Advent Midweek 3 LSB #’s 341:1-2, 341:3-5, 375
Text – Matthew 1:6 JESUS IS THE SON OF SOLOMON This Advent we’re asking the question, Who is Jesus? Matthew’s genealogy is helping us find the answers. So far – from Matthew 1:1 – we’ve learned that Jesus is the Son of David, & Jesus is the Son of Abraham. Tonight, we continue with these verses in Matthew 1:5–6: “Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, & Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.” Who is Jesus? He is the Son of Solomon. Does it mean something for us? “It’s easy as pie to begin. It’s tougher than nails to finish. Pick your pie.” It seemed that easy for Solomon. Pretenders to the throne included his half-brothers Amnon, Absalom & Adonijah. God had them eliminated with the greatest of ease. Solomon’s enemies included Joab, Abiathar & Shimei. They had been slam-dunked – no problem. Anointed by Zadok as king of Israel at the Gihon Spring, Solomon came out of the starting blocks like a greyhound after jackrabbits. All the money was on Solomon, he the 10th of David’s 17 sons. In 1 Kings 3:7 Solomon calls himself – in Hebrew, a naar – just a kid. But we would call Solomon a kid wonder. He spoke 3,000 proverbs & his songs numbered 1,005. This son of David described plant life from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. As king, he gained control of two main international trading routes – the Via Maris along the Mediterranean Coast, & the King’s Highway connecting Elath to the south with Damascus to the north. The result was “From Dan to Beersheba, Judah & Israel lived in safety, each man under his own vine & fig tree” (1 Kings 4:25). That’s an OT way of saying that the stock market was up; unemployment was down; & everyone was living high on the hog! Solomon needed no lessons in Greek or Hebrew; no lectures on eschatology or angelology, no fieldwork, & no vicarage. LWM problems? He says, “Cut the living child in two & give half to one & half to the other” (1 Kings 3:25). Problem solved! Building problems? The scourge of the ministry? He says to Hiram, King of Tyre, “My people will talk with your people.” This corporate merger brings about – among other projects – the Jerusalem temple, the royal palace & the chariot cities of Hazar, Meggido, & Gezer. If there was ever a sure-fire candidate for the ministry, it was Solomon! For the initial ten chapters of 1 Kings, Solomon is awesome! But – in the 11th chapter of 1 Kings we hear: “Solomon had 700 wives of royal birth & 300 concubines, & his wives led him astray” (11:3). It reminds me of the mid-1980s. I was an electrician then & people where hiring us everywhere to install outdoor electrical outlets to plug in those newfangled bug zappers. A light attracts them, they fly in & zap! You’d think bugs would see the tray littered with other bugs & say: “Wait a minute, I’m not going to blindly follow my desires toward that light.” But you know what? Bugs don’t do that. And you know what else? Neither does Solomon! Forgetting the words of his father David in Psalm 27:1, “The LORD is my light & my salvation,” Solomon flies toward other lights – 1,000 to be exact. The result? ZAP! 1 Kings 11:3 says that “his wives turned his heart.” They turned his heart to follow Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, & Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites, & Chemosh the detestable god of Moab. Zap, goes Solomon in all his glory. Zap, goes his kingdom. It’s cut in two in 1 Kings 12. It’s easy as pie to begin. It’s tougher than nails to finish. Like Solomon, you & I are great at beginning! We begin with unbridled enthusiasm, high energy, a never-say-die attitude. Like hot knives into butter, we tear into new projects, new classes, new relationships. But - as time goes on, we get weary, fatigued, impatient & bored. Then we zoom toward different lights, dazzling lights, deadly lights – at least 1,000 of them. Lights of pride, power, position, prestige, prominence, even pouting over poor, poor pitiful me. Zap goes the joy of our salvation. Zap goes passion for the lost. Zap goes zeal for the Word. Each of us knows what it’s like to fly toward those godless lights. Suddenly we find ourselves lying in a tray littered with dead bugs. The Gospel of Matthew reports: “One greater than Solomon is here.” (12:42) That would be Jesus – the son of Solomon – but greater than Solomon! He too was surrounded by dazzling lights, but Jesus not only began strong, He finished strong. For Jesus it was tougher than nails. In addition to the nails, there was scourging, mocking, spitting, beating, slapping, sweating, bleeding, & crowning with thorns. Still, Jesus finished. Despite His disciple’s kiss of betrayal; in spite of his friends running for cover; in spite of his countrymen clamoring for His death; in spite of His Father’s abandonment – Jesus finished. Look. Listen. The sky is dark. The other two are moaning. There’s Jesus, taking a deep breath & speaking the words: “It is finished!” (John 19:30). The veil rent. The blood poured. The curse removed. The sacrifice complete. Death defeated. Paradise restored. “It is finished!” Was this a cry of defeat? By no means! Had it not been for the nails I dare say that a triumphant fist would have lifted toward the sky. That was a cry of victory. So today, here & now, lackluster finishers like you & me get no zap from ‘on high.’ Instead, we receive the Father’s welcome, a Shepherd’s embrace, the infinite love of our Friend Jesus. The life of Solomon shows it can be as easy as pie to begin. The life, death, & resurrection of Jesus proves that though it was tougher than nails, He took our place & finished for us. “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us run with endurance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Beginner & Finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, & sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary & lose heart” (Hebrews 12:1–2). Moses is in that cloud, though he murdered an Egyptian slave master & spent 40 years herding sheep for his father-in-law in return. Still, he finished strong: “Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.” (Deuteronomy 34:7) Also in this cloud is Joshua surrounded by ten spies who had no spine. His 1st job was a 40 year stint in the Sinai desert – but he finished strong, stating, “Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me & my house we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15) And then these words for the ages: “Five times I received from the Jews 40 lashes minus one, three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night & a day in the open sea” (2 Corinthians 11:24–25). Paul also finished strong: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7) The entire cloud of witnesses demonstrates that in the fight between the stream & the rock the stream always wins – not through strength, but through endurance. Finishing strong does not mean finishing first. It doesn’t mean finishing without blood, sweat & tears. Finishing strong means daily fixing our eyes on the world’s only true Light, Jesus, the Son greater than Solomon. And here is what Jesus’ promise means for us, “He who began a good work in you, will finish it on the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Amen. Redeemer, come & open wide my heart to Thee; here, Lord, abide! O enter with Thy grace divine; Thy face of mercy on me shine. Thy Holy Spirit guide us on until our glorious goal is won. Eternal praise & fame we offer to Thy name. Amen. LSB 341:5. 3rd Sunday in Advent – A LSB #’s 970, 826, 427
Text – Matthew 11:2-3 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask Him, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?” ARE YOU THE ONE? Time is running out for finding just the right present for that someone special whom you love. Christmas is a mere ten days away. Right now, many people spending a lot of time asking, “Is this the one? Is this the perfect gift? Or should I look for something else?” Another search that involves asking questions is the search for your soul mate, your one & only. So as you meet people who have the potential to become your spouse, you may be asking, or you may have already asked, “Are you the one?” And then well-meaning people often say, of that very search, “You’ll just know when you meet the right one.” With all the broken relationships we have known, & with all the divorces we have seen, it should be clear that not everyone will just know! People actually go through life struggling with doubts regarding who is the right one. A lot of time & energy can be put into particular relationships, only to have them fail. Doubts are natural because not every relationship ends up meeting our expectations. As John the Baptist sat in prison – waiting to die – he too was struggling with doubts. He’d invested a lot of time & energy in his relationship with this Jesus. John was THE messenger sent ahead of Messiah to proclaim that Jesus was the One who is to come. Remember? “Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness...” (Mark 1:2-3 NASB) Many of you well know the words of that prophecy. John the Baptist was born of a miracle in order to fulfill those words. And because John had invested his entire life in that relationship it seems natural that he had some rather high & definite expectations of Messiah. Apparently those expectations were not being met by this Jesus of Nazareth, so John was looking for some reassurances as he sent his question to Jesus, “Are You the One?” PAUSE Have you found yourself in that kind of situation where you were questioning God? It often happens when someone we love dies. Have doubts ever haunted your soul about whether or not Jesus is for real? Satan will twist & turn our sinful minds just as he did with Adam & Eve. And does God really love you? He doesn’t always meet our expectations, does He? Friends & family members lose their jobs; they get divorced; they come down with cancer. And in our fear Satan finds it very easy to tempt us with doubt & worry. Does God really care about a nobody like me? Is Jesus truly my Savior? Sometimes He doesn’t seem to be saving me from anything. Though we may not physically be in prison, like John the Baptist was, we can still feel caged in & surrounded by walls of hopelessness & despair; by depression or sadness; by fear & feelings of worthlessness. Near the end of today’s gospel lesson, Jesus says, “Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” (Matthew 11:11a) If that man, acclaimed by Jesus as the greatest, suffered from doubts, then we should expect to suffer doubt ourselves, but it does not mean that our faith has died. Our doubts are