Sexagesima Sunday Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

    Again this week, as we continue our preparations for Lent, we get another frustrating parable. Last week was the workers in the vineyard, where the master makes everyone equal – for salvation is based upon God's grace and generosity, not our works or efforts. And then today, we get the parable of the sower, and this one again can be frustrating, as it seems like so much of the seed is wasted. Between these two weeks I'm surprised our farmers don't have full blown conniption-fits over how poorly run this agricultural business seems to be by the Lord! 75% of the seed doesn't even end up in the good soil, what is the Lord doing? Well, in a parable demonstrating again His almost reckless generosity, Jesus reminds us that salvation comes about by the Word alone. Let's listen again.

    When a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to [Jesus], He said in a parable... Pause here. There's a great crowd listening to Jesus, following Him. You do realize that this parable is describing this crowd, describing the very preaching that Jesus is going to engage in. By the time we get to Good Friday and Easter, how many are still following Jesus? How many are still interested? How many, by that time, have left and forgotten Jesus because the spectacle was gone, or they just got caught up in something else, or they got ground down. It's not just a strange parable, but it's a sad one, a sad commentary on what happened in Jesus' own ministry. A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. And there it is – there is the parable – the seed gets sown, but there are four distinct endings, and only 1 is the happy one that you would hope for. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

    And, of course, no one understands. Even the disciples have to go ask Jesus to explain it to them – and even then Jesus' explanation, while it connects the dots, leaves a lot to be desired. We find out what the soils represent. The path – the ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes along and takes the word away from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Sometimes, disciples, when you preach, people just aren't going to really hear a lick. Satan will snatch away the Word, it will be in one ear and out the other, you will be dismissed and blown off. And not to put too fine a point on it, we probably all know times and places where we've shared the Gospel, proclaimed God's Word, and it just got thrown back in our face. And none of us like that at all, and often it can be heart rending. But Jesus is honest here – it happens, and whenever you proclaim the Word of Jesus, it will happen. That's the way it is.

    And then we hear about the 2^nd type of soil. The ones along the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. Sometimes people seem really excited, really all in on this Jesus thing, but then they just... fall out. Move on to the next thing, and then on to the next. The root doesn't grow, and they wither away and the wind sweeps them on to the next thing. And again, this is something we are familiar with. We all know people we love who have done this – where'd so and so go? And to put even a finer point on it – some of us have been here. If we went back to the days of our youth, I'd bet many of us could find times where we were really gung-ho and then just faded out, immature passion and excitement waning away and replaced by some other hip thing. Again, Jesus is honest here – it happens, and whenever you proclaim the Word of Jesus, it will happen. That's the way it is.

    Oh, and then we get to the third type of soil. As for those that fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And there are those who know, who should be solid and mature, and yet... just too busy. Got this going on and then that. And then time for the Word, for hearing the Word and proclaiming and the Word and being in the Word just gets... squeezed out. Again, we all know plenty of people like this... and to put an even finer point on it, I'd reckon that quite a few of us in this room know all entirely too well what Jesus is describing here – where right now we feel that pressure, that press, that pull of being busy and there's this and there's that, and some of it good and some of it bad – and perhaps many of those new years' resolutions we made about reading our bible have already been squeezed out and forgotten? And this isn't me picking on you guys here – a pastor has plenty of busywork task that can occupy his time and strangle out his time for study. There's a reason that room over there is called the Pastor's Study – and to let you in on a secret that I don't think too many pastors would be too scandalized over me sharing – every pastor's study is filled with books they have wanted to read and learn from, to dive on into the Word, but somehow just got too busy to get to it. Once more, Jesus is honest here – uncomfortably honest. It happens, and whenever you proclaim the Word of Jesus, it will happen. That's the way it is.

    Now, if Jesus had ended the parable here, and if we were to end the sermon here, it would be quite dour, wouldn't it? And this is the thing, we don't like the dour, we don't like the down, the fizzles and failures. And we certainly don't like them when they are close to home, when they start to describe my family and friends, when they start to describe me. But the simple fact is that we are sinners in a sinful world, and Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion, and there is no shortage of trouble and hardship. And we can't pretend that there isn't, otherwise we will be caught terribly off guard. Not only will false hopes and dreams come crashing down, but we ourselves will fall swiftly into the same pitfalls and traps. But, my friends, I will assert that this parable is not meant to be dour or depressing, but defiant and hopeful. Now, it's depressing if we look at it like we sinful humans do, with our expectations, and our greed that puts limits on what we will do, what we will give. That's not how God operates – that's not how your wondrous Lord works. He's never scanty. A sower went out to sow his seed – now the parable is this: the seed is the Word of God. If there is to be any growth, any success, any harvest – the seed must be sown. And that happens – and a harvest comes. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. Sometimes the Word is heard, and it grows, and there is fruit – there is more seed, 30, 60, 100 fold of the fruit, the seed, the Word to be proclaimed, and then the Sower sows it out again.

    God keeps sowing the Word. And God keeps producing a harvest. And He does so even in you. The fear, the worry, the anxiety about failures that we have – they don't stop Jesus from sowing His Word. He keeps sending the Word forth into the world, and the Word does its job, and it reaches people and creates faith and forgives and people proclaim the Word and forgiveness again. And while we get frustrated, because this process isn't as smooth or successful as we want it or because this church isn't packed the way I might want it to be packed – that doesn't stop God at all. The Gospel of Christ Jesus – that He has died for your sin so that you are forgiven and there is no more guilt tied to you, and that He has risen, showing that Satan and death actually are defeated and you will rise again – this is proclaimed still! To this place, right here, right now – to you, this day, whatever the story of your life had looked like. The Sower still sows His seed.

    And you know what? I have no idea how this seed will play out. For some of you, this sermon might resonate; for some it might be in one ear and out the other. It happens, and whenever one proclaims the Word of Jesus, it will happen. That's the way it is. And as frustrating as you and I might find this – Jesus just takes it in stride as a matter of course. Jesus understands the power of sin and Satan – and Jesus neither downplays it nor overblows it. Jesus understands hardships and trials, but He is not so scared of them that He doesn't even start. He simply sees His Word sown, again and again and again. And we're in a rural community – we should get this. Our farmers could probably tell us a dozen ways this summer's crop could be devastated, things they'd have no control over. Still, you've got to go out and sow the seed otherwise there will be no harvest – and if one field fails, or one section goes bad – the seed still has to go into the ground or nothing good will happen.

    So God sends the seed into the ground. The Father sends the Son, and the Son is buried and planted in the ground on Good Friday so that His harvest of life and salvation would arise and bear fruit on Easter – and that fruit, that seed is proclaimed to you – and proclaimed to you over and over and over. And God is diligent in seeing His Word proclaimed, and He has it proclaimed even when many people would simply assume it does no good, when they'd focus on failures and the like. That's not God's approach, and it's not His approach to you. You hear His Word, He proclaims His Word to you, because He is persistent, and He is persistent to save you. He knows what is He doing. A sower went out to sow his seed – now the parable is this: the seed is the Word of God. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

Septuagesima Sunday

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

    Grace alone. One of the touch points of theology is that we are saved by Grace Alone – that our salvation is due entirely to God's grace and mercy towards us. We do not earn forgiveness, though works will follow after grace. And historically in the Church this is an idea that gets so confused and muddled, but today, Christ lays this out so beautifully in our parable from Matthew 20 – the workers in the Vineyard.

