The Wisemen - New Year’s Eve - December 31, 2014 - Text: Matthew 2:1-12

Our text is Matthew 2:1-12: 1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. This is our text.
 

This year our Advent through Christmas and New Year’s Eve theme has taken us from the promise of a Messiah to its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. We began about four weeks ago hearing some of the promises or prophecies and we heard how those promises and prophecies had their fulfillment according to God’s perfect timing. About three weeks ago we revisited some of the timing issues that have been in the Nativity Tradition for so many years. About two weeks we took some time to scrutinize some of the extra Biblical people and items that have been in our Christmas Nativity Tradition to see if our tradition really does follow the Bible. Our purpose is to make sure we get it right so that when we tell others they will not come back later and say, hey, you mixed up some stuff or added some stuff in and thus will not believe anything we say. On Christmas Eve evening, we looked at the issue of time and God’s perfect timing. On Christmas morning we reviewed the part of the shepherds in the Nativity history. This evening we will conclude our series by considering the part of the Magi or Wisemen in the Nativity History, again with an emphasis on correcting some of the parts of the account that tradition has confused.
 

The traditional church children’s Christmas or Christmas Eve program brings three Magi or the Wisemen in for the last part of the program. They arrive at the stable to greet the newborn king, but is this really how it happened? Did they arrive just after Jesus was born and where there three or do we actually know how many wisemen there were? According to the gospel writer Matthew and his account it would appear that the wisemen did not arrive on the night that Jesus was born and as we have made note earlier Jesus was not born in a stable but in the main part of the house, not the guest or upper room. After consulting with the scribes and chief priests of Herod’s court the wisemen came to see Jesus and then after leaving, once Herod realized they were not coming back He had the baby boys two years and younger murdered, thus when they arrived to see Jesus He would have been about one to one and a half years of age, again, as confirmed by Herod’s killing of the infants. And so Matthew tells us they arrived at the house where they were staying to see the child.
 

As for the number of wisemen, we usually always see three. Although tradition lists the names of three wise men as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar we do not actually know if that was their names, nor the exact number of wisemen who would have been in the caravan. I would suggest we think of there being three wisemen mostly because of the three gifts. With that said, let us take a few minutes to look at the three gifts that are mentioned and discuss their significance.
 

We are told that one gift that was given was the gift of gold. Gold was as precious in Jesus’ day as it is today and traditionally gold would be the gift for a King. Gold is a fitting gift as it recognizes Jesus is our King of Kings. Jesus was born from the kingly tribe of Judah, even from the line of King David, His rule was not to be an earthly rule and His kingdom was not intended to be an earthly kingdom. He is King of Kings who rules forever from His eternal throne in heaven.
 

We are told that another gift was the gift of incense or frankincense. The gifts of incense is a fitting gift for a priest. A priest would burn incense in the temple as a fragrant offering to the Lord. Jesus is our High Priest even the great High Priest who offered not simply incense on an altar, but He offered Himself for us once and for all on the cross. And now as our Great High Priest He is seated at the right hand of the Father where He continually intercedes for us.
 

A third gift that we are told that was given was the gift of myrrh. Myrrh is an anointing oil  and is a gift that is fitting to be given to a prophet who would in turn use the oil to anoint those especially chosen to be a prophet or a priest or a king. Jesus is a prophet even the great prophet. As a prophet He did foretell of the events of His suffering, death and resurrection, and as a prophet He did proclaim the message of salvation by His grace through faith in Himself alone. As our great prophet He is the one who fulfilled all prophecies and who continues to be proclaimed through the preaching of His Word today.
 

What does this mean? The visit of the wisemen was important because these were the first non-Jews to recognize the birth of the Christ and the fact that Jesus came for all people, Jew and Gentile alike. Remember the promise to send a Christ was given way back in the Garden of Eden before there ever was a Jew and Gentile, when there were only people, Adam and Eve.
 

The visit of the wisemen was important because they evidently had heard the promises of the coming Messiah and they were studying that Word looking for a sign. Not only did the Jewish nation have the Word of God and the promise of a Christ, so did Gentiles who heard the Word of God and believed it as well.
 

The visit of the wisemen was important because the Word of God, the historic account, their eyewitness of the birth of the Messiah was taken back to their lands. Certainly these wisemen brought back the account of their visit of the Savior of the world to their own people who rejoiced in the birth of the Savior of the world as well.
 

The visit of the wisemen reminds us that Jesus is the Savior for all people, of all places of all times. Jesus is the One, the only One who is God in flesh, who completely and fully fulfilling all the prophecies of old and all the commands of God.
 

Today we still celebrate the visit of the wisemen and many Gentiles celebrate the visit of the wisemen over and above the normal Christmas celebration because to them the visit of the wisemen is the recognition of Jesus as the Savior of all, their Savior and ours. Finally, this evening we would correct the tradition of the wisemen arriving just after the hectic rush of Mary and Joseph to find a place to stay for the baby to be born to realize that these wisemen, no matter how many there were, arrived a year or so latter giving gifts to Jesus recognizing His prominence as our prophet, priest and king. And so, now, armed with the truth of the Word of God, we may rightly and boldly give an answer for our faith so that others might hear the Word of God and be given faith as well. And so that we might all rejoice and say, to God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Shepherds - Christmas Morning - December 25, 2014 - Text: Luke 2:8-20

Our text is Luke 2:8-20: 8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. This is our text.
 

This year our Advent through Christmas and New Year’s Eve theme has taken us from the promise of a Messiah to its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. We began three weeks ago hearing some of the promises or prophecies and we heard how those promises and prophecies had their fulfillment according to God’s perfect timing. Two weeks ago we revisited some of the timing issues that have been in the Nativity Tradition for so many years. Last week we took some time to scrutinize some of the extra Biblical people and items that have been in our Christmas Nativity Tradition to see if our tradition really does follow the Bible. Our purpose is to make sure we get it right so that when we tell others of these historic events they will not come back later and say, hey, you mixed up some stuff or added some stuff in and thus will not believe anything we say. Last night, Christmas Eve evening, we looked at the issue of time and God’s perfect timing. This morning as we celebrate the birth of the Christ, we will do so with the shepherds, those few who were the first to hear the good news of the birth of the Christ. Again we will look at this account correcting those traditions that have been skewed by human sentiment.
 

The account of the shepherds begins with setting the shepherds “out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” The shepherds were doing what shepherds do, tending their sheep. As for these sheep, it has been suggested by some that these might possibly be some of the sheep that were used for sacrifices in the temple, which would add some bit of importance, if you will, I guess, to these sheep and shepherds as if we need to add to their importance for God to choose them to be the first to hear of the news of the new born Christ. Perhaps we might better understand the grace of God if we were to think of them as no more important than we and yet, out of His great love for them, God chose these shepherds to be the first to hear of the new born Christ.
 

Again, these shepherds were out in the field, tending their sheep and it was night time. The sheep had all been gathered and counted. The sheep and the shepherds may have been getting ready to go to sleep or they may have already been asleep when the angel of the Lord appeared to them. The angel appeared to them and announced the birth of the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior. The angels announced that this was the Christ and that He was born from the line of King David, which makes sense since they were guarding sheep just outside of Bethlehem, the city of David, which was also announced by the angels that is that the Savior was born in Bethlehem.
 

One question we might have right off is why this angel host here in Bethlehem, except possibly to make this announcement and speak these words of praise and notice we are not told that they sang, but that they spoke these words. We are told that this was an angel host, that is a host which is in reference to an army of angel. This army of angels was in Bethlehem at the birth of the Christ child because they were there to protect the baby, God in flesh. Certainly, just as we heard about Herod killing all the babies to protect his throne, Satan’s knowledge of the birth of God in flesh would enrage him enough to send his evil minions to attempt to kill God in flesh, if he could.
 

