January 30, 2011 - The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany - St. Matthew 8:23-27

I'm not sure what sort of help the disciples were expecting from Jesus. It must have been a pretty bad storm to scare these fisherman. Maybe they thought He'd help row or grab a bucket and start bailing. What they apparently didn't expect is for Jesus to stand up and tell the wind and the waves to quiet down! “Who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” And that's the question. Who can this be? It's the question every person has to come to grips with. When you consider what is most important and central to the Christian faith it's really the man this question is talking about. So who is He? Jesus answers their cry for help by saying, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Faith is all about the answer to this question. Who is this man? Who is this Jesus? The answer matters. It matters for us who believe. It matters for a world that refuses to hear it. Who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey Him?

Who can this be? Well for starters, He's the One who can stand up in a boat and tell the winds and the waves to be silent. The only One who can do that is the One who created them in the first place. Ever notice that when a hurricane approaches the coast we can't stop it. Or a tornado or some other disaster. But here is Jesus standing in the boat telling the wind and waves to pipe down. This power right there tells us that this Jesus, whatever else He is, is the Lord of creation. He is true God who made all things. Jesus is God. When we talk about God, we should be talking about Jesus. Of course we also confess the Father and the Spirit and the teaching of the One in Three and Three in One. But right here, on the Sea of Galilee, God the Son who is in the flesh is the One stilling this storm. This sets our faith apart from the rest of the religions of the world. Understand that. To confess that Jesus Himself is God is to deny everyone's opinion who thinks that Jesus is just some good teacher or religious prophet like Buddha or Mohamed. No, Jesus is not just a man. He is God Himself stilling the storm.

Who can this be? Notice that God doesn't speak from heaven to stop this storm. The Lord is standing in a boat. Which reminds us that this God is also a man too. Jesus is God. Jesus is man. And as if the fact that the God who made everything is standing in a boat is not amazing enough, the reason why He is there is truly astounding. He's there to save them. Despite their unbelief, He stands up and calms the storm. He doesn't say, “Look guys, I'm God and I'm really tired. Can you just go bail the boat out yourselves?” He doesn't do that. He DOES call them on their unbelief and then does what He does because He's their Savior. He saves them. And not just from the assault of some waves and wind. He's there in the flesh in the first place to save them from the assaults of sin, devil, death and hell. Jesus saves because He's a Savior, not just from storms but from everlasting death. That's why He's there in the flesh. So He can bear our sins and carry them to the cross. On Calvary is the Lord's reply to the cry, “We are perishing.” He goes for us. He sinks down into the depths of our sin and death and destroys then. Who can this be? It's the God in the flesh who saves sinners by being the sacrifice for their sin.

Who can this be? This is the God-man who doesn't just take the hit for us. He's the God-man who stops the storm. Quiets the wind. Calms the sea. Of sin. Of death. Of judgment. He does it by His resurrection which declares to the world: the power of sin and death are over. Done with. Paid for. Conquered. Overcome. Taken care of. There's something even greater than, “Who can this be whom even the wind and waves obey?” It's, “Who can this be who was dead and is now alive?” THAT is the heart and center of our faith as Christians: that Jesus isn't dead but alive. Who can this be? It's the One person who has died and come back to life on His own. Even unbelievers acknowledge the fact that that tomb was empty on Easter. But why? Because the One who lay dead in it is alive. Calming storms has got nothing on stopping death in its tracks. For that is what the Lord did. He rose to show that sin and death are taken care of. Who can this be? It's the God in the flesh who has calmed even the storms of sin and death and hell.

Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey Him? I'll tell you: It's the same Savior who calms the storms of your life and delivers you through them all. There is nothing in your life so bad, not even death itself, that can destroy you. You are God's child in Christ. On the day of your baptism, the Lord spoke to calm the storms that threatened to sink you. When sin lashes out at you with hurricane force to drive your troubled conscience to unbelief and despair, your Lord speaks the calming Word of Absolution. When the things of this world come at you and threaten to sink your boat, Jesus isn't in the back sleeping. He's here in His church standing among us with His Body and Blood to speak to the things that would harm us and drive them away. Think of all the disasters and difficulties you have faced and how the Lord has brought you through them all. Even when it seems as if He's asleep, He is with you by His Word and Sacraments to give you forgiveness, life and salvation. Who can this be? It's the God in the flesh who calms even the storms that threaten to swamp you and drown you.

The disciples surely weren't expecting Jesus to stand up and make the storm stop with just a word. Then again, we would never have expected God Himself to become man in order to suffer and die for us. Or to rise from the dead. Or to save and forgive us all. Who can this be? As the Gospels go on we find out. This is not just the One who can stop a storm with a word. This is the One who is God with us in the flesh. Who gives Himself as the payment for our sins. Who rises from the dead. Who washes and feeds us. The Savior of sinners. The Calmer of storms. The Lamb of God. Confess that, dear Christians, for that is your comfort and peace. He is your comfort and peace. Never doubt the answer to that question, Who can this be? It's Jesus. True God. True man. All Savior. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 26, 2011 - Wednesday of Epiphany 3 - 2 Kings 5:1-15

Naaman asks a pretty good question, “Aren't the rivers back home in Syria better than the Jordan River?” Seriously? Dip in the Jordan River? The backwater of some rinky dink little kingdom? To all appearances, the Jordan River's got nothing on the mighty rivers of Naaman's own country. To all appearances, a little splash of water in baptism doesn't seem to have anything on the great spiritual experiences people seem to have. Hearing God or some agonizing feelings of conversion or some peaceful feeling that makes you think God must love you: that's what people are looking for. There are so many strange and powerful experiences people have regarding religion that it doesn't seem like Baptism is really a big deal at all. But here's the thing. The Lord did not tell Naaman to dip in the waters of his home rivers to get rid of his leprosy. He told him to dip in the Jordan River. And He doesn't tell us to go looking for Him in some strange experience or burst of feelings. He tells us that being washed with water and the Spirit is what makes us a new creation and takes our sins away. In other words, the big deal isn't what LOOKS like the big deal. The big deal is the the thing to which the Lord attaches His Word and promise.

The devil always wants to lead us to look for God in our experiences and feelings rather than where His Word promises Him to be for us. That's the religion that Naaman starts with. “I thought he would come out and call on the name of his God and wave his hand over my leprosy.” Yeah, Naaman, that's how they do it on TV. That's what the devil wants us to look for. Something flashy. Or fancy. Or that looks spiritual or religious or miraculous. People love to “experience the Holy Spirit” or get wrapped up in strange History-channel religious puzzles or have some sort of dream or vision and think, “This must be God doing it.” Even if we don't go to those extremes there is still the temptation for us to try to figure God out from the way things are going in our lives. Something good happens and we cry, “God is good!” Something bad happens and we wonder, “Where was God?” But the Lord rescues us from all that sort of thinking by giving us His Word so that we can be certain where He is and what He is up to.

We know from today's Gospel reading that what Jesus says happens. He told the centurion his servant was healed and so the man was healed. When Naaman is told to dip in the Jordan, the Jordan washes away Christ's Word does what it says. But since Christ is Himself the Word made flesh what Jesus says and does is so. Make sense? If Jesus says it, it happens. If He does it, it is accomplished. Naaman would be surprised again. The world doesn't get it. Instead of a powerful shining in glory God who makes sure everyone knows He's God, Jesus is arrested, beaten, tortured, crucified. Doesn't look like God there does He? He doesn't look much like God when His corpse is being taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb. Aren't the rivers of Damascus better? Isn't some good feeling in my heart better? Nope. God dead on a cross. That's what takes away your sins. That's where God saves you. That's where He's most God, when He looks least of all like God and is doing everything for you. That's not the kind of religion Naaman believes in. It's not the kind of religion we'd go for either.

But pay close attention to Naaman. He walks into the water of the Jordan an unbeliever and comes out a believer. That water and Word and promise of God turn Him from one who denies God's truth to one who receives and believes it. He goes in an unbeliever and a leper and comes out a clean-skinned believer. He goes in as an enemy of God and comes out as one of the faithful of Israel. That is the power of God's Word and the water. It's the same power that works when a person is splashed with water and God's Word at the holy font. We bring an unbelieving baby who is stained with the leprosy of sin and they come away healed, forgiven, a child of God. That's what God's Word says happens. It doesn't look like anything fancy. The baby or person doesn't look any different after than before, other than being wet. But what is not seen is what God's Word says: a new name, a new creation, forgiveness of sins, rescue from death and the devil and eternal salvation! Now what does Naaman say? “There's no other God than the one in Israel!” The Lord did that. With His Word.

Your life will be filled with good and pleasant things that may tempt you to conclude that God loves you and is happy with you. Your life will also have its share of troubles and awful things that the devil will use to persuade you that you are doomed and God is against you. The devil will stop at nothing to try to convince you from your experiences or feelings something other than God wants you to know and believe. So learn from Naaman that there is nothing more solid than Christ's Word which does what it says. It can take a river like the Jordan and turn it into a leprosy-erasing bath. So learn from the centurion's servant that when Jesus speaks a thing, it is what it says it is and it gives what He says it gives. Thus you will be freed from trying to “read God” in the experiences and feelings of your life to trusting in Him surely and certainly by the promises He gives in the word and water of Baptism, the words of Holy Absolution and the Words of Institution of His Supper. For those words all say that you have the forgiveness of sins for His sake. That you are a child of God in Christ. That you are a new creation by His Word. That you have eternal life and a God who loves you, no matter what's going on around you. Jesus says it and that makes it so. For you to be certain! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 23, 2011 - The Third Sunday after the Epiphany - St. Matthew 8:1-13

It's funny how we deal with authority. When we're under authority, we don't like it. Yet when we have authority, we like to make sure others know it. Take parents for instance. When our kids challenge us, we give the time-tested answer: “Because I said so.” That is, we expect children to listen to us just because we're their parents and we have authority. But then consider when your boss tells you to do something you don't like or you get pulled over for speeding. When authority is over us, then we don't like it. We expect others to honor OUR authority but we chafe when someone tells US what to do. It happens this way in our marriages, in our families, in our jobs, in society. We want others to do things our way but we don't want to be told how to do anything.