    For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. And after agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them out into his vineyard. Now, I want you to understand the point, the impact of this parable. Jesus is not telling this parable in a union friendly state. There are no government benefits, nothing like that. The rule was simple – if a man shall not work, he shall not eat. And who are these people standing there in the market place? They are the unfortunate souls who have no job. They have no income, no back up plan, nothing. And more than that – they are just “workers”. They don't have a specific trade to where they can try to latch on at some place already established – these are the bottom rung workers. And unless someone hires them, tonight they go hungry. That's their situation. And into the market comes this master of the house, and he hires these folks for a denarius a day. A Denarius was a good wage for a day-laborer; it was fair and generous. The master isn't playing hard ball, he doesn't negotiate them down. Just simply – let's do this fair and square. And they agree. Happily. In Greek, the word is “symphony” - that's how beautiful and harmonious this agreement is. And off they go.

    And going about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, “You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.” So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. Now, he hires three more groups of workers – but do you see the sense of desperation these workers would have been having? Think about it – how desperate do you have to be to go and work for someone who says, “wages, we don't need to set up any wages – just trust me, I'll pay you something.” But there they go. The day is wasting, and as that sun creeps higher and higher without them being hired, that's just a reminder that they will probably starve tonight – so take what you can get.

    Finally, at the 11^th hour, 5 O'clock, an hour before quitting time, the master goes out again. And about the 11^th hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, “Why do you stand here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You go into the vineyard too.” We can hear this wrong. We can hear these workers say “because no one has hired us” and think, “Bums, get on out there and look for a job.” No – they've been there, where the jobs would be, all day. And nothing. The “idle” doesn't mean that they were loafing, it means that they hadn't found work... or more accurately, work hadn't found them. And so the master sends them into the vineyard. What happens next is wondrous.

    And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, “Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.” And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. This is mindblowingly generous. This would be utterly unexpected. This is bad business sense. But that's what the master likes to do. He shows over-abundant compassion. However, it does end up ruffling some feathers. Now when those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also received a deniarius. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” That harmonious agreement, not so harmonious anymore, is it? You've made us equal – how dare you say that we are equal to them when we've done more, we've suffered more! The master responds gently. But he replied to them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” That last line in the Greek is literally: “Or is your eye evil because I am good?” Look pal, I've dealt with you fairly, kindly – everything's been above the board. Why do you gripe? If I choose to show kindness to those poor schlubs who thought they were going to starve, that's no skin off of your back. Why does my kindness build up your resentment?

    This, dear friends in Christ, is the picture of Christ's grace to us, and also a warning of how and why we can end up hating God's grace. By the end the first workers are indignant – You have made them equal to us! We're so different than them! We deserve more! They view everything on the basis of what they themselves have done, and they become angry. Yet, the master is right. All of them were equal – they were all the same thing. Workers. Day-laborers. Folks who would have starved that day with nothing if the master hadn't gone and found them and put them to work. These first could have easily been the last if the master had hit different parts of the market in a different order. These angry workers failed to see that they were in the same boat as all the other workers, regardless of when they entered the vineyard. Yet they rage.

    What do you see when you look at your fellow Christians, your fellow sinners? How do you judge them, how do you size them up? Do you see them as folks who are in the same boat as you are – sinners struggling against sin who receive Jesus' forgiveness... or do you size them up on the basis of what you do, how hard you work, how much you've done for God, how much more in order your life is than theirs? Do you see them as the same as you, as equal to you – or do you find a way to see them as less than you, so that you really ought to deserve more than them?

    It was a false, misleading dream that God His law had given, that sinners could themselves redeem, and by their works gain heaven. The opening of the third verse of my favorite hymn. Do you judge, do you evaluate people on the basis of what they have done? If so, my friends, you have forgotten grace, and we are indeed saved by grace alone. Grace refers to a gift of God, freely given, without any merit or worthiness in me. And the simple fact is none of us deserve anything from God. We are born sinful, born in opposition to God, born at war with Him. And yet, simply and solely out of His great love, He calls us out of darkness into His marvelous light, gives us forgiveness, gives us life, gives us meaning and purpose to our lives. And this is not because of how great we are – no, it is how great, how good He is, in spite of our own jealous wickedness.

    Here's the thing. We know this. This is a Lutheran Church full of Lutherans. If I said “grace alone, grace alone” you all would smile and nod your heads, yes pastor, grace alone. But here's the thing; this is where Satan will attack you. We still like to check our works, we still like to get out the ruler and measure ourselves and compare ourselves to each other and get all prideful. When we do that, we forget truly what great gifts from God we have received. Or do you not know that even your works aren't “yours” in the sense that you created them – they are gifts from God to you.

    Consider again the workers from the parable. The very first group, the ones that so quickly become prideful in their own accomplishments. If the master of the house hadn't walked up to them and sent them into the vineyard, where would they have been at the third hour, or the sixth hour, or the ninth? Standing idle, waiting, fearing for the future, wondering if they were going to starve. This is why they rejoiced in the morning, this is why they gladly went into the fields. Even working itself was a gift – now they knew that they would be provided for, their day had certainty instead of doubt. And even though the work was hard it was still a great blessing to them. And if they had never looked at what anyone else got, they would have taken their denarius with joy and satisfaction and gone home glad.

    God gives us our bodies, clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, all that I need to support this body and life. Our vocations, our ability to work at all is a gift from God. We now live under Christ in His kingdom and serve Him! What a gift! Now, if this is all a gift from God, where do I get off thinking that I should look at what I do, my life, which is a gift from God gift from God, and then start jawjacking at God about how He's not giving me enough because I do more than that person over there? How dare You, God! You give me talents and opportunity that others don't have – but then You dare to not give me more on top of that! Kind of stupid, ain't it? All sin is when we step back and think about it.

    God is a giver. He is gracious – that's what grace is, it is a gift that is given. And God gives you good things. Left to our own, we would only earn death – because the wages of sin is death. But instead God chooses to give you good things – the free gift, the grace, is eternal life in Christ Jesus. And yes, there are works that you do – but these are given to you by God, and He doesn't judge you based upon them. Rather, you are judged righteous and forgiven in Christ – your sin and failures are crucified with Christ; your life you live in Christ. And God has promised to keep giving you good things - it's what He's promised you, it's the deal He gave you at Holy Baptism when you were called away from standing idly in this world and brought into His kingdom. His grace for you is freely given, and it never fails. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the world +

Transfiguration Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

    The transfiguration of our Lord – where Jesus takes only three of the disciples with Him – Peter, James, and John – and there on the mount Jesus is transfigured – He starts shining, His divine glory begins to radiate forth, no longer hidden or obscured. And Moses and Elijah are there talking with Jesus! Ah, glory, glory Hallelujah! What could be a better thing to see, what could be a better experience? In fact, in modern parlance we will talk about the incredible emotional highs of having a “mountaintop” experience, where everything is just so awesome and wonderful, but alas, you can't stay on the mountaintop all the time, you've got to come back down. And we can hear this text and think wistfully, “Oh, to have seen that, oh that we were there! How awesome would have have been.”

    Before we continue with the sermon, I would like to just remind everyone of a simple fact. You and I – we're sinners. We are sinful people, and as we are sinful, we are prone to delusions and prone to overestimating what we would do in a situation. “Why, if I was there when those villains came in, I'd have shown them what for!” We tend to think of ourselves as braver or bolder than we are – we forget the andrenaline rush as fight or flight kicks in, the fast talking terror where we are slightly out of our mind, racing along, and our plans go flying out the window. That's reality. And it's reality for Peter, James, and John. They are not just disciples, not even just the top disciples, but they are also sinful men, and they see something strange.

