Advent Midweek 3 LSB #’s 358:1-4, 358:13, 433:1, 3-5, 358:8, 14
Text – Matthew 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. A LisT! If you didn’t notice, the Gospel reading from Matthew 1 is a listing of Messiah’s family tree. Preaching from a list can be sermonic suicide, a certain sleeper. Professors tell students, “Avoid lists. Shun lists. Whatever you do, never, ever preach on lists!” But today, foregoing all conventional sermon wisdom, the text is a list. I know. I know. Those 17 verses read much like a telephone book. And yes, people under the age of 20 have no idea what that is. Back in the dark ages, in BC times – BC stands for “Before Computer” – you’d actually have to look up someone’s phone number in a book! And that’s what Matthew 1:1–17 looks like, a big, fat, dull, dry telephone book! “It’s true,” you lament, “This is going to be suicide by sermon, a certain sleeper! Wake me up Martha when it’s over! Why in the world would pastor choose to preach on a list?” I’ll tell you why. Matthew’s list tells us something very important about family life. “Family Life” is the name of this Advent sermon series. We’ve been in Luke’s Gospel, learning about Zechariah, Elizabeth & John the Baptist. Today’s family truth comes from Matthew’s Gospel, & it is this – Lower your expectations. That’s it. Pretty simple, isn’t it? That’s the goal. Lower your family expectations. Don’t get me wrong. You have cute children. Your husband can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Your wife can cook to the moon & back. Your teenagers are polite, good athletes, & solid citizens. But when it comes to family life it is time, high time, it’s past time, to what? To lower your expectations. What do I mean? All too often, we expect children, spouses, in-laws, cousins, aunts, & uncles – to be perfect. And when they don’t measure up to our standards, we let them have it. “After what you just did, I can’t believe you’re my son!” “You’ll never get it right! Will you?” “Do I have to show you everything?” And then the final nail in the coffin, “You’re not the person I thought I married!” In the midst of all this trauma & turmoil Matthew’s genealogy says, “Lower your family expectations.” How does the Apostle do it? He does it with a list! Let’s look at this list of the family members of the Chosen One. Tamar dressed like a woman of the night. She is 1st mentioned in Genesis 38:6, “Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, & her name was Tamar.” Er died, so Judah gives Tamar to another son named Onan. Onan died, so upon the birth of another son, Shelah, Judah instructs Tamar to wait until Shelah grows up. At that time Shelah will become her husband. Are you kidding me? Judah is asking Tamar to wait 20 years to get married again! This leads to one of the shortest business transactions in the Bible. Tamar dresses up like a woman of the night. Not knowing she is Tamar, Judah propositions her. She asks for payment. Judah promises a young goat. They sleep together. Tamar conceives. They both go their own way. And this Tamar is in the family tree of Jesus! But hold on to your hat, because Rahab (also in Christ’s family) was a Canaanite & a woman of the night. (Joshua 2:1) A woman of the night & a dreaded Canaanite. We all know from the children’s song, “I Just Wanna Be a Sheep,” that Canaanites do what? They raise Cain, at night! And, horror of horrors, Matthew includes another person on his list, Ruth – & Ruth was a Moabite. That’s a title she receives six times in the book of Ruth! Ruth once worshiped Chemosh! It was bad enough that Canaanites worshiped the detestable gods called Baal & Asherah, but Moabites paid homage to a violent god named Chemosh who demanded child sacrifice. And it keeps getting worse. Next in line comes Bathsheba who was an adulteress. This is so unsettling that Matthew can’t even bring himself to write her name “Bathsheba.” In Matthew 1:6 he simply calls her “the wife of Uriah.” You know the story. It was springtime & King David, instead of going off to war, takes a walk on the palace roof. He sees a beautiful woman bathing &, in staccato-like fashion, finds out her name, sends for her, takes her in, & the two sleep together. Sometime later Bathsheba sends a two-word message to the king in 2 Samuel 11:5: “I’m pregnant.” David orders her husband Uriah to return from the battle. Little does Uriah know that his refusal to sleep with Bathsheba, out of a sense of honor, becomes his sentence of death, because after that David orders his general named Joab to make sure Uriah is killed in battle. Tamar dresses up like a woman of the night. Rahab is a woman of the night, & a Canaanite. Ruth is a Moabite, while Bathsheba not only bathes openly, but later is instrumental in the death of one of David’s sons – named Adonijah. That’s quite a list of family members! But there’s more. Looking at some of the men on Matthew’s list, are they any better? Hardly! Solomon broke every commandment in the book. He had 700 wives & 300 mistresses (1 Kgs 11:3). Solomon worshiped a multitude of foreign gods while enslaving people to build his palace & God’s temple. Solomon’s son Rehoboam divided the kingdom – the north from the south. Then there was Manasseh who filled Jerusalem with blood; 2 Kings 21:16 says that Manasseh “shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end.” The purpose of a biblical genealogy is to give solemn honor to the final descendant – in Matthew’s case, Jesus. Why, then, doesn’t Matthew invoke the names of Israel’s three lovely matriarchs—Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel? And why doesn’t Matthew work around names like Solomon, Rehoboam, & Manasseh? It’s not with glitter & Hollywood glitz that Matthew introduces us to Christ’s family. There are no fireworks or fine pedigrees. There is rather a bunch of ramshackle relatives! What do you do with your ramshackle relatives? Let ‘em have it, right? Hold a grudge. Stay bitter. Walk around with a chip on your shoulder. Maybe that’s us, but it is not Jesus. “She will bear a son, & you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Mt 1:21) That’s what “Jesus” means “Yahweh saves.” And who are His people that He saves His people? Tamar, who deceived Judah – Rahab, who sold herself to men – Ruth, who grew up worshiping a violent & murderous god – Bathsheba, who left Uriah for David – Solomon, who began so well only to finish so bad – Rehoboam, who ripped a nation in two – & then there was Manasseh. Enough said! The point of it all? Lower your expectations! Take your list of unrealistic family expectations & tear it up. Let go of your impossible demands, your absurd assumptions, your ungodly ultimatums. And replace them with what? Replace them with forgiveness; the forgiveness Jesus won for you. How did He do that? Jesus not only chooses ramshackle relatives. Jesus chooses fishermen instead of Pharisees, sinners instead of Sadducees, harlots instead of Herodians. Climactically, Jesus chooses thorns for His crown instead of silver & gold, spit & blood instead of sweetness & light. His choices lead to torment & torture, darkness & death. All this led to the greatest shock of all, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, He is risen, as He said.” (Matthew 28:5-6 ESV) Jesus is life overriding death & making all things new – even you. For many Matthew 1:1–17 reads like a telephone book containing names no one cares about today. For others it’s sermonic suicide, a certain sleeper. But to those of us who know what it’s like to expect perfection in our families, Matthew’s list means letting go of false hopes & unrealistic expectations. It means replacing them with forgiveness, a clean slate, & a new beginning. It can mean accepting humiliation as Jesus did, which leads to life. That’s why Matthew’s list means, why for all of our families Matthew’s list means, everything! And Jesus has guaranteed that there is still room on the list for you. Amen. Glory be to Jesus, who in bitter pains poured for me His lifeblood from His sacred veins! Blest through endless ages be the precious stream which from endless torment did the world redeem! Abel’s blood for vengeance pleaded to the skies; but the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries. Amen. LSB 433:1, 3-4. 3rd Sunday of Advent LSB #’s 344, 349, 348
Text – Luke 1:59-63 And on the 8th day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet & wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. OUR WAY Have you heard of the boy, just 6-years-old, who announced one day, “I’m running away from home!”? His parents asked, “What will you do when you run out of food?” “That’s easy,” he said, “I’ll come home for more.” “What will you do when you run out of money?” “That’s easy,” he said, “I’ll come home for more.” “What will you do when your clothes get dirty?” “That’s easy too,” he said, “I’ll come home for more.” The dad turned to the mom & said, “This kid isn’t running away from home. He’s going to college!” Did you know that people of all ages are running away from home, & this in record numbers? The pain of sick families is so great that people will run almost anywhere to experience love & acceptance. Husbands run to bars or go on achievement binges. Women run to extramarital relationships that offer a listening ear, a loving touch, or more. Some children run from their family pain which so infects them, that later on in their 20’s & 30’s, an awful sickness wells up inside. Then their entire life is up for grabs. This sermon series is titled “Family Life.” We began last Wednesday with Zechariah & Elizabeth. Remember their devastating circumstances? Longing to have children, they could not. While friends & relatives delighted in children & grandchildren, Zechariah & Elizabeth had nothing but shattered hopes & dashed dreams. There must have been times when each of them simply wanted to run away. Homes can be tough places, can’t they? Someone once said that marriage goes through three stages. “The Happy Honeymoon,” “The Party’s Over,” & “Let’s Make a Deal.” Maybe your conflict concerns money; there is just never enough. Or raising children; you’re either too strict or too lax. Or where you’re going on vacation next summer: “We always go where you want to go!” And, let’s be honest, the approaching holidays can make for some very trying family times. Family conflict, though, is not the issue. I’m going to repeat that. Family conflict is not the issue. How we handle family conflict – now that is the issue! When conflict strikes our 1st option is my way. “Let me make this clear. This marriage is all about my agenda, my needs & my wants. After