The First Sunday after Christmas (Christmas 1)

(Audio)

Luke 2:22-40; Galatians 4:1-7; Isaiah 11:1-5

 

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

This morning's Gospel really belongs on February 2nd, 40 days after Christmas, because it describes what happened that day Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple when he was 40 days old. The Old Testament Law pronounced the mother unclean for 40 days after giving birth to a boy (60 days for a girl), teaching that we are all born sinful and unclean, that every birth is the birth of a sinner under God's wrath, and that rescue from sin and wrath would come ultimately through a first-born male child belonging to God. The Law also required that the first-born belonged to the Lord and had to be redeemed by a blood sacrifice, usually a lamb or a goat, though if the parents were poor, two pigeons would suffice. This pointed to the sacrifice that God would ultimately make to redeem us by sending His only-begotten Son to redeem us with His innocent blood. Every point of the Law Jesus kept perfectly for us, down to the purification of His mother, though, of course, she needed no purification for bearing the sinless Son of God, and His own redemption at the price of two pigeons, though He came as God's sacrificial Lamb to redeem the world. But we will save that for February 2nd, at the Presentation of our Lord, when you will hear this Gospel again.

Today, on this seventh day of the twelve days of Christmas, our focus will be on the two senior saints in this passage - Simeon and Anna. Sadly, our youth-oriented culture tends to despise the old and frail. We tend to value energy and excitement over wisdom and experience. We are impoverished for it. There is much to be learned from the wisdom of their experience. You can learn more about marriage by talking to two people who have been married for 50 or 60 years than you can from any book pulled from the shelf. In fact, many congregations pair up their newlyweds with a senior couple in the congregation as kind of marriage sponsors. You can learn a great deal about life from those who have lived many years. You can learn much about prayer from those who have prayed a long time. You can learn about patience from those who wait.

Seniors do a great deal of waiting. They wait for buses and taxis and rides. They spend a lot of time in waiting rooms, in which about the only thing you can do is wait. They wait for the mail to come, for family to call, for friends to drop by. Sometimes they wait in vain for people who don't show up, or who get sidetracked by other more urgent matters. If they are sick, they wait for the doctors to diagnose, and the medicines to medicate. Sometimes that wait can be long. The body heals more slowly when you are old. Sometimes things don't heal completely. Some wait to die. Often times our senior saints find that they have outlived their entire families. When one such saint became sick and was completely confined to a hospital bed, she said that she was tired and she wanted to die. She was getting tired of waiting. Another senior saint, who is now with the Lord, once said that the toughest part of the waiting is all the funerals you have to go to.

"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope," the psalmist prays. Senior saints can teach us a few things about praying that psalm, about waiting on the Lord and trusting in His Word. Simeon and Anna are two people who waited long years on the Lord, whose hope was in His Word. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die." Simeon and Anna lived under that promise. If we take the time to listen to them we can learn a few things about it means to live in the shadow of death, and to die in the light of life.

St. Luke describes old Simeon as a "righteous and devout" man, meaning that he trusted in God's promise of salvation and lived in that trust. Simeon was a man whose life was governed by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit was upon him. He had been told by the Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah, the Lord's Christ. That was a heavy honor. Imagine what it would be like knowing that you would not die until you saw God's Promise of salvation fulfilled before your own eyes, but not knowing when that would be. 

Year after year went by in the temple, marked by the holy days of the temple liturgy - Yom Kippur, Passover, Pentecost, the Day of Tabernacles. Every day, the morning and evening sacrifices and prayer. Every day Simeon waited and watched. Would today be the day? The evening sacrifice; the morning sacrifice. Another day, nothing. Perhaps tomorrow He will come. More waiting. We don't know how many years Simeon waited, but he must have been quite old. You can hear the relief come from deep within his bones when he sighs, "Now let your servant depart in peace."

Imagine the excitement of old Simeon that day when Mary and Joseph came to the temple with their precious bundle, the newborn Messiah wrapped in a blanket, just 40 days old, and the Holy Spirit brought him to the temple at just the right time so that their paths would cross. Oh, it must have been a marvelous moment when Simeon took that precious bundle in his arms (you grandparents know a little bit of what that's like when you first hold a new grandchild) and hoisted the baby high in the air and sang out his glorious song that echoed all throughout the temple: “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For mine eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples. A Light to lighten the Gentiles, And the Glory of your people Israel.”

It is a joyful song, not a sigh of resignation. Simeon is confident, bold, very much alive. It is Simeon's "deliver us from evil," that the Lord would at last take him from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven. Simeon speaks to God the way a servant speaks to his master who has promised him freedom. "Master," he says, "release your servant now in peace, just like you said you would." He holds God to his promise, trusting that this tiny, poor baby will be His Savior. He trusts God's Word. He lives in the "now" of Christ. He doesn't need anything more than this baby to say, "my eyes have seen your salvation."

What did Simeon's eyes see? Nothing more than the shepherds saw in the manger the night of the birth. Or what the wise men would see a bit later. Simeon saw a baby boy who looked just like any other baby boy. No halos hovering over his head. No chorus of angels singing at his side. All Simeon could see was a squirming infant wrapped in a blanket and his poor parents who had come to do what the Law required of them. But the Spirit of God said, "This One is different. He's the One you've been waiting for." Simeon trusted God's Word. With the tiny baby cradled in his arms, he knew that he could depart in peace. He could die without fear. He had seen God's salvation in the face of this poor and humble Child, and now he could depart in peace. God had kept His promise.

Such high and glorious names Simeon gives this poor infant! He calls Him God's Salvation, the Light of the Gentiles, the Glory of Israel. "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” “I bring near my deliverance, it is not far off, and my salvation will not tarry; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory."

Cradled in Simeon's arms is God's salvation, God's devil-crushing victory over sin and death. We are weak, but this Child is our strength. We are filled with darkness, but He is our Light. We are sinful, but He is the sinless One who became sin for us so that in Him we might become God's righteousness. He is Light shining into our darkness, opening the eyes of the blind, opening our eyes to God's love and His desire to save. He is the Glory of Israel, the reason God had an Israel, a chosen people, so that His beloved and chosen Son would be born into the world to suffer and die, to rise and reign.

Simeon must have sounded like an old man gone stark raving mad, calling this tiny baby the Salvation of God and the Glory of Israel. Even Mary and Joseph were amazed at his words. Who would have guessed that such infinitely wonderful things could be said about such a tiny baby? Our saviors are big and strong. Our lights are bright. Our glory is glitter and gold. This Child appears so small and helpless and poor. The enemies around us loom so large - the cancers, the viruses, the violence, the evil, the guilt, the death. It is David and his slingshot versus Goliath and his sword. How can a little Child be strong enough?