    And [Jesus] was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him! It is a fantastic scene. It is wondrously awesome. Jesus is glowing, and two of the greatest heroes of Scripture are there – Moses and the Elijah, the prophet par excellence. This would be a lot to take in, would it not? This would be rather overwhelming. This is not something that anyone, especially not people like you or I, would ever plan for. And as such, we hear and see that Peter is overwhelmed.

    And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Well, Pastor, Peter doesn't sound too overwhelmed. He says it's good and then he's quite willing to help. Sometimes we take the conversations in Scripture too much at face value – we forget how people talk. What Peter is doing right here is he is giving a polite excuse to get out of dodge and run away. You know what this is – “Oh, dear, your sister is here – how wonderful that she's here... um, you know, I should go get some stuff done in the garage.” Except Peter, and here I will give him great credit, is really sharp, and his plan is fantastic.

    Fantastic!? How is “let me pitch three tents” a great plan? Well, here you need to think Old Testamentally. What is a tent? The tent is the place of sojourn in the wilderness – when Israel was wandering around in the desert, they all dwelt in tents. There was even the festival of booths, where Israel would camp out for a few days to remember and celebrate how God was with them even in the 40 years in the wilderness. And in those forty years, when God dwelt with the Israelites, He didn't just wander around in the midst of them – the LORD stayed in the tabernacle, in the big tent. That's where His glory was safely kept – and Moses would be the one who would talk to Him – and in fact, Moses' face glowed with reflected glory, and it freaked the Israelites out, so they made Moses wear a veil – they made Moses wear a head tent. So what is Peter saying? It's great to be here and see all this glory – now if you will, please let me go off, find stuff to make some tents, and then come up here where I can stuff You and Moses and Elijah safely in tents so I don't have to see your glory here. “Dear, it's great that your sister is here – you know, why don't I get her and you and nice room at that spa resort an hour away so you can have a wonderful time with each other.”

    Do you understand? Peter doesn't say, “It's great to be here – Moses, tell me about the burning bush!” “Elijah, what was it like when the prophets of Ba'al were crying out?” Peter's not asking questions of Moses or Elijah; he's not intensely listening. He's finding a way out. And the thing is – Jesus didn't bring Peter up on that mountain so Peter could come up with brilliant ways to duck out – Jesus brought Peter there to see, to listen, to hear. And in fact, to emphasize that point, while Peter is still speaking, as Peter is making his pitch, “behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.'” The glory of the LORD, the cloud that covered the tabernacle, arrives – and the voice of God booms forth – the voice that only Moses during the Exodus could bear – and that voice says, “Listen to Jesus. Pay attention to Jesus.” You aren't here for tents or busy work – you are here to listen to Jesus.

    And the disciples do the only sensible thing. When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. Well, I know personally, that when I'm dreaming about having my own mountaintop experience, I always want it to end with me hitting the dirt in abject terror. But the disciples are, face down in the dirt. Duck, cover, close your eyes until it's all over so you don't have your face melted off by the glory of God. Utterly sensible. And the disciples would have laid there for a long time, except something happens. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Now, imagine the relief, the deep sigh as the fear and worry just leaves your body. They saw just Jesus – and just the normal Jesus they were used to. The Jesus they were used to walking around with and listening too, just as the Father had told them to.

    Don't misunderstand me – the transfiguration was an incredible, astonishing experience. Peter is even willing to point out how amazing it was – We ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with Him on the holy mountain. Yeah, if it's a contest about who has had the most amazing religious experience, Peter points out that his experiences will top your experiences. But here's the thing – it's not about our religious experiences (which often are much more terrifying than glamorous) or even about our emotions or our reactions. No, as Peter points out – And we have something more sure, the prophetic Word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. It was something else to see Jesus in His glory face to face – but in this life time, while we are still sinful folk, we aren't ready for that. So God has given us something more sure – the Prophetic Word – the Scriptures and the preaching there upon. While we are in this dark place, while we are sinners in a sinful world, it is by the Word of God and preaching that we can hear Jesus, listen to Jesus, receive Jesus in a safe way.

    This sets the stage for everything that Christ Jesus is getting ready to do – this sets the stage for Lent and for Holy Week. Because here we see the base problem of sin laid out for us. Sinful man just cannot bear being in the presence of a Holy God and His glory... and the thing is, that's what we had been created for. To be with God – to enjoy the gifts God gives, but also to be able to pause and talk with God in the cool of the day whenever He comes around. And as sinners, we can't. And so the whole program, the whole plan of what Jesus is doing throughout the entirety of Scriptures is that He will come to you in ways that you can handle – through the Word, through preaching – through the Word tied to water, through the Word tied to bread and wine. But He will come to make it to where there will be a restoration of sinful man, where we will be rescued from our sin, from the debilitating impact of sin, where we are less than what we were created to be... and Jesus will rescue us and restore us and make us new to where we can be with Him in His glory and talk with Him and enjoy His presence fully and unabated.

    And do to that, Jesus is going to have to defeat sin and death. Jesus is going to have to veil His power and come into this world, and He's going to have to face down temptation, and He's going to have dive on into death to pull us out of death. That's the purpose of the Cross. And as for us – we're to watch Jesus, to listen to Him, to be focused on Jesus and what Jesus is saying and doing. We see Christ the Crucified – we hear Him in the prophetic word, and our sins are forgiven. And all of this is to build our faith, to make us ready for that time when we will see Jesus face to face, when we will pass through death unto everlasting life with Christ Jesus. And Jesus is patient, and He prepares you, and He gives you growth – and in ways typically that you can handle, here in His Church. The wild, mountaintop experiences are thankfully few and far between, and most of us will never see them – and that's a good thing, actually. Because Jesus works for you in the Word through the Holy Spirit, working forgiveness, life, and salvation in you. And you will see it – you will see Jesus chatting with Moses and Elijah and Peter and James and John – but you'll see it in the life of the world to come, when Christ has made you ready for it, to be part of it, to enjoy it for all eternity. This is what Jesus is doing, and the Father is well pleased that He is. Listen to Jesus. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

Epiphany 2 Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

    So this year, because Easter is so early, in March, we are only going to get one normal Epiphany text. Next week it's already the Transfiguration – it's going to be a short season. So here we are – one weekend, one Gospel lesson. And in this lesson Jesus will be revealed, who He is will shine forth. So, that's going to be our approach this morning – we are going to look at this text and see what we learn about Jesus. Who actually is this Jesus, this true God and true Man. What's He like?

    Before we look at the text, I want to explain why it's so important that we see from the Scriptures who Jesus actually is. In the next few months, especially on various shows, you will hear all sorts of junk about what Jesus would do, who He was, all sorts of baseless conjecture from all over the place. Back when I was in college, they released those “What Would Jesus Do” braclets – they were supposed to help one think about the love that Jesus would show. Except in the following years people seem to have taken that as a challenge to just make stuff up, to fabricate their own head cannon Jesus – where my Jesus would vote for my political party, and He'd give me a pony, and so on and so forth. And the discussions on Jesus have become less and less tethered, less and less tied to the Word of God. No – we can't do that, we dare not treat Jesus like our imaginary dream boyfriend – we're not children playing with dolls or action figures here. If you want to know what Christ Jesus, the Word of God, is really like, you have to look at the Word of God. So, let's dive in.

