New Year's Eve

(Audio)

Luke 12:35-40; Romans 8:31-39; Isaiah 30:8-17

 

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

The LORD is the source and origin of time. God is eternal, which means that He is outside of time, having no beginning and no ending. But God is also a creator, and in His first creative act so began time. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Before that creative act there was only God, having no beginning or end; after that creative act there was God and everything else. We are the culmination of the everything else. We are the beneficiaries of the everything else. Only humankind was created in the image of our Creator, and God placed humankind on earth to be its steward, to use it and benefit from it, to care for and to protect it.

That is our purpose, our calling, our vocation – to care for and to protect God’s creation, and to use it for our benefit, and for the benefit of others, all to the glory of God. Now, this implies several things at once. The creation is the LORD’s, not ours. All things are His, but He has given us dominion over creation to steward and to manage it well so that people are provided for, and the LORD is glorified. And since the LORD has provided us all things, we have all that we truly need, for the LORD knows what we need, and He graciously provides us all things that we need for our bodies and our lives. Therefore, we need not be anxious about not having, or about not having enough, and we may freely share of what we have with others knowing that God will continue to provide what He knows that we need.

In this way we get to participate in God’s ongoing creation. God is a creator, He is a father, and a life-giver, and we, created in His image, were created to share in His ongoing creative work. We get to care for, protect, and cultivate the plants and the animals, the rivers and the oceans, the fields, and the forests of the world He has made, just as our First Parents did in the garden. The LORD works with and through men and women, husbands and wives, to bring forth children that are to be instructed in the fear and the knowledge of the LORD and His word. Passing on this stewardship to the next generation is part of our vocation and our worship of the LORD. Indeed, in Hebrew thinking, it is insufficient to merely raise your own children in the faith, but the faith must be passed on to the third and fourth generation.

Since the LORD is the source and the origin of all things and of time itself, and we, His creatures, participate in the ongoing care and preservation of His creation and in the pro-creation of children, we have work to do, work that glorifies His holy Name. This means that we were created, not merely to receive from His bounteous grace, but to bear His fruit in our lives, words, and deeds in service of others to the glory of His holy Name. This means that time, our time, the time of our lives, is sacred time. And that is why we are gathered here this evening, to celebrate another year of life under God’s grace, giving thanks for all that we have received and asking His blessing as we begin another year in His grace.

Time is a gift of the LORD along with everything else. However, our experience of time is necessarily one of change and loss. Nothing lasts forever, and everything ages and dies. This fact puts things in perspective for us. Nothing lasts forever, everything ages and dies, except the LORD, the source, origin, author, and creator of all things and all life. Only the LORD and His word, which remain forever. Consider then what a blessing and a gift it is that the LORD has given us to be stewards of His creation, and how much He must love us that, despite our sinful rebellion, to worship the created rather than the Creator, He did not destroy us, but rather sacrificed His own Son to redeem us and restore us. Yes, the LORD loves us, and He loves others through us. Yes, we are stewards of His love, grace, and mercy as well as of His creation.

Jesus speaks of this stewardship in a number of ways in the Gospels. In our reading from St. Luke this evening Jesus compares us to servants waiting for their master to return home. The servants do not know when the master will arrive, so they strive to be prepared for his arrival at any time. What are they to be doing while their master is away? “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning,” Jesus says, “so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.” We can presume that the servants are to be found doing the jobs, the vocations, they are supposed to be doing, being good stewards of the master’s home and managing it well. However, Jesus doesn’t mention any specific works, for that is not the point, but rather He emphasizes their being awake and dressed ready to open the door when he knocks. This analogy is similar to Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins which we heard on the Last Sunday of the Church Year. Whether it is servants or virgins, they are to be found watching and waiting in hopeful expectation for the return the Lord. They are to have their lamps prepared and burning with oil to spare should He come at the second or the third watch of the night.

Watching and waiting for the coming of the Lord in hopeful expectation while managing the gifts the LORD has given you stewardship over is the fulfillment of the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods.” What does this mean? “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” If you are watching and waiting for the coming of the Lord, then the Lord is the focus of all you are and do. And if the Lord is the focus of all you are and do then you will be a good steward of His creation, rightly loving both God and neighbor. Jesus says that such faithful servants are blessed. They are blessed in and through their vocations, their stewardship, being and doing what they were created to be and to do. And they will be rewarded: “Truly, I say to you, [the master] will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.” Indeed, our lives and stewardship in this world, even though it is full of sin and evil, temptations, tribulation, suffering, sorrow, and death, is preparation and training for life that cannot die in the new earth that is to come. And so, our watching and our waiting and the sacred time of our lives has a goal and a purpose beyond time and beyond death. And so, we live our lives in hopeful expectation and joy, even hastening the coming day of our Lord’s return, and we share His gifts and His love with all knowing that it is not and cannot be loss, for it is the Lord’s and He provides us all that we need and more.

This is our purpose, our calling, our vocation. However, Jesus also warns that He is coming at an hour we cannot know or expect, like a thief in the night. Therefore, we must be prepared at all times. At all times means at all times. But, let’s be honest, we are not always watching and waiting, are we? In fact, we are often distracted by pleasures, cares, and anxieties of life, and, like the ten virgins, sometimes we become drowsy and fall asleep. Therefore, observances like this one, the beginning of a new year, can be a helpful reminder that we are but strangers here in this world which is not our true home, that are lives are brief and fleeting in comparison to the eternity we will enjoy when our Lord returns, and therefore we must reform our perspective and repent of the idols we have made for ourselves and have worshipped and return to the LORD in repentance, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

Our God is for us. Who can be against us? What is there to fear? Our God has graciously given us all things needful, even His Son to purchase us from sin and death. Let us recommit ourselves to the Lord as a new year begins. Let us continue to receive His good gifts with thanksgiving and share them with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and with our neighbors who do not know Him, that His name should be glorified.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord - Christmas Day

(Audio)

John 1:1-18; Titus 3:4-7; Exodus 40:17-21; 34-38

 

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

In these post-modern times, in which truth and absolutes are denied but are replaced with feelings and perceptions, where all things are tolerated except perceived intolerance, at times it may seem as though words, too, have become meaningless, or, perhaps, they have become connected with so many meanings so as to be rendered effectively meaningless. Indeed, words such as marriage and family which, ten or fifteen years ago had a near universal definition, have been redefined to mean, well, something quite different, or, possibly, to mean anything at all and so, consequently, nothing at all. Yet, you and I know that this is not true. In fact, we all know that this is not true. For, we know and we believe that words do have meaning, for we can feel their meanings emotionally, and we can suffer or benefit from their meanings physically. Words can help and comfort, but words can also enslave and kill. Words can inspire and motivate, but words can also demean and dissuade. Thus, men will fight and die to defend our freedom to speak words, while, at the same time, men will pass laws and exert force to prohibit words from being spoken that they do not want to hear. But words mean things, and words are powerful, even the temporal and terminate words of men.