Old Simeon is our preacher this morning. "Don't believe your eyes. Trust God's Word. Look to this Child that Mary wrapped in a blanket and brought to the temple. Receive this Child in the empty arms of faith. Hold him as your own, for He has come to be your Light and your Salvation. He is the Glory of God's Israel come down to you. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, whether you are good or bad, rich or poor, young or old, married or single. This Child has come to save you, so that you too can depart in peace." 

The Church traditionally sings Simeon's song on two different occasions. We call it the Nunc dimittis, from its first two words in Latin, "Now depart." It is the traditional hymn of Compline, the prayer at the close of the day. Just before we go to sleep at night, we are to pray, "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace." Sleep is a picture of death just as rising in the morning is a picture of the resurrection. If I die before I wake, I know that God's only begotten Child will care for me. "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?"

Later in history, Simeon's song came into the liturgy of the Lord's Supper. What a perfect place to sing St. Simeon's song of deliverance. We have heard the Word of Christ. "My body given for you; my blood shed for you." He is more present for you here in the Supper than when His little body was cradled in Simeon's arms. Then we sing, "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your Word." To repeat a clever phrase I heard from a wise Pastor: "We go to the Sacrament as though going to our death, so that we might go to our death as though going to the Sacrament."

Simeon knew the cost. Even at 40 days, the cross casts its shadow over the Child. He was set for the falling and rising of many. Many would stumble over Him in unbelief and fall to their condemnation. Some would look to Him in faith and rise to eternal life. He would be a sign spoken against, despised and rejected, a curse on men's lips. The sword that would pierce His side would also pierce the soul of his mother, as she stood by and watched her Son give His life for the world. Those who bear Christ are not immune to suffering and sorrow in this life. Not Mary, his mother. Not the Church. Not you and me. The cross marks the life of this Child, and it marks all who follow Him. But if we learn one thing from St. Simeon, it is this: Where Christ looks most helpless and weak, there He is most Savior, most Light, most Glory, most Son of God for us - in the manger, in the arms of Simeon, on the cross, in the Sacrament.

There was also a woman named Anna in the temple. She had been married for seven years, and had likely been widowed at the age of 24 or 25. Though she certainly would have been free to marry again and raise a family, Anna instead devoted herself to prayer and fasting, watching and waiting for the coming redemption of Israel. Luke tells us that she was from the tribe of Asher. Asher had been among the wealthiest of the tribes of Israel. Yet Asher's religious history reflected the spiritual sleepiness and indifference that often comes with the life of prosperity. No prophet or judge had come from the tribe of Asher. But now in these last days is St. Anna, a prophetess, a woman who spoke the Word of God with prophetic power. Even the numbers of her life were a prophetic witness to God's grace: She'd been married for a perfect seven years. Now she was 84 years old, seven times twelve. In the seventh twelfth, or the twelfth seven, of her life, she was given to see the Salvation of God, the Glory of Israel.

Her life was now complete. Everything she had hoped for, everything for which she had prayed and fasted and waited was found in this little Child born of Mary. She gave thanks to God and spoke about Him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. She bore witness to Jesus, directing everyone who was looking for the redemption of Jerusalem to Him. There He is! The One in Simeon's arms! He is the One we've all been waiting for. Anna is a picture of the Church - receiving Christ, thanking God, witnessing in the world.

Simeon and Anna. Mary and Joseph. And there in the middle of it all, a tiny 40 day old baby. It is a little congregation. Everyone is represented. The young and the old, the married and the single, the widowed - people who would otherwise have nothing in common are gathered by the Spirit of God around Jesus hidden in humility. People, the likes of you and me, who live in the shadow of death, can, by the grace of this Child in Simeon's arms, die in the light of life. And we too can sing with saints Anna and St. Simeon: Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your Word.

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.

There surely were few things more familiar, mundane, non-threatening, and approachable to the ancient Israelites than a tent. And yet, that is precisely how God chose to be present among His people – in a tent, the tabernacle, made by human hands. This was a radical change from God’s holy and terrifying presence on Mount Sinai in fire and smoke accompanied by thunder and lightning and quaking earth. The people, then, were forbidden to touch the mountain or even to approach it without first ceremonially cleansing and purifying themselves. Such restrictions and prohibitions were actually an act of mercy and grace on behalf of our Creator and God, for it was because of our sins and guilt that we could not abide in His presence, not because our God did not desire to be with His people. The LORD created us for communion with Him – so much more than the clichéd “personal relationship” many imagine today.

The LORD dwelt with His people, our First Parents Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. They had access to God, for they were created in His image, holy and righteous, sharing His will as their own. However, when they succumbed to the devil’s temptation and acted upon their own will, which is necessarily not the will of the LORD, they immediately became other, sinful and stained by guilt. No longer could they abide in the LORD’s holy and righteous presence lest they be utterly destroyed. Thus, the LORD protected them from His presence, exiling them from the Garden and barring the way by a holy angel holding a flashing sword. However, the LORD still desired to be with them, therefore through many and various ways He provided means by which they could approach Him and not be consumed. First He covered their nakedness and guilt by shedding the innocent blood of animals and covering them with their skins. Later He established the Levitical priesthood and the sacrificial system that, by the shedding of the blood of hundreds of thousands of lambs and bulls the LORD might look away from their sin and guilt for a time. Still, none of these means ever removed or took away a single sin, but only covered them over for a time. Thus, the sacrifices had to be repeated daily, monthly, and annually until time was full for them to be fulfilled by the sacrifice they all pointed to, a sacrifice the LORD Himself would make to take away the sins of the world.

“But 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.” Blessed Christmas! There surely were few things more familiar, mundane, non-threatening, and approachable to the ancient Israelites – and to us – than a newborn child. And yet, that is precisely how God chose to be present among His people – in a flesh and blood newborn child made without human hands. Once the shekinah glorious presence of the LORD among His people dwelt in the tent of the tabernacle and behind the temple veil that no man could enter into but only the high priest, and only one day each year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and only after elaborate and particular cleansing and purifying rights and sacrifices of innocent blood. But, in the incarnation of God, the Word made flesh Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, men could now approach and handle God without fear. As we confess in the Christmas hymn Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, “Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail! The incarnate deity! Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.”

In the Incarnation, as a zygote, embryo, and fetus, as an infant child, the glory of the LORD shifted location and presence from the temple built by human hands to the virgin womb of Mary. The shekinah glory of the LORD that dwelt among His people on Sinai, in the tabernacle, and in the temple took up residence in the virgin womb of a lowly human maiden, the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos “Mother of God.” Jesus Himself made this point later in His ministry in response to the disciple’s marveling at the Jerusalem temple saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” St. John tells us that Jesus was talking about His own body. Thus, St. John proclaims in the Christmas Gospel, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory [His shekinah glory], glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Blessed Christmas!