all, I’m always right & you’re always wrong. That’s why my way is the best way, so my way is the only way. And if you don’t like my way then guess what? You can hit the highway!” Then there is no way. I back away. I ignore the problem & avoid it at all costs. I use discussion killers like, “Oh, grow up!” or, “Give me a break!” or, “I can’t believe you’re making such a big deal out of this!” Nothing is ever resolved because I kill every discussion. I won’t engage. I run to my room & lock the door. Solve this conflict? “No way!” Another option is your way. I give in, roll over & play dead. I give in to your way. There’s an epidemic in America called the passive, detached husband & father. At an alarming rate more & more men are becoming detached, distant & disengaged. They shrug their shoulders & say, “Fine! Have it your way!” Zechariah & Elizabeth, though, decided on another way. And what is that? That would be our way. “On the 8th day they came to circumcise the child, & they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up & said, ‘No! He is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘There is no one among your relatives who has that name.’ Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child” (Lk 1:59–62). Zechariah had doubted the angel Gabriel’s promise that God would give him a son, so Gabriel told him he would not be able to speak until after his son’s birth. So for 9 months Zechariah was unable to speak to anyone. This has got to be a pastor’s greatest fear! Then, when his son was born, in the midst of all of the hullabaloo regarding his son’s name, Zechariah “asked for a writing tablet, & to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, ‘His name is John’” (Lk 1:63). Amazing! When it came to naming their son, for Zechariah & Elizabeth it wasn’t my way, no way, or your way. It was our way. Our way means I care about solving our problem. (What are we going to name our son?) But I especially care about healing our relationship. Our way attacks the issue. It does not attack the person. It emphasizes reconciliation, not resolution & there’s a big difference. Reconciliation means my 1st priority is our relationship. And why is that? You are more important than our problems. Let me say that again. You are more important than all of our problems. Don’t get me wrong. We don’t bury the issue. But we bury the hatchet. We keep talking about the issue, but we talk about it together. We can disagree agreeably. We can walk arm in arm without seeing eye to eye. Why did both Zechariah & Elizabeth insist on naming their son “John”? Because that’s what the angel said in Luke 1:13. “John” means “The Lord is gracious.” The angel told them to name their son “John” because in the midst of their conflict the only way Zechariah & Elizabeth would get to our way would be through God’s way; & God’s way is the way of grace. Because of grace God gives us new life, forgiven life, and eternal life. John 1:16 says that God is full of grace. Romans 6:14 says we are “under grace.” Ephesians 2:9 says we are saved by grace, & 1 Peter 5:10 calls our God, “the God of all grace.” Hebrews 4:16 says that God’s throne is a throne of grace, while James 4:6 says, “God gives more grace.” Grace reconciles us to God. Grace reconciles us to each other. On December 17, 1903, Orville & Wilbur Wright got their flying machine off the ground. The airplane was born! In their excitement, they sent a telegraph to their sister Katherine. It said simply, “Flew 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” When Katherine got the news, she ran to the local newspaper in Dayton, Ohio & showed the telegraph to the editor. He glanced at it & said, “How nice, the boys will be home for Christmas.” He completely missed the point! Yes, it was nice that the boys would be home, but a person had flown an airplane for the 1st time. That was big news! How often do we miss the big news at Christmas? Too easily we get caught up in the tinsel & toys, the trees & the trimmings. Those things are nice just like it was nice that the Wright brothers would be home for Christmas, but that’s not the big news. The big news of Christmas is that God took flight & traveled from heaven to earth. The Word became flesh & dwelt among us! And He did it to show us the full meaning of grace. “John” means “the Lord is gracious,” but Jesus is the Lord of grace. When it comes to grace, Jesus nailed it perfectly! Yet, before the nails, He wanted to run away. Three times in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus asked His Father to remove the cup of suffering. But the Father did not. Jesus’ human nature was feeling the pressure of the temptation to reject this mission He was on. Finally He resisted the temptation went willingly to the cross. Jesus went to Calvary where He took upon Himself all of our sin – including those sins we have committed against family members. After rising on the 3rd day Jesus now lives as the gracious Lord of heaven & earth. His human flesh, raised from the dead, is now the beginning of the new creation – the new heavens & the new earth. Forgiven by grace, overflowing with grace, forever in grace, when family conflict comes you & I are empowered to renounce my way, no way, & your way while saying, “Yes” to a better way – God’s way. It’s the way of Zechariah & Elizabeth. And what would that be? You know it, don’t you? It’s… our way. Amen. Hark the glad sound! The Savior comes, the Savior promised long; let every heart prepare a throne & every voice a song. He comes the broken heart to bind, the bleeding soul to cure, & with the treasures of His grace to enrich the humble poor. Amen. LSB 349:1, 3. Advent Midweek 2 LSB #’s 331:1-4, 331:5-6, 862
