.  That cold and insular guy -- he's been burned and jaded.  Even the guy who jokes all the time - sadness and despair.

They're not enemies to be defeated, or guys to be gotten rid of so the Church or Synod can be "fixed".  They are sinful men who need care, who need Christ Jesus and forgiveness.  Patience and love.

Huh - patience and love.  Almost an Advent theme.

Advent 1 Sermon

Advent 1 – November 30^th, 2014 – Matthew 21:1-9

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

          Who is God?  Who is He?  What does He do?  While that seems like a broad and wide question, it is basically what Jeremiah was asking the Kingdom of Judah in our Old Testament text.  See, Judah was in a bind.  It was right around 588 or so B.C., and the Babylonian kingdom up north was rattling its sabers and had already invaded Judah a few times, had already taken Daniel off to captivity.  And Judah didn’t know what to do – but the prevailing wisdom was that Judah should buddy buddy up with Egypt and trust in Egypt to protect them.

          If Jeremiah had asked a Jew of his day who God was, the expected answer should have been this: “He is the LORD our God who brought us up out of the land of Egypt.”  That’s really how the 10 Commandments start – that’s the point of Passover – the LORD is the God who got us out of slavery in Egypt.  And now what – with fear and worries about Babylon, you forget the LORD your God, you continue in idolatry, in fact, you want to run back to Egypt, back to the people who enslaved you.  And so Jeremiah preaches.  Says that Babylon will win, and they do.  But in our text he also says the day is coming when they will call God “The LORD who brought us up and led the offspring of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where He had driven them.”  586, Judah is conquered.  538, King Cyrus sends them back home.  Jeremiah was right.

          But Jeremiah points forward to a greater truth, a greater prophecy.  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.  In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.  And this is the name by which He will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’”  No, Egypt won’t be the solution.  A stronger military or just paying tribute won’t be the solution.  Nor will the troubles of this day endure; Babylon won’t vex us forever.  Instead, here is the truth – the Messiah will come, and He Himself will fix the problems.  He will be the Righteous One for us, and His day is what we should be looking for, more than just any military victory now.

          And then we come to our Gospel Text.  The triumphal entry.  Palm Sunday.  And once again we can look at this in terms of a “who is” question.  Okay, Israel, who is your King?  What does your King look like, what does He do?  Jeremiah had prophesized a righteous Branch for David – that is, someone Righteous from the line of David who would be King, and there hadn’t been a king since Babylon conquered them – and then here comes Jesus.  And Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a donkey, just like King Solomon had when he was enthroned.  And everyone gets the symbolism; this is why they cry out “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  Son of David!  The Guy who should be King!  The fervor and the excitement are astonishing – so high that come Palm Sunday in a few months, we’ll get in on it [at Zion] with little kids waving palms.  But again, there was a problem.  Who did they really think this King was, and what did they really think He was going to do?  Immediately after our text, we hear this: “And when He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, ‘Who is this?’  And the crowds said, ‘This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.’”  Wait… just a prophet?  Just a guy from Galilee?  Why don’t they call Him the King?  That’s because for the people, He wasn’t really viewed as their King – why in a few days on Friday morning they will cry out that they have no king but Caesar.  He ended up not being what they wanted.  Now, Matthew even connects the dots for us – Jesus is fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy about the donkey – but that’s not enough for the people.  And a lot of this was based on their expectations.  Sure, a king was wanted, but you don’t call him the king until he’s driven out the Romans!  Once he’s made the nation glorious again, then we can give the fellow the throne – you only get the throne after you’ve beaten the bad guys!  That’s the way it still is in stories and movies today.  But here’s the problem.  That wasn’t what was promised to them.  They were promised a king who would be wise, who would execute justice and righteousness.  That wasn’t what they wanted.  Power was they wanted.  Earthly glory was they wanted.  Revenge against the Romans was they wanted.  And Jesus doesn’t do that.  That’s not wisdom.  That’s not justice, that’s not righteousness.  Jesus is more interested in driving out the money changers in the temple and reforming worship than He is in driving out the Romans and reforming an Empire.  And by the end of the week, Pilate orders his death to prevent a riot.  Think on that.  It’s not that there would be a riot because they are *killing* our king and we will rise up to rescue him.  No, the riot would come if you don’t do Him in.

          So.  What of us today?  Let’s ask ourselves the same questions.  Who is God?  Who is our King?  What does He do?  What are the expectations, what do we look for from God?  If I turn on the religious tv channels, I get horrified.  If I look on-line at facebook, I get horrified.  I’ll see tons of stuff about God giving money and wealth and success and power and making your dreams come true if you just trust in Him.  Is that what we want from our God?  We are in the Advent season, where we focus on the fact that Jesus came down from heaven.  Is that what we think He came to do?  In Advent we focus also on the second coming of Christ.  What do we want?  Do we want a Jesus that is going to reform American society and make us a better land where we’ll get rid of crime if only we obey Him?  Is Jesus the guy who brings the better rules that will make sure your family keeps its nose clean?    And, of course, if you don’t send in money, if you don’t click “like” Jesus will be mad at you and punish you.

