Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” (Luke 20: 19–23 ESV)

 Dear fellow pilgrims celebrating the Paschal Feast,

Up until the events described in our Gospel Lesson this morning, the disciples had only heard about Jesus’ rising from the dead.  As of yet they had not seen him, and so they did not believe it. In addition, they did not enjoy the benefits of Jesus’ resurrection, because they refused to believe he was alive.  Their unbelief and sins made them afraid and so they were locked-up –hiding.  

For them there was no Easter joy.

This all changes with Jesus’ appearing to them, and his words of peace and forgiveness.  At once they go from being fearful to glad.  Their world is completely changed.  They now know that they are at peace with the Lord.  Even their relationships with each other are different.  Now they are able to forgive one another. 

Now there is Easter joy.

Yet at first they didn’t believe.

We ask –how could this be? Why? Why, when some of them had seen the evidence –the rolled away stone, the empty tomb and the grave clothes –and also heard the reports of those who had seen Jesus –did they not believe he was alive?  What more proof did they want? Need?

The reason the disciples did not believe is because they could not.  They lacked faith.  They were still in their sins and consequently unbelieving.  They had not yet received the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection because they were unable to grasp them for themselves.  This is only possible by the Holy Spirit, who Jesus gives to them when he breathes on them.  It is the Spirit of life who gives life to those who are dead in their sins.  Without the Holy Spirit, there is no faith.

This shouldn’t surprise us.  Many people are like the disciples –even today.  They know some things about Jesus. They may even have quite a bit of historical knowledge of Jesus.  But they do not believe in him, that is, they do not fully put their trust in him as their Savior.  They remain in their sins and know no joy, but only fear. Consequently they are afraid and their hearts remain locked to Jesus.

Take the disciples for example, all the things that had taken place over the last three days were, no doubt, devastating and so upsetting that they were unsure as to what to do next.  And so they hid –from their enemies and from God.  And separated from their Lord what little faith they had quickly vanished.

Now we might think, “Wait, how is it that the disciples hadn’t any faith?  They’d been with Jesus for three years. During that time they heard him teach and preach.  They had seen his signs.  Some of them had been eye-witnesses to Jesus’ transfiguration.  Only recently he had raised Lazarus from the dead.  How was it that they lacked faith to believe the word that Jesus was alive?  He had even said would rise again!”

Well, my dear Christian friends let me remind you that it is possible to lose your faith and to fall  from the grace of God.  Sadly it happens often. 

Among the disciples there are plenty of examples.  The disciple Peter, for one, fell into terrible sin when he denied the Lord Jesus.  He cursed and swore that he didn’t know him.  Is it any wonder that he would not be cheered by what he was told? 

Even after going to the tomb and seeing the grave clothes lying there, Peter remained unconvinced.  No doubt he was plenty sorry, but as of yet he was unbelieving.  Even though he didn’t tragically end his life like Judas, no doubt he was wavering between denial and despair.  He may have even thought, “Now I am going crazy!  I am no longer in touch with reality.  Even what I am hearing and seeing is trying to fool me!”  No wonder he treated the women so roughly and thought their message was nonsense!  So he became defensive.

When a person lacks faith –that is, true, God given faith, that trusts in the Lord Jesus and receives for that person all the benefits of Christ’s forgiveness –when such a faith is lacking, that person is a most miserable individual –miserable from within and out.  They walk around not knowing the true joy of the forgiveness of their sins and are afraid of God.  Such people talk about God as if he were their enemy.  They blame him for their problems.  They don’t understand the troubles of this life.  They falter in temptation. They have sins that are “precious” to them. What’s more, they are fearful of death and terrified of judgment day.  And yet, remarkably, they’ll try to convince others and themselves that none of this is the case.

What’s more, such a person is, more often than not, miserable to be around.  We can only imagine how the disciples treated each other in that locked room.  Blaming one another; pointing out faults; criticizing and back-biting; probably cursing; telling each other to shut-up and the like. If the bickering at the Last Supper is of any indication, we can only imagine how they behaved when the Lord wasn’t with them!

Sometimes it is hard to recognize this problem within the church, for such people make the greatest hypocrites.  They’ll carry on as if nothing is wrong.  They call sins against Christ and his Word and against one another “normal.”  Further, when such hypocrites are confronted about their sins they’ll deny any wrong doing or they’ll claim they’re being picked on.  When they are offered forgiveness by the means of grace, they despise the only means by which Christ has promised to give us the fruits and benefits of his death on the cross.  Like Peter in the upper room, when Jesus tried to wash his feet, they either feel they don’t need the washing of Christ –or, when they are told of the real benefits Christ is offering them, they claim that what he offers is insufficient for them.  Not surprisingly, this eventually leads to being separated from the fellowship of believers and the Lord.  Usually they quit going to God’s house and avoid hearing pure preaching and applying of God’s Word.  We have many people on our church’s rolls who have fallen away in this manner.

So we might wonder, what is the remedy?  How can those Christians who were once believing and active in faith but have fallen away be restored to the Lord and to the church?  The answer is believing in the Lord Jesus and the forgiveness of their sins.

Did you notice how in our Gospel Lesson the disciples needed to hear they were forgiven?  They could not move an inch forward until they received the forgiveness Jesus had won for them by his all sufficient sacrifice on the cross.  So Jesus’ first word to them is, “Peace.”  And what a peace this was for them!  Not a peace they themselves had earned by living decent lives, or from intense religious training –a peace obtained through great personal sacrifice.  Now granted, all these would obtain peace for us if we were not sinners, but we are unable to do these things in such a way that we could get any lasting benefit from them.

No, this peace Jesus speaks is peace obtained by no less than his suffering and death and full payment of our sins through his suffering and death.  Jesus lived a perfect and holy life that was  god-pleasing in every way; fulfilling all righteousness.  And then he willingly offered himself up on the cross as a sacrifice for our sakes.  For our redemption.  To be credited to us.  So that we might be justified before God.  Just as St. Paul says in Romans 5:1” Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

As I said before, the disciples had not yet received the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection because they were unable to grasp them for themselves.  This comes only by the Holy Spirit who Jesus gives to them when he breathes on them.  And we know that they received the Holy Sprit and the gift of faith because they are cheered by the presence of the Lord!

Now this not to say that they were never sad again, or that they never again had a worry or care, or even that they never again sinned.  No, they were not removed from the world and its cares and the consequences of sin and the constant hounding of the devil.

What did happen –and happens for all who believe in Jesus –is that in spite of whatever might come, repenting of sins and receiving forgiveness in Christ’s name, we are restored as people of God and with one another.

Here we have the church as Christ founded her.  God’s people gathered around his word with Christ present; receiving the forgiveness obtained on the cross.  The church is no less and no more than this.  To demand more is to go beyond the realm of faith, and only where there is faith in Jesus Christ is there forgiveness of sins; and where there is forgiveness of sins there is also life and salvation.

This morning we see what unbelief and separation from Christ and His body, the church, means.  It can happen that a person may still come to church, be with other Christians and yet hide an unbelieving heart.  Or it maybe they have so completely fallen away that we no longer see them at all.

Already many of the cheerful faces from last Sunday have gone back to looking pretty much the way they did before Easter Sunday.  The great promise of Easter day has already slipped from their grasp.  And some didn’t even make Easter Church, and are not here today and will not be in the Lord’s house any time soon. 

If they claim to have peace and forgiveness, they do not have it on the basis of the sure and certain word of Christ to them and the forgiveness of sins offered in his stead and by his command. What they have they have based only on feelings.  And that is no assurance at all –for we see how it left the disciples. 

But Christ’s Word changed all that for the disciples, and for us too, who have heard the news again that Christ is risen, so that we respond cheerfully that he is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

And notice here too, that when the disciple Thomas wasn’t there, the others went and urged him to believe.  This is another significant indication that the Ten had received faith from Jesus.  They urged their fallen brother to believe.  We are able –and want to do that, too.  Being for each other what the other disciples were for Thomas.  Just as Jesus was for them. That’s why Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

And notice how they are sent to preach forgiveness and absolve sins.  Certainly we receive these each Sunday at Church, but this is also a part of our regular interaction with one another, even in the home.  It would be strange if we were to be so presumptuous as to spread the peace of Christ elsewhere but were not to offer it or receive it or know it among ourselves!  This would take us back to the beginning of this sermon and to unbelief and no faith and not knowing that our sins are forgiven, and consequently no Easter joy or benefits!

How differently things turn out than you might expect for the people of God!  Early Easter morning gloominess quickly turned to Easer Sunday joy. A tightly sealed tomb had its door burst wide open.  One of the true joys of Easter is this: that God does what we least expect.  The sinner stricken with guilt and terror is shown grace.  The sinner who faces only the prospect of eternal punishment in hell is given mercy.  The sinner who knows no comfort or rest in his own efforts finds peace.

Christ opens heaven for the disciples and for all believers, and he gives his church the Keys to heaven.  This we know as the Office of the Keys and Confession.  It is a special authority given by Christ to his church on earth.  For the unrepentant heaven is locked, and entrance is denied, and no comfort or hope can be found or is offered here on earth.  To the repentant, heaven is fully made open –with all the promises of everlasting life and joy extended already here on earth. 

Some despise this teaching and figure they will force the door of heaven open themselves or convince God somehow that they have a sufficient supply of whatever it is they think will get them in.  They are sorely mistaken.

Those who trust in Christ and have faith know of no such storming of the gates of heaven or of any other kind of entrance fee.  Repenting of their sins, they have faith in Christ.  When they hear they are forgiven they believe it to be true.  This gains them access to heaven and eternal life.  And these words completes Easter for us all. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

“But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’” (Luke 15:17-19  ESV)

Pray: Love caused Your incarnation; Love brought you down to me. Your thirst for my salvation Procured my liberty. Oh, love beyond all telling, That led you to embrace In love, all love excelling, Our lost and fallen race. (O Lord, How shall I Meet You? LSB 334)

Dear Fellow Pilgrims on the Way to the Paschal Feast,

Our Gospel Lesson this morning – Jesus well-known parable, the so-called The Story of the Prodigal Son (the word prodigal, by the way, is never used) –is a sublime example of what it means to repent.  For, you see, when this younger son came to his senses, he turned around –which is what “repent” means –and went back to his Father.

Now he must have known something extraordinary about his father in order to do this.  And that also tells us something about repentance.  That it must follow contrition –that is, sorrow for sins –and that it always accompanies faith.

Too many people confuse this to great peril of their souls.  They think that just because they are sorry for their sins that that is enough to merit forgiveness.  But they are totally wrong: being sorry is not enough.

You see, plenty of people are sorry for things they have done.  That’s not a problem, really. We’ve seen many “Tiger Woods” stand in front of television cameras saying they’re sorry for this and that.  They may even go to great lengths to prove they’ve indeed changed, but the heart that is not changed by the Holy Spirit will never change. 

When such “pop idols” make such spectacular “confessions,” we have no idea as to whether they mean it or not.  Even before they’re finished, the news broadcasters are assessing whether they pulled it of, and if they seemed genuine.  But we can’t see into the heart.

The truth is, God is far more demanding than simply wanting our sorrow.  No one ever was made right with God because he or she was sorry.  There simply has to be more, because we know that none of our efforts will ever please God.  No matter what a person might do, he is unable to ever satisfy God’s anger over sin.  Otherwise, all religions would become equal in an instant.  The Muslim, Jew, Hindu would all be on the same path to eternal peace if it was only a matter of convincing God we were truly sorry for what we had done to anger him. But we can’t

No, my dear friends, being sorry is not the end of it.  For you see, sorrow can exist outside of faith in Jesus Christ.  We may certainly be sorry that we have sinned.  But we don’t have to believe in Jesus Christ to be sorry.  We don’t have to believe that Jesus has made complete satisfaction for your sins and the sins of the whole world on the cross in order to feel bad about anything you have done.