Text – Luke 1:5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, & her name was Elizabeth. TWo FamilieS In the 1st year of their marriage, with his wife sick with a fever, her husband insists, “I’m taking you to the hospital for a complete checkup.” In the 2nd year of their marriage, when his wife gets sick, her husband announces, “I’ve called the doctor & he’s going to rush right over.” In the 3rd year her husband says, “I’ll make you something to eat. Do we have any soup?” In the 4th year of marriage, when his wife is sick again, her husband says, “After you’ve fed the kids & washed the dishes, you’d better get some rest, but don’t worry, I’ll cash the check from AFLAC.” Family life can be the best of times. It can be the worst of times. On this 2nd Wednesday in Advent, we begin a new sermon series called “Family Life.” There’s much to learn from the families connected with the birth of Jesus. They faced infertility, rejection, frustration, loss, & so much more. Luke 1:5 introduces us to two of these families: “In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah.” This sermon has two parts. In the 1st Herod’s family will be highlighted. In the 2nd we will zero in on Zechariah’s family. Herod’s family – This Herod is also called “Herod the Great.” And, yes, this is the same Herod who, when Jesus was born, ordered the execution of all the boys under the age of two in & around Bethlehem. In fact, to say that Herod was a monster, is putting it mildly. Born into a politically connected family in 73 BC, Herod was destined for a life of political hardball. He married ten times & ordered the execution of two of his wives & three of his sons. When Herod’s father was poisoned by a political opponent, seething with revenge, he formed an ingenious plan. He invited his father’s killers over for a dinner party. As they arrived he had all of them murdered. By the age of 69 Herod knew he was dying & that no one would mourn his death. He longed for tears at his funeral, so he devised one final, desperate plan. He would bring together the top leaders of the land for a meeting in Jericho &, once they arrived, he would have his fortress gates locked. Just before the moment of his death all the leaders would be massacred. One way or another, people would cry when Herod died. In the late 1800s two paddleboats on the Mississippi River left Memphis, Tennessee on a race to New Orleans. As his boat fell behind, an enterprising sailor took some of the ship’s cargo & began throwing it into the ovens. When other sailors saw that the supplies burned just like coal, they threw more & more of it in. That boat ended up winning the race, but in the process burned all its cargo. It is a tragic picture of Herod’s family. To win the race, eliminate every rival, & to be top dog, Herod burned all the cargo. He destroyed his family. “Thank God,” I can hear us saying, “I am not like Herod. I never raise an angry hand against a child. I pay my taxes, & every now & then I slip a little money into the offering plate. Once at a nursing home I even played bingo with my grandmother.” But, if we’re honest with ourselves, we sometimes see in the mirror a little Herod staring back at us. There’s a part of us all that would rather rule than serve, dominate rather than submit, get ahead & win even at the expense of people in our family. We’ve all used words to slice & dice our spouse, made selfish decisions that hurt our children & ignored clear warnings from God’s word. The result? Though family can be the best of times, too often family is also the worst of times. That’s enough highlighting of Herod’s family. Let’s now zero-in on Zechariah. Zechariah’s family – “They had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; & they both were advanced in years.” (Luke 1:7) In Luke 1:25, Elizabeth describes her barrenness as “a disgrace among the people.” In those days, if you had children you had everything. Conversely, if you had no children you had nothing. Zechariah & Elizabeth longed for a child, but now it’s too late. That ship sailed & the train left the station. There was no going back. “They were old.” The pain of regret hits us most frequently when it comes to family. Maybe you are like Zechariah & Elizabeth, wanting children but not able to conceive. Maybe you’re single, desperately wanting to be married, but it just has not happened. Maybe you’re married, & it hasn’t turned out like you had hoped. Like Zechariah & Elizabeth we can all feel disgrace & shame among the people. End of story? No way! God intervened! He gave Elizabeth & Zechariah gifts – the same gifts He gives to our families. What are they? God’s promises never end. Israel’s three matriarchs Sarah (Gn 11:30), Rebekah (Gn 25:31) & Rachel (Gn 29:31) were all barren at one time. So was Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1 Sm 2:5). All four women eventually had children. Elizabeth & Zechariah must have believed if God