 

          What does your God look like?  Does He look like a Man coming humbly, seated on a donkey?  Does He look like a Man who is beaten and whipped and scourged?  Does He look like a man hanged upon a cross and left to die?  Because this is what Jesus comes to do.  Jesus is the LORD, our Righteousness.  And He is our righteousness by going to the cross and suffering and dying, by being buried, by rising again.  This is the point, the point of contention, the reason why so many people forsake Christ Jesus even to this day.  Jesus deals with what we need, not what we want.  Jesus isn’t Santa Claus; we don’t get to just tell Jesus what we want and know that if we are good little boys and girls that we’ll get it.  Because the simple fact is this – a lot of times what we want is foolish.  What we think is important isn’t.  Judah wanting Egypt to deliver them was foolish – that would be even worse than Babylon in the long run – at least Babylon respected the Jewish culture.  Wanting to take down the Roman Empire was foolish – if you aren’t certain of that, when Rome falls, we call what comes next “the Dark Ages” – it’s the fall of Rome that allows Islam to conquer and destroy Christianity in the middle east and in Egypt and in Babylon.  And that’s just immediate problems – that’s just current events turning to history.  Where was the thought given to sin – where was the thought given to the fact that I am a sinful human being and I am going to die in my sin unless God intervenes and saves me?  Meh, they didn’t think that was important.  Who wants a spiritual solution – we want a better war machine, we want “justice” that looks like our enemies crushed and bleeding and destroyed.

          That’s not what Jesus comes to do.  Oh, He could have come with legions of angels brandishing flaming swords – in fact, He will come that way on the last day.  But first, He had a job to do.  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.  In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.  And this is the name by which He will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’”  His job is to be your righteousness.  His job is to win you life and salvation and the forgiveness of your sins.  His job is to execute justice, by taking up upon Himself all the weight and wrath of sin and crucifying upon the Cross.  His job is to fulfill all righteousness, to live the perfect holy life, and then to cover you with that righteousness in Holy Baptism so that He may say to the Father, “See these, My brothers and sisters, they are righteous and holy and without blemish in My name.”  His job is to see that you dwell securely, not just for a day, not just for a season, not just until the next election, but for eternity.  This is His wisdom.  And He still comes to you, brings this righteousness, this forgiveness and salvation here in this place, preached, proclaimed to you, comes to you humbly riding in, with, and under bread and wine, for the forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith.

          So, who is this Jesus, our God?  He is the One who pays no attention to human expectations.  Rather, He comes to fulfill the Scriptures, to fulfill the Word of God that has proclaimed your redemption and your salvation.  And in His great wisdom, He does whatever must be done to accomplish this – even if it means coming down from heaven, and being incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and born in a manager, and suffering and dying.  He is determined to be wise for your sake; He is determined to execute justice for you, to be the LORD our Righteousness.  And so He is.  This we have heard in the Word, this we have received in Baptism and the Supper, and this we shall see face to face when He comes again.  Amen.  In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +  

Thanksgiving Day Sermon

Thanksgiving Day – Luke 17:11-17 – November 27^th, 2014

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

          There are moments, things in life, that just amuse me – that I find ironic and funny and yet also off.  And one of those strange quirks is just how many churches, how many congregations don’t have service today on Thanksgiving.  And then we get this Gospel lesson – “Where are the nine?”  It just sort of stands out to me as ironic.  And I’ll talk with guys, and the reasons are familiar – folks are traveling to see family, and there’s all the busy cooking to be done, and now there’s even shopping tonight to get ready for (although people tend to be embarrassed telling a pastor that).  And all of this I understand – I’ll do all of it today too.  But it does give background, insight into our text and also into the whole idea of thankfulness.  This text is not “good people give thanks, bad people don’t, aren’t you glad you are a good person” – rather, it shows how easily we can be so absorbed by the blessings God has given us that we forget God, more or less.

          “On the way to Jerusalem [Jesus] was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.  And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’”  As background again – remember, if you were a leper in the ancient world, you were banished from the cities.  You had a contagious skin disease, and for everyone’s good, you had to go.  You were consigned to a life of isolation and solitude – unless you banded together with a bunch of other lepers.  It was horrific – you are banished and also sick, and sick in a somewhat gross and disgusting fashion.  And so when Jesus comes, these folks call out to Him – have mercy.  Heal us!  Help us!  Precisely what they ought to do.

          And Jesus responds.  “When He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priest.’  And as they went they were cleansed.”  One of the things that always, always amazes on this text is that every leper starts walking to show themselves to the priest while they are still sick and full of leprosy.  There is no better picture of what our lives are like, of what faith is, of what is walking by faith and not by sight.  When they look down, they see nothing us sickness, but Jesus has said, “Go” – and so they go.  Go show yourself to the priest, show yourself to be healed – because that’s what you had to do to get back into the community.  If the priest found that you were clean, you could come home.  And even as they see the sores still upon them – they go at Jesus’ word.  Now, consider this.  You see and know your own sin.  You are a sinner – that’s just reality.  And let’s face, there are times when that reality, that truth, the horror of our own sin stands out and smacks us right between the eyes.  But what has Christ Jesus said to you?  You are baptized, and washed clean by Me.  Father, forgive them.  Take and eat, take and drink, shed for your for the forgiveness of sin.  This is what He has declared… and yet, day in and day out, we see our sin.  But at Christ’s word we believe, and we know that we are clean before the Father in heaven.

