Jesus Is the Christ - December 26, 2021 - First Sunday after Christmas - Text: Luke 2:22-40

Yesterday we celebrated the birth of Jesus, well, I should actually say we have begun our celebration as we began the twelve days of Christmas, from Christmas morning until Epiphany. Anyway, today in our text we fast forward forty days to what is called the presentation of Jesus in the temple. The purification rites after the birth of a firstborn child required the mother to wait for forty days before going to the temple to offer her sacrifice for purification. The sacrifice was to be a lamb and a pigeon or dove. If the person could not afford this sacrifice, then the sacrifice could be two pigeons or doves. This morning we journey with Mary and Joseph as they present Jesus in the temple, in accordance with the Law, to fulfill the Law.
 

Our text begins by introducing us to Simeon. Simeon was a righteous man and he was devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel. In other words, he was waiting to see the one promised from God, the Messiah, the Savior. Luke tells us that it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the “Lord’s Christ,” the Savior. By the way Luke recounts these events we would believe that Simeon is now rather old and is waiting to see the Savior so that he might die in peace. And so, not by any coincidence, but by the action of God moving in Simeon, he went to the temple at the same time that Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus and for Mary to make her sacrifice for purification. Have you ever wondered about what we call coincidences? I believe there is no such thing as a coincidence, instead what we are seeing is God’s usually unseen hand acting in our time to make something happen to His glory. Such is the case with the events of our text. Simeon, moved by the Holy Spirit, came into the temple to see the consolation of Israel.
 

As Mary and Joseph enter the temple Simeon, who is the priest on duty and who was moved by the Holy Spirit to be in the temple, is there to receive the child. He takes the child and by inspiration of the Holy Spirit he gives to us the words which we sing in the Nunc Dimmitus, or in English, the Now Dismiss. Simeon praises the Lord because He has allowed him to see the Savior of the world, the one promised in the Garden of Eden. Simeon’s words are words of faith. He is now ready to be dismissed. Literally, He is ready to die and be taken to heaven because he has seen the one who was promised and who was to come to save the world. Notice that Simeon’s words are not just focused on God’s chosen people, the children of Israel, but are words which reveal that Jesus came to save all people, Jew and Gentile alike as he says that Jesus is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel.” Jesus came to save all people, even and especially us, you and me.
 

Luke tells us that “the child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.” I think that might have been an understatement. Yes, God had revealed to both Mary and Joseph that Jesus was God born in human flesh, that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world, but still, for Mary and Joseph, these events would all be quite “marvelous,” unexpected and maybe somewhat dumbfounding.
 

But Simeon does not stop with the Nunc Dimmitus, he continues by speaking to Mary and Joseph. He tells Mary in particular that Jesus is “appointed (or as some translations put it, “destined”) for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce your own soul also),  so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Jesus is destined to be the one who will save many people and at the same time, to those who do not believe He will be their fall, they will be doomed to eternal death and hell because they do not believe, but refuse and reject Him. Jesus is a sign. He is the one who came speaking about His Father and His relationship with His Father. Many would not believe that He was God, that He and the Father were one. The hearts of the unbelievers was shown through their speaking out against Him. And this continues to be the way it is in our world today. Many people do not believe in Jesus still today. Many do not believe He is God in flesh, as He shows and tells us in His Word. Many do not believe and instead are destined to eternal death and hell.
 

Probably the hardest words that Simeon speaks, however, are the words to Mary that a sword will pierce her own soul too. Mary, who pondered all these things and kept them in her heart is, after all, the mother of this child whose destiny is a cross. She will watch her own child be cursed by others, be hated by others, be deserted by all His friends and be hung on a cross. She will watch her own Son suffer and die, for the sins of all people. Certainly a sword of pain will pierce through her own heart.
 

Luke, the faithful Doctor and Historian shows us that Jesus is the Messiah, but if Simeon’s words are not enough, he also introduces us to Anna, who is also in the temple. About Anna we are told that she was “very old” and that she was a widow since the time of her husband’s death which occurred after only their seventh anniversary and that now she was eighty-four years old. She now lived her life in the temple. Luke tells us “she did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and praying night and day.” And again, like Simeon, she did not come into the temple at this time by accident or coincidence, but by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
 

She came up to Mary and Joseph and said a prayer of thanks to God and spoke about this child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem, that is to all who continued to believe God’s words and promises that He would send a Savior. Like Simeon, her words confirm the fact that Jesus is the one who was sent from God to save, not only the children of Israel, but all people.
 

Finally, our text tells us of one final fulfillment of Holy Scripture, it says that Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth. Luke writes with a purpose. His purpose is to give proof of Jesus and who he is. He shows us that Jesus came to fulfill the Law and that He fulfilled the Law perfectly. His parents did what was required. Again, we are reminded that the fullness of the Gospel is seen in the fact that what Jesus did He did for us, in our place, everything that we are unable to do. He fulfilled the Law perfectly.
 

We are told by Luke that Jesus moved to Nazareth, thus was fulfilled the promise that He would be a Nazarene. And we are told that the child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon Him. And as we know, as we have seen, as we continue to rehearse in our narrative of the life of Jesus, after this event we do not hear of the events of Jesus’ life until we hear the account of Him in the temple at the age of twelve, but that is for another time.
 

This morning we have Luke’s accurate, orderly account of these events as an assurance of our faith in Jesus. Luke’s words assure us that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the one promised by God. He is the one who fulfilled all the law perfectly, for us, in our place, because we are unable to.
 

Luke’s words assure us that Jesus came to give His life. How comforting to know that we will not be held accountable for our sin and their punishment. The wages of sin is death and Jesus paid that price for us.
 

Luke’s words assure us that we have forgiveness of sins. Because of what Jesus did, because He was born, perfect God in human flesh, because He was born to be our substitute, because He obeyed all of God’s Laws and commands perfectly, because we could not and cannot, because He fulfilled all of Scripture perfectly, because He took all our sins upon Himself, because He suffered the eternal torment of hell for us in our place, because He gave His life for ours, because He paid the price for sin, by faith we have forgiveness, which means that when God looks at us He sees Christ’s perfection.
 