could do it before – not once, but four times – God can do it again! Has family life left you frustrated & empty? Then hear this. If God was faithful to Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel & Hannah, He will be faithful to you. God loves you. His promises for you in Jesus Christ never, ever end! You may have given up on you. But God will never give up on you. He replaces barrenness & brokenness with goodness & grace! God’s presence never disappoints. “[Zechariah] was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord & burn incense.” (Lk 1:9) Luke 23:45 records another time that someone has access to the temple; “The curtain of the temple was torn in two.” In Luke 1, Zechariah has access to God’s presence. In Luke 23, because of Christ’s death, we all have access to God’s presence. And the presence of Yahweh never disappoints! God’s presence is most evident in the Lord’s Supper. The body that suffered & was crucified – that true body is present for you. The blood that was shed, spilled & splattered – that true blood is present for you. By the blood of Jesus you have access to the most holy presence of the most Holy God! And His presence forgives all your family failures – every last one of them! God’s plan never fails. God gave Elizabeth & Zechariah a child, promising that John: “would go before the Lord, in the spirit & power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.” (Lk 1:17) God’s plan & desire is to turn all hearts toward home, to replace vengeance & bitterness with forgiveness & love. So one day a mother came home from the grocery store. Looking in her living room she saw her four children sitting in a circle. As she got closer, she saw that her children were playing with four of the cutest little skunks you’ve ever seen! The mother yelled, “Run, children, run!” So each child grabbed a skunk & began to scatter. After that? Let’s just say that things began to get real stinky! Family life! It can be the worst of times. It can be the best of times. The next time it gets stinky in your family, don’t fly off the handle like Herod – you could lose it all. Instead, trust in God’s promises, God’s presence, & God’s plan. They are real. They are alive. And they work. Don’t believe me? Then just ask Zechariah & Elizabeth! Amen. Oh, blest the house, whate’er befall, where Jesus Christ is all in all! A home that is not wholly His – how sad & poor & dark it is! Oh, blest the house where faith is found & all in hope & love abound; they trust their God & serve Him still & do in all His holy will. Amen. LSB 862:1-2. 2nd Sunday of Advent – C LSB #’s 354, 347, 344
Text – Luke 3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’” PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD In 1 Samuel 3, verse 1 tells us: “Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days…” 1400 years later, in the 3rd chapter of Luke’s gospel we hear: “…during the high priesthood of Annas & Caiaphas, the word of God came to John… in the wilderness.” (3:2 ESV) In the centuries between, the Word of the Lord ebbed & flowed with the willingness of the people to listen. The high point was most likely during the reign of David, & a clear low point came about with God’s final words of the OT through the prophet Malachi: “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great & dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, & the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come & strike the land with a curse.” (4:5-6 ESV) Ominous words to end the OT. And after them, the Word of the Lord flowed to a complete halt for over 400 years. That brings us to the Gospel of Luke: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’” John the Baptist was created & sent by Yahweh to bring the Word of the Lord to people willing to hear. The Baptist does not come across as a kinder & gentler sort of prophet. His words are like fire & brimstone: “…You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? …Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down & thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7 & 9 ESV) If you’ve had any experience with getting burned you are well aware that fire hurts, & the wound it leaves can hurt for a long time. God uses fire as a way of picturing His wrath. For two or three hundred years Western Christians have been attempting to avoid altogether the topic or even the existence of God’s wrath. John the Baptist makes people feel uncomfortable. And yet, the more our cultures have tried to place human beings in charge of daily life, & the more we have tried to hold Yahweh at arm’s length – nice to have gotten us started, God! – the less personal our Creator has become in our thinking, the weaker & more frivolous our conception of His personality. He has turned from the medieval Father, angry with us for sinning, into a modern Father who is forgetful, neglectful, largely absent in fact from the hours of our faults & failures. John the Baptist reminds us that God does not like us to be sinning, & that He is as angry as hellfire about our failure to fear, to love & to trust in Him above anything that has been created. God abhors the mess we make of our lives because He is a loving Father who knows how much better things could be. The OT is filled with stories of God calling His people to Himself