not a sign that God no longer loves us. They are only evidence that each of us is still sinful at heart. Our doubts should be a reminder that every day we need to confess our sins! Already this morning we’ve done things that God has forbidden, & we have not done the things He has commanded. We have not honored His name, nor have we demonstrated His love to our neighbors. If you’re struggling with, & suffering from, doubts & fears, know this, those are not the only sins you’ve committed already today. There are plenty more where those came from, because your sins come from your heart. In Matthew 15 Jesus tells His disciples, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean.’” You & I are unclean & we deserve to die a horrible & an eternal death. That’s why we struggle with doubt, depression, worry or fear. We are sick with sin. Yet God’s Word assures us that Jesus Christ is the One. He is the answer to all of our questions, all of our doubts & all of our fears. The message of the Bible readings today, the message of Advent, & indeed the entire message of the Gospel, is that we, you & I, are people of a past, a present, & a future hope. This Gospel of hope, this overflowing with hope that you heard about last Sunday, this comes from already knowing the final outcome, & that is eternal life rather than eternal death. That hope, that faith is what empowers us in our day to day lives, to live as if we are the one. The one to bring that message of hope to people who believe that there is none! Yes, John the Baptist specifically asked Jesus of Nazareth if He was the One to come, but that designation applies to each of us every time we encounter someone who needs help, comfort or hope. You see, Jesus didn’t answer John by saying, “Yes, I’m the One.” Instead, Jesus replied, “Go back & report to John what you hear & see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, & the good news is preached to the poor.” The only thing on that list which is not happening today is the dead being raised. Now, if you’re not a doctor, you may not be healing anyone of their diseases, but the last thing on Jesus’ list, & the most important, is this, “The good news is preached to the poor.” That good news is the same news Zacchaeus heard which caused him to offer paying back four times whatever he may have stolen. Zacchaeus heard from Jesus that even his sins were forgiven, & God brings people into our lives, specifically so we can tell them that same good news. Listen to Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,” & the best part of that sentence is the ending, “which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Have you ever thought to yourself, “Oh no pastor, I’m not the one. God can’t possibly use me to tell other people about Jesus!” If you’re thinking that now you’re wrong! God has already prepared those people & those situations just for you. There are people in this world right here in Holt or Lansing, people whom you know, that are struggling with doubt due to cancer, loss of a job, divorce, alcoholism, depression, you name it. Those people are wondering if there’s hope, & they are wondering if this Jesus is for real. And you know what – you can tell them that He is. Even if you can’t heal them or give them a job, you are able to share with them how Jesus Christ has forgiven you. God has sent me here, not just to preach this news to you. God sent me to teach you how to share that news with anyone you meet. Keeping it to ourselves is only another sin. But thank God that He sent His Son to die in our place. In our Advent preparation we rejoice in the Coming One who has already reversed our sin & brought us back to holiness & wisdom, to safety & joy. In our Advent repentance we take courage from the promise that one day Jesus will return. He will completely undo all the effects of sin. That’s His promise, come true already now, but coming true in an even more glorious & visible way on the Last Day. As you declare that promise to anyone you meet God makes that promise true again through you! The OT reading was fulfilled in the earthly ministry of Christ, & Jesus quotes Isaiah in order to reassure John that Jesus of Nazareth is the One who will save His people from their sins. But Isaiah is still being fulfilled through the ministry of each of God’s children. As we bring the message of hope to our neighbors here on earth – faith & new life are created. And in that God’s perfect creation is restored just as Isaiah prophecies: “The wilderness & the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice & blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly & rejoice with joy & singing.” (35:1-2a ESV) Those words are a picture not merely of nature’s beauty, but of the beauty of another one of God’s children being granted eternal life. Yes, the power of the devil, the desert’s hold of death, does continue to exert its influence as Christians await the final & the full manifestation of Creation’s glory. Until Christ returns we will always be living in that tension of already… but not yet. We are now 100% saint but also 100% sinner. When Jesus returns we shall be sinners no more. On that day, the paradox that all Christians live in will be taken away, but in this life, faith is always an affirmation of the invisible, of our holiness. Here, faith must continually be