But without Jesus, we will never find your way back to the father. Our Lord told the disciples on the night he was betrayed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

In addition, there is a great immediate danger when a person is sorry but also lacks faith in Jesus, for such sorrow can lead to despair.  Judas Iscariot is a good example of this.  He was sorry that he had betrayed the Lord and even tried to amend things.  But he got no comfort from the religion of the Jews.  They had their sacrifice. (Is it any wonder Jesus had cleaned out the temple on Palm Sunday of the money changers, seeing that their coins would later “pay the price” of his blood?

No, it says, Judas went out and hanged himself.  Despair can lead to suicide.  And then it is up to God to decide. And such an act without faith means eternal damnation –just as it did for King Saul and Judas.

Contrast this with the disciple Peter, who was on the brink of destruction when he denied the Lord three times. Jesus had told him that the devil wanted him “to sift him like wheat”.  But Jesus would save him by giving Peter faith.  And so, Peter –although he sinned greatly and cursed and swore when he denied Jesus –he did not despair; the faith the Lord gave to him believed Jesus’ promise and he was saved. And then he went out and had for himself a good cry.

So for the son in today’s lesson –and for all of us –being sorry isn’t enough.  But first he had to realize the mess he had gotten himself into by stepping in some pig manure. What a good analogy of the sinner: down with the beasts in their slop and excrement.  That was plenty law for him to be sorry.  But at first it may have just been a pity party.  In the end the only thing that could save him would be the father’s grace.

But then he comes to his senses!  Something reminds him of the goodness of his father.  He recalls the joy of being in that family and of all the comforts of their home.  He even recalls his father’s even-handedness with his employees.  He realizes he has come a long way away from what his father wanted for him.  He comes to his senses.

Faith starts when like the son, “we come to our senses.” Only by the aid of the Holy Spirit can this happen, and it is by hearing about the mercy of our heavenly father.  King David committed a series of terrible sins of adultery and murder that pretty well almost landed him in hell.  When he was brought to his senses he wrote Psalm 51,  words of Introit this morning:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.  Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right1 spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Psalm 51:1-12 

Notice, my friends, how today Jesus makes the invitation necessary to enliven faith in our hearts and repent of our sins. Whenever the Bible has Jesus speaking with people we find him surrounded by sinners. But there are also the Pharisees. The sinners hunger and thirst and gather around him. He wins their hearts. Although by his words and signs they realize he is the Son of God, they are not afraid to come to him. And they begin to trust in him.

The Pharisees, on the other hand, are quick to judge the Savior. “This man receives sinners and eats with them,” the say. And you know what? Jesus hears their remarks. And how does he respond? He does not say, “You’re right! I don’t want to have sinners, but only righteous people around me” No, he says, “I want sinners around me,” and then shows this by telling the parable.

Today Jesus wants each of us to approach him.  Regardless of your sins, or what others might say about you, he is telling you that the Father is always anxious and waiting.  All the good things you hear about in church are true, and they are meant for each of us.

And finally, we need to say something about the older brother; not so much to comfort us when others may not be willing to receive us back, for the father takes care of that –as our lesson shows.  Rather, as a warning against acting the part of the older brother, that is, to fall into his sin of hypocrisy –staying “at home”, but at the same time hiding a hard heart toward the Father out of a lack of love and respect for the Father’s ways.  In this parable both sons equally sinned against heaven and their father.  The older one sins greater however, because is unwilling to yield and repent –even though all the time he appears to be the righteous one.

So you see, to be a son – or daughter of the Father is a difficult thing and it is impossible to keep the First Commandment completely.  Instead, Jesus is our brother who takes our place in all this and fulfills the law of God completely, and in that way loves the Father for us in the way that we cannot.  He sacrifices himself on the cross so that the father may be paid back and full restoration for what we have squandered may be made.  In that way we can be welcomed.

Perhaps you need to be brought to your senses –for whatever roll you have been playing.  The younger son, squandering the grace of the Father and his good gifts, or the older son who is resentful to others, but in reality is angry that he has to be under the father and unable to “live it up” like others.  Whatever the case may be, the Father is waiting.  Better than the younger son, all that he has is yours because of his Only Begotten Son has sacrificed his eternal riches to come to earth and gave his very life for you on the cross.  Return to him in faith and repentance and believing.

And, if your heart is like the older brother: than hear the words of the Father to you today.  Be reconciled with your younger brother; with your weaker brother.  The Father wants that his family is at peace and content.  His house will be no other way.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 “ … unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”  (Luke 13:5 ESV)

Pray: Love caused Your incarnation; Love brought you down to me. Your thirst for my salvation Procured my liberty. Oh, love beyond all telling, That led you to embrace In love, all love     excelling, Our lost and fallen race. (O Lord, How shall I Meet You? LSB 334)

Dear Fellow Pilgrims on the Way to the Paschal Feast,

Last week we learned something about Lent and Jesus.  We learned that his journey to Jerusalem is destined to end in death for him.  It isn’t because the devil is directing Jesus’ fate.  Neither is it because Herod is bent on killing Jesus.  Even the Pharisees cannot successfully manipulate the Savior.  It is, rather, the father’s will. Fate does not bring Jesus to the Cross.  Our sins do.  And the Father has sent Jesus to save us from perishing because of them.

Jesus himself said the truth of it, “Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.” (Luke 13: 33)

 We also had introduced to us last Sunday, one of the characters of the Passion: Herod. In the scheme of things he is rather unimportant, except that he thinks he is, and also he has John the Baptizer put to death.

Today we have in the very same chapter of Luke’s Gospel another player in Jesus’ Passion named.  He is far more important.  He is Pontius Pilate.  Whenever Christians confess their faith in the words of the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds, Pilate gets mentioned.  “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried,” –we say in the Apostles’ Creed, and,  “[he] was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, he suffered and was buried,” is what we say in the Nicene.

 There was a time when some historical critics of the Bible argued that Pilate was a totally fictional character: absolutely made-up –mainly because the only written record known about him was the Bible’s mentioning of him here and in a couple of other places –especially in connection with Jesus trial and crucifixion.

But that all changed when archeologists discovered at the Mediterranean Sea coast site of the ancient port city of Caesarea,–a stone that had been recycled in a theater for an entirely different use than its original purpose –originally it had been a kind of dedication stone –with large Latin letters cut into it saying,

            Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has presented the Tiberiéum to the Ceasareans.[i]

You can imagine that that reference in stone to Pilate changed the historic critics’ view of the historicity of Pilate in a jiffy. And, we recall how on Palm Sunday, when Jesus’ enemies told him to stop the children from singing his hosannas, that Jesus said if they were to be silent, the very stones would cry out. (Luke 19:40)  And this way, in a sense, they have cried out.

 St. Luke, the writer of our Gospel, was a historian.  He gives us the Gospel with his name and the Book of Acts.  He tells us he carefully researched everything.  He conducted interviews with the eyewitnesses of the events he records.  Luke tells us that at the time of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem,

A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria (Luke 2:1-2)

thereby gives us a historical reference point with which to begin. And, that,

In 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, during the high priesthood of     Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness,

describing for us the political arrangement of Palestine at the beginning of John’s and, subsequently, also Jesus’ ministry. (Luke 3:1-2)  Again, this helps us accurately date the events recorded.

Unlike many of the world’s religions, the Christian faith is one where God steps into human history as a man, assuming our flesh, living, and dying, as all people do.  You can go to the places of the Bible.  Ancient Palestine is under piles of dust and dirt.  Ancient Rome has left its monuments to be seen and studied by the modern tourist.  Ours is not a faith that begins with, “Once upon a time.”

St. Luke also tells us about a tower falling over, crushing eighteen people –to be exact, and about Pilate’s blasphemous martyring of Jews and mixing their blood with their sacrifices.

One of the things we should draw from all this is that these were not pretty times.  The world was a very cruel place when Jesus lived.  Villainy and treachery were rampant.  People could be made to suffer horrible deaths.  The portrayal of the Romans as rough characters by our Living Nativity actors is not too far from the truth.  There certainly were some exceptions –but for the most part you and I would have done whatever we could have to keep from trouble with the Romans.  As Pilate pointed out at Jesus’ trial, he had authority to release him and authority to crucify him. 

But we know Jesus also answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:10–11)

Yet we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus did not come into a time of comfort and ease, but a time of cruelness and suffering –which is just what we deserve for our sins.  The sinful human condition is such that human beings are able to come up with the most horrible ways to kill each other, crucifixion being the preferred method of the Romans. 

Yet, as was pointed out last Wednesday evening in church, the holy prophets of God described the crucifixion long before it was ever invented.  It’s not that God invented crucifixion, rather, it’s that he already saw our sins, our need for forgiveness, the horrible cruelty and hate that people can have toward God and each other –and he chose that his own Son, begotten from all eternity, would suffer and die and pay the punishment that was ours on the cross.

St Paul writes in Galatians chapter 3, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us –for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13)

Jesus became cursed for us. He died because of your sins; because of my sins. These were not his sins that made him to suffer so.

But neither did fate put him on the cross.  He went willingly.  When Jesus sent out his twelve apostles he told them,

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29–31)

When our last hour comes, or whenever we think about our death, we should not think that our end will be arbitrary.  Whether that be in our beds, or suddenly on the road, or unexpectedly by heart attack, or long and perhaps even painful like from cancer  -true, we all must die because we are sinners.  But as redeemed children of God, our deaths are in God’s hands.

 And that is what brings us here today to God’s House: to confess our sins.  As Jesus says, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”  We recognize this as a time of grace; the Lord allowing yet another season; him looking for the fruit of repentance.

Each year we observe the Savior’s passion during this time of Lent.  Each Wednesday evening we especially consider the great cost of our redemption to our heavenly father, who loves us so very much.  If you are unable to come to our evening services, I hope you have a good reason.

If you are un-willing to come, I hope you change your mind –especially if you are fearful of hearing about your sins and about Jesus’ death because of them.  And I sincerely hope it is not because you refuse to repent of these.

Today, as we reach the mid-way point of Lent, we see more clearly what God had in mind for us.  He’s is not an arbitrary God, with a terrible hate for his own son –or for us.  He has a plan for us that is not evil, but will give us an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11).

People worry about these things whenever disasters strike.  “Was God punishing them?”  It was that way when Katrina hit New Orleans. People thought that about Haiti recently, and now Chile. Even Taiwan had an earthquake this week.  Jesus said earthquakes and other natural disasters would happen.  But he didn’t mean that earthquakes tell us that the end of the world is right now.  The end has always been near. 

He means that we should not think that earthquakes and such disasters mean God is angrier with us, or that his wrath is particularly focused on us now.  That’s what the people were implying when they came with terrible news about Pilate what had done; and it is good for us to hear his answer to them, since we wonder that as well.

Sin has brought evil in to the world.  That’s why bad things happen.  But bad things happening to people do not necessarily indicate a greater or lesser sin has been committed and that they are being punished by God for it.  The thing to avoid is dying –however that might be –unrepentant. Because if you do, then –regardless of what the cause of your death might be –you most certainly will perish and be lost forever in hell –if you do not repent.

