“The Lord Works True Repentance, “Jonah 3.1–5, 10, epiphany 3B, Jan. ’15

1.       Grace, mercy, and peace to your from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this 3^rd Sunday after Epiphany is taken from Jonah 3:1-5, 10.  Here we see that, “The Lord Works True Repentance.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.      A Sunday School teacher asked her class, “What can we learn from Jonah?” One young girl, twirling her hair, thinking hard, suddenly blurted out, “When whales swallow people, they get real sick!”  That’s how the story ends the first time God tells Jonah, “Go to Nineveh.”  A group of pastors heard that silly Sunday School story about Jonah I just told you. One pastor told the punch line, “People make whales really sick.” Another pastor joked, “That’s funny, I always thought the point of Jonah’s story is you can’t keep a good man down!”  Jonah went to Nineveh not because he thought, “I’m a good guy.” He painfully knew, “I was the bad guy, running from God!” And Jonah joyfully believed, “God loves me anyway. The Lord forgives me, gives me new life. He’s the God of second chances!”  What do you think? “I’m better than the person God wants me to help”? No. The only difference between us and them is that we know who gives life, who forgives!  The message from Jonah 3 this morning reminds us that it is the Lord who works true repentance in all of us, he continues to bring us to repentance and faith each day through His Word.

3.      Jonah lived under Jeroboam II, who ruled over the Northern Kingdom of Israel from 793 to 753 b.c. (2 Ki 14:25). God called Jonah to go to the Assyrian city of Nineveh and “preach against it” (Jnh 1:1). Assyria and its capital city represented the pride, the power, and the brutality of the kingdoms of this world at their worst. The Prophet Isaiah describes the arrogance of these Assyrians (Isa 10:5–19), and the Prophet Nahum in his entire book tells the feeling of dread which the cruel Assyrians instilled in others.  No wonder Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh, he was living a comfortable lifestyle as a preacher in King Jeroboam II’s court.  Now God wants him to go to the blood thirsty, arrogant Assyrians, the enemies of Israel.  Yikes!  Nineveh is where present day Iraq is today.  Imagine the Lord calling you to preach to terrorists like ISIS today, that would be pretty difficult.  No wonder Jonah wanted to run away and flee 600 miles away to Tarshish, which is where modern day Spain is.

4.      But, God loved the Assyrian Ninevites.  So, he sent Jonah to the great city of Nineveh, he said, “because its wickedness has come before me” (1:1). If God did not care for them or love them, why would he be concerned?  God’s concern was that the Ninevites repent. Jonah’s task was to warn them of the coming judgment and let them know that there is a God who loves them.

5.      Jonah knew that Israel’s God loved even the Ninevites too. When God had revealed himself at Mt. Sinai, he described himself in the catch-phrases repeated throughout the OT as a, “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love” (Ex 34:6).

6.      And, God loves today’s Assyrians.  The NT God is the same God, “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love.” He loves the world, and therefore sent his Son Jesus to reconcile it to himself (2 Cor 5:19).

7.      So God sends us today to call to repentance and extend his free forgiveness in Jesus (Lk 24:47–48).  But, we’re tempted to be like the Ninevites.  Some have described our culture as post-Christian. If we’re to be bold witnesses to the Ninevites, we must be clear about our identity as those baptized into Christ, “dead to sin and alive to God” (Rom 6:11). Our faith is that “we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18). We return again and again to God’s Word and Sacraments and we attend carefully to God’s Word from Romans 12 that says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is— his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:2).

8.      As the Prophet Hosea clearly says, we can in no way be a light to the world if we’re content to indulge in a variety of compromises with the Ninevehs that tempt us. Hosea continues to point out sins that surround God’s people today along with the Ninevites around us. Consider these accusations from the Old Testament book of Hosea:  ‘They make many promises, take false oaths and make agreements; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field” (10:4).  “The merchant uses dishonest scales; he loves to defraud. Ephraim boasts, ‘I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin’” (12:7–8).  “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me” (13:6).

9.      God’s wrath and anger towards our sin is still real.  A telling illustration of how God’s wrath is operating in the contemporary scene comes from Peggy Noonan, who wrote speeches in the Reagan administration. In Forbes (September 14, 1992) she observes, “Somewhere in the sixties or seventies we started expecting to be happy, and changed our lives—left town, left families, switched jobs—if we were not. And society strained and cracked in the storm” (excerpted also in Reader’s Digest, January 1993, pp. 33–36).  Christians haven’t been immune from the Ninevite temptation to find happiness at any cost—leaving town, family, callings—in pursuit of the idol of happiness. Noonan grasps this, she writes: “It’s a terrible thing when people lose God. Life is difficult and people are afraid, and to be without God is to lose our great source of consolation... My generation, faced as it grew with a choice between religious belief or existential despair, chose . . . marijuana. Now we’re in our cabernet stage. Is it possible that our next step is a deep turning to faith?”