Which means that Luke’s words also assure us that we have life, eternal life. By faith in Jesus, His death has become our death, His life has become our life. By faith in Jesus we have forgiveness of sins and life, life in this world and eternal life in the world to come, heaven.
 

This morning we come to worship our Lord. We come to rehearse the events of old. We come to hear the good news of salvation. We come to see, once again, as an assurance of our salvation, that Jesus is the one promised of old. This morning we come to be strengthened in our faith. And we are strengthened in our faith through the means He has given to strength us, through our remembrance of our Baptism, through our hearing His words of Holy Absolution, through our hearing His Holy Word, and through our partaking of His body and blood in His Holy Supper. Indeed, through these very means our Lord gives us the gifts He has to give, faith, forgiveness, strengthening of faith, life and salvation. And so, being strengthened in our faith we rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Word in Flesh - December 25, 2021 - Christmas Day - Text: John 1:14-18

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1) and so John begins his Gospel account of the life of Jesus. This year during the season of Advent through Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve we have been looking at the various nuances of “the Word.” We looked at the power of the Word at creation. We looked at the fact that the Word was God and is God. We looked at the announcement of the Word promised to be born in the flesh in Jesus. Last night we looked at the Word being born into the World and today we see the Word being born in human flesh in the person of Jesus.
 

The Word became flesh. Our text begins with John telling us, “14And the Word became flesh” The Word of which John speaks is the Word of creation in Genesis, that is the creating Word of God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Word of which John speaks is also the Word of the promise of God to send a Savior, a Messiah, one to reconcile the broken relationship between God and man, broken by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when they disobeyed God’s one rule to not eat from the tree in the middle of the Garden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
 

John goes on and tells us that the Word, “dwelt among us.” Literally the Word tented among us. Unlike a house or a building which is a permanent structure, a tent is a temporary shelter. While the Children of Israel wondered in the wilderness their temple was a tabernacle, a tent of meeting, a temporary shelter until they reached the promised land and a worthy temple was built. Thus, Jesus came to earth for a temporary time, enough time to reconcile mankind to God Himself.
 

John then explains who this Word in flesh is, “and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” This Word in flesh is none other than God in human flesh. In this Word made flesh we see the glory of the Father, as Jesus is one with the Father. Indeed, when we see Jesus we are seeing God Himself.
 

And John expounds that Jesus is God, “full of grace and truth.” In the Word made flesh, in Jesus we are given grace and truth. Grace is gift and truth is absolute. Grace is complete gift on God’s part. God gives and we are given to. Contrary to popular culture, contrary to humanism, rationalism, naturalism and all other isms that point to self and declare the relativity of truth and that there is no and can be no truth nor absolutes, with the Word made flesh we know and have truth, because God’s truth is a certainty.
 

And so, by the power of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, John bears witness of these events, and as I call it John gives His Christmas witness. 15(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) You might remember that John was Jesus’ cousin and was about six month older than Jesus. John came preparing the way for Jesus. John had previously spoken of Jesus and the fact that this Jesus is the one about whom he spoke, the One promised to come and save the world. John understands his role. His role is to point to Jesus. His role is to prepare the people and then his role, as he says is to decrease.
 

“16For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John points to Jesus as the one through whom we are given grace upon grace. And please understand, grace is not the power God gives us to be obedient as some would suggest. Grace is best defined pure and simple as gift. And gift is not present. As you have heard me say before, we exchange presents. You give me a present and I give you a present. Grace is best defined as gift, that is a gift is something given with nothing expected or gained in return. God gives and we are given to, period. Grace is God’s gift of undeserved forgiveness and life to us.
 

John goes on to explain as he properly distinguishes Law and Gospel. “17For the law was given through Moses,” John says. Indeed, Moses is the great Law giver. God gave Moses the Law, the Moral Law of the Ten Commandments and the Ceremonial Law of the sacrificial system. The sacrifices meant to remind the people that the price for sins is death, that blood must be shed. The sacrifices that pointed to the one ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
 

The Law was given by Moses and John continues, “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Jesus fulfills the Law and gives us grace. What Adam and Eve could not do, obey God’s command. What the whole nation of Israel could not do, obey God’s Laws. What we cannot do, be perfect. Jesus does for us in our place as our substitute. Jesus graces us, gives us the forgiveness He earned and paid for, for us on the cross. Truth comes through Jesus. Apart from Jesus there is no and can be no truth. Jesus is grace, gift and truth, absolute forgiveness and eternal life.
 

And finally John reminds us, “18No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” Yes, we have seen God, because we see God in Jesus. Jesus is true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is true God in human flesh. When we see Jesus we see God.
 

What does this mean? First and foremost as you hear me say time and again, God gives and we are given to. God gives His promise and He fulfills His promise. In the beginning God created. Even knowing that man would sin. Even knowing that He would have to take care of man’s sin. Even knowing that humanity would never live up to His expectations, God created anyway. God created, man messed up and God promised to reconcile. God continued to remember His promises. At the time of Jesus, God began fulfilling His promises.
 

By inspiration John details the fulfillment of God’s promises. John tells us of Jesus. Jesus is true God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born in perfection. Indeed, Jesus had to be true God in order to be born in perfection. As human DNA is tainted by sin, so Jesus could not simply be born of a human man and a human woman or He would have His own sin. No, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit making Him truly God.
 

And Jesus is true man, born of the human woman, the Virgin Mary. Jesus had to be human in order to be our substitute. Remember, the price for sin was set in the Garden of Eden and that price was death, human death for human sin. The Ceremonial Laws and sacrifices of the Old Testament did not forgive sins they merely pointed to and reminded the people that the price for sin was death and ultimately human death. Thus, Jesus, true God, was born in human flesh so that He might be our substitute, that is that He might trade His life and death for our life and death.
 

Jesus was born in perfection so that He might fulfill the Law perfectly. What was demanded of Adam and Eve. What was demanded of the nation of Israel. What is demanded of us and what we could not do, Jesus did. Jesus fulfilled all the Laws and promises perfectly. Jesus was perfectly obedient, even unto death, death on the cross.
 

