​1st Sunday in Advent                                                                                     LSB #’s 356, 594, 374
Text – 1 Peter 1:3-5
 
“Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled & unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 
 
BORN, BORN, BORN TO A LIVING HOPE
 
 
In the 17th century there lived a monk named Brother Lawrence.  His writings have been collected in a book called The Practice of the Presence of God.   He wrote, “the practice of the presence of God ... is to find joy in His divine company & to make it a habit of life, speaking humbly & conversing lovingly with Him at all times, every moment...”[1]
Wouldn’t that be a wonderful outcome this Advent, to know the presence of God in your life as you’ve never known it before?   When the work & challenges of the day are staring you in the face, hopefully, a sense of God’s presence would improve your attitude.  
When going through times of suffering, even to the point of despair, wouldn’t a strong sense of the presence of God help you persevere?   When tomorrow & tomorrow & tomorrow stretch out before you, because God gives you birth to a living hope, He can transform that tedium into Te Deum, “We praise You, O God…”  
A growing knowledge of God’s presence comes from learning more about God’s advents – His comings to you.  Advent is easily underestimated as simply the birth of baby Jesus,   but when you’ve put away the decorations & are going through the challenging times of life, is the image of baby Jesus in a manger a “very present help in time of trouble”?  (Psalm 46:1 ESV)  
From the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation, the Bible is a Book of
Advents.  And the Bible is our book, not the world’s.   It is not a dusty book on a shelf.   The Bible is the church’s living word of God by which the Spirit assures us that Jesus keeps coming to us, is present with us now, & is always leading us to a wonderful future.  
The OT is a great source for deepening our sense of Jesus’ coming to us, of Jesus’ advents.    If you think, “OT?  Wasn’t Jesus was born in the NT?” then you might be stuck in the “green room.”  It’s what they call the waiting room in television studios.  If you’re going on camera to perform or be interviewed, you wait in the green room.  
At the right time, you go out, do your thing in front of the camera, & then go back & relax in the green room.  I suspect many Christians think the OT was like the green room.  Jesus was just hanging out waiting to be born & do all that He did so long ago.  Our Book of Advents – the Bible – reveals that Jesus was already making advents in OT times. 
In John chapter 8, Jesus tells us that He indeed was present in the OT.  While Jesus was talking with Jews who were proud of being descendants of Abraham, He told them, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.”  (John 8:32 ESV)    Their pride pushed back, but Jesus did not back off.   He said, “I speak of what I have seen with my Father...”  (John 8:38 ESV)
Still, the Jews kept harping on Abraham, so Jesus finally tells them bluntly: “Truly, truly I
say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”  (John 8:58 ESV)    This is not just a one-off.   As He prayed to the Father in John 17, Jesus said, “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”  (17:5 ESV) 
And, in the same chapter, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”  (17:24 ESV)   Revelation looks to the return of Jesus Christ as He takes us to our inheritance in heaven.  In the last chapter of that last book of the Bible, Jesus says, “I am the Alpha & Omega, the first & the last, the beginning & the end.”  (22:13 ESV)   Do you really think the One who’s at the center of all things was, in the OT, just waiting in some “green room”?   Jesus, the Son of God, was there, there & active.   Among His many OT advents, Jesus was present in a surprising announcement to Abram & Sarai.  
From Genesis 12: “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country & your kindred & your house to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation, & I will bless you & make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.’”  (12:1–2 ESV)  
The text began, “…the Lord said to Abram.”   Who is “the Lord” that is speaking?   Was it just God the Father, while Jesus was off in the “green room” waiting to be born, while the Holy Spirit waited even longer for the day of Pentecost?    No, Jesus was part of this advent to Abram & Sarai, as was the Holy Spirit.  
The Bible teaches that our Creator is the Triune God, three persons in one God.  All three, Father, Son & Holy Spirit are involved in our salvation.  We confess in the Athanasian Creed, “the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord; & yet there are not three
Lords, but one Lord.”[2]  
From eternity, the Triune God was determined that blessings would come from the offspring of Abraham to all the families of the earth.    But there was a problem.  If Abraham’s line was going to bless all nations, you’d expect Abraham & Sarah to have a child.  They had none.  Abraham was 100 years old.  Sarah was 99.   Childbearing years were obviously past.  
Page ahead to Genesis 18: “And the Lord appeared to [Abraham] by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.  He lifted up his eyes & looked, & behold, three men were standing in front of him.”  (18:1-2a ESV)   They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”   And he said, “She is in the tent.”   The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, & Sarah your wife shall have a son.”  (18:9-10a ESV)   The Lord gave Abraham & Sarah their birth announcement.  As Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.”   So Isaac was born, & other birth announcements kept coming.  
Those announcements led at last to the Son of God taking on human flesh, as Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  The Gospel of Matthew begins, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Abraham was the father of Isaac, & Isaac the father of Jacob...”  (Mt 1:1–2 ESV)   On it goes through centuries until the genealogy climaxes:
“…Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”  (Mt 1:16 ESV)    Though it’s tedious to read through, this genealogy of birth announcements has a very personal aim.    Who is the target?    It’s You!    St. Peter says the eternal Son of God:
“…was foreknown before the foundation of the world   but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God…”  (1 Peter 1:20–21 ESV)   
The title of this sermon is “Born, Born, Born to a Living Hope!”  This saving history has been coming straight to you.  Isaac was born, Jesus was born, & you have been born to a living hope.  The birth of Isaac to Sarah & Abraham was, without any doubt, a miracle.  St. Paul says,
“In hope [Abraham] believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’  He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.  No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.”  (Romans 4:18–21 ESV)  
 