And the shepherds were there to witness the birth of the Christ, the Messiah so that they may then be able to tell others of what they had seen and heard. Luke tells us that those who heard about these events, presumably from the shepherds, wondered about what they had heard. We can only image the lives of these shepherds as they spoke with others, and especially with other shepherds from time to time, telling them of these wonderful events.
 

A second question we might ask is “Why were the shepherds chosen to be the first to hear the good news of the birth of the Messiah?” We know that Jesus often spoke of sheep and shepherds. We also know that He often spoke of Himself as the Good Shepherd. Jesus knew and understood the close relationship of a shepherd and his sheep, that is that each shepherd knew his sheep by name and each sheep knew its shepherd even the very voice of its shepherd so that the sheep would not respond to the voice of one who was not its shepherd.
 

Jesus also knew that sheep tend to stray and in the same way He knows that we tend to stray. We do not always live as the people He would have us to be, we sin and we sin boldly. We sin in thought, word and deed. We sin sins of omission and commission. We stray and we need a shepherd who will keep us on the straight and narrow.
 

Jesus came to shepherd us, to care for us and tend to our greatest need, forgiveness of sins which is why He is the Good Shepherd. We are conceived and born in sin and our greatest need if forgiveness of sins. Jesus came to earn forgiveness for us, to pay the price for our sins. Just as a shepherd would risk his life for his sheep, so Jesus gave His life for us.
 

What does this mean? Jesus is true God in human flesh. As a newborn baby certainly according to His human nature He needed the protection of the host of angels. Thus, not only did the host of angels announce His birth to the shepherds, they also were their to protect the newborn Christ.
 

Although He is the King of Kings, Jesus did not come as a king to rule this earth. His Kingdom is not of this world but is the eternal kingdom of heaven. Jesus came as our prophet and priest to proclaim the message of salvation, and as priest to offer Himself for us on the cross. Thus, Jesus was born lowly in a manger and yet, His birth was announced so that all people from the lowest to the greatest might know that He was born and that He would save the world.
 

Finally, Jesus did what no one else could do. He fulfilled all of the promises of Holy Scripture proving Himself to be the Christ. He obeyed all God’s laws and commands perfectly for us in our place. He lived perfectly for us because we can not. He took our sins upon Himself in order to pay the price for our sins. Yes, this is Christmas and we are celebrating the birth of our Christ, but His birth would mean nothing if He had not completed and accomplished the purpose for His birth, to shed His blood, to give His life for us in our place on the cross.
 

Today we celebrate the beginning of the end. Indeed, Jesus’ birth ushered in the end times. We are living in the last days of this world. Jesus’ life, suffering, death and resurrection as well as His ascension ushered in the last days. Every day we live brings us one day closer to His return and the ushering in of His eternal kingdom in heaven, a day we so eagerly look forward to. And while we wait, we rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Time of Fulfillment - Christmas Eve - December 24, 2014 - Text: Luke 2:1-7

Our test is Luke 2:1-7: 1In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. This is our text.
 

This year our Advent through Christmas and New Year’s Eve theme has taken us from the promise of a Messiah to its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. We began three weeks ago hearing some of the promises or prophecies and we heard how those promises and prophecies had their fulfillment according to God’s perfect timing. Two weeks ago we revisited some of the timing issues that have been in the Nativity Tradition for so many years. Last week we took some time to scrutinize some of the extra Biblical people and items that have been in our Christmas Nativity Tradition to see if our tradition really does follow the Bible. Our purpose is to make sure we get it right so that when we tell others of these historic events they will not come back later and say, hey, you mixed up some stuff or added some stuff in and thus will not believe anything we say. This evening, Christmas Eve evening, the night in which we begin our celebration of the birth of God in flesh, our Messiah, even the Christ, we look at the issue of time and God’s perfect timing.
 

From this text, we can understand the concept of time in two ways. First we can think of time in terms a calendar year and the events of history, about what time of history are we talking. The apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Gal. 4:4). Paul is speaking about history. In God’s timing, the world was at the right time. The right people were in power. Quirineus was governor of Syria. He had called for a census to be taken in order to get an accounting of the number of people over which he was ruler. Because they were from the tribe of Judah, Mary and Joseph were compelled to go to a certain place, to their home town of Bethlehem, so the baby would be born in Bethlehem, according to God’s prophecy. The nations were in the right place. The timing of the events of the world were just right.
 

The history of the world had to be at such a place so that the nation of Israel would be set to receive her king, at least some of the nation of Israel were set to receive her king. Others of Israel were not ready to accept Jesus as the Christ and they refused and rejected Him as such. Interestingly enough the first Christians were of the Jewish culture and yet, when the Christ was born, after Jesus resurrection and ascension, their Jewish religion meant nothing anymore so that they were now Christians.
 

The second understanding of time is that of gestation, the forty weeks, or nine months for a baby to be in His mother’s womb before He is born. Earlier Luke relates the history of the birth of John the Baptist who had been born to Elizabeth. This birth of John the Baptist was important as it was prophesied that He would be born who would be the forerunner of Jesus, that is the one who would announce the coming of the Christ.
 

The “time came for her to give birth,” means that Mary had been pregnant for 40 weeks. The child that grew in her womb had reached the age and development that He was ready to be born into the world. And Jesus was born, true God in human flesh in the normal way in which all human beings are born, or are at least according to God’s design to be born.
 

Finally, on a minor note, the fact that “while they were there,  the time came for her to give birth,” indicates that they had been in Bethlehem for enough time to find shelter, room and board. Contrary to tradition, to Hollywood, to our yearly children’s programs, Mary and Joseph did not rush into Bethlehem seeking a place so that Mary might immediately give birth to her child.
 

What does this mean? First and foremost this means that God is the One who is ultimately in charge. God is the One who created all things out of nothing and who created time for us. God who lives outside of time, who lives in what we describe as the eternal present does all and gives all to us. He created us to love us even when we sin. Indeed, we are all conceived and born in sin. When Adam and Eve disobeyed Him and brought sin and a curse on this earth, their sin is born in each one of us. Yet, again, because God loves us so much, at the time of Adam and Eve’s sin, God stepped in and promised He would take care of their sin. He is the One who set our redemption in motion.
 

With that said, God’s timing is perfect timing. God’s timing was such that through His prophets, through those He set to rule over His people and the people and culture groups of the world, He stirred in them, believers and unbelievers alike, to make decisions that would make sure that all things according to His plan and time would be arranged to be ready at just the right time. That Jesus was born when He was born and where He was born was no mere coincidence, but was guided by the very hand of God Himself.
 

God stepped into time, into human history, into His story, to be born of a woman, as a human being as God in human flesh. Our God is not a God who is far off. He is not a God who created a world, wound it up so to speak and then left it to wind itself down, no He is a God who is near and dear to us. Our God is a God who is active in our lives, if not directly, which is not His usual way of being in our lives, but indirectly, working through means, and especially through His means of grace, His Holy Word and His Sacraments, giving to us all the gifts and blessings He has to give, faith, forgiveness, life and salvation.
 

Jesus was and is true God in human flesh in order to accomplish what all of humanity and all of Israel could not, live perfectly. Jesus had to be truly a human being. God’s command was that we are perfect and we cannot be perfect. We are conceived and born in sin. Every inclination of our heart is evil all the time. Our nature is to sin and we daily sin much and are in need of forgiveness. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit making Him truly God, and truly sinless. He was born without sin and He never sinned.
 

The fullness of the Gospel is not simply that Jesus died on the cross. The fullness of the Gospel is that Jesus lived perfectly for us in our place. Jesus lived perfectly fulfilling all the prophecies concerning the coming Christ. Jesus lived perfectly obeying all of God’s laws and commands perfectly. Jesus never sinned for us.
 