          It’s a powerful depiction, a powerful image of faith.  And it is true – “And as they went they were cleansed.  Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving thanks.  Now, he was a Samaritan.”  And they get healed.  The word of the Lord rings true.  And here we move to the crux of this text – only one returns and gives thanks.  And so often it becomes the finger wag – you better be thankful, unlike those lousy 9 lepers.   But that’s not quite what Jesus would have us ponder.  “Then Jesus answered, ‘Were not ten cleansed?  Where are the nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”  Did you hear it?  We don’t have Jesus condemning the nine – we don’t hear “And Jesus called down fire from heaven and smote those ungrateful jerks.”  No, Jesus asks a question.  Where’s the nine?  Why didn’t they return and give… praise.  It’s not really a question about thankfulness, but rather, praise.

          I’m sure the 9 lepers were quite happy that they were healed.  I’m sure they weren’t indifferent or shrugging things off.  In fact, I’m sure they were quite enjoying the blessing that Jesus had given them.  I know that if I were suddenly healed and able to see and hug and hold my wife and kids for the first time in months, in years, I’d be quite happy.  Just as the folks who are traveling to see family or busily cooking or plotting out their shopping runs are delighting in blessings that God has given them.  But here’s where the rubber meets the road.  When you are focused on the blessings you have received, it can be easy to in your joy forget to where those blessings came from.  We rejoice in family – but how often do we remember the words “What God has joined together… let not man put asunder.”  We rejoice in our food – but how often do we remember that this is the daily bread that God has provided?  How often do we say the common table prayer at record speed?  And of course, even with the shopping and sales, how often do we pause and think, “Ah, yes, this is how God wondrously and fantastically has provided for me, how He has clothed me and sheltered me and supported me in ways that Solomon in all his splendor couldn’t have imagined?”

          “Was no one found to return and give praise to God….”   That is the question.  To praise God is to declare what *He* has done, and so often we can view the things in our lives forgetting that they come from God.  We can say “my family, my wife, my kids” – forgetting that they belong to God and He has give me to them in order to serve them.  We can open up our wallet when paying for the turkey or that great sale and think about how hard we worked in the office, in the fields, and forget that it is God’s own bounty that has provided for us, that has given us time, talent, treasure, skills, opportunity.  And again, this isn’t finger wagging.  When I went shopping for Thanksgiving, I wasn’t thinking, “Oh, look at how blessed I am” – I was thinking, “Good night, turkeys are expensive this year.”  It is just the reality of being sinners in a sinful world that we are not always aware of what God has done, that these truths that we know are not always first and foremost in our mind. This is part of the reason why it is good to pause, to return to God in His Presence in His House and give praise.  Because here together we are pulled away from that rat race out there and made to think about God, made to praise Him together in our worship.

          But more than just that.  The key point of worship isn’t the praise we give.  That isn’t the highlight, isn’t the focus.  The text doesn’t end simply with Christ’s question about the 9.  It continues.  “And [Jesus] said to him, ‘Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.’”  In the end,what’s the difference between the 1 and the 9?  They all get to go on their way, they all get healed, they all get the blessings – indeed, they all had faith in what Christ Jesus had told them and received the benefits He promised!  But the Samaritan gets to be in the presence of Jesus, gets to be in Christ Jesus’ presence and hear Jesus speak directly, personally, closely to Him.  They had only heard Jesus at a distance – now this Samaratian hears, sees face to face as it were.  And that is what Church is.  The fellow who gruffly says, “Well, I can think about God while I’m fishing on Sunday morning – I can be thankful while I’m on the golf course” – they are right.  You can.  But it is here, in this service, where God is present for you, where God comes to you and blesses you directly.  It is here where you hear His Word proclaimed, here where He comes to you in His Holy Supper, here where God Himself is Present for you.  And that doesn’t happen golfing or fishing or shopping or cooking or in any of those other first article blessings.  It is where two or three are gathered in His Name that He has promised to be – bring love and mercy and forgiveness.  Where He has promised to say to you, “see, you are made well, your sins are forgiven.”  It is here were we are refreshed and prepared to rightly enjoy the blessings of both body and soul that He richly and freely provides for us.

          Dear friends, God has been gracious to you, and this grace rests not upon you, upon how great or how thankful you are.  Rather, it rests upon His love, His steadfast love for you that endures forever.  And He is faithful and just, and whenever you are gathered into His house, He will see that His love is proclaimed again to you – all thanks and praise be to Christ Jesus our Redeemer, who has gifted us with the Holy Spirit and restored us to the Father.  In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  + Amen.

Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Last Sunday of the Church Year – Matthew 25:1-13 – November 23^rd, 2014

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Coming King +

          And here we are.  The Last Sunday of the Church Year, the close of another cycle of reading through the Scriptures, hearing the entire plan of salvation laid out, hearing all that Christ Jesus has done for us.  And here, at the end, we are pointed forward, pointed to the Last Day.  It shall come – we do not know when – “Watch therefore, for You know neither the day nor the hour.”  It’s that truth that we confess in the creed – He will come again to judge the living and the dead.  And to teach us, to prepare us for His second coming, Christ Jesus tells us the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.

          “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.  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.”  One of the odd or strange things about living today, almost 2000 years after Christ first tells this story, is that we just don’t get how incredibly stupid and foolish these foolish virgins are.  This is the ultimate “duh” story.  If you were a virgin invited to the wedding feast of someone rich and famous, you had one job – you were there for one thing – to be a light bearer, to stand there with a glowing lamp and look pretty.  A glowing lamp.  One that has fuel.  I’m trying to think of a modern equivalent of something that would be just as flat out obvious and stupid.  It would be like 11 Sooners went onto the field to play football, but 5 were foolish and didn’t bring their pads and helmets.  Completely dumb. 

And this plays out in the next part: As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.  But at midnight there was the cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him.’  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 this is part that always strikes us as odd – share, make do with what you have.  No, it doesn’t, it can’t work that way.  Boy, the other team is awfully big and I don’t have my helmet - hey, I know, split your helmet in half and we can each wear a half, isn’t that a brilliant idea?  You are either ready for the wedding, for the game, or you aren’t.  If it’s the day of your wedding, and one of your bridesmaids never bothered to buy her dress and instead just wants to share a dress with one of the other bridesmaids, she’s just an idiot.

And the foolish miss it.  They knew the wedding was coming.  They had their lamps.  But because of their folly, the are left out in the cold.  The wise are prepared, they follow the Bridegroom to the party, to the marriage feast.  The foolish are left with no one to blame but themselves.  They never got ready, they never cared, even when the bridegroom was late and they had extra time.

So, in the Church, for us here today, what separates the wise from the foolish?  What distinguishes those who are prepared for Christ’s coming and those who aren’t?  Today, just as it was in Christ’s day, those who have heard the Word of God, heard the preaching of the Gospel, can be either wise or foolish.  Matthew 24 and 25 are all about the second coming and the end times – the teaching, the warning, the heads up is given.  And even Christ Jesus knew that there would be those there hearing Him who just didn’t care.  Who would smile and nod, and then go on with life with nary a thought.  And we see the same today.  What is the difference?  In the parable it’s oil – do you have your oil or not?  Did you bring your pads and helmet?  Wait a second, we heard a few minutes ago about armor – “Let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”  The difference is this – the wise pay attention to Christ and His forgiveness, they receive His salvation that He proclaims and preaches and gives here in this place, gives through Baptism, through preaching, through the forgiveness proclaimed here, through the Supper.  That is what gives us faith and love and makes us ready for Christ to come, that is what gives us salvation.  Everything rests, hinges, upon hearing and receiving Christ’s gifts.

And now, we get to the dangerous part of this sermon, of preaching upon this text.  We’ve got the text sorted out, we see what is going on… and now to apply it.  And there’s a danger, a simple but terrible way we could apply this.  We could turn this into a giant lament and gripe session about the foolish, about all the people who aren’t here, about the people who would say oh yes, yes, I’m a member at Trinity/Zion, but haven’t darkened the door in ages.  And I could rail against them angrily – grr, naughty people.  I could be sad and wring my hands – oh, those poor fools.  And either way I would end up patting all of us on the back and saying “see how good and great you are because you are here today” and sigh and be full of self-satisfaction.  Except, none of that has to do with Christ Jesus and forgiveness.  None of that would be oil for the lamps, pads or helmets for the game.  Even though Christ makes a distinction between the wise and foolish, dear friends, never let this text become an “us versus” them thing.  The point is this – Christ is coming, and while Satan wants you unprepared, Christ prepares you.

Christ is coming.  We confess this truth over and over again.  And yet what does Satan, what does society tell us?  That we are stupid to believe this – that it’s been thousands of years and nothing.  As though the Scriptures aren’t chalk full of things taking quite a long time and the faithful waiting.  But we are bombarded by this, we are attacked and assailed by those who want to cause doubts.  And it wears on us – as the text says, we become drowsy.  And so we must hear the Word.  Christ has said He will come again, and so He shall. And yet, even life itself in this world tries to drag us down.  Aches and pains, death, mourning.  We all see it, more than we want to.  Isaiah laments this reality – build a house and someone else inhabits it; plant a vineyard and someone else gets the grapes, labor in vain, bear children for calamity.  Things in this life go terribly, and we can be tempted to just not care, to run off and try to find whatever fleeting pleasure and joy we can – eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.  Run around like mad to make this Holiday season the perfect ho-ho-ho time of joy and wonderful because we had better have fun or else.  And it doesn’t work.  Something’s going to go wrong with Thanksgiving; December’s going to be a mess as it always is.  Because that’s life in a fallen world.