After living in perfection, Jesus took our sins, all our sins as well as the sins of all people, of all places, of all times on Himself. He who knew no sin became sin for us. And Jesus paid the price for our sins. He suffered the eternal torment of hell for us in our place. And He died. Yes, our God in Jesus died. But we know the rest of the story as death and the grave had no power over Him. He rose from the dead defeating sin, death and the devil.
 

And now, as God Jesus gives and we are given too. He gives us life at conception. He gives us new life and faith through the waters of Holy Baptism. He gives us forgiveness in Holy Absolution. He gives and strengthens us in our faith through His Holy Word. And He gives us Himself, His body and blood to eat and drink in His Holy Supper. And through these very means He gives, strengthens and keeps us in faith. And if that were not enough, He even stirs in us a response of faith, that is to rejoice and give thanks for all His good gifts and blessings.
 

As we once again gather to celebrate the birth of our God in flesh we once again are regaled with what a great God we have, what loving God we have, what a gift giving God we have. God gives and we are given to, thanks be to God and to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Baby Leaped - December 19, 2021 - Fourth Sunday in Advent - Text: Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)

Today is the last Sunday in Advent. We have lighted the last of the four candles around the advent wreath. All that is left to light is the center candle, the Christ candle. We have only five more days to go until Christmas Eve and then we will light the Christ candle, recognizing and celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
 

Again this year, as we do every year, we have spent the season of Advent getting ready to celebrate Jesus’ first coming. And again this year, as we do every year, we have spent our time with a dual purpose in mind. First, we have been getting our hearts and minds ready to celebrate Jesus’ birth, so long ago, in Bethlehem. And second, we have been getting ourselves, our hearts and our minds, ready for Jesus’ second coming, when He will come to take us from this earth to be with Himself in heaven. Someone once asked me why God did not tell us when He would return. My answer to them and to us is that, if God had told us when He was going to return then we would probably either waste our time worrying about and dreading that day or we would waste our time in frivolous and sinful living until right before the expected day and think that would be enough time to get ready. God does not tell us when He will return because He wants us to understand the need to be ready at any and at all times and the work which goes into getting ready and keeping ready. Furthermore, we are reminded of the importance of getting ready and keeping ready because our lives depend on it. To not be ready is to live in unbelief and to live in unbelief ultimately means eternal death and hell.
 

We have been getting ourselves ready by looking at the first promises which were made by God and seeing how He has fulfilled those promises, so that we can be sure that in the same way He will keep the promise He made to return. The promises we have seen fulfilled include those of the appearance of the angel to Zechariah in the temple where he promised Zechariah that his wife Elisabeth would conceive and bear a son and that this son would be the way preparer for the Messiah. And she did conceive.
 

We continued to get ourselves ready as we saw the angel appear before Mary and promised her that she would be the mother of God. And by the power of the Holy Spirit she did conceive. The promises God had made so many years ago; the promises which God reiterated throughout the Old Testament; these promises were beginning to be fulfilled. We can rest assured that God’s Word does what it says. If God says it, it will happen, not necessarily when we might expect or think or imagine, but when it pleases Him, according to what He knows best, according to His good and gracious will.
 

In our text for this morning we go with Mary as she makes haste to her cousin Elisabeth’s house. Luke tells us that at Mary’s word of greeting, the baby, John the Baptist, leaps in Elisabeth’s womb. Remember, Elisabeth is about twenty-four weeks further along in her pregnancy than Mary. Certainly we recognize God’s hand in these two children and in the fact that even from the womb John the Baptist knows his place before the King of kings.
 

I find it interesting that here in this passage we have an acknowledgment from God that life begins at conception. The word which Luke uses for the baby in the womb is the same word he uses for the baby when it is outside the womb. In God’s eyes, a baby is a baby, is a baby. A baby is a person, beginning with conception. At conception, each one of us is given a body and a soul and we are living human beings. At conception we are each one an individual person and special in God’s eyes and in His plan for us.
 

Even Elisabeth acknowledges the power of God as she exclaims to Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” With humble excitement Elisabeth welcomes the mother of the Savior of the world and her own Savior. And notice her words of faith, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
 

Mary’s response was also a response of faith. At Elisabeth’s greeting, Mary bursts out in song and praises God because of His honoring her humble estate. Mary knows and, although she may not fully understand her role as the Lord’s servant, she humbly accepts her part in God’s plan.
 

Mary praises God because of His mercy which reaches to all generations, through this child she is carrying. I sometimes wonder if Mary understood these most profound words she was saying. This child she would deliver was the Messiah, the Savior, promised so many years ago. This child would not only save the people who had gone on before Him, He would not only save those of His generation, He would also save those who would come after Him. He would save all generations. He would save you and me. By faith in Jesus we are ready for Christ’s return. By faith in Jesus we have life.
 

Mary goes on to acknowledge God’s power and His hand in all of life. Our God is not a God who is a far off, He is also a God who is near, who is right here, He is everywhere present at all times. He is with us when we are happy or sad, when we are lonely or comforted, when we are blessing Him and when we are sinning. Our God is a God who is always with us in all circumstances of life.
 

And Mary praises God for keeping His promises. The promise God made so long ago in the Garden of Eden. The promise God reiterated throughout time. The promise God made to Mary to be the mother of Jesus, all these promises, all the promises of God were coming to fulfillment. And how confident we can be because, as God has kept all His promises, so we know that He will keep His promise to return.
 

As we approach the end of this Advent Season we acknowledge God’s promises and His fulfillment. The last half of the Church year is the Season of Pentecost. Maybe you noticed, the season of Pentecost, from the first Sunday after Pentecost until something like the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost has the color Green to symbolize growth. It is especially during that time of the year that we are to grow in our faith. As we grow in our faith we are continually shown God’s promises and His fulfillment of those promises in the life of His Son. The last three Sundays of the Church Year we focused our attention of the second coming of Jesus. We were reminded of our need to get ready, to be ready and to stay ready for our time to meet Jesus. We were reminded that to not be ready could, ultimately mean eternal death and separation from Jesus, which is hell. Three Sundays ago, November 28, we began a new Church Year. The Church Year begins with Advent which is the time we use to get ourselves ready to celebrate Jesus’ first coming, as a baby in a manger in the town of Bethlehem. Advent brings one more reminder of the fact that God does what He says. God promised to send a Savior and He kept that promise. If God says it, we know it will happen.
 

