Due to Winter Weather, this service was cancelled, however, here is the sermon.
Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen, our text today is the reading from Romans 8, especially this verse. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ, “Should auld acquaintances be forgot and never brought to mind, in times of Auld Lang syne.” These words are going to be sung all around the world tonight as the clock strikes midnight. A new year is upon us. At this time we are fond of looking back on the last year, and all of the events that occurred, as well as looking forward to all the events that await us in the new year. In some ways, this can be a bittersweet process. For there were many good things that have happened in the last year, but in the midst of these joys, there were disappointments. In the midst of these happy and content days, there were painful experiences and struggles.
As we look back on another year gone by, there were happy moments, perhaps as a new family member was born, maybe a son or daughter, or a grandson or granddaughter. Maybe a nephew or cousin. But even as we witnessed the bringing about of new life, we are also faced with pain, pain as perhaps a loved one passed away, as a grandfather died, or as a son was killed. Perhaps there was pain as the words cancer or alzheimers was spoken by a nurse or a doctor. Perhaps you yourself had struggles with one of these things, and felt the pain of sickness and death.
The last year has had joys, joys as couples have come to altars just like this one and pledged to have and to hold until death parts them. They have smiled for pictures, and gone on honeymoons, but in the midst of this joy, there is also separation and struggle even here. Families are broken. Shouting and arguing slowly breaks down into divorce. Children are forced to choose between mother and father. Brothers and sisters also fight with one another. In the end both sides are hurt and angry. Both sides are ready to separate what God has joined together.
We have experience joys, as we gathered here around the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and have eaten it for “forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.” We have sang hymns together with one another, and have gathered around the word to study, read, learn and inwardly digest it. But even then, we have left this place, and returned to our sins and trespasses. WE return to the filth of our lives. Hate, greed and envy describe our lives. We sin daily, and out of our hearts come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony and slander. And these things make us unclean with sin against God and against our neighbor. We fail miserably.
In fact, much of the sin that we commit is so hideous that even we are ashamed of it, even we are afraid that someone may find out what it is. We are even embarrassed at times to tell God what we have done, even though we know he already is aware of our guilt. We are afraid to do what scripture says, “Confess our sin” so that “God who is faithful and just will forgive them. Instead we bottle them up inside, and hope that we will forget about them, or at least that the shame of what we have done will go away. But it doesn’t.
But a new year is coming isn’t it? A new year where we can make things right, and make amends with all of those thing we have done wrong, can’t we? Many of us will make new years resolutions, promising to leave a particular sin behind, to be kinder to those around us, or even to attend church more regularly. “Next year” we say, “Next year I will be better God, I promise, next year I will be a holy person like you want me to be.”
But even this is an empty promise, for our sinful hearts cannot keep this promise. We are infected with sin, the original sin that our forefather Adam brought into the world. It is so ingrained in us, and it affects so totally that we have no choice but to be evil rotten horrible sinners. So friends where are we to turn? What are we to do? How can we escape this terrible yearly cycle of sin and guilt?
Our text says this, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Dear friends, hear it again, “Nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus.” Yes, you are guilty. Yes I am guilty. But even in the midst of this guilt, we know this. Jesus has died for you and for your sin. Jesus has taken the burden and guilt, the shame and embarrassment of your sin upon himself. He has born your griefs and iniquities.
And not only has he carried them, but he has carried them to a cross on a lonely hill named Golgotha, so that he might destroy them and bring your sin to death. Friends, Death is the only escape from the pains and sorrows of this world, and in Jesus you have died. In Jesus you are rescued. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that all who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And no greater love is there than this, that one would die for his friends.
Jesus loves you. And that love is so strong and so powerful that Jesus was willing to suffer the punishment that you deserved for your sin. Jesus was willing to take it away, and to give you instead his inheritance of eternal life with God in heaven. And as our epistle says, nothing can separate you from this love, nothing you have done in the past. Nothing you will do in the future. Nothing you have ever done will, so long as you remain in the faith and forgiveness that God pours out on you here.
Tonight, we will celebrate the calendar year switching from 2010 to 2011. Who know what awaits us in the next 365 days? Even though we don’t know specifics, we do know there will be joys and struggles. There will be hard times and good times. And in the midst of it all, there will be the pouring out of forgiveness in the blood and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. There will be life in His resurrection. IN that we can be certain. Amen.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Series A - St. Stephen Day - What are God's Promises to you?
Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the epistle lesson which was just read.
Today is St. Stephen, the first martyr day. On this day we remember the first martyr of the Christian faith, as it was recounted in our Epistle lesson. As we remember St. Stephen, we must look t the promises that God makes us. We must ask if the promises God makes are trustworthy or true. Here on this earth we face all sorts of promises, and many of them are just lies. Many of them never come true. Many are not worthwhile. Promises, promises, promises, and many of them mean nothing.
So let me ask you, what promises have been made to you, and what promises have you made to others? What things are promised to you in your life, in what can you count upon above all else? It always seems that we are trusting in some promise or another. With all of these promises being made, who do we trust, and whose promises are truthful and factual?
You see, the World is always making promises to us. Everywhere we turn, there is a promise of some kind.
Perhaps you have heard this promise: Everyone can achieve success and happiness if they want to. This is the promise that the world promises us on T.V. everyday. We see pictures of beautiful people who are successful and rich on every channel. American Idol teaches us that even someone unknown can become a number one hit. The world promises us that if we become successful we will be happy, and we believe this promise. We believe that if we have a lot of money, or at least a little bit more then everyone else, we will be happy as kid in a candy stand, and we believe this because we are greedy and covetous people. We see being rich as the ultimate good, and it has even been said, “even if money isn’t everything, it sure helps,” right?
This is a false promise though. Having money and success is not the ultimate good. In fact, Scripture teaches, Matthew 6 says “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” But we try don’t we, because we believe “the more money the merrier.”
And what about peace? There is always this sense that if we all band together and work hard, we can achieve peace in the world. I am sure we all know the famous saying, “Can’t we all just get along?” The world tells us the answer is yes, we just have to work hard enough at it.
You see, whether we consciously think about it, we have the general idea that we have certain rights, and promises made to us in the world. The promises that we believe every person deserves, and that we want for ourselves.
In all of these things that the world promises us, we have the same promise being made, we can accomplish what ever we wish, just so long as we work hard at it. We are promised the same thing that the little engine that could says. “I think I can I think I can.” If we think we can, and we work hard enough at it, we can achieve anything we want to.
But is this who God created us to be? Are we little more than people who are to do whatever it takes to get ahead of other people. How does the worlds promises measure up to Jesus saying in Matthew 5, Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth. Is this what Christ meant when he said Blessed are the Merciful? Or the Last will be first and the first will be last. Are we supposed to put our selves ahead? The answer is not what we want it to be. The answer is no. You see, the world’s promises are empty. The world’s promises are lies.
Some of the “churches of the world” make these same promises to us also.
We hear of Joel Osteen and Rick Warren, who in the eyes of the world are big leaders in the Christian church in America. These are the people that many people turn to for help. I am sure that you have seen their books on the store shelves. In Fort Wayne, you can see Joel Osteen’s smiling face on hundreds of books in the aisles. And what exactly does Mr. Osteen purport the Gospel to be? That Jesus wants you to be rich on Earth, and all you have to do is to go out and do it. If you believe hard enough, and work hard enough, Jesus will make you rich. Sounds really nice doesn’t it. Don’t we want to be rich, and successful. I mean if Jesus wants me to be, I am not going to argue with him am I?
But is this what Christ wants for us? Is this what the people of God are? Are they only a people who God especially chose to be wealthy in earthly goods? Is that the limit of God’s promise? If We are supposed to be rich, then why does Christ say “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for they will inherit the Kingdom of God? You see, these too are lies of the world, which even infiltrate some who claim to be the church.
Perhaps too, we can throw in the churches that say “All you have to do is choose Jesus, and he will make it ok.” I’m sure we all know some one who says, “Just say the believer’s prayer, and tell Jesus to come into your heart.” But if we believe this then aren’t we trusting in ourselves? Furthermore, aren’t we once again trusting that our help is in the promises of the World.
You see, despite all the promises made, the world and all who are in it are liars. Every person who has existed from Adam and Eve onward has been a liar. You are, I am, we all are low life liars, believing in our own illusions of grandeur rather then the promises of God. The book of Revelation tells us that that we liars are bound, that is we who trust in ourselves and our own works, straight for Hell. (Rev 21:8) And every human being is a liar, and a believer in the lies of others. All that is, except for one.
You see, There is one, who was born with out sin. One who was not making promises that he would not keep. One who was born of the Virgin Mary, as he promised through Isaiah, and who redeemed his people from all their sins, and this one is Jesus Christ. He is the one who ignored the promises of the world, and instead fulfilled the promises of God. He did so by obeying every command of God fully, something no other man could do. And having done so, he turned down earthly glory, instead trusting in God was glorified by God, being beaten, and nailed to a cross. You see, that is true glory, that is the true promise, that though your sins be a scarlet, he will wash them whiter than snow with his own blood. This is the promise of God, which destroys the promises of the world. And this promise is conveyed upon us in the baptismal font, where Christ’s blood covers us. This promise is present at the Altar, where God feeds us with Christ’s living body and blood. And in these promises, comes resurrection, where we will raised from the dead, just as after dying, Christ was raised on the third day. That is God’s promise to us, Life Eternal.