    On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with His disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no more wine.” So John gives us the setting. This is shortly after Jesus' baptism, and He's just gathered the first disciples. And Jesus shows up at a wedding – probably the wedding of a cousin, as Mary is helping out in the back to run the thing, and that's what your aunts did back in the day, and they run out of wine. This would be an embarrassment, a sadness – a sign of bad luck, as it were. And Mary does something interesting – she drops a motherly hint to Jesus. You know those, right – if mom says, “Boy, the trash can is pretty full” she's not just stating a fact, there's an implied, “so you better go take it out.” Mary sees a problem – and she knows that her son has started His ministry, that He's gathering disciples. Mary thinks it's go time, and she's eager!

    And here we get to see Jesus in action. And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Okay, so what do we see from Jesus? First, He is polite. We hear that “woman” and it can throw us off – Jesus is saying “ma'am”. He's being very polite, this is a very prim response. But this response is also a denial. Mom, if you are hoping for pyrotechnics and loud flashes and everyone fawning over your Son, it's not going to happen right now. It's not the time for it. This wedding day is about cousin Sal – it's not My great day. So do you see Jesus? He's polite, but He's also grounded and level. He's not seeking glory. He doesn't seek to throw His power around – He doesn't want to steal anyone's thunder. And He is patient. Jesus is ready to wait for the proper time and the proper way to do things.

    One of the things that sin does, one of the way that sin attacks us, is we can be tempted towards self-aggrandizement – where we want to make a big deal of ourselves. Where we want to steal the spotlight, where we want everything to be about us. And it never goes well, and it ruins things, sucks the joy right out of them. But Jesus doesn't get wrapped up in that sinful attention grabbing circus. Rather, He remains focused. This celebration isn't to be about Me, so I'm not going to muscle on in. It's not my time yet, so I'm going to wait, I'm not going to jump the gun. Jesus is patient, and He is not a glory hound.

    But that doesn't mean that Jesus won't do anything, and Mary knows it. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Mary knows her Son. If there is a problem, Jesus will solve it. He won't draw attention to Himself; He won't throw a parade or toot His own horn – but He will show love, He will solve the problem, He will fix things. And how? Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. And here's the miracle. The water is changed, at some point, into wine. When the master tastes it, it will be wine. When was the change– don't know. It just happens – quietly. Without a lot of fuss. These stone jars were probably off out back, out of the way (because they weren't going to be used at the party), and Jesus has the servants fill them, then Jesus has the servants take the wine – no one sees Jesus doing anything. In fact, Jesus is quite hands off. It's subtle, it's quiet. Other than the servants (and the disciples who would have been hanging out with Jesus), no one at the wedding would have a clue that Jesus is involved.

    Do you see who Jesus is? He is humble. He is focused on the task at hand. What does this wedding need – well, it needs more wine, and this is how We will do it. Quietly, simply, no body has to know, when you give, give so that your left hand does not know what your right hand is doing. And Jesus works through the servants. He doesn't sigh loudly, roll His eyes at Mary and say, “You were supposed to handle the supplies, but I guess if you want something done right, do it yourself.” Nope – servants, here's your job. It's work, but it's simple – fill up jars with 150 gallons of water – quite a bit of lugging water but not too hard. Now go give some to the master. You'll do this – you're the servants, your job is handling the wine and food, and I'll let you do that. Jesus understands vocation – that people have jobs, callings, responsibilities that He has given to them, and He has them do their jobs.

    You do realize that Jesus works through you in your various vocations. Paul will even claim that in reality it is no longer Paul who lives, but Christ who lives in him. Jesus accomplishes good and great things in your life, in your home, in your community, through you. You're His servant, and He's placed you were you are to love the neighbors He has given you. If you're a parent, love your kids. If you're a kid, honor your father and mother. And in these simple relationships of service and love, great things get accomplished. We often think of Jesus doing miracles, but we can forget or neglect how wondrously Jesus works good things through us, through the normal things of life. That Jesus uses us to accomplish good things for our neighbors, and Jesus uses our neighbors to give us good things and provide for us. All very simple, and Jesus is content to remain in the background. Jesus works through means, He uses people and places and things to accomplish His good and gracious will, even when we don't particularly notice what He is doing.

    When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who drew the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus makes all things good. Of course He does – that's literally lesson one from Genesis 1 – and it was good. And this master of the feast, who runs things, who oversees how food and drink would be served to the crowd, is a bit flummoxed. What's with this good wine now – you do good first, then the... poor, eh – the lesser wine. The weaker, the not so strong wine. Let people have a nice strong drink or two, and then you water things down. The master sees that the party continues on without getting too messy. And Groom, come here – you have to talk to your family serving staff – we're going to have to cut this wine, water it down. This was the stuff you should have started with.

    Do you see, it's an overflowing blessing. It's wine to last for days. It's not just Jesus makes 150 gallons of wine... really He's made wine that will be cut into 450 gallons of tasty beverage for the folks at that wedding to enjoy. They most certainly will not run out now, and it all will be good. And very few people know what's going on – servants, disciples, that's it.

    And you, you are a servant of Christ Jesus. You are a disciple – and this is a reminder to you. You follow Jesus, you see what He's doing... and so you'll know what is going on, how Christ is at work in the world, for the world... and the world won't understand. So be it, you pay attention to Jesus, you watch Jesus, you listen to Jesus, and see what He does. Because this humble Jesus, who isn't showy, who is patient and kind – you will see Him journey to the Cross. You will see Him fix the problems not just of a simple wedding, but you will see Him address and deal with the problems of sin and death – you'll see Him win salvation with His death upon the Cross and you'll see Him rise again to establish the wedding feast of the Lamb in the life of the world to come. That's why this first sign Jesus does happens at a wedding – that's the through-line image of the Scriptures. Creation – it's a wedding feast. Adam and Eve, you've been joined together by God, enjoy your wedding present of all creation. The End, Revelation -  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. A wedding feast, a reception and party without end is the biblical image of what eternal life will be like. And Jesus has come, not to garner praise, not to toot His own horn, not to throw His weight around. He's come simply for this – to see that the everlasting celebration where God gives you blessing upon blessing, grace upon grace, carries on. And it will be good – good like it was in the beginning, and because Jesus saves, good it shall ever be.

    That is who Jesus is, and we will watch Jesus in the weeks to come as He makes His way to the Cross to win, to establish, to secure your everlasting life. And it will be good. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

Baptism of our Lord Sermon

 

Baptism of our Lord – January 6^th and 7^th, 2024 – Matthew 3

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the world +

The week after Epiphany the church traditionally observes the Baptism of our Lord with the texts we have heard today. This is quite fitting. In every single Gospel, Jesus begins His preaching, His teaching after His Baptism. And there is a point to this – because it is here, at His Baptism, where Christ Jesus begins in earnest the work that He was sent by His Father to do – the work of winning your salvation. This is the point where it all begins. So then, without further ado, let us examine our Gospel text.