When Jesus heard the centurion, He said, “I have not found such faith in Israel!” What does that mean? “Such faith.” Well, the centurion knew his place. He knew he was under authority and he had authority. There's no ignoring authority in the Roman army! If the centurion's superior told him to do something, he did it. If he told his troops to do something they did it. No fooling around there. In the Roman legions, you obey authority or you're in trouble. And because he understood this sort of authority, he understood that Jesus was under authority too. The centurion is under no illusions that he is worthy of Jesus coming under his roof. Worthiness doesn't enter into it. He doesn't ask Jesus to heal his servant because he deserves it. He asks him to heal the servant because Jesus is under authority. The authority of the Father. The Son of God did not come into this world because He liked what He saw. He didn't come because He thought we were worth saving. Look at this world: everyone for themselves. No, the Son of God came into the world because He is under authority. The Father's authority which sends Him to save sinners. Jesus comes because His Father has sent Him. And He fulfills that calling and work faithfully and without fail.

This is good news! Good news for sinners! It means there is no sin so large, so horrible, so wicked, so awful, that the Son of God can say, “Well that's it. I'm out. Not gonna do it.” He obeys His Father and comes to stand with sinners. To shed His blood for sinners. To die on the cross for sinners. To rise for sinners. Whoever said, “Lord, please come and save us?” “Lord, we are your people. We deserve for you to come and die for us. You owe us, Lord.” That's not faith. Faith doesn't say, “Well I'm not the world's worst person, so I guess the Lord can love me.” Faith doesn't say, “There must be something in us God loves enough to cause Him to send His Son. There must be something worthwhile in me.” Nope. Faith clings to Jesus' obedience. “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Lord, I am not worthy of anything. My sins condemn me. But you are under authority. The Father sent you. You obeyed Him and therefore I am saved.” Faith clings to what Jesus does and that rescues us from the devil's game of trying to show us that we're not worthy. When the devil comes and says, “No way you can be a child of God,” you just answer and say, “Duh. No surprise there. But I am because Jesus is under authority and He obeyed the Father and saved me from you and your lies.” Jesus comes to saves sinners on the authority of His Father and that is as solid and sure a foundation as you can get!

Notice how the faith of this centurion operates. He doesn't trust in His own worthiness. He doesn't trust in Jesus feeling up to it. He simply clings to the promise that Jesus is under authority and therefore His Word will have authority. Let that be the lesson for our faith! On the one hand, don't have the thought in the back of your mind that you're living a good enough life for God to do anything for you and that what you have is what you deserve. On the other hand, don't tie God to your feelings as if when you're down and out then God can't or doesn't love you. Rather, cling to the WORD. The authority of that Word that Christ demonstrates. Know that Christ has taken away your sins no matter how big or small and has made you a child of God. This is why the means of grace, the Word and Sacraments, are so important. They aren't just churchy things we see done. They are the very way in which Christ speaks to us to heal us and forgive us. When Christ's Word declares that centurion's servant healed, then the servant is healed. Because Jesus says so. When you are baptized, your sins are forgiven and you have eternal life. Because Christ's Word says so. When the Words of Holy Absolution are spoken your sins are forgiven. Because Christ's Word says so. When you eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus, you will be raised up on the Last Day. Because Christ says so.

So what does that mean for us authority-hating and authority-abusing types? It means this: Just because we say something, doesn't make it so. People under our authority may or may not obey. When we are told to do something, we may fall into the sin of disobedience. But when pastor speaks with the authority of Christ and declares your sins forgiven, they are. Because that's Christ's Word. He has to forgive you because He's under authority. He can't get out of it! But then, with such forgiveness, you pass that forgiveness to those around you. You can declare to another person that you forgive them. Not by YOUR authority but by Christ's. What is most sure, most certain is not whether we FEEL forgiven or not but that Christ's Word declares it to be so. What is most sure isn't whether we deserve anything from God but that He gives us all things through His Son. What is most sure isn't whether we can figure out what God is thinking somehow. We know in and through Jesus Christ. He stands under the authority of the Father and has saved us and given us everlasting life.

It would be great if everyone would do what they're told. If we could give orders that got followed and we could take orders without making a fuss. But our sinful natures rebel. But Christ came under orders, under authority, to save us. He comes with all the authority of being True God and true man so that no one can cancel out or contradict His Word. With the very Words of God Himself, Christ speaks forgiveness, life and salvation. He goes to death by the orders of His Father and accomplishes your salvation. The centurion knew this and so he knew Jesus would heal his servant. That same faith is yours, which clings to a Jesus who does what He says: gives you forgiveness and life. Orders in the name of Jesus. Amen.

January 20, 2011 - Funeral Sermon for Mary Mydler - St. John 11:17-27

Dear Roy and Alan, Wade and Jane, Royce and Char, Amy and Marcus, Kathy, Nancy, Karen and Andy—all of Mary's family and friends: Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

It was Good Friday. I got a call that Mary was in the hospital. Bad case of strep throat. But it wasn't. It was leukemia. And how many times did Mary have to go to St. Louis and suffer treatments and come in peril of her life and bounce back? You know a person's been too long in the cancer hospital when they know how to sneak into the hotel next door and get to the Applebee's without walking outside! And yet after all that it was some other kind of cancer that took her life. We want to say with Martha who told Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here she would not have died.” The thought has perhaps crossed our minds: why it is the Lord let cancer take Mary? Why did she die? Why did she go through all that treatment and in the end it didn't save her? And the answer to that question is the one Jesus gives: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, even though they die, they shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” Our question is the wrong one because we get wrapped up thinking that somehow death is the worst thing ever. Oh, it hurts. It makes us cry. It takes our loved ones away. But it is not the end. It doesn't get the final say. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He gets the last word.

On that Good Friday that Mary began her long ordeal, the church celebrated her Savior nailed to the cross for the sins of the world. Sin brought death. And Mary was a sinner. She told me so herself. She would get annoyed when people would ask “How can a good person have all this happen to them?” She knew that whatever she had from the Lord was a gift. Not earned and deserved but given by grace. Mary knew that her only hope in this life and through death was that Savior, the Son of God nailed to the cross for the whole world and for her. Mary knew that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and therefore death is not the end. Not the big deal. That's what our Scripture readings today all say. They teach us that where Christ is, death has no dominion, no power. Job says it. He declares that even though he dies, he's going to see God in his own body. St. Paul says it. He says nothing, not even death can separate us from God's love in Jesus Christ. Then Jesus Himself says it. He says to Martha and to us, that to those who believe in Him, even though they die, they shall live. So that's what we say about Mary. Even though she died, she will live. On the Last Day at the resurrection of our bodies, when Jesus returns in glory. Jesus died on the cross so that Mary's sins were wiped away. Then Jesus rose again on Easter so that Mary's death would not keep her down.

It is what Jesus did that was Mary's comfort through all this cancer. All these ups and downs. One day I went to visit her and she said, “Pastor, I've thought about this. I've realized that everything that is wrong has already been taken care of the day I was baptized.” Everything that is wrong has already been taken care of the day she was baptized. The day Mary was baptized, she was made a child of God and her sins were wiped away. She was given Jesus' own promise that He would raise her up on the Last Day. Ever since then, it was Christ's Word of forgiveness that strengthened her. It was His Body and Blood which nourished her. It was His Body and Blood by which Jesus lived in Mary and did so many good works through her for others. Our comfort today is not in what Mary did or how she lived. Our comfort is in what Christ has done. His perfect life for Mary. His death for Mary. His resurrection for Mary. His baptizing, absolving and feeding her which gave her comfort and strength in the roughest days of her illness and is now her sure defense against death. That pall on her casket reminds us that what the Lord began in her the day of her baptism will be finished when she is raised again on the Last Day. And that pall is a reminder of exactly what Mary said, applied to death: On the day she was baptized, her death was already taken care of by Jesus.

So Mary's all taken care of by her Lord. On her baptismal day, His washing of water and the Word made her a saint. A saint because Jesus makes her holy. But there is a way for us to honor her and remember her and to celebrate her life. And it is this: let her confession of faith be an example to you. For Mary, the comfort of Christ was a lifelong gift. Don't let this comfort of Jesus be a just-for-today sort of thing. Don't make sitting through this service something for Mary's sake. Rather, be found in Christ, in His church, where His Word and Sacraments are. Be where the preaching of Christ crucified and risen is delivered for the comfort of sinners. Be where you have the care of a pastor given for when you suffer the struggles of this life and for when death draws near. Learn as Mary did that religion isn't about her but about Jesus and what He has done. What joy it was a couple of days ago to pray with Mary the last prayers commending her to Jesus before she died. I pray the Lord will grant each of you, in His church, a faith which clings to Jesus Christ alone and a Christian death in Jesus, like Mary's!

Today is a day of sadness. There will be plenty of tears. There will be lots of laughter and remembering too. It is a day full of all kinds of emotions. But above all it is a day when we hear Christ's promises that death cannot come between Him and us. He has defeated death. He has defeated Mary's death. And while it is a good thought to think that those in Christ will see Mary again in eternity, the true Good news is that we, along with her, will be with our Lord forever. And that is why even though we cry today we rejoice. You can't ask for a better death than one like Mary's, to fall peacefully asleep in Jesus. Jesus is the Conqueror of sin and death. For Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. The Savior of sinners. Mary's Savior. The One who will raise her up on that Last Day. She sleeps now and is with the Lord. On that Day she will rise again. Jesus has said so. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 16, 2011 - The Second Sunday after the Epiphany - St. John 2:1-11

Our Lord' first sign. His first miracle. At a wedding. Why at a wedding? St. Paul gives us a clue: because Jesus came to have a bride, the holy, Christian church, for whom He gave Himself into death to cleanse her and make her holy. When the Lord first made man and woman, it began with a wedding when the Lord brought Eve to Adam. Now, with this miracle at a wedding, we learn what the Bible says elsewhere, that this Jesus is the new Adam. The old Adam brought death but the new Adam brings life. And there's going to be a wedding. A heavenly bridegroom and a beautiful bride. That wedding doesn't take place in Cana but this first sign of Jesus done at a wedding points us to that fulfillment and eternal wedding feast that is coming and begins at the cross. In fact, Jesus' turning water into wine points us in many ways to His accomplishing our salvation on the cross later on.