maintained against the realities we experience – our sinfulness, our doubts, our fears. On the Last Day we shall doubt no longer, & we will know no fear. If you believe that God could never use you to tell anyone about faith in Christ, then you’re only looking at the realities of your sin, your doubts & your fears. Jesus came, & He’s coming again, in order that you might look only upon the reality of your holiness, given to you already at your baptism, & strengthened every time you hear the Words of God. PAUSE John the Baptist has a question today, not only for Jesus Christ, but also for you. Are you the one? As your Heavenly Father has declared you to be His child, He also reassures you that you are the one. And as surely as God has chosen you to be His holy & precious child, He gives you the strength & the courage to tell others of His love. Amen. If you cannot speak like angels, if you cannot preach like Paul, you can tell the love of Jesus, you can say He died for all. If you cannot rouse the wicked with the judgment’s dread alarms, you can lead the little children to the Savior’s waiting arms. If you cannot be a watchman, standing high on Zion’s wall, pointing out the path to heaven, offering life & peace to all, with your prayers & with your bounties you can do what God commands; you can be like faithful Aaron, holding up the prophet’s hands. Amen. LSB 826:2-3. Advent Midweek 2 LSB #’s 332:1-5, 332:6-8, 392
Text – Matthew 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. JESUS IS THE SON OF ABRAHAM More attention has been given to Jesus; more devotion has been given to Jesus; more adoration has been given to Jesus; more opposition has been given to Jesus than any other person – ever. Each recorded word that Jesus said has been sifted, analyzed, scrutinized, debated – every word – more than all of the kings & queens, philosophers & scientists put together. After 2,000 years, there is never one minute on earth that millions are not studying what Jesus said. Think about that. Here’s a person who lived in a tiny land two millennia ago, yet His birth divides the centuries – BC/AD – before Christ & Anno Domini, the year of our Lord. Just who is this guy, this Jesus? That’s the question we’re asking this Advent Season. Who is Jesus? Matthew is our guide: “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1). Question. Who is Abraham’s famous son? Answer. That would be Isaac – the son of sacrifice & it would also be Jesus – the true Son of sacrifice. You know Isaac’s history – one of the most dramatic in the Bible. Abraham & Sarah had been trying to have children all of their adult lives. At the ripe old age of 100 for Abraham, & 90 for Sarah, the son is born, the miracle son. His name is Isaac. His name in Hebrew means “laughter.” Isaac brought Abraham & Sarah great joy! After Isaac had grown up God speaks these haunting words to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, & go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about” (Genesis 22:2). We know something of what Abraham felt. We’ve had our heart leap into our throat. We’ve been filled with panic. We’ve buried our head in tears & anguish. We know what it’s like to see a cloudless day suddenly change into dark clouds, storms, lightning & tempest! A child is born with spina bifida. A grandmother just died. A career isn’t in gear. A father has dementia – he doesn’t know anyone anymore. A childhood was ripped apart by an alcoholic parent. A constant state of depression refuses to lessen its grip. A miscarriage still hurts – after all these years. At such points in life, it’s easy to get lost in despair. We lose ourselves in our jobs, or in the internet or TV or alcohol. We express our pain in anger & hatred & revenge. Then Jesus comes. Jesus helps. Jesus provides. And why is that? Jesus is the Son of Abraham. Jesus is the Son of sacrifice. Let’s take a look. The preparation for the test. “After these things God tested Abraham” (Genesis 22:1). The key words are “after these things.” What things? Abraham had seen the LORD faithfully guide him from Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran & then to Canaan. Abraham had heard the LORD say, “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens” (Genesis 15:5). Abraham had witnessed the miraculous birth of Isaac. What’s it all mean? It means that God prepared Abraham for his test. God has prepared us, too! Holy Baptism, the Holy Gospel, & the Holy Supper deliver the Holy Spirit & with Him we have forgiveness, joy & power! Through the means of grace, God pours out upon us courage & confidence, insight & wisdom. The test we’re going through isn’t random. It’s not an accident. Every test is Father-filtered & whatever it is, God has prepared us for the test! The purpose for the test. “God tested Abraham…” (Genesis 22:1). When a storm hits an eagle it initially appears as if the storm’s fury is going to crush the eagle against a rocky cliff. But the eagle faces the storm, tilts his wings at the proper angle, & slowly the fury that might have crushed him begins to drive him upward until he rises above the storm. What’s true of eagles can be true for us. The power that looks to destroy us is the same power by which we may rise to new heights. Testing is sent by God to bring us to greater heights of conviction, courage & Christian character. There’s