Thanks be to God that he has sent Jesus into the world to save sinners. And thanks be to God that his Word comes to us today and calls us to repentance.  And thanks be to God that he has given us a way out from under the punishment for our sins.  And thanks be to God that he has also given to us faith that believes in Jesus.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The portion of God’s Word which I have chosen this morning for our comfort is from Luke 23:39-43 (ESV)   

And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Dear Friends in Christ,

We are less than two weeks into the season of Lent, the time of the church year when we ponder the passion and death of Jesus.  And it is by that very suffering, death, and, yes, resurrection of Jesus that we gather this morning to be comforted. 

How else could we soon –shortly, gather at the grave side of our dear brother in the Lord, Richie, and not be overcome with sadness, unless we went there knowing already that our Savior’s passion will in the end bring the joyful words, “Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia”?

Last Wednesday evening Richie came to the Lord’s House for the last time –to hear our Lord’s Passion read, to listen to the children sing about Jesus’ love for us, and to sing hymns such as “Jesus I will Ponder Now”.  Stanza 6 of “Jesus I Will Ponder Now” has these words:

Graciously my faith renew, Help me bear my crosses, Learning humbleness from you,
Peace mid pain and losses. May I give you love for love! Hear me, O my Savior,
That I may in heaven above Sing your praise forever. (Lutheran Service Book 440)

Oh, had he only known that Wednesday would be his last time in this life to sing the Savior’s glories and, that by week’s end, he would be singing his Lord’s praises in heaven!  Wednesday’s sermon continued our series on the last words of Jesus from the cross.  That evening we heard the word spoken by Jesus to the penitent thief, words that comfort us again this morning:

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

How appropriate these words are!  Like I said, these words of Jesus were the basis of our sermon Wednesday evening –the last time Richie was in church.  These are the words of Jesus to a sinner, which Richie was –and all of us here today are; words we never can hear too often.  And, these words promise that at the hour of death those who believe in Jesus will be with him in heaven, which is also a great comfort to us considering the suddenness of Richie’s death, and because we also do not know when our last hour will come.

Now I have to admit, I considered some other Bible passages that I thought might be appropriate today: thinking particularly of Richie, as I knew him and as you have described him to me.  Of course, a pastor can go with the Confirmation verse, which we have printed on the cover of the funeral service folder.  Or he may have something in mind that reminds him of the person. 

Since Richie was so fond of fishing, I thought maybe 1 Peter 5:7 might be appropriate, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”  No doubt, fishing is a great way to relax and get out from under the day to day troubles and cares of life, but I didn’t think that was the real meaning of that text.

I thought perhaps Psalm 90 was appropriate.  I read it at the kitchen Friday table, when we learned of Richie’s death.  I thought how you, Wes, went out later and tried to find Richie’s path in the snow and follow his footstep in the yards –but already by then the wind had blown the snow and filled them in, covering them up.  So the Psalmist says,

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. (Psalm 90:5-6)

Then also, the same Psalm speaks of our years,

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. (Psalm 90:10)

–and Richie was blessed to see over eighty years.

Although a person may be the most kind and gentle and easy going person as Richie was, we still all are sinners.  We have earned God’s wrath.  Otherwise why do we die?  The Psalmist says,

For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed.  You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. (Psalm 90:7-9)

So I settled on Jesus words to the dying thief on the cross.  St. Luke tells us,

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-41)

The circumstances surrounding this promised entry into heaven on the very same day that a criminal received capital punishment is known to everyone familiar with Jesus’ crucifixion.  Hung between two thieves, as they are commonly thought of –more likely they were like today’s terrorists –Jesus is mocked by one of them.

Even today such derision probably would be viewed by most people as extreme.  Although in our day and age it is getting harder to even find someone who acknowledges that there is a God or a Christ!  Today too many people don’t go to their deaths afraid of God; entering eternity –considering even that there might even be an eternity –let alone considering who might be Christ! 

The thief that mocks Jesus at least had an opinion about the Messiah.  He believed that the Christ would be a temporal deliverer from the Romans and their cruel subjugation.  The cruelty of crucifixion was just one example of what the Christ would –in this man’s mind –bring to an end.  For him, Jesus had to be an imposter since the Lord apparently would not or could not carry out his claims.  The thief was honest, in that way.  But he went to hell, for all his honesty did not make up for his sin. And, after all, “the way to hell is paved with good intentions.”

The other man, to whom Jesus words are addressed, believed what he heard about Jesus and had faith in him.  Perhaps it was Jesus’ Words of forgiveness spoken just before this –as the nails were being driven into the Savior’s hands –that gave him faith in Jesus. Perhaps it was the sign that named Jesus a King –that gave him the dying desire to gain admittance into the Savior’s eternal realm.  Maybe at one time he had been a follower of John the Baptist –or even Jesus.

Perhaps he had been misled away from the Lamb of God.  But now at the last hour of grace, he recognizes that truly Jesus is the One that takes the world’s sin away.  With that he repents of his sins, prays to Jesus, and receives the promise, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

What a glorious thought! To be with Jesus.  To think of our loved ones who have gone before us with the Lamb.  That they truly know no pain, or suffering, no sadness –not a tear.  That they rejoice night and day in the company of the angels and prophets and apostles and saints.  What glories Richie has already seen in just four short days in our time, now that he has come to the end of this pilgrimage we call life.

 Serving his country in Korea –as all our military service personnel know –Richie didn’t know with any degree of certainty then whether he would come home from the war alive –unscathed.  But he did.  And while many are unable to come back to church, to start families and live peaceable lives because either they had gone unprepared spiritually, or because they became victims war’s destructive nature –not only of the body, but also of the mind –Richie did come home and went on to live a God-fearing Christian life. A testimony to his charachter and upbringing, his Lutheran faith; and to the glory of his Lord.  And, now at long last his journey has ended, with a glad homecoming into the arms of the heavenly Father!

For we are all pilgrims.  Journeying towards heaven.  A journey started in Baptism and ending in death.  When one travels the thought that death might come is hardly a pleasant thought –we’d stay home if we thought such a thing would happen.  But in the body we are away from our real home, and we seek a different city, not made by hands.  And so we continue along life’s way. Ever walking with Jesus.

It was on his final way to Jerusalem, that Jesus took a side trip to Bethany.  There he had been called to the bedside of his friend Lazarus.  It was hoped that Jesus would cure him.  But it was not to be.  Lazarus died. And Jesus came only when it appeared to be too late.

Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, each had their own way of dealing with the loss of their brother. Martha went straight way to Jesus. Mary stayed at home.  Both, however, told Jesus when they finally saw him, “Lord, had you been here my brother would not have died.”

Although they were sad that Jesus had not arrived in time, neither of them expected what Jesus did next.  Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and returned the living brother to the two sisters.  What joy there must have been to have received back from the grave their brother, alive!  A few days later when Jesus ate at their house, Mary showed her gratitude by anointing Jesus’ feet with costly ointment.  When Judas scolded her for, what he deemed, was being wasteful, Jesus came to her defense and told Judas, “let her keep it for my burial.”

Even in the raising of Lazarus and restoring a member of a family and a friend, Jesus was preparing for his own death so that by it his words to Martha at her brothers grave might be fulfilled,

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. (John 11:25-26)

And we know that Jesus was so moved by his friends grieving for their loved one and also by those who mourned with them that he wept.  Jesus wept –this may be the shortest verse in the Bible, but no other verse I know expresses the profoundness that God has no pleasure in the death of the sinner (Ezekiel 33:11), but desires that all be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), and that blessed is the death of his saints in the eye of the Lord (Psalm 116:15).

 So then it came to be that, hanging between two criminals shortly thereafter, was the very One who saves sinners.  And it was in repentance and faith, that the one thief received assurance of a blessed entry into heaven.

None of us are excluded from these promises.  No matter what our sins may be or how many. And even if we may be way overly qualified to sing “Chief of sinner though I be” we too may add, “Jesus shed his blood for me. Died that I might live on high. Lives that I might never die. As the branch is to the vine I am his, and he is mine.”

At the end of the sermon Wednesday night we heard,

What sort of Man is this who promises Paradise to a dying thief who admits the guilt of crime? What sort of justice is this that speaks pardon to the unpardonable, that acquits the guilty, that saves those society deems unsalvageable and worthy of the cruelest form of death?

This is the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of fallen mankind, the One who reconciles the enemy as enemy and justifies the sinner as sinner. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

“Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” Hear that word of promise for yourself. Hear it now, and at the hour of your death, for none of us knows the day and the hour of our “Today” when Paradise is opened to us in our death. Amen.

Prayer: For Your Word of promised Paradise, opening Your kingdom to sinners, rebels condemned to die as the just wages of our sin, we give You thanks and praise, most holy Jesus. Amen.[i]

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”  32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.” (Luke 13:31–32 ESV)    

Pray: Love caused Your incarnation; Love brought you down to me. Your thirst for my salvation Procured my liberty. Oh, love beyond all telling, That led you to embrace In love, all love excelling, Our lost and fallen race. (O Lord, How shall I Meet You? LSB 334)

Dear Fellow Pilgrims on the Way to the Paschal Feast,

Although last Sunday was the first Sunday in Lent, it gave us no real indication of what lies ahead for Jesus, that is, what Lent is really all about –the suffering and death of our Savior.  Even though in last week’s Gospel reading we heard how Jesus, during a time of great personal weakness, was confronted by the devil in the wilderness, there was no indication that Jesus’ life was in mortal danger.  Certainly the devil meant him great harm, and yes, would have killed him given the chance, but Jesus’ walked away alive.

This morning it’s somewhat different.  Here we hear of someone actually wanting to kill Jesus’ life.  It is Herod, who Jesus characterizes as a fox.  And it is a group of Pharisees who come and tell Jesus to get out of that region because Herod seeks his life.  At last, now we are getting some indication that Lent is about Jesus’ death.

But once again, Jesus will not be distracted.  He stays the course.  He is in this until he can say the words, “it is finished.” 

What great comfort and encouragement we find here when we hear that Jesus was determined to fulfill all that was necessary to complete the work of our salvation.  What assurance this gives to each of us here today, that our sins are forgiven.

And not only does Jesus go willingly; he goes knowingly.  He is fully aware of what must be done.  He has known it from the foundation of the world.  It is our salvation that Jesus heard even in the bosom of the Father –from all eternity.  And soon He will return there, from whence he came into our world.

In the Nicene Creed we confess,

“Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried.”

Jesus knows both Herod and the Pharisees too well, and he won’t be distracted from his mission just because they bring word that Herod is breathing threats.  As a matter of fact neither devil, nor Herod, nor anyone else but the Father will set the agenda for the Son of God and his work of redemption by dying on the cross.  Jesus will have to die, that is certain.  And it will have to be in Jerusalem, where prophets die.  But it will be into the Father’s hands that Jesus will at the last commend his spirit.

Perhaps you too, have found yourself in a similar situation.  People can be tricky and duplicitous. The Bible actually doesn’t have much good to say about sinful mankind.

Before the great flood in Noah’s day it says,

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes,

“Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.” (Ecclesiastes 9:3)

The prophets, who were in so much trouble with the people for what they said, also exposed their hearts for what they were. Jeremiah writes,

“But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’” (Jeremiah 18:12)

Our Gospel Lesson is not the first time Jesus was confronted with the evil thoughts and plans of men’s hearts.  Nor would the savior be led on. St. John writes, “he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man” (John 2:24 -25),

Jesus assesses the situation accurately.  He calls Herod a fox, acknowledging that he is cunning and tricky.  By this time Herod had John the Baptizer put to death by cutting off his head.  He had allowed it in a moment of weakness and most likely drunken stupor.  It was an unpopular move.  Now, he had it with prophets.  If he could scare Jesus away, that would be all the better for him.  They would be seeing each other soon enough, although Herod couldn’t have imagined at the time, when Pilate would send Jesus to Herod who was in Jerusalem for the Feast.