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’” So here we see Jesus come to John to be Baptized, and John is out where he normally is, the Jordan river, off at the edge of the wilderness. Yet, when Jesus comes to John to be baptized, John is confused. I suppose it is an understandable confusion, as John was baptizing sinners – and Jesus is no sinner. Indeed, Jesus has no sin of His own, Jesus is the promised Messiah, True God and True Man. John even admits that he himself is poor and lowly and needs to repent himself, but Jesus doesn't “need” to. So far, so pious. But John goes a bit beyond just confusion. John would have “prevented Him.” John would have stopped Jesus from doing what Jesus wanted to do. Now, think on that for a moment – Jesus, whom John acknowledges as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, comes up to John and says, “I’m here to be baptized,” and John says, “Now, just wait here one minute. That’s not how you’re supposed to do it.” It is a bit arrogant, isn’t it – to tell Jesus that He must be mistaken, simply because John doesn’t understand.

Yet, how often do we read God’s Word, see what our Lord says or instructs us, and then are tempted to think, “Oh, surely Jesus didn’t mean that”? That’s the heart of every false doctrine you can think of – it comes where someone sees what our Lord declares in His Word about who He is and the forgiveness He brings and then says, “Oh, that can’t be it - surely there is something else going on here.” It makes sense, because the very essence of sin is to doubt God’s Word – in the Garden, the temptation is “Did God really say”. And when it boils to it, every sin, including yours and mine, is an attempt to prevent God from doing what He wills through you; every sin is just trying to get in His way. God tells me that I should love my neighbor; indeed that I have been created to love my neighbor, placed into this world so to care for him – yet what happens? I get angry, upset, annoyed – and suddenly, no, I don’t want to show *him* love. Surely that whole “love your neighbor thing” doesn’t apply to someone like *him*. Our sinful flesh wants to ignore God, to contradict God, to correct God. Surely You didn’t mean what You said about sin, about love. Sadly, some say this about God’s forgiveness, or even as we see John in the text, surely, Jesus, You don’t mean to be baptized here this day.

Yet Jesus corrects John with words of wonder and beauty. “But Jesus answered Him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’” This is a big, big thing that Jesus says. Actually, if you wanted to you could probably call this the Gospel in a nutshell – because this is what we proclaim week in and week out – that Jesus Christ is our righteousness, and that He has fulfilled it all. Since the fall, righteousness has been a bit of a sticky wicket for us folk, because we do not have it. There is not one of us who is righteous – that is, who does what he or she ought to do. There isn’t a one of us who is perfect, who shows the love that we ought. Instead, we are sinners, and even us here, we Christians who know better, we still keep on sinning. Our old Adam, our sinful nature keeps on popping out, and we do not do what we ought. What does this mean? It means that we, of ourselves leave righteousness unfulfilled. We are not righteous, we don’t do what God in His law demands – in fact, we seem to have made a hobby of sinning and breaking God’s Law.

John knows this – that is why he had been preaching repentance and baptizing for repentance. To repent is to admit and confess that you are not righteous, that you in and of yourself aren’t all that great. Indeed, it is to say that you are a sinner. And not a little sinner, not a “but at least I’m not as bad as *he* is” sort of sinner – but a poor, miserable sinner, who can do nothing to make yourself righteous. That is what those people being baptized by John were saying – that they were poor miserable sinners, that they were stuck in a pit and unable to get out of it, that their only hope was to receive salvation from the Lord.

And suddenly, in the midst of those sinners strides Christ Jesus our Lord, and He walks right on up with them, and He comes to John to be baptized. Why? Not because Jesus is a sinner, but because they are, because you and I are sinners. He comes to fulfill all righteousness. You and I – we’re not righteous. We aren’t filling anything. But then you have Jesus – and who is Jesus? He is true God and true Man. He is Man, perfect, without sin. He is Man who is righteous. But more that than – He is the righteous Man sent by God in order to fulfill all righteousness. All – Jesus comes to fulfill all righteousness – He comes to fulfill your righteousness. Where as you had a lack, Jesus comes to be with you, to not only take away your sin, but to give you His own righteousness. This is what Paul is referring to when he says in our Epistle that Jesus is our righteousness. When He is baptized, Jesus takes His place at your side and He says to you, “I will cover your sin, take it away, and in its place I will give you My righteousness, so that you are accounted righteous because of Me.”

Let me give an example. Let us say that you are on a basketball team, playing for the state championship. And let’s say you are utterly lousy – you turn the ball over 20 times, you miss every shot you take, you don’t get any rebounds or steals or blocks. Indeed, you are so bad that every moment you are on the floor it hurts your team. Yet, what if one of your teammates is brilliant, makes every shot he takes, rebounds, steals the ball from the other team, blocks their shots, dominates the game completely, and your team wins – what are you? What do they call you? They call you State Champion. You’re a State Champion, not because of how awesome you are, but because your teammate’s greatness is applied, is given, is shared with you.

When Christ Jesus is baptized, He says that He is One of us – that He will be on your side, and that even though you lack righteousness, even though you're a horrible sinner, He will take up the burden of your sin, and He will give you His own righteousness and holiness. And everything you see Jesus doing in the Gospels after His baptism is simply Jesus fulfilling your righteousness. While you don’t show love – He shows love perfectly for you. While you don’t always like the Word of God – He does nothing but preach it, calling all to repentance and instructing you in truth. While you deserve to die for your sin, He goes to the cross in your place, dying so that you would have life everlasting in Him. Because Jesus takes up your sin and gives you His righteousness, you are called, you are declared righteous – you are Justified. That’s what that word Justification means – it means that on account of Christ Jesus, you are forgiven and declared righteous.

And this is why Baptism is so important. When Jesus was Baptized, He took His place with mankind, said that He would be with the sinners in order to fulfill righteousness for them, in order to justify them. When you were baptized, when God poured water and His Word, His Spirit upon you, you were joined to Christ, Jesus brought you to His side by your baptism, and through your Baptism He declared that all of His righteousness, everything that He does, is yours. Everything that Jesus does, He has done for you, and you know this, because you are baptized, because He has joined Himself to you. You are justified by Christ. And all this gets its start, all of this is shown and revealed to us when Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan to fulfill all righteousness.

So, did it work? Did Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan do what He said it would, does your Baptism now save you, as Peter teaches in his Epistle? I ask only because there are those who deny that Baptism really does anything, who say that it’s just a symbol, that it doesn’t really accomplish anything. “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” Well, let’s see – does the Baptism of Jesus accomplish anything? Well, the heavens open, and the Holy Spirit comes, and the Father says that He is well pleased. Well, I’d certainly say that when Jesus is baptized a lot happens. It’s not just a symbol, symbols don’t cause the heavens to open or the Spirit to come or the Father to declare His pleasure. Jesus’ baptism accomplished what He said it would, it fulfilled all righteousness.

This is why you know that your baptism accomplished something in you. When you were baptized, heaven was opened unto you, for you were no longer just a sinner, but you were a forgiven, justified sinner. You were no longer a stranger to God, in rebellion against Him, but the Holy Spirit came to rest upon you in your Baptism, indeed, where you can now say that you body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit. And God the Father, now, when He sees you, He too sees you as His own Baptized Child, and because Christ Jesus has given you His righteousness – the Father is well pleased with you, you are the beloved child of the Father. It is all done by Christ Jesus for you, and it is given to you in His gift of Baptism.