Abraham hoped in the promises the Lord spoke to him.  Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.  He saw it & was glad.”  (John 8:56 ESV)   The birth of the Son of God to Mary was even more miraculous than the birth of Isaac.  Isaac was born to a human
father & mother, but the incarnation of the holy & sinless Son of God had no earthly father.  
When the Virgin asked the angel, “How shall this be,” Gabriel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, & the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born  will be called holy – the Son of God.”  (Luke 1:35 ESV)  
Just as Abraham had hoped in the birth announcement from God, so Mary answered in complete trust, “…let it be to me according to your word...”  (Luke 1:38 ESV)   Now these births, all the births in Matthew’s genealogy, come to you.  Baptism is God’s birth announcement that He has a newborn – & it’s you! 
“Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled & unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV)
 
The Son of God took on human flesh & went to the inescapable destiny of sinners, death under the just judgment of God.  Jesus was dead, totally dead, but the Triune God raised Him to life.  That’s what only Yahweh can do.  From the creation of the world to your baptism, He creates out of nothing:
“You were dead in trespasses & sins” (Ephesians 2:1 ESV),  but the Triune God has given you – put in your own name – the Triune God has given you your name that was spoken when God gave you birth from sin & eternal death  to holiness & eternal life.   The Triune God has given you new birth, miraculous birth, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  
Yahweh intended this for you from eternity, & your baptism is God’s birth announcement that you have been born in Christ to a living hope, to an inheritance reserved in heaven for you.  Like Abraham & Mary, now you, born, born, born to a living hope!   
I pray our Advent observance will encourage you with the advents of God into your life.    We need encouragement as “Time marches on.”  That’s a saying often spoken with some melancholy.  Christians easily slip into the notion that after Jesus ascended to heaven – He went back to the green room.  There He’s waiting until He appears again at the end of the world.[3]    
Not true!   Our Book of Advents teaches something far more inviting.  Jesus was not in the “green room” in the OT, & neither is He in the “green room” now.   Birth announcement after birth announcement, the Triune God has been coming to you.  Those comings lead to what Brother Lawrence said:
“…the practice of the presence of God ... is to find joy in His divine company & to make it a habit of life.”  Isaac was born, Jesus was born, & through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has given you new birth to the hope of being alive forever in paradise.  Amen. 
 
 
Death, you cannot end my gladness:  I am baptized into Christ!   When I die, I leave all sadness to inherit paradise!  Though I lie in dust & ashes faith’s assurance brightly flashes:  Baptism has the strength divine to make life immortal mine.        There is nothing worth comparing to this lifelong comfort sure!   Open eyed my grave is staring:  even there I’ll sleep secure.   Though my flesh awaits its raising, still my soul continues praising:  I am baptized into Christ; I’m a child of paradise!  Amen.  LSB 594:4-5.


[1] Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1981), 68.

[2] Verses 17–18, LSB p. 319.

[3] Cf. Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 149. “In short, the modern world quite literally ‘manages’ without God. We can do so much so well by ourselves that there is no need for God, even in his church.  Thus we modern people can be profoundly secular in the midst of explicitly religious activities. Which explains why so many modern Christian believers are atheists unawares. Professing to believe in supernatural realities, they are virtual atheists; whatever they say they believe, they show
in practice that they function without practical recourse to the supernatural. ... The call to follow Jesus Christ runs directly counter to this deadly modern pressure toward secularization.”

​Last Sunday of the Church Year – B (Proper 29)                                          LSB #’s 515, 658, 655
Text – Daniel 7:11
 
I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking.  And as I looked, the beast was killed, & its body destroyed & given over to be burned with fire.
 