“The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.”  There is more.  As much as Satan and the world and our own dying flesh try to tell us that this junk in life is all that there is, there is more.  Christ Jesus knows – He understands what you see, what you experience.  He created this world, and on the very day that sin first messed with His creation, His coming was proclaimed – He would come to crush the head of Satan, to put to right what had gone wrong.  And He knows what life is like here – He Himself took on human flesh, became man, was born, had to cry to get fed, had to wait to have His diapers changed.  He grew and all the junk we see, He got too, He went through.  He hungered, He thirst, He ached, He was betrayed and mocked and ignored by friends.  I am reminded of John 6, a great chapter – Jesus feeds the 5000 thousand, should be an utter triumph.  But instead, they want to make Him an earthly King by force, and He runs away.  He walks on water, and the disciples are afraid.  He proclaims that He is the Bread of Life – and people complain about the preaching.  And we hear this – verse 66 – “After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.”  Jesus knows exactly what your life, what life here is like.  And in one of the more poignant passages of Scripture, we hear this:  “So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’  Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.’”

From 5000 down to twelve.  Even down to just 5 wise virgins.  And yet, what is the hinge?  The words of eternal life – the words proclaiming the marriage feast of the Lamb that shall endure for all eternity.  Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, came and suffered and died, took up all that we face in this world, and He rose to give you eternal life.  To fill your lamps with oil.  To fill you with Himself, with His forgiveness – because He Himself is the Light of the World.  Over and against everything we see, this is truth.  Because of Christ Jesus, you are forgiven, and He shall come again, and you will be raised.  Come gather where His Word is proclaimed, come to where His Body is given for you, His blood poured out for you, rest in Him – and He will see that you are well and thoroughly prepared for that day when He shall come again to bring you will joy into His feast that will have no end.  In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Coming King +

My Mouth Shall...

Why am I, Eric Brown, given to speak?  Why am I called by God to open up my mouth?  Why me, when I have a speech impediment?

I just finished watching, for the first time, the movie "The King's Speech" -- fantastically well shot and well acted.  And it touches a bit close to home.  When I think of my earliest memories of school, I actually think of the speech therapy sessions, where I would be pulled out of class and head down the hallway to another little room and work on my "r" sounds.  Which, the vast majority of time now actually sounds like an r.  No, now it's the lateral lisp, the side effect of a palate that needed to be expanded leading to a tongue that doesn't quite fit my mouth right.

And yet, here am I.  A preacher.

Why am I given to speak?  Why not someone better, more accomplished, more refined?  Someone with a more resonant voice and diction clear and clean as can be?  Why am I given to speak?

Because, when it boils down to it, *I* am not important.  The things in the church, they are not about me, nor my qualities.  Yes, I work on my diction, and I even hope in improves... yet whether I am clearer now than I was 8 years ago or whether I'm not... that isn't the point.  *I* am not important.

O Lord, open Thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise.

God is the One who is important.  He is the One who has done it all; who takes the fallen, the frail, the ones cursed by sin and broken and betrayed by their own flesh, and out of His great love takes on flesh Himself, becomes a curse Himself, is Himself broken and betrayed and dies.  And Christ Jesus will be praised - the salvation He has won will be proclaimed.  Lips will be opened.  Eyes will see... whether blind, or terribly near-sighted, or closed by death, they shall see, and we shall rejoice.

I sit here and type, thinking and reflecting on all the theological back and forth I see, I am part of.  I see the social causes, the culture wars, the cries for improving this or progressing there.  I feel the pull of my own ego and flesh call out for not just mere recognition, but power, glory, success - the creation of enemies that I would then trounce and show my superiority over.  And I see the times when I am hung up like a scarecrow to be made the convenient straw-man for another.  It's the way of flesh in this world.  And as I type, as I sub-vocalize in my head the thoughts and words that I want wield to exert... they are clean and precise... and so often they are words of death.  Clean, pristine words of death.  Death of my neighbor.  Death of my own self by damnable pride.

And then I actually have to say something.  Gone is the sub-vocalization, the false perfection that my mind tells me is my own.  And the lisp lingers, and sometimes even the old wough ways of not speaking wight pop out.  And I hear it.  The law ensconced upon my tongue, echoing into my ears, reminding me of my own sinfulness, my own mortality.

Irony.  I can't even properly say "progress".  What hope could I ever place there?

And yet, here I am.  A preacher.  Not because I will myself to preach, to proclaim.  Oh, Lord, open Thou my lips, that I may declare the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus for you, for me.  Open my lips, that the very Body and Blood of Christ may be placed upon my troublesome tongue, that my sins be removed and atoned for.  The Spirit and the Bride say come - God grant that He open my lips in His service to declare His praise and invitation, and nothing else, evermore!

Trinity 22 Sermon

22^nd Sunday after Trinity – November 16^th, 2014– Matthew 18:21-35

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

          Once again, let’s consider the purpose, the reason for the existence of the Church.  There are many for whom the Church is about social connections.  I’ll go to this church, it has the most people, the wealthiest people there.  If I go there I’ll be in with a good crowd; it’s the Church to be at.  For some, Church is mainly a family place, something for their kids with lots of entertaining programs.  For some, it’s even their main social hub – this is where my friends go, and we get there and we chat.  For some, Church is about learning to live a disciplined life and better morality, for some Church is about trying to get blessings from God – a favorite of the TV preachers.  But all of these dance around what Church, what the Christian faith is really to be about.  Church is about, first and foremost – salvation.  The reason Christ comes down from heaven is for our salvation – Jesus comes so that by being forgiven we may be reunited with Him for all eternity.  The central thrust, the central focus is that we have been Justified, made righteous, forgiven by Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection; that we receive this forgiveness, that we cling to it by faith.

