Christmas - G - 2011 - God Breathing, God Eating, God as Man on Christmas

Isaiah 62:10-12           Titus 3:4-7       Luke 2:1-20

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today will be the Gospel Lesson just read, especially these words, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, I think my favorite Christmas Hymn is “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”  It is a hymn that pictures that glorious moment that we are celebrating today.  The birth of Jesus.  A little baby is born, not in a hospital, not in a home, not even in the inn, but in a stable.  And yet, even with such a lowly birth, with such little human fanfare, the angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king!”

The angels sing for a good reason, for even while people did not notice anything special, the babe lying in the manger is special.  He is a human, just like you and me, and yet, he is also the creator of Humans.  He is the only begotten Son of God, begotten before all the world existed, and he is also created human flesh.  When Mary nurses her child, she nurses the God who formed her in her own mother’s womb. 

That’s why the angels are singing, they know who the baby is – the word made flesh who dwells among us.  “Christ the everlasting Lord” and now “Pleased as Man with Man to Dwell, Jesus our Immanuel.”  God with us.  God with us in human flesh.  From heaven above to Earth he has come!  Christmas is here.

That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.  Jesus coming to us, to be with us, to live in our crummy world.  He witnessed and experienced first hand all our struggles.  God was hungry.  God got tired.  God was thirsty, he breathed the very air he had made in the very beginning.  He wept, he skinned his knees, he even went to the bathroom.  Mary and Joseph had to potty train God!  When he grew up, he personally knew people who were sick, who died, who struggled with sin.  Scripture records 12 that he was personally friends with, even as they doubted who he was, as they questioned him, and as they misunderstood why he had come. 

For God came and dwelt in our flesh for a reason.  This wasn’t just a field trip for God to experience His world.  He came for a specific reason, to give us something we need.  He came into flesh, so that flesh could suffer.  He came to breathe our air so that he could stop breathe his last breath, “Eloi, Eloi, Lemma Sabachthani!”  He took on our flesh that thirsts, that feels pain, and that has blood coursing through its veins, so that he could go to the cross and die. 

Don’t you see, Jesus came to die for you?  To give you forgiveness.  To take away your sin.  To give you hope.  He took on your flesh so that he could pay the payment your sin required.  Your guilt required your death.  Your sin meant you must die.  And God would have none of it, so he came here to take your place. 

So God laid his wonderful Glory aside, “Born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth,” Born to give you second birth in flowing living waters of baptism.  For as the living body of God died on the cross, it rose again on the third day, meaning all human flesh will live, all human flesh will be raised, all human flesh that has died will rise again on the last day.  Some will go to everlasting condemnation, but you dear friends, in Jesus, will raise to everlasting life. 

That’s why the angels were excited.  God was saving you.  God was accomplishing his most glorious work, dying on a cross. Its Christmas!  Today you have good news of great joy that will be for all the people.   For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace, good will to those on whom his favor rest.   Peace to you, peace to me, peace to the whole world.  Jesus is born.  He lays in a manger in Bethlehem.  He comes for you.  He comes to set you free from sin.  “Hark the herald Angels Sing!  Glory to the New Born King!”

Christmas Eve - G - 2011 - Oh By the Way, Jesus Was Born On Christmas Day

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen, our text today is from the Gospel of Matthew just read, especially these words, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ, on a dark night, nearly 2000 years ago, a little baby rested in a barn outside an inn.  We all know the Christmas story, or in so far as the nativities in our living rooms tell it.  Jesus was born, there were cows lowing and sheep quietly sitting there, while wise men arrived and shepherds gawked.  As we imagine this scene, we are hit with its sentimental theme.  We like to think about baby Jesus, we like to picture him wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger.  It makes us feel good to picture.  And it should, that little baby has come because of you.

But in our text today, Matthew doesn’t spend time on angels and shepherds, or even sheep or great tidings of joy.  St. Matthew almost mentions the birth of Jesus as if saying, “Oh, by the way, he was born.”  You see, in the Gospel of Matthew, the focus is on all the other things going on at the time.  Joseph thought Mary was cheating on him before they were married.  He was trying to call the whole thing off in a holy and upright way.  You can only imagine the scandal that was going on!  Mary claimed God gave her a baby, and Joseph had his doubts. 

And so in the midst of this scandal, a young woman pregnant and a fiancé in doubt, Jesus is born.  In the midst of chaos, in the midst of doubts, in the midst of struggles in regular people’s lives, the only begotten Son of God was born, and born for a reason.  In fact, dear friends in Christ, it is good that Matthew writes his Gospel in this particular way, because it reflects our own lives, doesn’t it?

Christmas time is here, and family is in town, we want to try and spend some time with them before they head home again.  We have had a busy month of preparation, and now it is crunch time: get the food cooked, get the dishes cleaned, rush, rush, rush, until we get to January – then we can work, work, work so that we can pay off all our Christmas bills.  We are always busy.  Our lives are always chaotic.  We have our own problems and issues that come up, just like Joseph and Mary. 