This does not mean that everything will be all wonderful and easy. We see today in our Epistle lesson what this promise entails. Not by his own will, but through the Holy Spirit, St. Stephen believed that Christ had died for his sins, and that in his baptism he had been washed and made a part of the Heavenly kingdom. But as a result, St. Stephen did not become a millionaire, or a carefree member of society. In fact, it is quite the opposite, Stephen was persecuted and put to death for the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ, while on Earth spoke of the same promise. In Matt 24:9 Jesus says that we are going to be persecuted and handed over to the authorities who will put us to death. This is one of the promises of the world. This is scary, but remember that Jesus also said, Blessed are the Persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You see, that is our promise, Persecution because in Christ we are made righteous, and because in Christ we receive the Kingdom of heaven. These promises are more glorious than any false promise that the world could give to us, these promises are from God.
And though we have those scary times of persecution promised to us and looming dark before our eyes, God has promised that he will be with us through them all.
Matthew says “when they arrest you (implied that they will), do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” You see Christ will be there with us to face all trials and temptations with us, to be our resurrection and our life. To bear us upon himself through the valley of the shadow of death, and into the eternal kingdom.
You see, in Baptism, we already have faced all trials, including death. We have already been killed with Christ upon the cross, our sins have been atoned for, and our punishment suffered. In baptism this has happened, and more so, we have been raised from this death, and brought into the glorious resurrection of our Lord, and now partake in the glories he has learned.
And if you still doubt this promise, know this, that at this altar here, you have received the fruits of this promise. At this altar you have received the living body and blood of our Lord, who was killed on the cross, but rose from the tomb. You receive the body and blood of our God, Jesus, who now lives and reigns in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father. Though we do not understand how this can be, that bread and wine are body and blood, we know that it is Christ’s promise to us, and so we believe it, because his promises are trustworthy and true.
And now there is one last promise that God gives us, and it is one which Stephen himself is now experiencing. Heaven. Verse 55 and following show us this promise being fulfilled in Stephen’s life. “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
This is our promise, That Christ will receive our Spirits, and reveal himself to us, sitting at the right hand of God. You see, Jesus promises never to abandon us, and just as he fulfilled it with Stephen, he will fulfill it with us. He has promised, and has sealed that promise in his own blood.
So now when you hear promises being made about this or that this Election Stephen, know that God makes true promises, in Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, and that just as he kept them for Stephen, he too, will keep them for you. Amen
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, keep you in the one true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.
Today is St. Stephen, the first martyr day. On this day we remember the first martyr of the Christian faith, as it was recounted in our Epistle lesson. As we remember St. Stephen, we must look t the promises that God makes us. We must ask if the promises God makes are trustworthy or true. Here on this earth we face all sorts of promises, and many of them are just lies. Many of them never come true. Many are not worthwhile. Promises, promises, promises, and many of them mean nothing.
So let me ask you, what promises have been made to you, and what promises have you made to others? What things are promised to you in your life, in what can you count upon above all else? It always seems that we are trusting in some promise or another. With all of these promises being made, who do we trust, and whose promises are truthful and factual?
You see, the World is always making promises to us. Everywhere we turn, there is a promise of some kind.
Perhaps you have heard this promise: Everyone can achieve success and happiness if they want to. This is the promise that the world promises us on T.V. everyday. We see pictures of beautiful people who are successful and rich on every channel. American Idol teaches us that even someone unknown can become a number one hit. The world promises us that if we become successful we will be happy, and we believe this promise. We believe that if we have a lot of money, or at least a little bit more then everyone else, we will be happy as kid in a candy stand, and we believe this because we are greedy and covetous people. We see being rich as the ultimate good, and it has even been said, “even if money isn’t everything, it sure helps,” right?
This is a false promise though. Having money and success is not the ultimate good. In fact, Scripture teaches, Matthew 6 says “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” But we try don’t we, because we believe “the more money the merrier.”
And what about peace? There is always this sense that if we all band together and work hard, we can achieve peace in the world. I am sure we all know the famous saying, “Can’t we all just get along?” The world tells us the answer is yes, we just have to work hard enough at it.
You see, whether we consciously think about it, we have the general idea that we have certain rights, and promises made to us in the world. The promises that we believe every person deserves, and that we want for ourselves.
In all of these things that the world promises us, we have the same promise being made, we can accomplish what ever we wish, just so long as we work hard at it. We are promised the same thing that the little engine that could says. “I think I can I think I can.” If we think we can, and we work hard enough at it, we can achieve anything we want to.
But is this who God created us to be? Are we little more than people who are to do whatever it takes to get ahead of other people. How does the worlds promises measure up to Jesus saying in Matthew 5, Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth. Is this what Christ meant when he said Blessed are the Merciful? Or the Last will be first and the first will be last. Are we supposed to put our selves ahead? The answer is not what we want it to be. The answer is no. You see, the world’s promises are empty. The world’s promises are lies.
Some of the “churches of the world” make these same promises to us also.
We hear of Joel Osteen and Rick Warren, who in the eyes of the world are big leaders in the Christian church in America. These are the people that many people turn to for help. I am sure that you have seen their books on the store shelves. In Fort Wayne, you can see Joel Osteen’s smiling face on hundreds of books in the aisles. And what exactly does Mr. Osteen purport the Gospel to be? That Jesus wants you to be rich on Earth, and all you have to do is to go out and do it. If you believe hard enough, and work hard enough, Jesus will make you rich. Sounds really nice doesn’t it. Don’t we want to be rich, and successful. I mean if Jesus wants me to be, I am not going to argue with him am I?
But is this what Christ wants for us? Is this what the people of God are? Are they only a people who God especially chose to be wealthy in earthly goods? Is that the limit of God’s promise? If We are supposed to be rich, then why does Christ say “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for they will inherit the Kingdom of God? You see, these too are lies of the world, which even infiltrate some who claim to be the church.
Perhaps too, we can throw in the churches that say “All you have to do is choose Jesus, and he will make it ok.” I’m sure we all know some one who says, “Just say the believer’s prayer, and tell Jesus to come into your heart.” But if we believe this then aren’t we trusting in ourselves? Furthermore, aren’t we once again trusting that our help is in the promises of the World.
You see, despite all the promises made, the world and all who are in it are liars. Every person who has existed from Adam and Eve onward has been a liar. You are, I am, we all are low life liars, believing in our own illusions of grandeur rather then the promises of God. The book of Revelation tells us that that we liars are bound, that is we who trust in ourselves and our own works, straight for Hell. (Rev 21:8) And every human being is a liar, and a believer in the lies of others. All that is, except for one.
You see, There is one, who was born with out sin. One who was not making promises that he would not keep. One who was born of the Virgin Mary, as he promised through Isaiah, and who redeemed his people from all their sins, and this one is Jesus Christ. He is the one who ignored the promises of the world, and instead fulfilled the promises of God. He did so by obeying every command of God fully, something no other man could do. And having done so, he turned down earthly glory, instead trusting in God was glorified by God, being beaten, and nailed to a cross. You see, that is true glory, that is the true promise, that though your sins be a scarlet, he will wash them whiter than snow with his own blood. This is the promise of God, which destroys the promises of the world. And this promise is conveyed upon us in the baptismal font, where Christ’s blood covers us. This promise is present at the Altar, where God feeds us with Christ’s living body and blood. And in these promises, comes resurrection, where we will raised from the dead, just as after dying, Christ was raised on the third day. That is God’s promise to us, Life Eternal.
This does not mean that everything will be all wonderful and easy. We see today in our Epistle lesson what this promise entails. Not by his own will, but through the Holy Spirit, St. Stephen believed that Christ had died for his sins, and that in his baptism he had been washed and made a part of the Heavenly kingdom. But as a result, St. Stephen did not become a millionaire, or a carefree member of society. In fact, it is quite the opposite, Stephen was persecuted and put to death for the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ, while on Earth spoke of the same promise. In Matt 24:9 Jesus says that we are going to be persecuted and handed over to the authorities who will put us to death. This is one of the promises of the world. This is scary, but remember that Jesus also said, Blessed are the Persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You see, that is our promise, Persecution because in Christ we are made righteous, and because in Christ we receive the Kingdom of heaven. These promises are more glorious than any false promise that the world could give to us, these promises are from God.
And though we have those scary times of persecution promised to us and looming dark before our eyes, God has promised that he will be with us through them all.
Matthew says “when they arrest you (implied that they will), do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” You see Christ will be there with us to face all trials and temptations with us, to be our resurrection and our life. To bear us upon himself through the valley of the shadow of death, and into the eternal kingdom.