But first, a wedding. I want you to consider something: weddings back then have this in common with weddings today: they are an occasion to party. And consider this: Jesus' first miracle is essentially what we would call an “open bar” at a wedding. Let's first declare quite simply, in contrast to the folks around us, that when Jesus turned water into wine, it was wine. Good wine. The best wine. Not grape juice. Wine. Because, as the Psalmist says, “You make wine to gladden the hearts of men.” Jesus came to gladden our hearts. That means make us happy. One gift for that is a bunch of good wine at a wedding. The fact that it was a wedding is also important as it means that even in this sinful and fallen world, marriage is still a blessing from God. With His first sign of wine at a wedding, our Lord is teaching us that He came to save what He created. Wine and weddings are good things. They are not bad. They are not evil. They are gifts from God. And so the first thing our Savior teaches us by His first sign is that the things the Lord makes and gives to us are to be received with joy. Enjoy wine. Enjoy marriage. Enjoy creation! The gifts your heavenly Father has for you are to be enjoyed. Received with thanksgiving. The physical gifts of this life that God has given to you: marriage, your kids, your hobbies and sports and food and drink—enjoy those things as gifts that were meant to be enjoyed!

And there lies our problem. Our heavenly Father gives us all kinds of good gifts and we depise them or abuse them. Take wine for example: there's nothing wrong with wine. But when we abuse it and begin hurting others, we've taken God's gift and ruined it. Or take marriage. Our heavenly Father gives us a husband or wife and we treat them not as a gift but as a burden. So much so that often it seems easier just to end the marriage than learn to love the ones God gave us. Or our kids. They are given us to love and train up in the faith and instead we treat them like annoying inconveniences. Take your pick. Whatever our heavenly Father gives us, instead of cherishing it, we despise it. We reject it. We want something else. Something different. If you've ever given and given and given and gotten nothing in return but rejection for your efforts, you have a glimpse of how we treat the Lord and His gifts. Here's some repentance! Take a moment and realize how ungrateful you are for the things and people the Lord has given you. It's why we need a Savior

What we need, instead of being left to work things out of ourselves, is an arranged marriage! So the Father arranges the marriage of His Son with the church. The Lord's miracle at the wedding of Cana points in many ways to what He's going to do on the cross. First of all, the jars. Those jars were Law jars for the ritual cleansings according to the Law. They are filled to the brim. Jesus fulfills the Law on Calvary when He pays the price the Law demands for sin: death. Then water into wine. It reminds us of the water and blood that flowed from the Lord's side when it was pierced with that spear after He died. Now, let's back up and see how all this relates to marriage. When the Lord made Adam a wife, He caused Adam to sleep, opened His side, took a rib, and made Eve from that rib. Adam's wife was “born” from His side. On the cross, Jesus leaves behind His mother and His side is opened: water and blood came out. Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar. The Sacraments which gives us life and sustain our life. The church's sacraments. So from Jesus' side comes His Bride, the holy church. See? The cross is about the Lord having Himself a Bride. A Bride who is washed and cleansed of every spot and stain. A Bride whom the Lord looks at and sees no sin. A Bride whose selfishness and sin is covered by her husband. A Bride who is given birth from our Lord's side at His holy font and nourished and fed at His altar by His own body and blood. Having such a Savior who has such a Bride, it's no wonder our Lord first shows His glory at a wedding!

And then there is Mary, who has always been a picture of the church, trusting her Son to take care of the running out wine problem. Even when Jesus seems to say to Mary that it's not His problem, she still tells the servants to do what Jesus says. That's faith which trusts in Jesus. That's our example of faith. The truth is, the Lord often lets things in our lives get to the point where we seem to have “run out of wine,” that is, we can no longer rely on or trust in ourselves. There are times when it seems the only answer the Lord has for you is, “Not my problem.” But it IS His problem to take care of in His way and time. And the Lord's gifts are always the best ones. They're the kind of gifts, when we receive them, that we can't help but say, “Wow! You saved the best wine for last!” What else should we expect from such a Bride groom who came from heaven to redeem us and make us His own beloved Bride? After all, He loved us and gave Himself for us. He made the wine flow at a wedding. He'll take care of you too in every part of your life.

You, dear Christians, dear church, are Christ's holy Bride. You have been made from the side of your Lord. Born in the waters of baptism and made glad with the wine of Christ' blood, you are a Bride who is holy and precious in His sight. When your Lord looks at you, He doesn't see your sins, faults, spots, blemishes or imperfections. And where you see empty jars, He fills them with the wine of His forgiveness, life and salvation. Our Lord's first miracle. Done at a wedding. Because He came to take a Bride. Jesus came for your. And when He comes again, it will be the wedding day, the eternal feast in celebration of the union of Jesus and His church. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 12, 2011 - The Baptism of our Lord (Wednesday) - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

It just doesn't make sense. Jesus is the Son of God. John is baptizing sinners in the Jordan River. What on earth is Jesus doing standing there in the water to be baptized? John is the sinner. Jesus is the Savior. Jesus should be doing the baptizing. John is not even worthy to untie Jesus' shoes and He wants John to baptize Him? The fact is: when we focus on God's glory and power and majesty and might and awesomeness, we get religion all wrong. Paul tells us that God uses the foolish and despised and weak things of the world to shame the strong and mighty. He uses the things people think aren't worth anything to accomplish mighty things. That's what Jesus getting baptized is all about. Nobody would have suspected that God Himself would stand in the water with sinners to be baptized as if He were one of them. But St. Paul explains it in our epistle lesson: Christ has become for us the wisdom of God, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. How does God save us from sin and death. It starts with His Son standing in the Jordan River which the world wouldn't consider a big deal at all. But that is where He takes on our sin to take it away.

You talk about foolish? How about the cross? We are so used to the cross being a symbol in the church that we forget it was a brutal and torturous form of execution. How foolish is that? How weak or silly is it that the most important symbol in our religion is an instrument of capital punishment? The notion that the Father would sacrifice His Son and that Jesus is true God and true man who is sacrificed for our sins is just ridiculous. Yet it is in this way that the Lord accomplishes our salvation. To overcome our sin, He takes our sin upon Himself. To overcome death, He dies and rises. To defeat the devil, He goes head to head and resists all temptation and robs the devil of his power to accuse us. All this He does by letting Himself be handed over to evil men to suffer not only physical tortures but the crushing weight of the wrath of the Father. Thorns, nails, spear—these aren't the things people think of when they think of God's glory and might. But the Lord chose these instruments of pain and death to use in rescuing us all from sin and death. What is lowly, despised, looked down upon, foolish, crazy—what doesn't make sense—this cross—is what the Lord has chosen to shame the devil and everyone else by using that cross as the means of our salvation.

But there's more foolishness to be had. The Lord doesn't blast people with lightning bolts to save them. Glowing cosmic energy doesn't engulf people. The Lord doesn't work the way we imagine or that put in movies. He doesn't come to us now with flash and sparkle. Nope. Water. Bread. Wine. Words in a book. All around the world people get wrapped up in amazing and strange religious things. They flock to the big box thing in Mecca. They meditate peacefully in a mountaintop Buddhist monastery. They shake and shriek in some so called Holy Ghost revival. You can find a million different ways people try to get some spiritual something or other. But God just uses water, bread, wine and words. Water. It doesn't seem like much but in that Baptism you have been given a holy calling as a child of God and a disciple of Jesus. At the altar, Christ Himself is present, not to our eyes but the eyes of faith as we receive His Body and Blood. A man in a robe reads and preaches from a book that's 2000 years old. Does any of that sound impressive? To the world, not at all. It's a joke. A curiosity. Something foolish. But to you, who have been called by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul tells us that these simple things are used by God to shame the wise and mighty. For it is by these things that we have the forgiveness of sins, the promise of everlasting life and the sure knowledge that the Lord Himself is with us.

The world, whenever it has any religion, has it for the purpose of getting some knowledge about secret things or things that can't be seen. For the world, religion is a way to try to figure out God and what God is and how to get to God. For many, religion is a way of experiencing something they call God. It's also a way to make yourself feel better because you aren't like all the rest of the poor people out there who don't have your secret knowledge. Or perhaps religion is just a way to feel better when things are going badly. Whatever it is, the religion of the world is about flattering us mightily. But the true faith, the Christian faith, the faith of Jesus, is not any of those things. Rather, it is Jesus Himself, coming to us in His church to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Christ has become for you the wisdom of God that is, the way of eternal life, by His life and death and resurrection. Christ has become your righteousness by taking your sins and being baptized, crucified, and risen for you. Christ has become your sanctification and holiness because it is by His blood that you are made holy and it is Christ who lives in and through you. Christ has become your redemption by paying the price for your sins and setting you free. It all looks so simple and common but it is the very power of God unto salvation. Where the religions of the world run after glory and exalting themselves, in His Church, Christ saves sinners by common and ordinary things that He uses for His holy purposes.