          This is what our Lord teaches us today with His parable.  Peter had asked a question to our Lord – “How often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  As many as seven times?”  Peter was wondering just how much he really had to put up with – how much he should forgive.  He suggests the number 7. . . and as we know where the story is going we can scoff at Peter.  We shouldn’t.  7 is a generous number – it’s more generous than we think of today.  Seriously.  For us, it’s Once bitten, twice shy.  How quickly can we write someone off because they did 1 thing that annoyed us?  If we are honest with ourselves, Peter’s suggestion of forgiving the brother seven times is often much more generous than we are willing to give.  But our Lord brushes Peter’s suggestion aside – Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”  Nope, Peter, not even close – try 490 times – try forgiving your brother so often that you cannot even remember how often you have forgiven your brother.

          This is what the Christian faith looks like.  We as Christians are to be not simply those who receive forgiveness, but we are to be those who forgive.  And we are not to make excuses why we don’t forgive, we aren’t to stop and pause and think, “Well, I don’t know if they were really sorry, so I’m still going to hold a grudge.”  Nope.  Put all thoughts like that far away from you – vengeance, punishment, comeuppance, just deserts – all that belongs to the Lord.  As for you – when your brother wrongs you, forgive and show love.  Our every effort should be so that eventually our brother is restored to us in love and fellowship – and we should never, never feel justified in bearing anger or ill will towards another – and any thought that would excuse or justify those ill thoughts is of the devil.

          This is a hard teaching.  It’s one none of us like, and why?  We, in our own sin, delight in finding excuses on how and why we don’t need to forgive, making excuses to give us loopholes to grouse, to be hateful towards our neighbor and yet feel good about our hatred.  We know this song and dance, and we know over the long wrong it really harms us.  So why?  Why can it be so appealing to hold on to wrath, why does it appeal to us so – and how can we learn to avoid it?  Our Lord tells us a parable to explain why.

          Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.  When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  Now, first, let’s go over what a talent was – a talent was roughly 20 years wages for a simple worker.  Consider that – let’s say that one makes 25,000 a year, at 20 years, that is half a million dollars.  So, conservatively, this man owes at least 5 billion dollars.  We are talking crazy, stupid money here.  And the man cannot pay.  And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.  So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.”  And out of pity for him, the master of the servant released him and forgave him the debt.  Now note, this is very important.  The servant never says he is sorry.  The servant never says he is wrong.  The servant is still arrogant and brash – I’ll pay you back.  That’s a stupid boast – it can’t be paid back.  And yet, even for a servant as annoying as this – the master releases him, and he forgives the debt.  No, you don’t need even to pay me back – I will write it off.  What love!  What generosity!  What little that servant understood.

          But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, began to choke him saying, “Pay what you owe.”  Now, hundred denarii is a hundred days wages – let’s call it $10,000.  A serious chunk of change – not 5 billion, but something of note.  But the servant just goes crazy – chokes the other servant, demands satisfaction.  So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.”  He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.  No, for this debt, there is no mercy given.  And this is shocking, it is horrifying to the other servants.  And they go and tell the master, and the master summons this servant and says, “You wicked servant!  I forgave all that debt because you pleaded with me.  And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy upon you?”  And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt.  So also My heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.  Well, sometimes our Lord can be blunt, and His bluntness cuts through our excuses.  We are to forgive.  Period.  But consider this question with me for a moment – why is the master so angry with the wicked servant?  It has nothing to do with that servant’s debt – the master was willing to forgive that.  Rather, what angered the master, what made the servant wicked, was that the servant did not recognize what mercy, what forgiveness really was.

          Consider this – you have received God’s love.  Christ Jesus has died for your sin – you have every blessing imaginable – you have life and salvation and heaven – all yours on account of Christ Jesus.  He has covered your debt – every sin, every vile word or deed you have done, every unclean thought – He has forgiven.  Your debt to God is huge – it is nothing you could ever make up.  Yet the Father in His love and mercy says, “On account of the death of My Son Christ Jesus upon the Cross – I forgive you.”  To make this truth completely clear, God even sends pastors out to proclaim this forgiveness over and over.  This is what God has done for you.  This is reality, that great and wonderful truth.  There is forgiveness!