Jesus accomplished what no other person could accomplish. He accomplished the restoration, even our relationship with Himself. Because Jesus was born in perfection, because Jesus never sinned, He was able to be our substitute, to take our place, to take our sins upon Himself in order to pay the price, to suffer the eternal spiritual death penalty for us, in our place, the price and cost for our sins. He traded His perfect life for our imperfect life. He paid the price for ours sins for us in our place. He died so that we might not have to die. What we should have received He received, eternal spiritual death and punishment. What He should have received, we received, forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven.
 

This evening we begin our celebration of the birth of God in flesh, of the beginning of God’s work of salvation for all people, of the birth of the Child who was born to die so that we might live. In the fullness of time, that is in the fullness of God’s perfect time, when He had the events of the world set at a certain place, the place most effective and efficient to work out our salvation, God sent His Son into our world to live, suffer, die and rise for us in our place. His timing is perfect. His substitutionary atonement was perfect and was enough. Nothing else needs to be done for our salvation. God has done it all and He gives it all to us and He moves and stirs in us our response of faith to say to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Guest Room - Advent Midweek 3 - December 17, 2014 - Text: Luke 2:1-7

Our text is Luke 2:1-7: 1In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. This is our text.
 

This year our Advent through Christmas and New Year’s Eve theme has been taking us from the promise of a Messiah to its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. We began two weeks ago hearing some of the promises or prophecies and we heard how those promises and prophecies had their fulfillment according to God’s perfect timing. Last week we revisited some of the timing issues that have been in the Nativity Tradition for so many years. This evening we want to take the time to scrutinize some of the extra Biblical people and items that have been in our Christmas Nativity Tradition to see if our tradition really does follow the Bible. Our purpose is to make sure we get it right so that when we tell others they will not come back later and say, hey, you mixed up some stuff or added some stuff in and thus will not believe anything we say.
 

First let us take a look at God’s hand in the actions that took place in the timing and the placing of those involved in the events of the fulfillment of God’s Word. First, God had to get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. So, how does God get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem? They got to Bethlehem because Quirinius who was the governor of Syria called for a registration of all his citizens. Quirinius was a historic person so we can know the time of his rule and the validity of the facts of this historical account. Thus, God used the call for a census by a human governor to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.
 

Why the city of Bethlehem? God brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem for several reasons, all of which bring about the culmination of the fulfillment of His prophecy concerning the Christ He would send. God brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem because they were from the line of the Children of Israel who were given Bethlehem as their allotted portion of the promised land. They were brought to Bethlehem because they were from the house of King David. They were brought to Bethlehem at the time of the birth of the Christ so that these prophecies might be fulfilled.
 

What about the timing and room of the birth? Our traditional Christmas rendering, that is our usual children’s Christmas program as well as television and Hollywood movies bring Mary and Joseph rushing into Bethlehem frantically seeking a place to stay because Mary is in labor and is about to have her baby on the donkey on which she is riding. Kind of like having a baby in the cab on the way to the hospital I would suppose. Certainly this brings good drama and suspense to the program, but is that really what we read had happened. Again, as I have said many times before, sometimes we need to go back and see what the Bible really does say. And what the Bible says does not really indicate any type of rushing into town looking for a room, rather it says that she gave birth “while they were there.” This “while they were there” indicates that they may have been there for some time, not simply rushing into town.
 

Okay, so they did not rush into town looking for a place to stay, but what about the fact that we hear every year how all the hotels, all the inns were full? Again, let us go back to see what the Bible really says. First let us take a look at the meaning of the word “inn,” since we are told there was no room in the “inn.” The word that is translated as “inn” is the word “kataluma” which means guest room. And actually this is the same word Jesus used when He told His disciples to prepare the Passover, the only difference is that in the Gospel of Matthew it is translated as “guest room” not inn. But what about the translation that calls it an “inn?” There is a actually a different word that is translated as “inn,” and that is the word pandochion. In the parable of the Good Samaritan we are told that after bandaging his wounds the Samaritan took the man to an “inn” and paid the “innkeeper” to take care of the man that had been beaten.
 

So, when Mary and Joseph came into town, they looked for a place to stay among their relatives, remember this was the city of their tribe or clan. Because there was an influx of people coming into town to register all the upper rooms or guest rooms had already been taken by other relatives so instead of staying in the upper room or guest room Mary and Joseph stayed with the rest of the family in the main part of the house.
 

As for the matter of the manger or feeding trough in which the baby Jesus was laid. In the main part of the house where the family lived, the animals were kept in the house especially at night with the family. In order to feed the animals a manger or feeding trough was necessary. This manger would have been either a carved out stone trough or a wooden trough.
 

Finally, we are told that Joseph was to be registered with Mary to whom he was betrothed. To be betrothed meant more than what is meant by being engaged in our society and culture today. To be engaged today simply means two people intend to get married. To be betrothed meant that they were actually married, just not exercising their marital benefits. If the betrothal was to be broken it would have had to be broken by a divorce. Thus, Mary and Joseph were not married, yet they had also not consummated the marriage and so Christ was born of a virgin.
 

What does this mean? As always, this means that God’s Word is faithful and true and can be trusted. This means that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the One promised in Eden and reiterated throughout the Old Testament. This means that Jesus was born in Bethlehem just as God had foretold, thus this means prophecy fulfilled.
 

Jesus was born of a virgin meaning that His mother was the human woman Mary making Him completely human and His Father was the Holy Spirit making Him completely divine or truly God. Jesus was not half man and half God but one hundred percent man and one hundred percent God. He had to be God in order to be born in perfection for us. He had to be human in order to trade, or substitute His life for ours, to redeem us, to buy us back, to reconcile our account with Himself. Jesus was born of a virgin, prophecy fulfilled.
 

Jesus continues to beat the odds of one man fulfilling all the promises of the Old Testament giving us confidence, not in His beating the odds, but in God’s Word which does what it says and gives what it says. Jesus did fulfill, not just one, not just some, but all of the prophecies of the Old Testament. Jesus is true God in human flesh. Jesus was perfect for us in our place. Jesus has done it all and He gives it all to us.
 

So, even though human beings may get certain facts out of wack at times, and even though our traditions may not tell the story in the exact way, we still have God’s Word, a Word which is alive and still speaks to us today. Perhaps, again, before we begin quoting or misquoting God’s Word we would do well to go back and make sure God says what we are saying He says. And that might simply be a good reminder to us to make regular and diligent use of the means of grace, reading God’s Word, daily, remembering our Baptism, confessing our sins and hearing the most beautiful words of forgiveness and partaking of our Lord’s body and blood, in, with and under the bread and wine in His most holy meal. And indeed the gifts God gives through the means He gives them are most certain indeed and we say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Beginning of the Promises Being Fulfilled - Advent Midweek 2 - December 10, 2014 - Text: Matthew 2:1-6

Our text for this evening is Matthew 2:1-6: 1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” This is our text.
 

This year our Advent through Christmas and New Year’s Eve theme will take us from the promise of a Messiah to its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. We began last week hearing some of the promises or prophecies and we heard how those promises and prophecies had their fulfillment according to God’s perfect timing. This evening we will revisit some of the timing issues that have been in the Nativity Tradition for so many years. Now please understand, I am not against traditions. Traditions are and can be good and helpful, however, traditions that are based, not on fact but on conjecture need to be looked at, examined, and if contrary to fact they need to be changed to make them factual.
 

If you have noticed some of the “biblical” movies that have been put out by Hollywood, you may have noticed that creative and artistic license is often brought into play. My take is that this creative and artistic license is simply Satan’s way of interjecting falsehood into the truth of the Bible so that all of the Bible might eventually by spoken of as myth or folklore, or whatever label one might want to attach to delegitamize God’s Word. So, as I have said many times, when we are quoting something from the Bible, perhaps we would do well from time to time to go back and double check what we are quoting to make sure we have quoted correctly.
 