But there is also the possibility that Jesus also with these words means to implicate the Pharisees, too.  For they are just as dangerous as Herod.  They have their own agenda.  Get Jesus out of their territory.  Rid themselves of the competition. Jesus has hardly had a good word to say about them. For Jesus to go on to Jerusalem would mean that he could be more easily dealt with.  Here in Galilee nothing is going to happen to Jesus.  But Jerusalem is another story.  The city is dangerous to prophets –as Jesus reminds his listeners at the end of the reading.

And we know what this is all about.  Everyone of us has known the duplicity of others. 

One of the things they teach seminarians who are about to be pastors is to be aware of those who come to you at your new charge and try to befriend you and also generously share with you all the problems in the congregation, or what is with this or that board, or what was wrong with your predecessor.  It may sound like a cynical thing to teach young pastors, but experience has proven the truth of it.

As a pastor I know that I must practice discernment about every thing that is told to me.  A few weeks ago we heard of God’s offer to Solomon for any thing he wished. The young King at that time asked for discernment above all else. A more accurate way to render the text there in 1 Kings 2:9, is that he asked for the ability by the power of the Holy Spirit to see men’s hearts. That was a very great gift.

The only way that such sin can be removed from people’s hearts and even from a congregation is by repentance and faith in Christ –not in our own plans and mechanizations.  There is no other agenda for a Christian congregation than the preaching of God’s Word, first to her own people, and then to preach that Word to others.  To undermine, withdraw support, sow contention and work one’s own plan where the Holy Spirit is active is dangerous thing.  The peace of a congregation is a priceless gift of God.  To work against it is to sow your own weeds where God has put his crop.  It may be that the two must grow up together for the sake of the good grain, but in the end the weeds are burned.

Our Gospel Lesson shows us that while it may very well be that there is more than one side to an issue, that in the end, what is in the heart, and willingness to work toward God’s peace may mean setting aside personal wants and agendas for the greater good and to avoid greater sin.

 Our Savior Jesus helps us whenever we are up against formidable forces that threaten us and the kingdom.  He shows us today that he kept the course.  God has a plan in everything.  While troubles may come our way, Jesus knows and cares.

The prophets may have had to die in Jerusalem, but in this way they become judges over Israel and all nations.  The apostles too, would all die martyrs deaths.  “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”

But first the holy and innocent blood of Jesus must be shed.  It is to Jerusalem that Jesus is determined to go, and it is Jerusalem where he will find the end of his life.  But it is not a tragic end, that means all is lost and forfeited.   But an end that means great victory for him and all mankind.  It means that in his death and resurrection the people of God need fear no more those who would threaten their lives, now, and especially in eternity. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:13 ESV)

Pray: Love caused Your incarnation; Love brought you down to me. Your thirst for my salvation Procured my liberty. Oh, love beyond all telling, That led you to embrace In love, all love excelling, Our lost and fallen race. (O Lord, How shall I Meet You? LSB 334)

Dear Pilgrims journeying to the Paschal Feast:

There is no one here today who hasn’t been tempted.  I know that I have.  Many times. And will continue to be, until I take my last breath.  We all have.  That’s why Jesus taught His disciples to pray in the sixth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “and lead us not into temptation.”

There is nothing wrong in being tempted.  It is not because of a character flaw, or a sign of weakness.  The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13) –meaning that every one is tempted.

Regardless of what temptations may have come your way, it makes you no greater a sinner because you have been tempted.  And I find that to be a real comfort when the devil –who sometimes out of frustration because he was unable to get me to give in to a particular temptation –comes back at me from still another angle, making me feel bad for having been tempted in the first place.  I’m sure you know what I mean.

No, even the holy Son of God, Jesus Christ, was tempted as we hear in our Gospel Lesson thjis morning –and he was without sin.  The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says that Jesus was, “…in every respect…tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

Yet it also makes you no better a person if you have never suffered a particular temptation. For Paul also cautions, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12)

Adam and Eve, the first human beings and created in the image of God, truly knew God the way he wishes to be known and were perfectly happy in Him.  They were at first, holy and righteous, doing God’s will.

They sinned when they gave in to temptation.  Made it there own.  Took pleasure in it. Just as we sang in our opening confessional hymn,

All mankind fell in Adam’s fall, One common sin infects us all;
From sire to son the bane descends, And over all the curse impends.

Through humankind corruption creeps And them in dreadful bondage keeps;
In guilt they draw the infant breath And reap its fruits of woe and death.

From hearts depraved, to evil prone, Flow thoughts and deeds of sin alone;
God’s image lost, the darkened soul Seeks not nor finds it heavenly goal. (Lutheran Service Book 562)

But with the Second Adam there’s a difference: Jesus never gave in to temptation. When the devil came to Jesus in the wilderness, it was to Adam’s replacement and our substitute that he confronted the Savior.

Adam and Eve gave in to the temptation to eat the food that was forbidden of them by God.  Jesus, on the other hand, has nothing to do with it and remains content with the food from above.

When the devil twists the Word of God and its clear meaning, saying, “did God really say you must not eat of any tree?”  Adam and Eve begin to wonder and doubt the clear Word of God that was spoken to them.  Jesus, unlike our first parents, remains on solid ground, founded upon the Scripture, and neither falls to the temptation, nor tempts the Father.

When the devil promises Adam and Eve that they can be like gods and have dominion over what was not given to them, they easily give in.  Jesus, however, knows that the devils rule is a sham-rule and that he only has destruction and separation from God and eternal death to give.

But there is Good News. As we also sang in our hymn,

But Christ, the second Adam, came To bear our sin and woe and shame,
To be our life, our light, our way, Our only hope, our only stay.

As by one man all mankind fell And, born is sin, was doomed to hell,
So by one Man, who took our place, We all received the gift of grace.

We thank you, Christ; new life is ours, New light, new hope, new strength, new powers:
This grace our every way attend Until we reach our journey’s end. (Lutheran Service Book 562)

 When Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…who mourn…are meek,” and so forth (Matthew 5:3-5), he means the Christian who is sad about the things that come to him in life like temptation, and sees himslef as poor against the spirit, and unable to do anything on his own against the devil. This person God will help.

That’s why it also says in 1 Corinthians 10,

God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the          temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.  (1 Corinthians 10:13)

But how can we fight off temptation?  Are there things we can do to keep ourselves from being tempted?  Yes! there are.  For one thing, we can learn from Jesus.  He used God’s Word.  In the regular hearing of God’s Word we benefit from its presence in our lives.  Here we gain the weapons and skills necessary to wield against temptation.

Those who don’t go to eagerly are like athletes who don’t excercise.  They’re really not athletes, and on the day of the contest their weaknesses become obvious.

But going to church won’t prevent temptations from coming.  That’s almost like thinking there is a way to keep birds from flying over our heads.  We can’t.  But we know that chances are much grater of being pooped on by a bird in an aviary at the zoo than in our living room at home.  It’s the same with temptation.

The devil is clever.  He watches you closely and will custom make temptations for you.  Walking up to the lottery counter, or into the bar, or clicking on to the porn web site –or whatever else helps things along.  When Jesus said to the disciple Peter after he –Peter- tempted the Lord to forsake the way of the cross, saying “Get behind me Satan!”  He didn’t mean – “Get behind me and to push.” He meant get away!

Ask yourself, “Is my cable T.V. a swage channel to smut?” “Does the alcohol I abuse get into my shopping cart by anybody else’s hands?”  “Who controls my tongue?” …I could go on. Instead,

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to   you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  (James 4:7-8)

As we begin Lent we can not fool ourselves into thinking that we are simply entering a special season or that doing certain things –such as fasting –will justify us before God.  That would be wrong.  But with today’s Gospel we see what Luther meant in his great Reformation hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God” when he has us sing,

With might of ours can naught be done, Soon were our loss effected;
But for us fights the valiant One, Whom God himself elected.
Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is, Of sabaoth Lord,
And there’s none other God; He holds the field forever.

And although we may resist the devil.  We can be certain that just as the devil determined to come back to Jesus at an opportune time, he will also be back at us.  For Jesus that time was in the Garden of Gethsemane.  There our Lord suffered such great temptation that the blood began to flow as sweat.  Soon after, Jesus would also bleed and die for us on the cross. 

But He did not waiver.  He stayed the curse for us.  He defeated the devil so completely that our redemption is certain.  And now Jesus helps us.  He prays for us before the throne of the Father.  He washes and feeds us with the Sacraments.  He arms us with His Word.  All the time remaining at our side.  Upon the plain.  With His good gifts. And the Holy Spirit. 

No wonder St. Paul is bold to ask in Romans chapter 8, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  And the answer, of course, is no one. No other human being. And certainly no devil can separate us from the love God has for us in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”  When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen. (Luke 9:34-36 NKJ)

Prayer: “All glory, Jesus, be to Thee  For this Thy glad Epiphany;  Whom with the Father we adore  And Holy Ghost forevermore.”  Amen.

Dear continued celebrators of the Epiphany,

Despite the snow we received this last week Tuesday and Wednesday, we’re making fairly good progress as far as this winter is concerned.  Sure, the ground hog saw his shadow, but that was already at Candlemas – almost a fortnight ago – which means we only have four weeks, or about a month left of his winter.

One very certain thing I notice on cold frosty mornings is besides the days are getting longer and the dawn is a little earlier – when I park the frosted car and position it so that the sun is able to reach it, the frost disappears rather quickly and the interior even begins to warm up. Spring may be officially more than a month away.  But we’re getting there.

For the church, Jesus’ transfiguration, serves as a bright spot between Christmas and Easter. At Christmas it was easy to be warmed by the glowing words of angel and the brightness of the Christ child in the manger. 

Epiphany showed us that this Child is indeed Christ the Lord.  God in man: made manifest.  And from Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan and His first miracle at Cana, we see Him believed upon.

But with Ash Wednesday in three days –things are going to get very different.  Death’s chill will be felt more and more as we make our way down the mount toward the plain.  Now the Messiah’s face must turn towards Jerusalem where the worst of all His prophecies will come true. He will be handed over, beaten and crucified.

But today we celebrate the Transfiguration, a mountain top experience –in our Lord’s state of humiliation.

I have often said that the Bible has book ends.  God completes everything He starts.  Genesis begins in a garden with trees for the good of the people He creates.  Revelation completes the Bible with a City for His people, which has within it trees for the healing of the nations.

Another favorite is the swaddling clothes that Luke reports Mary wrapped Jesus in at His birth.  They were strips of cloth.  And Luke also reports that thirty-three years later that in the tomb of Jesus were found empty the strips of cloth that Jesus was wrapped in at his burial.

There are many more of these book ends.  And today we have one: the Transfiguration of our Lord which is a mate to our Savior’s Baptism in the Jordan which we celebrated at the beginning of Epiphany.  These two “Epiphany Book Ends” have between them all the wonderful words and miracles of Jesus that show He is the Christ.  But most important are the Words we hear today and that we heard at Jesus’ Baptism, “This is my beloved Son!”

These words are spoken of each of us, as in Christ in love has redeemed us, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.

Wrapped in our humanity, during His humiliation Jesus humbled Himself and did not always and fully use His divine powers.  Thus it was possible for the people to grumble at Him and complain about his preaching and not doing a miracle in his hometown of Nazareth.

Yet, Jesus’ active and passive obedience meant that the will of the Father was fulfilled and that all that was required and necessary for our atonement was paid. Why?  Because He loved us.