No, it doesn't make sense that Jesus the Holy One should be getting baptized. But then it shouldn't make sense that splashing some water on you should give you eternal life. Welcome to the Kingdom of God where things don't work the way WE think they should, but in a way that casts down all that we thought was important and mighty and gives to us forgiveness and life in Christ. Were you noble? Rich? Popular? I don't think so. Doesn't matter. The Lord has called you and made you His own. And that calling to life in Christ is better than anything the world has, though the world can't see it. But for you that calling means forgiveness of sins and eternal life. It is what God gives through His gifts which are foolishness to the world but your life. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 9, 2011 - The Baptism of Our Lord (First Sunday after the Epiphany) - St. Matthew 3:13-17

The Christian life is not ABOUT Christ. It IS Christ. What do I mean by that? I mean that being a Christian isn't about knowing some facts about Jesus. It's about being in Christ and Christ living in you and transforming you into a new creation by His forgiveness and life. We are surrounded with churches that teach that Baptism is just a symbol, a sort of public ceremony that you've grasped some facts and accepted something. But the Scriptures teach us that our Baptism is something else entirely. Baptism is GOD'S work. When you were baptized, it is the Lord who did something. He draped you with Christ and stamped His Name on you. He washed your sins away and claimed you as His own. He took you, who were destined for everlasting death and hell and rescued you and gave you eternal life. Baptism is the amazing work of God by which you are united with Christ so that all that He is and has becomes yours. So your life as a Christian isn't about you. It's about Jesus. Oh, we want to make it about us. But it's not. It's about what Christ has done for you and what He does now as He lives in and through you. Everything that Jesus has is yours. Everything He does is yours. His life. His death. His resurrection all become yours in Holy Baptism. Let's take a look and see how this is so.

John's got it nailed. Jesus should be the one doing the baptizing. John is the sinner. Jesus is the Savior. But Jesus has it backwards. He's acting like He's the sinner. THAT is righteousness. Jesus taking on our sins. Jesus is as much as saying, “I am indeed the Savior. And I save by becoming the sinner. Taking the sins on. Making them mine. Getting rid of them for you.” He will take those sins and carry them to the cross of Calvary and there bleed and die for them. That's righteousness. The sinless Son of God becoming sin for us. For you. So now, in your Baptism, that sinlessness gets put upon you. In His Baptism, Jesus takes on your sins. In your Baptism He puts on you His perfection and holiness. It's a trade. An exchange. What's His for what's yours. That's righteousness. Learn that simple and clear definition of this big church word. Righteousness is Jesus taking your place. Say it: “Righteousness is Jesus taking my place.” Now no one can ever say they don't know what “righteousness” is when I ask! It's Jesus taking your place. That's what's going on in the Jordan River and at this font.

But there's more. A dove landing on Jesus. Doves go with floods and floods mean the Lord is killing and saving. When the Flood happened, the Lord destroyed a whole earth of sinners. But Noah, the only guy who trusted in God's promises is spared, for the sake of God's promises. The Lord couldn't very well bring a Savior into the world if everybody was gone, now could He? When the Flood, the punishment of God's wrath was over, there was a dove. A dove means God's wrath is done. It's over. So there's a dove at Jesus' baptism to say that because of Jesus, God's wrath is done for. Now there is peace with God. And it's on the other side of the Flood. When the flood is past. More baptismal stuff! Just as Noah came through the flood, Jesus comes up out of the water and there's a dove. Landing on Him. This is the one who brings peace. So now, in your Baptism, the Holy Spirit descends upon you and that means you have peace with God. No more thinking God is going to pay you back. No more making silly deals with God to bail you out. No more thinking you're not really God's child because of your sins. The Holy Spirit who descended upon you at the font says otherwise. He says there is peace with God. The price has been paid. The war is over. Olly olly oxen free. God is not going to get you. The dove has landed on you. Peace with God because the Spirit landed on Jesus the bringer of that peace by His death and resurrection.

But there's still more! The Father's voice from the heavens: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!” A divine “That's my boy!” The Father loves the Son because the Son does what He tells Him too: dies for sinners. God the Father asks only one thing of His Son: to become man and save sinners. And the Son does it without fussing or arguing or pouting or any of the other things we do when our parents tell us to do something. The Son does what He came to do: save sinners. On the day of His Baptism, the Father loves His Son because His Son is standing with us sinners. How could the Father be proud of a Son who is hanging out with such people? Because He does so to save them. To redeem them. To make us the children of God. So now, in your Baptism, the voice speaks about you: “You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!” Jesus is beloved and that means you are beloved. The Father is pleased as punch with His Boy and so now He is pleased with you, too, in Christ. By your Baptism. Never worry or doubt whether God loves you. Whether He forgives your sins. Whether you are His child. He has said so on the day you were splashed at the font with His water and word. Your Baptism connects and joins you to Jesus Christ. So if He's God's beloved Son, so are you!

So you see? The Christian life isn't ABOUT Jesus. It IS Jesus. No trying to living righteously enough: Jesus has done so by trading places with you. No more trying to get God off your back. Jesus has brought the Spirit of peace to you. No more trying to impress God with your life. Jesus has made you His beloved Son. So no more living as if the Christian life is about you. When it's like that, then there's no room for God and your neighbor. Just you trying to do it. But Christ has already done it and does it now living in you. Brothers and sisters in Christ, when we live as if knowing Christ is just some book knowledge to pin the name Christian on ourselves, that is no good to anyone. But when Christ lives in us and through us; when HE is our righteousness, our peace and our sonship, well then God is glorified and our neighbor will be served and loved. On this day, Jesus was numbered with us sinners when He got down in the water. So that when you have come from the water of your Baptism, you stand as a righteous, at-peace, child of God. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Epiphany of Our Lord (observed; Wednesday) - January 5, 2011 - Ephesians 3:1-12

Access. Do you have access? If you have an “all access pass” to a rock concert, you get to walk backstage and even meet the band. No one can just go up to the President of the United States and engage him in a conversation. You've got to have “access.” You can watch a show like “Access Hollywood” because you can't go behind the scenes of the rich and famous but their cameras and reporters can. Access. Gotta have access. Well if it's that hard to get the ear of the president or a close up pic with a superstar, how much more difficult is it to have access to Almighty God? The birth of Christ and the coming of the Wise Men happened for this purpose: so that we would know we have access to God. St. Paul says it: “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.” To have God's ear, to speak to the Lord, to come to Him, you need only Christ. You don't have to be Jewish in the bloodline of Abraham. You don't have to make an appointment with His secretary. Because of Jesus you have access not to the fleeting starlets and politicians of this world but to the Lord and Creator of all the universe. In Christ, you have access to God.

Epiphany, the coming of the pagan Wise Men from Babylon or Persia or wherever, is God's promise that His Son was born for all people. The birth of the Son of God in the flesh is His promise that it doesn't matter where you're from or what you've done, His salvation is for you. What is it that gives access to Jesus for these Wise Men? It's the Word of God. The Lord puts a new star in the sky to guide them and they go and learn the Scriptures which say the Baby is born in Bethlehem. When they get to the house in Bethlehem, there's no guards to get by or papers to fill out. Just Baby Jesus to be worshiped as the King and Savior. Access. This Baby isn't like other Kings. You don't have to have special access. He came to be the King and Savior of these Wise Men and the shepherds who came when He was born and for you too. The fact that Jesus was not born in a palace with guards or kept under lock and key in some fortress is a sign that He is born to give access. And it is with boldness and confidence that those magi open their gifts and give them to the Child.

The reason for this access and boldness that St. Paul speaks about is what this Child will grow up to do. In the Old Testament, nobody entered the holy part of the Temple without some blood being shed from a sheep or goat. Just so, the access to God that Jesus gives us isn't accomplished by Him waving His hand but by having His hand nailed to the cross. We do indeed come into the Father's presence through Christ but only because He has paid the price for our sins. We can only enter the Holy Place because what is unholy in us has been forgiven by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. And Jesus died for all. Shepherds. Wise men. Jews. Gentiles. Everyone. There is no one who is left out of shedding of Christ's blood for sinners. The coming of the Gentile Wise Men on Epiphany is your reminder that you too are the ones for whom Christ was born and died and rose.

St. Paul writes to the Ephesians that he was made an apostle for the sake of the Gentiles. He was sent to preach to everyone that they now had a Savior. So in the church today the preacher does the same thing: preach that you have a Savior. Here it is: You have a Savior! And the ways in which that Savior delivers His forgiveness are what give you that boldness and confidence to come before God as His beloved child. Your Baptism. It means you're a child of God and your sins have been washed away. Absolution. It declares that nothing stands between you and the Lord. The preaching and teaching of the Scriptures: the unchanging promise that for Christ's sake the Lord won't turn you away. The Lord's Supper: the very blood of the Lamb by which we have access to God the Father. In these ways you can stand before the Lord with all boldness and confidence instead of fear of judgment. This is why Jesus came. It's why he gives you forgiveness in His church. So you can stand before Him as His own dear child.

You're surely seen the kinds of prayers that people pray in the movies. “Dear God, I'm sure you're busy right now. It's me, little Bobby. I know my problems aren't that important but if you're not too busy...” And so on. No! To pray like a Christian is to come before God with boldness and confidence because we have access in Christ. It is to pray this way: “Lord, I am not worthy to be called your child or ask anything, but you sent Your Son for all people and that includes me. He shed His blood so that I can stand before your throne in the Holy of Holies. He washed me and gave me His own body and blood. So pay attention, Lord! Listen up, Father, for I ask your blessings and help!” That's what it means to have access with boldness and confidence. Because of Jesus you can bend the ear of God and have Him pay complete attention to you and never turn you away. You may never get to chat with the President or hang out with a movie legend. But in Christ, you have infinitely more: access to God Himself. That access is granted by Jesus who shed His blood to open the way to you. And now, in Him, you are right there with the Lord as His own dear child and friend. Access. With boldness and confidence. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Epiphany of Our Lord observed) - January 2, 2011 - St. Matthew 2:1-12

“The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows forth His handiwork.” So the creation itself testifies to the glory of God in Jesus Christ and a star is employed to guide pagan magi to the infant Christ. That's the historical bit of Epiphany: Magi, Wise Men, Persian astrologers—whatever you want to call them—came at the sign of a special star, knowing that a king was born. But Epiphany isn't just that the magi came and the church put it on the calendar! Epiphany means something. The Epiphany Gospel teaches us once again that Christ was born for all people, shepherds and kings, for all sinners, for you and me. After all if pagan magi can receive Him, there's hope for you and I! And not only was He born for us but the Lord will never fail to bring us to His Son so that we have forgiveness of sins and salvation from sin, death, devil and hell. The Epiphany Gospel teaches us where we shall find Jesus and also teaches repentance for seeking Him anywhere other than the places He has promised to be.