God’s Christmas present to the world is His approachable, handleable presence in Jesus Christ. Of this marvelous, mysterious, glorious, and holy truth the preacher to the Hebrews proclaims, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” The Incarnation of God, which we celebrate and remember and give thanks for this Christmas Day, has provided us eternal access to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. More than that, however, the Incarnation is the beginning of our redemption and restoration to God, that we may dwell and live in His holy, righteous, and glorious presence without fear. In the Incarnation, God became man that man might commune with God in a way even greater than did our First Parents in righteousness in the Garden before the Fall.

Jesus’ flesh became the new tent, tabernacle, temple, and veil within which the righteous and holy shekinah glory of the LORD dwelt among His people. God dwelt among His family, a human mother and father, having sisters and brothers. God dwelt among simple, sinful men and women whom He called to follow Him as His disciples. God dwelt among lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes, Jews and Gentiles, sinners, and the unclean, and they were not consumed and destroyed, but were forgiven and healed from their sin-sickness unto death. As a man, God took all their sins and guilt and uncleanness upon Himself and left them pure and clean and forgiven. God took all their sins and guilt and uncleanness upon Himself and nailed it to the cross. God died as a man for men who deserved to die, and He left their sins and guilt and uncleanness behind in His tomb as He rose from death, its victor, never to die again. Then He ascended back into heaven, as a man forever to remain, securing our own place in the presence of the glory of the LORD forever. A man now sits at the right hand of the Father in His glorious presence, and so shall you. Blessed Christmas!

The Incarnation of God, the enfleshment of the Son of God, the Word made flesh and dwelling among us, has literally changed everything – how we live, how we die, how we relate to each other, and how we relate to God. No longer do we fear God’s wrath against our sin and being sent to hell. No longer do we fear having or not having, what our enemies might do to us, or even death. This is freedom, true freedom – Freedom from the bondage of sin and the fear of death and hell. Blessed Christmas! Even now we enter into His holy and righteous presence without fear  – though in great humility, reverence, trust, and love – and we receive Him who created the universe and all things in it, who sustains our own lives and all things still, who loves us with such a perfect and holy love that He would not see us forsaken and destroyed though we rebelled against Him and treated Him contemptuously and, sometimes, still do. We not only enter His holy and righteous presence, but we take Him into ourselves. His flesh is our flesh, His blood courses through our veins – this too is the meaning of the Incarnation – in blessed and holy communion that our First Parents would have longed for even in the Garden.

And yet still, this is but a foretaste of what is yet to come in the resurrection and eternal life in heaven. The Word made flesh is present for us to eat and drink under the lowly, humble, approachable, and handleable forms of bread and wine that we might commune with Him and receive His holy and righteous presence now to sustain us until the not yet. Blessed Christmas! “He whom the sea and wind obey doth come to serve the sinner in great meekness. Thou, God’s own Son, with us art one, dost join us and our children in our weakness.” This is God’s gift at Christmas; this is God’s Christmas presence. O, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

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.

We exchange gifts at Christmas in remembrance of God’s Gift to us and the whole world in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true meaning of Christmas, lest we be overcome by worldly pursuits and fleshly desires and passions and forget. Jesus is God’s gift at Christmas, and it is not cliché to say that Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving. What I mean to say is that Jesus is the gift that has forever changed who we are, why we are, and where we are going in our lives. To understand this truth rightly, however, we must understand a word that has sadly fallen out of common use in the Christian Church and faith, the word incarnation. Incarnation literally means to take up flesh as in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” That God became a man, one of His own creation, “Perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh,” as we confess in The Athanasian Creed, has literally, really, truly, and forever, changed everything!

The people of the first century world were, as the Prophet declares, a people “who dwelt in a land of deep darkness.” They had experienced a repetitious cycle of faithfulness, complacency, rebellion, unbelief and apostasy, judgment, repentance, redemption and restoration – now, rinse and repeat. A sign for hope was offered to King Ahaz, but was spurned by him: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” – God with us. Still, most did not believe, but only a promised remnant. And, after hundreds of years, the kingdom of Israel was barren and lifeless. The great olive tree that the LORD had planted, into which the Gentiles were to be grafted and redeemed, had been cut down so that only a barren, lifeless, and fruitless stump remained. The land and the people were spiritually scorched and dead. The Word of the LORD had been silent for four hundred years. The people spent their days and years eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, living mostly in fear of their enemies, without any real hope for rescue or redemption, making the best of a hopeless situation, having forgotten or forsaken their God and His covenant promises made to their forefathers. Sound familiar? That was the people and the world upon whom a Light was about to shine. Sadly, most had grown so accustomed to dwelling in darkness that they either failed to recognize the Light, or they were afraid of the Light and fled from it, or they recognized it and hated it and sought to destroy it.

But not all. A young Jewish woman named Mary, a descendant of the House of David, was watching and waiting. So too was a faithful Jewish man named Joseph, also a descendant of the House of David, to whom Mary was betrothed. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and proclaimed that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, she was fearful at the angel’s greeting, as a sinful man or woman should be, but she did not doubt the Word the angel proclaimed. She did ask a practical question, however, concerning how this would happen, since she was a virgin. Thus, Mary conceived the Christ Child in the same way that Abraham and all his children, including you and I, came to faith, by the Word of the LORD. Mary heard and believed the Word of the LORD that Gabriel proclaimed, and that Word took up residence within her virgin womb: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” That was the Incarnation. The Word of God, by whom all things have been made, condescended to become a man, conceived as all men are, in the womb of a human woman, a virgin womb from whence no life could possibly be expected to arise. In many respects, the Virgin Mary was like that barren, lifeless, and fruitless stump of Jesse from which no one could have anticipated hope and life to arise. And yet, it was prophesied, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” If the branch is the Christ, which it most certainly is, then it makes sense to think of the stump as Mary, the Mother of Our Lord. Of course, what is Mary, but the New Eve. As our First Mother introduced sin and death into the world, so Mary is made to be the mother of the world’s Savior, Jesus, the New Adam.

Even the announcement of Jesus’ birth to lowly shepherds was unexpected. Would not such news be proclaimed first to powerful Kings and the religious leaders of Israel? But then, who were those shepherds, and what did they represent? “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Are not shepherds pastors, and flocks their congregations? Those shepherds were found by the angel watching over the flocks entrusted to their care while the official shepherds of Israel, the Pharisees, Priests, and Levites, had long ago forsaken the hope of Messiah and taught the people they were given to care for to do the same. And they were given a message to proclaim to all the world, “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.” Truly, the Lord’s undershepherds continue to point all the world to their Savior wrapped in lowly bread and wine that all who believe may receive the forgiveness of their sins and live.