10.  Noonan’s question must be asked also of our own would-be witnesses.  Many today are troubled by what they call “the Bible’s hatreds.” While God condemns Jonah’s hatred of the Ninevites, it’s a mistake to confuse prophetic proclamation of God’s wrath against sin with sinful human prejudice & bigotry. Jonah’s God-given message was to proclaim God’s wrath against sin: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned” (3:4). God’s bold witnesses must be prepared to speak the simple truth, even if it is condemnation. Today’s Ninevites are suffering from the wrath of God and will suffer more, unless and until they repent and return to God.

11.  We must remember that it wasn’t Jonah’s words that changed the Ninevites.  It was the Word of God Jonah was called to speak that brought about their repentance. Jonah spoke the Word of God in all its fullness, and that awful empire heard God. The Holy Spirit “overturned” Nineveh’s dirty heart!  The same God lives today. We speak God’s Law, and he hammers sin. Still more, we speak God’s Gospel—Christ, nailed to the cross for all of our sins—and he forgives that sin. See! The hardest hearts, the Holy Spirit will flip upside down.

12.  Jonah isn’t just some fish story from the Old Testament. Of all the prophets in the Bible, Jesus compares himself to only one. In Matthew 12, Jesus promised, “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so I shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The people of Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day. . . . They turned to God. They changed when Jonah spoke God’s message. They believed! Now look! The One greater than Jonah stands here now” (Mt 12:40–41, author’s paraphrase).  That explains everything.  Jesus, the one greater than Jonah is the reason that the Lord is able to work true repentance in all of us.  Amen.

13.  Let’s pray to him! Dear Lord, even with your own body swallowed up by the grave, you loved me! Jesus, help me to believe.  Work your repentance in me through the power of the Holy Spirit. Even with my own mouth, speak your love through me! Living Lord, help me so to do! Amen.

 

 

 

 

"The God Who Calls" John 1:43-51, Epiphany 2, Jan. '15

1.      Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this 2^nd Sunday after the Epiphany is taken from John 1:43-51, it’s entitled, “The God Who Calls,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.      Paul Harvey, the famous radio star, tells about a raw winter night on which a farmer heard a thumping sound against the kitchen door. He went to a window and watched as tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the warmth inside, beat in vain against the glass storm door.  The farmer bundled up and trudged through fresh snow to open the barn for the struggling birds. He turned on the lights, tossed some hay in a corner, and sprinkled a trail of crackers to direct them to the barn. But the sparrows hid in the darkness, afraid of him.  He tried various tactics: circling behind the birds to drive them toward the barn, tossing crumbs in the air toward them, retreating to his house to see if they would flutter into the barn on their own. Nothing worked. He had terrified them; the birds couldn’t understand that he was trying to help them.  He withdrew to his house and watched the doomed sparrows through a window. As he stared, a thought hit him like lightning from a clear blue sky: If only I could become a bird—one of them—just for a moment, then I would not frighten them so. I could show them the way to warmth and safety. At the same moment, another thought dawned on him: He had grasped the whole principle of the incarnation, of Jesus taking on human flesh to suffer and die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

3.      Jesus our Immanuel, God with us, has taken on human flesh in order to call us to Himself for our salvation.  Here in the first chapter of John’s Gospel we see the God who calls us to the forgiveness of our sins and to follow Him.  The first chapter of John’s Gospel has been called, “chapter of great finds.”  And that description fits well.  For again and again we read of people “finding’ and of people being “found.”  Of Andrew, we read that “He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ)” (John 1:41).  Of Philip, we are told that he “found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph.”  And of the Savior Himself we read that “He found Philp and said to him, “Follow Me.”  It’s such finding and being found of which John 1:43-51 speaks.  Here in our text from God’s Word this morning we see the God Who Calls Us into His family to eternal life.

4.      Andrew had told his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah.”  He would have spoken more correctly if he had said, “The messiah has found us!”  The piece of steel may say, “I have found the magnet,” But that will never change the fact that it was the magnet that attracted the piece of steel.   In the parable of the lost sheep, it was the sheep that was lost and not the shepherd. In the parable of the lost coin, it was the coin that was lost and not the woman who owned it (Luke 15).  The sheep couldn’t find the shepherd, and the coin couldn’t find its owner, and so the shepherd went out in search of the sheep, and the woman searched high and low for her coin until she found it.