With that said, let us revisit our text. God’s timing is perfect timing. When we examine the world and the history of the world, in other words when we look at who were the rulers that were in place, when we see that the children of Israel were in Jerusalem, we realize that all things that needed to be in place for God to work out our salvation were in place and at just the right time. So, in setting the time line of God fulfilling His promise of a Christ we read in verse one that “after” Jesus was born in Bethlehem the Magi arrived. Thus, from the text we might rightly understand that Jesus was between the age of one and one and half before the Magi arrived, not a baby in a barn behind someone’s house in Bethlehem.
  

  In verse six we are told that the chief priests and scribes related the prophecy from Micah 5:2 of Jesus birth in Bethlehem. Interestingly enough, and as a bit of an aside, I wonder where these chief priests and scribes were when Jesus was thirty and beginning His ministry in Jerusalem? Had they forgotten their own interpretation of the prophecies of old? Why did they not believe Him to be the Christ, unless they believed that Herod had actually killed the Messiah?
 

Anyway, this news of the birth of a king was disturbing news. We are told that Herod and all Jerusalem was troubled with him. Herod was troubled because he was jealous for his kingdom, rule and power. Herod was known to put to death anyone who might challenge his rule. News of a new king, even though it was a baby, was no exception. Yet, Herod did not want to let on that he was disturbed so he simply asked that after the Magi found the king they would tell him so that he might worship the king as well, knowing that his intent was to be rid of any challenger to his throne.
 

We are told that all Jerusalem was troubled as well. All Jerusalem was troubled because they knew of the king’s jealousy and so they were troubled at what the king might do. They knew that the king would go to any length to snuff out and be rid of any rival to the throne including what he might do to them as citizens.
 

After the Magi left and after a while the king realized the Magi were not going to return and so the king’s response, after being duped by the Magi was to have all the boys two years and under killed, again giving us an age for Jesus of one to one and a half years. “17Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more” (Matthew 6:17-18). Again, this is an actual historic event which helps us to date the time of Jesus’ birth as well as establish the fact of His birth in human history as a human being.
 

What does this mean? Again, as we pointed out last week and as our text bears witness this week, the fact is that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This historic fact is evidence of prophecy fulfilled, or at least we should say the beginning of the prophecies of the Old Testament being fulfilled. The odds of one person fulfilling all the prophecies of the Old Testament which point to the Christ are astronomical and yet this is what Jesus did and our text for this evening is the beginning of His fulfillment.
 

Again, as we were reminded last week and as our text bears out this week, Jesus was born as ruler of Judah, even more He was born from the line of King David making Him truly an heir to the earthly throne of the Children of Israel. This is again prophecy fulfilled. Yet, Jesus was not born to be an earthly king. His kingdom would be and is an eternal kingdom in heaven, as was noted last week, Genesis 49:10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” and also Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
 

Even more, our text speaks words of human history. Jesus, the Christ is not some mythical, made up, fictional character of some humanly invented religion. Jesus is a human, historic figure born in time and in history. His history is that Jesus is born at the time that Herod was King in Jerusalem. Jesus was a true historic person. Jesus was the One promised to save the world.
 

Too many religions in our world have their foundations on some words of some dead human being. Too many religions are based on some mythical characters from stories and legends that are simply meant to bring about a better, morally ethical society. Too many religions are founded on someone’s claim of a new revelation correcting all the falsities of Christianity with no factual nor historical footing. Not so with Jesus. Not so with the Christian Church. The fact is that Jesus was born in human history and human time. He is truly God in human flesh. He lived perfectly fulfilling God’s command to all people. He took all the sins of all people of all places of all times on Himself, your sins and mine. He suffered the eternal spiritual death penalty of hell, what would be our punishment for our sin, for us. He died and yet death and the grave had no hold over Him as He rose victorious over sin, death and the devil. After forty days He ascended back to the place from which He had descended, that is He ascended into heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father, watching over us, ruling over us and interceding for us. His body has never been found and will never be found because unlike other religious rulers who died and whose remains are here on earth, Jesus remains in His bodily form in heaven, and yet He continues to be everywhere present. The importance of the historicity of Jesus is that our faith and eternal life depend on it.
 

God said it would happen. God guided and directed the events that would happen. Jesus lived perfectly, suffered, died and rose for us, for you and for me and now the Holy Spirit working through the means our Lord has given us, His means of grace, His Holy Word, and His Sacraments, comes to us to give us the gifts He has to give, faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. He has done it all and He gives it all to us and indeed, we are given to. And we respond with great joy and say, to God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Promises - Advent Midweek 1 - December 3, 2014 - Text: Gen. 3:15, 49:10; Is. 7:14; Mic. 5:2

Our texts for this evening are: Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 49:10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” And Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” These are our text.
 

This year our Advent through Christmas and New Year’s Eve theme will take us from the promise of a Messiah to its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. We will begin by hearing the promise or prophecy and then we will hear how those promises and prophecies had their fulfillment according to God’s perfect timing. Along the way we will correct some of the errors of tradition as we go back to God’s Word and read what He tells us.
 

This evening we begin our Advent season, our season of preparation to celebrate the birth of our Messiah by going back and looking at the first promises, the first prophecies of God to send a Savior.
 

The very first promise of a Savior was given by God in the Garden of Eden. Immediately after Eve and Adam disobeyed God and ate of the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, that disobedience brought sin and a curse. God’s curse was that the serpent would crawl on his belly, the man would have to toil and sweat in his work. And as an aside I would remind you that work was not the punishment as Adam and Eve had already had the privilege of working the garden. It was the toil and sweat that were added to the work. And to the woman she would have pain in childbearing and would have a desire for her husband, especially a desire to usurp his role as the head of the family. But God stepped in with the promise: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15).
 

God’s promise was a promise of restoration. He would restore the relationship that Adam and Eve had broken with Him through the birth of an offspring, in particular, a Son. This promise of a son is why Eve believed her first sons were perhaps the one promised by God, which was not the case, rather the birth of the first two sons recorded in Genesis were only a reminder that we are all conceived and born in sin.
 

God’s promise was that the Savior, which in Hebrew is Messiah and in Greek is Christ will have His heel bruised. In other words, He will die. Again another aside, the reason I remind you that the Greek word for Savior or Messiah is Christ is because this is indeed the birth of the Christian Church, that is all who believe in the promise of the coming Christ are Christians.
 

Continuing on, God’s promise was also that even though the Christ would die, in His death, Satan will have his head crushed, that is he will be completely defeated.
 

In our second reading we are told that the promise of the Savior is that He would be born from the line of Judah “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Gen. 49:10). At this point God is narrowing the family line through which the Christ would be born. This is not a new or second covenant, simply a narrowing of its fulfillment. The family of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob (Israel) would be the family through which the Christ would be born.
 

The fact that the Christ would be born from the line of Judah reminds us that His is a royal lineage, from the same line of King David and God’s promise is that His reign would be eternal in other words, not only would Jesus defeat Satan, He will rule eternally in heaven. This whole eternal reign is often misunderstood by some thinking that the Christ will have some kind of earthly rule, which was never the intention. God’s restoration of mankind is an eternal heavenly restoration.
 

In our third reading we have the promise that the Savior would be born of a virgin: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). Why the importance of the Christ being born of a virgin, because the normal way of conception is that a sinful man and a sinful woman conceive a sinful child. The Christ would not be born in this normal way, of a human man and a human woman, rather He would be conceived of a woman by God so that He will be truly God and truly human without sin. He had to be truly human to be our substitute and He had to be without sin to redeem us.
 

The Christ would bear the name Immanuel, which means God with us. Here again, a reminder that the Christ is not simply an ordinary sinful human being, but is indeed God conceived in human flesh, yet perfect and holy as only God is.
 

In our last reading we are told that the Savor would be born in Bethlehem: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2). Why Bethlehem? The town of Bethlehem was the town from which ancient rulers had been born, ancient rulers such as King David. In other words, Bethlehem was a town of royalty, of royal blood. Jesus was born as King of the Jews, not an earthly king as we have said, but a heavenly, eternal king, thus Bethlehem was the fitting place for Him to be born.
 