Of all the greeting card sayings and words that will be shared today on Valentine’s Day, none will compare with the words of Jesus’, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV)  –And, as I always say, the next verse, John 3:17 is just as important and wonderful –“For  God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17 ESV)

 Love is a mysterious thing.  For one thing it is costly.  Love will make a young man spend thousands of dollars on a ring for his beloved, hoping she will say, “yes!”  Parents will spend unlimited resources out of love for a child that is ill. 

Love cost God His only Son.  He willingly sacrificed Him on the cross for  you and for me.  The great hymnist Paul Gerhardt writes,

Love cause Your incarnation; Love brought you down to me. Your thirst for my salvation Procured my liberty. Oh, love beyond all telling, That led you to embrace In love, all love excelling, Our lost and fallen race. (“O Lord, How shall I Meet You? LSB 334)

What the disciples saw so impressed them that later John wrote, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 ESV), and in John 1:16-17 (ESV), “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

The Apostle Peter also later recalled,

We were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This  is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne  from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. (2 Peter 1:16-18)

For each of us this event becomes real for us in God’s holy and precious Word.  We too, have the Old  Testament and the prophetic words of the prophets –Moses and Elijah; and we have more: the new revelation in Jesus Christ, God’s Son in the New Testament.

Like book ends these are the complete revelation of God.  Here on the mount the disciples saw the Incarnate Word of God manifested in glory.

We also hear this Word and with faith’s eye, we see Him as well.  Given and shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins in the Lord’s Supper, we “taste and see that the Lord is good”;  speaking words of love and forgiveness in Holy Absolution; washing us clean by His blood in the waters of regeneration in Holy Baptism.

All the while the people of God respond with thankfulness and praise, saying, “Tis good Lord to be here.”

And our Lord accompanies us to the plain of our lives.  To the temptations and suffering we must have in this world.  All the while with us, and supporting us, and forgiving us, and keeping us. Until that glorious day when we shall see Him as He is, because we will be as He is. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”  Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.  (Isaiah 6:5-7 ESV)

Prayer: “All glory, Jesus, be to Thee  For this Thy glad epiphany;  Whom with the Father we adore  And Holy Ghost forevermore.”  Amen.

Dear continued celebrators of the Epiphany.

People respond to the holy in a number of ways.  Sometimes they claim, “That’s not for me!”  Other times, “I can’t understand.”  You’ll also hear when something’s real religious, “It’s too Catholic.”  And unbelievers will counter the holy with, “I don’t want my life-style choices to be interfered with.” What I find significant is when someone says, “Away from me – for my sins are too many!”

Throughout the Bible we find people who are fearful of the almighty –of the holy.  The disciple Peter in our Gospel Lesson this morning cries out after the Lord’s miracle of the great catch of fish, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”. (Luke 5:8)

Isaiah responded in much the same way.  In today’s Old Testament reading the prophet is permitted a vision that reveals to him the throne room of God.  There he describes to us in mysterious words what can only be what the Apostle Paul later writes about in his First Letter to the Corinthians, “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.’” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Of course he is just quoting Isaiah who wrote, “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.” (Isaiah 64:4)

This vision of Isaiah’s leads to the initial response of fear and contrition.  He is afraid of what he sees and he is sorry that he is a sinful man. “And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’”

Yet, God has work for Isaiah to do. This portion of Isaiah’s prophecy is known as The Call of Isaiah.  The prophet is telling us God how called him to the prophetic office that brought God’s Word to his people during very difficult times. 

In Isaiah, we hear the promise of the birth of the Savior by a virgin.  We hear how he will be at the same time the ‘Mighty God” and the “Prince of Peace.”  And in Isaiah chapter 53, we have the description of the suffering Savior –which so vividly describes our Lord’s suffering, crucifixion and death, that it reads as if the prophet Isaiah was right there.

But before Isaiah could do all which God intended for him to do he had to be cleansed. “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’” (Isaiah 6:6-7)

How about you?  What are your lips like in particular?

In one congregation I served there was a very prominent man who served filling various offices with distinction including chairman of the congregation.  When a disagreement came up in that congregation one person who was dead set against the man and was on the completely opposite side of the issue came to me and tried to totally discredit him by saying, “You don’t know what that man is really like.  In church he is real holy and acts like he is better than everyone else. But you should here how he swears on the fire department!”

Would your co-works recognize you by the words you are praying and singing today in church?  Would the other people gathered here in church recognize you if they were to hear the words you use at work?  When you are playing?  At home?

 James writes,

“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” (James 3:7-10)

What kind of reptile or nasty beast is your tongue at times?

The disciple Peter, who, as I already mentioned, in our Gospel Lesson is fearful in the presence of Jesus –after he has seen the manifestation of Christ’s glory as the only begotten son of God come in human flesh- cries out to him to leave!  Why is Peter so afraid?  Yet we also know that, when three years later, Peter was questioned about Jesus by a little servant girl in the high priest’s court yard, he denied knowing Jesus and that he began to curse and swear.

What keeps you from having a clear conscience before God?  Nothing should.  For like Isaiah, we are encouraged to confess our sin in order that we might be forgiven.  At the beginning of this service we heard the clear word of God that tells us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)

For Isaiah this was shown by the coal taken to his lips.  Ours is our Baptism.  There we received the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)  Our Baptism does not just wash away dirt and grime.  It is a saving washing that removes the stain and spot of sin.  It does it by the blood of Jesus Christ –which cleanses us from all unrighteousness.  Baptism changes things.  The Holy Spirit uses the Sacrament to change us.  We heard the Apostle Paul tell us how differently things are when we cleansed by Jesus, our sins atoned for and we are filled with the Spirit.

Paul had to address the problem of people who were puffed up with gifts.  They were lacking in humility and Christian patience and understanding towards the others in their church.  Their mouths ran without first engaging their minds.  This essentially negated any good they were doing.

“Strive to excel in building up the church. Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.  I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” (1 Corinthians 14:12-20)

 After his cleansing, Isaiah heard something else.  It was a call to service to God.  “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’  Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.””

That call has been answered by God servants and people down through the ages.  For Simon and the others it was when Jesus said they would become fishers of men.  Enlightened, sanctified, and kept in the one true faith, men and women are emboldened to serve the Lord.  Each of us has a calling to serve God and neighbor. It may not be as impressive as Isaiah’s first call. 

But we are granted a presence at his Altar this day. Forgiven, strengthened and refreshed by the Body and Blood of our Lord, we are, like Isaiah,  sent from here.  With hymns and prayers on our lips we have been in the presence of the Almighy.  And as the renewed people of God, we are empowered to say with Isaiah about whatever might come our way, “Here am I! Send me!” Amen.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear continued celebrators of the Epiphany.

After last week’s Gospel reading –concluding, as it did, with the whole of the Nazareth synagogue attendees trying to throw Jesus over the edge of the village cliff –now with this morning’s reading, which continues the same chapter four of St. Luke’s Gospel, and shows Jesus using authority and power of the forces of darkness, we can feel a little bit better about things and maybe think Jesus ministry is back on track.

But we shouldn’t be fooled.  Dark forces lurk behind the scenes, even if they make themselves apparent by crying-out who Jesus is.  And there is so much of this in world today.

About ten years ago, when I was still working for Synod at Concordia Historical Institute, I went into a large near-by grocery store to pick-up something.  While waiting in the check-out line there was a man ahead of me who all of a sudden when he saw me shouted, “I can’t be in line with him!” and stormed out.  I had no idea who the guy was.

The checker apologized to me, and I told her it wasn’t her problem. I told this story to a friend whose wife also worked at the store as a checker, and he told her.  The next day he told me that his wife knew of  the man.  He was from Jamaica or Haiti, and the workers there knew him as being deep into voodoo.  He was probably demon possessed.  The thing is –I was in a shirt and tie at the time.  I was not dressed as a clergyman.

The Apostle Paul says:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 ESV)

We don’t deny that there is an invisible realm of darkness.  We confess in the creeds that God made heaven and earth, and all things visible and invisible.  Within the invisible dwell good and evil angels.  The good angels are confirmed in their bliss –they can not fall. And minister to us at God’s command. The writer of Hebrew’s asks, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14)

These are the holy angels.  Someday in heaven we will see them.  Right now we worship God with them, only they are not visible to us.

The fallen angels, or demons –followed their leader the devil against God and were expelled from heaven.  They work against God and try to ruin God’s work and especially destroy men’s lives and souls.  They are condemned to eternal destruction in hell which will come on the last day.  In the mean time they have limited power. The Apostle Peter writes, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

 Now we might wonder why so many references to demon possession and demonic activity in the Bible.  We might be tempted to think that what were considered demons in those days were just psychological problems, or anxieties and depression.  That today people’s demon’s are substance abuse, pornography, a sickness or disease –or even religion.

But the demons Jesus confronted in people were real.  And we notice that in the case of demonic possession Jesus uses both his authority and power to get them out.  The demons will never listen to the preached Word of God.  But the power of God added to it makes them have to obey.

 We are in the season of Epiphany. Christ came to do defeat Satan and free us from his power. The devil is real and there are really demons.

The devil is an imitator –a poor one, at best –but always trying to be God and copy God and over throw him.  While on earth, Christ, the God-man, lived, walked, ate, drank –and lived among us.  The incarnation was God become human. 

In Epiphany this is made manifest to us. We sing: God in man, made manifest.  I believe that so many demonic possessions are recorded in the Bible not because they don’t happen today, but because the demons tried to imitate the incarnation –and they were more active in this regard until defeated by Jesus on the cross.

We enjoy benefits of Jesus’ death already of forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.  We also know that the devils know they are defeated.  Their time is short.  Certainly they are very active and sin increases around us, but we as God’s people are shielded from much of this and there is a limit to what God allows the devil. In a Christian home there is safety from the devil that we see and hear about in the homes and lives of may people.

Yet we need to be careful. The devil comes in where he is invited. Jesus told the parable once,

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order.  Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.” (Luke 11:24-26)

Either the Holy Spirit, or another spirit will reside. They come by invitation.  By the company kept –the music one listened to, the media, the mind altering substances such as drugs –and even alcohol, and witchcraft. Even by a fascination with the demonic supernatural.

 So do these things need to unreasonably frighten us? No. Jesus also says, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe;  but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. (Luke 11:20-22)

With these words our Lord predicted his storming of the gates of hell and conquering the devil in his death and resurrection.

When Luther was head to stand before the emperor at the imperial assembly in Worms, where he expected to be declared an outlaw and killed, he commented that even if all the roof tiles in the city were demons, he would still go into there –trusting God

Luther also wrote this stanza to A Mighty Fortress is our God, (we’ve all sung it many times and recognize it)

“Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us. We tremble not, we fear no ill, They shall not overpower us. This world’s prince may still Scowl fierce as he will, He can harm us none, He’s judged; the deed is done; One little word can fell him.”

The baptized Christian does not need to fear these things.

Another good hymn stanza –a nice prayer when we afraid of these things and want to be comforted is the stanza from the hymn in our Lutheran Service Book “God’s Own child I gladly say it,” a hymn written over 300 years ago,

Satan, hear this proclamation: I am baptized in to Christ! Drop your ugly accusation, I am not so soon enticed. Now that to the font I’ve traveled, All your might has come unraveled, And, against your tyranny, God, my Lord, unites with me!

We also read in 1 Peter chapter 3,

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,  who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:18 – 22)

This verse tells us a number of things:

First, that Jesus died on the cross for us who are unrighteous. Second, that he descended into hell, declaring his victory over sin, death and the devil. Third, that Baptism saves us and connects us to this victory of Christ’s in His resurrection.  And finally, that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, ruling over all things to the benefit of the church.

I began this sermon with reference to last week’s Gospel Lesson, and Jesus preaching in the synagogue –the verses that just precede this morning’s Lesson.