Thus, when we consider the Word of our God this Christmas morning, words written down for us almost two thousand years ago by the Apostle John, we must consider that, as powerful and effective as man’s words are, how much more powerful and effective is the life-giving and creative Word of God. When God speaks, His Word brings into being what He says. In the beginning, He created all things by the power of His creative Word so that “All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” He attached His Word to two trees in the Garden of Eden and they brought life and death respectively because of the power of His creative Word. When our First Parents rebelled against God and chose to follow their own word instead of His, amidst the irrevocable curse of death, He spoke His irrevocable Word of redemption in the promise of a seed from the woman who would crush the ancient serpent’s head. God gave His Word and promise to Abram as an unbreakable covenant that an heir from his own flesh would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth, and He renewed His covenant throughout generations of Abram’s line, through Isaac and Jacob, through Moses and David. And God kept His Word when His glory surrounded the Virgin Mary and brought forth life out of her fruitless womb in the new creation, a New Adam, the Word of God became flesh, dwelling amongst us.

Jesus is the powerful, creative, and eternal Word of God, conceived and born as a man. He is God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. He is the Divine Logos, the Divine intellect, wisdom and the Providence of God in whom all things are created and still exist. He was before all things, being with God in the beginning and of God’s own being Himself. He is the creative Word through which all things were made and are still sustained. This is the Word that became flesh. This is the Word spoken into the ear of the Virgin Mary, conceived in her womb, and born on Christmas Day. This is the Word that was wrapped in swaddling cloths and was laid in a manger. This is the Word that was circumcised and named on the eighth day and presented to the priests in the temple. This is the Word visited and worshipped by gentile sages from afar who brought Him precious gifts as a tribute. This is the Word that grew up through adolescence and was instructed by the rabbis who at twelve years of age caused them to marvel at His knowledge and wisdom. This is the Word that was baptized by John in the Jordan, upon whom the LORD’s Spirit descended and remained. This is the Word that healed the sick, forgave sinners, and raised the dead, showing mercy and compassion on poor, helpless, and broken sinners of all kinds. This is the Word rejected by the children of Adam just as by their father. This is the Word they mocked and scourged and spat upon and nailed to a tree of death. This is the Word who transformed that cursed tree of death into a blessed Tree of Life once again. This is the Word who opened Paradise to Adam’s descendents once again that they might dwell in God’s presence and receive life freely from the LORD and giver of life. This is the Word become flesh who was raised in our flesh from the dead. This is the Word made flesh who ascended in our flesh to the right hand of the Father in heaven. This is the Word made flesh who fills all things in His fleshly divinity and is present as Emmanuel, God with us, now and always. This is the Word made flesh who is coming again in the flesh to raise all people from the dead, in the flesh, and to usher in a new heaven and a new earth where all who receive and believe on His Name will reign with Him as Kings and Queens forever.

For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His Name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. When we ponder the Christ child, the babe of Bethlehem, lying in a manger and the story of His birth, we cannot help but be touched by the lowliness and humility of His coming. But on Christmas Day, we are invited, and we are challenged to see in that holy infant the fullness of God’s glory and divinity. For, this is the true mystery of Christmas and also the greatest gift, that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It was His and His only to give, and He has given it unsparingly because He loves you. He loves you that you might love others with His love. This is God’s gift at Christmas, His gift of love. As He has given you, so you also may give.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Eve of The Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord - Christmas Eve

(Audio)

Luke 2:1-20; Titus 2:11-14; Isaiah 9:2-7

 

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

This night is a vigil. It is a watch. Indeed, this night is the culmination of our watching and waiting and preparing for our Lord’s coming this Adventide. So, whether you were here last week or last year, you are here tonight watching and waiting, praying, and singing in hopeful expectation, because you are not like those who have no hope.

But perhaps you believe that this night is mostly about remembering, for He has come, long ago, as the Babe of Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling cloths, laid in a manger. And, you are right, for tonight we remember that God has kept His promise to us and has sent us His Son, born of a virgin, to be Emmanuel, God with us. And tonight, we remember how the lowliness of His coming was a portent of His humiliation, suffering, and death on the cross, and we remember how everything about Him was scandalous to human reason and wisdom, values, and expectation. And yet, His coming is not merely something that we remember, for His coming radically and permanently changed everything! The Son of God became the Son of Man, and He has borne our flesh through death into life, life that never ends. He who created this world and our flesh stepped into it, took it upon Himself, and raised it out of death into life so that His life is our life, His life is your life, and His life is the life of the world!

This night we remember the incarnation of our Lord when the Word of creation became flesh and made His dwelling amongst us. We chanted of this Truth incarnate in the antiphon to this evening’s Introit, “When all was still, and it was midnight, Your almighty Word, O Lord, descended from the royal throne.” But it was King Solomon who penned those words over one thousand years before the birth of Jesus, describing how God delivered the children of Israel from slavery and bondage in Egypt that night the Angel of Death passed over their homes, their doorways having been marked by the blood of an unblemished lamb, while the firstborn in all the homes of the Egyptians were taken in death. In the darkest hour of the night, when all were asleep as though dead, then God revealed His mighty deliverance by the creative power of His Word. The blood of the lamb saved the people because the Word of God said that it would. And so, this night we remember God’s mighty deliverance wherein His Word became flesh, wherein His Son became the unblemished lamb of sacrifice who willingly laid down His life and shed His innocent and holy blood that the Angel of Death would pass over us, setting us free from bondage and slavery to sin and death. Indeed, the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus, made Him to be our New Moses who has led us in our Exodus out of bondage and slavery to sin and death, through death itself, into everlasting life in the promised land of God’s heavenly kingdom.

For, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” The incarnation of the Son of God has changed everything! In God’s time, according to His wisdom, He enacted His mighty deliverance; when all was still, and it was midnight, His almighty Word descended from the royal throne. While the nations were about their raging, and men were about their plotting in vain, He who sits in the heavens laughs. God’s all-powerful Word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of a doomed land, a relentless warrior carrying the sharp sword of His irrevocable command. But so enshrouded in darkness were the hearts and minds of men that they would not, they could not, see the signs of His coming. They had forgotten or they had reinterpreted the words of the Prophets so that they would not, and could not, expect a King who comes in lowliness and humility, and they would not, and could not, receive a Savior who is born as an infant lying in a manger. For, indeed, this is what is meant by the stillness of midnight, and this is what is meant by the fullness of time – the night of man’s intellect, wisdom, and ability, and the time of God’s choosing and design.

And so it was that the lives of men proceeded just as they always had, a mundane and routine pilgrimage from birth to death. A census was decreed by Caesar Augustus for the purposes of taxation. Citizens became pilgrims and journeyed to their local sees to register their residency. A young pregnant woman and her husband were amongst those who journeyed to Bethlehem. They were found seeking lodging because the guest room was already full. The time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger. And there were shepherds nearby keeping watch over their flocks by night. There was so precious little about that night that was unusual, miraculous, or even noticeable.

How silently, how silently the wondrous Gift is given! How mundane, how seemingly insignificant, how truly human is God’s gift to men given? Indeed, the incarnation of the Son of God was so unnoticeable to men that it required an angel to tell them the Good News! It was an angel that brought the first rays of light into the darkness of man’s night as a herald of the Gospel news that a Savior had been born! The angel proclaimed the Light of God’s Word first to lowly shepherds out in their fields saying, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And then, all heaven broke loose as “there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!’” “Glory to God in the highest.” The incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus, is the glory of God! Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity! Pleased as Man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel! God with us!

In the incarnation, God has penetrated our world, our flesh, His creation, and that has changed everything! God is pleased with man in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ we have peace with God and with men, for in Jesus we are one flesh, one body. This will never, can never, change! In the incarnation the Son of God became the Son of Man; He became what you are so that you may become what He is. He was born in the flesh that you might be born again. He died in the flesh that your death will not, and cannot, hold you. He was raised in the flesh that, even though you die, you will never die. He came into this world and our flesh, and He destroyed the power of death; and He was taken out of this world in our flesh that we might live in the presence of God the Father forevermore.

This Truth incarnate we remember this evening and we celebrate together in joyous vigil. But, as much as we remember God’s mighty deliverance long ago, we acknowledge the presence of the Word Made Flesh amongst us now in Word and water, in holy absolution, and in bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins, for the strengthening of our faith, and for the wellspring within us of eternal life and salvation. And so, in receiving these gifts we receive Him. And, as we continue our vigil this night and tomorrow, and as many tomorrows as He grants us until He comes, we are well prepared as we wait and as we watch in hopeful expectation for the Advent of our King. Behold, He has come. Behold, He comes. Behold, He is coming.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Advent Midweek Evening Prayer - Week of Rorate Coeli (The Fourth Sunday in Advent)

(Audio)

John 20:24-31; Ephesians 4:7-16; Judges 6:36-40

 

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

Seeing is believing, so it is said. And yet, Jesus says that those who have believed but have not seen are blessed. There is no contradiction. Both statements are true at the same time. There are many ways to come to faith, but it is the Holy Spirit who creates and sustains faith through the Word of the LORD. Jesus predicted His death and resurrection in the hearing of His disciples no fewer than three times. Though the Lord had told them plainly what was going to happen to Him, they didn’t understand or believe Him, even when it unfolded before their very eyes. No one who approached Jesus’ tomb on Sunday morning expected to find Him alive. The women were going to anoint a dead body. Their chief concern was who was going to roll away the great and heavy stone from the entrance of the tomb.

Those same women went and told Peter and Jesus’ disciples that the Lord was risen, just as He said, but the disciples did not believe them. Peter and John raced to the empty tomb. Peter looked in and was confounded, but John looked in and believed. All the disciples, except for Thomas, were present that Easter evening when their resurrected Lord appeared amongst them behind locked doors. They saw and they believed. Then they went and told Thomas who infamously proclaimed, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.” The following Sunday the disciples were gathered together once again, and this time Thomas was with them. Once again Jesus appeared amongst them, and He invited Thomas to see and to touch His wounds. Now, having seen, Thomas believed, and he proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” “Have you believed because you have seen me?” Jesus asked; “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Who are those who have not seen and yet have believed? Well, that’s all of us! That includes everyone who ever lived prior to the birth of Jesus, which is the vast amount of human existence. And that includes everyone after Jesus’ ascension two thousand years ago. But that also includes people like St. Paul, who lived over two thousand years ago, but who became a believer in Christ after His ascension. Paul was not a witness of Jesus’ death or resurrection, nor was he one of Jesus’ disciples. In fact, Paul, formerly known as Saul, was a persecutor of the followers of Jesus for four to seven years before his conversion, arresting them, fining them, and overseeing their executions. The resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus and appointed him to be an Apostle to the Gentiles. Like Saul, now Paul, the Gentiles are among those who had not seen and yet would believe by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word.

Seeing is believing, so it is said, but I’m not so certain that’s accurate. Seeing can confirm belief, that is most certainly true, still many believe without having seen, and our Lord Jesus even commends and blesses such faith. Nevertheless, we like to see for ourselves; we want to see for ourselves; we need to see for ourselves. Seeing, touching, smelling, tasting, hearing, these are our senses and our means for interacting with the world outside of ourselves. We depend on these senses and perceptions to confirm what is real from what is not, what is true from what is false, what is good from what is bad. Moreover, God created us with these senses so that we can perceive Him and know something about Him, that He is good, that He loves us, that He is faithful, trustworthy, dependable, and will not fail us. Indeed, that is why the Lord gives us things we can see and touch and taste and smell and hear. That is why the Lord gives us the Sacraments – Word, water, body, and blood.