The Christ would be born in the small town of Bethlehem. Because of the events of the world, because Bethlehem was a small town, kind of off the map, off the charts, it was the perfect place for God’s Christ to be born, unnoticed by the world, yet noticed by those to whom God had brought the attention, namely the shepherds and the Magi, whom we will hear about later.
 

So, what does this mean? God’s promise was to send a Savior, a Messiah, a Christ and the Savior would be identifiable because He would be the One who would fulfill all these criteria. He would be the one who would be conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in a virgin woman. He would be the one who would be from the line of Judah the son of Jacob or Israel, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. He would be born of the line of King David even born in his home town, which was brought about by the census. He would be the One who would die and in dying He would completely defeat Satan.
 

The odds of any one person fulfilling all these criteria would be great, yet that is what Jesus did, so that we can know for certain that He is the Christ. Indeed the very reason we have the prophecies and promise and the very reason we have the fulfillment spelled out for us in Holy Scripture is so that we can know for certain that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and that by faith in Him we have life and salvation.
 

Perhaps you have heard it said, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” I am hear to tell you, “God said it, that settles it.” Whether or not I believe it does not matter. The focus is not on me. God said He would send a Christ and He did. God’s promises throughout the Old Testament pointed to the Christ. God’s Word throughout the New Testament points to Jesus as the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Savior. God in flesh has done it all for us, for you and for me. He has lived perfectly for us in our place. He has taken our sins upon Himself. He has paid the price for our sins, restoring our relationship with Himself. He suffered, died and rose victorious over sin, death and the devil and now He is seated at the right hand of the Father watching over us, ruling over us and interceding for us. And He is waiting for the day He will gather us with Himself in heaven for eternity and our response is, thanks be to God and to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Christ Has Indeed Been Raised from the Dead - November 23, 2014 - Last Sunday of the Church Year (Proper 29) - Text: 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

In a court of law, witnesses play one of the most important roles. The prosecution, as well as the defense, each get to call their own witnesses and cross examine the others witnesses. The role of the witness is to explain what they saw. As Christians we are witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. As we read God’s powerful Word, the Holy Spirit works through that word to work faith in our hearts. Thus, by the working of the Holy Spirit, through faith we have seen and bear witness to Jesus’ resurrection. Now that witness may be good enough for others who share the same faith, but for those who do not believe, that witness is not always nor necessarily enough. Thanks be to God that we have reliable witnesses so that we have proof positive of the resurrection. If we did not have such reliable witnesses then Paul’s words would be devastating, “19If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 19, 20).
 

From my Catechetical Helps book I have a list of witness to Jesus’ resurrection. According to this list (p. 90) Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene. She is listed with Mary the mother of James, and Salome as having witnessed Jesus alive. Jesus appeared to Peter as we read in Luke (24:34).  Jesus appeared to James as we read in 1 Corinthians (15:7). He appeared to the disciples of Emmaus on that first Easter afternoon. He appeared to the disciples when Thomas was absent, again on  that first Easter evening. One week later He appeared to the disciples and Thomas. He appeared to the seven disciples by the sea, that was when He helped them catch a large number of fish. He appeared to the eleven on the mountain and possibly these were some of the 500 mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians (15:6).
 

These witnesses I have just mentioned are written in our Bible. What about witnesses outside our Bible? Are there any witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection outside of the Bible? The answer to that question is yes and no. No, there is no specific witness saying that the Easter Resurrection happened without a doubt, but there is evidence which supports the resurrection. The first bit of evidence is the very fact that the Jewish argument shared with Christians the conviction that the tomb was empty, but the explanations for its being empty are different. Dr. Paul Maier puts it this way, “Such positive evidence within a hostile source is the strongest kind of evidence and becomes self-authenticating.” In other words, if the enemy agrees that is one thing, but if the enemy disagrees, which they naturally would, that would mean your case holds the strongest argument. In the case of Jesus’ resurrection, the Jews agree that the grave was empty, but they disagree as to why. Another extra Biblical witness is that of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus who mentions that it was reported that Jesus appeared alive again three days after His crucifixion. As archeology continues to find ancient relics there is no doubt that even more evidence is forthcoming.
 

There are still other reasons for believing, such as the very fact that Jesus Himself spoke of His resurrection. In passage after passage Jesus told the people that He had to suffer and die and that He would rise again. Another reason to believe in the resurrection is the fact that the disciples are trustworthy historians. The disciples were out to tell the truth, to bear witness to the facts they saw. Why would they make up such stories, especially if they knew that they would be persecuted, tortured and even executed for doing so? More than likely people make up things in order to get out of being punished, tortured and persecuted. Why would the disciples make up the stories of the resurrection in order to be executed?
 

Another reason for believing the resurrection is the change of the behavior of the disciples, and especially that of Peter who changed from being what I would call a reactionary to being a responder, someone who responded to the needs of others.
 

Another reason for believing the resurrection is the observance of Sunday as the day of rest. What else would account for the change of the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday? It would have to be something very dramatic. And it was, it was the resurrection which moved people to want to worship on Sunday in order that every Sunday would be a little Easter celebration.
 

Another reason for believing the resurrection is that of Christianity. Christianity was not some kind of new sect, rather Christianity has its roots in Genesis when God promised to send a Christ, which is the Greek word for Messiah. Christians are followers of Christ, the fulfiller of all the Old Testament prophecies and the way to eternal life. The Jewish faith of today began at the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. The Jewish faith began with those who denied Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ.
 

Another reason for believing the resurrection is because of our calendar. We are living in the year 2014 A.D. that is translated “in the year of our Lord.” The years before our Lord are cleverly referred to as the years before Christ or B.C. In recent times there has been an attempt to thwart Christianity; there are some who are trying to change our references from B.C. to B.C.E. being before the common era and C.E. being common era, but the fact remains that for so many years we have referenced time according to the days of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I really do not think you can get away from the calendar being centered on the life of Christ by simply changing the name to Common Era, whatever that means.
 

As Christians we can rest assured in the fact of the resurrection and because of the resurrection we know that we too have victory over sin, death and the devil. Going back to our text Paul says, “24Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power” (v. 24).  And “26The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (v. 26). Yes, we may still experience physical death, but because of Jesus death and resurrection we are assured that we will never experience eternal death, death in hell.
 

We have victory over sin, death, and the devil meaning we have victory over original sin as well as actual sin. Going back to our text Paul says, “21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (v. 21-22). The genetically transferred sin of Adam which is born in each and everyone of us is forgiven as well as the sins we commit each and every day.
 

What does this mean? This means that we are free from the bondage of sin, original and actual sin, sins of omission and sins of commission. We are free from death, eternal spiritual death in hell, and we are free from the power of the devil. We will still have to face trials and temptations. We will still have the struggle of resisting sin and temptation. We will more than likely still face physical death. But now we have the added advantage that our sins have been forgiven and we have the Holy Spirit, the Comforter who is with us to help us resist sin and temptation and to overcome and win out in the end.
 

This means that we have the promise of eternal life. We may fear the way in which we may physically die, but we do not fear what will happen after our physical death. By grace, through faith in Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection we have the assurance that we have a place in heaven waiting for us, so that we may be sure, as the thief on the cross, that in the very day we die we will be with Jesus in paradise.
 

How is this done? This done by the Holy Spirit working through the means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Holy Spirit uses these means to bring us to faith and to keep us in faith. The Holy Spirit uses these means to impart God’s gifts to us, His gifts of faith, forgiveness, assurance of forgiveness, assurance of life and salvation and the list of gifts never ends.
 