THE BEAST – DESTROYED & BURNED
 
 
Some people have the idea that religion should be all about tolerance.   They want every single word of God to be warm & fuzzy, welcoming   & accepting of all beliefs & opinions.  Given the amount of pain that each of us has experienced due to the brokenness of this life, it’s a desire we can relate to.    It’s a huge reason why God’s children look forward to heaven. 
When push comes to shove,  even those who think religion should be all about tolerance will try to shut down beliefs & opinions they find  to be harmful & repulsive.  The struggles that go on in this world are not actually about which side is correct.  They are about who gets to decide what is correct.  The wars in Ukraine & Israel are all about who’s in charge. 
For people who follow Jesus, the first commandment lays it out clearly.   You & I are not in charge.  Neither is anyone else here on earth.   All of us are creatures, created by the wisdom & power of an almighty God.  That, by itself, is not particularly comforting.  Nor is it warm & fuzzy.   What changes all of that is the sacrifice of God’s Son on the cross. 
If you really are in charge of the entire universe, then death is nothing to fear.   The resurrection of Jesus was a given from before the foundation of the world for the One who truly is in charge.   Sinful human beings fear death because it’s something that none of us can overcome.   Why do we bury or cremate dead bodies?   It’s because we can’t fix them. 
By rising from the dead, Jesus proved He is the One true God & even the greatest human enemy cannot destroy Him.   In the OT reading, Daniel is being given a vision, from afar, of what Christ accomplishes through His first & second advent.   That makes this text appropriate for today as next Sunday we begin our reflection on Christ’s first advent.   The birth of God into the human race was an incredible event, but it is long since passed.   We do well to remember it, but we do so in order to help us prepare for His second advent.  That is when all of our longing for peace & harmony will be fulfilled as we enter the true life of eternity in heaven. 
Daniel 7:18, though not part of the OT lesson, gives a summary with these words, “But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, & they will possess the kingdom forever – forever & ever.”   That’s what the second advent of Jesus is all about – delivering His followers into heavenly bliss.  It’s a completely free gift, offered to us purely out of love. 
That fact alone drives Satan absolutely crazy.   The only love he understands is the love of self.  He could not abide with God deciding what is correct.   The devil wanted to make His own rules, & because of our sinful nature you & I feel that desire as well.   Even as God’s children, we are tempted & badgered & frustrated by our inability to control our world. 
Satan does monstrous amounts of harm through people who refuse to acknowledge Jesus as Lord & Savior.  The death & destruction he has brought into God’s creation is beyond our comprehension.  He’s the arch enemy of God & all who follow Christ.  He will never accept being converted, & hell was brought into existence just for him. 
“I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking.  And as I looked, the beast was killed, & its body destroyed & given over to be burned with fire.”  (Daniel 7:11 ESV)    That sermon text is not at all a warm & fuzzy Word of God, but it is a necessary one.  For heaven to be paradise there can be no evil there, nor corruption of any kind. 
Jesus tells us to love our enemies & pray for them, but He’s speaking of fellow human enemies.  Some people extrapolate that command & wonder if it’s wrong to wish ill upon Satan.  It is good, right & salutary to long for his destruction, & this text in Daniel describes that event.  We should look forward to that day as the solution to our fears regarding the direction in which our nation is headed.  We should look to that day – Christ’s second advent – rather than trying to conquer our culture & do battle against flesh & blood here on earth.  It is our calling to remind people that God alone decides what is right, yet we should do that with love & respect. 
We should pray for God to bring about the destruction of Satan & all who follow him.  As the text from Daniel begins, it pictures that final judgment: “As I looked, thrones were placed, & the Ancient of Days took His seat…  A stream of fire issued & came out from before Him…”  (7:9-10 ESV)   The Ancient of Days is Yahweh & the fire brings destruction to all who reject Him. 
Daniel continues, “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking.  And as I looked, the beast was killed, & its body destroyed & given over to be burned with fire.”  (7:11 ESV)   
The horn, speaking great words, is the antichrist that has arisen from the beast.  Even as it goes to destruction it is still speaking great words against the Ancient of Days.   It refuses to accept Yahweh as Lord & will never relent in its desire to make its own rules.  No matter how we may try to make peace with evil mere human beings will always lose. 
That’s why the first advent of Jesus occurred.  God had to live a holy life on earth in our place, resisting Satan & all the beasts that he spawns.  Then Jesus had to die to pay for all the times we failed to resist & instead chose sin over life.  After defeating Satan by His death on the cross, Jesus ascended to heaven in order to rule over all things, that His kingdom might grow. 
Ultimately, evil must be destroyed, & the fire emanating from the Ancient of Days will never end for those who want all His words to be warm & fuzzy, welcoming   & accepting of all beliefs & opinions.  The second advent of Jesus will bring the final & permanent destruction of Satan & all his minions.  They will be destroyed & burned in a never-ending cataclysm of fire.  However, Judgment does not come to an end with the destruction of the beast – the world power in all its various embodiments.  In Vs. 13-14, Daniel reveals that destruction of the beast is only the first act of judgment.  That is followed immediately by the second act – the establishment of the kingdom of God by the Son of Man: 
“I saw in the night visions, & behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man, & He came to the Ancient of Days & was presented before Him.  And to Him was given dominion & glory & a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, & languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, & His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” 
Jesus is presented to the Ancient of Days that He might receive the kingdom as it was meant to be – spotless & without blemish.  As you & I cling to Jesus, during this time between His first & second advent, we find rest & shelter from all the harm being done by those who want only warm & fuzzy words from God that welcome & accept all beliefs & opinions. 
That is a deceptive & false view of God’s plan of salvation.   What’s fundamentally necessary to the faithful in times like these are not trite answers, or flavor of the month formulas. What’s fundamentally necessary is a grounded realism & steadfast hope founded on the substance of who Christ is & what He has done. 
That truth matters because it does inform every person’s understanding of his or her own purpose for living in this world.  Yahweh gives us the opportunity to live in the stead & in the love, of the One who was first to love.  Remember these words from earlier in the sermon:
“All of us are creatures, created by the wisdom & power of an almighty God.  That, by itself, is not particularly comforting.  Nor is it warm & fuzzy.   What changes all of that is the sacrifice of God’s Son on the cross.”  That is proof, not simply of God’s power, but of His love for every creature He made here on earth.  However, He will not force anyone to accept His love.  For the church, windswept & storm tossed, on the waves of a history in which evil & Satanic powers appear to be the powers that prevail, there is only one voice that can speak assuring & empowering comfort.  That is the voice of our Lord & Savior. 
One day the beast will be “killed & its body destroyed & given over to be burned with fire.”  (Daniel 7:12 ESV)  That is good news.  Until then, we live during this time between Christ’s first & second advent, & we take to heart words from the Gospel lesson:
“Therefore stay awake – for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning – lest he come suddenly & find you asleep.  And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”  (Mark 13:35-37 ESV) Amen. 
 