a purpose for the test. That’s what Peter says: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be tested genuine & may result in praise, glory & honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:6–7) There’s a story about a young man taking a philosophy course. He’d studied & studied, & studied some more! When he came to the final exam, the professor wanted to see how much philosophy these students knew, & how well they could think. The final exam was one word: “Why?” The young man thought for a while, wrote down one word & walked out: “Because!” “Why?” Do you ever ask that question when you’re going through a test? Why? Why me? Why me now? Why this? God says, “Because,” but adds these words, “Because I love you right where you are, & I love you too much to leave you right where you are!” Our tests refine us. They mature us. They season us. They humble us. God tests you to strengthen you. Satan tests you to destroy you. Satan attacks at the weakest points of life, to bring us down, to bring us defeat. Do you remember in high school or college when a teacher or professor would say on the 1st day of class, “Half of you will fail this course!” Now didn’t that make your day? And the way they said it convinced you they were going to take great joy in your failure. That is not the God of Abraham & Isaac. His tests are not intended to destroy us. God’s tests are intended to develop us. The provision for the test. “He went over & took the ram & sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place, ‘The LORD Will Provide.’ And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided” (Genesis 22:13-14). Hallelujah! This is our Creator & Savior! Our God sees the need of Noah & provides an ark. He sees Israel in Egyptian bondage & provides a way through the Red Sea. He sees David out-muscled by Goliath & provides a rock to hit that uncircumcised Philistine right between the eyes. He sees Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego in a fiery furnace & provides a 4th Man. With every test, God provides a way out. “And God is faithful; He will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor 10:13). The God of Abraham & Isaac is also the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His Son, we have the ultimate provision: “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). God spared Isaac, but finally He did not spare Jesus. Jesus willingly took the wood & marched up the mount – not Moriah – but Golgotha. There would be no substitute ram this time. Arrested abruptly. Tried unjustly. Sentenced callously. Mocked repeatedly. Abandoned ruthlessly. Beaten brutally. Crucified barbarously. Yet He is risen triumphantly! Christ is alive, never to die again. Death has no dominion! Jesus lives to provide what we need when faced with the tests of life. St. Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Philippi, “And my God will provide for all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (4:19) Remember the joy of Abraham at the deliverance of his son Isaac? He did not name the mountain Mt. Sacrifice, nor even Mt. Blood, Sweat & Tears. He calls the Mountain “The LORD Provides!” Where God guides, God provides! How do we know? We know Jesus, the son of Abraham, the Son of sacrifice! Amen. For You are the Father’s Son Who in flesh the victory won. By Your mighty power make whole all our ills of flesh & soul. From the manger newborn light shines in glory through the night. Darkness there no more resides; in this light faith now abides. Amen. LSB 332:6-7. 2nd Sunday in Advent LSB #’s 331:1-4, 331:5-6, 348
Text – Matthew 1:1, 6, 17 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David… & Jesse the father of King David… Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, & fourteen from the exile to the Christ. JESUS IS THE SON OF DAVID Since the dawn of time, around 60 billion people have walked on Planet Earth. Of those 60 billion, only a handful have made any real, lasting impression. In that handful of people, one stands far above all the others. His name, you know it well, is Jesus. He never wrote a book, yet millions of books have been written about Him. He never painted a picture, yet the world’s greatest art has Jesus as its source for inspiration. Jesus never raised an army, but millions of His followers have fought & died for Him. Jesus never traveled far from His birthplace – yet His testimony has gone around the world. Jesus had only a handful of followers, yet today over 30% of the world’s population follows Him. To ignore Jesus is disastrous. To reject Jesus is fatal. But to know Jesus is to love Him; to love Him is to trust Him; to trust Jesus is to be radically, dramatically & eternally changed by Him. The most important question, then, that we can ever ask is this: “Who is Jesus?” It’s the name of the sermon series for Advent & Christmas. Who is Jesus? Matthew wants you to know! That’s what Matthew’s genealogy is all about – he writes it so you can know Jesus. Today we begin with this truth – Jesus is the Son of David. “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David… & Jesse the father of King David… Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, & fourteen from the exile to the Christ.” (Matthew 1:1, 6, 17) Jesus is the Son of David, & David is a king. That makes Jesus the King. When we confess