5.      It is this kind of finding that the evangelist records in John 1:43: “Jesus found Philip.”  This is just one example among many of the God Who Calls us into His family.  Philip was found by his Savior, just as is every sinner who comes to Christ.  Luther, in his explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed, says, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel.” (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, pg. 147).  Paul, in speaking of the manner of his coming to the Savior, says he was “apprehended” by the Lord—literally the word means that he was overtaken by the Lord and “laid hold of” while he was trying to run away.  And at the end of his life, as he reflects upon the manner in which the Lord “found” him and took him into His kingdom, Paul wrote to his student Timothy, “God saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of HIs own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Tim. 1:9).  If anyone had asked Paul whether he had found Christ or Christ had found him, there can be no doubt as to how he would have answered.  This is The God Who Calls us into His Kingdom.

6.      It’s a source of endless comfort to us as believers to know that among the millions who crowd the highways and byways of this topsy-turvy world, his Lord found him, singled him out and called him as His own.  To every one of us, Jesus our Savior calls us and says, personally and individually:  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

7.      Jesus found Philip.  He’s the God who Calls us to salvation. Yes, and what a happy day for Philip!  Jesus found you too!  What a blessed thought!  You are his, and He is yours—because His love found you and took you to be His very own.  “Oh, the height of Jesus’ love, Higher than the heav’ns above, Deeper than the depths of sea, Lasting as eternity!  Love that found me—wondrous thought! Found me when I sought Him not. (LSB 611:2)

8.      Here in John chapter 1 we see that through the spoken Word of God, the Holy Spirit called Philip and Nathanael, and they were brought to Jesus, He worked in them and they followed Jesus, and He created in them a longing to be with Him.  Through the spoken Word, the Holy Spirit worked faith in them so that they might see more than Jesus, they might see the Christ that He was. 

9.      The common thing that brought these men to Jesus, created the following of Jesus, and made them want to be with Jesus was the spoken Word.  Through this Word of God they would see Jacob’s ladder between heaven and earth replaced with a human ladder.  The flesh and blood of the Son of Man would be rungs of this ladder that was fixed to a cross.  As there is no Jesus apart from the spoken Word, so also there is no faith apart from it, no disciple of Jesus apart from the spoken Word, and no path of discipleship in Jesus apart from the spoken Word.  Praise be to the God Who Calls Us into His family through His Word, through Jesus, the Word made flesh!!!  Amen.

10.  Prayer:  Blessed Lord Jesus, we thank you with our whole heart that, although we have wandered far across the wilderness of sin, Your gracious love has found us.  Make and keep us ever grateful for Your mercy.  Grant that, as Philip was found by You and as he gave his life to You, so we may give ourselves to You and follow in Your steps.  Keep us faithful, blessed Lord, faithful unto death, and grant to us, according to your promise, the crown of eternal life.  Amen.  

 

 

 

“Our Baptism in Light of Christ’s Baptism” Mark 1.4-11, Jan. ’15, the Baptism of Our Lord…

 

1.      Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord is taken from Mark 1:4-11.  Here we see, “Our Baptism in the Light of Christ’s Baptism,” Our baptism acknowledges our sins; Jesus baptism fulfilled all righteousness (vv. 4, 5). Our baptism confesses faith; Jesus’ proves he is the Savior (vv. 9–11).  Our baptism makes us God’s children; Jesus’ baptism shows us that He is God’s Son (vv. 10, 11).  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.      In C.S. Lewis’ book from his Chronicles of Narnia Series, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” there was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved that name.  His mother and father called him Eustace Clarence, his teacher Eustace Scrubb, but his friends didn’t call him either because he had none.  He didn’t call his parents mom and dad, but Harold and Alberta.  Eustace behaves in a despicable way within the book and because of this he’s changed into a dragon.  This is the beginning of a decisive change in his life.  As a dragon he begins to change and think about other people.  He then flies about the island in Narnia to secure food for people.  Near the end of the story, Aslan the lion, very slowly removes the dragon scales from Eustace to make him a boy again.  As Aslan tears off Eustace’s scales he writhes in pain from the razor sharp claws that feel as though they pierce his very being. With intensity, Aslan rips away layer after layer, until the child is certain he will die from the agony.  Once he’d taken off all of the dragon scales of Eustace, Aslan the lion bathes him in water.  It was there that he found that he’d become a boy again.  After Eustace came out of the water, Aslan gave him new clothes to wear.   When it’s all over, Eustace delighted in the freedom, never before realizing the extra weight that he’d carried as a dragon.