through expressions of His distaste for their sins. He knows personally the damage sin has done. The cracking & creaking of our lives demonstrates that whatever we have used to hold life together is not a worthy substitute for the Creator. Yahweh is a loving Father according to His very essence. So His wrath burns against anything that turns His children away from the good He intends for them. Fire hurts, & the wound it leaves can burn for eternity. Sadly, human beings bring the fire upon themselves & in their twisted thinking they call it good. What is good they strive to call evil. In response to the same tendencies of his day, John the Baptist preached: “As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’””[1] In other words, stop calling what is evil good! Stop calling what is good evil! Make the path of Christ straight, not crooked! Speak the truth & do it with love. That sentence has two parts to it. Do you know which the followers of Jesus struggle with? People who follow Christ know the truth even when we lie. It’s love that we cannot comprehend or know apart from Jesus crucified! Going back to Luke 3, the rulers of the earth are named – Roman & Jewish, imperial & local, secular & religious. If you examine it closely, you’ll find a striking contrast between the introductory clauses of 39 words & the main clause of only 11. Can you detect what the Holy Spirit is highlighting with such stark contrast? Here are the introductory clauses: “In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, & Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, & his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea & Trachonitis, & Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas & Caiaphas.”[2] They are the ruling structure of the world – movers & shakers, rulers & powerbrokers. They were the very men who made the world go round – in the eyes of men. And the main clause, it could not be in sharper contrast to them: “…the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” Neither to the rulers nor to their palaces does Yahweh come. What is the Holy Spirit highlighting with such stark contrast? That God Almighty does not save His people through the human powers on earth. Instead, He works through the weak & the lowly, like a peasant family spending the night in a cattle stall, because there was no room for them at the inn where people of means & of power would stay. Yet, St. Luke places this narrative in a historical context that is both Roman & Jewish, secular & religious, to show that the Word of God coming to John is a significant event in both salvation & world history. Though ‘the world’ does not believe in God, still He is their ruler & their Creator. God alone establishes their reality. Though human beings may fancy this to be true, there is no ‘your’ truth & ‘my’ truth. There is only His truth, & being corrupted by sin you & I cannot perceive truth unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. John the Baptist calls you & me to Prepare The Way Of The Lord, but that happens only by the power of God. Our Creator calls everyone to repent & return to Him. Some yield to His call. Others refuse. Before God became silent, with the end of Malachi’s words, He gave His people this torah, this instruction: “Remember, see, & turn.” It is our sinful nature & that alone which separates us from our Creator. To prepare the way of the Lord is simply to surrender to Him. God is love. As we submit to Him He will hold our lives together perfectly – perfectly according to His sight. Do you trust that God can see? Only as we submit to God can we speak the truth in love. Only as we submit to God can we love at all. We prepare for the cure through submitting to a crucified Savior. As we surrender to His will we prepare the way of the Lord. John the Baptist was sent to point out how far from God His people had wandered. They were completely lost by the end of the OT, & things did not improve over the following 400 years. Yet, this is what our Creator saw with His perfect vision: “…the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”[3] Your sinful nature has separated you from the perfect relationship your heavenly Father had designed for you. The church’s season of Advent is about preparing for the cure! We prepare through repentance, what the season of Advent used to signify. We prepare the way of the Lord through repentance but that still falls short of the cure. Repentance is the preparation. Receiving adoption as children of God – that is the purpose. Being perfectly reunited with our Creator in a beautiful & harmonious relationship is the purpose that a repentant heart prepares you for. Our sinful nature leads us away from our Lord, & the Holy Spirit turns us back to Him through repentance. Hopefully you’ve heard by now that the very 1st of Martin Luther’s 95 theses stated that the whole life of the Christian should be one of repentance. Preparing the way of the Lord is what our lives should revolve around, because Jesus is the source of resurrection life that will last for eternity. The confession of our sins is not to be something we do grudgingly. It is to be a yearning for our Lord’s forgiveness & for the life which that brings. Since Christmas is over two weeks away, I expect many of you still have a fair of amount of preparing to