This Promised Son of woman’s seed, this fresh and lively shoot from Jesse’s stump, this flowering rose of the Virgin’s womb, this swaddled Babe of Bethlehem, the host of angels proclaimed. He is Peace between God and men in whom alone God is well pleased. The shepherds went with haste to behold this great and mighty wonder that the LORD had made known to them. And there they beheld Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. When they saw it, they went and told all who would receive them this Good News. Everyone who heard them wondered at their words. Perhaps they had a faint recollection of a promise long ago forgotten. But, Mary, His mother, “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

It was a mystery, a great and holy wonder and mystery. Even the faithful remnant, those like Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, who clung to hope and faith in the LORD’s promise, could not fully understand what was happening. Yet still they believed. Faith is not understanding or knowledge, but faith is trust. May we, like the Holy Family and the shepherds and the Magi, watch and wait for our Lord’s reappearing in faith and hope and trust like the faithful remnant who watched and waited so long ago. And may we place our faith and trust in the mysterious gifts He has given us now as we watch and wait, His Holy Word, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Supper, that our sins may be forgiven, our faith strengthened, and our hope encouraged.

“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 Wonder Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Jesus is the fulfillment of the Davidic kingdom. He reigns and rules even now at the right hand of God the Father in heaven, even as the kings of men go to war and rob and oppress the people. He counsels and guides His people in the Truth by His Holy Spirit through His Word. He is God, and He is man, united in one person forevermore, and we are one with God in and through Him now, even as what we will be has yet to be revealed. He is our true spiritual Father and Great High Priest, interceding on our behalf before our God and Father. He is Peace with God, and the only possible peace between men. He is the Peace that comforts us when the terrors of the dark night of this world threaten to overcome us. And He is the Peace that we show and share with others to the glory of His Name.

In the incarnation and birth of Jesus, “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.” Jesus is God’s gift at Christmas, the gift that keeps on giving, because that gift has forever changed who we are, why we are, and where we are going in our lives. We are God’s children now, His own sons and daughters through baptism and faith in His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ. We are subjects of the King of the Universe and of all creation, and not subjects only, but kings and queens of heaven and earth with Him. Therefore, let us not live our lives pursuing ungodliness and worldly passion, but let us live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age as we watch and wait for our Lord’s return, treasuring and pondering all these things daily in our hearts. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” “O, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

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

(Audio)

Sunday School Lessons and Carols: Isaiah 9:2, 6, 7;

Luke 1:26-35, 38; Luke 2:1, 3-7; Luke 2:8-16; John 1:1-14

 

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

Of the many good, wonderful, and miraculous things we celebrate at Christmas – the Incarnation of God and the Virgin Birth, Peace between God and man, a spirit of reconciliation, peace, joy, and good will between men and women of every creed, race, and clan – one good, wonderful, and miraculous thing that often gets overlooked is God’s Divine Providence, His guiding and directing of all things toward His own holy, good, and wise ends.

For example, consider only the events of which you have heard this morning from God’s Holy Word. First, there was Isaiah’s prophecy, spoken to the people of Judah nearly seven-hundred years before Jesus’ birth. Isaiah prophesied to a people who were continually vacillating between faithfulness and idolatry. Isaiah warned that God’s holiness could not bear with sin and that His righteousness could not permit sin to go unpunished, therefore His judgment was coming. But, Isaiah also showered Judah with the beautiful and comforting Gospel of God’s compassion, mercy, and love, foreshadowing His sending of the Messiah born of a virgin who would be a Light to those walking in the darkness of sin and death, a Great Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.

Then you heard of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, nearly seven-hundred years later, in the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement to a young Judean virgin named Mary. Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, and that He would be given the throne of David and reign over the house of Jacob forever, just as Isaiah had prophesied.

Luke’s Gospel also records for us how God utilizes even earthly governments and human laws, institutions, and machinations, both good and bad, to accomplish His good and holy will. This time, through the Prophet Micah who prophesied, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” In fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy, Joseph and Mary, great with child, found themselves in Bethlehem for a census ordered by Caesar. The fact that the city was crowded with people from all over Judea registering for the census made it so that Mary delivered her son in lowly and humble conditions, likely in a common room in the home of Joseph and Mary’s kinfolk, laying Him in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. In God’s wisdom and providence, even these seemingly insignificant elements were in fulfillment of prophecy of the kind of King His Son would be: mild, humble, selfless, and sacrificial.

In like manner, the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy was proclaimed first, not to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Sanhedrin, the religious leadership of Israel, not to Herod or Pilate or Caesar, and not to those of wealth, power, or great reputation, but the proclamation of the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy, the proclamation of the Gospel, was given first to those of low estate, to poor and humble shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. Even still today, the chief responsibility of Christ’s undershepherds, His pastors, is to proclaim the Gospel and to guard and keep His sheep in the darkness of this world’s night of sin and death.

And then, in our final reading from the Gospel of John, you hear that this was God’s will and design before man’s fall into sin, before the creation of man, indeed, before the foundation of the world. John’s Words “In the beginning…” take you back, well, to the beginning of God’s revealed Word, to Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth….” John proclaims to you that the Word of God was with God in the beginning, and that, in fact, the Word of God was God, and that all things that God has made have been made by the speaking of His life-giving and creative Word. What we celebrate at Christmas, especially, is what John proclaims in the last verse of today’s reading: “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.”

At Christmas, we must remember that, though we may see darkness and sin and suffering and death all around us, though wars and rumors of wars dominate the headlines, though natural disasters destroy lives, homes, and livelihoods, though diseases take the lives of those we love, and though even children are not spared the horror of evil at the hands of broken, corrupted, and sinful men, we must remember that God is in control, before sin, before man, before the foundation of the world, and that He has worked, and He is working, and will continue to work all things, even the bad things, the horrible things, and the evil things, for the good of those who love Him, whom He has called in His Son, His Messiah, our Savior, His Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.

At Christmas, we remember that God did not turn a cold shoulder in judgment against His rebellious creation, but He did the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the impossible, and the miraculous – He penetrated His fallen and broken creation and became one of His creatures, being born of the flesh of a woman in weakness, lowliness, and poverty that He might be everything His holiness and righteousness required for you, in your place, as your substitute, that He might bear in His own flesh the necessary wage of sin, death, and shed His own holy and innocent blood to wash away your guilt, that He might be at peace with you, and you with Him, and live in His holy and righteous presence in holy communion with Him – flesh of His flesh, bone of His bone – evermore and evermore. This Peace is God’s gift to you at Christmas, and every day of the year, every day and year of your lives. Remember and treasure His Word, His Gift, and enjoy His Peace and live His Love, every day of the year.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Advent Evening Prayer in the Week of Gaudete (Advent 3)

(Audio)

Mark 6:14-29; 1 Kings 19:1-8; Psalm 71:1-8

 

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

Though John was the forerunner of Jesus, they were similar in many ways. Following his baptism, Jesus preached the very same message as John, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It’s not that John preached the Law and Jesus preached the Gospel, both men preached both Law and Gospel, both men preached the whole counsel of the word of God. Jesus even used John’s biting designation for the scribes and the Pharisees, calling them a “brood of vipers.” Both John and Jesus proclaimed the truth before powerful rulers and kings without regard for the consequence, and both John and Jesus were arrested and executed for proclaiming the truth. They were not the first, nor the last, and the same is true for you today.