3.      This story from C.S. Lewis, about Eustace being changed back into a new boy, is an awesome story that can help us understand what happens to us in our baptisms.  Obviously, Eustace’s character and sinfulness had caused him to be changed into a dragon.  He’d treated his mother and father, his teacher and everyone that he’d known terribly.  This character of his began to show as he was changed into a dragon.  But, when he finally realized how terrible his life had become.  That is, how sinful he really was, his life began to change.  When he repented of his sins, Aslan the lion, who in the Narnia Chronicles is the depiction of Jesus Christ, came to take his sinful nature away from him.  Aslan tears the dragon scales off Eustace, bathes him as Jesus has bathed us in the waters of holy baptism and gave to him new clothes to wear.  This also shows what Christ has done for us by clothing us in his righteousness, giving us newness of life.  As the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 3:27, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

4.      Mark 1:9-11 says, “9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  Why would Jesus come to be baptized? He's not a sinner! The Bible tells us that Jesus is “like us in every way, yet without sin.” What's He doing?  He's going where the sinners are. They are baptized by John, confessing their sins. John baptized for repentance unto the forgiveness of sins.  Those who were baptized went up with their sins forgiven.

5.      So why is Jesus there? To fulfill all righteousness.  Matthew’s Gospel says in Matthew 3:15, “But Jesus answered and said to [John the Baptist], “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then [John] allowed Him. (Matthew 3:15)  What does that mean to fulfill all righteousness? To take on our sins. Jesus has no sins to get rid of. So He takes the sins of sinners. He doesn't hold Himself aloof from the sinners as if He can stand by and watch them get baptized while He stands there being all perfect and holy. No, Jesus goes where they are to show that He came for sinners and to take their sins on and take those sins to Calvary to get rid of them once and for all.

6.      The Baptism of Jesus is a mirror image of your Baptism. In Baptism, your sins are washed away. In Jesus' Baptism, He takes your sins and makes them His own. In your Baptism, the Holy Spirit descends upon you to mark you as one saved by what Jesus has done in His death and resurrection. At Jesus' Baptism, the Spirit descends to show that He is the Lamb of God who does the taking away of the sins. In your Baptism, the Father declares you are His beloved son and a part of His family. At His Baptism, the Father declares that Jesus is His beloved Son because He will obey the Father and go and die for sinners.

7.      Here again what takes place at Jesus’ baptism in Mark 1:10-11, “10And when Jesus came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  And immediately the heavens were opened…  What wonderful words to hear!!!  This is what Christ our Lord did for us through His baptism and His death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  Thanks to Jesus the heavens are now open to us.  God the Holy Spirit can now descend from heaven to sinful people like you and me and work in us the salvation Jesus has achieved for us.  We are now free from the guilt of sin, we can approach God in heaven in prayer and after death live with God forever.  Thanks to Jesus, God has access to us and we have access to God.  The lines of communication are now open between God and people.  In the Old Testament Jacob saw in a dream a ladder between heaven and earth on which angels were ascending and descending.  Now, through our baptism into Jesus, “we can see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56).  The heaven was opened and now we can see that “inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us” (1 Peter 1:1).  The heaven was opened and now we can lift up our heads and see our redemption drawing near (Luke 21:28).  The heaven was opened and now we can see “this same Jesus who was taken up into heaven…come in like manner as we have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11) as the angels told the disciples after Jesus ascended into heaven.  The heaven was open and now we can see “the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2).   

8.      Jesus goes where the sinners are. That's good news for you. It means He's serious about saving sinners. That's why He's the Beloved Son of God. And it is His doing so that fulfills all righteousness so that in your Baptism, you receive all of His righteousness and holiness and a good standing before the Lord. In the Name of Jesus.  This is Our Baptism in Light of Christ’s Baptism. Amen.

9.      Please pray with me:  Lord you have received us as Your own in our baptism and through the years You have been faithful to us.  Give us the grace to hold fast to You as our God and Father and to confess Jesus Christ as our Savior, who was washed and cleansed us from all sin.  Amen.