Does this gift of Baptism mean we are perfect now? No – we are still sinners, we are still in these fallen bodies. This is why we look forward to the resurrection, to the life of the world to come when we will be perfect. But until then, even now, we have life and salvation, we have our righteousness fulfilled in Christ. This was given to us at our baptism, it is given again whenever the Word of God is proclaimed, whenever we receive the Supper. It is always about Christ Jesus, who shows Himself to be our Savior, our Redeemer – the One who fulfills all righteousness for us, all praise and glory be to Christ Jesus our Lord. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

Christmas Day Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King +

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and [God was the Word.] John would have us return to Genesis 1 as he begins his Gospel, because if you want to understand Jesus, if you want to understand this Babe lying in the manager, if you want to understand this Man who preaches and heals and performs signs, if you want to understand the Cross and what it means, you have to understand the beginning. We, like any good pious Christian who would have heard John preach, know how Genesis starts. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Yes, God creates, and then He takes His creation and He speaks, and in His speaking He creates order. Light is separated from darkness, earth from the wider realms of space, land from sea, the sea creatures brought forth from the waters, the land producing plants and animals – and all by God speaking, all by the Word of God going forth as the Spirit moves through it all.

    And John knows that it is hard enough to wrap our minds around the idea of “God” - and John knows that it is even harder and more mysterious to wrap your mind around the fact that God is One and Three at the same time – when the Gospel of John is written the term “Trinity” that is our namesake here hadn't even been coined yet. But if you are going to understand who Jesus is and what He is doing, you have to understand something. So, remember the beginning? Remember that Word that created – well, that Word is God and God is that Word – there a mysterious unity and distinction – but the Word is with God and God also is the Word. He was in the beginning with God. And God and the Word and the Word and God (and the Spirit too, but that's another conversation) have always been together, since the beginning, since before anything existed, before anything was created.

    And this Word is vital – All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. Creation happens this way. God creates via the Word. It is the Word who takes creation and imposes order, reason, logic, clarity on it. And this stands out more if you under that the word for Word here in Greek is “Logos” - from which we get “logic” or “-ology” as in the “study of something” - or “logo” as in the sign that lets you know what something is. The Word, the Logos creates creation in an orderly fashion – Thy Strong Word did cleave the darkness, at Thy speaking it was done. Everything that is made, everything that is good, every sense of order and stability in the entire cosmos comes about by the Word working.

    In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the pinnacle of creation, the pinnacle of all that the Word had spoken and ordered into being was man. Why? Because life, real life, living life – And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. That life was in the Word, and the Spirit was sent, proceeded from the Word, and then you have man – made in the image, the likeness of God. You have order put forth and woman brought about – both male and female in the image and likeness of God – the Glory of God was shown to all creation in the life that was Adam and Eve – who would care for all that the Word had created, who would themselves participate in creation with the two becoming one flesh and then new life, new people, in the image and likeness of God coming forth. This was the working of the Word – and it was good, very good. And the Word who was with God and God who was the Word would come and walk amongst His creation and talk to His Adam and Eve in the cool of the day.
That was the point. The point of all creation, the goal, the reason was so that God Himself would make man and be able to give man blessing upon blessing and chat with man, be with man. That is what the Word did, that was what all of that Creative Speaking of the Word was driving at – Immanuel. God with us.

    Yet we know how the story goes. One day – we don't know when, instead of listening to the Word of God, instead of delighting in His Order and how He had created, Adam and Eve listened to Satan, and sin and darkness and death came crashing in. Man started making divisions that the Word hadn't made, and all that order that God had spoken began to fall apart. Terror where there had been nothing to be terrified of. Shame where there had been nothing to be ashamed of. A giant pall cast over creation. And the Word walks in the garden and calls out, “Adam, where are you?” And the conversation that follows is utterly sad – like speaking to small children trying to pretend that they hadn't broken the cookie jar. This is Adam – the LORD God had brought all the animals to Adam and Adam had named them, organized them – of course he had because He was made in the image and likeness of the Word, the Logos, the ordering-speaking reality of God. And now, Adam is reduced to a blame casting blithering idiot. That's the fall, that's the wreck and ruin. That's the darkness of that day. But it was not complete darkness. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. And there was the promise, the promise that the Word would not abandon His creation now corrupted, not abandon Adam and Eve, not leave mankind to drift. No, there would be a day where one of this woman's offspring would be God Himself, the Word made Flesh, and He would come and fix things. He'd defeat and crush Satan and remake and restore His creation, His Adam, His Eve.

    Years passed. Countless lives and histories unfolded. But through all of them sin and death ran. The genealogies ended with, “and he died.” And wickedness spread and grew worse. Even a flood doesn't fix it. Even confusing the language doesn't fix it – it only limits the wickedness we can get up to – like a parent sending kids to different rooms so they don't get into more trouble together. And God would come and He would be with people – He would visit His friend Abraham – but it wasn't like it was in the beginning. He couldn't be with people fully – sinful man couldn't bear it. Abraham couldn't, Moses couldn't, Elijah couldn't. Isaiah the prophet saw Him in a vision and was sure he was a dead man - Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! Do not worry, Isaiah, the LORD will cover you, and through you He would proclaim His coming. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. There would come a day when the LORD would come, when we would have Immanuel, God with us, but God with us in a way that we could stand, that we could endure. The Word would become one of us so as to be able to be with us.

    And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Of course John did... Jesus was John's friend. They ate together, they laughed and joked together – half the time I think John writes his Gospel because he just wanted to tell fun stories of his time with his friend Jesus – the camaraderie and joshing that goes on amongst Jesus and the disciples in John is fantastic. And real. And beautiful, because it is God with man, God with His creation. But the Word didn't come just to have some friends for a short time – no, John sees His Glory – and whenever John speaks of Glory in His Gospel it drives to the Cross. Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” And again, Jesus says, “Now is the judgment of the this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all people to Myself.” This is Christ's Glory – that He goes to the Cross to redeem, to rescue, to fix, to restore His people. To rescue you. It is finished, hear Him cry.

    And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God does not abandon you on account of your sin. Instead, He becomes man and suffers and dies and rises to rescue and restore and forgive and redeem you. Because He had created the whole universe just to give it to you, and to be with you, and to delight in it with you. And man, doesn't sin just tarnish and twist and tear apart everything. That's what Jesus came to fix, to undo. That's what this celebration today is all about. Jesus, the Word made Flesh, to redeem you. Oh, my friends, we know what is coming, but we really have no idea – we can't comprehend what the resurrection, what the new heavens will be like – but Jesus came, and He will come again to ensure that you will, that you will know and talk and eat and dwell with the Lord for all eternity. On account of this, a hearty and merry Christmas to you all. In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King +

Christmas Eve Sermon

 

Christmas Eve, 2023

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King +

    Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is well pleased. We miss the irony, we miss the shocking turn of events that arise with the angels singing this song. We have become used to the angels – they adorn our decorations, our trees. We even think of them as “pretty”. “Why you look like an angel” is a compliment given to say that someone looks lovely and sweet.

    That's not how those shepherds had thought of angels as they started their evening. That's not how anyone thought of angels. Angels were understood first and formost as warriors, as God's soldiers. The first angel we see in the bible is the one from Genesis 3 – a Cherubim with a flaming sword – not just a sword, but a flaming sword, to keep sinful man from messing with the tree of life. Or the Angels show up to Sodom and Gamorrah – and then there's fire and brimstone. Or Balaam's Donkey who sees the Angel with the sword ready to strike Balaam dead. Ask Pharoah after the Passover, ask Sennacherib after his army is decimated what they think of angelic appearances, and they would respond only with terror. Angels are God's Army. “But aren't they messengers, Pastor Brown” - yes. But I come from a family of marines, and as my Uncle Major Nordgren liked to point out, if the US wants to send a message there's no better way to send a message than a battalion of US Marines. Gets the point across.