You see, in Baptism, we already have faced all trials, including death. We have already been killed with Christ upon the cross, our sins have been atoned for, and our punishment suffered. In baptism this has happened, and more so, we have been raised from this death, and brought into the glorious resurrection of our Lord, and now partake in the glories he has learned.
And if you still doubt this promise, know this, that at this altar here, you have received the fruits of this promise. At this altar you have received the living body and blood of our Lord, who was killed on the cross, but rose from the tomb. You receive the body and blood of our God, Jesus, who now lives and reigns in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father. Though we do not understand how this can be, that bread and wine are body and blood, we know that it is Christ’s promise to us, and so we believe it, because his promises are trustworthy and true.
And now there is one last promise that God gives us, and it is one which Stephen himself is now experiencing. Heaven. Verse 55 and following show us this promise being fulfilled in Stephen’s life. “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
This is our promise, That Christ will receive our Spirits, and reveal himself to us, sitting at the right hand of God. You see, Jesus promises never to abandon us, and just as he fulfilled it with Stephen, he will fulfill it with us. He has promised, and has sealed that promise in his own blood.
So now when you hear promises being made about this or that this Election Stephen, know that God makes true promises, in Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, and that just as he kept them for Stephen, he too, will keep them for you. Amen
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, keep you in the one true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas 2010 - God dwells with us in the flesh to save us
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, [1] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, [2] and his own people [3] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 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. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, [4] who is at the Father's side, [5] he has made him known.
Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson, especially these two phrases. “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it,” and “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends, Merry Christmas. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. So begin the words of Holy Scripture, so begins the revelation of God to humankind. Where there was once nothing, God spoke, and His very Word became things. God speaks things and they appear. God spoke into existence every single thing that we see in our world and universe, and God said it was very good.
God spoke, and light appeared, light that reflected his own holiness and majesty. God spoke and there were waters and creatures and trees and life and it was all good, reflecting its creator. And last but most certainly not least, God created the pinnacle of his creation, forming a man out of the dust of the earth and with his own breath breathing life into him. He had created the entire creation for the man to have dominion over, he was to be a caretaker for the creation at the same time that God was caretaker of the man himself. Man and God were in perfect relationship with one another. And the man lived in the wonderful creation of God, dwelling in God’s holy light and presence. Things really were as God had said “Very good.”
But things were not to last. Things would not always be very good, and the blame falls completely and totally on us. By no fault of God, we humans decided we don’t need a god. We humans decided that we should decide right and wrong for ourselves and that we should be our own masters and our own caretakers. So we in Adam’s acts in the Garden of Eden left God’s light. We abandoned God’s very good creation, and corrupted it with our own greed and want, with our own selfish desires, with fighting death and murder. We left God’s light and presence, and instead walked alone in the dark of our sin.
God’s very good creation suddenly became a dying creation. God’s very good creation suddenly was under a new rule, the rule of sin death and the devil. Where once there was safety, now there was danger. Where once there was peace, now there was worry and fear and strife and worst of all, where once there was life, now there was death.
It is something that affects all of our lives. It is something that we all have to deal with. Imperfection. Struggles. Doubts. Sin. These things have become so common place to us since the fall that we often take them for granted saying things like, “That’s the way it goes, you live and die, its just a part of life. Its natural.” But friends, that is not the way God designed it. This very good creation is now a fallen corrupt creation, and you are a part of that.
But God doesn’t abandon his creation, even as it turned away from him. God doesn’t leave his creation alone for all time. For the very God who created the world is coming to rescue the world. The very God who said “let there be” will come to rescue his fallen and wandering creation. We read in our Gospel for today, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the word was God.” That Word is the person of Jesus, and that Word is coming for you.
Jesus was there when the world was created. Jesus was intimately involved in forming the man from the dust of the earth, and Jesus breathed out the breath of life that brought Adam to life. Jesus was the word that made the creation possible. And Jesus watched and wept as we turned away from Him in our sin, and decided we could go our own way.
But even then, even as we turned from Jesus and walked out of His marvelous light in to the darkness of our sin, Jesus vowed to save us. For God told Adam and Eve all the way back before they left the Garden of Eden in their sin that he would save them through one of their descendants, one who would crush the power of the devil. God told Eve that Jesus “Would crush the serpent’s head, even as his own heels were pierced” with nails on a wooden cross.
For Jesus is God come to save you. Jesus’ very name means “the Lord saves.” Jesus who was born of a virgin and laid in a manger in Bethlehem, has come to save you. And as our text says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus has been born, and he has lived among us in the muck and mire and sin of this world. He has been with us as we face death of loved ones. He has been with us as we fight with one another and as we fall into sin. To use the idiom, he has walked a mile in our shoes, or more appropriately, in our flesh.
And with the birth of Jesus, the light of God once again shines in our lives. With Jesus the light of the promise and the light of holiness now again shines upon us. As we spoke of last night on Christmas Eve “From the Manger new born light, shines in glory through the night.” And in our Gospel lesson today we read the same thing, “The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.”
The darkness of Sin cannot overcome Jesus’ saving power. The Darkness of death cannot stop him from coming for you. Even as that darkness and all its worldly sin, yours and mine, has Jesus beaten and nailed to a cross to be killed, even then Jesus is triumphant. For as Jesus shed his blood, as Jesus hung on the cross, he was doing it for you. He was dying for you and for your sin. He was dying so that his light might overcome the darkness of sin in your life. He was dying so that you might be saved. He was dying so that you might once again be in perfect relationship with God in His kingdom forever. Jesus comes to take you to a place even better than Eden, a place that is very, very good.
Today, in a small town thousands of miles away, a baby was born, a baby who within his own flesh contained the entire mystery of the God. A baby who has no beginning or end, a baby who has come to save you, and bring you into God’s marvelous light again is born. And as our text says “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” We have received forgiveness of sins, being washed in his blood in baptismal waters. We have received life as we eat from his very own flesh and blood, the body and blood that hung on the cross. We have received faith as the Son of God has poured it out upon us through the work of the Holy Spirit in His word and promises.
Dear friends in Christ, the word was made 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. We have seen Jesus. Today he has been born to die for you. Today, he has given you mercy and peace. Today he has brought you God heavenly home. And so as we sang, “Joy to the World, the Lord has come.” Now Sing we now rejoice. God loves you and his son, a baby, will save you from your sins. Amen.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, [2] and his own people [3] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 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. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, [4] who is at the Father's side, [5] he has made him known.
Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson, especially these two phrases. “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it,” and “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends, Merry Christmas. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. So begin the words of Holy Scripture, so begins the revelation of God to humankind. Where there was once nothing, God spoke, and His very Word became things. God speaks things and they appear. God spoke into existence every single thing that we see in our world and universe, and God said it was very good.
God spoke, and light appeared, light that reflected his own holiness and majesty. God spoke and there were waters and creatures and trees and life and it was all good, reflecting its creator. And last but most certainly not least, God created the pinnacle of his creation, forming a man out of the dust of the earth and with his own breath breathing life into him. He had created the entire creation for the man to have dominion over, he was to be a caretaker for the creation at the same time that God was caretaker of the man himself. Man and God were in perfect relationship with one another. And the man lived in the wonderful creation of God, dwelling in God’s holy light and presence. Things really were as God had said “Very good.”
But things were not to last. Things would not always be very good, and the blame falls completely and totally on us. By no fault of God, we humans decided we don’t need a god. We humans decided that we should decide right and wrong for ourselves and that we should be our own masters and our own caretakers. So we in Adam’s acts in the Garden of Eden left God’s light. We abandoned God’s very good creation, and corrupted it with our own greed and want, with our own selfish desires, with fighting death and murder. We left God’s light and presence, and instead walked alone in the dark of our sin.
God’s very good creation suddenly became a dying creation. God’s very good creation suddenly was under a new rule, the rule of sin death and the devil. Where once there was safety, now there was danger. Where once there was peace, now there was worry and fear and strife and worst of all, where once there was life, now there was death.
It is something that affects all of our lives. It is something that we all have to deal with. Imperfection. Struggles. Doubts. Sin. These things have become so common place to us since the fall that we often take them for granted saying things like, “That’s the way it goes, you live and die, its just a part of life. Its natural.” But friends, that is not the way God designed it. This very good creation is now a fallen corrupt creation, and you are a part of that.
But God doesn’t abandon his creation, even as it turned away from him. God doesn’t leave his creation alone for all time. For the very God who created the world is coming to rescue the world. The very God who said “let there be” will come to rescue his fallen and wandering creation. We read in our Gospel for today, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the word was God.” That Word is the person of Jesus, and that Word is coming for you.
Jesus was there when the world was created. Jesus was intimately involved in forming the man from the dust of the earth, and Jesus breathed out the breath of life that brought Adam to life. Jesus was the word that made the creation possible. And Jesus watched and wept as we turned away from Him in our sin, and decided we could go our own way.