Jesus said of the Holy Scriptures, “These are they which testify of me.” And to the disciples after Easter he “showed them in Moses and all the Prophets the things concerning Himself.” Recall our Gospel reading, dear Christians. Where does the star lead the Wise Men? Does it lead them straight to Jesus? It does not! Rather it leads them to the place where they may hear the Holy Scriptures. And it is the Holy Scriptures which tell the Wise Men where the Child is. Do not pass lightly over this point, brothers and sisters. It means this: There is no coming to Jesus apart from the preaching of the Holy Scriptures. Even the Lord who brought forth a miraculous star to guide them didn't guide them straight to Jesus. Even the Wise Men learn that to receive Jesus, we must hear the preaching of the Holy Scriptures. It is those Scriptures which sent the Magi to Bethlehem. It is those same Scriptures which send us to receive Jesus in His holy church, where He comes to us in the washing of water and the Word, in the absolution and preaching of the Scriptures, and in the Supper He instituted. The Lord comes to us nowhere else to be our Savior and to deliver the forgiveness of sins. And the Scriptures point us nowhere else to receive Him.

And there is our Epiphany repentance, because we by nature ignore the Scriptures and seek Jesus somewhere else than He has promised to be for our salvation. Notice something. Did Herod and the all Jerusalem know the Christ has been born? Did they understand that Israel's long-promised Savior had finally come? Absolutely! Did they hear and understand the Scriptures? Herod asked where the Christ was to be born. The chief priest and scribes all said with the certainty of the Scripture, “In Bethlehem.” But why did they want to know? So that they could get rid of the Christ! Herod and “all Jerusalem” show us that to simply know the Scriptures is no guarantee of anything. Even the Devil knows the Bible inside and out! Herod and “all Jerusalem” did not have faith which trusted in the infant Christ for their salvation. They wanted their own righteousness. Their own power and authority. Themselves being the big deal. They had the Scriptures but they didn't want to have Jesus. And there's our repentance! How often that is our confession, that we “know all that stuff already” and therefore have no need of learning the Scriptures, growing in our Catechism and advancing in the faith beyond where we were when we were confirmed years ago. Who wouldn't love to follow some spectacular star zooming around the sky? But search the Scriptures? Hear and learn what God's Word has to say? Grow in your knowledge and understanding of God's Word? Forget all that! This, dear Christians, is the religion of the world and the bulk of most of so-called “Christianity” today. It's even most of what you hear in the good ol' Missouri Synod anymore: We find Jesus where we want to find Him. We look in our hearts or lives. Where we don't want to look is to where the simple words of Scripture point us: to His church, to the means of grace, to the ministry of the Gospel under the care of a pastor. Dear Christians, let us repent of despising God's Word and hear again the Holy Scriptures which point us to Jesus and the Gospel and Sacraments in which we receive Him.

“Arise, shine, your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!” Dear Christians, the Lord will never leave us in darkness. By the pure light of His Word, He “calls, gathers and enlightens us.” As He did the magi, bringing them to the place where Jesus was. There they presented Him with their gifts: gold frankincense and myrrh. All gifts which confess who this Child was. Gold which surely helped Joseph and Mary escape. But it would be this Child's holy precious and blood and His innocent suffering and death—not gold or silver—by which sinners escape from their sins. He who was given gold as a Child spills His lifeblood on Calvary for the sins of the world. For the sins of the magi, for your sins and my sins. Incense which was used in worship and represents the prayers of the saints. Here in this Child and Him alone we can pray. Only in Christ do we have access to the Father. Only in Christ do we learn the Father's will which is not to destroy but save us, not to condemn but redeem us, not to punish us but to set us free in His Son. Myrrh. The spice of burial foreshadowing the death of this Jesus for sinners. So the Three Kings presented their gifts. And they did so not because they owed this Child, but because their gifts confessed that this Child was the King and their salvation. So we, dear Christians, also make offerings. We give our treasure, we come to church, not because God “expects” or “demands” such worship, but because such worship is the confession and testimony and exercise of our faith, that our only hope, our only salvation is the Child who grew up to be King on the cross.

“Nations will come to your light and the Gentiles the brightness of your rising.” So speaks Isaiah the prophet, foretelling that the nations will come to see the Lord's light and glory. But where? Among God's people! For that is where Christ dwells. Anyone who sees the Lord's light and glory sees it only in His church, where Christ is found in His means of grace. The prophet's words teach us that we don't go looking for the Lord just anywhere, but where He has promised to be, and that is where the Scriptures point us: among God's people where the means of grace are. What ever happened to the Magi? The church has believed for a long time that it was St. Thomas the Apostle who made his way to lands of Persia and actually baptized those magi! Of course that history is not recorded in the Scriptures, but the fact that the church has believed it teaches us that not even magi are converted by simply showing up at Jesus' house, but through the preaching and baptizing that Jesus Himself commanded His church to do after His resurrection. Just so there is no salvation for us in trying to find Jesus' childhood house or going to Calvary and looking for bits of the cross. No, to be certain of our salvation, to receive forgiveness of our sins, we look no other place than the holy church in which Christ Himself dwells. The church is the house wherein Jesus lives and to which the Scriptures direct us and to which the stars of our pastors point us. There is your forgiveness, dear Christians: in the water of the font, in the words of your preacher and in the body and blood of the Christ in His Supper. Never despise His Word and never look anywhere else, but receive Him there for your salvation and comfort.

“In Christ we have boldness and access with confidence by His faith.” By Christ's faith. St. Paul, who was called by God so that the Gentiles would hear the preaching of Christ and believe and be saved, testifies to the Ephesians that it is through the church that the Lord's mystery is made known, the mystery which is our salvation in Christ. What is Epiphany all about? It's about learning where Jesus is and knowing how we know where Jesus is. The Magi were led to the Holy Scriptures which told them where Jesus is. So you, dear Christians, have the Holy Scriptures, which direct you not to a house in Bethlehem, nor to a cross on hill, nor to your heart or the changes in your life or any place like that. No, the Scriptures the Holy Spirit has written through His apostles direct you here. To this house. To this font. To this altar. To your pastor. Here is where Christ is. Now worship Him, not as one who owes Him something, as if you could ever repay! Rather, worship Him by receiving Him, by grasping in faith those promises of the Gospel which declare your sins forgiven. The promise of your Baptism which says that as Jesus is the beloved Son of God, so are you His beloved child. The promise of His body and blood that He lives in you and you in Him and He will raise you up on the Last Day! Christ was in the house for the Wise Men to see. Now He is in this house, His church, for you and for your salvation. Happy Epiphany! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

December 26, 2010 - The Sunday after Christmas - St. Luke 2:22-40

The song that Simeon sang on the day He held Baby Jesus in His arms has been sung ever since by the church. Let us ponder the words of this song and make them our own. “O Lord, lettest now Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word.” Simeon is now ready to die. He has held in His arms the Child who is His Savior and the Savior of the world. He can depart in peace, which means to die in peace. He can die knowing that He has a Savior who will take away His sin and so he will not be judged for it. The same for you. When the pastor says after you eat and drink the body and blood of Jesus, “depart in peace,” he's saying, you can die now. In peace. In Christ. Whatever things out there in the world can happen to you cannot harm you because you are full of the Body and Blood of the Savior. The same Body and Blood which was given for your sins and rose from the dead. To depart in peace means that because of Jesus there are no sins hanging over you. No outstanding warrants for your judgment by God. No condemnation for you. And this is according to God's Word. Simeon had the Lord's Word that He would not die until He had seen the Christ. You have God's Word that having seen the Christ, received Him in His Word and Sacraments, you will die in peace.

“For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou has prepared before the face of all people.” Salvation isn't an abstract concept. Salvation is something Simeon can hold in his arms. This Baby is God's salvation. This Baby is the Savior. This Baby is the One who will do the work of taking away Simeon's and your sins. This is the One St. Paul tells us was born under the Law in order to redeem us who were under the Law. There is a reason that Simeon tells Mary that a sword will pierce her own soul too! This Baby is the Lord's salvation. And that salvation will come at a price. The price of His precious blood and His innocent suffering and death! But the salvation of the Lord is right there in Simeon's arms. He can hold it. Salvation isn't some abstract religious idea. It's the Son of God becoming flesh. It's Jesus taking our place. It's Jesus suffering and dying for our sins. It's Jesus rising from the dead. Not that Simeon gets all that in the flash of a moment, but he knows enough: this Child is the One who is the salvation of God.

“A light to lighten the Gentiles...” Here Simeon says something extraordinary. This Savior is a light to the Gentiles, to the nations. He was not just born for the Jewish people. He was born for all people. For all nations, races, languages, tribes, peoples. Even us in Southern Illinois! We live in a dark world. Everyone does what is right in their own eyes. The weight of economic hard times and the crumbling morals of our society mean there is ever more and more pressure to live like the world does and to look out for just ourselves. But Simeon's words proclaim that there is Light in this darkness. Not just a hopeful outlook. Not just a “brighter tomorrow” or some other feel good rubbish. Here is true Light, shining in the arms of an old man. Here, in this Child is the Light of the world which will shine brightly from the top of Calvary, a beacon of hope for sinners on a day when the skies were dark over Golgotha. This is the Light that shines in the darkness and cannot be overcome.

“...and the glory of Thy people Israel.” When Simeon held Jesus in his arms, he was holding the fulfillment of God's promises since Adam and Eve, renewed to Abraham and proclaimed by prophets for thousands of years. Simeon knew that in this Child, God had kept His promises. It was the ultimate sign of God's faithfulness. Yet many of God's own people refused to believe that the Christ had come. But now it is not a physical bloodline that links us to Abraham but faith in Christ. St. Paul says that we are all sons of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ. The true Israel is not a chunk of land in the Middle East. No, the true Israel is the holy Christian church where we rejoice in the promises of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We, along with Simeon, are God's people among whom His glory shines. Where is that glory? In the Word that is preached in Israel, in the church. Where the Baptism of water and the Word brings people into Christ's church. Where holy absolution is spoken and the crucified Savior is preached. Where the glory of God Himself is hidden under the bread and wine as we feast upon His Body and Blood in the holy Sacrament. The glory of Israel is Christ, who is the glory of the church. For it is here that He bestows upon us His salvation by coming to us and giving us Himself.