In the midst of it all, it is easy to lose track of what is actually going on in our text.  It is easy to lose track of the reason we are gathered here tonight.  Jesus is born.  And He is born for a purpose.  Jesus enters our busy lives, and he comes to save us from them.  He comes to rescue us.

The little babe is born to die for you, as we sing, He is “Born that man no more may die.  Born to raise the sons of earth.”  That babe is born, so that “now the foe, sin and woe, death and hell are broken.”  He’s born for you.  He lays in a manger for you.  He lives for you.  And most importantly he will die for you.  For thirty years, Jesus lived here on this earth.  He interacted with countless people in the midst of their busy sinful lives.  He helped those who struggled as his own parents had.  He cared for the broken hearted, he cared for the sick and he healed those who needed him.  And most importantly, he set his eyes on Golgotha, and suffered on an old rugged cross, on a Friday we call Good. 

That is who this baby is, and friends, today he enters into your own busy lives as well.  You don’t need do anything, you don’t need to invite him in.  He comes!  He comes on his own for you.  He is with you in your struggles and promises something better for you.  He is as our text says, Immanuel, God with us, with us at all times and in all places.  With us for calm and peace. 

Dear friends, it’s Christmas, and tonight we have sung countless Christmas hymns all describing the joy and wonder of angels and shepherds – good hymns that we love and cherish.  But tonight, in just a few minutes, we will turn down the lights, and have a minute of silence.  Silence in the midst of our busy lives, silence in the midst of suffering and struggles.  Silence to reflect on the meaning of this day.  And as we sit in the dark, a warm glow will build from our candles, as we celebrate the coming of Jesus, the light of the world. 

For with Jesus, it truly is a silent night, a holy night.  All is calm, and all is bright.  He has come.  He has come for you.  He will die for you.  All so that you may have his chickens.  Merry Christmas dear friends in Christ.  Merry Christmas.  Amen.  

Preliminary Designs for Stained Glass Windows

Here are the ideas for Designs for St. John's windows in the new addition.

First over the front doors.  Perhaps it should also have the means of grace under Saint John's and Above Lutheran.  Then it would have a bible, a Baptismal shell and a Chalice.

Then on either side of the front door, on the relocated windows.

Then the four new side windows

Trinity                                   Chi Rho







Ixthus                           First Letters                                                                        
                                 Of Jesus' Name

Give Pastor any feedback you have, he would like to hear it!

Here's the progress so far - Come Christmas Eve to see yourself!

UPDATE:

Redesigned Front Window - with Means of Grace

Advent 4 - O - 2011 - Your King Forever

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16     Romans 16:25-27         Luke 1:26-38

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Old Testament Lesson just read, especially these words, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.  Your throne shall be established forever.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Forever is a long time.  We have all made light of this fact by saying “that car ride took forever,” “it took forever for the sequel of my favorite movie to come out,” or even, as we may admit, “that sermon took forever in church!”  We doubt forever could happen, and we use it as an excuse when things seem to fall apart in our lives.  Forever is a long time, so long in fact that we often say, “nothing lasts forever.” 

And yet, in our text today, God promises David forever.  “Your throne, David, will be established forever.”  In other words, there will always be a Davidic king ruling.  One of David’s children or grandchildren will always be a king.  It will be that way forever.  God has said so, David, he has made you a promise. 

What is David to do?  Should he doubt God’s word, should he tell God, “Well Lord, nothing lasts forever, so your promise must not be true.”  Nothing lasts forever, so don’t you have a different promise for me?  Nothing lasts forever, so will my throne really be established. 

If you look at the history recorded in scripture, it would seem that should this have been David’s view, if he had been a cynic, he would be right.  During the reign of David’s grandson, the kingdom of Israel divided into two different kingdoms, that began warring with one another.  These kings, some of whom were descended from David, turned from God and turned from faith before finally the kingdom of David was destroyed and taken into captivity by the Babylonians.  After all nothing lasts forever, right? 

So often we too have that same view.  For we too have a promise of “forever” in our lives.  God has promised that he will be with us “forever”, never leaving nor forsaking us.  God has promised that we shall live with him “forever,” and yet we see loved ones passing away.  God will love us forever, and yet, sometimes we don’t feel like it do we?  He will forgive us forever, and yet sometimes we still feel guilty for things we have done wrong (sometimes rightly by the way.   Is God really keeping his promises to us, or is forever just too good to be true? Is it true that nothing really lasts forever?

Dear friends in Christ, when God says something is forever, he means it, even if we cannot understand how or why, or even see the way it will all work out.  God told David, “I will establish your house forever,” and He meant it.  Hear again our Gospel text for today, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.  And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’”

Even for David, when it seems that forever is gone, that there is no hope of it being fulfilled, God keeps his promise of forever.  900 years after David dies, a descendant of his is born.  900 years later, in the city of David, good tidings of great joy occur.  For God keeps his promise, and a new king is born.  Jesus, whose first throne is but a manger in a stable.  He is the king  descended from David.  He is the one who will reign in David’s place forever.  A king is born, lowly in a manger.