But John had a forerunner as well, the Prophet Elijah. Elijah was undoubtedly the greatest prophet of repentance in the Old Testament. It was Elijah and Moses who appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration bearing witness to him. King Ahab, the seventh king of Israel, reigned during the time of Elijah. Ahab was a wicked king in his own right, but in a military alliance by marriage he had taken the daughter of the Sidonian king, Jezebel, as his wife. Jezebel was a priestess of the fertility goddess Astarte, and she was a worshipper of the Canaanite god Baal. With Ahab’s blessing and lack of concern, Jezebel raised up prophets and priests of Baal in Israel, established altars and temples on the high places, and encouraged, even demanded, that the Israelites worship Baal along with, or in place of, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was in response this this gross idolatry and apostasy that the LORD sent the Prophet Elijah to warn Ahab and Israel that he was about to bring judgment upon the nation, calling them to repent and return to the LORD that he might show them mercy and forgive them. Needless to say, Ahab and Jezebel were not pleased with Elijah or the word of the LORD he proclaimed.

I will share with you a brief review of Elijah’s ministry: The LORD sent Elijah to prophesy to Ahab that he was about to send a terrible drought upon Israel and its surrounding nations until the people had repented, purged the worship of Baal from the land, and began to call upon the LORD once again. During this time the LORD sent Elijah to Zarephath in Sidon (birthplace of Queen Jezebel), hostile territory for a Prophet of the LORD, all the more so during a terrible drought and famine. There Elijah stayed with a widow and her son, and the three were provided for throughout the drought as the “jar of flour was not spent” and the “jug of oil was not empty.” Sometime after this that same widow’s son became ill and died. Elijah prayed to the LORD and the child was resurrected and restored to his mother. Then Elijah challenged Jezebel’s prophets of Baal to a contest, to see whose god could truly hear and answer his people’s prayers. Each, the prophets of Baal, and Elijah, would make a sacrifice of a bull to their god. The god that answered by consuming the sacrifice would clearly be the true god. So, the prophets of Baal prepared their sacrifice and they prayed to Baal, but nothing happened, Baal did not answer. They went to great lengths, dancing around the sacrifice, throwing their arms in the air, yelling and shouting, and even cutting their flesh and pouring out their blood, all to get Baal’s attention, but nothing happened, Baal did not answer. Then Elijah prepared his sacrifice. However, he upped the ante by dousing his sacrifice with water three times so that the bull, the wood, and the earthen altar were all sopping wet, and a channel dug around the altar was full of water. Then Elijah prayed, and the fire of the LORD came down and consumed Elijah’s sacrifice along with the stones and the water, and even consumed the sacrifice of the prophets of Baal. There was no question who the true and only God in Israel was, the God of Elijah, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then Elijah ordered the execution of the prophets of Baal. Which leads us into tonight’s First Lesson from 1 Kings 19.

Jezebel was furious with Elijah, and she threatened him saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” At this Elijah became afraid. He ran away, leaving behind the LORD’s divine orders to call Israel to repentance. Elijah fled to Judah and into the wilderness and, in great despair, prayed to the LORD that he should take his life. As an aside, this is one of the great strengths of the Holy Scriptures: All of its heroes of the faith are flawed and sinful, just like us. The Bible is likely the only religious text that isn’t hagiographical, recording only the good things concerning its heroes. No, the Bible puts on full display the sinful failings of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Saul, David, and Solomon, Peter, James, John, and Paul, etc. To be a Christian is not to be perfect and without sin; to be a Christian is to have faith and trust in Jesus and receive forgiveness, and then to try to live in a better way, but to return in repentance for forgiveness once again when we fail. And so, Elijah is not so unlike us. Though he was Prophet of God and believed very strongly, he was still human. He was in a terrible predicament and, though he trusted in God (he prayed to God), he simply couldn’t see any escape from Jezebel’s wrath. He was going to die, so he believed, therefore he would prefer the LORD take him now rather than Jezebel later, most certainly by cruel and terrible means.

The Living God both heard and answered Elijah’s prayer: “And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.” The LORD heard and answered Elijah’s prayer. The LORD’s answer, however, was “No.” No, the LORD would not take Elijah’s life at this time; he still had work to do. However, the LORD gave Elijah what he needed to carry out the task and persevere, a cake of bread and a jar of water. It wasn’t much, but it was sufficient. So the LORD continues to provide us what we need, which, admittedly, is often quite different than what we think we need or want. The LORD provides us what we need to carry out the tasks for which he has made us, the tasks he has given us to do. He doesn’t promise that it will be easy; most likely it will be very difficult at times. All that is required of us is that we are faithful, that we trust in Him. It is not required of us that we be successful, or popular, or prosperous, or anything else that men and the world value. The LORD will provide, always. In his despair, Elijah believed that he was the only faithful servant of the LORD left in Israel, but the LORD revealed to him the truth, that there were more than 7,000 who had not knelt before Baal or kissed his mouth. That is true today as it was in Elijah’s and John’s and Jesus’ time.

John was in Herod’s prison for preaching the truth of God’s word against Herod’s sin of adultery. He knew he wouldn’t get out alive, and he didn’t. Nevertheless, John accomplished the work the LORD sent him to do; John prepared the way for the coming of Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life, apart from whom no one can come to the Father. Jesus was rejected by the Jewish religious leadership for preaching the truth of God’s word against hypocritical legalism and their failure to produce the fruit of love, mercy, and forgiveness. They betrayed him and handed him over to Gentile unbelievers to do their dirty work for them and put him to death. Faithful Christians, whether pastors, teachers, deaconesses, or laity of all vocations will likewise face mocking and ridicule, persecution of various stripes, fines, imprisonment, and potentially even death for proclaiming the truth of God’s word in a world of sin and darkness and to a people who have become comfortable dwelling in the darkness of sin and death. Do not be afraid. As the LORD provided for and strengthened Elijah with both material and spiritual food, as the LORD provided for and comforted John in prison with His word, and as the LORD strengthened Jesus for his task, assuring him of his presence with him, so the LORD will provide for, strengthen, comfort, and encourage you for the work he has given you to do. You have his word and sacraments, which the flesh and the world consider foolishness, but are sufficient for you to see you through. The jar of flour will not be spent, the jug of oil will not be empty, until the LORD rains righteousness upon the earth.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Christian Funeral for Willard Homeister

(Audio)

John 11:17, 21-26; Ephesians 2:1-10; Isaiah 41:8-10

 

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

Farmers have a leg up on faith. They till the earth; they clear it of weed and stone; none of it made by human hands, intellect, or ingenuity. Then they take a seed, an inert, seemingly lifeless seed, and they plant it in the earth, and they wait. Most certainly they tend to it; they water it, and they weed it some more, but mostly they just wait, and while they wait, they pray a quiet prayer, with or without words. For they did not make the earth or the seed; they did not make the water, the sunshine, or the nutrients in the soil; neither did they make the seed, nor do they make it germinate, sprout, and grow into a fruitful plant, but God has done, and God does all this, and every farmer knows this, and so he works and he waits and he prays for God to make his work fruitful.