Through the year we also have the constant reminder of our part in all of God’s planning and promises. It was and is for us that God did what He did. It was because of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden and it is because of our sins, that we daily sin much and are in need of forgiveness, that God made His first promise, to send a Savior, someone who would take care of our sin for us. We may not like to think about it or talk about it, but our Christmas celebration, our celebration of the birthday of Jesus in just five days is always in the shadow of the cross. The reason the baby was born was to suffer and die in order to pay the price for our sins. And thanks be to God that He did so.
 

Advent is the time we acknowledge God’s power and that with God, nothing is impossible. So many promises, so many prophecies. The likelihood that one person would fulfill all those prophecies is beyond imagination and yet, that is what Jesus did. He came, true God, in human flesh and He fulfilled every single prophecy which God had made. Through His many signs and wonders, through the miracles He performed, He continually showed Himself to be the Messiah and then He gave His life for ours.
 

That is why, during the season of Advent we acknowledge Christ as our Savior and King. He is the one promised of old. He is the Great I AM. He is God in human flesh. He is the one who came to give His life for ours. He is your Savior and mine.
 

We have watched as we lit the first Advent candle, the Prophecy Candle, or the Promise Candle as I call it, and were reminded of God’s promise to send a Savior. We watched the second candle being lit and were reminded that it was in Bethlehem that God would fulfill His promise. We watched as the third candle was lit and were reminded of the shepherds out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night. This morning we see the fourth candle lit and we remember the angels who were quite busy during that first Christmas season, announcing the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus. The excitement is mounting as we have just five days to wait and as we look forward even to that evening when we will celebrate the birth of our Savior, Christ the Lord. May the Lord keep you steadfast in your faith so that ultimately we may be found in faith and inherit eternal life. To God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Word Announced - December 15, 2021 - Third Wednesday in Advent (Midweek 3) - Text: John 1:6-8

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1) and so John begins his Gospel account of the life of Jesus. This year during the season of Advent through Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve we are looking at the various nuances of “the Word.” We began by looking at the power of the Word at creation. Last week we heard the fact that the Word was and is God. This week we move on to hear the announcement of the Word becoming flesh in the person of Jesus, the one promised to be the Savior of the world.
 

Our text for this evening brings us to John the Baptist, the one who was promised and sent to prepare the world for the coming of the one promised in the Garden of Eden. With John’s preparation we begin to get an understanding of what we call the two natures of Jesus. Jesus is unlike any other person who ever was or ever will be. Jesus is both human and divine, truly God and truly man, one hundred percent God and one hundred percent human.
 

We know Jesus is truly God as we know He was there at the creation of the world with the Father and the Holy Spirit, our text from the first Wednesday of Advent. We also confess Jesus as true God in the three ecumenical creeds, as we confess in the Apostle’s Creed, “and in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,” and in the Nicene Creed, “was incarnate by the Holy Spirit,” making Him true God.
 

We also know that Jesus was and is a true human being. As God in heaven, He gave up the glory that was His in heaven in order to take on His human nature, that is to take on human flesh, as announced by John the Baptist and as we also confess in the Apostle’s Creed, “born of the Virgin Mary,” and the Nicene Creed, “was incarnate . . . of the Virgin Mary.”
 

In our text John points us to Jesus whom he calls the light. “6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.” John the Baptist knew his calling and his role. He knew he was not the Word, nor the Life, nor the Light rather he came simply to point to Jesus.
 

As the Gospel writer John lays out his account of the birth of Jesus he begins by pointing us to Jesus and in particular what we might say as Jesus is the oral word, at creation. In other words, Jesus is true God, with the Father and the Holy Spirit who spoke all things into being. Jesus is also the spoken promise to Adam and Eve, that is that as soon as Adam and Eve sinned and brought death and destruction, separation from God, God Himself immediately stepped in and promised, made and oral promise that He would send a Savior. At this time then Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior of the world is an oral Word of promise.
 

The Gospel writer John then goes on to speak of Jesus as the incarnate word, that is the word in flesh. At His birth by the Virgin Mary, Jesus, the one promised and spoken about, takes on human flesh and blood so that the Word of promise becomes a living, incarnate, in the flesh, Word.
 

Thus, Jesus comes to bring life. Adam and Eve’s sin brought death. God promised a Savior, Life and Jesus is that Savior, that is, His life, death and resurrection will restore life, eternal never ending life.
 

The Gospel writer John says that John the Baptist came to bear witness to the light. He expressly admits that he is not the Light, but was simply sent to bear witness, to point to the One who is the Light. Jesus is the Light of the world. As the Light of the world He is the one guiding all to salvation.
 

As the Light of the world, Jesus’ light first reveals sin so there can be repentance. God’s Word speaks about those who sit in darkness as sin is described as darkness. We often make note of the fact that when people sin, when they do what they are not supposed to be doing they often do their wicked deeds in darkness in order to hide their sin. So, Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness of this sin filled world in order to expose sin so that there might be confession and absolution. And then, of course, Jesus is the Light in that He draws all people to Himself so that He might pour out on all the forgiveness He earned and paid for on the cross. And that all people might be saved.
 

What does this mean? In the beginning God created. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God created all things and He created all in perfection. God created a perfect man and a perfect woman and placed them in a perfect Garden which He created just from them. He even gave them a way to respond to all that He had created and given to them. He gave them only one command, to not eat from the fruit of the tree, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, in the middle of the Garden. He even warned them that in the day they would eat of the fruit they would die, that is they would die an eternal death in hell and they would begin to die an earthly death.
 

Of course, we know the history. We know that the devil, Satan, Lucifer, the light bearer, the father of lies entered the Garden and tempted Eve and Adam, lying to them about the Tree of Knowledge. We know that Eve and Adam ate of the fruit thus sinning against God’s one command and that one sin brought sin, imperfection, and a curse on all God created. Yet, because of His great love for Adam and Eve and for us and all His creation God immediately stepped in and promised a solution, a Savior. Throughout the Old Testament God reiterated and narrowed His covenant and the fulfillment of His covenant. God chose Abraham to be the father of the nation through which the Savior would be born. God called Moses to deliver His people from their bondage of slavery in Egypt, much like Jesus delivers us from our bondage of slavery to sin. Finally, because the people of Israel could not and would not be the people God called them to be He allowed that they be punished by being scattered throughout the world.
 