And dear friends, he reigns for you as well, keeping God’s promises of forever for you.  For the same King Jesus, descendant of David, enthroned in a manger will also be enthroned in a much more painful place.  He will wear a crown of thorns and a robe stained in his own blood, until stripped naked he is enthroned upon a wooden cross for all the world to see.  It is that King, who is enthroned forever.  It is that King who is both our God and our Lord.  It is that King who will keep all of God’s promises to you. 

You are forgiven, FOREVER, for the sins of the whole world were placed on your king, as he died in your place.  You need not continue to feel guilty for them.  They are no longer yours, but his.  You are free and forgiven for ever.  God has promised that you will live forever, and you know this to be true, for death cannot destroy your King Jesus.  Even when he lied dead in a tomb for three days, he returned to life, and so will you.  Your King is the very Resurrection and the Life, FOREVER, and he gives that life to you in the very waters of life in baptism. 

You are loved FOREVER, for your God promises you heaven, a place where you may stand before him, not in shame, not in sorrow, but in peace.  God has promised that his own hand, with the hole from a nail still in it, will wipe away all the hurt and pain of this world. 

God keeps his promises to us, especially the promise of forever.  And if we doubt it at times, all we need do is look at the baby in the manger, the one whose birth we celebrate next week, the babe, the son of Mary.  David’s throne is established forever, and God lives and reigns today – over you, over me, and his reign shall have no end.  He is your God, your redeemer, your savior, and he will be FOREVER.  Amen.  

Advent Midweek 3 - 2011 - From Heaven Above to Earth I Come

11 Instead of soft and silken stuff

You have but hay and straw so rough

On which as King, so rich and great,

To be enthroned in royal state.

12 And so it pleases You to see

this simple truth revealed to me:

That worldly honor, wealth, and might

Are weak and worthless in Your sight.

13 Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,

Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled,

A quiet chamber set apart

For You to dwell within my heart.

14 My heart for very joy must leap;

My lips no more can silence keep.

I, too must sing with joyful tongue

That sweetest ancient cradlesong:

15 Glory to God in highest heav'n,

Who unto us His Son has giv'n!

While angels sing with pious mirth

A glad new year to all the earth.

Revelation 22:12"Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

 14Blessed are those who wash their robes,[e] so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

 16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

 17The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Luke 2:  1In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration when[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,[b] who was with child. 6And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today are the last verses of the hymn, along with the reading from Revelation 22, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.  We are almost there, Christ is almost here.  You can imagine that at this very time Joseph and Mary are on their way to Bethlehem.  Mary is very pregnant, and Joseph is worried about arriving safely before she enters labor.  But the travel is slow, and the distance is great to travel.  And when finally they arrive, there is no room for them at the inn. 

There should be a big celebration awaiting them shouldn’t there be?  They should roll out the carpet, pull down the palm branches and shout, “Hosanna to the coming king!”  “ He arrives tonight!”  But there is no room for Jesus to be born, and there will be no welcome until He rides in to die.  As our hymn says, “Instead of soft and silken stuff, You have but hay and straw so rough, On which as King, so rich and great, To be enthroned in royal state.”

They should be ashamed, shouldn’t they, to welcome Jesus in such a way.  And yet, how do we welcome Jesus?  We so often have no room for Jesus in our lives either.  Between our kids athletic events, work and keeping up with the Joneses, we hardly have time for even a quiet moment by ourselves, let alone to welcome Jesus, to receive from him his gifts. 

Do you have the time to spend in prayer every day that you should?  Do you read God’s word as often as you should?  Do you attend church every week, or only when you feel you have to? 

What about this Christmas season, in the midst of shopping, baking, caroling, working, decorating, and spending time with family, do you have room for Jesus?  Or do you relegate him this Christmas season to the back door, to the shed behind your house where you keep all the other overburdening things. 

“Behold I am coming soon,” Jesus says, whether you have room or not.  I am coming, and I am bringing you good news of great joy, whether you are ready or not.  Jesus is coming, because even if he is not important to you sometimes, you are always important to him.  He comes to this world when we have no place for him because of our sin.  He comes to this world, when we are too preoccupied with our own lives to care.  He comes to this world to defeat the sin and death to which we give all we can to.  He comes, and is coming soon.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger.  He came, and today he continues to come. 

He comes in his holy word, read and preached to us sinners, to tell us we need him, and that he will do all that is necessary for us.  He comes to us in the water of baptism, where he invites all who thirst for righteousness to drink of the water of life without price.  He comes with his very own body and blood, that which laid in a manger, and that which hung on a cross, to eat and drink for forgiveness life and salvation.  He comes to live with us, forever, without end.  He comes to take away our sin, even if we are not ready. 

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child, Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled, A quiet chamber set apart For You to dwell within my heart.  My heart for very joy must leap; My lips no more can silence keep.  Glory to God in highest heav'n, Who unto us His Son has giv'n! 

Christmas is here, and it brings your salvation with a child in the manger.  From heaven above to Earth, God has come, to bring good news to every home.  Amen. 