Our brother in Christ Willard was such a farmer, and such a man. Yes, he was much more than a farmer, but from his childhood and youth growing up on the family farm, to his own beloved vegetable garden, Willard was a farmer, and that fact shaped who he was as a man, as a husband, as a father, and everything else. The eldest of fourteen children, Willard was literally conceived to work the land, to farm. That was typical for the time; everything a family needed came from the soil and from hard work, and many hands make that work easier. No one could afford to hire out for help, so you literally conceived it, you birthed it, you raised it, and you put it to work. No one complained, that was life, a life very close to the earth, to nature, to your food, clothing, and shelter, and to close to God. No work, no food, no clothing, no shelter, - no work, no life. That was Willard’s life until he was drafted in January of ’62. After just short of two years in the service, Willard returned home and served in the Unites States Army Reserves, and he resumed working on the farm and helping other farmers. Even when Willard accepted the position of tire manager for Farm Services and relocated with his young family to Keystone in 1974, where he eventually purchased and became the owner of that company through his retirement in 2013, Willard enjoyed working and talking to farmers and helping them get their equipment back in service as quickly as possible. It was in his DNA.

Is it merely a coincidence that Willard’s confirmation verse was Ephesians 2:10, “For we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Coincidence or not, it is the truth, and it suits Willard well. What St. Paul was getting at is that we are each like a seed planted in the ground by God. The difference is that God planted us, not a mortal man. Likewise, God has watered us, nourished us, shaded and protected us, and provided for us everything we need to live and to be fruitful and abundant. Our fruits are borne primarily in our vocations as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, farmers, tire salesmen, butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers. You knew Willard’s fruits. You saw them. You benefitted from them. Just as Willard planted seeds and cared for them so that they would be fruitful and produce a harvest, so God planted Willard, and each of us, and he cares for us so that we should be fruitful and produce a harvest. The fruit, the works we produce, serve others and so glorify God who has planted us. But they are God’s fruit, borne in us, by his grace, for we were dead in our trespasses and sin. It is because of sin that we die, for the wages of sin is death. Yes, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is life in Jesus Christ out Lord. Like a seed, we were inert and lifeless, dead in our sins, but God has planted us and has made us alive and life-giving. God planted Willard and made him alive and life-giving, and you are recipients and beneficiaries of his life.

Life was lived outside for Willard, working the soil, planting the seed, watering, weeding, harvesting, watching the miracle of life unfold over and over again. Or, in the woods cutting down trees and splitting the wood for his wood burning stove. That was hard work. It’s all hard work. Life is hard work. But Willard didn’t complain. He loved it. That too is a fruit of the seed the LORD has planted: Hard work, contentment and peace, love. To have his boys with him, working with him, cutting the trees, splitting the wood, loading the truck, tossing the logs down the coal chute to the furnace – that was fruit for Willard, that was the harvest, and nothing made him happier.

But all work and no play, that wasn’t Willard. Willard had several hobbies and interests he enjoyed when the work was done. Willard loved to tinker with his engines, repairing, fine-tuning, getting ‘em just right. While in the woods there was also berry and mushroom hunting. Even work was fun; Willard thoroughly enjoyed mowing the lawn, tilling the garden, and plowing the snow. Suffice it to say, Willard simply loved being outside, nearly all the time. In his later years, when his body no longer permitted him to work as hard as he loved to, you’d find him sitting, not in the house, but in a lawn chair in his open garage, enjoying the sights, sounds, smells, and beauty of the world, the life, and the family in which God had planted him. Willard also enjoyed puzzles; 1000 pieces? Child’s play. Better start with at least 5000, we’ll see how it goes from there. And there was polka dancing, which Willard and Marlys enjoyed together. Together they danced the night away with their friends all over Iowa and the Midwest. They particularly enjoyed dancing to the music of Malek’s Fishermen Band and Barefoot Becky. Willard was an incredibly hard working man who always willing to help someone in need when the telephone rang. He was a tremendous husband, father, brother, grandfather, and friend to countless people that he met during his lifetime. Willard was God’s seed, planted in this world and life, and God blessed him and made him fruitful, a blessing to all of you and so many more. Glory be to God in Jesus Christ!

The Gospel lesson we heard today from St. John should be familiar to many of you. It’s one of the most well-known, and somewhat mysterious, accounts of our Lord Jesus raising someone to life out of death. The person Jesus raised was his dear friend Lazarus, the brother of his dear friends Mary and Martha from Bethany. Mary and Martha had sent messages to Jesus, who was away from the area at the time, that their brother was critically ill and would surely die. They wanted Jesus to come right away and heal their brother. Jesus didn’t come right away, and intentionally so, as the story goes. In fact, Jesus waited even to depart for Bethany until he knew that his friend Lazarus had already died. When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Mary and Martha believed that Jesus could heal their brother before he died; they also believed in the resurrection on the last day. But Jesus wanted them to believe – Jesus wants you to believe – that death has already been defeated: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” Admittedly, this statement is a bit mysterious, and worded in a rather mysterious way. Again, that is intentional. What is Jesus saying? Is he saying that we won’t die? No. Is he saying that the death of those we love is not something to grieve and mourn? No. What Jesus is saying is that death is not the final word, and neither is life, for that matter. Jesus is the life of the living; and Jesus is resurrection of those who die. St. Paul put the same thing a different way saying, “For me to live is Christ; to die is gain.”

We are seed. Willard was a seed, planted by God. A seed must burst open and die so that new and fruitful life might spring forth. The LORD blessed Willard with a long and fruitful life; some of you are that fruit, all of you have benefitted from that fruit. Willard died spiritually long ago in Holy Baptism. There he took up Jesus’ life-giving life. Now Willard has died physically, and we will commend his body to the earth, like a seed, waiting patiently in hopeful expectation for the resurrection of the body on the last day. Then “the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” Yes, be encouraged! Those who die in the Lord are blessed, for they are with him. Jesus is the life of those who live, and he is the resurrection and the life of those who die. You will see those you love who have died in the Lord again; it is only a little while until the harvest.

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.

“All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass.”

This word is truth, though, most of the time, we exert herculean effort to live our lives in denial of this truth. However, when evil strikes out nation, our community, our family, our children, and those we love, then the veil of denial is savagely torn away. Horror and grief are the only appropriate response.