do before it arrives. Even if our culture does, John the Baptist did not shy away from the truth of Yahweh’s coming wrath. It was not John’s purpose that people should suffer & die, but the end is drawing near. Christ will return. Jesus wants you to be ready. This very moment His Word is near to you. That you are here today proves that your heavenly Father has begun a good work in you. Surrender to Him that He may bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Then, you will see with your own eyes the cure which the season of Advent is meant to prepare you for. Amen. Hark, the herald’s voice is crying in the desert far & near, calling sinners to repentance, since the Kingdom now is here. O that warning cry obey! Now prepare for God a way; let the valleys rise to meet Him & the hills bow down to greet Him. “Comfort, comfort ye My people, speak ye peace,” thus saith our God; “Comfort those who sit in darkness, mourning ’neath their sorrows’ load. Speak ye to Jerusalem of the peace that waits for them; tell her that her sins I cover & her warfare now is over.” Amen. LSB 347:3, 1. [1] Luke 3:4 ESV [2] Luke 3:1-2 ESV [3] Galatians 4:4-5 ESV 1st Sunday in Advent – C LSB #’s 332:1-3, 5-7, 341, 349
Text – Luke 21:25-28 And there will be signs in sun & moon & stars, & on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea & the waves, people fainting with fear & with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power & great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up & raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. LIFT UP YOUR HEADS On your mark, get set, go! None of you moved! Weren’t you ready? You still a bit sleepy? Okay, I’ll give you another chance. On your mark, get set, go! You know, those words usually have some effect on people, but you’re just sitting there. What’s up with that? Don’t you understand what those words mean? Or is it simply that you don’t know where to run? Oh, I know, as Lutherans you’re not supposed to run in church. PAUSE So how did that introduction make you feel? A bit uneasy? Were you concerned that you didn’t know what was going on? Did the thought occur to you that you might have missed something? And some of you probably thought I was getting ridiculous! The point is, whatever your reasons were, you were not prepared to respond. I’m assuming that all of you have encountered some sort of real life situation like that. A time where you’ve heard words like these, “Oh, didn’t anyone tell you! You were supposed to… do whatever.” And, since no one told you, you weren’t prepared. That can be an uncomfortable feeling. As the new pastor arriving in North Dakota, I was overwhelmed by all that I had to learn. My 1st three months were spent with that feeling of anxiety; the feeling that I was supposed to be doing something but I’d forgotten, or hadn’t even been told about yet. It was an almost constant feeling of being unprepared. The Bible tells us that the 2nd coming of Christ will be like an event that no one told you about. It will be like no one told you about it, because no one knows when that day will be. In the gospel lesson for last week Jesus said, “No one knows about that day or hour, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36) As a result, many people will be unprepared for Christ’s return. As Christians, we have a problem. We have an appointment to keep, but don’t know when that appointment is. We are to be prepared for the Day of Judgment, yet, we don’t know when that will be; & the Day of Judgment is no small potatoes. It’s not like being unaware you’re supposed to start out this sermon by running up to the altar. You all missed that, but there were no consequences. Yet, if you are not prepared for the last day, you won’t get a 2nd chance. As Arnold Schwarzenegger said in one of his movies, “Hasta la vista, baby.” On that last day, the time for preparation will be over. So how do we prepare for something, when we don’t know what time to be prepared? We are a very time oriented culture. Our lives are quite filled with schedules & deadlines. Almost everything we do is dictated somehow by the when of it. When do I have to be here, when do I have to be there, & when can I fit this into my schedule. We are lost without a time target to shoot for. Since we don’t know when Christ will return we must be patient & persevering in our preparation. Those are skills our culture & society do not teach well. The Advent season of the church is designed to help us with that problem. During Advent you & I are to practice preparing for Christ’s return. We use His 1st coming, His birth in Bethlehem, as the stand in. Yet the coming that we are actually preparing for is His second. The gospel of Mark says of this coming, “Make sure that, having come suddenly, He does not find you asleep.” In other words, “Be prepared.” The words of the gospel lesson were prompted by a question directed to Jesus: “Teacher, when will these things be, & what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” (Luke 21:7 ESV) Our Lord used the opportunity to tell them something of the approaching Day of Judgment. The sermon text picks up with Jesus’ answer: “There will be miraculous signs in sun & moon & stars...” One of the old theologians of our church explained it like this: “These signs will not be of the