Advent 3 - O - 2011 - Joy in Sorrow for Christmas

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

1 Thess. 5:16-24

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text for today comes from the Old Testament Lesson just read, especially these words, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;  he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”  Thus far our text. 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  The Christmas carols are playing on the radio.  Christmas shopping continues.  Lights are up on the houses, and we are all looking forward to spending Christmas time with family and to having the day off from work.  Christmas cookies are baking.  And presents are awaiting their opening.  It truly is the most wonderful time of year isn’t it?   Best of all, the Charlie Brown Christmas Special will be on shortly!

But here in church, gathered with these people together, we have a much more somber tone.  We here today have a different focus.  Our church is decorated with blue paraments to remind us of our sinful lives.  We have had reading focused on our sin, we have been looking honestly and openly at the reason that Jesus had to come.  For so often buried underneath all the Merriness and Celebration is a deep truth.  It is for sin that Jesus comes.  Christmas comes around because we are poor miserable sinners.  And sometimes it is this time of the year that we feel it most. 

For while we try so hard to put on a happy and merry outward face, inside we feel lonely.  Yes, family may be coming for Christmas, but perhaps we don’t get along with all our family.  Perhaps a particular family member will not be at Christmas this year because they are out of town, because they don’t speak with us, or even because they may have passed away.  It hurts, and the Christmas season seems to just magnify and intensify the hurt and struggles within our families.  So Jesus must come. 

While we try to put on the happy and merry outward face, inside we feel exhausted.  For all those Christmas cookies take time to make.  In the midst of trying to get everything done for work so we can take time off, we have to put up the tree, hang the lights, clean the house put up the stockings and more.  Preparing for Christmas celebrations in a daunting task, one we must yearly face, only to undo all the work we have done a short month or so later.  The nights are long, the air is cold, and the stress level is high.  So Jesus must come. 

The thing about Christmas so often is that while we put on an outward show of joy and happiness, that inside we are exhausted, tired, sorrowful sinners.  Christmas feels like a month of obligations, overspending, difficult travel and horrible weather.  We can’t be happy just because we are expected to be this time of the year.  We can’t always feel good about it being the season of Christmas.  We don’t always want to bounce around singing and laughing to Christmas Carols.  Sometimes, we just don’t have it in us.  Sometimes we are just tired and frustrated and saddened from our sin.

Our text today, paints a picture of that.  It speaks of people whose heads are covered with ashes in mourning.  It speaks of people whose home towns and villages are destroyed.  It paints a picture of people who are bound and thrown in prison and forgotten.  Our text today paints a picture of the people from ancient Israel dealing with these things, just as it paints a picture of you and me – bound in our sin.  Facing the prison of hell and damnation. 

But our text doesn’t just leave us in our holiday duldrums.  It doesn’t leave us alone facing all of these issues that come about because of sin.  Our text today gives us hope.  It speaks of someone who is coming.  It gives us joy in the midst of our somberness.  It tells us about a rescuer who will come “to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor.  He comes to comfort all who mourn; to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning.  He comes to save you. 

Jesus is coming.  And while this does force us to look honestly at our sin, it also gives us joy.  For even as we know our sins, they cannot overcome us.  Even as we know our own guilt and sadness, we know that Christ has victory in his death.  Rejoice, for even today, you have hope.  You have promise, you have Jesus.

That’s why Jesus is coming.  That is why his Advent is drawing near.  Because he wants to save you from all this baloney of the world.  He wants to bring you to be with him.  But he won’t do it magically from heaven.  He won’t just tell you to be happy, as the Christmas season seems to do.  Instead Jesus will come.  He will be born of a virgin.  He will suffer and die under Pontius Pilate.  He will be nailed to a cross to give you hope in times of mourning.  To give you peace in times of tumult.  He will rise again so that you may be certain that the same thing will happen to you.

That’s what Christmas is all about.  For unto you this day, is born in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord.  Joy!   Happiness!  Gloria in Excelsis, Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  Jesus is coming to save.  That’s what Christmas means. 

You will notice that today, on our advent wreath, we have lit a pink candle instead of the normal Blue/Purple one.  That’s because today we remember that in the midst of our sin, we have joy in Jesus.  In the midst of this world, we have hope.  Rejoice, Rejoice Immanuel is coming.  Even to you.  Joy for you forever.  Amen. 

Advent Midweek 2 - 2011 - From Heaven Above to Earth I Come

6 How glad we'll be to find it so!
Then with the shepherds let us go
To see what God for us has done
In sending us His own dear Son.

7 Come here, my friends, lift up your eyes,
And see what in the manger lies.
Who is this child, so young and fair?
It is the Christ Child lying there.

8 Welcome to earth, O noble Guest,
Through whom the sinful world is blest!
You came to share my misery
That You might share Your joy with me.

9 Ah, Lord, thou You created all,
How weak You are, so poor and small,
That You should choose to lay Your head
Where lowly cattle lately fed!

10 Were earth a thousand times as fair
And set with gold and jewels rare,
It would be far too poor and small
A cradle for the Lord of all.

Colossians 1: 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by[f] 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. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And 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. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He 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,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

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. 11He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

 14And 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.