What do we do? With the help of the Holy Spirit we respond to all our Lord has done for us not because He needs anything from us but simply because of our need to respond. We respond by taking part in God’s means of grace so that He can pour out even more of His gifts on us. When we absent ourselves from His means of grace then we take away His way of giving us His gifts and ultimately we fall away, but when we daily read His Word, when we daily remember our Baptism, when we regularly, once a week, come to Him in worship and confess our sins we then are able to hear those most beautiful and powerful words, “Your sins are forgiven,” and we know that this word does what it says, when we hear the word that we are forgiven then we know we are forgiven. We also regularly, every week, come to Him in worship and partake of His true body and blood in His Holy meal as often as we are able, then He has ample opportunity to give us His gifts and even more of His gifts. It is very much like any sport, art, craft, or talent, playing golf, bowling, playing piano or any musical instrument, the only way to continue to do well is to practice, to make time to practice, no matter how many distractions tempt you away from practice. So it is with the Lord’s gifts. We  cannot be given His gifts when we absent ourselves from them and the place where they are given out and believe me the temptations to be absent from the Lord's Word are far greater than any other.
 

With the help of the Holy Spirit we respond in gratitude and praise for all our Lord has done for us. He comes to us through His means of grace and we go to Him in pray, praise, and giving thanks.
 

“19If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 19, 20). As we end this present Church Year we end in confidence. We have confidence in Christ’s resurrection and thus in our own resurrection. We are ready for, either Christ’s return or our passing from this world and going to Him. God has said it and that settles it. Thanks be to God and to Him be the glory. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Encourage One Another - November 16, 2014 - Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28) - Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Today is the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost and it is also the second last Sunday of this current church year. As was noted last week and as is noted every year during the last three Sundays of the church year, the lessons for these Sundays remind us of the fact that our life on this earth is short, fast and fleeting, but a breath compared to our life in heaven or in hell, which is for eternity. The importance of these texts and their reminders is that too often we spend way too much of our time focusing on this world, even to the determent of our own spiritual well being instead of being ready to meet our Lord. And we will meet our Lord, either when He returns or when we pass on and I will continue to remind you that both of those days will be sooner than we know and sooner than we might imagine. Interestingly enough, these text kind of remind me of the one commercial on television in which the person finds a note that says something to the effect that “today your heart attack will happen at four pm,” “or tomorrow you will have a car accident.” Indeed, as we earnestly desire to be feed in divine service and Bible class our eyes do see God’s little notes that we will meet Him sooner than we know.
 

Our text for this morning continues from our text from last Sunday. Remember, last Sunday Paul was writing concerning the misunderstanding of the Thessalonians concerning the Lord’s return. This morning Paul continues speaking to their concern, picking up at verse one, “1Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (v. 1-2). I would suggest that we know about the times and seasons as set at creation. Certainly there is much ado about such things in our naturalistic thinking world, but we have God’s promise and we believe Him that as long as the world remains it will remain in God’s hands and so, until He returns times and seasons will continue.
 

We also know, that is we believe that Jesus will come as He promised. We believe that He will come again as He promise just as He came the first time according to God’s prophecies. In other words, even though God waited some four thousand years or so to fulfill His first promise in the Garden of Eden to send a Savior, and He did fulfill that promise in Jesus, so He will fulfill His promise to come again. At this point we have only waited some two thousand years, but that does not necessarily mean He will wait another two thousand years, He may even come tomorrow or even today.
 

The question we need to ask and answer is, are we ready? Are we ready to meet the Lord? We might quite simply ask, “are we ready to die?,” because even if the Lord does not return during our own life time, we will return to Him.
 

Paul goes on to explain the two approaches or two ways of thinking about the end of the world and these ways were the same then as they are today, picking up at verse three, “3While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation” (v. 3-8). There are many in our world today who say, “There is peace and security.” Quite frankly I would suggest that those are the ones who are living with there heads in the sand. One look at the events of the world will show all the upheaval and turmoil that is in the world today.
 

Then there are those living in darkness, I would say that these are those living in the culture, who will attempt to divine the times, that is by using so called science, as well as astrology, and the like they will attempt to discover future events.
 

There will be those as Paul describes who will sleep and get drunk, not paying attention to the signs and being ready. Indeed, we live in a world of people who are so focused on themselves, pleasing themselves, living for the weekend, and I do not mean living for Divine Service and Bible Class, but living to be happy as they define happiness so that they are oblivious to the signs and seasons and the coming of the Lord, indeed, all of these people will not be ready.
 

So Paul encourages us as He calls us children of Light, that is believers to be ready. We are to get ready and actually we do not get ourselves ready but we are made ready by Jesus. We are made ready as He gives, strengthens and keeps us in faith. We are made ready and we know we are ready when we hunger and thirst after the gifts of God. Indeed, faith shows itself in its desire to be where the gifts of God are given out. And the opposite is also true, for there to be no desire to be given the gifts indicates that there is no faith.
 

The Lord makes us ready and He keeps us ready. He keeps us ready as we make regular and diligent use of the means of grace, those means the Lord has given through which He gives all His gifts and blessings. Again, one’s faith is seen in one’s desire to be were and when the gifts are given out and again the opposite is true as well, that is where there is no desire for the gifts, there is seen no faith. Luther writes rather extensively about this in the Large Catechism and suggest that if there is no desire for the sacrament one ought to check to see if they are still alive and in the world and he goes on to suggest that surely that one will have the devil about him.
 

Finally in our text Paul outlines our hope and response of faith. We pick up at verse nine, “9For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (v. 9-11). God has destined us to eternal life in heaven. Heaven is ours now, won for us, paid for us, given to us by the blood of Jesus. Certainly we will not move in until either we pass on or our Lord returns, but heaven is a present reality. As always, because our will is bound and has been tainted by sin, all we can do, in and of ourselves, is refuse and reject this gift of heaven, which unfortunately so many people do day in and day out, week in and week out.
 

Paul encourages us then in our faith life to live lives of faith. We are to live as priests, offering our lives as living sacrifices for our Lord. There should be no mistake, when others look at us they should know we belong to Jesus. To live life apathetically would be to live life in denial of Jesus. And so Paul encourages us and I encourage us, to live lives of faith. Certainly as we live lives of faith we do continue to sin, yet our confession and reception of God’s absolution may also be a good witness to others of what the true Christian faith life is all about.
 

And we are to encourage and build each other up. When we see people absent themselves from divine service, refusing and rejecting the gifts of God, indeed making a mockery of God and His church, the loving thing is not to allow them to continue in that lifestyle, not to allow them to continue given a bad example of the Christian faith life, the loving thing is to help them to see the error of the way so they might repent and be given forgiveness. Perhaps we have failed in the church by not taking God seriously when He tells us to expel them from the midst. Our society says live and let live and that sentiment has made its way into the church as live and let die because to let one continue to live in rejection of God is indeed to let them die eternally and that is not a loving thing to do.
 

What does this mean? In the beginning, in the Garden of Eden God promised to send a Savior. After some four thousand or so years God fulfilled His promise. He sent Jesus, God in flesh in order to fulfill that promise. Jesus came to earth, God in flesh in order to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Jesus came to live perfectly and to obey all of God’s laws perfectly for us in our place. And He did. Jesus lived perfectly and perfectly fulfilled all God’s promises. Then He took our sins and all sins on Himself. He who knew no sin became sin for us and He suffered and paid the price for our sins. Jesus suffered hell for us. And He died. But death and the grave had no power over Him. He rose from the dead defeating sin, death and the devil. And now He gives us what He earned, forgiveness of sins.
 

After Jesus showed Himself to be alive and before He ascended back in to heaven He promised He would return. He did not say when He would return, but He promised He would return. So far He has waited some two thousand years. We do not know if He will wait another two thousand years, all we know is that He promise to return and we are to be ready for His return. As Paul reminds us, God is not slow as some count slowness, rather He is patient, wanting as many people as possible to be brought to faith.
 