          The wicked servant, though, seems to just blow by the mercy that he has received.  He does not learn to show mercy – and instead he shows anger.  He does not know what mercy, what forgiveness is.  So – do you recognize, do you understand what forgiveness is?  Do you understand what Christ Jesus has done for you?  Do you see the veritable mountain of sin that He has forgiven you, is your focus and wonder there – or with wickedness, do you your turn your eye to the annoyance that your brother has done to you, and do you look at your brother with hatred and anger?  This is where the rubber meets the road in the life of one who would be a Christian.  Is your focus going to be upon Christ and Him Crucified, is your focus going to be upon the God who comes down from heaven to win you forgiveness so that He might have you with Himself for all eternity – or is your focus going to be upon the people who have wronged you, and upon your anger, upon your hurt, upon the petty self-satisfaction you get from thinking you are better than them?  Which is bigger, which is more important, because your focus cannot be both upon Christ and upon your anger – and here is the kicker – when you choose to focus upon your anger, to harbor it – you are choosing to turn away from Christ.  You are choosing anger and wrath over forgiveness – and God will say, “fine, have anger and wrath for all eternity, since that is what you crave.”

          Kind of chilling, is it?  So what now?  Do I count up how many times I have proclaimed forgiveness here?  (Oops, I’ve been here 10 years, that’s more than 490 times I’ve forgiven you, you’re off the wagon/ well, I’ve done around 170 services here, you only get 320 more times and then you’re out of luck?) No – rather, out of His love, God calls you to repentance over and over again.  Repentance means to turn away from your sin, your sinful desires, and rather to turn to Christ, to behold Him, to keep your eyes there.  Your Lord knows you are tempted in this way – your Lord knows that Satan loves to stoke the fires of your anger – and so our Lord, in His great love you, in His ardent and fervent desire to have you with Him for all eternity, calls out to you once again, and says that while your sin may be great, His love for you is greater, more wondrous, more astonishing.  God repents you, turns you back to Himself, pulls your eyes off of your own thoughts and feelings and sins and instead gives you Christ for you again.  You are forgiven, this is the great truth.  Take and eat, take and drink – this is My Body, this is My Blood, and you are forgiven, and you are strengthened in love towards your neighbor, even the neighbor who sins against you.

          This is the wonder.  Our sin is so real.  The weight of it, the vileness of it, it’s real.  It’s heavy – it’s a $5 billion dollar burden none of us could pay.  And yet, our Lord forgives – and this forgiveness is the heart, the center of our lives.  He wants nothing to take our eyes off of this, nothing to shake us loose from this – to let His mercy be the highest truth in our lives.  And so, over and over, He tells us of His love, gives us His forgiveness again, calls us to receive His Body and Blood – all so that we might not fall again into great shame and vice, all so that when we do fall, we might repent and be restored.  Christ in His mercy has forgiven you.  Keep your focus there.  Do not let sin, including the sin others have done to you, wrest your eyes off of Christ.  Rather – remember that this place is a House of mercy for all sinners who desire forgiveness.  In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost +

Trinity 21 Sermon

Trinity 21 – John 4:46-54 – November 9^th, 2014

In the Name of Christ Jesus, Who shall come again +

          We are coming to it.  The end of the Church year.  And the texts are beginning to shift, to move to thoughts about the beginning and the end, creation and the re-creation of all things on the Last Day.  And here we have Jesus in our Gospel lesson returning to Cana.  Cana, where He had done His first miracle, where oh so quietly Water had been turned into Wine so that the party, the wedding feast would go on, where as the Scriptures had foretold the hills would drip with sweet wine. And when Jesus returns to Cana, we hear this:  “And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.  When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  So Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’”  Wait a second – why the somewhat cold shoulder that Jesus gives here?  I mean, Jesus rebukes this fellow a bit, chides him.  Jesus almost sounds exasperated – isn’t this a great thing?  I mean, the fellow comes from Capernaum, the town over – the town that would eventually basically become Jesus’ headquarters.  What’s to complain about, what’s to imply that this fellow didn’t believe?

          To answer that question, let me ask another.  What is the point of Jesus coming?  Why did He bother to come down from heaven in the first place?  Was it just to be a wandering healer, a turner of tricks?  Was He basically a really good snake oil salesman?  Here let me rub JC’s miracle exilir on your scalp, it’s good for what ails you.  Will make your cough go away and cure your baldness.  Because, that is basically what this official thought.  Does that sound too harsh, too judgmental?  Note what he says – come down and heal my son.  And even after Jesus rebukes him, he says again, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”  Do you see the nuance?  Jesus, it’s nice that you brought your healing dog and pony show back to Cana, but you need to get on to the big time, come to my town, Capernaum.  I need the healing circus there!  You don’t do anyone any good up here in Cana, what good is it to have you here?  I need you at my place and you can work Your mojo there.  So chop chop, my son is dying.  He doesn’t believe yet – He doesn’t understand that He is talking to God Himself when He is talking to Jesus.

          Consider – we all have prayed to God for healing for someone.  It’s something we do all the time, every service here we have prayers for somebody.  And when we pray to God, we just pray.  Please heal, take care of this.  We don’t pray to God saying, “God, you had better send an angel, and maybe even Elijah back down here this instant so they walk into that hospital room and can do some good.”  We trust, we understand that God can heal whomever He wants whenever He wants however He wants – there’s no hoops He has to jump through.  That’s not what this official believes.  That’s not what He thinks of Jesus, yet.  He doesn’t understand – even the rumors of the wedding at Cana that had reached him, He hadn’t gotten everything together.  So Jesus would give another sign.