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today comes from the hymn verses sang, as well as from the following words from John, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ, It’s amazing!  It’s beyond belief!  It’s impossible!  The God who created the entire Universe, the One who made the stars and the planets, the seas and the land, the One who is so powerful that all he need do is speak things and they exist, is coming to us, to lie in a manger.  The infinite God of the universe will be contained within a tiny, helpless, cuddly human being. 

Ah, Lord, though You created all, How weak You are, so poor and small, That You should choose to lay Your head Where lowly cattle lately fed!  How easy is it for us to just ignore this truth, to disbelieve what is happening.  How easy would it be to doubt this miracle: that God would be enclosed into one person.  After all, if Jesus is really God, then the same God who made all the animals needs his diapers changed.  If Jesus is really God, then he needs to be fed and burped and rocked to sleep.  So it can’t be true, can it?

John writes, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”  It’s the truth: the world will not believe that the little baby is God.  The world will not believe that the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient God of All could be lying in the arms of a virgin helplessly.  And dear friends, all of this crazy talk is easy for us to dismiss as well.  

We don’t want a weak god, but a powerful one.  We don’t want a helpless god, but a mighty one.  We want a god that fits our image of what a god should be. 

But our God must be weak to accomplish what he wishes to.  As our hymn says, “You came to share my misery, That You might share Your joy with me.”  You see, God leaves his power behind for you.  He becomes frail for you.  He becomes a baby so that he can die just like you.  He becomes weak so that he can go to Golgotha, die, and be raised again in your place. 

God comes and shares with us in our sin, with us in our pain, with us in our struggles.  He is Immanuel, God with us.  And he is with us in all things, including our frailties, so that he can suffer and die for sin. 

For our frail God can be beaten and bleed.  Our God can have thorns pushed into his head; he can have nails driven through his hands.  He can die for your sin.  He can die for your doubt.  Just as he will shortly come and lie weakly in the arms of Mary, He will also die weak. 

How glad we'll be to find it so!  Then with the shepherds let us go To see what God for us has done In sending us His own dear Son.  Rejoice, he is coming for you.  Rejoice he is weak to die for your sin.  Rejoice, He is coming, not in power and majesty, but in weakness to save you from sin.  Amen.

Advent 2 - O - 2011 - Comfort, Comfort Ye My People

Isaiah 40:1-11

2 Peter 3:8-14

Mark 1:1-8

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is the Old Testament lesson, especially these words, “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, Comfort, Comfort ye my people.  Comfort, your warfare is ended, your sin is paid for double.  Your savior is coming, he’s on his way.  The glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.  Jesus is drawing near.

This is the very center of the message of Advent, that Jesus is coming so that we may be at peace, in comfort and at rest.  For that is not what we normally experience.  We are not used to being in comfort, but instead are used to the tribulation and discomfort of this world.  Our text today says that men are like grass that withers away at the breath of the Lord.  We wither away, because we are unworthy to be before our God, because we cannot stand in the presence of his great and amazing holiness. 

For we are not holy, we are unholy.  We are not righteous, but we are terrible sinners.  We are not the people that God created us to be, for we have fallen into our own vices and sin.  And so like grass dies in the heat of summer, so too do we die in the heat of God’s great wrath over sin. 

We fade like grass as we deal with and suffer from cancer, and our bodies get weaker and weaker.  We fade like grass as we hear the word that a loved one has passed away from old age or Alzheimer’s.  We fade like grass as we face our own mortality and the consequences for our own sin.  We are guilty, and we face death because of it. 

Dear friends in Christ, your sin is not a laughing matter.  We can’t just shrug it away.  We can’t just ignore it.  It is not something that will just get better on its own if you ignore it.  You are sinners, you are guilty.  You have broken every one of the Ten commandments from “You shall have no other gods,” to “You shall not commit adultery,” to “You shall not covet.”  You have shattered God’s law, and so now you deserve great punishment for it, you deserve to be consumed in fire as our Epistle lesson says.  You deserve to be burned up as grass is burned in a ditch or as the elements waste away in fire.  You are responsible for your sin, and there is no hiding form it.

But our text does not say to us, “Punishment, Punishment ye my people,” or even “destruction ye my people.”  Our text today says, “Comfort, Comfort you my people.”  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.  Tell her that her sins are covered two fold.  Tell her that she is forgiven.  Tell her that her war fare is over.  Tell her that God will not dawdle to save us from our sin.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

For God will come to save you.  He’s coming, His Advent is soon.   God sent his servant John the Baptist to prepare the way for your salvation, to prepare in the desert the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.  All this will happen so that you God will have no obstacles to saving you.  There will not be a valley that will slow down the Lord’s coming.  There will not be a mountain that your God cannot overcome to make sure you will be forgiven.  Not even the mountain of Golgotha. 

Comfort Comfort to you, God’s people.  Jesus is coming, he is on his way, and the reason he comes is to die.  As we heard last week, the reason Jesus came was to ride a donkey, to ride that donkey into Jerusalem to be your blood sacrifice, to be your blood offering, to die in your place.  Comfort to you, because of punishment to Jesus.  See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.