 

“Connected to God” Matthew 2.1–12 Jan. 4th, 2015 Series B, Epiphany (observed)

 

1.     Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this first Sunday after the Epiphany is taken from Matthew 2:1-12.  It’s entitled, “Connected to God,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.     In the movie Star Trek: Generations, Captain Kirk and the starship Enterprise come upon a phenomenon in outer space called the nexus. The nexus is a temporal irregularity moving through space. To anyone inside the nexus, linear time has no meaning. So Captain Kirk can easily go back and forth in time to a favorite occasion in his life. He can go back and forth to visit a loved one who has died or relive and change an experience. Being in this nexus can be so enjoyable, that, once there, no one ever wants to leave.  The villain in the movie is a scientist named Dr. Soran, whose actions are cruel, cold, and violent. It’s easy to be against him. But toward the end of the movie, we find the motive for his cruelty isn’t money or power, but connection. Dr. Soran’s motive was to get to the nexus, go back in time, and reconnect with his family who were killed in a terrible tragedy. That was it. Yes, even villains want to connect in a meaningful way. In fact, all people want to be connected.  More important, all people need to be connected to God, though many, many people don’t know it, Christ Is the Connection to God All People Need.

3.     That’s what our life’s journey is about. From the time we’re born, we seek attention, connection, and relationships. Even as infants, we don’t want to be left in the crib. We cry.  We want to be held.  When we’re alone for too long, we get lonely. As children, when we don’t have close friends in school, life seems empty. When we’ve had a good time with a bunch of people, it’s hard to leave the fellowship. Even some of us men, who may not be as good about relationships as women, talk about male bonding.

4.     So we all value connection. We value connection so much that we buy into the fairy tales that help us dream for that perfect love. We look for that romance in which someone will love us more than him or herself, in which that someone will understand us deeply, and will always be there for us. But, my friends in Christ, especially our young ones, so often this eludes us.  You see, you and I will never find the perfect connection in this world, in any person on this earth. Because of sin, we’ll never find the perfect relationship. We will never find that perfect connection. Never. Don’t expect your spouse or best friend to be sin free. There will be times when, despite our best efforts, we hurt one other. There will be times when we’re not there for each other. Now that I’ve knocked romance out of the equation, we can get to the main thing.

5.     In essence, people often look for that great connection in the wrong places, or in the wrong person.  You see, because of our sin, the nexus between God and man was cut off. That great connection with God is there, but we try to make that connection with someone or something other than God.  The Wise Men from the East knew this. These were people with wealth, power, and prestige, very possibly advisors to royal courts. Yet, we hear Mt 2:2: “For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

6.     These people leading “fairy tale lives,” these Wise Men, wanted to connect with God. They were looking for that connection, and so they sought that star. They were looking for that connection, so they journeyed a long way following the star. They were looking for that connection, so they wanted to worship Christ and have a meaningful time and fellowship with God, who had come down to earth in the flesh. They understood, like we Christians understand, that it’s Jesus Christ who makes our connection to God possible.

7.     The Greek word epiphania means a showing, a making known, or a revealing. The Epiphany reveals who Jesus is, Lord and King, Son of God. Matthew mentions Herod, probably to reveal that Jesus, not Herod, is the true King. It reveals that Jesus is the King of kings and not your usual king. Herod is dressed in royal dignity; he’s master at the palace. But the child the Wise Men worship in a humble setting is the true Master.  It’s not that the Wise Men had any special, inside information. They probably had read the prophecy in Numbers 24: “a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel” (Num 24:17). Then they saw the star and followed it. They weren’t the only ones who could see the star or read the Scriptures. They were there, plain for anyone to see.

8.     They also asked a simple question, the answer to which could easily be found in the Old Testament. The top theologians didn’t need to be summoned, but Herod did so, and they replied straight out of Micah about little old Bethlehem: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (5:2). The information was there. The star and the prophecy were plain to be seen.  Having heard about the star and Bethlehem, Herod and the leaders of Jerusalem don’t join the Wise Men to go and connect with the true King. The connection isn’t made. Herod and the leaders see competition. Herod wants to get rid of the competition instead of seeing the truth and connecting with the one who really loves him and cares for him.

9.     On the other hand, the Wise Men see the connection. They go to connect with their true King, who rules not with worldly splendor, but in peace with caring and with deep, loving, and meaningful relationships. The Lord who wants us to be with him and for all eternity that he allowed his eternal connection to his Father to be broken when he took our sin to the cross. But because he took upon himself our sin—which had cut us off from God—and suffered himself being put to death, we are reconnected to God, now and forever in heaven.

10. So as each of you reaches out to people in the community, we make that Epiphany connection. Through our warm friendliness; serving with our hands; hospitable, welcoming outlook; and personal witness, we make CHRIST/ CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH the inviting place of that connection for which people are looking. We turn them away from their Herod and their Jerusalem and toward Jesus and Bethlehem.  This church family is to be that fellowship where God is revealed to people looking for meaning and connection. This is the nexus where God makes known the true, perfect love of Christ.  Worried about offending? Afraid of losing friendships? Fearful of being rejected? The Lord reminds you that he will be with you. He reminds you that in Holy Scripture, he will give you the words to share, that he will open doors for you. God even used Herod to make the final connection between the Wise Men and Jesus. He will use you all the more to make connections for him.