There he read from Isaiah,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Today we hear how it was that the captives were made free.  Not in a temporal sense, or from some social problem, but from power of Satan.  And we, too, who are now enjoying the Epiphany warmth and light, have been freed.  We are free from all that would harm and destroy us eternally in this life and in the life to come.  Repenting of our sins, we have the assurance of forgiveness.  Trusting in Christ’s Word we have the hope of a brighter future of eternal life in heaven.  This, then, is the Kingdom, that Jesus brought to people as he preached in the Judea so long ago. Amen

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.  And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.  And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21  ESV)

Prayer: “All glory, Jesus, be to Thee  For this Thy glad epiphany;  Whom with the Father we adore  And Holy Ghost forevermore.”  Amen.

What a difference one year makes!  Last year this time our newly inaugurated American president had great plans and high ideals for this country as he began his term in office.  Ratings were high, hopes were big, and many felt change was in the air.

But a year later things are far different.  The president no longer has high approval ratings.  He promised that he would close Guantanamo Bay detention camp –that hasn’t happened.  Last week the president’s national health care plan suffered a huge set back when the Massachusetts electorate handed the seat long held by the late Senator Edward Kennedy to the Republicans.  The economy and plans to stimulate it are going nowhere. 

So, one wonders how the president will address the nation at his state of the union address Wednesday.  What a difference a year makes!

What a difference only one week makes!  Last week, Jesus was the hero for saving the wedding banquet when he changed water into wine.  John reported that afterward, “his disciples believed on him.”

Now, today, he preaches in his home synagogue in Nazareth, and while at first the people are impressed, by the time he finishes his sermon they try to kill him.  How could a ministry that started out so positively be so quickly on the brink of disaster?  What a difference only a week makes!

Yet, Jesus isn’t the only one with ministry ups and downs.  St. Paul was constantly being run out of town, as well as beaten and imprisoned.  Once, as he entered the city of Lystra, he was hailed as Hermes, because of his apparent leadership skills, and having preached and urged the people not to sacrifice a bull to him and his fellow apostle Barnabas, he was stoned and dragged out of the city, left for dead. (Acts 14)

Paul later writes to the Romans, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” (Romans 8:36)  And in chapter 10 of the same letter he recalls Isaiah’s words, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” (Romans 10:16)

So these things should come to us as no surprise. Jesus knew what would happen to his faithful preachers of the Word of God, and he had once told the Pharisees, “…the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ (Luke 11:49)

What was it that set the crowd off, that they desired Jesus’ life?  It was his looking into their hearts and exposing their unbelief.  His message to them let them know that he knew they were questioning his credentials.  “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

I have come to realize that in the Office of the Holy Ministry things can be accomplished in two ways.  Either by authority or by power.  One is wholly acceptable and God’s way. The other is the human way, and a great temptation. 

On the basis of authority a pastor preaches, absolves, administers the Sacraments, comforts and admonishes.  A pastor is in the place he is because of the authority of Christ.  Recall how Christ commissioned the apostles, saying,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in1 the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

In our Epistle Lesson from 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the Apostle Paul reminds us,

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.  And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.  Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?  Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?  (1 Corinthians 12:27-30)

Power, on the other hand is a great temptation for the pastor -either to grasp it or wield it.  What some mistaken for lack of strength on a pastor’s part in a given situation is really resistance to take what is not his and should not be used.

For the Gospel is not a message of power –humanly speaking –but of weakness.  The cross as the center of the Gospel and the central message of our preaching is one of weakness.  Christ crucified.  Hung on the cross for all to despise and reject.  Yet the Scripture also says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)

Jesus preached with authority –and this his home people rejected.  It might have been tempting for him to use his power, humanly speaking –it would have been for us.  We sinful human beings are impressed with shows of power.  The devil tempts us to use power.  But Jesus’ words alone are to refute their thoughts.  He reminds them that while they are more interested in seeing a miracle performed than hearing God’s Word preached to them, he will not use his divine powers in order to gain the crowds approval.

Instead the mark of a true prophet is rejection by those with worldly and not spiritual minds.  It was true in Jesus’ day and it is true in our day.  The servant of God who preaches God’s Word faithfully and yet is rejected on the basis of it suffers no differently than Christ, or Paul, or Luther, or a host of many, many others.

Yet the faithful hearer of God’s Word might ask, “So how do you listen to a sermon.”  “How is it that I may hear and therefore believe the Word of God when it is offered?”

I suggest you follow the little outline suggested by Martin Luther for a Christian’s devotional life.  It is: Prayer, Meditation, and Temptation.

First, begin your hearing with prayer. That is pray, and then hear prayerfully.  Pray before you come to church.  Pray for the preacher.

In his novel The Hammer of God Swedish theologian Bo Giertz portrays a man in spiritual torment on his death bed. His name is Johannes and he is speaking to the curate who has come to minister him.  Johannes is in turmoil over his sins and can’t be comforted.  Each time he confesses his sins, but each time the devil points out to him how he failed to live up to just that point. 

So, when he was younger, he sat in church and he thought “my mother has aged, by spring I may have the farm.”

He continues, “Then the pastor came to the pulpit. Potbelly, I thought. You can play cards and fish for trout, but you cannot fee the God’s poor little lambs with the Word. But I had not prayed for him. Was that love?”[1]

Use the short prayers your pastor often uses to begin his sermons, such as Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer,” and John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Or a hymn stanza.

Next is, Meditation. Meditation begins at home. The readings for the day, the hymns –all of these are listed and available in the worship folder and on our Frankentrost web site a week ahead of time. 

Then in church listen to the sermon.  Consider the outline.  Note the Bible passages.  And take notes.  I have never minded it when people sat in church taking notes. 

And listen to the Holy Spirit.  When thoughts pop into your head, don’t dismiss them.  Think how God might be telling you something through his word.  (Unless it is about the pot roast your planning to make for Sunday’s noon meal!) This method can take a while to master and practice.  Usually those who are good at will one day say, “Pastor, that sermon really spoke to me today.”

Of course it was God’s Word and the holy Spirit speaking.

Finally, Temptation. This is nothing other than living out what you heard and what the Holy Spirit taught you.  If what came to your mind was a sin, go confess that sin –make amends.  If you thought, “I need to be a better mother –than start that.”  If you realize you are disobedient.  Then promise to do your part as a Child of God. That is why recalling the sermon is so important.

And expect that the devil will come at you against the very thing you were told.  If the sermon addressed the sixth commandment in some way, don’t be surprised when you are tempted that week at the video rental store or on the internet.  If the sermon spoke about peace In the Christian home and life, don’t be surprised if you find it harder to get along with others or yourself.  One of my favorite sayings of Luther’s is, “Wherever God builds a church, the devil sets up a chapel.”

Some have suggested that in the future technology will take over all aspects of the Sunday service.  Already some stay home to listen on the radio or television rather than come to church. 

But that leaves out the human element of the Pastor.  For the very same reason God sent his Son Jesus into the world, so he also chooses to send pastors.  So that his Word may be applied personally to our lives in a uniquely human way. Perhaps that’s why shaking the pastor’s hand is so important.  You cant’ do with a DVD or a cable broadcast.

When Jesus opened the scroll in the Nazareth synagogue, he was doing what he was sent to do and continues to do for us.  He came to open hearts and minds of people to God’s Word for repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  Many rejected him for this.  But many others believed on him –and do so today.

Still, it is the same word; the same gathering of God’s people; the same Holy Spirit enlightening us, and sanctifying us.  May God continue to bless us in the hearing and the living out of his Word.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11 ESV)

Prayer: “All glory, Jesus, be to Thee  For this Thy glad epiphany;  Whom with the Father we adore  And Holy Ghost forevermore.”  Amen.

What gladdens your heart?  That is, what really makes you happy?  Your spouse?  Your children?  Grandchildren?  How about the things you enjoy doing?  The places you like to be?  Maybe it’s cooking, or sewing?  Gardens are a great source of joy to many people around here.  Whatever it is, I’m sure that everyone who knows you is aware of that which makes you truly happy.  We talk about it.  We do it. We’re different when they’re around.

What about the Savior?  And if he is your greatest source of joy, how is it that he makes you glad?  The hymn Beautiful Savior sings, “Beautiful Savior, King of creation, Son of God and Son of Man! Truly I’d love Thee, Truly I’d serve Thee, Light of my soul, my Joy, my Crown.”

What measure of happiness does our Savior give to you?  And can people easily tell that Jesus is a great source of gladness in your life and that by being around you they can sense his presence?

The joy and gladness that normally accompanies wedding festivities were in danger of coming to a fast end when, almost two thousand years ago, at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, it was discovered that the wine had run out.  Certainly culturally, but also in a real sense practically, this was a disaster.

If you’ve traveled to Europe then you know that people in Germany and France prefer not to drink the water from the municipal water sources.  Not that water is dangerous in Northern Europe, or that it will make you sick like water in Mexico.  They just culturally are not interested in drinking water that has been previously used, treated, and then returned to the supply.  So when you ask for water, chances are that you’ll get bottled water –even delightful carbonated water.

In Jesus’ day wine made or unmade a wedding.  The guests expected it.  They even knew when they were served good wine–judging from the words of the wine steward in our text.  And to run out was a serious enough matter to cause the Mother of Our Lord to suggest to Jesus that he do something supernatural about it.

Now we don’t know if Jesus had done miracles previously to this –perhaps only in private.  John says this was his first miracle in public. Yet, I believe it is highly doubtful that Jesus restocked the pantry for his mother on emergency occasions when she ran out of sugar or eggs.  What we do know is that Mary believed that Jesus could help, and she meant for him to do more than run down to the local store and get a few more cases of wine.

It is further interesting that given the conversation that takes place here between mother and son and from our previous lesson a couple of weeks ago, from Luke 2, where Mary must ask, “Son, why have you treated us so?” that there still are Christians who insist that Mary holds some kind of sway over Her Son Jesus.  Even now when he is ascended into heaven and has all power and authority given to him the majority of Christians believe they must pray to Mary and have her intercede for them.  We don’t.

Nonetheless, Jesus understands what his mother is asking and he tells her that the first manifestation of who he is by way of a miraculous sign will take place at the hour the Father has appointed.  In other words, “mother –my Heavenly Father has my work all planned out for me, and according to his will, I will act.”

Aren’t we often like Mary in so many circumstances?  We believe that God can help us and is willing to help us.  But don’t we also so often feel the necessity to name the way and even the time?  As if God didn’t know what is best for us!  We pray, “God your will be done, BUT if you are open to suggestions…”

Our Gospel Lesson for today teaches us that God provides in abundance for every need we have. And He does so solely on the merit and sake of his Son, Jesus Christ.  The greatest provision was made on Calvary, where the blood of Christ flowed in streams –enough to cleanse the world of all its sin once and for all.  When Jesus cried, “It is finished!” he meant that his work of redemption for the world was complete.  This was the greatest miracle of all: that God’s Son would die to save sinners.

Yet that is the way it is with the Savior.  Jesus provided more than wine to the Cana couple.  He also provided the best of wines! Still, the miracle is not about wine and wine quality or quantity.  It is about believing in Jesus.

Faith in Jesus Christ makes the believer’s heart glad because better than wine, or anything else here on earth, it promises the eternal gladness of heaven.  That is by far the best reason to be glad.  When the disciples believed in Jesus after the miracle, they were there believing for us.  For later they wrote down what they had seen and heard and by the power and direction of the Holy Spirit we have the Good News of Jesus.