 
 
Preserve, O Lord, Your honor, the bold blasphemer smite; convince, convert, enlighten the souls in error’s night.   Reveal Your will, dear Savior, to all who dwell below, great light of all the living, that all Your name may know.      Preserve, O Lord, Your Zion, bought dearly with Your blood; protect what You have chosen against the hellish flood.   Be always our defender when dangers gather round; when all the earth is crumbling, safe may Your Church be found.    Preserve in wave & tempest Your storm-tossed little flock; assailed by wind & weather, may it endure each shock.   Stand at the helm, our pilot, & set the course aright; then we will reach the harbor  in Your eternal light.  Amen.  LSB 658:2-3, 5.  

26th Sunday after Pentecost – B (Proper 28)                                     LSB #’s 596:1-4, 580:1-5, 917
Text – Hebrews 10:22
 
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience & our bodies washed with pure water.
 
DRAWING NEAR WITH A TRUE HEART
 
 On two Sundays each month,  as we did about 15 minutes ago,  I use a portion of the sermon text to invite us into the presence of God.   You should recognize these words, “Let us draw near  with a true heart…”   They invite us to approach God our Father in the fullest confidence  that He will grant us forgiveness  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
It’s in that vein that we confess our sins – freely,  openly  & with a true heart.    Yet,  we struggle to explain  what is the practical effect  of that forgiveness.   To put it rather crassly, “What good does it do?”   Most of us here this morning  are so accustomed to the word forgiveness  that it’s become cliché.   It’s meaning is shallow & watered down. 
To illustrate that, what is meant when God’s Word uses the phrase “true heart”?  Could you explain it  if a child asked you?   What examples would you give?    Do you  have a true heart?   The Word of God in Hebrews  invites us to draw near with one.  What happens if our heart is not true  when we draw near? 
Few people in our culture are contemplating questions like those  because our culture no longer thinks in Biblical terms.  If you use a hymnal during our services, you may notice, on the right-hand side of the pages, numerous Bible verse citations.  That’s because  a large portion of our service comes directly from the Word of God.  We are speaking His own words back to Him. 
There are two basic reasons for that.   No sinful creature will ever be able to outdo the Words of God.   Secondly, speaking them repeatedly  helps us learn to think  in Biblical terms.  That is far healthier for all of us  than thinking in worldly & sinful terms.  Clearly, “Let us draw near with a true heart” is not the kind of terminology that people of the world use.  Since we have trouble defining the phrase,  that highlights the sinful & worldly aspect of who we are,  of how you & I  have been shaped & formed by our ungodly culture.  The orders of worship that we use here  work to counteract that illiteracy. 
If we have trouble explaining why we draw near to God  so that He may grant us forgiveness,  one root of the problem goes back to our view of God.  Most of us have known we’re forgiven  for so long  that we take it for granted.  Few of us live in terror of our sins.  We tend to have forgotten the words written by King David in Psalm 51, as he pleads to God:
“Against you,  you only,  have I sinned & done what is evil in your sight…”  (51:4 ESV)  Because many of our sins hurt other human beings,  we tend to think of our sins only in those narrow terms.   Yet,  David rightly acknowledges  that all of our sins are against the holy & almighty Creator of the universe.   Even the little white lies we tell  are deserving of hell. 
That is what the book of Hebrews is considering  as the Epistle reading for today begins, “And every priest stands daily at his service,  offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never  take away sins.”  (Hebrews 10:11 ESV)   The author is highlighting how much superior is the new covenant  to the old covenant. 
In the OT, the priests offered multiple sacrifices that were never fully effective.  Jesus, on the other hand, made a single offering that is effective for all of time.   In His sacrifice, Jesus perfected,  for eternity,  every human being who follows Him.   One of the chief purposes of all the OT sacrifices  was to point ahead to the one  ultimate sacrifice  of God’s Son. 
All sins are against God & God alone, as David wrote.   Then,  God alone paid for every one of them on the cross,  so that you & I have the privilege of drawing near to Him with a true heart.   Now,  Jesus waits for that day when He will judge the world.  Until then, He is actively involved in ruling  over all the ongoing affairs of this world, as Hebrews puts it, “But when Christ had offered for all time  a single sacrifice for sins,  He sat down at the right hand of God.”  (10:12 ESV)   He’s not sitting there  to take a nap.    Jesus is interceding for everyone who longs to receive the peace & the rest  that He earned for us by His death & resurrection. 