11. Mailings, advertising, research, and personal invitations continue to be powerful tools to connect, but the Lord teaches us today that prayer is the foundation of connection. Snail mail, instant messaging, spam mail, and e-mail are nice, but don’t forget knee-mail. Yes, k-n-e-e-mail.  Let’s get down on our knees and pray like this: “Lord, I know I have often been neglectful of my Christian responsibility to make you known in this community. Forgive me. All around me there are people who are struggling to make that great connection. I know they are hurting. I know they are looking for that perfect relationship, but only through you is that powerful connection possible. You are the source of good, deep, healthy relationships.  You are the source of quality connections in marriages, families, and friendships. So use me, Lord, to connect with people who feel empty, forgotten, lost, disconnected.  Here I am, Lord. Send me. Use me. Give me the words to speak and provide me discernment in taking advantage of the appropriate opportunity in time to witness. Open those doors for me to connect others to you, and then let your love and the Good News shine through. In the name of Jesus, I pray.”

12. Today God is reminding you of your connection to him. You don’t need to look for a perfect love. You already have it. It has been provided for you with no strings attached. God loves you more than you can possibly imagine. He sent his Son, not to condemn you, but to save you, and to connect with you, by dying for you on a cross.  He’s given us the responsibility to reveal to people in this community and throughout the world that the perfect connection is here. It’s right here in Jesus. We’ll share with them about the star and what’s written in Micah. They might not get the connection at first. In their eyes, Herod at first may look like the real ruler, but the Spirit will work to reveal the hidden God to them. We pray that the Lord would give us the strength and the wisdom as the CHRIST/CALVARY family works to connect our neighbors to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

 

“Blessed by the Name of God”— Numbers 6:22-27 New Year’s Day—Dec. 31st, 2014 & Jan. 1st, 2015, Calvary & Christ Lutheran Churches

 

1.                     Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this New Year’s Eve/Day is taken from Numbers 6:22-27 and is entitled, “Blessed by the Name of God,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                     The original Toy Story movie is the story of toys belonging to a boy named Andy.  In the opening of the movie we see that one toy, a cowboy named Woody, is Andy’s favorite toy.  But, for his birthday Andy receives a spaceman named Buzz Lightyear.  Buzz is a toy with all the latest gadgets, while Woody is old and outdated.  Because of this Woody is jealous of Buzz.  All the other toys begin to see Buzz as the most popular toy in the room.  Then something happens that reveals to Woody just how far things have gone:  Andy writes his name on the bottom of Buzz’s foot with permanent marker.  Woody’s foot has the same mark and he knows what that means:  Andy is claiming Buzz as his own, marking him, and giving him a new identity.  He’s not just one of a million other Buzz Lightyears, he’s now Andy’s Buzz Lightyear.  So too, in baptism God writes His name on our hearts through water and the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit.  He washes all of our sins away and makes us His own child.  When we are baptized we are blessed to receive the name of God, to be made a part of His family. 

3.                     But, baptism isn’t the only way that we are blessed with the name of God.  On this day we recognize that our Savior upon His circumcision publicly receives His name, Jesus, which means the “the Lord saves.”  We remember how we’re blessed through Him.  In the circumcision of Jesus, all people are circumcised once and for all, because He represents all humanity.  In the Old Testament the benefits of circumcision included the forgiveness of sins, justification and being made a part of the people of God.  In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul speaks about baptism as a “circumcision made without hands” and as “the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11).

4.                     Anytime we receive the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we as God’s people are blessed.  This leads us to Numbers 6:22-27, which says, “²²The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, ²⁴The Lord bless you and keep you; ²⁵the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. ²⁷So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

5.                     Here we see that God gave the priests the words of the Aaronic blessing.  Notice how the word Lord is repeated three times. Here we see a reference to the Trinity. Though we are limited in our ability to explore the depths of the Trinity, we can appreciate the truth that the triune God acts on our behalf. As each of the divine persons carries out his work, the triune God reaches out to bless all those who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.