That is Simeon's song. The song that welcomed the Savior and confessed the fulfillment of God's promises. Where do we sing that song? Right after the Sacrament of the Altar. For there, at the end of the Divine Service, we have remembered our Baptism, been absolved of our sins, heard the Word read and preached, and feasted upon the flesh and blood of Christ. The pastor says, “Depart in peace,” that is, let nothing in this world and life worry you. You are in Christ. And you will be in Him when you die. And so we sing these words of Simeon to confess ourselves the good things God has given and shown to us. So now, to the welcome the Lord at His altar and then, having seen the Lord, having received the Lord's salvation once more, you can depart in peace. In Christ. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

December 25, 2010 - The Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Day - St. John 1:1-18

I know of no other God than the One in the manger, on the cross and on the altar. St. John tells us why: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God became man. The Son was incarnate by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin's Womb. Jesus is “God-with-us” literally because He is God and man in One Person. People everywhere have certain conceptions about what God is or what He is like. But to look anywhere other than in Jesus is to have no real or true God at all. God isn't defined by what we think about Him but by what He does. And He has become man. One of us. Human. Flesh and blood. In fact, the most important thing you can say about God is not that He is almighty or all powerful or that He knows everything or can be everywhere at once. The most important thing the Scriptures teach us about God is this amazing mystery: that God took on flesh. That God became Man. And He has taken on flesh not for Himself but for your sake. For you salvation. To redeem and save you from sin and death. On this holy Christmas day, let us ponder what it means that the Son of God has flesh and blood.

The Son comes into this world in the flesh not simply appearing and walking into town one day but by being conceived in the womb of the Virgin and born as a baby. This is so that we who are born in sin may be born anew from above. You see, ever since Adam, we have inherited the curse of sin. It is passed from one generation to another. We are conceived and born in sin. We don't like to hear it but even when we are babies we are sinners. This curse of sin is passed from father to children ever since Adam. We are born with it, born under the condemnation of God. So Jesus is born in the flesh. He does not have an earthly father, therefore He has no sin. His holy and perfect and spotless flesh comes to us because ours is ruined and tainted. By His holy flesh, He gives us new birth. Paul says that in the Epistle today, that God's kindness and love are given in the washing of rebirth and renewal. When you were baptized you were born from above. This is the new birth that St. John talks about: not of the flesh or of our own will but by God's grace. Jesus is born perfect into this world in order that you would be born again from above by water and the Spirit unto eternal life. Without His coming in the flesh, your flesh could not be redeemed and washed clean by His water and Word. Jesus is born in the flesh so that you will be born from above in Him.

The Son of God comes into this world in the flesh so that His flesh can suffer and die. So that His flesh can be pierced with nails, thorns and spear. Our sin has brought the curse of death. Sinners die. That's our fate. So God comes to take care of death by dying Himself. He takes our sins upon His spotless flesh and dies for them on the cross of Calvary. It is hard to think that the little baby in the manger is headed someday for the cross and death but that is why He came. In our flesh is sin and death. Jesus' spotless flesh takes our sins so that He may die our death. And that holy flesh that is pierced and that holy blood that is poured out, these are the price of our redemption. The price paid by Jesus for our sins. Not with gold or silver but with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death: that's how he redeems and saves us. Christ comes in the flesh so that His flesh and blood may pay for our sins.

Christ comes in the flesh so that He may give His flesh to us as food. Later in St. John's same Gospel Jesus says, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood and I will raise you up on the Last Day.” Jesus gives us His flesh to eat so that our flesh will be raised from the dead. Jesus has died and risen from the dead. So will you who have eaten and drunk His flesh and blood. Death couldn't keep Jesus down. It can't keep you down either if you have His flesh and blood in you. If sin and death want you, they have to get through Jesus! He's already taken care of them. When we eat regular food, it gives some life to our bodies, at least for a little while and then we must eat again. But the flesh and blood of the Son of God give us a life that does not end. Eternal life. So much life that even though we die we are going to be raised the Last Day. How it is that Jesus gives us His flesh to eat and His blood to drink is just as much a mystery as how God can become man, but there it is: He has flesh so that He may give it to you for the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. The same flesh that is crucified is given to you as food. Is it any wonder that our Lord is born and placed into a feed trough? His flesh is true food! His blood is true drink. And by them you have eternal life.

Christmas teaches us to look for no other God than the one who is in the manger, on the cross and on the altar. Beware of a god that isn't there in the flesh. Beware of a god who's too big and powerful to be a Baby, or too big and mighty to suffer and die or to distant and far away to be in the Sacrament. Beware of a god that's found in your feelings or in the ups and downs of life or the world around us. Beware of any god who doesn't have flesh and beware of any Jesus who isn't truly God. And for ourselves, let us be reminded by this Christmas flesh of Jesus to repent of looking for God anywhere other than where He is in His flesh. God is not in our ideas and our notions about Him. He's in the flesh. In the manger as a baby. On the cross as a man. On the altar with the food of His flesh and blood. Because no other God saves you than the One who has taken on flesh for you!

So rejoice on Christmas, dear Christians, to know of no other God than the One who is in the manger, on the cross and on the altar. Rejoice in the Savior whose pure flesh makes your sinful flesh clean at the font. Whose pierced flesh is the Good News of your salvation. Whose flesh and blood are given as your food. It is that God who has come to us and become man, not for His own sake but for your sake. To give you new birth. To redeem you. To feed you. You have flesh. So does God now. Merry Christmas in the Name of Jesus! Amen.

December 24, 2010 - The Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Eve - St. Luke 2:1-20

Is God happy with you? Is He pleased with you? He gives you His Word and name. Do you study it? Learn it? Grow in it? Meditate upon His Word every day? Is it your joy and pleasure to study God's Word and grow in it? Or do you forget it. Ignore it. Don't know what's in it. Do you think God is pleased with you? The Lord gives you a neighbor. People around you. Husband. Wife. Kids. Parents. Family. Friends. People you work with. How do you treat them? Do you love the ones who love you back and do you harbor anger and a grudge against those who don't treat you right? Do you go out of your way to help others who need something or do you try to avoid doing something for others? And if you are helpful, do you help all the people or just the ones you get along with? Do you think God is pleased with you for that? If we stand in the light of God's Law to love Him and to love others, we realize pretty quickly that the Lord doesn't have any reason to be delighted in us.

When Jesus is born the angel host appears to the shepherds and sings, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men!” Peace and goodwill. What are those? What do they mean? If we consider “peace” and “goodwill” as just ideas then we will be stuck forever in the various personal meanings they have for people. “Peace” and “goodwill” will mean pretty much whatever people want them to mean. But if we understand that by “peace” and “goodwill” the angels mean Jesus, then we see what true peace and goodwill are all about. We ran through the Law. We see that we don't keep it. That makes us enemies of God. At war with Him. God says we are supposed to live one way and we want to live our way. And who do you think will win that battle? You or God? But when Jesus comes to be our peace, that means peace as in “no more enemies. No more fighting.” How is Jesus that kind of peace? Because He is born to die. Born to go to the cross. Born to pay the price of our sins. Born to suffer and die in our place. Born to take on the wrath of God Himself and absorb it for us. Deflect it from us. Rescue us from it. On Calvary, the One who was born in Bethlehem becomes our peace by dying for our sins. Now, you have peace with God. Whatever you have done against Him has been wiped out. Cancelled. Forgiven. No more warring with God. No more fighting. No more God being your enemy. Now, peace which means Christ for whose sake your sins have been forgiven.

Peace on earth and goodwill toward men. What is goodwill? It's God's favor. It's God being “well pleased” with you instead of condemning you. God being happy with you instead of angry. But again, how does that happen? How does that take place? The baby. The Son of God. Jesus. When the angels announce “Goodwill to men” they don't mean a happy feeling between people. They mean the Son of God for whose sake the Lord is now pleased with you. According to the Law, God is not happy. But according to Jesus, He is. According to Holy Baptism which sprinkles you with Jesus' blood by water and the Word, He's tinkled pink to rejoice that you too are His holy and precious child. According to Holy Absolution He says He is pleased with you because you have no sins to your account any more. According to His Holy Gospel He is pleased with you because His Son has taken your place and given His righteousness to you. According to Holy Communion He is pleased with you because He is pleased with Jesus His Son and Holy Communion puts that Son in you by Body and Blood. Is God pleased with you? Is there goodwill toward you? All of the gifts of Jesus—His Word and Sacraments—say yes He is. The Word and means of grace which give you Jesus are the ways He gives You His goodwill and the ways by which you know you have it.

Do you ever wonder if God's got it in for you? If you're in trouble? That happens. Sometimes life piles up around us and we can't help but think, “God's out to get me!” The shepherds thought that when an angel appeared. They were sore afraid. They feared a great fear. Or, to put it another way, freaked out and terrified! Until the angel preached to them. Until the learned a Savior had been born. Then what? They couldn't but run to Bethlehem and see their Savior. They couldn't keep their mouths shut about what they had seen and heard. Suddenly God's Word which delivered their Savior was the only thing they could talk about! When you hear Christ's Word preached, you have the answer to your question, “Does God have it in for me?” The answer is, “No way!” He's sent you a Savior. His own Son born in the flesh for you. Christmas means you never have to wonder if God hates you or loves you. Because His Son is born in the flesh and He is your peace and your goodwill from God.

Is God happy with you? The birth of our Lord Jesus means we don't answer that question according to the commandments any more. It means we answer it according to Who this Baby is that is born. The Son of God. His name, Jesus, “The Lord Saves.” Peace. Goodwill. That's what He is and does and gives. Is God happy with you? He can't be any happier with you than He is in Jesus His own beloved Son. That's through the cross and death and into eternal life glory happy with you. In Jesus. Who is peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Peace and goodwill toward you. Merry Christmas in the name of Jesus! Amen.