Peace & rest are some of the practical effects  of having sins  forgiven.    Living in a state of unbelief  is not a life filled with peace & rest.   Nevertheless, approaching almighty God even as a believer can be a very painful thing to do.   It can be similar to having a road rash wound  scrubbed clean  to prevent infection.   Personal confession of sin exposes  our sinful nature! 
Christians prefer to keep that side of our lives hidden  because it is embarrassing to expose.  Unbelievers often celebrate that side of their lives,  & the difference reveals a vast gulf that exists  between believers & unbelievers.   Believers still sin,  yet by the power of the Holy Spirit,  it’s something we are not proud of.  Our true heart  longs to draw near to God to be clean. 
In the OT,  Jeremiah wrote of what Messiah would be bringing about with God’s new covenant: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, & I will write it on their hearts.  And I will be their God,  & they shall be my people.”  (31:33 ESV) 
Jeremiah was describing  not the old law that would be fulfilled in Christ,  but the law of willing obedience that Jesus’ love for us inspires within us.  That willing obedience is one way to describe the true heart.   Yes,  it’s never pure  here on earth because we still have a sinful nature doing war against that true heart, but it is real,  & it takes faith in Christ to see that true heart. 
Unbelief looks at that true heart & laughs, “You’ve been duped.  You’re a sucker & a fool.”  And the real struggle is  our own sinful nature  agrees.  Those are examples of what a true heart is not.  The Word of God helps us to counter the thought that believers are fools when it tells us, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”  (Psalm 14:1a ESV)   It is unbelief that celebrates being a fool,  even if unwittingly.  As children of God, we can see that clearly in our culture today as it celebrates numerous forms of rebellion against the good & right will of God.   However, we should not gloat  for our sins are just as evil & corrupt. 
The difference between a true heart & an evil one is simply belief versus unbelief.  Believers humbly rejoice in the fact that they are fools for Christ  because He has removed their sins as far as the east is from the west.  Though  telling little white lies is deserving of hell,  those lies will not see be seen when believers face judgment.  Jesus has taken that punishment for us. 
The writer of Hebrews has no patience for grace that remains an abstract concept  or forgiveness that only floats in the realm of ideas.  Jesus came to take on human flesh that He might embody the forgiveness of sins.  Then He offers that body, that forgiveness to us in Holy Communion. 
A true heart is confident that the heavenly Father has washed us clean, no matter what lies Satan will tell.  Drawing near to God is not always easy.  Our sins & the sins of others do get in the way.  In his memoir of pastoral service in a country church, Richard Lischer tells the story of Teri, a woman who would routinely break into the church to pray.[i]  
What prevented her from coming before God was not fear of His holiness but fear of His people.  Her mother had been cast aside from the church when it was discovered that she was pregnant outside of marriage & that a son of a prominent family had been involved.  In gathering to protect their own, the Christians at this church left both mother & child outside. 
Teri was that child.  Years later she was having a crisis of her own: a pregnancy outside of marriage.  This time, however, rather than pushed out of the church, she is pushed out of her family as her stepfather responds to the news with physical abuse.  With nowhere to go, she goes to the church, not to the people but to the building.  She breaks into the building in the middle of the night, trusting that God is there even though she could not see Him.  Lischer tells Teri’s story to reveal how we live as broken individuals in broken communities, seeking to draw near to God.  For such people, the reading from Hebrews offers hope. 
Teri had a lot of things wrong in her life but she got one thing right.  There was space for her in the sanctuary of God.  She could draw near to the heavenly Father on the basis of the sacrificial work of Christ.    As Lischer tells the story of Teri, he reveals how God worked to bring Teri & her daughter into the church, not simply the building.  At first, it was slow & secret.  
Members began to share resources with the pastor to share with her.  Envelopes with cash were dropped off at the door.  Then, it became more public.  A few women of the church cared for Teri during her pregnancy & after the baby was born.  
Finally, Lischer tells of the day when her daughter, Asia, was baptized.  After the baptism, Teri & Asia turned to face the congregation & were welcomed as part of the community in Christ’s name.  Someone who sought to draw near to God by breaking in late at night  was now drawn near to God & to His people by the work of Jesus.  
Rather than ostracize one another, God’s people learned to live out the true heart, not with just their thoughts, but also their words & their deeds.  That is the good that forgiveness can do.  Amen. 
 