that Jesus is the King we dare not confuse Him with American politicians. While both are rulers, they are very different! American politicians make big, crazy promises! Here are some of the recent ones. In 2004 John Edwards said, “We will stop Diabetes, Parkinson’s & Alzheimer’s!” In 2012 Newt Gingrich said, “We will put a colony on the moon by 2020!” In 2012, Michelle Bachman said, “I will pull American troops out of Libya & Africa!” Politicians say almost anything to get elected, don’t they? And I didn’t mention the promises for 2020! In America we are accustomed to leaders who say what the public wants them to say. No one’s campaign slogan is, “Slow, arduous change” or “Realistic compromises.” No. We want leaders who promise the moon – or at least a colony on the moon! When we look at Jesus, we see a completely different kind of leader – a different sort of king. He is the promised King. “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” (Mt 1:1). Hearing the term “Jesus Christ,” we sometimes misunderstand it. When Jesus went in for a physical, the doctor didn’t say, “Ok, let’s see. Last Name: Christ. First Name: Jesus.” No. “Christ,” is a title. It’s the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” which means “anointed one.” “Christ” is not Jesus’s last name. The OT foretells of a coming Messiah – a King who would be anointed with the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s mission. Messiah would come from the line of David. He’d be born in David’s city & sit on David’s throne. Matthew labors to demonstrate that Jesus is this king – He is Christ. He is Messiah. He is the Son of David! When Matthew writes, Israel had been without a legitimate king for hundreds of years. Now, Matthew declares, “a king has finally come to sit on David’s throne. It is Jesus!” Matthew hammers this truth home by citing ten specific OT promises – writing, “that what was spoken might be fulfilled.” He cites the OT ten times, & alludes to it over 250 times! Jesus is, indeed, the promised King. He is also the compassionate King. Jesus doesn’t come to drive out Israel’s enemies. He comes to bring in the outcast. It’s evident in Matthew’s genealogy. In the ancient world, people traced their ancestry through the father. It comes as no surprise, then, that Matthew’s genealogy is predominantly male. Yet, it is not exclusively male. Did you notice that Matthew also mentions four women? There’s Tamar in verse 3, Rahab & Ruth in verse 5, & then Bathsheba in verse 6. Matthew doesn’t highlight Jesus’s connection to any of Israel’s matriarchs – Sarah, Rebekah, or Rachel. All four of the women in Matthew’s genealogy are outsiders to Israel. Tamar was a Canaanite & so was Rahab. Ruth was a Moabite. And Bathsheba was a Hittite like her husband – Uriah the Hittite. Each of these women were outsiders to Israel. Moreover, each of these women had a stigma attached to her. Tamar was dishonored by her brother-in-law. Later, she deceived her father-in-law into sleeping with her so she could conceive a child. Rahab was a prostitute. Bathsheba committed adultery with King David. Ruth once worshiped the false god Chemosh. The Jews expected a Messiah who would come to drive out their Roman oppressors, & crush the nations to establish God’s rule with power. But at His 1st coming, Jesus doesn’t arrive to judge the nations. He comes to save them. Jesus brings outcasts home to God, & He removes the shame of marginalized people – like Tamar, Rahab, Ruth & Bathsheba. This is a preview of the rest of Matthew’s Gospel. Who does Jesus spend His time with? Outcasts. Jesus gets close to the diseased, to people who were quarantined from society, & He touches them. The Son of God in the flesh gets close enough to contract their diseases. Another telling aspect of God’s love for His creatures is that three of the four women in Matthew’s genealogy were sexually exploited? According to current research, one in four women, & one in six men will be sexually abused or exploited at some point in their lives. Some in this congregation may carry profound wounds in this area of their lives. And often, those wounds are deepened by the shame that others inflict upon us. Jesus welcomes & heals people who carry these wounds, even the unnecessary wounds of shame. And that finally includes all of us. The ugly shame. The haunting shame. Jesus not only takes away our guilt, which is sin done by us. Jesus also takes away the shame, which is sin done to us. We don’t have to drink away our shame, or work our shame away. No need to explain away our shame, eat our shame away, cry our shame away, or bury our shame away. Jesus is not a King who sits on His throne & says, “Try harder.” He is a King who steps down from His throne, filled with compassion. The Son of God identifies with us in the pit of shame. He Himself was there under Pontius Pilate & the Roman soldiers. So at our darkest point – when we feel the ugliest, & the greatest amount of despair – Jesus says, “I love you!” What other people said & thought & did to us does not define who we are. We don’t have to live in shame. We are not worthless. We are not damaged goods. We are clean. We are whole. We are brothers & sisters of the King – the most compassionate King, because Jesus is also the rejected King. He understands what it is to be shamed & humiliated in