    So this is why, when one angel appears to these shepherds who were just minding their business, that his first words are, Fear not! Since the fall, the angels had been stuck with the sad task of combat. Generally, if you saw an angel, you were going to die. But no, not tonight Shepherds! Something different. Now this angel gets to be a messenger of good news. The Messiah has come – He has been born in Bethlehem. And instead of having a flaming sword to keep you away, I give to give directions! How wonderful for this angel – finally getting to praise! It's not an angel of death, it's an angel of joy. It's not Marines loaded for battle, it's Toys for Tots Marines loaded with gifts! What a better job!

    But the whole battalion wants to get in on it. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host... host. We forget this, but “host” is the Latin word for “Army”. Like “hostile”. A whole army of angels shows up, and they're singing with joy and delight because there doesn't need to be any death today – no! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is well pleased. No, there's peace. Why? Because God is once again pleased with man. Once again, finally, after so long there is a man, Christ Jesus, who is without sin, who is holy and righteous. And this Jesus will grow, and He will take His righteousness and pour it out upon the whole earth, even to you here, so that now when God sees you, He sees you not as an enemy but as His forgiven child, robed in the clothes of Christ's righteousness (a far better gift than any pair of Christmas socks) – and God is well pleased with you. And the angels delight at this, because they finally get to sing a song of victory, and we get to sing with them, because Jesus Christ is born. A hearty and merry Christmas to you all. In the Name of Christ Jesus our Newborn King!

Advent 4 Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

    For the 4^th Sunday in Advent, the Sunday immediately preceding Christmas, a pastor has two options in the lectionary for what Gospel lesson he can read. He can read Luke and the account of Mary and the Magnificat, or he can read from John chapter 1, John pointing toward the Messiah. It’s an interesting choice. You have Mary, whom all women will call blessed, and you have John, who is by Jesus’ own words one of the greatest of men – and yet, in both readings there is a wonderful point of connection – neither Mary nor John focus on themselves or how wonderful they are; instead they both point to Jesus and what He does. John – he points to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world – we sing this whenever we celebrate communion. But Mary's song, the Magnificat, that's part of Vespers, which we don't so often here. So let's hear Mary's song again and learn. But first, the set up.

    In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. Well, I guess John shows up in this text too, but he’s not talking, he’s just leaping for joy when Mary brings Jesus by. And it’s not just John who gets excited, even Elizabeth joins in. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” What the angel told Zechariah was all coming true – Elizabeth was pregnant despite her age, and indeed, it looks like her son will be preparing the way for the Messiah who has just shown up. And there’s Mary – standing there. Probably around 13 years old. Easily she could have been overwhelmed, easily she could have let this all go to her head. Easily she could have bragged about herself – because let’s face it, if for some stupid reason ever we are sitting down and bragging about who we are and what’ve done for the Lord, being able to say, “Yeah, I gave birth to Him” would be win. But what does Mary do? She stops talking about herself, and instead she points to God.

Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” We don’t often use the word “magnify” this way, but it means to make great, to make a big deal of, to focus upon. Your magnifying glass lets you focus upon something and see it clearly – and praise does this – it focuses us upon God and what He has done. This serves as a reminder of what all Christian praise must do if it is to be called praise – it has to focus upon God – it has to be about what God does. It has to rejoice in God and in His salvation. Christian praise is always tied, always points to the fact that God Himself acts on our behalf and saves us. This is what we praise God for – and Mary will continue to expand aspects of this in her song.

    “for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for He who is mighty has done great things for me.” Mary recognizes something about herself. She sees that she is blessed, but that she herself is lowly, that there is nothing in her that demands success or praise or glory. It’s not about her. And yet, God has beheld her, God has seen her, and God is the One who has elevated her – in fact, all generations, even to our day, learn of the Blessed Virgin Mary – her words will echo throughout churches, children will want to be her in Christmas programs – and why? Not because she herself is wonderful, but because God, the Mighty One, has done great things for her. If she were not the mother of our Lord, not a one of us would have ever heard of her. Mary is acutely aware of God’s blessings given to her, precisely because she knows that she does not deserve them. She is humble.

    I reckon that in the next 36/24 hours we'll see a lot of gifts. And sometimes we can be tricked into thinking the gifts we receive are about us – what a good boy am I, see I'm on the nice list, not the naughty one. The gifts we recieve really tell us about the giver – and Mary reminds us of this. She's not received this gift, this favor from God, because she's just all that – but rather because God is good, and He does great things. Knowing this she's ready to receive this gift with humility and thankfulness. Perhaps this is a good reminder for us all.

Mary continues. “and Holy is His Name. And His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation.” Let's talk more about the Giver, about God. God’s Name, the God who does all this for you, His Name is holy, and He is full of mercy. And in His mercy, He ties Mary into His own Name. Mary sees that – and her name will ever be associated with God’s Name. She will forever be remembered as Mary, the Mother of God. And she sees the great mercy that she has received, that she, a sinful being, receives such wonderful things from God.

    Now, dear friends, consider the fact that you are Baptized. You have been joined into God’s own Name, His own holiness has been applied to you. You are made to be part of God’s Family as assuredly as Mary, Jesus’ own mother, is part of His family – for you have been Baptized, you have been adopted as sons and daughters of the Father, you now have Christ for your brother, you are His family – and as such, you receive His Mercy. The greatest and mightiest thing that God has done for you has nothing to do with the presents under the tree, or the size of your home or your bank account, or how talented you are – those are wonderful, but they aren’t the greatest. You have been forgiven on account of Christ – you have been given the gift of faith and welcomed into the family of God. God in His great mercy and love for you has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, and this is something that is for eternity – and it’s not dependent upon you, but flows totally from Him.

    “He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.” Mary brings out another thing that God does that we know yet often forget. We do not need to look very hard to see the mighty and powerful abuse and harm others, indeed, even harm us. But Mary’s words remind us of a truth that we can forget when confronted with wickedness and oppression in this world – there is so much more that God prevents, there is so much that God brings to an end. The proud are scattered, their plans fall apart and so often do not come to fruition. The tyrants on their thrones fall, the powers crumble – evil doesn’t endure because God brings an end to it. And this is a comfort to us, it gives us a new perspective – for even when evil is done to us, even when we are getting it heaped upon us – we know that God does not let it last, that it will crumble and fail sooner or later, and that He will deliver us.

    Indeed, the great example of this is the very fact that Mary is pregnant with the Christ Child as she says this. No more will God be content to have fallen king after fallen king come and rule on this earth – no more will He let this world’s prince have His sway – no, God Himself comes to be our king, to be our Lord, to defeat Satan – and because He has come we have victory assured. The brief battles we face now in this life will give way and yield to the eternal victory celebration of heaven, because God’s strong arm wins the victory by being nailed to the cross and rising again on the third day.