In the mean time, while we wait we are to wait in eager expectation. We are to wait in readiness, continually making sure we are ready, focusing our attention on the things above, not the things of this world. And we are to encourage and build each other up, through making regular and diligent use of the means of grace. We are to love others by inviting them to come and be given the gifts God has to give and by always being ready to give an answer for our faith in Jesus.
 

We are not to be in the dark concerning the coming of the day of the Lord, because we are children of light, children of Christ, we are to remain ready for the Lord’s return and we are to encourage each other until that day. We are not to remain in the dark concerning Jesus’ return, even if we do not know the exact day, but we do know He will return or that we will go to Him and until that time we continue to remain ready as He has made us ready and we are to encourage each other to be ready. And when that day comes we will rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

God Works in You - September 28, 2014 - Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21) Text: Philippians 2:1-4, (5-13) 14-18

Again this morning as the past several Sundays, Paul, writing to the Christians at Philippi is writing to us here at St. Matthew Lutheran Church to encourage us in our Christian faith walk with Christ, in our Sanctification. As we continue to be reminded, our justification, that is our being made just and right and holy before God flows from God’s love for us and His living for us, taking our sins and dying for us and His rising for us. So also our sanctification, our living lives of faith flows from God’s first love for us in that we love because He first loves us. Paul outlines both these teachings well as he speaks to us words of encouragement and shows how our lives of faith flow out of what God in Christ has first done for us.
 

Our text begins with Paul’s words of encouragement, beginning at verse one, “1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others”(v. 1-4). Paul speaks words of encouragement to us in that he encourages us to love one another. Paul’s words, especially in verse four, to “look not only to [your] own interest” reminds me of the old saying that joy is spelled, J - Jesus, O - Others, and Y - Yourself. We find true joy when Jesus is first in our lives, which is in keeping with the first commandment of not having other gods before our One True God. We find joy as we keep Jesus first every day as well as every Sunday being in divine service and Bible class, rather than letting something else take first place as many in our society tend to do. So Paul encourages us to love one another which he knows we can do only as we are first loved by Jesus.
 

Paul also speaks words of encouragement that is to have a unity of mind and in this instance he is not simply talking about agreeing on some current social issue nor some popular idea, rather he is speaking in particular about having a unity of doctrine or teaching, a unity of beliefs. There are many in our culture who like to celebrate diversity and tolerance, which at first hearing sound reasonable, yet to do so blindly would be detrimental. In response to the desire to celebrate diversity, I have said it before in our circuit and district meetings, diversity is fine, however, the word divide is in diversity. To blindly celebrate diversity in many instances brings more division than anything. If we want unity, we need to be united in what we believe, teach, confess and practice. So Paul encourages a unity of mind.
 

But Paul is not done. He goes on to talk about our attitude that is that we should have the attitude of Christ. We pick up at verse five, “5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (v. 5-11). In the four Gospels we are continually pointed to the fact that Jesus is truly human and He is truly God. He is shown to be human according to His human birth by the His human mother, Mary and He is shown to be truly God through the signs, wonders and miracles He performed; signs, wonders and miracles only God can perform. So, Christ is God, but as Paul points out He did not fully or always use His divine powers. He did not raise everyone from the dead. He did not heal everyone and so on.
 

Paul says that Christ took the form of a slave and understand that slave is the actual word, not servant as some translations attempt to tone down the language of the Word of God. Jesus became a slave to the law, all the law, the ceremonial law, the moral law, and the civil law. Jesus slavishly obeyed all the law perfectly. He slavishly did for all of Israel, and for all of us what they and we cannot do, He lived perfectly. He obeyed God’s love to be perfect, perfectly for us in our place because we cannot.
 

And Jesus humbled Himself to the point of death even death on the cross for our sins. The price for sin is death, eternal spiritual death. Being conceived and born in sin, the judgement on us at our birth is death and yet, Jesus, because of His great love for us, after living perfectly and He could have traded His perfectly life for heaven for Himself, but instead, because of His great love for us, He took our sins upon Himself. He who knew no sin became sin for us and took our sins to the cross in order to pay the price for our sins.
 

Yet, death and the grave had no power over Him. Instead, Christ rose from the dead defeating sin, death and the devil. Because He defeated sin, death and the devil for us in our place, they have no power over us. Indeed His victory is our victory.
 

And Christ is exalted above all, as true God. And in the end, as Paul so well says, and as John tells us in his revelation from God, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord, Yahweh, God. Of course, we know the unbelievers will confess to their judgement and attempt to blame God for their unbelief and every Christian will confess to their eternal salvation.
 

But Paul in not done. He continues to encourage us in his absence. We pick up at verse twelve, “12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (v. 12-13). As we were encouraged last week, so we are encouraged today. We are encouraged to be obedient, which we know we can do only with God’s help, but this encouragement from Paul is especially that we are obedient when we are away from the church, in other words, we live lives of faith, not just at church on Sunday mornings, but at home and at work, even at school or wherever we are every day we know that no matter where we are, the Lord is there with us.
 

Again, our encouragement is to understand that it is “God who works in you. . .” to do good works. We do not do good works in and of ourselves. We do good works as God motivates us, works good works in and through us and as they are done to His glory.
 

And so, finally in our text Paul encourages us to rejoice. Picking up at verse fourteen, 14Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me” (v. 14-18). Paul encourages us to live lives of faith without grumbling or questioning, a most difficult thing to do especially in a world in which we might believe life is rather unfair, at least or especially for Christians. Certainly we can always look at life and people and see how we have it worse than everyone else, or that everyone else seems to have it better or easier than we have it. How often do we look out and see how someone else has it so much worse than we have it or how our life is so much easier than someone else? Not too often I would suggest. Paul encourages us to be optimistic rather than pessimistic, but not simply for the sake of optimism or pessimism at least from a superficial human perspective. Indeed, as Christians, as brothers and sister of Christ, as children of God, how can we be anything except hopeful, encouraging and rejoicing, after all, our fate is set and secure, heaven is our home.
 

Paul encourages us to hold fast to the Word of God which is a light to the world. Might I suggest that Paul is here encouraging us as I continually encourage you, to make regular, each and every Sunday, and diligent, all the time, use of the means of grace. It all begins and ends with Jesus. We are conceived and born in sin. Jesus is perfection. We have no love of our own. Jesus loves us. Jesus forgives us. Jesus gives us forgiveness. Jesus gives us faith. Jesus loves us and shines through us so that we might forgive and love others.
 

Therefore, Paul encourages us to rejoice, no matter what our lot in life. Our time in this world, compared to eternity in heaven, is but a breath. The minor inconveniences we suffer in this world  are nothing compared to the glory that will be ours forever in heaven. Certainly, as we look at our lives in this world, indeed as we live day by day, our sixty, seventy, ninety and if God is willing our hundred years of life in this world might seem like a long time while we are in this world living day by day, yet, compared to eternity, forever, which has no beginning and no end, our time in this world truly is nothing and will mean nothing when we get to heaven. No one in heaven will care about what car we drove, what house we lived in, what team won or lost, what career path we took, what school we attended, how smart we were or anything. What will be most important is whether or not we had faith in Jesus, whether or not we rejoiced in His love and forgiveness and shared that love and forgiveness with others.
 