Later, on the night he was betrayed, Jesus prayed to his heavenly Father concerning the disciples. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,” (John 17:20)  That’s why John concludes chapter 20 of His Gospel, the chapter that describes for us the resurrection of Jesus in this way:

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31)

Jesus’ miracle at Galilee was just the beginning.  We don’t know how many miracles Jesus did while on earth.  We know that the ones we have recorded for us in the gospels are not the only ones Jesus did.  We’re also told he went throughout the land healing every kind of sickness and disease.  John writes at the end of his Gospel,

“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25)

The important thing is we have heard about Jesus. God has given us faith to believe.  We rejoice that the Christ has come.  He is our Lord and Savior.  While on earth he provided abundantly where there was need and it was in agreement with the Father’s will.  And we, too, have all received, as John says in his first chapter, “…from his fullness….grace upon grace.” (John 1:16) Amen.

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened,  and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22)

Pray:  All glory, Jesus, be to Thee  For this Thy glad epiphany;  Whom with the Father we adore
And Holy Ghost forevermore.  Amen.

Recently, I heard a story of how a worker at one of Henry Ford’s plants in Detroit had, over a considerable amount of time, stolen many tools and parts, taking them home with him. Apparently the man had a change of heart when someone shared the Good News of Jesus with him, told Him about the repentance of sins, and shared with him the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.

The man confessed his sins and was baptized.  With a change of heart he loaded-up the stuff he had taken and hauled a tuck load to the plant he worked, confessed all to his foreman, and asked for forgiveness.

The plant manager was so impressed that he contacted Henry Ford who was traveling in Europe at the time, and told him exactly what had just taken place.  Ford was so astounded that he telegraphed back, “If that’s true, then let’s dam up the Detroit River and baptize all my workers!”

Ford realized that Baptism had changed the man.  And if so, it was a power he could use to make his employees more honest and productive –and him richer.

But what is Baptism?  Is it an initiation right?  Is it a nice custom?  Is it a force for social change?  From our Catechisms we are reminded of what Baptism is: That it is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word.  And we know where that word and command to Baptize is found.  Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Matthew “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)

Another place we find Baptism is in Mark’s Gospel.  There Christ our Lord says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16).

From these words we conclude, Baptism works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

But over the centuries, especially since the Reformation, many Christians have been unable to agree about Baptism.  We Lutherans hold baptism highly, as we see in our baptizing infants.  We choose sponsors, confess the creed, burn the Paschal candle and celebrate with pictures and sometimes even a party or gathering afterwards.

Is it the baby?  The parents?  The Pastor?  Yes, and no. We have all of these. But we need more.  Certainly it is the Word of God. That is necessary, absolutely.  And Water.  But what can water do?

Again our Catechism enlightens us:
Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water.  For without God’s word the water is plain water and no Baptism.  But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus, chapter three: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying.” (Titus 3:5-8)

Was Henry Ford right in wanting to baptize all His employees?  Is Baptism a cure from our social ills and problems?  Well, he wasn’t too far off.  Something does happen in Baptism as we have seen. It forgives our sins. It saves us from the death and the devil.  The Catechism also says,  It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

Certainly Baptism is not an invisibility cloak that hides us from the devil’s wiles.  But we do grow in the grace of God daily, and the Lord is with us and helps us.  Our Baptism encourages us and strengthens us in the knowledge that by Baptism we are children of God.  Plus, we have that wonderful knowledge that our sins are forgiven, so we need not fear God, but know that we, too, are beloved sons and daughters of God, in whom –through Jesus Christ–God is also well pleased.

Anyone who is going to save a drowning person better know what he is doing. Going out to drowning victim without training means certain death for both of you, because the person drowning will pull you under.

Just as a lifeguard has to remove his clothing and know what he is doing before diving in –our Savior Jesus laid aside, for a time, His divine powers, not fully using them, and humbled himself by stepping into the stream of humanity and plunging into our sin to be reckoned with sinners. He is baptized for us. Not for His sins, but for the sin of the whole world.  When He approaches John, the Baptizer announces, “Behold the Lamb, Who takes away the sin of the world!”

St. Paul writes in our Epistle Lesson today –Romans, chapter six: “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4).

This past week I’ve been asked a lot, “Whatever happened to Epiphany, Pastor,” and “are we having an Epiphany service?”  Epiphany has been on a lot of people’s minds.  I think some of this has been for practical reasons. They want to know when Christmas officially ends so they can take down their decorations, tree and outside lights.

But I’ve been asked why we won’t celebrate the Epiphany this year.  And I think they’re asking because they mean the traditional beginning of Epiphany with the reading from Matthew’s Gospel of the Magi coming to visit from the east.  And the answer to that is that unless we have a service January 6, we usually don’t move the Epiphany.

However, Epiphany is more than the visit of the Magi or the Twelfth Day of Christmas. Epiphany means to make manifest. Epiphany is when God and man is made manifest in Jesus.  It is when after hearing the angels proclaim to the shepherds that the Bethlehem baby wrapped in swaddling is “Christ the Lord,” we are now shown Him to be just that.  He is more than man.  He is not as sinners.  He is man.  He is God.

Today we hear that as the man Jesus steps into the water and is baptized by John the voice of the Father declares, “This is my beloved Son.” In the Sundays to come we will have this manifested to us, as we hear how Jesus did His first miracle at Cana. How He preached with beautiful words.  And how He did wondrous signs showing He was God.  And we will hear that His disciples believed on Him. 

And we do to.

That is Epiphany, which has now begun and will end with the glorious light of the Transfiguration.  There on the Mount we will also, like John and the disciples, behold His glory> Glory  as of the only begotten Son, full of grace and truth.  And from there we will descend to Lent.

But for now Epiphany is our season and we bask in its warmth and light, (even if it is 6 degrees out this morning!)  The light that shines from the manager and will continue to shine from Mount to Empty Tomb to Ascension’s mount.  The same light we will one day see when we have the full epiphany of heaven.  That God may grant this to each of us is our Epiphany prayer. Amen.

We confess these things in the Words of the Creed spoken at our Baptism: The Apostle’s creed is on page 159.

 “And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.  And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2:50-51)

Prayer: Christ our Lord and Savior dear,  Be Thou ever near us.  Grant us now a glad new year.  Amen, Jesus, hear us. Amen.

The greatest blessing I consider in my life is God giving faithful and pious parents.  My parents made sure that I grew up knowing my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that all of you fell the same way.  We give thanks to God that we have had religious, Christian, parents.

God blessed Jesus with very religious and pious parents.  We’re told as much at the beginning of the Gospels when the angel Gabriel tells Mary she has found favor with God, and when Joseph is described as being a just man.  We also know this from our Gospel Lesson this morning where it begins by saying,  “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.”

God gave His Son truly religious and pious parents.

And yet we find them very much like us, reacting like any loving and parent would, when the boy Jesus is missing at the end of a day’s journey.  They return to search for the child, no doubt, all the while with the worst of thoughts running through their heads.

Had this been what old Simeon had spoken of the child twelve years ago? “and a sword will pierce through your own soul also.” (Luke 2:35) Perhaps the new King Herod had carried out his father’s wishes, all along seeking the child to kill Him.

They had faith that Jesus was the Christ. Visions of angels. Reports by shepherds.  The star.  Visit by Magi form the East.  Pursuit of soldiers. An old prophet’s and prophetess’ words.  They had been delivered from danger before…

Of course all this time the boy Jesus was safe with His father.  Not Joseph, with whom He was entrusted as His guardian on earth –but safe with His heavenly Father.  Within the Father’s house.  And during the three days that it took his parents to find Him it becomes clear that Jesus is home. 

His religious upbringing attracts the attention of the teachers.  Not that he disclosed the mysteries of the mind of God for them.  Neither did He reveal that He was the Christ.  That would be 18 years later.  At the Jordan.  To John.  And then at Cana’s wedding feast.

No, it’s nothing like that.  Jesus is in His state of humiliation, which began with his conception by the Holy Spirit of His mother Mary and would continue until His burial in the tomb.  It is the part of the Creed that confesses, “He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.”

Jesus had been taught the Shema:  “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)  And having learned the Fear of the Lord from His parents, He gained wisdom.

Years later, immediately after His Baptism, when He is tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He recognizes Satan’s twisting of Scripture and resists the three-fold temptation with God’s Word.   “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word¹ that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)  “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.” (Deuteronomy 6:16)  And the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods.” (Exodus 20)

In His later ministry He knew the Messianic words of the Scripture, especially in the Psalms, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” (Psalm 110:1)  And from the cross He would speak the words of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?”

After Jesus resurrection, St. Luke reports that when meeting His disciples on the way to Emmaus and finding them doubting Him, He began “with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)  Why?  Why did Jesus grow in wisdom and stature on our accounts?  Why did He become a baby, be born in lowly means, be pursued and even separated from His devout parents?  In the Words of the Nicene Creed we say why: “Who for us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary.”

He did so to save us.  Even at the age of 12, just as an infant at His circumcision, which we celebrated New Years’ Day, Jesus was willingly, obediently, carrying out the will of His father in order to save us. 

Because we could never do it.  Even the most knowledge able theologian, the most perfect and holy person, could never satisfy God.  Because we are sinners.  All of us.  But Jesus was sent by God, and is God, and did it all for us.  Completing it all on the cross.  Fulfilling the Law for us.

Think of it as one of the great trilogy books that are made into movies: The Life of Jesus. Book One: Time of Christmas, started with Advent and continues through Epiphany.  Book Two: Time of Easter, begins with Lent and ends with the Ascension.  Book Three: Time of Pentecost.  We’re just at the beginning. But already the story is taking shape.  We’re beginning to see Who Jesus is at twelve!  The God man as a boy.

But Jesus isn’t like an eleven year old Harry Potter who stammers, “I’m a wizard?” and protests, “But I can’t be!”  Neither is he a Frodo Baggins, who is unsure of the mission and in the end is unable to complete what he came all the way to Mount Doom to do.

No, Jesus is the Christ. He is Lord of the Universe.  He is creator of all things.  And marvelously-in today’s Gospel Reading-we are reminded again today, that “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”  Amen.

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.  (Colossians 3:14-14)

Pray: Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child, Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled, Within my heart, that it may be A quiet chamber kept for Thee. Amen.

Well, we made it!  Christmas is over. And we survived!  At least by the world’s figuring.

Now the returns, using gift cards, taking down decorations and thinking about what this week will bring.  Now we look forward to the New Year…or do we?  I’ve never heard so many people, and even the newscasters are saying it, “better to be done with 2009!”  “2010 has got to be better!”

In the Christmas carol Deck the Halls we sing, That’s the way the old year passes: fa-la-la-l-a-la la-la-la! Hail the new ye lads and lasses: fa-la-la-l-a-la la-la-la!  Is that the way it’s supposed to be?  Are we simply to deal with the troubles and hardships and disappointments and sorrows of 2009 by simply singing, fa-la-la-l-a-la la-la-la?

If so, then I can’t help but think of the words of the Rich Fool in Jesus’ parable in Luke 12, “relax, eat, drink, be merry.”  But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ (Luke 12:19-20)

One sign that Christmas is over and that things will not be much different, at least not in the foreseeable future is how people’s attitudes are slowly beginning to change back to their old selves.  Trying to navigate the roads. I was cut off or nearly run off the road several times.

Yet like our Lesson today from Colossians, chapter 3, reminders still are there that the Christ Child changes things and changes people’s lives. 

I got a belated Christmas card from former members that had a hand written note: God blessed our church when you came to be our pastor!  That surprised me. I’ve been gone 17 years from there.  And then that note reminded me of our first Christmas as a pastor in my first church.