Comfort, Comfort people of God.  You are redeemed.  You are saved.  You belong to God forever in the blood of the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.  Comfort in your times of sorrow.  Comfort in your times of hurt.  Comfort, your service is finished, you are freely God’s people.  Comfort to you.  Amen.  

Advent Greetings from President Harrison

Advent Greetings from President Matthew Harrison

Happy Advent!  Come Lord Jesus, Come Quickly!

Advent Midweek 1 - 2011 - From Heaven Above To Earth I Come

1 "From heav'n above to earth I come

to bear good news to ev'ry home:

Glad tidings of great joy I bring,

Whereof I now will say and sing:

2 "To you this night is born a child

Of Mary chosen virgin mild;

This little child of lowly birth

Shall be the joy of all the earth.

3 "This is the Christ, our God Most High,

Who hears your sad and bitter cry;

He will Himself your Savior be

From all your sins to set you free.

4 "He will on you the gifts bestow

Prepared by God for all below,

That in His kingdom, bright and fair,

You may with us His glory share.

5 "These are the signs that you shall mark:

The swaddling clothes and manger dark.

There you will find the infant laid

By whom the heav'ns and earth were made." 

^{Ephesians 4}

¹I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,³eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism,⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸Therefore it says,

    "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
   and he gave gifts to men."

 ⁹( In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?^[a] 10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the hymn verses read, along with these words, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ, “From heaven above, to Earth I come!” Jesus declares in our hymn for today.  And what good news this is for us dear friends, what a blessing that Jesus is coming to Earth.  In fact that is what the very word Advent means, that Jesus is coming.  He’s on his way, and he comes with healing in his wings.  He hears our “sad and bitter cry,” and comes “from all our sins to set us free.” 

It is a gift we greatly need and desire that Jesus brings with him.  Freedom from sins.  For we are slaves to sin, captured and mistreated by a cruel master.  Freedom because we are greedy, we are hurtful, we are jerks at times.  We fail to do what we know is right, and we pay the price for that sinfulness. 

Do you doubt that you are in need of a savior?  Do you doubt that you need to be rescued?  Look at your life.  Are you ever overwhelmed by the things that happen in your life.  Do you yourself hurt, and feel pain and sorrow?  Do you feel lonely, do you hurt?  These things are all from your sin, and they show how greatly you need a savior, how you need someone who would come down to save you.  Oh that a savior would come, O that God would rend open the heavens and come down, for here we toil and suffer, and we want rescue.

And that is what Christmas is all about.  As it grows nearer and nearer every week, know the reason for Christmas is that we might be rescued.  That, “To you this night is born a child; Of Mary chosen virgin mild; This little child of lowly birth; Shall be the joy of all the earth.”  He will on you gifts bestow, gifts of Life and Salvation, gifts that bring you to his own cross, where He hung and died for you sin, where he suffered because you are guilty, where he died to take away all your guilt and give you life. 

Our epistle lesson says “grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”  Therefore, Jesus “descended into the lower regions, the earth.”  From heaven  he came with gifts of baptism, that wash you in his blood for sin payment.  From heaven he came with gifts of his own sacrificed body and blood for forgiveness of sins.  From heaven above to bring good news to ev'ry home, good news that you are forgiven, that your sin is gone. 

For unto you this day is born in the city of david, a savior, which is Jesus Christ the Lord.  He is coming.  He will come down.  He will bring saving powers for you.  Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.  Amen.  

“God’s Grace For Messed Up Sinners” - Guest Sermon for Baptism of Claire Emilie Moline

“God’s Grace For Messed Up Sinners”

Rev. Don Meyer
Text: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
11/27/2011

    Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.  By the looks on a few of your faces, some of you are confused.  Judging by all the decorations that you see going up all around you along with the ads on the TV, it’s obvious that Christmas is coming... soon!  So you come to church on the first Sunday in Advent and what do hear?  A Gospel reading about Palm Sunday!?!  Then, to top it off, a strange Pastor is standing in the pulpit.  Something must have really gotten messed up because this doesn’t seem normal or right.  Well, please allow me to clear up your confusion.  First of all, Jesus’ triumphant ride on Palm Sunday was not read by mistake.  Just as He arrived humbly at Jerusalem, so He did at Bethlehem when He was first born into our world.  And in both circumstances He had one goal and mission in mind– to go to the Cross to pay the price for our sins.  He did it so that God’s grace could be delivered to you and me.  God’s grace is what I’d like to focus on with you today.
    Which leads me to the second confusing factor... the strange Pastor in your pulpit.  Now I would agree that the label of “strange” does apply to me, but you can be sure that Pastor Moline would not have asked or allowed me to preach if I was strange in a doctrinal way.  He loves you and is very protective of your souls.  Actually, I am his father-in-law and I’m here to celebrate my granddaughter Claire’s Baptism.  And when you think about it, that too is all about God’s grace being delivered through those Holy Waters.  I can’t begin to tell you what a privilege it is to witness that AND to be honored to share with you God’s message of grace in the sermon!
    I would direct your attention then, to the Epistle lesson.  These are St. Paul’s introductory remarks to the Corinthian Church that he was writing to.  In verse 3 he says, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Does that sound familiar?  It ought to because this is how your Pastor and others often begin their sermons.  And what an appropriate note to begin on!  Wishing God’s grace upon you.  But maybe we take for granted that people understand what that word “grace” really means.  You may recall from Confirmation Class that grace is God’s undeserved mercy and kindness towards us sinners.  Because of that, we have the peace from God that flows from His grace.  Then Paul goes on to say, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus...”  There’s that grace mentioned again.  Please notice that Paul is reminding the Corinthian Christians of the grace they had already received through Jesus Christ.  For this, he gives God thanks for them.
    But does that introduction sound odd to you?  It might if you understood who Paul was writing to and what he was about to say.  To put it nicely, these Corinthians were REALLY messed up spiritually.  Paul was writing to correct some of the serious problems in their Church and advise them on how to proceed in a Godly manner.  A little background will help us understand the seriousness of this letter.
    Corinth was a coastal town in southern Greece and was part of the Roman Empire.  It was an important city for trade and shipping which meant that people from all over the known-world would pass through there.  With them came a wide variety of customs... and yes, vices.  If you think that San Francisco is a coastal city with all kinds of sick perversions, Corinth was a hundred times worse.  The temple of Venus was located there and over a thousand cult prostitutes were made available to any visitors who “worshiped” there.  That was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of their sexual perversions.  As you might imagine, they were unrestrained in the sins that would violate all the rest of God’s Commandments too.  In a nutshell, they were really messed up people.  And yet God’s grace came to these undeserving sinners.  The Lord sent Paul there on his second missionary journey in the year 51 A.D.  For 18 months he preached both Law and Gospel to them.  They received God’s grace through Baptism, the preaching of God’s Word, and through the Lord’s Supper.  The result was a thriving new congregation in this pagan town.
    However, as they say, old habits die hard.  Yes, they were true believers, but after Paul had left, the devil masterfully got them to incorporate their sinful past into their newly found faith life.  Cliques had formed in the congregation which led to an attitude of arrogance and superiority that led to divisions.  A man in their congregation was shacking up with his step-mom and the church merely winked at his sin.  They were suing each other rather than working things out as Christians.  Evidently some of them thought it was still okay to visit the temple prostitutes.  They were conflicted over whether it was okay to eat food sacrificed to idols.  And their own worship practices were all messed up.  Selfishness and gluttony had invaded their celebration of the Lord’s Supper.  Speaking in tongues had turned the preaching of the Gospel into a cacophony of indiscernible babbling.  There were also doubts and confusion about whether the dead would be resurrected on the Last Day.  And you thought your congregation had problems!
    News of all this got back to Paul, and to say the least, he was not happy.  So he sent Timothy to investigate and try to get them back on the right path.  In the meantime, Paul wrote them a letter which our text is drawn from.  He was about to take them to the woodshed.  Isn’t it interesting then, that he started out his letter the way he did?  I mean, was he just trying to put on a happy face with this introduction so as to trick them into reading the rest of the letter? That’s certainly not what Paul was up to.  What better way to correct the problems than to remind them of God’s grace that had taken them out of their sinful way of life in the first place?  Paul was focusing on that grace which was given to them through Christ Jesus.  Yes, they were still messed-up sinners, but God’s grace is greater than any sin of ours.  That’s why Paul could thank God for them always.  And he reminds them that God’s grace enriched them with the ability to speak their confession of faith and to have the knowledge of God’s truth in their minds.
    Paul then turns them from what God’s grace had done for them in the past, to what it was doing for them in the present and the future.  They need not go looking for some mysterious additional grace.  No, Paul says that they were “not lacking in any gift.”  God’s grace is distributed equally to every Baptized soul.  And they need not worry about whether they would have enough of that grace to carry them safely to the end of their lives.  Paul says that the grace they had already received would sustain them to the end so that they may stand guiltless before God on Judgment Day.  Keep in mind, he was writing this to some really messed up sinners.  But that’s precisely who God’s grace is intended for!  Those Corinthians needed to be reminded of the bottomless well of God’s grace which they could freely dip into.
      Christian friends, that very same grace is what we are celebrating today.  God’s grace is meant for messed up sinners.  As much as it pains me to say this, my little granddaughter, Claire, is a messed up sinner.  We may look at her sweet little cherub face and say, “There’s no way this innocent child could be guilty of any sin.”  But you would be wrong.  You see, you don’t know how rotten of sinner her grandpa is... this grandpa... the one who’s preaching.  Seriously, the sin that is active daily in my life... and yes, in the lives of her other grandparents and parents... has been inherited by Claire.  That original sin has been passed on from generation to generation going back all the way back to Adam and Eve when they fell into sin.  Because of it, we have no choice but to declare that my granddaughter was born a really messed up sinner who was a lost and condemned soul.
    Ah, but thanks be to God, His grace has been shown toward this little messed-up sinner!  Baptism is a means of grace.  In other words, it’s part of God’s delivery system for distributing His grace to us needy sinners.  In those Baptismal waters, God washes away the stain of original sin with the forgiveness that is ours through Jesus Christ.  And He plants within us a faith which is able to receive that grace.  Once {Now that} Claire has been Baptized, as Paul says, she is “not lacking in any gift.”   She doesn’t need to go looking for some new, greater grace from God as she grows older.  Like the Corinthians, this grace is sufficient to carry her through the rest of her life.  God is faithful to His Word of promise and will sustain her faith by His grace.
     That’s great news for the rest of us!  Because you see, like Claire and like the Corinthians, we too are really messed up sinners.  And God in His mercy has made His grace available to you and me.  We call it His “Means of Grace.”  In Holy Baptism, you also received that gift of grace which is complete and not lacking in anyway.  As I mentioned before, God’s grace is like a bottomless well that never goes dry.  We can daily go and dip into it for the forgiveness of our sins.  Along with Baptism, God’s grace flows to us through His written and preached Word.  That Word sustains your faith over and over again with God’s grace so that you are able to confess Jesus as Lord and grow in your knowledge of Him.  When, like the Corinthians, we discover that we’ve really messed things up with our sinfulness, we can come to God and receive His grace through the Absolution as we hear that all our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.  And through the Lord’s Supper, God once again grants to us His grace through the very Body and Blood of Christ in the bread and the wine.  This means of grace continues to sustain our faith.
    I am deeply moved each and every time I perform or witness a Baptism.  That’s because it’s such a joy to see another needy, messed-up sinner receiving the free gift of God’s grace.  That’s something to celebrate.  But I would remind you that this celebration is why we gather each Sunday for worship.  We are here to receive and celebrate God’s grace which is bestowed on us messed up sinners.  And that grace sustains you and goes with you all throughout the week, even as God will sustain you by His grace until the end of your days, so that you may stand guiltless before Him and inherit His gift of eternal life.  Amen!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Eugene "Bud" Bruce Stack Funeral - 2011