That is why the Word became flesh and made His dwelling amongst us. That is why the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, was made incarnate. That is why we celebrate Christmas. In Jesus born of Mary God came to His people who could not come to Him. That of which we have heard became someone we could see and touch and hear, confirming that which we had heard. And in His death and resurrection He has given a means of grace through which we can commune with Him personally and receive Him into our selves. We must not deride Thomas for his need to see and touch. We share that same need, and our Lord Jesus became flesh and dwelt amongst us so that we could believe. For the same reason He washes us with water in Holy Baptism and feeds us His body and blood in and with the humble bread and wine. Our creator God who made us knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we need, and He graciously gives us all things we need for our bodies and souls, now and unto life everlasting.

Yes, faith in God and His Word is the most important thing, the most needful thing. Yet, God in His grace and mercy gives us so much more than that; He gives us things we can see and touch and taste and hear and smell to confirm what He has given us in His Word. Our God always works through means. In the garden He attached His Word to two specific trees. Abraham was given the sign of circumcision as a confirmation of the Covenant promise. The LORD carved His commandments into tablets of stone for Moses and Israel. He baptized Israel in the Red Sea and gave them manna and quail to eat, and water from the rock to drink. God spoke to His people in days of old by the Prophets, John the Baptist being the last. And now in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son. And still the Son speaks by pastors called by God through congregations to serve them with His gifts of Word and Sacrament. Still, He baptizes, still He absolves, still He proclaims, still He feeds, still He sends. All these gifts He gives, not through Word alone, but through Word and Sacrament, that your faith should be strengthened and that you should be equipped for every good work He has prepared for you to do. He even works through you to bring this Good News to others just as the women told the disciples, and the disciples told Thomas, and Thomas proclaimed, “My Lord, and my God!”

Almighty and ever-living God, You strengthened Your apostle Thomas with firm and certain faith in the resurrection of Your Son. Grant us such faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that we may never be found wanting in Your sight; through the same Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rorate Coeli - The Fourth Sunday in Advent (Advent 4)

(Audio)

John 1:19-28; Philippians 4:4-7; Deuteronomy 18:15-19

 

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

Well, we’re only seven days away from the Big Day. Some of you have been planning and shopping and preparing for this since Black Friday. Others of you began on December 26 last year! There’s so much to do: Cards to send, gifts to purchase and wrap, parties to attend, feasts to prepare, family to visit, lists to make, and more. And yet, too often you end up disappointed. They weren’t as excited about your gift as you had imagined they would be. They didn’t say thank you. They didn’t give you a gift in return. The kids managed to make it for dinner, but that’s all, then they were off to the in-laws, or to their own interests and pursuits. You got what you wanted, but now it doesn’t seem as special – just another thing to take care of, to store away, to realize you didn’t really need in the first place, to wear out, to fall out of style, or to become outdated and obsolete. And, let’s face it, for many Christmas is not a happy time. Many are lonely. Many are poor. Many have strife and conflict in their families and the holiday season only punctuates that fact. Many have lost loved ones this year and are experiencing their first Christmas without them. For many, the pain of loss robs the joy and peace and hope that Christmas promises to bring.

I don’t mean to be all somber and depressing at such a joyous time. Nevertheless, you know that this is true. You feel it – if not now, then later, when the wrapping paper is all over the floor, the kitchen and the dining room are a shambles, the family and friends have gone home, and the loneliness creeps back in (or rises up again, for it was there all along). We are a lonely people. Even when surrounded by family and friends, by those we love, by masses of strangers in the city, at work, and in the shopping malls, even at church – we feel alone, cut off, isolated. We want, we lack, we crave, we need. But, what? That’s the question we long for an answer to. The world and our flesh will offer all sorts of answers, but none of them fulfill and satisfy; none of them make us content. What is it that we hunger and thirst for? What is it that we want and desire? There is One who knows, the One who made us in His own image, the One who loves us even though we run from Him when He calls and rebel against Him again and again. God knows what we want for and what we need, and He is every ready to give you His Christmas presence.

Yes, that’s pres-ence, not pres-ents. Your God’s gift to you at Christmas is His presence. Your God and LORD comes to you, to be with you, as your Father, as your Brother, as your Bridegroom. He comes among you as one of you, taking up a flesh and blood body like yours, feeling your want, suffering your loneliness and pain, dying your death, and being raised to life again that you may have life in Him eternal. He promises you that you are never alone, for He is with you always. He comes to fill your every want and need with His presence so that you will never hunger or thirst. He doesn’t promise you happiness, but He promises you contentment and peace, which are far more satisfying and precious.

This is the meaning of the Incarnation, this is the meaning of Christmas: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” In the beginning, God dwelt with our First Parents in the garden. He walked with them and talked with them as they were righteous and holy, bearing His image. But, they sold out that personal relationship for a lie and selfish pursuits. Sinful and unclean, no longer could they endure the holy and righteous presence of God. However, God so loved them and the world that He had made that He created new ways in which He could be present with His people. God spoke to Abraham through His Holy Angel. God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai in a cloud and fire. God filled the holy place of the tabernacle with His presence veiled in a cloud, and He lead His people in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God’s presence was with the Ark of the Covenant in the holy place of the Tabernacle and Temple. Yet all of these ways in which God was present among His people were but a foreshadowing of the presence He would establish in His Son. “In many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets, but now in these last days He has spoken to us by His son.” “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” God became a man that man might become God. In the Incarnation, God fulfilled all these foreshadowings and types, and He went a step further – He eliminated the need for intermediary means to be present among His people, for in Jesus Christ, God dwelt among His people as one of them: God became man that man might be brought into the full presence of God through baptism and communion in Jesus Christ.