But even then, even as we turned from Jesus and walked out of His marvelous light in to the darkness of our sin, Jesus vowed to save us. For God told Adam and Eve all the way back before they left the Garden of Eden in their sin that he would save them through one of their descendants, one who would crush the power of the devil. God told Eve that Jesus “Would crush the serpent’s head, even as his own heels were pierced” with nails on a wooden cross.
For Jesus is God come to save you. Jesus’ very name means “the Lord saves.” Jesus who was born of a virgin and laid in a manger in Bethlehem, has come to save you. And as our text says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus has been born, and he has lived among us in the muck and mire and sin of this world. He has been with us as we face death of loved ones. He has been with us as we fight with one another and as we fall into sin. To use the idiom, he has walked a mile in our shoes, or more appropriately, in our flesh.
And with the birth of Jesus, the light of God once again shines in our lives. With Jesus the light of the promise and the light of holiness now again shines upon us. As we spoke of last night on Christmas Eve “From the Manger new born light, shines in glory through the night.” And in our Gospel lesson today we read the same thing, “The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.”
The darkness of Sin cannot overcome Jesus’ saving power. The Darkness of death cannot stop him from coming for you. Even as that darkness and all its worldly sin, yours and mine, has Jesus beaten and nailed to a cross to be killed, even then Jesus is triumphant. For as Jesus shed his blood, as Jesus hung on the cross, he was doing it for you. He was dying for you and for your sin. He was dying so that his light might overcome the darkness of sin in your life. He was dying so that you might be saved. He was dying so that you might once again be in perfect relationship with God in His kingdom forever. Jesus comes to take you to a place even better than Eden, a place that is very, very good.
Today, in a small town thousands of miles away, a baby was born, a baby who within his own flesh contained the entire mystery of the God. A baby who has no beginning or end, a baby who has come to save you, and bring you into God’s marvelous light again is born. And as our text says “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” We have received forgiveness of sins, being washed in his blood in baptismal waters. We have received life as we eat from his very own flesh and blood, the body and blood that hung on the cross. We have received faith as the Son of God has poured it out upon us through the work of the Holy Spirit in His word and promises.
Dear friends in Christ, the word was made 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. We have seen Jesus. Today he has been born to die for you. Today, he has given you mercy and peace. Today he has brought you God heavenly home. And so as we sang, “Joy to the World, the Lord has come.” Now Sing we now rejoice. God loves you and his son, a baby, will save you from your sins. Amen.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas Eve 2010 - Savior of the Nations Come - Light from the manger of Jesus
Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text tonight is the final two verses of the Advent Hymn we sang this year, Savior of the Nations Come. The text is as follows, From the manger new born light, shines in glory through the night. Darkness there no more resides, In this light faith now abides. Thus far our text.
Merry Christmas. The day has finally arrived, Christmas is now here. The Christ child has been born. The Christ child has come to die. And so tonight we have gathered together to sing hymns, to listen to God’s word, and as we turn down the lights in the sanctuary to light candles and sing.
If you stop to think about it, it is kind of a silly thing we do isn’t it? I mean, I remember thinking when I was younger that turning down the lights for the singing of Silent Night just made it more difficult to see the hymnal. And how many times have you burned yourself on hot wax falling from melting candles? But the thing we are doing reflects a larger reality. Just as a candle shines its light out into the darkness, so too does that little baby shine out into a world filled with the darkness of sin death and the devil.
Our world is dark. It is dark with the sin of billions of people including you and me wandering in their sin, unsure of where to turn or what to do. Scripture teaches in the book of Deuteronomy that if we break the commands of the Lord, “we will grope around like blind men in the dark” (Deut 28:15) Yes, not just blind men, but blind men in the pitch blackness of night. And that dear friends is where we are. In our sin we no longer are able to tell the difference between right and wrong. We are unable to see what we should do in a particular situation or how to even deal with things in this world.
Sometimes we become weary and tired, as we struggle in the darkness of our sin. We grope about, trying to find our way, and bumping into those who are around us. And even as we grope about, we know what ultimately awaits us in the darkness of our sin. Death. For we walk in the darkness of the valley of the shadow of death, and all we can see is death and punishment. For the punishment of sin is death, God told Adam and Eve in the garden. “IF you break my commands, you will surely die.” And so in the darkness of our sin, with all of God’s commands broken, we await death.
But hear again our hymn verses “From the manger new born light, shines in glory through the night. Darkness there no more resides, in this light faith now abides.” Just as we tonight will shortly light a candle, so too has God sent a light to our world, a light that shines in the darkness, a light that the darkness cannot understand. God has sent us a baby in a manger, whose light is so bright as to take all the darkness out of your life.
The light that flows from the manger flows because this little tiny baby is miraculously the Son of the Living God. He is the Son who was begotten before all worlds, God of God, light of light very God of Very God. He was there in the beginning when God said “Let there be light” and he will be there when God says, “It is Done, I am the Alpha and Omega.” This little baby, Jesus, has come.
And his light shines on you and on me, it shines on our sinful world, because the little baby born in the manger will one day die on a cross. He will one day be murdered and killed. He will one day pour out his blood from his body, and as he does, the light that shines from the manger, shines on you. By the shedding of the blood of Jesus, your way is lit, your path becomes brighter. With every wound on Christ’s body, with every drop of blood, it is if your world becomes brighter, until finally as Christ dies, you know the truth. Death is overcome. Because by shedding his blood, Jesus carries you into his heavenly kingdom.
In you darkness no more resides, instead faith now abides. Your sin is gone, Jesus has taken it. Your death is gone, Jesus has taken it. You no longer grope about, uncertain of where you are going, for Jesus has taken you home.
Tonight, in a short while, we will turn out all the lights here in the sanctuary, and as we do, remember on your own, you are in the darkness of sin. And as the lights go out, you will see one light still shines the light of the Christ candle, the light shining from the manger. That light will be passed along to each one of us, just as each of us has been brought to the light in holy baptism. That light shines forth in the promise that you will never die, that your sin is gone, and that you have life, and have it to the full. You are the light of the world, because you reflect the light that shines from the cross.
In the manger new born light. In the manger Jesus has been born for you. Amen.
Merry Christmas. The day has finally arrived, Christmas is now here. The Christ child has been born. The Christ child has come to die. And so tonight we have gathered together to sing hymns, to listen to God’s word, and as we turn down the lights in the sanctuary to light candles and sing.
If you stop to think about it, it is kind of a silly thing we do isn’t it? I mean, I remember thinking when I was younger that turning down the lights for the singing of Silent Night just made it more difficult to see the hymnal. And how many times have you burned yourself on hot wax falling from melting candles? But the thing we are doing reflects a larger reality. Just as a candle shines its light out into the darkness, so too does that little baby shine out into a world filled with the darkness of sin death and the devil.
Our world is dark. It is dark with the sin of billions of people including you and me wandering in their sin, unsure of where to turn or what to do. Scripture teaches in the book of Deuteronomy that if we break the commands of the Lord, “we will grope around like blind men in the dark” (Deut 28:15) Yes, not just blind men, but blind men in the pitch blackness of night. And that dear friends is where we are. In our sin we no longer are able to tell the difference between right and wrong. We are unable to see what we should do in a particular situation or how to even deal with things in this world.
Sometimes we become weary and tired, as we struggle in the darkness of our sin. We grope about, trying to find our way, and bumping into those who are around us. And even as we grope about, we know what ultimately awaits us in the darkness of our sin. Death. For we walk in the darkness of the valley of the shadow of death, and all we can see is death and punishment. For the punishment of sin is death, God told Adam and Eve in the garden. “IF you break my commands, you will surely die.” And so in the darkness of our sin, with all of God’s commands broken, we await death.
But hear again our hymn verses “From the manger new born light, shines in glory through the night. Darkness there no more resides, in this light faith now abides.” Just as we tonight will shortly light a candle, so too has God sent a light to our world, a light that shines in the darkness, a light that the darkness cannot understand. God has sent us a baby in a manger, whose light is so bright as to take all the darkness out of your life.
The light that flows from the manger flows because this little tiny baby is miraculously the Son of the Living God. He is the Son who was begotten before all worlds, God of God, light of light very God of Very God. He was there in the beginning when God said “Let there be light” and he will be there when God says, “It is Done, I am the Alpha and Omega.” This little baby, Jesus, has come.
And his light shines on you and on me, it shines on our sinful world, because the little baby born in the manger will one day die on a cross. He will one day be murdered and killed. He will one day pour out his blood from his body, and as he does, the light that shines from the manger, shines on you. By the shedding of the blood of Jesus, your way is lit, your path becomes brighter. With every wound on Christ’s body, with every drop of blood, it is if your world becomes brighter, until finally as Christ dies, you know the truth. Death is overcome. Because by shedding his blood, Jesus carries you into his heavenly kingdom.
In you darkness no more resides, instead faith now abides. Your sin is gone, Jesus has taken it. Your death is gone, Jesus has taken it. You no longer grope about, uncertain of where you are going, for Jesus has taken you home.