December 22, 2010 - Wednesday of Advent 4 - Deuteronomy 18:15-19

So when the children of Israel got to Mt. Sinai, they did NOT like it! The Lord was there. Thick smoke and clouds covered the mountain. There was fire and flashes of lightning and rumblings and the blast of the horns. If you even touched the mountain, you were dead. The holy God was there and you didn't dare get too close! So they said, “Moses! You go talk to the Lord. We'll just stay here while you go do it. You talk to God and then tell us what He says, OK? If your survive?” You know we often think that if we could just see God with our eyes, or see some miraculous revelation or glimpse the Lord in some way, we'd really believe, really be faithful. But the truth is, we'd be like the children of Israel. Run! Let someone else go talk to that God!

The Lord confirmed that their idea was a good one by establishing Moses as His prophet. It was through Moses that the Lord spoke to His people. If you wanted to know what God said, you didn't go to the mountain and ask God, you went to Moses. Moses would tell you the Lord's words. But it wasn't that Moses was trying to be power hungry or act like a big shot. The people WANTED it that way. The Lord won't deal with His people apart from His Word, delivered by Moses. You don't get to God except through Moses. Well, you could, but you'd be dead in a flash! The Lord does this to protect His people. Rather than approach Him in their sins, He comes to them through Moses and His Word so that the people are not destroyed. But Moses won't be around forever. So the Lord tells His people that He is going to raise up a prophet like Moses who will do the same thing. But there will be one thing different...

The difference, when this Prophet comes, is that He will be the Lord Himself. The Son of God in the flesh. When Jesus is born, we learn that God is not going to make us come to Him but He comes to us. When we go to God on our own there is nothing there but the terrors of Mt. Sinai. But when God comes to us, there is a God you can see and deal with without being destroyed. When people approached Mt. Sinai, there was the fearful expectation of God's judgment. But when the Prophet comes, Jesus, He goes to Mt. Calvary to save us from the wrath of God. On Mt. Calvary is not the scary but the hidden God. Not the mighty Lord but the weak and crucified. Not the mountain crowned with fire and smoke but the man crowned with thorns. Not men who quiver in fear but men who stand and mock or weep. And yet, on that mountain, there IS the wrath of God. But now it is not to destroy us but to wound and kill God's own Son. On Mt. Calvary, the Lord of Sinai takes our place and spares us from His destructive power that would doom us.

The Lord does not want to deal with us apart from His flesh and His Word. How does He do that? By His flesh and His Word! Word, water, body and blood—in the means of grace, the forgiveness of sins given in His church. There's no need to go looking for God. He's right here. Right here for you. Repent of seeking the Lord anywhere other than where He has promised to be found. Out there, in the world, in the amazing things and in the disasters, in your experiences and emotions, there's no sure and certain God. Look at the sunset! God loves you! Your house burns to the ground. God hates you! See how quickly and easily what we want to think about God can be confused? But here, in His church, your Baptism says He loves and forgives you. His Word says He loves and forgives you. His Body and Blood say He loves and forgives you. Always. No matter what is going on out there. Because He has come in the flesh for you.

You see, there are two ways to have God. You can approach Him yourself, on your own, apart from Christ. But then there is nothing but the fiery thunderous judgment of Mt. Sinai. There is the God who can and will kill you because He is holy and you aren't. Or you can have God the way He comes to you. Hidden. In the flesh. To save and forgive. On a cross. As a Savior. That God is the One who gave His life for us and took it up again and who promises that He did it to raise you up on the Last Day. The children of Israel needed a prophet like Moses to keep them from getting destroyed by the Lord. Now we have the greater Prophet, God's own Son Jesus Christ who does the same thing only greater, not just protecting us from Mt. Sinai but from all of God's wrath and giving us eternal life by His Words. So off to Mt. Calvary. But first stop is the city of David where the Lord first appears in the flesh at His birth. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

December 19, 2010 - Rorate Coeli: The Fourth Sunday in Advent - St. John 1:19-28

There's John the Baptizer baptizing in the Jordan river. A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Teaching people to repent, to do good works, and to trust in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. A guy dressed like a prophet in camel's hair at the Jordan River? That gets the attention of the clergy. They head down from Jerusalem and start asking questions. “Are you the Christ.” John: “Nope.” “Elijah?” “No.” “The Prophet?” “No.” It's like everyone cares who and what John is. Except John! Surely you're some big name preacher, John? Nope. The Lord sent John to preach and baptize. So that's what he does. Does he have a bestseller on the market? His picture on a billboard? Is he a nationally renowned and respected religious adviser? Has he filled football stadiums with people who want to hear him? No. He's just John. Preaching and baptizing in the wilderness, pointing to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So why does John not make a big deal about John?

John the Baptizer is only good for being a voice. A voice that points to Christ. That's His job. His calling. The work the Lord called Him to do. To be a voice. A voice that proclaims the coming Savior and points Him out. It was John who told the people to repent and be baptized for their sins to be washed away. It was John who preached that soldiers should be content with their pay, that people who had extra should share with those who had less, doing good works. It was John who warned those that thought they weren't sinners that the Lord was coming with the ax to the root of the tree to chop down all who didn't bear fruit. It was John who, when He finally saw Jesus, cried out, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The clergy all wanted to know who John was but he just said, “The voice crying in the wilderness.” They want to make John the big deal but for John the only big deal is that he gets to point out which of the people coming to the Jordan is the Christ. You see, it's not about John but about what John preaches. It's not about the man, but about what the voice proclaims. About whom the voice proclaims. About the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

So why is John baptizing they ask? “I baptize you with water but there stands one among you whom you do not know.” But when He comes to the Jordan, John will point Him out: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This is the Good News John preaches: That the Lamb of God stands among us. God has become a man. He is one of us in order to die for us and to be the sacrifice for the sin of the world! God is not hidden, not “up there somewhere.” He's here on this earth, born of a woman to be our Savior. When John points Jesus out a little later, he identifies Him as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. There. That guy. The One he baptizes who has the Spirit come down on Him—that one is the man who has been born among us. Stands among us. Will be nailed to a cross among us. The Good News that John preaches is that the One who is before Him, the One whose sandals he's not even worthy to untie—this man comes to humble Himself even unto the death of a cross for sinners.

Now last week we heard how Jesus is pointed out by the testimony of the Scriptures which foretold His words and deeds. This week we hear how Jesus must be pointed out by the preacher. It is true that Jesus stands among them, but no one will know who He is until John the preacher points Him out to them. That's the preacher's job: to point out the Lamb who takes away our sins. Today, if we were to go looking for Jesus, we wouldn't know where to find Him either. There are so many fake and false Jesuses out there. How then do we tell? Our preachers point Him out. They tell us to look at the One who washes with water and the Spirit at the font. They speak Jesus' own words of forgiveness to sinners. They point to the Lamb of God sacrificed on the cross and alive three days later. They direct our attention and faith to the Christ on the altar in His Body and Blood. We would go looking for Jesus in our hearts or emotions or experiences or in a thousand other ways. But His Word, proclaimed by His preachers, is what points Him out to you. Want to know where Jesus is? Font. Lectern. Pulpit. Altar. Behold in these things, where Christ's Word and Sacrament are, behold the Lamb of God who takes away YOUR sins.

And that's all your pastor is good for. To be a voice that points to Jesus. The Scriptures record the prophets like John who came and preached and then usually passed away as martyrs. Or the Apostles whom the Lord chose and we don't even really know what happened to them. They preached Christ. That's all we need to know. That was the big deal. But today, it seems it's all about the preachers. Preachers who write bestsellers or have their pictures on billboards or have their own TV shows. Even in our own churches we get worked up about what sort of a man a pastor is, what his personality is like, what we like about him or can't stand about him. Rather we should simply ask one question of our preacher: Does he point me to Christ? Does He deliver Jesus? Does He point to the Lamb of God who takes away my sins? Because that is all your pastor is good for. Whether he's outgoing or keeps to himself, a nice guy or grumpy, whether he's personable or awkwarrd in a social situation—does he point you to Christ and His gifts? If so, there is the Lamb of God who takes away your sins. That's why your pastor wears black. Pretty much all the time. It's not about him. It's just a reminder that he's a preacher. His job is to point to Jesus, the Lamb. The Lord sets it up this way, that He calls a man to point Him out so that you'll never be without Jesus. Never be uncertain that He died for you and forgives you all your sins.

Who are you, John? Just a voice. A voice telling you the Lamb has come. He's among us. Immanuel, which means “God with us.” The Lamb who takes away sins by giving up His life. The Lamb who saves sinners by taking on their sins. The Lamb who is the world's Savior. The Lamb who is your Savior. So says John. So says your pastor. Rejoice! The Salvation of God has come to you in Jesus. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

December 15, 2010 - Wednesday of Advent 3 - Isaiah 40:1-11

The Old Testament readings for Advent remind us that Israel was pretty much always in trouble. Though they were God's own people, they continually turned away to false gods and continually treated each other like dirt. How did the Lord put up with them? Over and over they sinned and He punished them in order to turn them back to Him. In the wilderness, they ended up having to stay 40 years because they did not trust in the Lord to keep His promise of giving them the Promised Land. Once in the Promised Land, the Lord had to continually chastise His people with enemies because they didn't trust in Him. After so many wicked kings who led the people into idolatry, the Lord sent His people into exile among the Assyrians and the Babylonians. And what is the preaching that would come later? “Comfort my people! Tell them their struggle is done. Their sins have been paid for double.” How is it that the Lord continues to put up with these people? They turn away. He brings them back. They run off. He seeks them out. He comes in the flesh and they nail Him to a cross and He prays, “Father, forgive them.”