6.                     The first phrase refers especially to the work of God the Father. The blessing from the Father includes all aspects of our life. Wherever we look, we can see how the Lord blesses us through the possessions that he gives us. Luther’s explanation to the First Article of the Creed summarizes these blessings noting that the Lord “gave me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my mind and all my abilities … richly and daily providing clothing and shoes, food and drink, property and home, spouse and children, land, cattle, and all I own.”  We need only look in our homes! Look at the food and furniture, the children and cars, dishes and dresses, the suits and sofas, and even the electricity that’s present in the wall sockets.  And even more the Lord blesses us with talents and abilities. With mind and hand, we can make a living. With the same mind and hands, we serve Him and our neighbor.

7.                     And what’s more our heavenly Father blesses us as He answers our requests when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” How often the Lord keeps us by preventing dangers from overwhelming us! How eagerly the Lord works to keep us from going to those places where we’ll be tempted to sin! And yet, how loving the Lord is when He allows tests to come into our lives, for He promises that He’ll also make a way of escape and that all things will work together for good to those who love him. Ultimately the richest way in which the Lord blesses us is that He keeps us faithful to the gospel to the end of our lives. It is also His blessing that He’ll deliver us from this present evil world into the glory in heaven. All these blessings the Lord gladly includes in the benediction: “The Lord bless you and keep you.”

8.                     The second phrase of the benediction addresses the fact that human beings are sinful. By birth man is in rebellion against God. The only hope for such rebels lies in the fact that God is gracious to us. How clearly we see God’s love for us in the work of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Using Luther’s explanation of the Second Article of the Creed, we note that God is gracious to us in Jesus, who “has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. All this he did that I should be his own, and live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.” That’s God’s grace in Christ. For in Christ, God shows his love to us—a deep, love that loves us also when we deserve it least because of our sin. In such love God makes his face shine upon us. Just as the face of a proud, new mother radiates love, so God looks at us covering all our sins with the perfect redemption that Christ purchased for us. All these blessings the Lord gladly includes in the benediction: “The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.”

9.                     In the third phrase of the benediction, we see the work of the third person of the Trinity: God the Holy Spirit. The phrase “turn his face toward you” indicates that the Lord gladly looks upon each of us as individuals. How sad it would be if God would turn his back on any of us. How wonderful this work of the Holy Spirit! He turns rebels into his children by leading them to faith in Jesus! He makes the blind to see by leading them to the light of Christ. As the giver of life, he gives life to those who are dead in their sins.  It is the Holy Spirit who has “called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith” (Luther’s Catechism, Third Article). In the miracle of conversion, the Holy Spirit gives us peace because we know that through Christ we are reconciled to God.  The believer enjoys a peace that stands up even in the face of death. What peace there is to know that whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Anchored in this faith, we can exclaim with Saint Paul: “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38, 39). Angels proclaimed this peace at the first Christmas Eve: “Peace on earth, good will to man.” Jesus promised the peace from the Holy Spirit when he said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27).

10.                 What great blessings the Lord gives to every believer! His power and love stand behind each of the words in the benediction: “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” The name of God was on the Israelites. In the New Testament that name is also on us as we claim the name Christian, which really means that we’re followers of Christ. Of such believers the Lord gladly says, “I will bless them.” This promise makes the benediction far more than mere words. The Lord stands behind each word. As the triune God, he gladly grants these blessings to each of us.

11.                 To such a benediction, believers in all ages have gladly said, “Amen. So be it.”  Amen. So be it! Lord, God the Father, Creator and Preserver, bless and keep us!  Amen. So be it! Lord, Jesus Christ, Savior and Lord, make your face shine upon us and be gracious to us!  Amen. So be it! Lord, Holy Spirit, Sanctifier and Counselor, turn your face toward us and give us peace!  Amen.

 

 

“About Time!” Galatians 4.4 Christmas Day Dec. ’14, Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church Christmas Day…

 

1.                  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this joyous day we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is taken from Galatians 4:4 and is entitled, “About Time!” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                  A small boy kept asking his daddy to help him build a tree house in the backyard. The man said he would “when he had the time.” But, each time the boy asked, his daddy was involved in a business meeting, a golf date, some pressing job around the house, or a social engagement. One day the boy was hit by a car and in critical condition in the hospital. Sadly, as the man stood by his son’s bedside, the boy’s last words were, “Well, Daddy, I guess we’ll never get to build our tree house.” Of course, the boy didn’t want a tree house half as much as he wanted the love and the time of his father.

3.                  Time. Short on time. Not enough time. Ran out of time. You’ve heard them all and said them all. What’s this sermon about? It’s about time.  The wonderful news at Christmas time is this:  God is above time and uses time for His eternal purposes.  Time consumes us. “Too many things to do, not enough time” may be our life’s motto.  Our sermon text from Galatians tells us: “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son” (Gal 4:4). This is talking about the birth of Jesus.