Tonight, in a short while, we will turn out all the lights here in the sanctuary, and as we do, remember on your own, you are in the darkness of sin. And as the lights go out, you will see one light still shines the light of the Christ candle, the light shining from the manger. That light will be passed along to each one of us, just as each of us has been brought to the light in holy baptism. That light shines forth in the promise that you will never die, that your sin is gone, and that you have life, and have it to the full. You are the light of the world, because you reflect the light that shines from the cross.
In the manger new born light. In the manger Jesus has been born for you. Amen.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Series A - Advent 4 - 2010 - Simplicity in a complex world through Jesus
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ [1] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed [2] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the gospel lesson just read. You may be seated.
Dear friends in Christ. “It’s so easy,” the teacher told her students, “All you need to do is to take the square of side a ad add it to the square of side b, find that square root, and then you have the length of the hypotenuse. It really is quite simple.” Oh the dreaded words of math class – “It’s really quite simple!” I cannot remember how many times I heard these words in math, but things never seemed that easy. It got more and more difficult the more I looked at it, until finally in Calculus, I realized “It isn’t as easy as they think.” It is a little more complex than it looks.
Don’t you wonder if that is what Joseph is thinking in our text today? Don’t you wonder what he thought when an angel of God appeared to him and said, “Joseph it really is quite easy, yes she’s pregnant, but it is by the Holy Spirit, and the baby she gives birth to will save his people from their sins.” In Matthew’s account it is almost as if the angel is saying “It’s really quite simple Joseph!”
But in Joseph’s head, I am sure it wasn’t as simple as the angel made it out to be. His fiancée, the woman he was preparing to marry comes to him one day and says she is pregnant. Suddenly that happy life he was looking forward to is thrown into pieces. And what is more, Joseph knows he is not the father, for our text says “It was before they had come together.” Suddenly he wonders what will happen, and how will he deal with this situation?
If this news gets out, that Joseph is not the father and that Mary is pregnant, it could be bad news. Mary could legally be dragged out of town and stoned – killed. Her life could come to an end, and Joseph himself would be disgraced. So our text says that Joseph comes up with a plan, a plan to protect himself and his bride to be. He decides to quietly divorce her, to alleviate himself of the situation. But in the midst of this plan, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream, and says, “Come on Joseph relax - it is so simple.”
We can probably understand what Joseph was feeling, because our lives our not simple either. Our lives are not easy to figure out, or easy to understand. We have difficult situations that arise over and over again, and we must figure out how we are to deal with them as Christians here on earth.
“You shall not commit adultery” scripture clearly says. Joseph had heard it, and you have heard it. It’s simple, but yet in our world of sin, similarly to our text, we see young mothers who are found to be pregnant out of wedlock. Unlike our text, these pregnancies are not God’s amazing work through the Holy Spirit. These young women must determine what course of action to take, how to tell their parents and family, and how to raise a child when they feel little more than a child themselves. We see young Fathers, who upon finding out that their few minutes of selfish desire have now become a child wonder what they are going to do, and how they are going to face their parents, and the mother’s parents. It becomes complex. It becomes difficult
In addition we see husbands and wives who must tell their beloved spouse that they have not always been as faithful as they promised in their vows, that their own sinful desires led them to infidelity. There is divorce and remarriage everywhere we look. In this sinful world, something as simple as “You shall not commit adultery,” something as simple as only sleep with your spouse after you are married, suddenly becomes extremely difficult.
Our lives are complex in other ways as well. Because of sin, things get difficult. A seemingly simple family get together can degenerate into family fighting and yelling. A simple promise can become a lie. A seemingly simple medical procedure can degenerate into a complex struggle between life and death. The list could go on and on and on, and in the midst of it all we see the truth, we are guilty and we are sinners. Each one of us, even if we haven’t outwardly committed one of those obvious sins that others can see. Even deep within ourselves we are sinful and guilty. And because of this, our seemingly simple world, in sin becomes too complex for us to handle.
Friends, sin is at work in our world, and that sin makes this world confusing beyond belief. It leads us to ask the question – in the midst of all these convolutions of our sinful world, what is truth? It is the question Pilate asked, and it is the question we must ask. What is the truth regarding Abortion? What is the truth regarding homosexuality? What is the truth regarding death, life, hate, war and more? And the answers to these questions often are way more complicated that we can even begin to understand.
And so we feel like Joseph must have felt, when his entire simple world collapsed upon him. Just like us Joseph must have asked, “Why?” And the angel gives him an answer. “The child in her womb is from the Holy Spirit, and will set his people free from their sins.” The child that has turned Joseph’s world upside down has come to do that to you and to me. He has come to take our sinful lives and to completely disrupt them.
For the baby that Matthew so simply put “was born and called Jesus” has come for one simple purpose. That baby has come to set you free from your sin. He has come to rescue you. He has come so that by being nailed to a cross, and dying, he might destroy your complex world and give you this simple truth – “you belong to Jesus.” You belong to Jesus because he has purchased and won you, not with gold or silver but with his holy precious blood, innocent suffering and death.
And here is another truth given to you by Jesus’ death on the cross. You sin is forgiven. The sin that disrupts this life, that divides you from loved ones, that attacks your heart and desires is gone, atoned for. Jesus has come and now he brings a
SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THE COMPLEXITIES OF THIS WORLD
And that is this, that sin, death and the devil no longer have power over you. The questions that we ask that seemingly have no answer are now answered by the blood of Jesus. The death you deserve Jesus has died.
And now as you go through this world, there is a simple answer to all the difficult questions, and that is this, Jesus. Jesus is there with you as you struggle. Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you, Jesus will be there with his all-powerful hand holding you up. Yes, it will be difficult as you face those difficult situations, but in the midst of them Jesus is with you.
Jesus gives us a promise of simplicity, a simplicity not of this world, a simplicity waiting in heaven, a simplicity of eternity. Amen.
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the gospel lesson just read. You may be seated.
Dear friends in Christ. “It’s so easy,” the teacher told her students, “All you need to do is to take the square of side a ad add it to the square of side b, find that square root, and then you have the length of the hypotenuse. It really is quite simple.” Oh the dreaded words of math class – “It’s really quite simple!” I cannot remember how many times I heard these words in math, but things never seemed that easy. It got more and more difficult the more I looked at it, until finally in Calculus, I realized “It isn’t as easy as they think.” It is a little more complex than it looks.
Don’t you wonder if that is what Joseph is thinking in our text today? Don’t you wonder what he thought when an angel of God appeared to him and said, “Joseph it really is quite easy, yes she’s pregnant, but it is by the Holy Spirit, and the baby she gives birth to will save his people from their sins.” In Matthew’s account it is almost as if the angel is saying “It’s really quite simple Joseph!”
But in Joseph’s head, I am sure it wasn’t as simple as the angel made it out to be. His fiancée, the woman he was preparing to marry comes to him one day and says she is pregnant. Suddenly that happy life he was looking forward to is thrown into pieces. And what is more, Joseph knows he is not the father, for our text says “It was before they had come together.” Suddenly he wonders what will happen, and how will he deal with this situation?
If this news gets out, that Joseph is not the father and that Mary is pregnant, it could be bad news. Mary could legally be dragged out of town and stoned – killed. Her life could come to an end, and Joseph himself would be disgraced. So our text says that Joseph comes up with a plan, a plan to protect himself and his bride to be. He decides to quietly divorce her, to alleviate himself of the situation. But in the midst of this plan, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream, and says, “Come on Joseph relax - it is so simple.”
We can probably understand what Joseph was feeling, because our lives our not simple either. Our lives are not easy to figure out, or easy to understand. We have difficult situations that arise over and over again, and we must figure out how we are to deal with them as Christians here on earth.
“You shall not commit adultery” scripture clearly says. Joseph had heard it, and you have heard it. It’s simple, but yet in our world of sin, similarly to our text, we see young mothers who are found to be pregnant out of wedlock. Unlike our text, these pregnancies are not God’s amazing work through the Holy Spirit. These young women must determine what course of action to take, how to tell their parents and family, and how to raise a child when they feel little more than a child themselves. We see young Fathers, who upon finding out that their few minutes of selfish desire have now become a child wonder what they are going to do, and how they are going to face their parents, and the mother’s parents. It becomes complex. It becomes difficult
In addition we see husbands and wives who must tell their beloved spouse that they have not always been as faithful as they promised in their vows, that their own sinful desires led them to infidelity. There is divorce and remarriage everywhere we look. In this sinful world, something as simple as “You shall not commit adultery,” something as simple as only sleep with your spouse after you are married, suddenly becomes extremely difficult.
Our lives are complex in other ways as well. Because of sin, things get difficult. A seemingly simple family get together can degenerate into family fighting and yelling. A simple promise can become a lie. A seemingly simple medical procedure can degenerate into a complex struggle between life and death. The list could go on and on and on, and in the midst of it all we see the truth, we are guilty and we are sinners. Each one of us, even if we haven’t outwardly committed one of those obvious sins that others can see. Even deep within ourselves we are sinful and guilty. And because of this, our seemingly simple world, in sin becomes too complex for us to handle.