During the time between the Testaments of the Bible we know that some of Israel made it back to the land of Israel and so before Jesus was born God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way, to get His people and especially those of His people who continued to hold on to the promise of a Savior from sin, not an earthly Savior, ready for Jesus’ birth. Indeed, there were those in Israel who had given up any hope or understanding of a Savior from sin and were only looking for a social/political Savior. And yet there were those faithful ones who continued to wait for God’s promise of a Savior from sin.
 

John, in his Gospel assures us that Jesus is true God. That He was there with the Father and the Holy Spirit at the creation of all things, and that He is true man, born of the human woman, the Virgin Mary. That He was born to be the Life and Light of the World. Jesus gave up the glory that was His in heaven in order to take on human flesh and blood, in order to live the perfect life demanded of Adam and Eve, demanded of Israel, even demanded of us because we cannot. And He did. And upon completing all that God gave Him to accomplish He took our sins and paid the complete price for all sin, for all people, of all places, of all times. He suffered and died. But we know the rest of the history, He did not stay dead but rose from the dead defeating sin, death and the devil.
 

This evening then, we continue to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate. We celebrate the fulfillment of God’s first and greatest promise, the birth of the one who came to save all people, of all places, of all times. We come to continue to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate what a great and loving God we have, a God who created us to love us, a God who gave us life at conception, a God who gave us new life through the waters of Holy Baptism, a God who gives us forgiveness through Holy Absolution, a God who gives, strengthens and keeps us in faith through His Holy Word and a God who gives us forgiveness and strengthening through His body and blood in His Holy Supper. Indeed, as we know, as we partake of Jesus’ true body and blood in His Holy Supper He becomes physical part of us so that His perfect life becomes our perfect life. His perfect suffering and death become our perfect suffering and death. His resurrection becomes our resurrection. And His eternal life become our eternal life.
 

As we continue to hear the Word may we continue to believe the Word, the Word spoke at creation, the Word promised, the Word in flesh in Jesus, indeed, the tangible Word that is ours to taste in His Holy Supper and may the Word ever strengthen and keep us in faith. To God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Great in the Kingdom - December 12, 2021 - Third Sunday in Advent - Text: Luke 7:18-28 [29-35]

Today is the third Sunday in Advent, kind of the middle of our preparation as there is only one more candle to light. As we have said and as I continually reiterate, advent is the time we get ourselves, our hearts and minds ready to celebrate God’s fulfillment of His first promise to send a Savior, Christ’s birth on Christmas day. And advent is the time we are reminded and encouraged that just as God kept His first promise and sent Jesus, so He will keep His second promise, to return to gather us and take us to heaven, thus it is imperative that we are ready for His return, or our passing on to Him, because either way, it will happen. We will meet the Lord and I believe it will be sooner than we know and sooner than we might imagine. How do we prepare ourselves or rather, how does the Lord prepare us? By making regular and diligent use of those means our Lord has given to us to get ready, His means of grace. In particular we ready ourselves by believing God’s Word, which is His Word, and which is a Word that does what it says and gives the gifts it has to give. Our text for today bears witness of the faithfulness of God and His Word.
 

Our text for this morning moves us to the point that John the Baptist has been preparing the way for Jesus and he has already been arrested. John’s disciples had come to visit him in prison and were telling him all the things Jesus was doing. Notice that John gets it right, even in prison John is still pointing to Jesus. John came to prepare the way for Jesus. He came to get the children of Israel ready for the promised Messiah. John was sent to get them ready so they did not miss the Savior.
 

John prepared the people by his preaching of the need of the people to repent. As I said last week, how would the people know that they were sinners unless they were told. Likewise, even today we need to be reminded of our own sin so that we too repent. To not repent means our sins remain on us and in our sin we would be eternally lost. But with repentance is forgiveness and with forgiveness is life and salvation.
 

John came calling the people to repent and he came baptizing with a baptism for repentance. John’s baptism was a call to a religious washing, an outward washing as a symbol of one’s sins being washed away. He spoke of the difference between his own baptizing and the baptism that Jesus gave in that Jesus’ baptism was a baptism that would give faith by the power of the Holy Spirit.
 

John did his work and he did it well as a matter of fact he did his work so well, he did such a good job of pointing out sin and calling for repentance that he was imprisoned. Evidently, like politicians in our world today, kings did not like being called sinners in John’s day. So King Herod had John imprisoned.
 

John knew and understood his role as the one who would come to prepare the way for Jesus and so he said that he must decrease and Jesus must increase. John was not envious nor jealous of Jesus and the fact that the people were following Jesus. He saw this as an affirmation that what he was doing was done right.
 

As for John’s disciples, some of his disciples left and followed Jesus. As an optimist I would suggest that this is the case because they did hear and they did believe John’s word. Believing John’s word the natural course of action would be to leave John and to follow Jesus.
 

In our text we are told that two of John’s disciples did not believe or understand, at least not right away. So, these two came to see John in prison and reported all that was happening. John in turn sends these two disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one? Should we expect another.” Now some people have suggested that this showed doubt on John’s part. I would suggest that rather than this showing doubt on John’s part this was John’s way of convincing his disciples who may have had doubts. John wanted his disciples to know Jesus is the One and to follow Him and so he sent them to Jesus.
 

Notice that Jesus does not attempt to debate or argue with John’s disciples. Jesus continues doing the work that He came to do, work that attested to the words He was preaching. John’s disciples come to Jesus and they see Him in action. They see Jesus healing, casting out demons, and preaching the good news. So when John’s disciples questioned Jesus His response was to tell them to look at what He was doing. It was Jesus actions that confirmed John’s words.
 

After John’s disciples left Jesus continued to preach. He spoke about John saying that he was not a preacher swayed by public opinion or popularity. John did not preach what itching ears wanted to hear. John preached the truth. He preached of sin and repentance. He preached against the sins of public figures as well even if it made him unpopular.
 