 “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” To not want is to lack no thing at all. This is an unimaginable concept for us, for to be human after the Fall is to be wracked with near continual want, desire, and longing. We hear this sentiment in our popular music: Mick Jagger can’t get no satisfaction, Bruce Springsteen has a hungry heart, and Bono still doesn’t know what he’s looking for. And, we feel this want, desire, and longing no time more than at Christmas, which has become all about fulfilling our selfish wants, desires, and longings with fleeting material, worldly, and fleshly pleasures. But, these are like bandaids and junk food, they only comfort for a short while and they only treat the symptom without healing the disease. In the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, God began to heal our disease of sin and guilt. He redeemed our flesh by taking it upon Himself. In our flesh He fulfilled the Law’s demands in holiness and righteousness that He might take upon Himself your sin sickness and guilt and die for your transgressions that He might give you in exchange His life and Sonship with the Father. But, that is not all. In the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, God has reestablished His presence among us, a personal and fleshly presence that cannot and will not be revoked for those who believe on Him and bear His fruits in love. Jesus is not just God for us, but Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, as one of us, now and forever. As we sing in the beloved Christmas hymn “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the incarnate Deity! Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel!” This is God’s present to you at Christmas – His presence among you as one of you, as your Father, your Brother, your Bridegroom, your Savior, and your God. “Highest, most holy, Light of Light eternal, born of a virgin, a mortal He comes; Son of the Father now in flesh appearing! O come, let us adore Him – Christ the Lord!”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Advent Midweek Evening Prayer - Week of Gaudete (The Third Sunday in Advent)

(Audio)

John 9:1-41; Romans 1:16-32; 2 Kings 19:14-20

 

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

Physical blindness is often used as a metaphor for spiritual blindness in the Holy Scriptures. In today’s Gospel reading we encounter a man who had been physically blind from birth. His entire life had been lived in lonely darkness. He didn’t know what light was, let alone color, or beauty. We are all like that blind man spiritually. Our sin keeps us from seeing the world and others, from seeing God and His word for what they truly are. Apart from the light of God’s Word we call evil good and good evil and we fail to do the things we were created to do, while the evil things we are forbidden to do we do continually. “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” asked the disciples. “Who sinned?” indeed. Our parents sinned, our first parents sinned, and their sin is our sin, not to mention all the sin that we’ve added to it. We came into this world and life spiritually blind, and there is nothing that we or any other man can do to change that. Only the Holy Spirit can open our eyes to see rightly, and He has done precisely that through Holy Baptism and faith.

As Jesus passed by, He saw the man blind from birth. That’s the way it is with us as well. We could not see Jesus, but Jesus saw us in our sinful and spiritually blind state. We could not come to Him, but Jesus came to us. As in the beginning, the Light of His word pierced the darkness of our sin and death and opened our eyes to truly see. You should note that the blind man did not ask Jesus to help him. In fact, the text suggests that the blind man was unaware of Jesus’ presence at all. It was Jesus’ disciples who moved Jesus to act by asking of the man’s blindness, “Who sinned?” Jesus healed the man born blind in response to the disciple’s question. Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” It was not this man’s particular sin, or even his parent’s sin, that caused the man’s blindness, but it was sin – general, hereditary, and pervasive sin – that was at the root, the sin that all humans are conceived and born in, a hereditary sin that is truly our own personal sin as well. Any help to overcome or eradicate sin is going to have to come from outside of us. And that is precisely what happened to the man who was born blind. Help, in the person of Jesus, came to him from outside of him. He couldn’t see Jesus. He likely wasn’t even aware that Jesus was there or could help him. But at the prompting of His disciples, Jesus came to the man who was born blind and He caused him to see for the first time. Jesus forgave the man his sins and released him from the spiritual blindness of sin that leads to death.

But let us wrestle a bit with Jesus’ surprising answer to His disciples’ question, “Who sinned?” “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, [that this man was born blind], but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” You see, it was commonly believed at the time that, if someone was blind or deaf, had leprosy, or any other disease, that the cause of the ailment was sin. Somebody sinned, either the person who was suffering, or someone close to them. Do we not often think that way today? Someone in our family, a neighbor’s family, or in the church has a series of bad things happen to them and we are tempted to blame them, to subtly suggest that they are the cause of their misfortunes, or at the least, they have done something that has brought this seeming curse upon them? To be sure, sin is always at the root of suffering and death, but it isn’t always a particular, personal sin, but the simple, terrible fact of sin in the world and in all of us in a general sort of way, the sin whose wage is always and only death, for every one of us, without exception.

Jesus gives an answer here to the unspoken question that always plagues us, “Why does God permit suffering?” However, the answer Jesus gives is not likely to satisfy our fallen sense of justice and fairness. Jesus answers that God permits suffering in the world, in His people whom He loves and who love Him, so that His “works might be displayed” in the one who suffers.

What are the works of God that are displayed in His people through suffering? When the righteous suffer in faith they give a powerful witness to the hope that is in them to the glory of God. The Christian who suffers in hope gives witness to the righteousness and blessedness of God as did Job when he confessed, “The LORD has given, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” If, perchance, the Lord should grant healing and recovery, that also glorifies the Lord, showing forth His mercy and grace. However, those who suffer in faith and hope also provide an opportunity for others to show mercy and compassion. Sometimes it is a Christian’s purpose to be served by others so that they have the opportunity to be the hands and mouth and heart of God in acts of mercy, love, and compassion. In Christ, God has suffered for all people. In Christ, the suffering of God’s people is sanctified. Christ has suffered for you, and He helps you in your suffering to persevere and endure in faith and hope.

Indeed, Jesus’ healing of the blind man brought Him only grief and suffering at the hands of the Pharisees who accused Him of breaking the Sabbath law by performing a work of healing on the Sabbath. No good deed goes unpunished. The Pharisees were willfully blind to who Jesus was. Even though they knew the Scriptures and the Messianic prophecies and could see for themselves that Jesus was fulfilling them, they closed their eyes to the truth and willfully and intentionally rejected Jesus. They cared nothing for the healing of a blind man, but only that their cold and heartless misreading of the Sabbath law be enforced. Instead of rejoicing with the man who was formerly blind, they cast him out of the synagogue and threatened his parents with the same. 

When Jesus heard of this, He replied, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” This somewhat cryptic teaching serves to illumine His teaching that suffering is permitted so that God’s works might be displayed. Jesus Christ is the light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome. The light of Christ shines on all and illumines all, but those who refuse to have their eyes opened but remain in the darkness of sin and death will be exposed for what they are. “Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

Jesus taught elsewhere that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” The purpose of God’s Law is that man may fully live by rightly knowing God, receiving good things from Him, and glorifying Him by lives lived in love towards others. The Pharisees had completely inverted the Law of God, enslaving people under it and prohibiting them from receiving and sharing God’s good gifts. Instead of rejoicing that a fellow child of God had been released from blindness and the bondage of sin, they condemned him, and they condemned Jesus who showed him mercy. “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”

It is Christ who gives us eyes to see by faith. We invite the people around us in our lives to come and see Christ where He can be found in His Word. This invitation will often be rejected. It’s not just you They’re really rejecting Jesus. In the light of faith that God gives us, we see our sin. And Jesus forgives it. Jesus is the light of the world. No darkness can overcome Messiah Jesus. He was crucified, but He rose from the dead. We were all born into the darkness of sin. We were all blind at birth, but with the light of faith, we can see, and say together, Lord, I believe.