 
The Gospel shows the Father’s grace,  Who sent His Son to save our race,  proclaims how Jesus lived & died  that we might thus be justified.    It sets the Lamb before our eyes,  Who made the atoning sacrifice,  & calls the souls with guilt oppressed  to come & find eternal rest.    It bears to all the tidings glad  & bids their hearts no more be sad;  the weary, burdened souls it cheers  & banishes their guilty fears.  Amen.  LSB 580:1-2, 5. 


[i] For the story of Teri, see Richard Lischer, Open Secrets (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 103-115.
 

25th Sunday after Pentecost – B (Proper 27)                                                 LSB #’s 400, 781, 712
Text – Mark 12:44
 
For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.  
 
THE TRAP IS SET
 
 
Our cat has made for numerous sermon illustrations.  This begins last spring when on four different occasions he came home from his nightly excursion smelling of skunk.  The 5th time he must have taken a direct hit.  I googled the internet, “How to live trap a skunk.”   It may seem like a crazy thing to do.   If you catch one, how can you avoid getting sprayed yourself? 
I watched several YouTube videos &, based on their advice, decided on a peanut butter & jelly sandwich as the bait.   We borrowed a live trap &, at sundown, the trap was set.    We waited for the fun to begin.   The first night we caught nothing.   The 2nd night we caught a squirrel.   The 3rd night we caught a raccoon. 
One YouTube video had recommended wrapping the trap in a tarp.  That way, if you catch a skunk you can sneak up on the critter without being seen, or sprayed directly.    The raccoon did not like that tarp.   By morning it was shredded into a thousand pieces, & had been pulled entirely into the trap.   I took that as a sign to quit before I got into trouble. 
The trap had been set, but we did not catch what we were looking for.    In the Gospel reading, Jesus has figuratively set a trap!   Have you fallen for the bait?   As you recall, the Gospel reading was about the widow’s mite.  What does that have to do with setting a trap?  We’ll put that off until later in the sermon. 
In Mark 12:38, Jesus begins, “Beware of the scribes…”  Then He closes by saying, “For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”  (Mark 12:44 ESV)    Now, listen to the very next verse, “And as [Jesus] came out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones & what wonderful buildings!’”  (Matthew 13:1 ESV)   Did you catch the error in his thinking?   The disciple was impressed by the magnificent temple of Jerusalem, yet Jesus had just warned that wealth & abundance were not the true measures of faith in God. 
Rather, of the widow who gave “two small copper coins, which make a penny,”  Jesus commented, “Truly, I say to you,   this poor widow   has put in more  than all those who are contributing to the offering box.”   It’s easy to get sucked in by wealth & fortune.  I admit that I enjoy touring mansions & luxurious homes because it is amazing what money can buy.  
It’s amazing what expert crafts men & women can design & build.  I enjoyed that part of being an electrical contractor – working on beautiful homes.      Working for slum landlords – not nearly as appealing.   In fact, it could be downright disgusting.   It was difficult not   to judge someone by the amount of money they were willing to spend. 
It’s easy to fall into that trap,   & it’s one that Jesus’ disciples had definitely fallen into.   However, that is not the trap Jesus has set for you & me with this Gospel reading.   A trap that is too obvious is also not very effective.  One goal of a live trap is not to destroy the creature, but to teach it a lesson.   Jesus set the trap in the hope that you & I would learn from it. 
We began the month of October with three sermons on stewardship.   The text for this sermon would make a very challenging one indeed: “For they all contributed out of their abundance,   but she out of her poverty  has put in everything she had,  all she had to live on.”  (Mark 12:44 ESV)      What is in your offering this morning?     Have you even brought one? 
How do those questions strike your heart?    Are you recognizing the trap door now, as it slams shut on you?    Guilt & shame,   or defiance & anger, each of them are likely responses to a heavy handed approach to stewardship.   The poor widow gave everything she had to live on.   What are you giving?      You can almost feel Satan’s tongue tickling inside your ear!   But it’s not Lucifer who set the trap.   It’s Jesus,   & if emotions like defiance & anger, or guilt & shame have been welling up in your heart, then you have fallen into the trap.      The key is what you do once you find yourself there. 
Remember – Jesus set the trap so that you & I would learn a lesson.   Being sinful creatures, it is not easy to learn the lessons of God.   The Holy Spirit must often use trying circumstances in order to cut through our sinful desires.   His aim is to bring home the truth in a way that we will neither reject nor ignore. 
Pastors are tempted to use guilt & shame to herd the members into giving more money.  At times, all of us have given offerings or gifts with that motivation.   Falling into the trap of giving out of shame or guilt is effortless.  If you’ve seen commercials asking you to help feed the starving dogs, you know what I mean. 
At other times, we respond to that feeling of being trapped, not with giving, but with defiance & anger.  Church members are at times tempted to respond with those feelings when the needs of God’s kingdom are made clear to them.  Then, we end up giving nothing at all. 
Jesus wants us to confront both inferior motives, shame or anger, in order to see a much more beautiful picture.  You’ve had someone point out to you a beautiful sunset.  It may have been a picture, or maybe you’re with them in person & they say, “You have to come & see this.”  In the Gospel reading, Jesus shows a more beautiful type of receiving & giving.   
It’s three days before Jesus will be crucified.  He & His disciples are at the temple in Jerusalem when they pause to notice the beauty of their surroundings.  But they will differ in terms of what they see as beautiful.  The disciples notice the beauty of the temple building, but also how it’s filled with beautiful people.  As the Gospel reading begins, people are coming to worship, but they are also coming to see & to be seen.  The scribes are here in all of their glory.  They wear long white robes & delight in long greetings.  They take places of honor at the feasts & they enjoy the best seats in the synagogue.  They’re equivalent to Hollywood stars of our day.  To the common person, including Jesus’ disciples, they are beautiful & larger than life. 
Jesus, on the other hand, observes their false sense of beauty.   A beautiful temple filled with beautiful people can blind us to true beauty in the Kingdom of God.  Jesus asks His disciples to look at a poor widow.  She has nothing that would draw attention to her.  She has no long robes, receives no long greetings, claims no best seat, has no place of honor.  
Her contribution is virtually nothing compared to the giving of others.   Yet, that is what Jesus notices.   Early in Gospel reading, Jesus told His disciples that the scribes “devour widows’ houses.” (V. 40)   Here we see a widow effectively giving her house to those who devour it.  She gives all that she has, & she gives all she has for a church which is corrupt. 
In this poor widow, Jesus sees a faint picture of Himself.  He is about to give all He has for a world that is corrupt.  He will give His life as an offering for our sins.   He dies for those who build beautiful churches & for those who never set foot in one.  He dies for the prideful & the humble, for the powerful & the weak.  
In order for us to see this, there are times when we need to fall into the trap Jesus has set for us.  He pointed His disciples to the poor widow who gave every last penny she had, so that you & I could explore the impossibility of that in our own lives.  No matter how faithful you are to God, you will never bring an offering to Church that is adequate. 
That is why we celebrate the birth of Jesus, because He came to do what you & I can never accomplish.  Jesus did give everything He had & it was absolutely adequate to erase the shame we feel for each of our failures.  More than that, Jesus came to recreate our very being from something that is sinful & corrupt to one that is holy & infallible.   Our Savior asks us to see something more beautiful than a temple.  He asks you to see the priceless love which flows from His cross into the lives of His people.   That love also flows into your life, but it’s not as obvious as it should be.   Our sinful nature is blind to God’s love. 
Christ’s love not only forgives our sin but transforms our lives.  We become temples of the Holy Spirit, beautiful in the Kingdom because we overflow with God’s sacrificial love.  As we gather for worship, let us turn our eyes to Jesus, the author & perfector of our faith, who fills our lives with His love, that the world might see the true beauty of the Kingdom of God. 
That is what Jesus sees at work in the poor widow as she gives every last cent that she has.  He sees that His Word does not return to Him empty.  He sees that this widow has already been transformed into someone who will experience eternity with Him in a world that has no sorrow & no tears.  And in heaven, there will never be another trap to fall into.  Amen. 
 