Mostly John pointed to Jesus. John knew that he was born into this world, sent by God to prepare the way for the One who would bring salvation to the world. About John Jesus said that “the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” I think the best explanation of Jesus words are that Jesus meant that John was least in the kingdom of God because he did not see the consummation of his preaching, in other words, John was beheaded before Jesus paid the price for the sins of the world, died and rose.
 

Jesus then explains the schizophrenia of this generation. Jesus explains that John the Baptist came and he did not dance so he was not to be taken seriously. On the other hand, Jesus came and lived a normal life so He was not to be taken seriously. The same schizophrenia can be seen in our world today. People reject Jesus for many and various reasons, claiming Him to be a fake and a fraud, a liar, simply a good man and no more or a good teacher and no more. The rejection of Jesus today continually shows the cursed nature of humanity and man’s desire to seek to save himself.
 

So, as we often do, we ask, what does this mean? Unlike God’s fulfillment of His first promise and the fact that He promised and did send John to prepare the people for Jesus’ birth, God does not promise that someone will come to prepare the way for Jesus’ second coming on the day of judgement. Instead of sending someone to prepare us, God has been giving us signs, such as wars and rumors of wars, nations fighting against nations, earthquakes, wild fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and the like, all these events are signs that are pointing us to take God and His Word serious, to know that we are living in the last days and that our last day will be sooner than we know and sooner than we might expect.
 

John pointed his disciples to Jesus. Jesus pointed them and us to the signs, wonders and miracles He performed. All of Holy Scripture points to Jesus. All of history points to Jesus. The people of the Old Testament looked forward to the coming of the Savior. They were saved by faith, by believing that God would send a Savior. We, New Testament people, are saved the same way, by faith, faith that Jesus is the one promised by God.
 

Unfortunately, many of the people of Jesus day rejected Him believing Him to be something or someone other than who He said He was, or who John said He was. Yes, there were those who did believe and they were saved by their faith. Interestingly enough most all of the first Christians were of the Jewish faith and culture, yet, their Jewishness meant nothing compared to their faith in Jesus and so they simply dropped their Jewish culture in order to be called Christians. Likewise in our world today, there continue to be to many who reject Jesus and many more simply fall short, only believing what they want to believe. We live in a world that likes to focus on self and too often, even well meaning preachers proclaim a theology of self, pointing people to themselves rather than pointing to Jesus.
 

I would point you to Jesus, just Jesus. I point you to Jesus because Jesus is the Christ and the only way to heaven. We cannot do it ourselves. We are conceived and born in sin. Every inclination of our hearts is evil all the time. Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit working through the external means of grace we would deny, refuse and reject Jesus, which is what too many in our world do. It is the Holy Spirit, working through the external means of grace, God’s Word, Holy Baptism, Confession and absolution and the Lord’s Supper who gives, strengthens and keeps us in faith. And it is in Divine Service that these means of grace are always and clearly present. Thus, making regular and diligent use of the means of grace, being in Divine Service whenever offered, is how our Lord works to get us ready, to give us the gifts He has to give.
 

We are ready for the Lord’s return, we are ready to celebrate Jesus’ first coming when we know and believe because we have been given faith through the means of grace, as well as forgiveness, strengthening of faith, and eternal life. And all these gifts were earned and paid for by Jesus and are distributed and given out by Jesus through His means of grace.
 

Contrary to the skepticism of the world in which we live, contrary to those who deny and doubt the very Word of God, I am here to tell you that God’s Word is faithful and true and does what it says. If there is ever a question concerning whether or not to believe the thoughts and conclusions of fallible human beings or the Word of God, I will take the word of God anytime.
 

Like John, I will point you to Jesus. I will point you to the signs, wonders and miracles that Jesus performed as proof of His divinity, that is that He is truly God. I will point you to the cross where Jesus paid for our sins and earned our forgiveness. I will point you to His Word which does what it says and gives what it offers. I will point you to your Baptism and remind you that through the water and God’s name put on you, you were given faith, forgiveness and life. I will point you to your confession of sins and the words of absolution, that your sins have been forgiven. I will point you to the Lord’s table where you are given His body to eat and His blood to drink and where in you participate in Jesus’ life, suffering, death, and resurrection. And I will point you to Jesus who, having fulfilled His first promise has given us His Word that He will return and when He does return He will judge the living and the dead and He will take those whom He has given faith and He will robe us with His robes of righteousness and take us to be with Himself in heaven forever.
 

Jesus is coming and we are ready, by God’s grace through faith in Him. Our response of faith is simply to offer thanks and praise and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Preparing the Way - December 5, 2021 - Second Sunday in Advent - Text: Luke 3:1-14 [15-20]

Are you ready? Are you ready for Christmas? Just to ask that questions may bring too many thoughts to your mind. From just a worldly point of view that question asks if we have our Christmas decorations up, if we have our party plans made, if we have our presents purchased and wrapped. However, from our Christian point of view that question asks if we have our hearts and minds prepared for celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Are we ready? The purpose of the season of Advent is that this is the time we use to get ourselves ready.
 

Our text for this morning is the beginning of the work and mission of John the Baptist. His work was to get the world ready for Jesus’ first coming, that is for Jesus’ time of ministry and work on earth. The importance of verses one and two of our text are that they serve to establish the historic fact of Jesus’ life. Make sure you hear this, the importance of verses one and two of our text are that they serve to establish the historic fact of Jesus’ life. The words of our Bible, Holy Scripture are not simply stories disconnected with the so called “real” world. The words of our Bible are God’s Word and are words connected to all of life, and most importantly they are words connected to our eternal life. We do not worship a god who is a myth, a legend, or a tale, we worship a living God who intervened in our history and is a part of our lives. Luke was a doctor and a historian. Time and again we see how he is meticulous in making sure that he gets the facts straight. Indeed, while all the books of human origin, all our so called “books of learning,” may be good books for learning, all these books are tainted with the uncertainty of human nature. Our Bible is God’s Word, a word which is completely faithful and true, a word which has the power to do what it says.
 

Luke puts Jesus in time and history. Let me reiterate, Jesus is not a make believe person. He is not a god like the Greek gods. He is a real historic person. He is a person who was born in time. He was born in the small town of Bethlehem, the city of His ancestor King David, and His first bed was a lowly manger, a feeding trough for animals.
 