          “Jesus said to him, ‘Go, your son will live.’”  I’m not going to play by your rules, I’m not going to do things your way.  Don’t worry, official, I will handle things, but I will handle them My way… and that way is this.  I will speak, and your son will live.  And we know what happens.  The fellow then believes, heads home, the runners come announcing that his son got better, and what do you know, it’s the exact same time that Jesus spoke that the son was healed.  This is the sign that Jesus does.  And what is it a sign of?  A sign that He is God Almighty.

          In Hebrew, there was an important distinction in words.  Humans could make things, could fix things, could do things.  We could take what is already there and fashion it, shape it, tend it.  However, in Genesis, in our Old Testament Lesson, we heard a word that is only ever used by God.  Create.  Barah in Hebrew – berasheith bara Elohim et Hashemaim ve-et haarez.  In the beginning God CREATED the heavens and the earth.  And in all the Scriptures, God is the only one Who “creates” – Who simply speaks things into being, into existence.  Let there be light, and there is.  Let there be trees, animals, birds – and there are.   That’s creation, creation from nothing, and only God does that.  Man, we can shape and mold things.  We can plant seed, and crops will grow – it’s God who says let there be, and then there is.  And so here comes Jesus, and this official is just thinking that He is a mere man – and so he’s expecting Jesus to fix something, to do something, to make a potion, or even turn one thing into another.  Those are all things that men of God, the prophets might have been able to do.  But he isn’t expecting Jesus to speak and simply have things happen – he’s not expecting Jesus to create.  That’s a God thing, and he isn’t expecting that.  And so this is the sign that Jesus gives, hearkening back to Genesis 1 – I, the Word of God incarnate, by Whom all things were made, I will speak, and your son will live.

          So now, let us consider ourselves, our own lives.  What do we expect of Jesus?  What do we think of Him, what do we think He has come to do?  I look around at the mentions of Jesus on the tv, on the radio, and I see and hear how Jesus is treated as merely a really good fellow.  A healer.  If you buddy buddy up to him, he can give you goodies and blessings, but if you upset him, boy are you in trouble.  It’s almost like Jesus is treated like a really powerful mafia boss – If you make Don Jesus happy, He’ll give you protection and money, but if you upset him, you might wake up with a horse’s head in your bed, capice?  It’s a “jesus” who will give you your best life now, or a “jesus” who is sending us Ebola because you people didn’t vote for the right person.  And it can rub off on us – where we start thinking of Jesus merely in terms of the here and now, of how my day tomorrow is going to be impacted and that’s it.  It’s the spirit of the age, and we can get caught up in it.  A short term Jesus, a Jesus for right now, and if things in your life today go poorly and badly and don’t shape up the way you wanted them to be, well, I guess you didn’t do enough for Jesus.  That is what we hear, what we can even fear.

          Now, over and against that, think of what we just confessed in the Creed.  Who is Jesus?  He’s not just some guy thinking about what this afternoon is going to be like.  He didn’t come merely to provide some short term fix or give you advice on how to be a nice person.  No – He was Crucified, Died, and was buried.  He rose, He ascended, and He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and because of this we believe in the forgiveness of sins and what?  The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen.  The problem isn’t any particular problem we happen to come across.  The problem is that Creation, the Creation which God had so lovingly created, called into being; it was messed up by sin.  And Christ Jesus came to restore it, to re-create it.  To undo sin and death with His own death and resurrection, and to undo everything in this fallen world by coming again on the Last Day, wiping the slate clean, and starting over with a new heavens and a new earth and putting us there.  Jesus’ primary focus isn’t a temporary fix, it isn’t your best life now, it is your life everlasting.  This time here, it’s a blip, that’s all.  A drop in the bucket compared to eternity, and that is what Christ Jesus has set up and prepared for you.  And here’s the thing – this fallen world, our own sinful flesh with all its fears and worries, even Satan himself try all to distract us, to trap our minds and thoughts merely on the here and now, to minimize Christ, to not see Him for what He is, and to judge Jesus only on whether or not we are getting what we want right this instant.

          This is the point of that Ephesians passage – the armor of God.  Satan schemes against you – he tries to attack and distract and destroy you now.  But note – we are fighting in this “present darkness”, the day of evil.  Those are all short term things.  Yes, right now will not always be enjoyable – them’s the breaks in a fallen world where there is sin and strife and backed up sewer lines.  But Jesus hasn’t come merely to pat you on the back and send you back out there – He didn’t come to just leave you in this present darkness, to let you see only a day of evil and that’s it.  No, He will support and protect you – rest in Him, in His righteousness, in His Gospel, use the Word of God against these temptations.  But what is the point of His righteousness, His Gospel, indeed what is the point of all of the Word of God?  Christ Jesus, the very Word of God who brought Creation into existence, has come and suffered and died for you, so that your sins are removed, and He has risen so that He will, on the last day, raise you and pull you out of this place of suffering, and He will give you all blessings, and not just for a time, not just for a day, but for all eternity.  This is what He has done, this is what He will do – and God grant that we see this ever more.  In the Name of Christ Jesus, Who Shall Come Again +