 
 
We give Thee but Thine own,   whatever the gift may be; all that we have is Thine alone,   a trust, O Lord, from Thee.     Oh, hearts are bruised & dead, & homes are bare & cold, & lambs for whom the Shepherd bled are straying from the fold.    To comfort & to bless, to find a balm for woe, to tend the lone & fatherless is angels’ work below.     And we believe Thy Word, though dim our faith may be:  Whatever for Thine we do, O Lord, we do it unto Thee.  Amen.  LSB 781:1, 3-4, 6. 

All Saints’ Day – 2024                                                                 LSB #677, v.1-3 & 7-8; 506, 678
Text – Revelation 20:4c
 
They came to life & reigned with Christ for a thousand years.  
 
Reigning with Christ
 
 
This sermon will focus on the third sentence of Revelation 20:4, but the two sentences leading up to it are a bit complicated to understand.   That’s not unusual for the book of Revelation.   Add to that  the fact that All Saints’ Day is not an easy topic upon which to write a Christ-centered sermon,  & the preacher faces a challenge. 
Lutherans do not worship the saints.   Neither do we pray to them or even through them.  You & I have direct access to the heavenly Father because of what Jesus Christ has done & continues doing even today.  Christ alone is the source of our salvation  & all the saints in heaven wholeheartedly agree.  They want our attention to be focused on Jesus as our Lord & Savior. 
Focusing too heavily on the saints  can border on idolatry.  Much has been done along those lines in the Roman Catholic & the Orthodox Churches.  We need to be careful, when celebrating All Saints’ Day, to keep Jesus in the center  of our thoughts, words & deeds. 
That leads to the question, “Is there value  in celebrating All Saints’ Day?”   Is Jesus  not enough  to give us hope,  while calming our fears & anxieties  in the brokenness of this sinful world?   The obvious answer  is that Jesus certainly is enough,  & yet  the heavenly Father chooses to bless us in many additional ways. 
According to the Bible, Jesus is the Word.  Nevertheless,  God also chooses to bless us through Baptism & Holy Communion.  Through them,  people are incorporated into,  & blessed by,  the body of Christ.   On a more physical level, God “…makes His sun rise on the evil & on the good, & sends rain on the just & on the unjust.”  (Matthew 5:45b ESV) 
Those are just a few ways that Almighty God works to bless us  even though knowing
Jesus is enough.   The heavenly Father loves to bestow physical & spiritual gifts upon His creation.   Finally,  it should be obvious that any of the saints in heaven,  who were instrumental in passing on the faith to others,  were a tremendous blessing from our Creator.   
One of the things Jan & I regularly include in our evening prayers is to thank God for our parents, grandparents, pastors & teachers who passed on to us  faith in Jesus Christ as Lord  & as Savior.  That is at least part of  the essence of celebrating All Saints’ Day.   Every one of us here would not be in this room today  if it were not for others  who are already in heaven. 
Another aspect is the original focus that has since morphed into what we today  call All Saints’ Day.  It originated as a way to remember the sacrifices of the martyrs.  In the early years of the Christian Church, the Roman Empire persecuted Christians.  Over 300 years, it’s estimated that about 400,000 people had their lives ended because of their love for Jesus. 
We’d do well to remember that  when we find ourselves thinking how terrible it is  to not have electricity  or a fully charged smart phone in hand.   It’s not easy to relate All Saints’ Day to people who are totally disconnected from the harsh realities of life in a sinful world.  As a nation, our people have been tremendously blessed by the sacrifices of the saints who’ve gone before us. 
However, those blessings are a mixed bag.  They have made for comfortable lives, but sin has twisted this world such that comfortable living  brings about weak faith in Jesus.  When that faith is not challenged  it does not grow strong.  Many today  have drifted away from the Church  because their lives have been too easy,  & they don’t even realize it. 
The saints in heaven know better,  & the only way for us to know as they do  is to join them.  You know what that means,  which brings us to the text from Revelation 20.   Verse 4 begins, “Then I saw thrones,  & seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed.”   You may ask: “Who are those people seated on the thrones?”  You may think it’s an elite group of people  who have been successful leaders in the Church.  Maybe you imagine the responsibility of that role of judge  as something far beyond your ability.   The truth is  John is probably referring  to you, at least  if you are a follower of Jesus.  Daniel 7:27 tells us:
“And the kingdom & the dominion & the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven  shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;…”  Do you consider yourself a child of God?   Then God has already placed you upon a throne & committed to you the authority to judge. 
Supporting that is Romans 5:17, “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man,  much more will those who receive the abundance of grace & the free gift of righteousness  reign in life  through the one man  Jesus Christ.”   In other words, as Jesus is ruling the world today, & you were baptized into Christ,  so you also reign in this life. 