rejection. To the Jewish elites of His day, Jesus was simply the wrong kind of king. He lived in the wrong place, associated with the wrong people, preached the wrong message, appointed the wrong leaders, carried out the wrong mission, & offered the wrong redemption. The whole thing came to a head on Good Friday. Matthew wrote: “Above His head they placed the written charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (27:37). But risen on the 3rd day Jesus says this in Matthew 28:18, “All authority in heaven & on earth has been given to me.” That’s what we would expect of a King – to have all authority. As our King Jesus makes demands of us. After all, Jesus, the King, has all authority in heaven & on earth. But before Jesus makes any demands of us, first He comes to rescue us. Jesus lives for us, dies for us, & rises for us. Christ Jesus gives everything for us. That’s a king worth following all the days of our lives! In chapter 9:9 of his Gospel, Matthew wrote: “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ He told him, & Matthew got up & followed Him.” Who is Jesus? Jesus is the King that we follow all the days of our lives, because He came from heaven to rescue us from the brokenness & despair of sin. Amen. Before the dawning day let sin’s dark deeds be gone, the sinful self be put away, the new self now put on. All glory to the Son, Who comes to set us free, with Father, Spirit, ever one through all eternity. Amen. LSB 331:5-6. 1st Sunday in Advent – A LSB #357
Text – Isaiah 2:3 “…and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go the Torah, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” TEACHING US HIS WAYS There is a path in the affairs of men, a hard road, well-worn, beaten firm & heavily trodden by the millions of souls who have walked upon it. Its signposts are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, anger and despair. It is a one-way road that goes nowhere for it begins in hell, traverses the wilderness of sin, passes through the valley of death and returns from whence it began. You and I have each journeyed upon that path for different times and for various distances. There is also a path in the affairs of our Creator that leads from every corner of the world to Mt. Zion and to the city of God. It is a less traveled road for there’s much opposition to it. It is a road that leads to the cross. It is a two-way road by which the Holy Spirit goes out through the Word of God and then draws people to return to the heavenly Father. The sermon text is a conversation going on between people who are on the two-way road, the one less traveled, but the one that leads to life. The OT reading ends with the words, “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” (Isaiah 2:5 ESV) Which road do you plan to take as you leave the house of God this day? Since you are in God’s house this morning I have no doubt that you fully intend to leave on the way that leads to life. Yet, this broken world has a way of consuming us with all the insatiable demands upon our time. We heard an example of that from the Gospel reading: “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away…” (Matthew 24:38-39 ESV) The people it describes were on that one-way road going nowhere but straight to hell, and they had no clue. Their lives were busy! Most likely they thought they were doing all the right things, and they were so wrong! Another way that people can end up on the wrong path without knowing it is through meditation. I’ve heard the conservative Lutheran warnings that emptying your mind can leave room for the devil to work. Last night I came across secular research that never makes it into print. At least, I’ve never heard it before despite the many counseling classes I’ve taken. Two professors from Brown University interviewed 60 Western Buddhist meditation practitioners. They included both rookies and meditation teachers, many of whom had accumulated more than 10,000 hours of meditation experience in their lifetime. The research identified 59 kinds of unexpected or unwanted experiences such as: “Feelings of anxiety and fear, involuntary twitching, insomnia, a sense of complete detachment from one’s emotions, hypersensitivity to light or sound, distortion in time and space, nausea, hallucinations, irritability, and the re-experiencing of past traumas. The associated levels of distress and impairment ranged from ‘mild and transient to severe and lasting.’” What contemporary and ancient meditators have always known is that while the positive hype surrounding meditation may be warranted, the practice is not all peace, love and blissful glimpses of unreality. Sitting zazen, gazing at their third eye, a person can encounter extremely unpleasant emotions and physical or mental disturbances. If you’re looking for peace and getting away from the stress of life, why not, instead, go up to the mountain of the Lord? There, He will teach you His ways that you may walk in His paths. Our saintly nature will never make a different choice – but our sinful nature will. Just looking at our own lives, it’s clear that even Christians make lots of poor choices. Isaiah was sent to call God’s people back from the way whose signposts are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, anger and despair. Listen to the words recorded just before the OT