Then, the question screamed into the heavens is “Why?” Then people ask, “Where was God?” Many more ask, “Is there a God?” While, some curse God, and others say He simply doesn’t exist. People are afraid. People are angry. People are filled with doubt. People have lost hope and are filled with despair. But, there is nothing new about any of this. Indeed, people of every time and every place have suffered and died and questioned and doubted, ever since Cain murdered his brother Abel and spilled his blood in the field. Men slaughter men, children die, and the forces of nature and warring tribes and nations destroy lives and livelihoods, and God permits it to happen – and, that is the truth.

Theodicy – that’s the fancy theological term for trying to make excuses for God’s permitting evil and suffering in the world. I say to you, give it up. It’s a fruitless effort. God doesn’t need you to justify Himself, but, on the contrary, you need Him to justify you. That’s because, sin, evil, and death – these are not God’s creation – but these are man’s choice, your choice, and my choice. In the beginning, God gave man one command, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,” and God attached His Word to that tree saying, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Then the serpent came, outside of man whom God created good and in His image and likeness, tempting him to doubt God’s Word and to fear something other than God, to love himself more than God. Still, that temptation was not sin, but it was seed. Man received the seed, the seed bore fruit, and man sinned, and so death entered the world.

Once man had introduced death into the world, it was immediate that blood began to spill and God’s creatures began to die. The first to die were animals at the hand of God Himself. To clothe our First Parent’s nakedness, their guilt and shame, God sacrificed animals and shed their blood, clothing man and woman in their hides. From that point forward men sacrificed animals – oxen, bulls, goats, lambs, and pigeons – to cover over their sins. Their sins were never removed, but by the promise of God’s Word, for the sake of His own blood that He would eventually shed, He overlooked their sin and counted them as righteous and holy. He didn’t have to, and by all rights He shouldn’t have, for He is God and He is righteous and holy. He could have left man to his fate – death and eternal separation from the gracious presence of His God and Creator. But, God is also good, loving, gracious, and merciful; it would be contrary to His nature, even impossible for Him to do as sinful man would, to permit man to reap eternally what he had sown. So, He did what was necessary. He set in motion a plan to become a man Himself, the perfect man, and to fulfill all that was necessary to redeem man from his sin, evil, and death. He sent His only-begotten Son to be born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law. Where He once shed the innocent blood of animals to clothe man’s nakedness, guilt, and shame, in time, He would shed His own blood and take away the sin of the whole world.

In the face of tragedy and violence we grope as in the darkness for peace and comfort, and all that we can find is nothingness, evil, and more death. Only the light of God’s Word can pierce the darkness of sin and death and provide us a path out. The wages of sin is death. It surrounds us as we live, and all who live must pass through its valley; but the Word of the LORD, which alone gives and sustains life, stands forever. His Word proclaims to you comfort and peace, not in place of your grief and sorrows, but in the midst of them.

John the Baptist pointed to the sacrifice that God would offer to take away the sins of all men. He pointed to Jesus saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” As Abraham confessed as he prepared to sacrifice his own son Isaac, “God will provide for Himself the Lamb.” Still, John, in prison, awaiting his own cruel death, questioned Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Did John have a moment of doubt concerning whom Jesus was and what he came to do? I don’t think so. But, surely we can imagine being in John’s position, looking at the horrible, dark, and evil circumstances he was in and wondering, “Where are you God? Aren’t you going to help me? Have I got this all wrong?” What did Jesus do? He directed John back to the Word of God: What do you hear? What do you see? “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” The effects of sin, evil, and death are being undone all around you, every day. God’s Word has gone out into the world; it will not return to Him void, but it will accomplish that purpose for which it has been sent. Like a shepherd, I will face grim death before you, and I will lead you, not around it, but through it, into my Father’s house forevermore. It’s a done deal, even before it happens! Your warfare is ended. Your iniquity is pardoned. You have received double for all your sins. Though the grass withers and the flower fades, this is under the Lord’s control, and He works all things, even the horrible, wicked, and evil things, He works even death for your good.

Why is there evil in the world? Why do innocent children die horrible deaths? Why is there pain and suffering, sorrow and grief? Why doesn’t God do anything to stop it? The answer to all of those questions, except for the last one, is sin. The wages of sin is death. Why doesn’t God do anything to stop it? He has. And, He does. He sent His only-begotten Son to become a man that He might take sin upon Himself and earn its wage, death. Thus, He has destroyed, not death, but the power of death, so that all who die trusting in Him, pass through death into deathless life. In fact, those who believe in Him and are baptized have begun to live that deathless life even now, life that can never be taken from them.

Whence comes comfort for those afflicted by grief and sorrow? Whence comes comfort for those afflicted by sin, evil, and death? Comfort comes from the Word of God which was, and is, and ever shall be: The Word spoken into the darkness in the beginning. The Word made flesh and dwelling amongst us. The Word crucified, dead, and buried. The Word raised up to new life on the third day. The Word ascended, reigning, and ruling all things at the right hand of the Father. The Word making all things new. The Word coming in power and glory, bringing a new heaven and a new earth. The Word present amongst us now to comfort us in our sorrows, to restore us to holiness, to strengthen our faith, and to walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death, upon the path He has already blazed, into His Father’s house forevermore.

John didn’t get out of prison. Sometime later he was beheaded by Herod. But, John believed in the Word of the LORD, and he is amongst those souls in heaven who cry out “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” To them, as to you, has been given a white robe and the command “rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who will be killed as they were, is completed.” We are all sheep to be slaughtered. We pass, not around, but through death. But, let us fear no evil; for, the Lord is with us. He comforts us with His rod and staff. He feeds us in the presence of our enemies. He anoints us with His Spirit and fills us to overflowing with His grace, love, and mercy. And He leads us, through death, into life with His Father and the Holy Spirit forevermore.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Advent Evening Prayer in the Week of Populus Zion (Advent 2)

(Audio)

Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:57-80; Psalm 112

 

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

How difficult it is to comfort the comfortable. John the Baptist came preaching salvation. How odd that must have sounded in the ears of first century Jews and Gentiles who had grown comfortable in their benevolent slavery under their Roman occupiers. They had grown content and comfortable with their captivity, and they had grown content and comfortable in their sins and idolatries. How odd the Baptist’s preaching of salvation must have sounded to them. “Salvation from who?” they must have wondered. “Salvation from what?” they must have asked.

John was sent at a time when prophecies were thought to be dead. No one had heard from a prophet for several hundred years. Entire generations of Jews and Gentiles had been born, had lived, and had died neither hearing nor believing in prophecy. Those few, but a remnant, who held the old faith, were surely thought to be out of touch, ignorant, unenlightened fools. While they prayed their prayers and made their sacrifices and tried the best they could to live according to God’s Word and will, their neighbors, even their brothers and sisters, at best, ignored them and considered them quaint and ignorant, and at worst, mocked and ridiculed and persecuted them. Additionally, the religious leadership of the Jews, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, interpreted God’s Word in a strict, legalistic manner that made it burdensome and oppressive, that served only to crush weak faith or to harden proud hearts. They did not teach repentance unto forgiveness, for they believed that a person could be right with the Lord by performing works according to the Law.