regular kind, like eclipses & other phenomena, which are governed by the fixed laws of nature. For these fixed laws will be repealed by the Creator, & the bonds which hold the entire universe together will dissolve. That universe will then crumble into utter chaos.” If you’ve seen TV news coverage of a hurricane, you’ve seen how incomprehensible God’s might is to us puny human beings. Can you imagine what it’ll be like if the forces holding the earth in orbit, let go? Or if the forces holding the moon in place release? Verse 25 describes what the effects upon the seas will be as they roar while being tossed about. It’s no surprise then that entire nations will be in anguish at the roaring & tossing of the seas. In the following verse Jesus says that men will faint from terror at the shaking of the heavenly bodies. Some commentators suggest that even fainting is too weak a word. They think that men will actually die from the terror caused by this collapsing of the universe. Sounds like an important time to be prepared for. Are you on the mark? Are you ready? Or have you been spending all your time preparing for the celebration of the 1st coming of Christ? I’m not suggesting that Christmas is a waste of time, but it has already happened. It is no longer the focal point of our hopes or faith. We now look to the 2nd coming of Christ for our final liberation from, as St. Paul put it, “This body of death.” Throughout the OT, from the 1st gospel promise in Genesis 3:15, to the Book of Malachi, God was giving us a shadow of the act of our salvation, the death of Christ upon the cross. That time has passed. Messiah Himself said from the cross, “It is finished.” Now, we look forward to His triumphant return. We look forward to seeing the Son of Man arriving in a cloud with power & great glory. For us, who believe in Him as Lord & Savior, it will be a time of joy & relief. The struggles of faith will be over. No longer will we contend with sinful doubts or with the deceptions of Lucifer. A whole new & perfect world will arise. To those who’ve refused to believe, it will be a time of great fear & bitter hatred. For them, as bad as life may have been here in time, it’ll be far worse in eternity. The collapse of our current universe will be a picnic, compared to the realities of hell & its eternal judgment. As you prepare for Christmas this season of Advent, as you shop for gifts & plan for celebrations, think of the gifts God has given, & has prepared for us. Think of the eternal celebration He has made ready for you, & all of our brothers & sisters in Christ. Then, focus yourselves on what God can do to prepare you for that final day. Through our baptism God daily drowns the old sinful nature in us. Daily He brings gifts of forgiveness, life & salvation. Through the sacrament of Holy Communion He strengthens our body & our soul, our faith & our trust in Him. He heals our diseases of mind, body & spirit. He draws us closer to Him, giving that peace that surpasses all human understanding. Through our study & hearing of God’s word, He’ll guide & guard & protect us. He’ll give us the gifts of wisdom & courage even in the uncertain times of the end days. With planets & stars thundering through the heavens, when human reason & wisdom tell us to be terrified & flee, our God given wisdom & experience will tell us to trust Him & rejoice instead. These gifts from God will never wear out or become old news, like the Christmas presents we give & receive. The gifts from our Savior were guaranteed by His own blood, shed upon that cross. These gifts have the same power over Satan that Christ showed by His glorious resurrection on that Sunday morning. That morning the women in their human wisdom, were concerned with practical things, like who would roll away the stone, but God, He was concerned with impractical things, like the salvation of a group of fearful & failing disciples. Since you don’t know when it will be, does it still seem impractical for you to prepare your heart for the Last Day? Do you really have more important things to do? Or do you think you’re too weak to fend off Satan’s temptations? Then listen to Jesus: “Heaven & earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” And what do His words say? They tell you He loves you enough to have died for you. On the Day of Judgment, when the sky truly is falling, His words tell you to stand up & lift up your heads – your redemption is drawing near. His words tell you NOT to let your hearts be troubled & NOT to be afraid. His words tell you that no one, not even Satan, can snatch you out of His protective hand. The Son of God says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.”[1] It’s that very peace which will enable believers, on the final day, to look up at the universe collapsing all around & NOT be afraid. Behold, at that time you will see the Son of Man, coming in a cloud with power & great glory. And with Him, He will bring your eternal life in paradise. Amen. The righteous King is bringing peace; He comes the pris’ners to release. His royal crown, self-sacrifice, its jewel, mercy without price. He brings our sorrows to an end. Shout out your joy to God, our friend. Our highest praise we bring, our God Redeemer King. Amen. [1] John 14:27 |
AuthorPastor Dean R. Poellet Archives
April 2024
Categories |