4.                  “The fullness of time” is a wonderful phrase. One could say that it means not too early, not too late, but just at the right time. The time was “full.” How was the time full when Jesus was born that first Christmas? Why did God the Father send God the Son at the time he did?  Over the years, biblical scholars and historians have strived to unpack this “fullness of time” phrase from Galatians 4. Here, in brief, are a few of their ideas.

5.                  Alexander the Great of Macedon, who destroyed the Persian Empire, soon became the ruler of the civilized world of his day. With the spread of his kingdom came the spread of his language—Greek. Soon, all the known world used Greek as the common language. Wherever one traveled, people could communicate in Greek. So, when Jesus came into the world, he met a world that shared a common language. This is why the New Testament was written in Greek and the Old Testament was translated into Greek. The heavenly Father used Alexander’s kingdom to prepare the world for the Savior’s birth. It was the fullness of time.

6.                  At Alexander’s death, his empire began to crumble. Four of his generals struggled for control of various parts of the kingdom. Wars and conflicts were everywhere. But then, in 63 BC, control was won by the newest world power—Rome. Soon, Roman rule brought together the divided kingdom. This new, unified empire needed to be counted, a census taken, and it was this census that brought Joseph and Mary to their ancestral town, the place the Messiah was to be born, the little town of Bethlehem.  What’s more, in this Roman Empire travel was easy and safe. Law and order ruled the land.  This was called the Pax Romana—the Roman peace. Due to such peace, Jesus, as well as his disciples who followed after him, could travel freely to spread the Gospel. Jesus could accomplish so much in his three shorts years of ministry. His disciples could soon start new churches all over the Roman empire. Surely the heavenly Father used Rome’s temporal peace to spread the news of his eternal peace. It was the fullness of time.

7.                   The Roman ruler Caesar Augustus commissioned workers to build a network of military roads from one end of the kingdom to the other. Such building projects could only take place in a time of peace. These roads provided easy access to all corners of the Roman Empire, ensuring speed of travel. But these were also the roads Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem. And how wonderful that later these roads, built for a military and economic kingdom, should be the pathways used by the messengers of God’s kingdom of peace. How difficult would it have been to travel for Peter, Paul, and all the others if not for these roads? Surely the heavenly Father used Roman roads for his purposes. It was the fullness of time.

8.                  After the fall of Israel, God’s people were scattered all over the Assyrian and then Babylonian and then Persian empires. This was done to conform them into the culture of their conquerors. They had to find a way to keep their faith alive. It was at this time that these scattered peoples, each in their own area, began the synagogues. The very name synagogue means “the gathering together.” Here in these synagogues, the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) were studied. Here in these synagogues was kept alive the hope for the Messiah. Now, here is a question for you. Where was it that Jesus and his disciples after him first went to share the Gospel of the Messiah who had come? It was to these synagogues spread all over the civilized world. It was in these places that the Gospel message first took shape into the Christian Church.. Surely the heavenly Father used the dispersions (which were meant to destroy Israel) to spread the Good News of the Savior of Israel and the entire world. It was the fullness of time.

9.                  The good news for us is this: in days past and even today, it is the fullness of time. Our loving God is the Lord of time and history. Our times are in his almighty hands. Here we find great comfort for our lives today, whatever faces us. If our heavenly Father can use the kingdoms and events of world history to accomplish his purposes, surely he can use the events in our lives today to care for us and to accomplish his will for us. We have a mighty and loving God. Our times are in his hands. Even when our eyes can’t see it, our spiritual eyes can see: God will take care of us. God’s lordship over time and his timing in our lives is for our good. But there is more.

10.              St. Paul tells us, “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6). In Jesus, almighty God took time for us. In Jesus, almighty God broke into time and at the cross defeated sin, death, and the devil. And he did this for us! We who by nature have no time for God, who are too busy not only for our own sons but for his, too, who time and time again rebel against him, who deserve his eternal wrath, instead receive his love and mercy. God tells us through the prophet Isaiah, “In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you” (Is 54:8). This is the timeless message of Christmas!

11.              Luke 2 says, “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son” (Lk 2:1–7 KJV).

12.              Christmas reminds us that God is the Lord of time. He uses time and history and the events of our lives for his eternal purposes. In Christ Jesus, he has taken time for us. We’re invited this day to slow down and receive anew his Christmas gifts of love, mercy, and forgiveness. He invites us to entrust our lives and times to him.  It’s about time.  In the name of Jesus. Amen.