Luke is meticulous in getting the facts and the details right. It is important that we get these things right. What Luke writes is not a myth, not a tale, not a saga, not a legend, not a story. What Luke writes are the facts. And the facts are these: “1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” (Luke 3:1-2).
 

According to Luke, John’s purpose was to preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John was to show the people that they were sinners. How else would the people know of their need for a Savior and their need to repent of their sins unless their sins are pointed out to them? Likewise, how else would we know of our need of a Savior and our need to repent unless our sins were pointed out to us? And if we do not know we are sinners, then we would not repent and we would still be in our sins. And if we are still in our sins then we have no forgiveness and no hope of eternal life in heaven, only eternal death and hell. Thus we see the importance of our own need to be reminded of the Ten Commandments and how we daily break them, how we daily sin much and are in need of forgiveness, so that we might repent and confess our sins and be given God’s gracious gift of forgiveness and with forgiveness, life and salvation.
 

John came to preach a baptism of repentance and to prepare the way for Jesus. Remember, God’s promise to send a Savior was made some 4500 years earlier. By now, too many people had forgotten that promise and too many others, namely the Pharisees and teachers of the Law had changed the promises to be promises of sending a social, political savior. The people were in need of being prepared for the coming of their eternal Savior lest they remain unprepared and miss Him. Likewise, we continue to need to prepare ourselves for our celebration of our Savior’s birth as well as for His second coming. To not be prepared would mean to miss Him and to miss Him would ultimately mean eternal death and hell.
 

John came to preach a baptism of repentance, to prepare the way for Jesus and to make sure that all people were ready for the Savior. The people had not seen nor heard a prophet in some 500 years. This was the first prophet in so long that he gained their attention. They came out to hear him and to believe him and to be made ready for the coming of the Savior, the Messiah, the one promised by God to save the world. Likewise, we continue to see our need to be ready. To not be ready means eternal death and hell. To be ready means to eagerly anticipate, to expectantly wait, to anxiously look forward to Jesus’ return, when He will take us from this earth to be with Himself in heaven for eternity.
 

How did John get the people ready. He got them ready by the message he proclaimed. His message was a fulfillment of Holy Scripture of what was promised. Luke states, “As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:” (Luke 3:4a). John did not come on his own accord. He did not come proclaiming his own message. He came proclaiming the message God gave him to proclaim.
 

And the message God gave John to proclaim was a call to arms, a call to be ready. His message was a message from Holy Scripture that Holy Scripture was about to be fulfilled. The one promised to save all mankind was about to be seen. And all mankind would see God’s salvation.
 

John’s message was that the beginning of the end was in sight. Jesus’ coming ushered in the beginning of the end of the world, at least the end of this world. Jesus’ coming brought salvation to the world, to those who believe on His name, so that they might have life in the world to come, eternal life with Him in heaven.
 

What does this have to do with us? Again we might ask the question, “Are we ready?” And we might ask, “How do we get ready?” I pray that as we have been looking at this text and looking at the getting ready of the children of Israel for Jesus’ first coming, that we might see how our being ready is so important, even how our lives depend on it. For to not be ready means losing everything, even our lives. To not be ready means eternal death and hell.
 

So as we see, Advent really has a duel purpose. The first purpose of Advent is to get us ready to celebrate the first Christmas and Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. We get ready for this celebration by preparing our hearts and minds to once again hear the Christmas message, the Word of God which reminds us that God’s promises have been fulfilled. We get ourselves ready by clearing away the secular distractions that take away from a clear Gospel message. We take the time to read and reread the Christmas history. And I can think of no better way than to read Luke’s account of the events which took place so long ago.
 

The second purpose of Advent is to get us ready for Jesus second coming. Whether we believe it or not, whether we believe it will happen during our own life time or not, Jesus will come again, probably when we least expect it. Thus, it is so important that we get ready and work to stay ready for His second coming. And we get ourselves ready by making regular and diligent use of the means He has given us to get ourselves ready, the means of grace. We get ourselves ready by reading our Bible. We get ourselves ready by remembering our Baptism, by remembering that water and God’s name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been put on us. We get ourselves ready by regularly, every Sunday, attending Divine Service and Bible class. We get ourselves ready by confessing our sins and by hearing the most beautiful words in the world, “Your sins are forgiven,” because we know that when we hear those words we have what they say, forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness is life and salvation. We get ourselves ready by coming to the Lord’s table to partake of His body and blood and hearing the words, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins,” and by this we participate in His life, death and resurrection. His perfect life becomes our perfect life. His perfect death becomes our perfect death. His resurrection becomes our resurrection. And His eternal life becomes our eternal life. It is through these very means that the Lord works in us to get us ready and to keep us ready.
 

Advent is a time to get ready for Jesus’ coming. Advent is a time in which we look back and see that the past is reflected in the present and in the future. Scripture has been fulfilled and Christ was born. Scripture will be fulfilled and Christ will return.
 

The question we ask ourselves again is, “Are we ready?” And we answer that question with a resounding “Yes, with the help of God.” And He does get us ready and we are ready.
 

The month of December is a hectic, event filled month. There are so many parties to attend. There are so many things to do, presents to buy, presents to wrap, decorations to put up, a tree to decorate, so many things are vying for our attention. And now, here we have the pastor trying to get our attention as well. Let me put it into perspective for you. While we are on this earth we may celebrate 80 or more Christmases. We may celebrate 18 or more with our children and fewer with them as little children. The fact of the matter is that we will spend a life of eternity either in eternal sorrow or eternal joy depending on whether or not we are prepared. If we do not get things just right for our earthly Christmas celebration, that is okay, it is just one Christmas and you will possibly have next Christmas to try again. If we do not get things right for getting ready for our eternal life, that is not okay. That could mean eternal death and hell. Thus, my prayer for each one of you continues to be that the Lord who has already begun His good work in you, would work through His Word to touch your heart to give you an urgency about your faith and your faith life, so that you will be ready, so that when our last hour comes we will all together stand before the Lord’s throne and say, to Him be the glory. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Word of Creation - December 1, 2021 - First Wednesday in Advent (Midweek 1) - Text: Genesis 1:1-5

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1) and so John begins his Gospel account of the life of Jesus. This year during the season of Advent through Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve we will be looking at the various nuances of “the Word.” We will be looking at the power of the Word, the person of the Word, the God of the Word, and the Word as it continues in our world today. So, as Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). This evening we begin with the power of the Word.
 