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, especially these words, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ, family and friends of Bud, do not be uninformed, today we mourn.  Today we miss.  Today we feel a hurt inside as a father, a son, a husband and a friend is no longer here with us.  Today we mourn because death hurts, and because we feel that pain especially today. 

It would be easy for us to be consumed by that grief, to become so totally distraught that we cannot function.  We did not want Bud to leave.  We weren’t ready for him to be taken from us.  We knew that his body was slowly wearing out, that he was becoming weaker and weaker as the days went by, but we were not ready for him to go.  And now that he is gone it feels like we have a hole in our heart, a pain that feels like it can never heal. 

That pain you feel, and the reason we are here today is because of sin.  Sin infects every part of our life, of our world and of our being.  It is something that Bud dealt with during his earthly life every single day.  And friends, it is something that you and I still deal with.  It is something that will not go away, it is something that we on our own cannot solve.  We are sinners, Bud was a sinner, and because we are sinners, we are here today.  Because we are sinners we must mourn.

But dear friends, as our text says, we do not mourn as those who have no hope.  For we have a great and wonderful hope.  We have an amazing promise, a promise that looks beyond this world and beyond our sin.  We have a promise that even though we face mourning, that one day our tears will be dried and our pain taken away.  We have a promise that looks to Jesus.

As our Old Testament Lesson says, we have a hope that “Our Redeemer lives, and that in the last we shall see him with our own eyes.”  Even as our flesh is destroyed by sin and death, we know that we will one day stand before God and see him face to face.  Our Redeemer lives!  Even though he was killed on a cross, even though he suffered for all our sin, even though he has taken as his own all of your sin, he lives, and we shall see him ourselves, our eyes shall behold him and not another! 

We see that promise in our Gospel text today, as Mary and Martha mourn the loss of their dear brother Lazarus, and say to Jesus, “IF you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  But even in the midst of their frustration, they confess to Jesus, “You are the Christ the Son of God.”  Jesus himself mourns at the tomb of Lazarus, even while he knows what he will do, raise Lazarus from the dead.  Lazarus is raised from the dead, even having been dead for three days, and dear friends, that promise is for you, and for Bud as well. 

For even though we mourn today, we know that today Bud is in a better place, that he is at peace with Jesus, and that even though we wish him to be with us, that he is now in eternal life, and that we shall join him there.  He is in comfort eternal, with God’s own nail scarred hands wiping away every tear from his eyes. 

And we know that even as he today is in heaven, that one day he too shall be resurrected, that this very body will rise again and live, no longer sick, no longer weak, no longer with medical struggles forever and ever without end.  That is our hope.  That Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, will fulfill our hope and give him bodily comfort and peace, even as we are with him forever. 

We do not want you to be uninformed dear friends in Christ.  Today we mourn.  Today we hurt.  But even in the midst of this pain and mourning, we have hope that looks to Our Redeemer, the Resurrection and the Life, we have hope that looks to Jesus.  That hope gives us an answer to our mourning.  We do not mourn as those who have no hope, for we have Jesus.  Amen.