Now, that could easily go to your head.  Or, in false humility, you could say, “There’s no way on earth  I’m qualified to do that.”  You’d be wrong on either count  because through Christ you are qualified,  & yet  it is still  all about Jesus.  He is always enough to give us hope in this sinful world,  but He chooses to bless us with real things to do,  with real faith to pass on. 
Once in a while  you have to make really major decisions.  You also make thousands of tiny decisions every day,  & in each one of them  you make choices between good & evil.   You judge between right & wrong.  In John 20:21-23, Jesus authorizes the church to open & shut heaven by forgiving the sins of the penitent & retaining the sins of the impenitent. 
Those pronouncements of forgiveness or condemnation are judgments proclaimed in the stead of Christ  & on behalf of God.  In Baptism you have already died & risen with Christ.  In that sense you’ve already begun your new life & reign with Christ.   Your reign here on earth involves the constant struggle against sin, & Revelation 20:4 tells you  that you are seated on a throne with authority to judge.  You can only do that  as you remain in the Vine – Christ Jesus.  Does that put a different spin on All Saints’ Day for you?    Our Lord & Savior has placed responsibility upon us  that has eternal implications.  If we had a better grasp of that  we might see a much greater need in our lives  for Jesus as Lord & Savior. 
The 2nd sentence of Revelation 20:4 says, “Also  I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus & for the word of God, & those who had not worshiped the beast or its image & had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.”   You’re probably thinking, the last time I looked, my head was still attached.  That can’t be  about me. 
In the context of the entire Bible, these words seem to speak of any Christian who witnesses to the truth of Jesus & then suffers various forms of persecution.  It may be as simple as family & friends thinking, “You’re off your rocker,”  & refusing to believe what you say.   All Christian witnesses back up & confirm their testimony with their lives &, if necessary, by death. 
Finally, the sermon text, “They came to life & reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”  This is key to understanding that all of God’s children are currently reigning with Christ.   In Lutheran understanding of theology, the thousand years is not a literal reference to time, but a figurative one.   It refers to all the years between Christ’s birth & the Last Day of time. 
“They came to life” is not a reference to the physical resurrection from the dead.  That’s what confuses people.  It actually refers to what we call the 1st resurrection, which occurs when the Holy Spirit creates faith & raises someone from the spiritual death that all of us are conceived in.  As Ephesians tells believers:
“And you were dead in the trespasses & sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world…”  (2:1-2 ESV)  When the Holy Spirit brought you to faith in Jesus,  He raised you from the dead – you came to life – & now reign with Christ during the time between His birth  & His return to judge the world.  We believe these are the whole people of God, both those still on earth  & those already in heaven.  The church still struggling against sin on earth & the church triumphant in heaven are ruling on thrones along with Christ.  However, the emphasis in the text from Revelation is on those still on earth  struggling against the forces of evil. 
St. John wrote Revelation to encourage the seven churches who were passing through, or knew they’d soon be passing through, severe & fierce temptation.  When we sing the hymn, With All the Saints, we tend to think of those who are already in heaven, but now you can sing it with yourself in mind.  Revelation was written to encourage the living,  not the dead. 
We celebrate All Saints’ Day, not to encourage the dead,  but to encourage the living.  It is for our benefit that we remember those who have gone before us,  who have left a legacy of faith for us.   It’s meant to encourage believers here & now to press on, looking forward to the glorious day to come. 
Have you walked in the cool shade of a quiet cemetery to visit the graves of relatives?  That experience can put us into our place in God’s story.  We are inheritors of what our relatives passed on to us, & we are temporary caretakers of today’s world.  Their tombstones testify loudly to the temporariness of their world & of ours. 
With All Saints’ Day, figuratively, we walk among the saints on earth & in heaven.  Doing so is meant to help us sense our place in history & in eternity.    The day was popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages when congregations walked solemnly through their churchyard cemeteries among the tombstones of their ancestors. 
Are you right now reigning with Christ?   The book of Revelation says that you are whether you know it or not.   Knowing that can give you a new & hopeful perspective on the struggles you face,  no matter what they may be.  Knowing that does not minimize your struggles in any way,  but it does give purpose to them.  The heavenly Father does not allow suffering into our lives  just to show us He’s the boss.  There is real & eternal purpose & meaning to them,  just as there was real & eternal purpose to Jesus’ suffering & death on the cross.  Our weaknesses & sins have been paid for.  We now live in the freedom & joy of that great news.  Amen.
 
 
 
Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true & bold,  fight as the saints who nobly fought of old  & win  with them  the victor’s crown of gold!  Alleluia!   Alleluia!  Amen.  LSB 677:3.