It should be apparent that the Lord is not like us. When someone wrongs us, we don't let it go. How many of you have had someone say or do something that hurt you. What did you do? Let it go? Forgive them? Or hang on to it? Hold it in your heart? Sit around imagining the conversations you would have with that person and what you'd say to put them in their place! “Yes, pastor,” you say, “But you don't understand what they did. You don't understand how much it hurt. You don't understand how much they deserve the treatment they get.” I'm sure I don't. And I'm sure when I do the same thing, nobody else would understand how much the person that sinned against me deserves my scorn and hatred either. Advent reminds us with these vivid words that we are not like God. He constantly puts up with people we'd be done with after the first wrong thing they did to us. He sends His prophets and preachers over and over to tell His people that He has forgiven them and to turn their hearts back to Him in repentance and faith. Advent reminds us that is what repentance is all about. To repent isn't to feel an abstract “sorriness.” It is to recognize how unlike God we are and how much we need a Savior or we are doomed. It is a time to turn from the sins we love to cling to the God who is still bearing with us and putting up with us. Repentance is the Lord's gift which rescues us from thinking we're so good in comparison to others and teaches us that we are such awful sinners our only hope is the Son of God. Let that be your Advent repentance: to put aside your sins and the sins of others and trust in Christ all the more for His forgiveness and grace.

Now let's be clear here. If you're holding a grudge against someone and you act like you like them and forgiven them, that's not going to fool God into thinking you've made yourself repentant and worthy. Likewise any other sin. Just trying to kick a bad habit or change your ways is no proof to the Lord that you've figured out how to act like a Christian. You see, repentance means you want to do better but it doesn't mean you can. And it doesn't mean you can get rid of your sins yourself. For that you need the Lord to do what He does: forgive sinners. And how does He do it? By coming in the flesh Himself and being crucified by those very sinners. The Lord doesn't do what you and I would do. He doesn't plan His revenge and then, when the moment is just right, spring it on all those evil unbelievers who hate Him. No, He lets them take hold of Him, mock Him mercilessly and drag Him out to be nailed to the cross. The Lord brings us comfort by undergoing suffering. He brings us peace by being hated and crucified. He earns forgiveness for our sins by paying the price for our sins: suffering and death. The One Man who really could give us what we deserve for our hatred of God and others instead takes that hatred upon Himself and bleeds and dies and then rise from the dead. There's double for your sins! There's an answer to your sins that wipes them out! There is the comfort Isaiah is talking about!

Isaiah says that a voice will cry out in the wilderness. That's John the Baptizer. What does He cry out? Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight His paths. All flesh is grass and will fade away!” John came to remind people that the way to be prepared to receive Christ is repent of their sins. Not that they could get rid of their own sins, but rather repentance was being baptized in the Jordan and believing in the Christ, the Lamb of God that John pointed out. The warning that we are grass and that we fade away is a warning that we have no strength to save ourselves. John's preaching is a reminder not to be like the Pharisees who came to see Him and didn't get in the river to be baptized. They looked around and down their noses at others because they knew they were better, knew they were less sinful. They didn't have any need for a Savior. Advent, with Isaiah's and John's preaching, is a warning not to be like that. Don't think that you are better than others. Don't think you deserve the Lord's forgiveness but someone else out there doesn't deserve yours. Don't act like you can live without God's Word and Christ's Body and Blood. Don't live as if your neighbor owes you everything and you can treat others however you want. That sort of living is like the grass that fades and dies!

But while the grass fades, the Word of the Lord does not. And here is our Advent comfort. The Lord gives us a double portion of taking care of our sins in His Word and Sacraments. Baptism: the water and the word that washes us. Absolution, the words of forgiveness target to our particular sins. The Preaching of the Gospel: the Good News heard over and over that Christ crucified has rescued us from sin and death. The Lord's Supper: the Body and Blood of Christ by which He gives us forgiveness, life and salvation. Double portion? That's like a quadruple portion! The Lord's forgiveness is given to us in all these different ways, so overflowing and abundantly. To be in the Lord's church, to be in His Divine Service, to live in these gifts is to know the comfort of Isaiah's preaching: that we have received double for our sins. That they are taken away.” There are no other gifts by which we are forgiven before God than these. There are no other sources of our strength and the Spirit working in us to teach us to let go of the sins of others and to love our neighbor as ourselves. True repentance is to turn from our sins, not to something in us by which we can improve ourselves. True repentance, the repentance of Advent, is to flee from our sins into Christ's church where He gives out His saving and forgiving gifts. Where His never-passing-away Word is heard.

How is it that we are so quick to hold on to the sins of others and the Lord is so quick to forgive? That's what makes Him our Lord and Savior and we the people who need saving! Brothers and sisters in Christ, Advent is the time to throw out those things which drag us down, both our sins and the sins of others. Comfort, comfort, people! Your Lord is speaking tenderly to you today from the lips of Isaiah. His tenderness is that He will not pay you back for your sins. He has paid FOR them by His Son. Cling to that Savior whose birth is near and whose Second Coming is not far away! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

December 12, 2010 - Gaudete: The Third Sunday in Advent - St. Matthew 11:2-11

John the Baptizer, locked up in Herod's dungeon sends His disciples to ask Jesus: “Are you the One who is to come? Or should we be looking for someone else?” Maybe John has some doubts? He preached about the guy who was coming to cast the unrepentant into the fires and yet here he is, locked up by an evil king. So is Jesus the real deal? What's the answer? The answer is, “What is He doing?” The sick are healed, the dead are raised and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. Does that mean He's the Christ? See how Jesus points John to His works which fulfill the Scriptures. In other words, the answer to John's question is: What is Jesus doing? And is He doing the things the Bible says the Savior will be doing. Jesus' answer reminds John and us that His kingdom isn't about the things we'd make a kingdom out of. We'd like power and glory and fame and money and all that. Jesus' kingdom is about those who can't help themselves. It's about the lame, the blind, the deaf, the dead and those who need forgiveness. That, above all, the forgiveness of sins, is what the Lord is bringing as the Savior. The Old Testament said He would. Do these things. He does them and so He is indeed the Christ, the Coming One. Be at peace, John, Jesus is indeed the One, as you faithfully preached.

How about today? There are so many religions and faiths and philosophies. We are surrounded by a world that doesn't know anything about Christ and doesn't want to. We may well wonder as John did, “Is Jesus the One? Seriously? Where is He? What is He doing? What good has He done?” How do we answer that? We answer it with what we have seen and heard through the eyewitnesses of Jesus. He was born of the Virgin, baptized for sinners, tempted in the wilderness. He walked on water and He preached that we should trust in Him. He was arrested, tried, beaten and crucified. He died on the cross of Calvary. He rose from the dead the third day. Again, all things the Scriptures said would happen. One of the most important ways we know that Jesus is the true Savior is that He fulfilled the prophecies made of him hundreds of years before. The world and its history are full of prophets and wise guys and all that. But it is only Jesus Christ who was killed in the most horrible way and yet was alive again three days later! How do we know Jesus is the One among all those religions? Because He was dead and is alive just as the Scriptures taught beforehand and just as the Scriptures give witness to. And by dying and rising He has done what no other prophet has done.

What about today? In His church? When we struggle to pay our bills and wonder why we don't have more people here. What then? Is this really the right faith? The right religion? The right Jesus? Well, what do you see and hear? Sinners are baptized and absolved. Christ crucified is preached. Those hungry and thirsty for righteousness have the Body and Blood of Christ given to them. For the answer to his question, Jesus points John to the Scriptures. For our answers we go to the Scriptures. What does Jesus' Word say? “Therefore go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Go and preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in my name. Whosoever's sins you forgive, they are forgiven.” Is that what this church is about? Is that what's going on here? Look around. Listen up. Everything in this church is about Christ crucified and risen forgiving our sins by His Word and Sacraments. That's Christ at work doing what He says He would be doing. If those are the things Christ said are His works in His church and those are the things going on, then never worry that Christ is here among us doing what He promised to do.

What about you? When someone asks whether you are a Christian, when the opportunity to give witness to your faith comes up, who and what do you talk about? Give them the answer that John was given: what has Jesus done and is He doing for you. Tell them, “Well, I am baptized. My pastor forgives my sins. I hear Christ crucified preached every time I'm in church. Christ feeds me with His Body and Blood.” Those are the gifts which make and keep you a Christian, a child of God. When it comes to your religion, don't talk about you. Just as Christ didn't promote Himself but rather pointed to the Word and His fulfillment of it. Not that He didn't know Who He was but He wants all things done by and according to His Word. So for us. We don't rely on the testimony of ourselves but of the Word and what Christ says and gives in His Word. Then we're on solid ground, as John was, for He had the Word of God to give His answer and proof.

But the answer to all these questions is not one that will satisfy most people. To point to the Word of God and see Jesus as the One who fulfills it is not what people want to hear. “Blessed is he who is not offended by Me,” says Jesus. There were many in Jesus' day who denied the Word and refused to acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah. There are many today who have one religion or another but deny the true God, instead seeking gods and philosophies that are all about them. There are many in the church who measure things by the works of men rather than by what Christ is doing in His Word. There are many who profess to be Christians who based their claim upon something they've done: how good they are or what decision they made or how faithful they try to be. Even we are not immune from the doubts that wonder whether Jesus is it. Repent, brothers and sisters and look again at how Jesus fulfills the Scriptures. Look at how He directs us to the Word for the answer. Look how the Word points to Him and what He has done for us by His cross and empty tomb. Look how the Word directs us to what He still does for us by water, Word, Body and Blood. There are many who are offended by Jesus because He isn't the god they want. But He is the only God who saves. He is the only God who became man and died and rose for sinners. He is the only God who preserves His holy church even in this evil world until He comes again. All that Christ does for us the Word teaches and it is our comfort amidst all trouble.

When Jesus first appeared at the Jordan River, it was John the Baptizer who pointed Him out saying, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” That's why Jesus came. That's what Jesus did. That forgiveness is what He delivers to us now. Whenever we doubt, whenever we wonder, let us look to what Christ has done and still does. His works, according to God's Word declare Him to be the True Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God who saves sinners. It is He who has brought us into His kingdom by grace. John the Baptizer died before he could see the fulfillment of his preaching, Jesus' death and resurrection. But you have had that death and resurrection preached to you from the Word of the eyewitnesses. But we, like John, are saved the same way: by the works of the One who was to come, who came and who will come again, even Jesus Christ our Lord. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.