Friends, sin is at work in our world, and that sin makes this world confusing beyond belief. It leads us to ask the question – in the midst of all these convolutions of our sinful world, what is truth? It is the question Pilate asked, and it is the question we must ask. What is the truth regarding Abortion? What is the truth regarding homosexuality? What is the truth regarding death, life, hate, war and more? And the answers to these questions often are way more complicated that we can even begin to understand.
And so we feel like Joseph must have felt, when his entire simple world collapsed upon him. Just like us Joseph must have asked, “Why?” And the angel gives him an answer. “The child in her womb is from the Holy Spirit, and will set his people free from their sins.” The child that has turned Joseph’s world upside down has come to do that to you and to me. He has come to take our sinful lives and to completely disrupt them.
For the baby that Matthew so simply put “was born and called Jesus” has come for one simple purpose. That baby has come to set you free from your sin. He has come to rescue you. He has come so that by being nailed to a cross, and dying, he might destroy your complex world and give you this simple truth – “you belong to Jesus.” You belong to Jesus because he has purchased and won you, not with gold or silver but with his holy precious blood, innocent suffering and death.
And here is another truth given to you by Jesus’ death on the cross. You sin is forgiven. The sin that disrupts this life, that divides you from loved ones, that attacks your heart and desires is gone, atoned for. Jesus has come and now he brings a
SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THE COMPLEXITIES OF THIS WORLD
And that is this, that sin, death and the devil no longer have power over you. The questions that we ask that seemingly have no answer are now answered by the blood of Jesus. The death you deserve Jesus has died.
And now as you go through this world, there is a simple answer to all the difficult questions, and that is this, Jesus. Jesus is there with you as you struggle. Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you, Jesus will be there with his all-powerful hand holding you up. Yes, it will be difficult as you face those difficult situations, but in the midst of them Jesus is with you.
Jesus gives us a promise of simplicity, a simplicity not of this world, a simplicity waiting in heaven, a simplicity of eternity. Amen.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
2010 Advent 3 - John 19
So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. [3] But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,
“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the 5 and 6th verses of the hymn Savior of the Nations, along with the reading from John chapter 19, especially these words from verse18, “there they crucified him.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. There’ll be parties for throwing, marshmallows for roasting and caroling out in the snow, well so long as the wind chill isn’t 20 below zero! Christmas is a time for celebrating and enjoying the excitement of the season. So why in the midst of all this happiness do we have such an offensive text this evening? Why in the midst of this merriment do we look at a horrific execution, with blood and guts, dirt and grime? Why must we look to Jesus on the cross, rather than Jesus in the manger?
After all, what do we have up in our houses this time of year? Not crucifixes with a bloody dying Jesus, but instead happy cuddly baby Jesus laying in a manger surrounded by Christmas lights and happy Christmas trees. And it’s true isn’t it, that we as Christians prefer the baby Jesus in the manger to the bloody man Jesus hanging and dying on a cross. We don’t like the image of death, but we like the image of newborn life, especially this time of the year.
We’d rather get caught up in our own sinful desires. We would rather face Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and jack frost nipping at your nose, than to face the reality. Advent and Christmas come about because we are sinners. Advent and Christmas occur because we are judged by God and found wanting. The first Christmas didn’t occur because God wanted to give us a day off of work in the midst of a long dreary winter, but because God wanted us to be rescued from our long dreary sinful lives.
Long and dreary especially as we remember those who because of sin and death are no longer around with us. Our grandparents, parents and more, our children and nephews and others who will not be with us this Christmas season. Those who have paid the price of sin, death.
Long and dreary as we see the sin in our own life, and the way that it inundates us. How we complain and whine to our friends and family about how bad work is. We see that sin as we covet all sorts of new toys that we want Santa to bring us for Christmas. New boats, new ice fishing gear, new computers and cell phones. Our selfish greediness is what we want Christmas to be all about.
But our hymn today speaks of something different. Our hymn speaks of “the Father’s Son, who in flesh the victory has won”. Our hymn speaks of Jesus dying for us on the cross. You see, at Christmas, we must look beyond Jesus in the manger to Jesus the adult who lived a perfect sin free life. The one who was the perfect atonement for all of our sin, by his own death on the cross, and his own resurrection. We must look to that, because that is our only hope. Without Jesus on the cross, Jesus in the manger doesn’t mean anything to us. Without Jesus on the cross, Jesus in the manger is just another baby.
And it is in Jesus on the cross that we receive forgiveness. It is in Jesus on the cross that we are selves are reborn in to peace and everlasting life. For our in our baptisms, we have died with Jesus, and been reborn into eternal life. A life that will last forever. Just as Jesus is born in the manger, through Jesus’ death, you are born into heaven.
In a small dark stable, Jesus Christ is born, he has come to rescue you from sin and the power of death. He has come to rescue you and to bring you into his kingdom, so that you might live apart from all the sin of this world. He has come to rescue you, and in that rescue mission, as the hymn says, Jesus’ course “ran down to hell” suffering for you and then “back then to his throne and crown. Jesus takes hell on for you, and instead gives you life in his kingdom.
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. [3] But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,
“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the 5 and 6th verses of the hymn Savior of the Nations, along with the reading from John chapter 19, especially these words from verse18, “there they crucified him.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. There’ll be parties for throwing, marshmallows for roasting and caroling out in the snow, well so long as the wind chill isn’t 20 below zero! Christmas is a time for celebrating and enjoying the excitement of the season. So why in the midst of all this happiness do we have such an offensive text this evening? Why in the midst of this merriment do we look at a horrific execution, with blood and guts, dirt and grime? Why must we look to Jesus on the cross, rather than Jesus in the manger?
After all, what do we have up in our houses this time of year? Not crucifixes with a bloody dying Jesus, but instead happy cuddly baby Jesus laying in a manger surrounded by Christmas lights and happy Christmas trees. And it’s true isn’t it, that we as Christians prefer the baby Jesus in the manger to the bloody man Jesus hanging and dying on a cross. We don’t like the image of death, but we like the image of newborn life, especially this time of the year.
We’d rather get caught up in our own sinful desires. We would rather face Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and jack frost nipping at your nose, than to face the reality. Advent and Christmas come about because we are sinners. Advent and Christmas occur because we are judged by God and found wanting. The first Christmas didn’t occur because God wanted to give us a day off of work in the midst of a long dreary winter, but because God wanted us to be rescued from our long dreary sinful lives.
Long and dreary especially as we remember those who because of sin and death are no longer around with us. Our grandparents, parents and more, our children and nephews and others who will not be with us this Christmas season. Those who have paid the price of sin, death.
Long and dreary as we see the sin in our own life, and the way that it inundates us. How we complain and whine to our friends and family about how bad work is. We see that sin as we covet all sorts of new toys that we want Santa to bring us for Christmas. New boats, new ice fishing gear, new computers and cell phones. Our selfish greediness is what we want Christmas to be all about.
But our hymn today speaks of something different. Our hymn speaks of “the Father’s Son, who in flesh the victory has won”. Our hymn speaks of Jesus dying for us on the cross. You see, at Christmas, we must look beyond Jesus in the manger to Jesus the adult who lived a perfect sin free life. The one who was the perfect atonement for all of our sin, by his own death on the cross, and his own resurrection. We must look to that, because that is our only hope. Without Jesus on the cross, Jesus in the manger doesn’t mean anything to us. Without Jesus on the cross, Jesus in the manger is just another baby.
And it is in Jesus on the cross that we receive forgiveness. It is in Jesus on the cross that we are selves are reborn in to peace and everlasting life. For our in our baptisms, we have died with Jesus, and been reborn into eternal life. A life that will last forever. Just as Jesus is born in the manger, through Jesus’ death, you are born into heaven.
In a small dark stable, Jesus Christ is born, he has come to rescue you from sin and the power of death. He has come to rescue you and to bring you into his kingdom, so that you might live apart from all the sin of this world. He has come to rescue you, and in that rescue mission, as the hymn says, Jesus’ course “ran down to hell” suffering for you and then “back then to his throne and crown. Jesus takes hell on for you, and instead gives you life in his kingdom.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Series A - Advent 3 - G - 2010 - Assurance in the Midst of our Doubts
Matthew 11:2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" 4 And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 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. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me."
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,
"'Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.'
who will prepare your way before you.'
11 Truly, I say to you, 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. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, [4] and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, [5] let him hear.
Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen. Our text today is the gospel lesson read, especially this verse, "Go and tell him what you hear and see, the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised and the poor have good news preached to them." Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ, "Is she the one?" My friend asked me, "and how will I know if she is?" He had been dating his girlfriend for a couple of years, and now wondered if the time had come to make the relationship more permanent, to ask the girl to marry him. As one who was already engaged and planning a wedding, he asked me my opinion. My friend had bravely asked her on a date, and then boldly took her to a movie. Things had gone wonderfully, and one date led to another and another. Now this question was before him - "How do I know if she is the one or if I should wait for another?"