reading: Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness. But rebels and sinners will be completely destroyed, and those who desert the Lord will be consumed. You will be ashamed of your idol worship in groves of sacred oaks. You will blush because you worshiped in gardens dedicated to idols. You will be like a great tree with withered leaves, like a garden without water. The strongest among you will disappear like straw; their evil deeds will be the spark that sets it on fire. They and their evil works will burn up together, and no one will be able to put out the fire. (Isaiah 1:27-31 NLT) Chapter 2 takes off from there, and it’s clear that for at least some of the people the saintly nature is now following the will of their Creator: The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’ (Isaiah 2:1-3a ESV) It seems like an easy choice to make, but the struggles of our lives tell a very different story. The Son of God gave His description of it, after He’d seen it firsthand, living here on earth for 30 years, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Which road do you plan to take as you leave the house of God this day? I actually hope that you’re finding my question annoying by now. I want that thought to get under your skin, because like Isaiah, I too am called to challenge your decisions. You also are in danger, even though that’s not always clear because your eyes have been corrupted by sin. Your sinful nature hates to follow God and it will lie to you about its plans and its desires. It’s my calling to do whatever I can to keep you from ending up like Isaiah wrote in chapter 1: “The strongest among you will disappear like straw; their evil deeds will be the spark that sets it on fire. They and their evil works will burn up together, and no one will be able to put out the fire.” (Isaiah 1:31 NLT) That’s the world you live in and you cannot make it through alive on your own. Our sinful nature will always choose the way that leads to hell, whether that is intentional, or whether it merely comes from ignorance. In his day, St. Paul was warning the members at the church in Rome of the dangers they faced: “…the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (13:11-12 ESV) He’s urging the same conclusion that the travelers came to at the end of the OT reading: “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” (Isaiah 2:5 ESV) The season of Advent begins today and it’s about renewing our quest to learn the ways of the Lord. In the book of Isaiah, ‘The Way’ is an image that cannot be separated from the themes of God’s teaching and word. The Hebrew word Torah encompasses all of that. Torah is the way out of the moral decay of any culture that turns away from God. It takes the height of arrogance, or of ignorance, to deny that our culture is turning away from God. Not that that is so unusual. The sinful nature of any man, woman or child is always turning away from its Creator. The good news is that Torah is always calling us back from every corner of the world to Mt. Zion and to the city of God. The God of Jacob is constructing His city out of living stones – that is His children, you, me and others – built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. Its citizens constitute the church of Jesus Christ, against which the gates of Hell shall not prevail. This is going on even now as the Torah goes forth in this sanctuary – as we responsively speak the Words of God to one another. As mundane, boring and mindless as the liturgy may seem, it is God at work building His kingdom. Remember, our sinful nature always chooses the one-way road that leads to destruction, but God’s Word, because it has the power to create something from nothing, encompass all areas of human life: personal, family, social, religious, even national and international politics. As Luther wrote in the meaning of the 3rd commandment: “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” As usual, our saintly nature loves and recognizes the power and majesty of God’s Word. Holy Scripture often uses the image of a highway, whether of the exodus from Egypt, or of return from exile in Babylon. The way is a metaphor for spiritual change and repentance. In the season of Advent we are invited to look at God bringing to completion His reign. This text from Isaiah begins with certainty about that end, with the mountain of the house of the Lord being established as the highest of the mountains, with all nations flowing to it, the city of God. With that vision, concerning the certainty of the end, Isaiah brings certainty to the chaos of our present. The Kingdom of God is real and it is drawing to itself people from all the nations through the still creative power of Torah. Our Savior is still teaching us His ways even when we cannot see. So even as you leave God’s house today, His Torah goes with you, and you can still say to others: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord... that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” Amen. O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, Who ord’rest all things mightily; to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! O come, Thou Key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! Amen. LSB 357:2, 5. |
AuthorPastor Dean R. Poellet Archives
April 2024
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