Almighty Lord and God, protect Your Church and Your Word against all enemies. Preserve Your truth in our hearts and minds. Increase our faith, hope, and love in You and for one another.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Gaudete - The Third Sunday in Advent (Advent 3)

(Audio)

Matthew 11:2-11; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Isaiah 40:1-11

 

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

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

That’s but a snippet of a sermon by John the Baptist. It’s fair to say that John was a preacher of the Law – all fire and brimstone and the like. He puts Jonathan Edwards to shame. He would have him hanging like a spider from a thread over a burning flame. But, it was John’s prophetic calling to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus by preaching the Law of God to hardened hearts in this way that they might be turned in repentance. However, to those hearts that were crushed by the Law and were terrified of their sins, that is, to the repentant, John immediately and graciously pointed them to the Good News, to the Gospel. John pointed the broken and the repentant to Jesus saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

That’s what the preaching of the Law does – it breaks up the hardened soil of our hearts so that we might receive the life-giving Gospel. John’s preaching prepared the way for the coming of the Gospel, the coming of Jesus Christ, by making the crooked ways of our sinful hearts straight, by leveling the mountains of our prideful self-righteousness and by filling in the valleys of our despair and hopelessness, that Jesus might have a clear and level path to enter therein.

Now, the preaching of the Law is not always received well. The Law is a bright shining light and mirror upon our sinfulness, and those who are secure and comfortable in their sin typically don’t appreciate being exposed. When the light of God’s holy and righteous Law shines upon them and exposes their sin, they flee for darkness like cockroaches, or they turn and fight like a cornered beast. The latter is precisely what happened to John the Baptist. In his zeal for preaching the Law of the LORD he exposed the unrepented sins of one particular beast, King Herod. John had exposed King Herod’s adulterous relationship with his sister-in-law Herodias, wife of his half brother Philip. For that, Herod had John arrested and thrown in prison, an imprisonment that would ultimately end with John’s execution and his head upon a platter.

And so, there is John, sitting in prison, most certainly aware that he would never get out and would most likely die. John was a prophet, and that is the way it is with the prophets of the LORD. Prophets were charged with being a mouthpiece for the LORD to bring His word of Law and Gospel to His people in season and out of season, whether they wanted to hear it or not. Nearly all the LORD’s prophets met with a time when the Word they were sent to proclaim was not received well, and they were executed in various and horrible ways. The same is true today for the LORD’s prophets and pastors, and for you His people. As your Lord Jesus teaches, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account,” and “the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.”

Now, to address the question that inevitably arises when today’s Gospel is heard in contemporary times: Did John doubt? In the last two hundred years or so, this question has been hotly debated amongst Bible scholars and theologians. I confess to having flip-flopped on the matter a couple times. However, through the Reformation this was not so. It was the nearly unanimous consensus of the Church Fathers, and even Luther, that John did not doubt that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, but that he sent his disciples to question Jesus so that they might hear with their own ears the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah and believe. This was because John knew his role and vocation. John was the last of the prophets, the promised “Elijah” who was to come “before the great and awesome day of the LORD.” He was the forerunner of the Messiah, whose job it was to prepare the way for His coming. That work was complete and the Messiah, Jesus, had come. Now, it was John’s role to decrease that Jesus might increase. He was going to die, and so John sent his disciples to Jesus that they might become His disciples. John had been a good and faithful servant, he had preached the Law of the LORD to His people and prepared their hearts for the coming of Jesus. Now, John preached the Gospel by pointing and by directing those broken and crushed by the Law to Jesus, the Lamb of God’s offering who takes away the sins of the world.

No, John did not doubt. I am now fully convinced of that. Why? Well, what does Jesus say about John? “Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” Further, John heard the Father’s voice at Jesus’ baptism saying, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased,” and he saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus and remain with Him. John repeatedly pointed to Jesus and proclaimed unequivocally who He was and what He came to do: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And then, there is the great cloud of witnesses, the Fathers and pastors of the Church throughout the ages who attest to John’s faith and selfless vocation as the forerunner of Jesus. Indeed, it is only since the rise of rationalism in the seventeenth century that the faith of the “greatest among those born of women” is routinely called into question. Let us abstain from such foolishness, which is more likely the deceit of the Enemy than the fruit of true wisdom.

What then did John do by sending his disciples to Jesus? He did what all faithful prophets and pastors do, he followed the preaching of the Law by the proclamation of the Gospel. In this case, John sent his disciples to the Gospel incarnate, to Jesus Himself. Jesus had been bringing the kingdom of God into this world by His preaching and teaching and by His miracles of healing and restoration and release accompanying the forgiveness of sins. He had been fulfilling the Messianic prophecies, particularly of Isaiah, by making the blind to see and the lame to walk, by cleansing lepers and opening the ears of the deaf, by raising the dead and by comforting the poor and the distressed. And, when they got to Jesus and asked their question, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Jesus answered them by quoting the Prophet Isaiah, just as He had done in His first sermon in Nazareth, and with the same implication: “This saying is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Then Jesus added the words, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” For, Jesus did not appear to the eyes, or sound to the ears, the way they had come to expect that the Messiah would appear or sound. Jesus did not come with the power and majesty of worldly kings and lords. He did not have the traditional authority of the priests, Pharisees, and scribes. But, He was a humble man of the people, a carpenter’s son from backwater Nazareth. Nevertheless, His authority was in His Words for those who had ears to hear. They received also eyes to see that Jesus was the Son of God and the Lamb of God’s self-offering for the sins of the world. Truly there is blessedness in receiving Him as the gift that He is, God’s gift of mercy and love, no strings attached.

For, Jesus is the Gospel, the free gift of God’s grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness that is given to all hearts broken by the Law in repentance who will receive Him. Jesus is the comfort God showers upon His people, and He is the tender Word spoken to Jerusalem that her warfare with God is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, and that the LORD intends to give her double in blessing for all her sins.