How would John’s preaching be received today? I believe that it would be, and that, in fact, it is, received in much the same way as it was in first century Israel. The message of salvation is largely rejected. How difficult it is to comfort the comfortable. The message of salvation is an objective message. In order for there to be sin and repentance, there must be an objective reality, truth, or law that is universal and absolute. Today, men reject both truth and absolutes – absolutely, I might add. And, in order for there to be absolution, there must be someone who has the holiness and the authority to decree, judge, and execute justice accordingly. Today, men reject holiness, righteousness, and universal authority, decree, judgment, and justice. For, today, as in John’s day, men reject God, but they supplant Him with a myriad of gods, goddesses, and idols, particularly, the god that is oneself.

How difficult it is to comfort the comfortable. You are to believe that you live in the most advanced culture and society ever to grace the face of the planet. Indeed, our technology is so advanced that families can be scattered all over the globe and still communicate in real time, even with video and audio. Of course, technology has also served to foster the scattering of families all over the globe. And our medical science and technology is so advanced that people are living much longer and healthier lives. Of course, our medical science and technology is so advanced that over 620,000 babies (conservatively) are aborted each year in the United States (that’s over 950 per day), and medical care has become so expensive, due to corruption and greed in the medical, pharmaceutical, and insurance industries, as well as in the government, that the families of elderly persons are increasingly forced to assign a monetary value to their loved one’s life in comparison to the cost of their care. And what remarkable, astounding freedoms we enjoy in our country and throughout the world! You are free to do almost anything you want, so long as it does not directly impinge upon someone else’s freedom, that is, again, unless you happen to have not been born yet, or you are elderly or incapacitated in some way and someone else has reckoned your life less valuable than the cost of your care. But, beyond that, you can do anything, because nothing is immoral, except saying that someone’s behavior is immoral; nothing is wrong, except saying that someone’s actions are wrong; nothing is sinful, except naming a behavior to be sinful. Indeed, all things are to be tolerated, except perceived intolerance. And, because there is no God, all things and all people are gods. And, because all things and all people are gods, there is no god.

Now, if you are comfortable with all this, then you must surely think John the Baptist’s preaching, indeed, you must surely think my preaching, to be quaint, ignorant, and utter foolishness. Perhaps you even think it to be judgmental, bigoted, hate speech. How difficult it is to comfort the comfortable, indeed.

Nevertheless, John the Baptist was sent to comfort God’s people by preaching repentance unto the forgiveness of sins. John proclaimed that man’s warfare with God was ended, and that all man’s iniquities and sins were pardoned and forgiven by our God and LORD in the one who was to come, the one whose sandals John was not worthy to untie, God’s Son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. John came preaching in the wilderness of this world to people who had convinced themselves that this life and world, with its sin, suffering, and death, poverty, crime, corruption, and war, is paradise and the fulfillment of what it means to be human and alive. John came to proclaim the truth to a people who no longer believed in truth, but had come to believe the lies of the great liar and deceiver, Satan. Though they considered him mad and a fool, his wisdom and his authority were not in his person, his birthright, or in his material worth, but his wisdom and his authority were in his proclamation of God’s Word before priests and kings, before the poor and the widowed, before Jews and Gentiles, before prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors, and all the unclean. To all the world John proclaimed a baptism of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins – the greatest comfort imaginable, the greatest comfort there is.

The world was, and the world is still, perplexed by John and his message. He was prophesied to proclaim comfort, but his message was one of convicting Law unto repentance. Because men have believed the lies of the Liar, they do not know the comfort that comes from repentance and absolution. But there is comfort in looking outside of yourself. For, the world’s peace and comfort is no peace and comfort at all; it is always fleeting and never satisfying or sufficient to clear your conscience of the stain of guilt. John proclaims true comfort and true peace proceeding from a conscience that has been washed clean of the stain of guilt and sin with the innocent shed blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ blood comes from outside of you, but it is for you, and for the forgiveness of your sins.

Your LORD knew that you were too enmeshed in the lies of the Liar to receive and believe in the gift of His Son, so he sent John to go before Him to prepare the way for His coming. John did this by preaching repentance and by baptizing, symbolizing a rebirth and turning away from the ways of the flesh and the world to the ways of the LORD. John was sent “to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins” that they might receive “the sunrise from on high,” Jesus, who was soon to “visit [them] from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide their feet into the way of peace.”

In fact, John’s appearance was the result of a long series of strange interventions by God, as the Swedish Lutheran theologian Bo Giertz has observed, “Against all odds, Zechariah and Elizabeth have a son. Against every custom, Elizabeth wanted to name him John. To everyone’s surprise, the mute Zechariah writes the same name on a tablet they give him. Contrary to what is normal, the preacher’s son goes out into the dessert, and when they least expect it, he emerges with the message for Israel that the great day is at hand. God has taken care of His people and now He’s sending the Messiah. The kingdom of God is at hand.” And, all this has happened “because of the tender mercy of our God. All of the abundant wealth and beauty we see in nature and life at its best is nothing, and at last would be just a temporary ray of sunshine over those who ‘sit in darkness and in the shadow of death’, if God hadn’t in His mercy let ‘the sunrise … visit us from on high’ and given us knowledge of redemption so our sins can be forgiven.”

How difficult it is to comfort the comfortable. Thanks be to God, in His tender mercy, He has sought to make you uncomfortable. He has sought to make you uncomfortable with your sin and idolatry. He has sought to make you uncomfortable with injustice and immorality in your community, nation, and world. He has sought to make you uncomfortable with the notion that this life is all that there is – birth, life, and death – and that you are own god, and that pleasing yourself is the only good. Your God and LORD so loves you that He will not allow you to remain in darkness and the shadow of death. And so, He has shown the pure, bright, and holy light of His Son upon you so that no one should perish, but that all may repent, receive, and believe, and, believing, have life in His Name.

Jesus said that “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” That one is Jesus Himself, “who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name, so that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

John understood his role as the forerunner, sent to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus. He confessed Jesus’ holiness and divinity by, initially, refusing to baptize Him, but he relented upon Jesus’ insistence that it was fitting for them to “fulfill all righteousness.” John also confessed Jesus to be the Messiah of God by saying “He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.” And, lastly, John humbled himself before his disciples saying, “He must increase; I must decrease.” And so, we celebrate God’s sending of the forerunner of Jesus to prepare His way every Lord’s Day singing “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” For, He is present amongst you with His Word of Holy Absolution, true comfort and peace, and with His holy body and precious blood to commune with you that you have life in Him and give life to others to the glory of His Holy Name.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.