In our text for this evening we are presented with the Trinity of God. Yes, the very first book of the Bible introduces us to the fact that we worship a God who declares Himself to us as a God who is three persons in one Godhead. Although we do not read the word “God” in the plural as such in our English Bible, when we read the word “God” which is “el” that is in the singular in Hebrew or as in our text, the word “God” is actually in the plural the word is elohim. So, right from the beginning of our Bible we read that in the beginning Gods created the heavens and the earth. But because our God is a triune God it is translated as God (singular).
 

As we continue in our text we read and hear of the Spirit of God. The word for spirit is the Hebrew word ruok which may be translated as wind or breath, but is best understood here as being the Spirit of God or better said, the Holy Spirit.
 

So, here at in the beginning, at the creation of the world we are introduced to our Creator God who reveals Himself to us as a plural, a Trinity, a God who is three persons in one Godhead. Here we have God as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
 

In the beginning God. It all begins with God. God is the prime mover. God is the one who gives and we are given too. In the beginning there was nothing. “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” And then we have God’s creating Word. God said. God spoke and He spoke for a purpose. God spoke all things into existence.
 

Notice that God created simply with His Word. As I have said before, God’s Word effects what He says. When God speaks it is a certainty, it is a surety. God speaks and it happens. If there is one thing we can count on it is that God’s Word does what it says and God’s Word gives what He says it gives.
 

Here in the beginning God said, “Let there be light” or He may have simply said “Light” and there was light. Whatever God spoke He spoke it into being. Each day of creation God spoke another part of His creation and His creation came into being. Interestingly enough, while there are those in our world today who would doubt and cast doubt on God’s ability to create all things in six days and thus rest on the seventh day, there were those of Luther’s day who asked why did God take so long?
 

So, right here in the beginning we are introduced to God and we are introduced to His Word which is a Word with power. In our world we know that there are many books. As the preacher says in Ecclesiastes, “Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” (Ecc. 12:12). Indeed there are many books in our world and yet, while other books may teach, some good, some not so good none is like the book of God’s Word, the Bible.
 

As I have contended many times to many groups, man’s reasoning and man’s word is unsure. The problem with man’s reasoning and man’s word is that it has been tainted, by sin. Indeed, we are all conceived and born in sin and so our reasoning is flawed. Thus, when human reason and man’s word contradicts God’s Word, I will stick with God’s Word and conclude that human reason has missed something. How often have I heard something like, “The Bible contradicts itself.” My answer is “No, the Bible complements itself. When you think there is a contradiction the problem is not with the Bible but with your understanding.” Or, “There are so many interpretations of the Bible.” To which I respond, “No, there is only one interpretation of the Bible, but there are many misinterpretations.” Thus, for me, God’s Word, not human reason, nor man’s word, always has the final say.
 

Interestingly enough, as one of my professors would say, “All words are law words until the Lord makes them Gospel Words.” When we understand that the Law demands, but the Gospel gives, then we can understand that as human beings, in and of ourselves we cannot speak Gospel words, for our words are only Law words until our Lord gives us the Gospel words to speak. Indeed, noone can create, no one can call into being, no one can give unless first given to. And so it is only as the Lord speaks His Word to us that we are given the gifts that He has to give to us.
 

And so we see that God’s Word is a Word of power. God’s Word does and gives what He says. When God speaks His Word, His Word effects or does what it says and gives the gifts He speaks. When, at our Baptism, God, using the hand of the Pastor, puts water on our head and using the voice of the Pastor speaks His name on us, He gives us faith, forgiveness and life. He puts His name on us. He writes our names in the book of life. He gives us heaven. When, at Holy Absolution, God, using the voice of the Pastor, speaks His Word of forgiveness on us, we know our sins are forgiven. When we hear the Word of God read and proclaimed by the mouth of the Pastor, we know that the Word which is read, spoke and preached is a word of certainty. When, at the Lord’s Supper, God, using the voice of the Pastor, speaks His Word of consecration on the bread and wine we know that we are being given Jesus’ body and blood to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of our faith.
 

While our words may be law words and while our words may bring uncertainty, we know that God’s Word is true, is certain and is sure. We know that we can believe and trust God’s Word because it is His Word.
 

What does this mean? As I said earlier, as I have said before and as I will continue to proclaim, we always believe God’s Word over man’s word. While human beings are fallible God’s Word is true. God’s Word never fails. God’s Word is certain because it is His Word and He is God who gives His Word. God says and that settles it, whether we get it, understand it, want to believe it or not. God is the prime mover. He is the creator. He is the giver. He is God.
 

God’s Word is efficacious. God’s Word does and gives. God’s Word works faith, forgiveness and life in us. As we witnessed in our text for this evening, God said and it was, and it was good and ultimately, before the fall into sin, it was very good, perfect because God’s Word creates perfection. God’s Word gives and we are given too.
 

And finally, God’s Word stirs in us a response of faith. As I have said many times, we get it right when we point to Jesus. We are justified, made right in God’s eyes by Jesus’ perfect life, suffering, death and resurrection. It is all God’s doing and our being done to. We are sanctified, that is we are made holy so that we live God pleasing lives, also by God’s doing. Indeed, in and of ourselves we can do no good thing. It is only as the Holy Spirit works through the means of grace that He stirs in us to be the people God would have us to be even if we are and continue to be His people imperfectly while we live in this sin tainted world. So, even our sanctification is done right only as we point to Jesus.
 

God gives and we are given to. God is the prime mover. It all starts with God. God created life in the beginning. God gives us each life at our conception. God gives us each faith, forgiveness and eternal life through the waters of Holy Baptism. God forgives us through Holy Absolution. God strengthens us and keeps us in faith through His Word. God forgives us and strengthens us through His body and blood in His Holy Supper. God gives, God does and we are given to and done to. And God stirs in us to be His people even as we are so imperfectly while we live in this world. So, we are left to rejoice and say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.