The mystery of the Gospel is that things are not as they appear. Though he lived in the desert wearing camel’s hair and eating locusts, though he was imprisoned by Herod and was beheaded, John was “the Prophet of the Most High” sent to “go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins.” Likewise, Jesus was humble and mild, having “no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Yet, He was, and He is the Lord, the very Son of God, Emmanuel, God with us, the Lamb of God offered up for the sins of the world.

Still, John goes before Him to prepare His way by preaching the Law unto repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And, to the brokenhearted, to the weary and those burdened by their sins, to those who plead for mercy and forgiveness, He directs you to the Gospel, to Jesus, that you may have peace with God. What did you come to church to see? A charismatic preacher with eloquent and inspiring words, a magnificent building overflowing with people, and money, with a café and family recreational center? What did you come to church to see? A life coach full of practical advice for how to live the best life now? What did you come to church to see or hear or do? I tell you, you did not come for any of these things. But, you have come to receive. For, the one who makes the blind to see and the deaf to hear, the lame to walk and lepers to be cleansed, that one, Jesus the Lord and Christ, is here to comfort you and to heal you in the forgiveness of your sins. Do not judge by what your fleshly ears hear and by what your fleshly eyes see, for the day is coming when the Lord will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then, you who appear foolish, will receive your commendation from God. Yet, even now, He is your light in darkness, your peace in trial and tribulation, and your life in death. Come, receive the free gifts of the Lord and live, now and forever

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Advent Midweek Evening Prayer - Week of Populus Zion (The Second Sunday in Advent)

(Audio)

John 1:43-51; 2 Corinthians 4:7-10; Proverbs 3:1-8

 

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

Andrew went and told Simon. Philip went and told Nathanael. Telling the Good News about Jesus was the original “friends and family” plan! Isn’t it the case that, when you find something new and good, you want to tell others about it? “You’ve got to try this new restaurant!” “We found the greatest little winery.” “Oh, this little bakery, simply amazing!” “Have you read so-and-so’s new book? It’s sooooo good!” “Oh, man, that was the best movie!” News that is that good, we simply can’t keep it to ourselves. We don’t want to! We’re champing at the bit to tell someone! Which begs the question, why is it often so difficult to tell the Good News about Jesus? Why is it so difficult to invite someone to come to church with you?

Philip didn’t have any difficulty telling Nathanael. Philip was overflowing with joy so that he, literally, couldn’t contain himself. In fact, even when Nathanael didn’t respond with equal enthusiasm, Philip didn’t argue or give up, but he simply invited Nathanael to come and see for himself. Philip was convinced of who Jesus was. “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote.” That is to say, the Holy Spirit, working through God’s word, the Holy Scriptures, created faith in Philip and convicted him in the truth that Jesus was the promised Messiah who had come in fulfillment of the Scriptures. So, a great measure of Philip’s confidence and boldness came from the Holy Spirit who had been working and sustaining Philip’s faith for some time. Clearly Philip was a hearer and a student of God’s word. He knew the messianic prophecies and he was watching and waiting for the signs of their fulfillment. And, because he knew God’s word Philip also could see for himself that Jesus was fulfilling everything that was written about Him.

One thing is certain: You must receive and experience a good thing yourself before you can tell others about it and invite them to come and see for themselves. It’s unlikely that you would tell others to visit a restaurant that you haven’t dined at. How would you know if the food, the service, the décor, were any good? Similarly, you wouldn’t recommend a plumber you hadn’t used. So it is that you share with others what you have first received yourself. And, if a restaurant is good, you aren’t likely to stop dining there simply because someone you told about it wouldn’t go. Are you going to give up on a good, dependable, and honest plumber just because someone you recommended him to didn’t take your advice? No, of course not. Philip wasn’t discouraged by Nathanael’s cynical reply, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” but he simply smiled at him and said, “Come and see.”

What should you say? Just tell them why you believe, why you have hope, why you come to church, why it matters. What if they don’t reply in the affirmative? So what? Invite them to come and see for themselves. It’s impossible to know what you’re missing if you don’t give it a try. 

And, what about Nathanael’s reply anyway? “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Surely, you’ve met with cynicism like this before; likely you’ve even uttered it yourself. Let’s be honest, it’s hard not to be cynical today. The problems and failings of our culture and society are multitude and self-evident and seemingly everywhere. Nazareth was a backwater village in southwest Galilee. It likely had a population of five hundred or so and wasn’t adjacent to a large city. Locally, it might have been like Bremer. If anything of interest was going to happen, it was unlikely to happen in Nazareth. However, what was true about Nazareth was also true about Jesus Himself. There was nothing showy about Jesus’ appearance, He wasn’t wealthy, and, though His parents were descendants of David, they did not have power or authority, but Jesus was the son of a carpenter, and as Isaiah had prophesied, “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” Now, when met with such cynicism you might be tempted to argue and defend your position. That is unlikely to help, and that is not what Philip did. Just keep smiling, stay positive, don’t let your joy be quelled, and say, “Well, why don’t you come and see?”

You see, there’s more going on in your interactions with other people. The Holy Spirit is at work. You don’t change people’s hearts, but the Spirit does, when and where it pleases Him. It’s like a farmer sowing seeds: All you can do is share the Good News and the hope that is in you. The Holy Spirit will water, fertilize, and cause those seeds to grow and mature where and when it pleases Him. Philip simply said to Nathanael, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, he said, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Before Philip had called him, Jesus had already seen Nathanael sitting under a fig tree. Jesus already knew Nathanael, and Philip was the means through which He called him. Some have speculated that Nathanael had been studying the Scriptures under the fig tree, particularly those prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. Thus, when Nathanael finally saw Jesus, he could see for himself that Jesus was indeed “The Son of God” and “The King of Israel.”  Your concern is not who responds in the right way, but only that you share with others the hope, joy, confidence, contentment, and peace you have received and invite them to come and see for themselves. But know that the Holy Spirit is calling, gathering, and enlightening where and when it pleases Him to do so, and that He will do it through you as well.