I am not Paul, nor would I consider myself to be inspired in the same manner as any of the Apostles or writers of Scripture, yet, I would encourage in the manner of Paul’s encouragement, to have the attitude of Christ. First and foremost I would encourage you to live a life pleasing to the Lord by making regular and diligent use of the means of grace, that is by first and foremost being given to by God through the means He has to give to you. Do not refuse and reject His gifts. Do not be complacent in being given His gifts. Make begin given His gifts a first priority of you life, thus keeping the first, second, and third commandments. I would encourage you to be strengthened in the faith and gifts the Lord gives, also by making regular and diligent use of His means of grace. I would then encourage you to live a life to the glory of God as He gives you faith, strengthens you in faith and works His good works in and through you. I would encourage you to encourage one another without grumbling or questioning. And finally, I would also encourage you to rejoice in the Lord always. God loves you so much. He has shown His love for you in Jesus. And He will continue to love you because He is love. To Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

To Live Is Christ - September 21, 2015 - Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20) - Text: Philipians 1:12-14, 19-30

We live in a world where physical health is a great concern. At times we obsess with physical health. Statements are made concerning what is called one’s “quality of life.” And we are bombarded with the message that, unless we are in good physical health, life is not worth living and we are not worth being allowed to live. There are even laws in some countries which make it legal to put to death those who are deemed unfit to live by those living in the society. This is what we often call euthanasia. Interestingly enough, the word “euthanasia” means good death, but I would suggest that for the person being put to death, it may be anything but a “good death.” This morning Paul helps us to understand how we Christians are to deem life and one’s value in this world. At the same time, I believe Paul also has words for us on how we are to view struggles and afflictions in this life, such as Sept. 11, 2001 attacks as well as the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as other struggles and afflictions in this life.

Our text begins as Paul outlines what he believes to be his fate. We read beginning at verse twelve, “12I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 18bYes, and I will rejoice, 19for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again” (v. 12-14, 18b-26).

At this time Paul is in prison and yet even while he is in prison he is continually proclaiming the Gospel. He is able to do this because he is not in a maximum security prison as we think of prisons today. He is in a house where he is being guarded and he has friends taking care of his personal needs. Thus, he is able to proclaim the good news of the Gospel to those who are caring for him as well as any others who come to visit him. Notice how Paul does not lament his imprisonment, but embraces this, too, as an opportunity to share the Gospel.

Paul does not know what his fate will be. He knows he will soon face the judge at his trial and he does not know whether the judge will rule in his favor or not. Yet, Paul is ready for any outcome of the trial. He is ready to go on living and he is ready to die. Perhaps that would be a good question for each one of us to ask ourselves each and every morning. When we awake or when we go to bed we might ask ourselves, “Are we ready to die?” The fact of the matter is that since the moment of conception our lives have been leading to this ultimate end, our own physical death. Thus, are we ready to die this physical death? Paul’s attitude is that to live is Christ, in other words, if he is acquitted, if he is innocent and if he is allowed to live then for Paul this means the opportunity to continue sharing the Gospel.

On the other hand, if Paul is not acquitted, if he is found guilty, if he is sentenced to die, then to Paul to die is gain. To die is gain because Paul knows his lot is secure. He knows that death is not an end, but is only the beginning. He knows that when he dies in this world it means eternal life in heaven.

And so, for Paul, to live is to continue to serve the Lord and he will be happy to continue to live and serve the Lord. However, to die is to go to heaven, which he understands is far better. And so Paul is not concerned about either outcome because both outcomes have their advantages.

With his own fate stated, Paul goes on to give us words of encouragement. We pick up at verse twenty-seven, “27Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have” (v. 27-30).

Paul, again this week, encourages us in our sanctification. He encourages us to live a life worthy of being called a Christian. He warns us to not just be a Christian in name only. Too often I hear pastors and others encourage, especially, our young people to remember what they have learned in the Catechism. Better than simply remembering is to live what we have learned. And of course, as we have said before, Paul’s encouragement is not an encouragement that this is something we can do in and of ourselves. We can live lives of faith only as the Holy Spirit works in and through us to live in such a way and as our lives then, are led by Him they are lived to His glory.

To make sure we understand, Paul wants the Philipians to live as Christians even when Paul is not around. Today these words of encouragement would be that we are to live as Christians even when we are away from church.

This morning Paul gives us another glimpse into why Christians are so hated in our world. He reminds us that our salvation is a clear sign of the destruction of non-Christians. In other words, here again we understand the exclusive claims of Holy Scripture. There is only one way to eternal life in heaven and that one way is Jesus Christ alone. Apart from Jesus and faith in Jesus is only eternal spiritual death. This means that our salvation, by grace, through faith in Jesus is a clear sign to the non-Christian of their eternal doom. And because the non-Christian world does not wish to be condemned, nor do they wish to change their ways, they hate Christians.

Therefore, the life of a Christian may include religious conflict. I would suggests that as the churches in the United States and around the world, continue down the road of questioning the Bible, whether it is or is not the very Word of God and as our churches continue to acquiesce and be absorbed  by the culture, so that there is no difference between the church and the culture, but they become one and the same, this conflict for “real” Christians will only increase. Time and time again in our world today we have church after church deny the exclusive claims of Jesus in His Word such that what is often proclaimed is a damning message that states that “we all believe in the same God, we just call him different names,” and “it does not matter what you believe as long as you believe sincerely enough,” and so on.

What does this mean? Paul reminds us that God never promised an easy life and he shows us his own life as an example of this. I suppose that if some of the TV evangelists of today looked closely at Paul’s life they would dub him a failure, after all, how often are we told by TV preachers today of how God wants us to be successful, how God wants us to be financially secure, how God wants us to have an easy life and Paul had none of this and yet he rejoiced and gave glory to God for all, even for his times of persecution, imprisonment, beatings, and so on.

God does not promise life will be easy, but He does promise to be with us. As a matter of fact, as we read the words of our Lord in His Holy Scripture, we are reminded again and again that Jesus has already undergone everything we can imagine. Jesus has suffered all that we will ever suffer and even more. Jesus suffered all the temptation we will ever face and even more and He never sinned. Jesus was perfect and yet He took our sins upon Himself and He suffered the punishment of eternal spiritual death for us in our place. And He promises to be with us as we face the trials and tribulations, the persecutions of this world.

God’s promise is that He will give us the strength and courage to carry on. We cannot do it ourselves, as a matter of fact, if we were left to ourselves we would completely fail. Thanks be to God that we never have to be left to ourselves. Thanks be to God that He has promised and that He is with us all through life.

Certainly we rejoice because God gives us the victory. He has won the victory over sin, death and the power of the devil. He gives us this victory as He gives, strengthens and keeps us in faith. And He gives, strengthens and keeps us in faith as we make regular and diligent use of His means of grace.

We began by talking about the value of life. What is the value of life? Is our life of value only while we are in this world? Is our value only as we have pain free, productive, (sic) making money, lives? Or, is there anything better than eternal life in heaven? Paul reminds us that our value is not based on the assessment of this world. Life is precious because it is a gift from God, thus even when we are in pain, even when we are in prison, even when we are on our death bed, our value is not such that we are to take one’s life because we believe it is not worth living. Rather we are to esteem life as value because it is a gift from God. Thus, we do not fear death or suffering because we know that Christ has suffered even greater things, because we know that God promises to be with us in our times of suffering and pain, and because we know that our present sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that will be ours in heaven.
 

What great opportunities lay before us as Christians, that is as true Christians, not simply Christians in name only, as we go out into the world of today. We have the privilege of sharing with others the good news that even in times of suffering, even in times of persecution, even in times of hardship we have a God who continues to love us and shows His love for us in the giving of His Son and the life of His Son for us and for our forgiveness. Interestingly enough, as we read through the Acts of the Apostles and other books of the Bible, as we look at times of persecution throughout history, it is during times of persecution and suffering that the Christian church thrives. This is so, because it is during these times that people are drawn to someone outside themselves for hope, and many are drawn to the Lord and faith in Him to sustain them during these times. What great opportunities we have as Christians in our world today, as people face the fears of today, terrorism, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and so on, and as our Lord tells us, these will increase as we approach the end of days, so what great opportunities we have today to call others to faith as we share the good news of Jesus with them. Remember, our value is not on what society deems it to be, based on some concept of finance, or based on some lack of pain, rather our value flows out of the fact that God loves us so much and He showed His love and value of us by living for us, dying for us and rising for us. Thus, we continue, with the help and by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live lives of faith so that others may have ample cause to give glory to Christ Jesus. Yes, to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.