It almost sounds like what John the Baptist's disciples ask Jesus in our text today. John the Baptist, who had boldly proclaimed Jesus to be the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world now has his doubts. John the Baptist, who said he was unworthy to tie Jesus' shoes, let alone to baptize him, now wonders if he had the right person, or if there was another he was supposed to have noticed.
It is easy for us to say to John the Baptist, "Come on John, don't you get it? Jesus is the second person of the trinity incarnate in human flesh! Ha! Everyone knows that!!" But in reality, we can't blame John, because Jesus wasn't exactly what John was expecting. John was a good Jew and as a good Jew John was awaiting a new King, in the vein of the Great King David. He was waiting for one who would sit upon David's throne and return Israel to national and world wide power. One who would lead Israel's armies in conquering and ruling.
But that isn't what Jesus did or who Jesus was. Yes Jesus was a king, but as Jesus says before Pontius Pilate, "My Kingdom is not of this world, if it were, my followers would have fought for me." Jesus isn't concerned with an earthly throne, one where he can rule and subjugate the people of the earth. So when Jesus doesn't raise an army, when Jesus doesn't begin fighting against the evil Romans. John wonders what is going on.
John is especially worried because he is now in jail awaiting execution for preaching against the Roman puppet king. John would like Jesus to raise an army, and rescue him. So John has his doubts. John wants to be certain before he gives up his life. John wants an assurance, something he can see and believe in the face of death.
Dear friends in Christ, John isn't that much different from most of us, is he? Do we always have rock hard faiths, do we always fear love and trust in God above all things? Or do we have doubts? Do we sometimes have those worries and uncertainties? I am sure that you all do. "Pastor, do you really expect me to believe that the earth was created in seven days, even though countless respected scientists say it was created in seconds over 12 billion years ago?" "Pastor, do you really expect me to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and is still alive in heaven? Do you really expect me to believe all that mumbo jumbo you proclaim from the pulpit every week? It just seems a little far fetched doesn't it?"
We do at times have doubts. We do at times wonder. After all we are sinful human beings, with limited understanding of the universe. And just like John, we expect Jesus to be a little bit different than he is. After all, powerful people in our society have big houses, and fancy cars. They carry multiple cell phones and have dogs they carry around in purses. And what does Jesus have? Just the clothes on his back and the words of his lips. Powerful people in our society hold press conferences, but Jesus must shout his message out on hillsides and trust in his disciples to spread the words of his lips. The rulers of this world have vast armies with tanks and guns and soldiers ready to fight for the cause of that nation at a moment's notice. But Jesus has no army to speak of, or at least that we can see.
So why should we really trust this man, Jesus who claims to be God in the flesh, who claims to be bringing about the Kingdom of Heaven, as we heard last week, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" Why shouldn't we like John have our doubts? Why shouldn't we wonder at this man? Why shouldn't we ask the question of Jesus, "Are you the one who is coming, or should we expect another?"
When asked this question, Jesus responds, "Go and tell John what you hear and 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." Jesus essentially says, if you doubt that I am who I say I am, look at what I do. Those who cannot see, who have been blind since birth all healed, and they can see. Those who are dead are raised. Those who are ill with sicknesses and with leprosy are made whole and cleansed. These are miraculous things that are taking place, all being done by Jesus, all being done by God in the flesh.
And Jesus gives the same answer to you. Look at what you see. We who are dead in our sin are healed, and brought back to life through the power of the Holy Spirit in baptism. We who are spiritually hungry, spiritually poor are fed with the very living resurrected body and blood of Jesus Christ in with and under the bread and wine. And what is more those of us who are sick are healed in Jesus. Yes, we may die earthly deaths in our sickness. We may suffer from cancer, from Alzheimer's, from heart attacks, from accidents. But we have life, and we have healing in Jesus Christ. We have victory in what he gives us. Even should we die on earth, we will live for eternity in heaven with Jesus.
And we have that victory over our doubts too. In case you wonder and doubt Jesus, look at what he has done for you. Jesus came to win victory for you, not with armies or worldly power, but by suffering. Jesus came to win your life by giving his own up in death on a bloody gruesome cross. Jesus came to give you peace by the shedding of his own blood. As scripture says, "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53)
Jesus is who he says he is. Jesus is the living Son of God who has taken on human flesh, become incarnate, lived on earth suffered and died for you. That is his word, and they are words you can take to the bank, because he has sealed them with his own blood. Is Jesus the one who has come, and we have no need to look for another. We have no need to search further than his words and promises to us. Jesus has come, and one day will come again to bring you home. Amen.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Advent 2 - Midweek - 2010 - Isaiah 7 and Savior of the Nations Come 3-4 - "God's Possible Impossibilities"
Isaiah 7:10-17
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 "Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." 12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test." 13 And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17 The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria."
Here a maid was found with child,
yet remained a virgin mild.
In her womb this truth was shown:
God was there upon his throne.
Then stepped forth the lord of all
from his pure and kingly hall;
God of God, yet fully man,
His heroic course began.
Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Our text is the Isaiah reading, especially this verse, "Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us." Along with the third and fourth stanzas of our sermon hymn, "Savior of the Nations Come"
"That's impossible!" "That could never happen in a million years!" "There is no way!" Have any of these phrases ever entered into your vocabulary? Have you ever heard them? I have on several occasions this year. "Nebraska will never win a football National Championship this year! It is impossible!" Well sure enough, they were right. It is impossible, at least this year! There are other examples. We all know that if we hold up a rock in the air and let go, that it is impossible for that rock to float away into the sky. We know that if we drop a piece of buttered bread, it is impossible for it to land butter side up on the floor. The world is full of impossibilities.
We all know that if it is impossible, it will never happen. We know the very definition of impossible means can't happen. But with God, nothing is impossible. God can do all things, know all things, and be at all places. Nothing is impossible for him who created the heavens and the earth.
So what impossible things is God doing in our texts today? Our hymn we sang tells us this, "Here a maid was found with child, yet remained a virgin mild" And that is what our text says too, "The Virgin shall conceive and bear a child." That is impossible. WE all know where babies come from, and we know that they don't just randomly appear in young girls. And since this idea goes against our intellect, we often dismiss it, we often ignore it.
But God is in the business of the impossible. Even when we doubt it, he does impossible things. He came to Mary, and through the Holy Spirit, he created a baby within her, a baby that was not just a man, but rather the wholeness of God the Son living in human flesh. A baby who was God. A baby who was there at the creation of the world. A baby who will be there at its end. God in the flesh, or as our text says, Immanuel, God with us.
Even that seems impossible to us doesn't it? We can't get our minds around the fact that God would take on human flesh and dwell among us, live with us. We can't understand God being tired. We can't understand God having to eat and sleep. We can't imagine God talking one on one with regular old people in their daily lives. To us sinners, the incarnation, God taking on human flesh seems impossible.
But it happens, even though it seems impossible. As our Hymn says "God of God yet fully man". Even in the midst of our doubts, God does the impossible. He takes human flesh, so as to share in our lives in this sinful world. He gets down and dirty, in the muck and the mire of this sinful world, to be with you. He wants to be with you, and nothing will stop him from doing so.
And that leads us to our most impossible seeming thing that God does: Rescue sinners. It seems impossible that God could take away all of the guilt and sin that you and I have committed. It seems impossible that someone could atone for our guilt. For if we look at ourselves with open and honest eyes, we see that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We doubt God's word, especially God's word about being born of a virgin, or of taking on human flesh in the incarnation. God's word at times seems impossible.
And that is not the only thing that shows our sin, but we also see our sin in how we interact with our families, especially this holiday season. Often times we dread family get-togethers, we dread seeing our brother or sister with whom we always fight. We dread remembering things that we have said or done to one another. Our sin is there.
And on our own, it really is impossible for us to eliminate this sin. On our own, we can't manage to do enough good to outweigh those evil inclinations of our heart. We can't always one hundred percent of the time do good to our neighbors and our enemies. We don't obey God command to love one another. We are guilty, and it is impossible for us to escape that guilt.
But God is in the business of doing the impossible. As we already mentioned, through his word, God made a young virgin pregnant. Through his word, God himself took on human flesh, and the reason for God doing these seemingly impossible things, was to rescue you from your sin. To forgive you, and to lead you into his kingdom forever.
For that baby born of the virgin, God in the flesh, came to begin his "heroic course", leading up to Golgotha, the mountain where he would one day drag up a heavy splintered wooden cross, so that he might be nailed upon it. He came to pour out his blood, to be wounded so that we might be healed. He came to suffer and to die, giving up his spirit, so that you and your sin might die with him. IT is finished, he cried out from the cross your salvation – the impossible – has been accomplished by the work of the God man born to Mary. Jesus accomplishes the impossible, and makes you whole again in God's eyes.
God does the impossible. He brings life to where there was none. He takes on human flesh to be with you in the muck and mire of our lives, and he suffers and dies so that you might be forgiven. With God, nothing is impossible, with God you are whole again. Amen.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Advent 2 - 2010 - Repent you Brood of Vipers!
Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord Jesus and savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, "Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
Dear friends in Christ. Advent is upon us. Only a few more weeks until Christmas is here. We have snow on the ground, the LYF is going carol singing next week. In our home, we have been playing our favorite Christmas albums, with Nat King Cole and the Carpenters singing our favorite Christmas songs. We are finally getting in the mood for Christmas, and so what a better text to have than the one in our text today, with its (Speak slowly) wonderful Christmas time greeting - "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
Well, maybe that isn't the Christmastime greeting we have heard in the shopping malls. Maybe that is the exact opposite of what we want to hear. We would rather be faced with "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" But that is nowhere to be found in our text today. Instead we have "You brood of vipers!" and calls that we may "Repent! For the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!" And contained within these words, is the purpose and meaning of the season of Advent. Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!
In our text today, we see the coming of St. John the Baptist. We just finished singing a hymn about St. John the Baptist, On Jordan's banks the Baptist cries. And with the coming of John, we prepare for the coming of Jesus. As our text says, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'" That's what Advent is about, preparing for Jesus, waiting for Jesus to come. And so St. John prepares us for Jesus.
And what is St. John's message? It isn't a happy Christmas greeting, it isn't a message of hope or of peace with angels singing. Instead St. John says "Repent you brood of Vipers! Repent, you sinners!"
And that is what we need to hear. That we cannot do it on our own. That we are guilty, and being guilty that we deserve death. Our text says, "Even now, the axe is laid to the root of the tree." Or in other words, even now God is ready to cut us down because of our sin. He is ready to cut us down and throw us into the eternal fire of hell.
God will not allow us to stand in our idolatry, turning the almighty dollar into a God that is ten times more important to us than Jesus is. He will not allow us to be ruled by our greed for the biggest and best toys we can find, be that a car, or a boat, or a tractor, or even the fanciest gadget we can buy. And so he says "You Brood of Vipers!!"
God will not allow us to be ruled either by our addictions, our addictions to alcohol, where we always need another drink, or addictions to pornography, or lust or of infidelity. Instead, God wants us to live "holy lives according to his word." But so often instead, we turn to those addictions, because they give us release from this demanding world. But in the end, these addictions become our gods, and they rule our lives, rather than God. St. John cries to those afflicted by addictions, "Repent and flee from the wrath that is to come!"
And that is not all! Repent, for no longer can you live as the world lives. As we read in the first epistle of St. John, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
And so we in our love of the world and all the things in the world are really truly a brood of vipers, children of our worldly father, Satan, that first serpent who tempted our father Adam to sin in the Garden of Eden. We are slaves to him and to the sin that he tempts us to every day. We really are a family of sinful slimy dirty sinners. We are a brood of Vipers.
And so what is our hope, for we hear in our text that God's "winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." And so in our sin, he will burn us in unquenchable fire, fire that we deserve in sin. Fire that is reserved for that first Serpent satan, and all who follow and love him more than the true God. And so we despair, because we know we are lost. We despair because we deserve eternal punishment. We despair because we are an idolatrous people, addicted to our own sinful desires, and we cannot change no matter how hard we try.
But to the sinner, John's message also has hope! "Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand!" For it is only having learned of your sin, it is only having learned that you are incurably sick that you realize you need a doctor and savior. It is only as you know your own sin, that you are ready to hear about the coming Kingdom of heaven, the kingdom brought about by the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. John must come and point you first to your sin, so that you might welcome the savior who is coming into the world. You Brood of Vipers, Jesus still loves you, and will take your sin!
For Jesus is God's own Son, born completely free from sin, born to rescue sinners like you and like me. In a few short weeks we will celebrate the birth of Jesus, born in a stable and laid in a manger. He would lead life headed towards the cross. The baby who is born in the stable will one day be the man who dies on a cross for the sins of the whole world. For God so loves that brood of vipers, poor sinful people like us that he gave his only son that who ever believes in him shall not die, but have eternal life.
And in Jesus' death, satan is destroyed. That old serpent, satan, no longer has his power over the world. He no longer has the power of death, of sin or of any addictions. Instead there shall be peace. As our Old Testament lesson says, The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them." The little child from Bethlehem, Jesus.
The text continues "The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den." Jesus has destroyed the serpent, and taken us, so that in him, we are no longer a brood of vipers, but instead we are a "a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter)
How has Jesus called you to be his people? Through baptism, where as our Gospel lesson says, he has baptized you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The fire is not the fire of judgment, for all that has fallen on Jesus, instead, the fire is the fire that purifies, as gold is refined in fire. It is the fire poured out in Jesus blood that washes all your sin away. For in this blood, all your sins are taken away, in this blood, you no longer are a brood of vipers.
In Jesus you have rescue from sin. In Jesus, you have life, because you have been ushered into the kingdom of heaven, that is at hand. In Jesus, you have repented, and entered into eternity. You Brood of Vipers, you are now God's people. Amen.
Matthew 3:1-12
3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare [1] the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.'"
'Prepare [1] the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.'"
4 Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 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. 10 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.
11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Advent 1 - Midweek - 2010 - Colossians 1 and Savior of the Nations Come v. 1-2
1. Savior of the nations, come,
Virgin's Son, make here Thy home!
Marvel now, O heaven and earth,
That the Lord chose such a birth.
2. Not by human flesh and blood,Virgin's Son, make here Thy home!
Marvel now, O heaven and earth,
That the Lord chose such a birth.
By the Spirit of our God,
Was the Word of God made flesh--
Woman's Offspring, pure and fresh.
Colossians 1:13 God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Grace Mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the lesson read, along with the first two verses of our hymn, Savior of the Nations Come. Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ. This year, our focus for our Advent services will be the hymn, Savior of the Nations come. This beloved hymn is one of the oldest hymns of Christianity, being attributed to Ambrose of Milan who lived from 340-397 AD. And even though the hymn is 1600 years old, most Lutheran churches will sing it during the advent season. I even had a class at the Seminary where I had to memorize it. We still pray the same prayer! Savior of the Nations Come!
After all, that is the point of Advent, that God will send a savior - That a savior is coming to rescue you. That is what the very word Advent means, "coming". During the next few weeks, we will continually be pointed to the Savior who has come, and who is to come again. We will be awaiting his advent, his arrival. But who is he? Who is this savior who is coming? Who is it that our hymn speaks of?
The answer is that our savior is not the one we expect. He isn't an army general. He isn't an earthly ruler, or a mighty warrior, or even a movie or sports star. Instead, the savior is the baby born in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ. He's a small helpless baby, lying in a manger. A baby who needs his diaper changed. He's a baby who cries and who gets hungry, a baby who was born in a barn because there was no room in the inn. In this picture of our savior, we see weakness, and frailness.
When we look at this baby, we don't see a savior, because in this small baby we see ourselves. We ourselves are weak, we ourselves are sinful. We disobey God regularly. God's commands seem like impossibilities. When faced with God's word, we see that we fall short in what we say and do. We don't really love our enemies. We don't support our neighbors as well as we support ourselves. As we read in the book of Romans. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." "There is no one who is righteous, not even one."
As sinners, we are in opposition to God. We live opposed to his will. And as we are against God, we deserve death and damnation. We deserve hell. Each and every one of us. We are enemies of God. As the book of Hebrews says, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." In sin, we fear God's punishment for sin, a raging fire that consumes God's enemies.
But now, in advent, we look towards this tiny baby, and we wonder how this baby is different? How can this little tiny helpless baby be the savior of all the nations? Because this baby isn't just the frail human we see, he is also, as our text says, "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him." "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell." This isn't an ordinary baby, this baby is God in the flesh. This tiny newborn baby existed before the world was even created, and he will still exist after it is brought to an end by his own second coming.
This baby is God incarnate, God in the flesh. In all of the places where we each have fallen short, God in the flesh will succeed. Where we are weak, God is strong. Where we disobey God, Immanuel will obey, even to the point of death. For this baby, who upon his birth cried out to his mother as he was laid in a wooden manger, so too will he cry out "My God My God why have you forsaken me" as he is nailed upon a wooden cross.
This baby will one day take all your sins upon himself, because God loves you. This baby will shed his blood and pour out his life in the punishment you deserve, taking your place on the cross. This baby, God in the flesh, will die on the cross in your place. And having died, he will be raised into eternal life apart from sin and weakness, apart from our sinful human frailty. Instead, with him, we will be truly human, with no weakness, with no suffering. In the death of Jesus you will have life and life to the full.
And so now, as we look at the baby in which the mystery of the God head lies, we are amazed. As the hymn says, "Marvel now O Heaven and Earth, that the Lord chose such a birth." Your God has come! He has come born as a tiny baby, a baby who will be the "lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." God has been made "woman's offspring pure and fresh" (Genesis 3:15) In Jesus, God and man is forever joined together. In Jesus you will be before him in his kingdom.
Amen, come Lord Jesus, Come Quickly!
Amen, come Lord Jesus, Come Quickly!
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