It’s a hard thing in today’s world to invite others to come and see Jesus. It may be off-putting, and it may put relationships at risk. It may earn you the painful reward of having all sorts of things spoken against you on behalf of Jesus (Jesus says in such a case you are blessed). It can create fear to think about the uncertainty of people’s response to your invitation. They may accept the invite. They may utterly despise it and lash out at you. More than likely, they will deflect it and cling to other distractions from what is spiritually healthy for them. The LORD gives you this promise in Psalm 121: “I will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” As a child of God, redeemed by Jesus Christ you possess an eternal life that this world just cannot lay a finger upon. Even the dangers against you are used to be a blessing for you. That’s how the LORD keeps you day to day. The same Lord who redeemed you has ascended into heaven and rules and reigns over all things. do you think that there is any area of your life where Jesus does not have authority? Of course not.

Our inviting others to come and see is merely what we do as fellow beneficiaries of Christ’s gifts. There’s more than enough to go around, as our Lord is generous toward all. And what of rejection? It cannot harm us with Christ our Lord daily keeping us in our goings out and our comings in.

Lord Jesus Christ, You have so blessed us with salvation. Help us to cast off all fears and invite others to church while trusting in Your keeping of us each day.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Populus Zion - The Second Sunday in Advent (Advent 2)

(Audio)

Luke 21:25-36; Romans 15:4-13; Malachi 4:1-6

 

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

In whom or what do you place your fear, your love, and your trust? If your fear, love, and trust is not in God, the Lord of heaven and earth, then your fear, love, and trust is misplaced, for your idols will not stand on the Last Day, at the coming of the Lord. All material things in the heavens and upon the earth will be shaken, all the things in which men place their fear, love, and trust will be reduced to stubble, leaving neither root nor branch. For, there is one God and one Lord who made the heavens and the earth and all things, who still preserves and sustains them, and who will make His presence known in judgment to all who dwell on the face of the earth.

How do you take these words? Do they make you uncomfortable? Do they seem to you to be harsh? Do they strike terror in your hearts? They should. And they shouldn’t. But it depends upon in whom and in what you place your fear, your love, and your trust. The fact that our Lord will return in judgment should not cause you fear or concern at all, that is, if you fear, love, and trust in Him now. If you fear, love, and trust in Him now, then the signs of this world passing away are not cause for alarm or terror, but rather for rejoicing, for your redemption is drawing near. But, indeed, they will be terrified who have placed their fear, love, and trust in other things, in material things, worldly things, and fleshly men, for all these will begin to crumble and pass away and they will be left with nothing in which to place their fear, love, and trust, and yet they will know, unequivocally, that Jesus Christ is Lord, and God the Father will be glorified.

However, the great and tragic irony in all of this, of course, is that Jesus Christ was sent for them, as well as for you, even for the entire world.  Indeed, the coming of the Son of Man means that your redemption is drawing near. So, rather than cowering in fear, you should lift up your heads in confidence and joy. But the difference between those who will cower in fear and those who will lift up their heads then is the object, or objects, of your fear, love, and trust now. The temptation of the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh is to take the Lord’s delay in returning as proof that He is not returning at all, that He doesn’t exist at all. And so, you are tempted to value only the material things, the now things, caring not, believing not in the then things. You see, the devil isn’t so concerned about your worshipping him, but only that you divert your attention to something other than the Christ. Be it money, success, fame, family, health, sex, possessions, whatever, he doesn’t care; the devil wants only that your eyes and your heart are not focused upon Jesus, for then he has you, and, though you may not think of it that way, you are serving and worshipping him.

Thus, your Lord warns, “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. […] But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Dissipation, drunkenness, and cares of this life – these are the things your Lord warns you against, for they are distractions from the narrow Way that leads to eternal life. They are the means that the devil uses to divert your eyes and your heart from the cross of Jesus Christ. It’s not that worldly and material things are evil, it’s not even that men are evil, for God has made all things good, but it’s really just the same old sin, the only sin, idolatry, creatures fearing, loving, and trusting in the creation more than, or instead of, the Creator of all things. Money isn’t evil, but if money is what you fear losing, love keeping, and trust in for your security, then you have made it your idol, you have made it your god. Same goes for success, fame, family, health, sex, possessions, or whatever. Whatever you place your fear, love, and trust in before or in place of God, that is your god. And, when the true and only God returns in judgment and glory, none of these will remain, and then your misplaced and foolish fear, love, and trust will be left naked and exposed.

But it’s not like you didn’t know this was coming, right? The Lord has been consistent in His message that this world and this life will not last. Ever since the Fall the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth because of sin, waiting for redemption and re-creation. Indeed, the signs are all around you, they are even in your own flesh which ages, grows weak, and dies. “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees,” Jesus says, “As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know the summer is already near.” Everyone reads the signs of the change of the seasons and so prepares accordingly. Why do you not read the signs that this world’s time is passing quickly, that the end will come, if not tomorrow, the day after that, and so prepare yourself? In the very midst of life, death has us surrounded. Everyone knows that you can’t take it with you. There are no hearse’s pulling U-Hauls. Indeed, Jesus says, “this generation will not pass away until all has taken place.” “Ah!” The scoffers will say. “Many generations have passed, and things continue as they always have. This word of your lord is foolishness!” Yes, indeed, many generations of men have passed, and judgment has come upon them all, they have all died and all their possessions have decayed, their deeds and reputations have been, or will be, forgotten. But, what about the generation of all humanity descended from Adam? What about the generation of the Christian Church birthed from Jesus’ death and resurrection? These have not fully passed away, nor will they until all the things that our Lord prophesied take place. “Heaven and earth will pass away,” He has said, “but My Words will not pass away.”

“My Words will not pass away.” That is key. Life can be hard at times. We each experience life passing away in all sorts of ways, every day of our lives. There is a constant temptation to divert our eyes and our hearts away from Jesus’ Words to all manner of distractions or to deaden our sensory experiences with drug or drink. But we are not like those without hope. We have God’s Word and His promises kept and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. His Word never changes, it never passes away, but it remains constant, trustworthy, certain, and true. It was “written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” When you see and experience the signs of change and decay in your life, in this world, do not despair, but turn to His Word and see that all things are just as He said they would be. Then, “straighten up and raise up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Even now you can experience a foretaste of your redemption as you are released from the chains and bondage of fleshly and worldly possessions and values, as you die to yourself and selfish desires and passions and live to Christ in loving service of your brother and neighbor.

“Stay awake at all times, praying,” and greet the rising sun each day with hopefulness, knowing that your redemption is drawing near. Then you may leap into each day like calves from the stall. And “may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.