A woman died unexpectedly on Christmas morning.  She was elderly. A wife and a mother. A sister, aunt, and  grandmother.  The family was devastated.  Her death meant that Mindy spent that first Christmas alone in the parsonage while I was with the family all Christmas day. (Well, she wasn’t entirely alone. I had surprised her Christmas Eve with a new puppy –a black cocker-spaniel we named Ribbons, because she had Christmas ribbons on her collar.)

Even though this woman was a devout Christian, it was hard for the family to loose her suddenly on the Christmas and for us to be a part.

We do think about those who have gone to be with the Lord at this time of the year.   Not just at the holidays, but also with the passing of the year.  It makes us feel somehow like we leave them behind as we move ahead.  For those who died this year, the year 2009 is the final year. On earth it goes no further for them.

Simeon and Anna in our Gospel Lesson were old and were ready to go to the Lord.  Both looked for God’s salvation and waited to be delivered from the cares and troubles, and mostly sin of this life and to go to be with the Lord in that perfect life.  They weren’t looking to be taken because somehow their quality of life was not what they hoped for or wanted.  They were looking for the Christ and the redemption of Israel.  They wanted to see the light for the Gentiles and the glory of Israel.  They truly looked for God.

I’ve noticed how people change as they get older.  Someone asked me the other day if I felt there were some in our church who may have become a bit more understanding about what a pastor goes through –given the difficult challenges of this past year.  I was going to see a shut-in member and so I said, “You know, I have noticed as a pastor that the closer a person is to heaven, the friendly they are towards the pastor!”

Notice the life Paul calls us to in Colossians:

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,  bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

This is just what you expect form an older, more mature Christian.  Whenever somebody celebrates a eightieth or ninetieth birthday and they tell me they’re old, I say, “We are all getting old at the same rate. It’s just that some people have had a head-start.” 

Where are you in life.  And where is your love and forgiveness?

Age matters.  Believe me.  Not because I have accumulated a whole lot of it yet.  But because I’ve read a lot of Bible and have known a lot of people with years.  Think of it this way: older people know how it going to turn out.  Young people don’t.  The older you are, the more blessings from God you can look back upon.  The younger you are, the more you are tempted to wonder and doubt God and His Word.

Simeon, when he saw Jesus said,

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;  for my eyes have seen your salvation  that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

I’m reminded of the death of one of our members a couple of years ago.  This person was all alone with no close family.  And while she was watched over and cared for very well by others in our church, it finally was necessary that she go to the Lutheran Home.

Then I got an urgent phone call that she was dying and would die soon, and to hurry to her bed side.  When I arrived I was told she just kept hanging on, and the staff said it could be any time.

I asked, “Did you tell her it was ok to go?” And they said, “we didn’t know to do that –no one told us to say that.”

I said, “watch.”

And then I told her it was ok to go to be with Jesus. That if Jesus came for her that she should go with Him.  Then I prayed the 23rd Psalm. And then we prayed the Lord’s Prayer and she seemed to know what was happening, and as I completed the Lord’s Prayer she died.

Needless to say there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

That’s what Simeon and Anna teach us about being a Christian in hopeful expectation of the Lord.  We don’t know if they had by the time of the purification of Jesus and Mary heard the about the Christ’s birth.  Perhaps the words of the Shepherd’s had reached Jerusalem.  Perhaps the word of the visit of the Magi and how it had upset Herod had also caused them to spend more time at the temple.  Most likely they had made a connection with these things and that the Christ was to come into his temple and appear.  He would come.

What Simeon did know was that the Christ would suffer and die for the sins of the world.  How that would happen through this child was yet to be seen.  But by faith, Simeon and Anna saw and believed and it was credited to them–just as with all God’s people –as righteousness.

One Christian death I’ll never forget was that of Lawrence.  Lawrence was a man in his eighties who was sick from the first day I came to his church in Southern Indiana.  But he wanted to meet the new pastor. And we got to know each other pretty well.

Lawrence and his wife Edith–who had already died before this–had traveled to Florida every year in the winter. They had done that for, maybe, 30 years together.

One day I was called to Lawrence’s bedside.  He wanted the pastor.  He told me he was going to die.  I said yes, we are all going to die, that was true, and he would some day, when the Lord calls him, going to die.

Lawrence said, “No, my bags are packed.  When I used to go to Florida we would be all packed-up and would be excited for the trip and couldn’t wait.  That’s how I am now.  My bags are packed.  I’m going to die.”

I gave Lawrence Holy Communion, and then I read the words of Simeon.  I left him saying, “Lawrence, I’ll see you later.”

He told me, “No, pastor, I am going to heaven.”

So then I said, “Lawrence, I’ll see you later, or I’ll see you in heaven!”

One hour later I was called back because Lawrence had gone to be with the Lord.

That is the Christian way to be prepared to meet the Lord.  Always knowing He will come for us at any time.  Confident and hopeful.  In the mean time we wait.  Just as before this season we waited, we continue to wait. In the temple.  Receiving Him in the body and blood, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins.

Holy and beloved.  Compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient to one another.  Putting up with one another.  If anyone has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you.  And above all these putting on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, to which indeed we were called in one body. And be thankful. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Scripture for this morning’s sermon is the Epistle Lesson read from Philippians, chapter 4:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7 ESV)

Prayer: O grant, dear Lord of love, That we receive rejoicing, The word proclaimed by John, Our true repentance voicing, That gladly we may walk Upon our Savior’s way Until we live with Him In His eternal day. Amen.

Is Joy Possible at Christmas?  If that sermon title in the middle of December seems strange to you, then quite possibly you haven’t been out shopping recently.

Many shoppers don’t seem joyful.  Most looked stressed.  And while in the past it may have been the traffic, the crowds in the stores, or the up-hill battle to find that right toy that wore nerves raw –this year it’s the anxiety brought on by the inability to give the family the Christmas they want or that you think they deserve.

Is Joy Possible at Christmas?  If you think that’s an unusual title for an Advent sermon, then perhaps you don’t known the recent loss of a loved one –a loss that will make this Christmas your first without them.  Or maybe you and your loved ones are among the fortunate who are not dealing with cancer, or some form of chronic disease, or even depression.

If asking if there is any possibility of Joy at Christmas makes you wonder who would ask such a thing, then might I suggest that you join the rest of humankind at this season and heed the words of the Marley’s Ghost to Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, “Mankind was my business!”  People are hurting all around us and especially in ways this year that are no doubt making deep and long-lasting affects. Joy should seem distant for us all.

On Thursday a local television news hour featured experts standing by at telephones to take viewers’ calls, giving advice and counsel on how to make it through the Christmas season.  That doesn’t seem to me to speak of much Christmas joy.

But the church does.  On this Third Sunday in Advent known as “Rejoice Sunday,” the Church says, “Joy is possible at Christmas.”  The purple lighted candles give way to a pink one.  Things are changing in emphasis from penitential to a mood of anticipation.  Zephaniah tell us in today’s Old Testament “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one to save; he will rejoice over you with gladness.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

But it is the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians that sets the tone for today with the words of the first verse of our text, Philippians 4 verse 4. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!” (Did you also notice how this is repeated in the Introit?)

You know, the Epistle to the Philippians is a wonderful letter.  It is simply full of Joy. One commentator says “Joy is the music that runs through this epistle, the sunshine that spreads over all of it. The whole epistle radiates joy and happiness”[1]

Now according to human terms this is remarkable when we realize that St. Paul was writing this letter while he was in prison.  He’s in jail and he writes to encourage the Philippians!  He thanks them for the gift they had sent him.  He tells of how even though he is in chains, he has had many opportunities to preach the Gospel.  And so He wants them to stand firm as they contend for “the faith of the Gospel.”  But above all he wants them to rejoice.

As I have already pointed out, rejoicing should come easy for us at this time of the year.  But often times it doesn’t.  And a clue as to why is found right after these words of Paul that call us to rejoice.  He says next, “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.”  And I think you will agree with me: A lot of people simply are unreasonable at this time of the year. As a matter of fact, a lot of people are unreasonable all the time.  And plenty of these are Christians.

But why?  It’s because they think –and especially at Christmas time more so –that they have to find their own reason to rejoice.  They’re like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, tempted and dissatisfied with all that they had from God, they turned to what they thought would make them happy –separation from God. Their sin had horrible consequences.

We’re told that in America there are a half-million households with assets of 10 million dollars or more.  But many suffer from “Wealth Fatigue Syndrome.”  They’re worn out form being super rich.  Tiger Woods is certainly one of those.  Look to the extent of his dissatisfaction: a hero in the world of golf. Incredibly wealthy.  Yet unable to be satisfied.  Michael Jackson was another.  They pursue “vanities,” as Solomon calls them. And all of it brings nothing.

On the other hand there are many who because of opposite circumstances –their poverty, unemployment, illness, grief or whatever, are also unable to be happy and are unreasonable.  They too are worn-out by the cares of this world.

Regardless, anger toward God follows with unbelief.  Many conclude there is no God.  They can’t even see the obvious goodness of God toward them in their lives and the world around them.  They are unbelieving and become unreasonable.  They become hopelessly lost in their sin.

But today we are called to rejoice –in the Lord.  We truly are blessed and have good reason.  We need not concern ourselves with the cares of this world so that they bring us down.  “In the Lord” means in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Once we were no people. Once we were lost to sin. Once we dwelt in darkness.  But as our increasingly brighter Advent wreath shows us we have been brought into His light.  The Lord of all was made one of us.  He entered our world –stepping forth out of eternity. His love for you is so great that He willingly took all the sins and cares of your life and made them His own.  And then He died for you, and for all people –the whole World.  He made us His own, to live with Him in His kingdom and serve Him with everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.

That is the real reason to rejoice!

Now I have to admit, that Rejoicing wasn’t what I was doing a few weeks a go when I learned that I had to be in Dearborn, Michigan, near Detroit this past Friday and yesterday for a meeting.  It was a gathering of the pastoral and lay delegates for the upcoming Synod Convention to be held next July.  It’s hard enough to get into a joyful mood about page after page of Synodical polity and structure.  But to do it the second weekend in December in the midst of Advent didn’t make me very joyful.  But it is the work of the church and that has to go on regardless of season.  The joy came in knowing that it was Christ’s work we were doing in order to be a better Church –humanly speaking– and do better Word and Sacrament Ministry.

Isn’t it somewhat similar with the idea of a voter’s meeting today? That’s also Christ’s work –through this church.  Perhaps in some minds the idea of serving as an officer is not a cause for rejoicing.  Maybe you think you have a good excuse. But maybe you don’t. And maybe we should grow up a bit? –at least spiritually?

Excuses I’ve heard include, “I can’t do that.” or, “I served once before and it was terrible –I said never again.” or, “My family needs me right now.”

Whether you think you don’t have the talents, or perhaps that you were indeed slighted once in some way, or that you truly have more pressing things, consider these words:

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

If you have been asked to serve this congregation –to allow your name to stand on the ballot as a candidate for an office or a committee and have already said ,”no” –then I want you, before 2 o’clock today, consider today’s words from the Apostle Paul –and really from the Holy Spirit.

First, with the knowledge that it is God’s work; He’s with you, “the Lord is at hand.” Second, “do not be anxious” –as it says – don’t worry. And, third, pray about it. “…by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” And finally, let God’s peace take over your heart and mind on this matter.  Trusting Him to help you will make all the difference to you and to our congregation, knowing He forgives, guards and helps.

No matter what circumstance or season we find ourselves in, God gives us a reason to rejoice. He is ever at hand to forgive, sustain, and support us.  With the assurance of his love and presence in Christ Jesus, we can place all that we are and all that we have in his hands for time and eternity and rejoice in his grace and mercy toward us.  Thanks be to God! Amen.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.