    “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His offspring forever.” The coming of Christ changes things; things will be different because of Christ. Wickedness will be overcome, the powerful will be cast down. The failings and the disappointments that we face in this life eventually will go away. And instead, God fills us with all joy and blessedness. And as those of the New Testament, we see these words of Mary and the promises they point all gathered in to the Lord’s Supper. If you believe that you are of yourself spiritually rich, that you need no forgiveness, that you have no need for God’s mercy – you will remain as empty and shallow as you were. But for you, dear friends, you who see and know your own sin, who know your own struggles, who feel the pressures of life in this world and who are burdened – you who are hungry for righteousness – behold what God does for you. He calls you to His own table, and here He fills you with not merely good things, but the very best thing – He fills you with Himself – Christ Jesus gives Himself unto you, in a way most wondrous and amazing – He forgives your sins in His Supper, He gives you His own strength – He helps you face down the fears of the past and prepares you to face the trials of the future, because in His Supper we see the proof that He is with us.

    Dear friends, Christ Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, is here, and because He is Here, because He has called us unto His family through the waters of Baptism, because He gives Himself to us in His Supper, we see and understand His great love for us – we see and understand all that He has done and accomplished for us. For indeed, while we were humble and lowly, while we were weak – He is the one who is strong for us, strong to save – who comes to rescue us and free us, not merely for the brief span of our lives, but for all ages, even unto life everlasting. This, dear friends, is why we magnify the Lord, this is why we focus our eyes upon Him and in thanksgiving sing His praise – because we see all that He has done for us, freely and without worth or merit in us. Christ Jesus came to be our Savior, and He shall come again to bring us unto heaven, and so we say again, Come quickly, Lord Jesus. In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

Advent Midweek 3

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +

    So, how do you get that forgiveness that Jesus has won? That is our question for tonight. How does all that stuff that Jesus has done for you, actually get to you. It's a question of delivery. It's December; you've all dealt with cards or gifts – how do they get where they need to go? If you found a lovely frock for your aunt Betina in Beloit, but you can't find her address it doesn't do anyone any good. The goods have to be delivered. And the question that forms the basis for the third article of the Creed – I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints – it's really this: how does the forgiveness of sins get delivered?

    Luther starts his explanation with one of the more shocking and humble statements – I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe. Pause there. I believe that I cannot believe. That if it were left up to me, if I were on my own – I'd not believe at all. If I were simply up to me, I'd not have faith. And this is an idea that shocks so many today – especially Americans where we love our choice and decision making. But it's true – St. Paul says you were dead in your trespasses, and dead people don't make decisions. We need the Holy Spirit to be the one to give us faith, to work in us the rebirth unto faith in Christ. And remember – your life, your physical life to you is a gift from God to you, established by God. None of us exist by our own reason or strength – if your birth was brought about by the will of God, why would you ever think that your rebirth, your being born, again wouldn't be brought about by the will of God, too?

    But here we are. We are all tainted and corrupted by sin – and because of that sin, neither our reason or strength have either the ability or desire to believe in God. Apart from the gift of faith human beings are quite content to ignore God. But God, in His love and wisdom, has chosen not to ignore you – and thus He has given you the gift of faith. And how? “The Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel” The Holy Spirit calls you by the Gospel. There's the delivery method. The Holy Spirit takes the Word, the Good News, the Gospel – and by that Gospel the Holy Spirit comes to you and calls you, speaks to you, connects you to Christ. The Holy Spirit does this by the Word proclaimed, by the Word attached to Water in Baptism, even the Word attached to the bread and wine in the Supper. In all these places where the Word of God is present, there the Holy Spirit is also present, working, calling people – calling you.

    And with this Gospel the Holy Spirit “enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” The Holy Spirit enlightens you – the Spirit turns the light bulb on so you understand. If you understand something about the Christian faith, it's not because you are just that smart and the person over there is dumb. No, it's because it has been revealed to you by God. The Holy Spirit connects the dots for you. And more than that – the Holy Spirit “sanctifies” you – that is the Holy Spirit makes you Holy. Your holiness isn't a result of what you do; it isn't a commentary on how spiffy and wonderful you are. Rather, God has taken you, and He has made you Holy – He has set you apart for His service (because that's what being holy is – if it's holy it's set apart for special use). And indeed, the Holy Spirit keeps you enlightened and holy; He keeps you in the faith.

    So – how does the Holy Spirit keep you in the Faith? What does He use? In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. Well, the Holy Spirit gathers you into the Church, and in this Church is Jesus and His Word. The whole point of this place, this building, this service, is the Word of Jesus. The point is the Gospel of Christ. And everything here revolves around the Word, and the Holy Spirit uses that Word to work faith and enlighten and sanctify and keep people in the faith. That's why everything in this service revolves around the Word, because the Holy Spirit is active in the Word of God. And not just the readings – obviously, and not just the sermon (hopefully) – but everything in this service. Our Liturgy and hymns – they're quoting scripture or based on it. That's why the hymns have little tiny Scripture citations on the bottom of the page. It's all being in the Word because the Holy Spirit gathers us together and has us proclaim God's Word back and forth to each other and that's where He works.

    And the chief work of the Spirit is this: In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. In and by that Word of God, the Holy Spirit brings you forgiveness – Jesus says in John 16 He will take what is mine and declare it to you. Jesus' forgiveness is delivered to you. The Church is a forgiveness place, where the Holy Spirit works through the Word to see that forgiveness abounds.

    And with that being said, we can address the elephant in the room that was brought up in our Gospel lesson – Pastor, what about the “unforgivable sin” - the sin against the Holy Spirit? Okay, first off – everyone calls it the “unforgivable” - and the problem with that is we think it's unforgivable because it's so big, so bad, so terrible. No, that misses the point. Listen again to the verse. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Jesus had been speaking of times of trial – when you are supposed to be bold and confess Jesus before the world, before rulers and powerful people. And what if you fail, what if you bail, what if you weasel out? Well, there's forgiveness for that. But how is that forgiveness given? How does Jesus' forgiveness get delivered to you? By the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God in His Church. So when someone is blaspheming the Holy Spirit, when someone is blowing off the Spirit and the Word and the Church... how is forgiveness going to be given to him? It's not, because the delivery system of forgiveness is ignored. This warning Jesus gives isn't about how big a sin is (because all sins are damnable and vile) – but rather it is about how forgiveness is delivered. Without the Holy Spirit, without the Word, one is simply unable to get forgiveness. And thus simply - “will not be forgiven.” Undeliverable mail isn't normally referring to a giant package, but rather just a return to sender, address unknown. Likewise here – the image is that when one cuts himself off from the Spirit, from where the Spirit works (in the Word, in the Church), he cuts off forgiveness.

    So, don't do that. Don't try to cut yourself off from the Spirit, from the Word, from the Church. Rather, remember that the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel, indeed that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness as Paul teaches us in Romans. Know what the Spirit is doing when He keeps you in the Word, when He brings to your remembrance what Jesus has said, when He opens your lips. He's working forgiveness and faith in you – and the only way you'll get forgiveness or faith is from the Holy Spirit working in the Word. So, be in the Word now and your entire life, for in the end the Spirit will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. The Spirit is the Lord, the Giver of Life – and He gives you the new life in Christ now, and He shall see you raised to eternal life.

    Thus we have this Advent reviewed the great love the Triune God has for us. God Almighty has created you, won you redemption and forgiveness, and delivered that forgiveness to you, even until He will restore you to true and everlasting life. It's all revolves around what God has done and continues to do for you – because God is active for you and in you and through you in wondrous ways, ways we don't always see or notice because they just happen all the time. So be it – God loves you, and He delights in giving you blessings of body and soul. This is why Christ Jesus came – so that your sin wouldn't get in the way of God giving you wondrous things. We know this now, we receive this now – and we shall see it full and unhindered when Jesus comes again. Amen. In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +