Galatians 4:1–7
St. Luke 2:21–40
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Merry 5th Day of Christmas!
Don’t stop the festivities just yet. There’s still so much to celebrate. Still so much to sing about. On Christmas we went with the shepherds to Bethlehem and saw this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And we found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger (Luke 2:15–16).
But now, it’s time for us to go again with the shepherds, not to the manger but into the streets of Bethlehem and back to their fields, rejoicing. For when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them… And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them (Luke 2:17, 20). Now it’s our turn to glorify and praise God for all we have heard and seen in the birth of Christ. So, our hymn calls us to join in the shepherd’s song:
Let all together praise our God
Before His glorious throne;
Today He opens heav’n again
To give us His own Son,
To give us His own Son. (LSB 389:1)
Praising God is nothing more or less than saying what our God has done. It can be as simple as singing a hymn, or as quiet as reciting the creed. It can be in church, in private, and to a neighbor. Praise is saying what God has done, when we say it back to Him in thankfulness, and when we say it to the world in joy. Evangelism is just another side of confession and praise. The shepherds told others about the Savior’s birth and they glorified God. So also, the prophetess Anna, at the temple, began to give thanks to God and to speak of Christ to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. She gave thanks and she told others—both are praise for the God who redeems sinners by His blood. Praise is all the speaking and singing we do about what God has done for us. And so in our praise, we go into detail. We don’t just tell God, “You’re great. You’re good. You’re awesome.” Both in our worship and in our evangelism and teaching, we sing and speak about God’s specific, gracious deeds in Christ—the deeds He has done and the deeds He is doing.
This hymn we sang today, tells of how God has opened heaven for us. The gate of heaven was shut when our first parents were driven from the Garden. An angel and flaming sword would not let us return. But by coming to earth as a man, by being born of the Virgin Mary, by suffering, dying, and rising, the Son of God opened heaven once again so that we might be brought back home to God. As it says later in the hymn: Jesus is the key and He the door To blessed paradise; And the angel bars the way no more (LSB 389:6). We have access to heaven and eternal life only through the God who was born, died, and rose as a Man.
And that brings us to another great point this hymn makes. If the death and resurrection of Jesus is the culmination of His work, Christmas is the foundation of His work.
He is born an infant small,
And in a manger, poor and lone,
Lies in a humble stall. (2)
At Christmas we see Him begin His humiliation for our sakes.
Within an earthborn form He hides
His all-creating light;
To serve us all He humbly cloaks
The splendor of His might. (3)
The glory of God in Christ was hidden at His birth. The angels sang to the shepherds of the highest glory of God, but they located it with a little baby lying in a feed trough. A little baby, don’t forget, who needs to be swaddled like all babies, needs to be fed like all babies, needs his diaper changed like all babies. But by humbling Himself, Christ was doing His most glorious work. Where things look the least glorious, there is the greatest glory for Jesus, because that’s where He is saving us.
And where things really look the least glorious, but in truth give Jesus His greatest glory, is at His cross. And already in the Christmas season, the cross of Jesus looms large. We see it in His humiliation, being born a helpless baby. We see it in the wood of the manger. We see it in the first drops of blood He shed at His circumcision. And with His parents at the temple, we hear of the cross in Simeon’s prophecy. Simeon blessed Jesus’ parents and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
Mary’s soul will be pierced with the pain of watching her Son be tortured and crucified. In this pain, Mary also represents our Mother the Church, who suffers the pain of persecution at the hands of this evil world that rejects the Son of God and Son of Mary again and again. His cross is a sign that is opposed. And all that is because this Child causes the falling and rising of many. He causes those who reject Him to fall. Those who resist Him, who go their own way and pursue their own lives, they will bring themselves to ruin. But He causes those who believe Him to rise. Those who receive Him as He is, who deny themselves and lose their own lives, they will be brought to His life and to His glory.
The marvel of Christmas is not only WHAT the Son of God did in becoming man, but WHY He did it.
He undertakes a great exchange,
Puts on our human frame,
And in return gives us His realm,
His glory, and His name,
His glory, and His name. (4)
This stanza could’ve been better translated something like this: “He wondrously exchanges with us. He takes our flesh and blood and, in His Father’s kingdom, gives us His luminous divinity.” So, Jesus takes on our flesh and blood, and all the sin and death that goes with it. And He gives us Himself, and all, immeasurably all, that goes with Him. He gives us His kingdom, His name, His righteousness, His life. He even gives us His luminous divinity, the brightness of God. He shares with us His own divine nature as the Son of God.
Here is the wondrously great exchange that began at His incarnation and goes on even now: Jesus became what we are so that we might become what He is. Just let that sink in for an extra second: He became what we are so that we might become what He is. This is the mystery we learn in Galatians 4: When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. The birth of Jesus makes it possible for us to become God’s children. What He is by nature, we become by grace. The Son of God became a child of man, so that the children of men can become children of God.
As I said, this great exchange that began at Christmas goes on even now. This exchange happened with you at your Baptism. The Son of God was born of a woman, born a man, so that you, a son of woman, could in Baptism be re-born a son of God. You have been raised up to where He is. He has given you His own luminous divinity. And now, because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Because of Jesus, we are able to call God our Father, yet another form of praise.
We give praise when we proclaim the great deeds of God. And after the cross, there is no greater deed of God than His incarnation, where He became like us in order to share Himself with us. So also in the Church today, along with Baptism, there is no greater deed of God than the Lord’s Supper, where He continually shares Himself with us. Just as He gave Himself to humanity in His incarnation, so also He gives Himself to you in the Supper. He lives in you and you live in Him, sharing His nature and His life. In that Holy Meal, you receive His body and blood, His human flesh and soul, and yes, even His divinity.
How can we truly fathom this?
He is a servant, I a lord:
How great a mystery!
How strong the tender Christ Child’s love!
No truer friend than He. (5)
In His Supper, the strong love of Jesus is completely yours. He takes all of you, and you get all of Him. Your God comes to dwell in you. Like in that lowly manger, in that humble stall, your God Jesus comes now into humble bread and wine, to dwell in lowly you. What more can we do in response to such great love, such great deeds, than give Him glory and praise?
Your grace in lowliness revealed,
Lord Jesus, we adore
And praise to God the Father yield
And Spirit evermore;
We praise You evermore. (LSB 389:7)
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA & Immanuel, Charlotte, IA
Titus 3:4–7
St. John 1:1–18
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
If we weren’t mostly selfish, if we weren’t mostly concerned with our own happiness, or the happiness of the people who make us happy, then we might wonder, “Can we really have a merry Christmas? Is it really okay to have so much fun, when so much of the world is in so much pain?”
Over 3 million children die of hunger every year. And some of us have so much money that we can let food go bad in the fridge. We might not want to waste it, but it happens, because we simply were not hungry enough to eat it, we didn’t need it. Let us also consider all the children who come from or live in broken homes. It’s almost too hard to count the ways home and marriage are broken now. And do not forget those children who will not be wrapped in swaddling clothes, they will not even be given the dignity of a manger for a bed, but they will be literally discarded with the clinic’s garbage. And sorry, I’m not done yet—so many people are abused, children as well as adults. Others do abuse to themselves. Some people are overcome by depression and they don’t have the strength to wish you a Merry Christmas. And there are others who are drowning themselves at the bottom of their bottles. There are people, all kinds of people, people you might not even suspect, who have messed up so many times, or have had so much evil happen to them, that they never hear anyone say anything like, “I love you. You matter. You are precious to me,” or even, “You are precious to God.”
If we seriously consider this broken world—this world that we have broken by our sins against God and against each other—can we really justify this month or more of feasting? Is it really appropriate? Don’t we have serious work we should be doing? The Bible says we do have serious work.
Be sober-minded (1 Peter 5:8).
Be wretched and mourn and weep (James 4:9).
Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause (Isaiah 1:16–17).
Give to the needy (Matt. 6:2).
O you who love the Lord, hate evil! (Psalm 97:10).
Deny yourself and take up your cross daily (Luke 9:23).
That is the Word of the Lord. In other words, stop tinseling over the pain with a holly jolly Christmas. You can’t ignore the depravity of this world. And isn’t it strange how Christmas is probably the most noticeable time when reality doesn’t meet expectations. As hard as we try to make it picture–perfect, things have a way of spoiling. That’s what happens in a world broken by sin. And even when we know the real reason for this season, that we’re supposed to be celebrating the absolutely greatest thing to ever happen: God come in the flesh—even then, it often doesn’t feel quite that great.
If you came to church this morning just to hear something nice so you can forget about all the problems for a while, and pretend there’s nothing wrong… I’m sorry. That’s not going to happen here. That can’t happen in a Christian Church. We deal with sin honestly. Even on a happy day like Christmas, we began our service with painfully familiar words: “I, a poor, miserable sinner.” This is God’s judgment: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil (John 3:19). That’s you and me. Our works are evil. We love darkness. This world’s brokenness is our fault. But then in a Christian Church, we also hear about the real cure to all these injuries, the real answer to all these problems. Christmas is actually the answer. And Good Friday and Easter. Jesus is the answer. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Now, there is also a cheap, false Christmas, that the world certainly celebrates, and that we might also fall into. But we can get the real Christmas back. Because the world really IS full of pain and suffering, hunger and abuse. And Christmas exists BECAUSE of that. Christmas wasn’t invented by men to just paper-over the evil. Christmas is real because of all the evil things we have done and all the evil things that have been done to us.
The real Christmas is the only real way to deal with the pain and suffering. The right place for us to go, the healing place, is to a shack in Bethlehem where a little boy was born to a mother and a step-father who weren’t even in their own home, and weren’t entirely sure what would happen next. And then what happened was soldiers tried to kill their baby, and succeeded in butchering many other little baby boys. That’s Christmas: the birth of a Savior, right in the middle of our pain, our darkness, our death.
Now, follow that baby boy into Egypt; then back to a little town where He had to grow up, hearing the tongues wagging about that illegitimate son of the carpenter. Follow Him as He lived and suffered the way you do. Follow Him to the very end, where everyone hated Him, where the lips He had made for praise spat on Him and called Him a liar, where the hands He had made for good works seized Him and nailed Him to a cross. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.
And now remember that Jesus came into this evil, broken world, and suffered in this horrible way, to save this world. The whole reason Christmas exists at all is because Jesus came to suffer all that this world and our sinful hearts could throw at Him. He came here, to us, and over this broken, nasty world, the angels of heaven sang “peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy. He saved us. And to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the authority to become children of God. That means, He saved us… by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
That’s what we’re celebrating: Jesus’ birth in the flesh, and your rebirth into heaven. That’s what all our lights and trees and family gatherings and church services ought to be about. So, in order to really celebrate—to cut through the lies and broken promises and disappointed expectations—we do need to look hard at the darkness of this life. We need to own it, confess it. And then, marvel at the fact that God was made a man. I don’t have to paper things over. I don’t have to paste on the smile, make merry, and carry on. I don’t have to blast the carols just to drown out the world’s problems. I just need what Christmas really gives.
Real Christmas—the right place to go, the healing place to go—is right here. Christmas Morning Divine Service is all about the healing, the cure, the answer for all our hurts, all our evil. That is why we have here our own Christmas feast. It’s quite different from what you might enjoy at home—no ham or cookies—just a bit of bread and a sip of wine—a memorial of death. But also more than a memorial: the very body and blood that died on that cross and rose from the dead. The very same body and blood that was born in Bethlehem. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And here He is! At our altar, for you.
Jesus came to this evil world to save it. And He still comes, to you, poor sinner, to save you. In this greatest of Christmas feasts, we see His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. More than we deserve, more than enough to heal us and bring us into His new and unbroken world to come.
Now THAT is a reason to party. That is the reason to sing as loud as you can. That’s the reason to enjoy the decorations and the rich food. How can you not? We magnify this Day, even though there’s not enough electric lights in the world to celebrate what our God has done. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us… And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace… upon grace. Now that’s a Merry Christmas.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA & Immanuel, Charlotte, IA
St. Luke 2:1–20
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There is a good reason Christmas pageants and Live Nativities are so popular. And it’s not just because the kids are so cute or the camels are so cool (although both of those things are also true). But the real reason is also why Martin Luther’s Christmas hymn is so good: From Heaven Above to Earth I Come. Like a pageant, this hymn puts us into the story!
It starts with the angel of the Lord making his announcement, bringing his good news of great joy.
From heav’n above to earth I come
To bear good news to ev’ry home…
To you this night is born a child
Of Mary, chosen virgin mild…
This is the Christ, our God Most High,
Who hears your sad and bitter cry;
He will Himself your Savior be
From all your sin to set you free. (LSB 358:1,2,3)
The angel’s hymn stanzas paraphrase the message from that first Christmas night, but now they are sung directly to you. You are on the receiving end of this great gift exchange. You play the part of the shepherds:
How glad we’ll be to find it so!
Then with the shepherds let us go
To see what God for us has done
In sending us His own dear Son. (6)
And in heart and mind, you even make the journey to the manger in Bethlehem. You imagine greeting the Christ Child Himself.
Welcome to earth, O noble Guest,
Through whom the sinful world is blest!
You came to share my misery
That You might share Your joy with me. (8)
Now what makes this hymn even better than a pageant is what just happened in those last couple lines. It’s not just make-believe. It’s personal—it applies the birth of Jesus directly to you, to me. “O Jesus, You came to share my misery That You might share Your joy with me.” Not only was Jesus born long ago in a land far away, not only was the meaning of His birth told to the shepherds, but the news is still told today for you. And even His birth, even way back then, was already for you.
Listen again to what the angel said: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord—Unto you! That wasn’t just for the shepherds. Jesus wasn’t born only for the people of Bethlehem, not only for the people who lived at that time, not only for the Jews. That “unto you” includes all people: rich and poor, young and old, male and female, Jew and Gentile, sinner and saint, believer and unbeliever. Jesus was born for them all. And yes, the Son of God was even born for you.
Isaiah said it long before the angel ever did: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given (Is. 9:6). The Lord Himself said to Adam and Eve that He would come as a child, the Seed of the Woman, and save them, and so through them, our first parents, this Lord said it to all mankind. And still, the Lord sends His messengers to tell all people. He won’t stop with just telling some, or just those over there, or just us here. He sends angels, prophets, and pastors, all so that He can keep saying, For you, for you, for you…
You’re the one who is in bondage to sin and death. You’re the one who has sorrows and worries that no one else can take away. You’re the one who needs a Savior. And the good news of great joy is that the Savior is born for you. And hearing, receiving that message for yourself means that you have exactly what it says: you have this Savior. You have His salvation.
The Gospel does not only teach the history about Christ; not merely the facts of the matter: the manger and the hay, the shepherds and the angels. All of that is true, but it’s not enough. Of what benefit would it be to me or to you if Christ had been born a thousand times? Or if the news of His birth were sung daily into our ears with the most lovely songs? What benefit would that give if you never heard that He was born for you and was to be your very own? The birth of Jesus would have done you no good if you were never told He was born for you. Not even the death of Jesus, or His resurrection, could do you any good if you did not hear that He died for you and rose for you. The mere facts are not enough. The Gospel, the good news of great joy, is that all this was done for you.
That’s where and how we get the forgiveness of sins. In God’s Word and Absolution, the Gospel tells us He is our Savior and our sins are canceled out. In Holy Baptism, the Gospel washes us with the holy Name of God, and so washes our sins away, clothes us with Christ, and brings us to our heavenly Father. In the Lord’s Supper, the Gospel feeds us with The Everlasting Life Himself, exchanging our sin for the Lord’s holiness. We get the forgiveness of sins when we hear and believe those words: “for you, for me.”
Not only was that holy Child born for you, not only did that Divine Man die and rise for you, but that Savior lives for you, He comes to you, and He dwells with you.
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee. (13)
No make-believing there.
And the Gospel reveals to us that all of this brings God’s glory. The forgiveness of sins is God’s glory. Pardon for sinners, an eternal home for His enemies, life for the dead—that’s what gives God glory. And that is also what makes peace on earth and gives God’s goodwill to men. The Savior born for you means peace for you, God’s goodwill and favor for you. Now nothing can separate you from your God. He’s with you because He is for you. Pageants and hymns are wonderful. They are even fun in how they let us join in the story. But make no mistake, none of this is just a play. The Savior born for you is here, and you really have come like the shepherds, hearing the good news and worshiping your Lord.
Merry Christmas + in the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA & Immanuel, Charlotte, IA
St. John 1:19–28
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
John the Baptist is the voice of Advent. He gives us the motto for this season: “Prepare the way of the Lord!” He was only 6 months older than his cousin Jesus, but he also began his ministry before Jesus began His own, precisely because that was his job: He was the Forerunner of the Christ, the one to go before the Lord and prepare His way.
And even though the Lord came some 2000 years ago, John the Baptist still has a lot to say to us as well. We must still prepare the way of the Lord. Not only do we make the final preparations to celebrate our Lord’s birth, we must also prepare our hearts as we receive the Lord in His Word and Sacraments, and we prepare ourselves for that Day when our Lord will come in glory. We do all this preparation because we are Christians. We believe John’s preaching. We are baptized into the forgiveness of sins. And we want to separate ourselves from sin and live lives worthy of the name “Christian.”
But not all people believe John’s preaching today, just as not all the Jews believed John’s preaching in his day either. Some of the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” Well, why didn’t they go to see John for themselves? John had come to preach repentance to every individual, so clearly, they didn’t pay much attention to what he said. They were just like politicians (or anyone who likes holding onto their power). They care more about procedure than getting things done. They are people who want to stay in control, so don’t risk changing anything, especially if it means reevaluating themselves.
But later on, Jesus will point out the real problem. Jesus would say to the Jews, “You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth… He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light” (John 5:33, 35). The problem is that these unbelieving Jews were only interested in John for the sake of their own honor. They just wanted to make use of his light, his famous name, his holy reputation, in order to make themselves look good to people. John’s holiness would have been the greatest cover for their sinful lives, if only they had gotten him on their side.
This is like people who only associate with the Church because it makes them look good. They show–up or pitch–in and do charitable deeds because it makes others admire them. Or they like the Church activities because they get something out of it for themselves. But they don’t have any real interest in the preaching of the Church, the message of sin and forgiveness through Christ. And there’s not much we can do about all that, except do what John did and what the Church has always done: confess, do not deny, but confess. Own up to what the Church is. Don’t try to pander to the world and pretend to be something we’re not. Be firm and confess the truth: Christians are who we are, and the message of Christ is always what you’ll hear from us.
Well, these unbelieving Jews ask John several questions, trying to figure him out. But his honest answers don’t satisfy them, and finally, frustrated that John and his message are disrupting their lives and not fitting in neatly with their own ideas, the Jews ask again: “Who are you?” And John confessed the truth just like we should. He answered with Scripture just like we should. He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” It’s as if he said, “Your salvation is much too close for a prophet to be needed. Do not look far into the future, because the Lord of all the prophets is Himself already here. The Lord is coming, treading on my heels. I’m crying out as a forerunner to make room for Him. I don’t just speak words about Him but I can actually point to Him with my finger.”
But the unbelieving Jews would not receive John’s message. Far from clearing a path for the Lord, they got in His way, closing themselves off from Him in their own high opinions of themselves. They preferred having their own way. Eventually they would even kill both the forerunner and the Lord Himself for daring to speak the truth to them.
And people still do this today. They resist the Lord and shut their ears to His Word. In their hearts, they murder the Lord’s prophets and the Lord Himself. So, John’s job is still not done. His kind of preaching must humble all the world and proclaim that they are all sinners – lost, condemned, poor, needy, miserable people. There is no life, no work, no position (no matter how beautiful and good it may appear) that is not condemned unless Christ dwells with that person—unless Christ works, walks, lives, and does everything in that person through faith. John’s preaching still shows that we all need Christ and should desire His grace.
Preparing the way of the Lord is truly humbling work. It cuts sin out, and destroys overconfidence, and tears down our self-importance. But this preparation is not something you do to make yourself worthy. It’s not your own prayers and efforts and desires that will prepare the way of the Lord. John’s work still goes on with us because it is a work that God Himself performs through His Word when we hear and believe.
Preparing the way of the Lord is a spiritual preparation that begins with a right understanding and confession that you are unfit to receive Him. There is nothing more spiritual then listening to what God says in His Word so that we can then confess the truth: confess our unworthiness, and confess our faith in Him.
But to the sinful Old Adam, John’s voice is intolerable. It seems the more he says to prepare the way for the Lord, the more people resist it. You invite them to church and they don’t come. You read them God’s Word and they don’t listen. You want to teach and they don’t want to learn. But for the poor sinners with troubled consciences who fear their sin and God’s just punishment, then John’s voice is thrilling and makes glad, because he announces that the Savior and His Kingdom are here for sinners.
The unbelieving Jews, like all unbelievers, questioned this news and they challenged John: “Why are you baptizing?” But once again John confessed the truth: “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” He pointed to Jesus, the One far greater than John, the One who gives us His Holy Spirit and makes us God’s children. In baptism we are prepared for the Lord and made worthy to receive Him. John or the minister are the ones to pour the water, but the Lord Himself is the One who cleanses us from sin and gives us His righteousness. John preached and baptized to prepare the way of the Lord, all the while warning and comforting people with the message that the Lord Himself is at hand. It’s as if he said, “Don’t let your eyes look at the future. The One that the prophets foretold has been among you in the Jewish nation for about thirty years. Pay attention and do not miss Him. You do not know Him; therefore, I have come to point Him out to you.”
This is no less true for us today. The Lord’s Church has been actively preaching throughout the world for some 2000 years. But still people do not know the true Lord, or they do not want to know Him. So, the Church continues the work of John the Baptist, preaching and baptizing, pointing the Lord out to us, directing us to the Christ, our Savior.
To sum it up, John’s job as the forerunner of Christ has two parts. First, we are told that the Kingdom of God is at hand, here, now. It’s time to repent. John tells us, “You are all sinners and don’t know the way of the Lord.” When we believe this, the second part follows: John says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” He tells us, “Look to Christ and receive Him. Believe in Him. He will free you from your sins.” In fact, we hear his words every time we prepare for the Lord’s Supper. We sing the Agnus Dei—“O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.” John’s words point our eyes toward that Lamb who comes to us now in the bread and wine. If we believe the message from John, the same message we hear today from the Scriptures and preachers and Sacraments, then we have the forgiveness of sins in Christ—the Lord who came, is coming now, and will come again.
Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA & Immanuel, Charlotte, IA
Partially reused from December 22, 2019
Adapted from Luther’s Church Postil for Advent 4 (Luther’s Works 75:172–186)
St. Luke 21:25–36
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze (Mal. 4:1). They will suffer and be terrified, because during this life they lived as if they were the only ones who mattered.
They didn’t look evil. They loved their families and they loved Christmas. They watched It’s a Wonderful Life every year and when they hear “God bless America” they shed a tear. But they didn’t love Jesus, not the real Jesus, not the Jesus who said things like: “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me” (Luke 9:23), and, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). These people will see the signs of the End, but it will be too late. The signs of the End will be for them nothing but impending doom and total destruction.
Repent. That’s what the just God requires of us. We are the wicked. What was written in Holy Scripture was written for our instruction, and yet we do not live in harmony or in hope. We live for ourselves. We think it’s admirable, that it’s impressive that we love our families and those who already love us, but that’s no different from the way unbelievers live. Loving Christmas and decorations, loving your Grandma, and loving your country does not make you a Christian. Repent. If we were judged by our lives, by our works, if we were judged by what we love, then we would be destroyed like stubble in a fire.
The great and terrible Day of the Lord is coming. But for those who have joy in Christ now, that Day will be pure joy! Our Lord Jesus points out what’s going on in the world now. His words point to politics and climate change, violent crime and loss of civil liberties. They point to wars and they remind us that sometimes bombs rain down on young sailors and soldiers on a quiet Sunday morning in Hawaii. In all these things, we see the End. In disasters, both natural and manmade, in simple burdens like being the target of gossip, we see that this world cannot endure. But Jesus doesn’t want to turn us into Chicken Little, running and screaming in panic. Our Lord says, “When these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Our redemption—our Jesus—is drawing near. Rejoice!
Look at the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, in the earth and sea, even in your own life. Look at the cross you’re bearing, at the death surrounding you, and see beautiful blossoms and rainbows. Even these terrible signs must serve God and so also serve you. They point you to God’s grace and promises. They are ushering in something new: everlasting peace, the end of all war, the utter defeat of death. On that Day that is coming, your enemies will be no more. Sin will lose all its appeal. Temptation will have no power. There will be no one to accuse you or hurt you. And the good work that the Lord has begun in you will be completed. You will be justified with Christ’s righteousness as you are now, but you will also be actually holy in all your own thoughts, words, and deeds. Creation itself will rejoice to see you revealed as a child of God. And you will rejoice. You will be glad, because the kingdom of God will come to you and will never be taken away.
For now, you suffer. You know many hardships, most of them secret, in your heart and mind. But you endure with faith and prayer, by the power of the Word and the Sacrament, waiting for the Day of the Lord’s appearing—the culmination of your hope. Because then, at last, the wrath of God will completely pass over you, not harming you, because you are marked with the blood of the Lamb. Your Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, He is with you. He’s on your side. He loves you. And He is coming back to get you. This is not the End that any of us deserve, but it is the End that He has promised, the End that He has won for us.
However, the only way for there to be joy on the Last Day, when our Lord Jesus comes in glory and judgment, is if there is joy now. The Lord, who came to us by the Virgin in order to lay down His life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world and to take His life back up again as a victory over death and hell, that same Lord comes to us now in His holy Word and Sacrament. He comes in this way so that even now, while you’re still stuck with your sinful flesh and afflicted with doubt; even now, while you still tramp through this valley of sorrow, you may have joy, even now.
And if the Lord comes now and makes you God’s child, His people, His temple; if He visits you in this painful, sad, and broken world despite your sins and He does not turn away from your shame, but He comes to cover you and protect you; if by His Word He declares you righteous and holy now, then there is nothing to fear on the Last Day, and certainly, there is much to rejoice about. Because if He comes now in grace and mercy just as He has promised, then He will come on the Last Day in the same way—in grace and mercy. The only difference will be that then His grace and mercy will be visible and with power. Then your Baptism will be brought to completion. And no sorrows will cling to you, but all will be replaced with unbreakable joy.
This is why Jesus gives us the parable of the fig tree. How wonderful to hear this parable especially at this time of year, when all around us the trees are teaching us the way of all flesh. Everything is gray and bare and dead. This world is ending. But the parable of the fig tree turns our thoughts on the end of the world upside down. While one thing is ending, a new thing is coming. The signs of disaster and impending doom are good signs for believers, like trees coming out in leaf. And the fruit will not be far behind. The Last Day is not our winter, but our summer! This is also why at Christmas we use evergreens to decorate. Faith stands in contrast to what the eyes see. While everything looks like death and destruction, faith sees the fig tree coming out in leaf.
And you know what buds and blossoms and ripening fruit means: summer is coming! So also, look at this altar and see more signs of life: the buds and fruit of Jesus’ body and blood. See it also in His Word, in His Absolution, and in His Baptism. The Lord visits you now. The crucified and risen Lord comes to you in your hour of need, for your sake and for your good. The world is evil, and you are surrounded by danger, temptation, and injustice. But Jesus is faithful. He has ascended but He has not abandoned you.
His coming now in the Word and Sacrament shows that summer is on its way. The winter will end. He has not forgotten you. His Word is the fig tree that foreshows the End. His body and blood are the foretaste of the great feast to come. You are redeemed, washed clean and clothed in the blood of the Lamb. You are ready for the End. So, straighten up and raise your heads. Rejoice.
Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA & Immanuel, Charlotte, IA
Most of this comes from Rev. David Petersen, Advent 2 in God with Us, p.24–26.
Romans 13:8–14
St. Matthew 21:1–9
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Listen to the Collect of the Day for the First Sunday in Advent:
Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Rescued from the threatening perils of our sins. That is why we need Advent. That is why we need prayers like this one. Because we don’t believe that our sins are threatening perils. We don’t think sin is as dangerous, certainly not more dangerous, than say, not having a comfortable life and a good amount in savings, or not as dangerous as getting that bad diagnosis, undergoing that difficult surgery. We think those are the real perils.
But sins? We try to make pets of our sins. They’re something we can excuse or overlook once in a while. We think we can handle them. We’ve got a handle on it, we can control it. This or that sin now and then isn’t really going to destroy our faith, is it? Surely not going to put our salvation in jeopardy, right? But the Church in her wisdom has put this collect into our mouths and forced us to pray: rescue us from the threatening perils of our sins. The Church is teaching us to confess that our sins are truly perilous.
We know this hypothetically, and we all agree to it, but we seldom truly believe it in actuality. Of course, we know it’s true because we accept what St. John the Baptist declares when he points at Jesus: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” We know this so well, it’s rather common and loses its punch. But it’s a big deal that there is a Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And that’s because sin is a big deal. You need a Savior from sin. And if you agree that you truly need a Savior from sin, then you must also agree that all sin is truly dangerous.
A ship on the ocean, with a broken helm or steering wheel, is pushed and led wherever the winds and storms direct it. So also, when we live in sin without God, we are like that ship. We are given over to our sinful passions and the temptations of the devil. We do what we don’t want to do and we go where we don’t want to go. Without God, we are slaves to sin. Our sinful mind and heart have a broken steering wheel and we cannot correct our course or keep ourselves from being dashed against the rocks of God’s condemnation. This is what it means when the Bible says we are in bondage to sin. We are in grave peril and we cannot escape it because sin has broken our steering wheel. There is nothing we can do. The only way for us to be saved is for God to grab hold of our ship and direct us Himself by His Holy Spirit. God must deliver us by the strong hand of His mercy.
So this is why we need Advent. Advent is our John the Baptist, calling us to repent and to behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Advent begins by proclaiming this Lamb of God, by showing us Jesus riding on a donkey, coming to save His people. He is the King, but He is also meek, humble, riding on a lowly beast of burden. Like a lamb, He went to the slaughter—He did not fight back or defend Himself or punish His accusers. He yielded Himself to their hateful hands and He yielded Himself to His Father’s gracious will so that all might be saved. Advent begins with King Jesus coming on His donkey so that we would see His lowliness for our sake. This way He is not feared because of His majesty, but He is loved because of His gentleness. Advent teaches us that we have a kind and merciful Savior, not merely a strict and terrifying Judge.
At the same time, Advent is also waking us up to the fact that sin is dangerous, and that God’s anger is serious, and that Judgment Day is real. You know the time, says the apostle, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. Just as St. John the Baptist preached to the people: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand… Prepare the way of the Lord; (Matt. 3:2), so also Advent says to us, “It’s time to wake up. Don’t let sin rule over you. The kingdom of heaven is close. Christ’s Judgment is coming.” This message also gets rehearsed for us in the Communion Proper Preface for Advent: It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, whose way John the Baptist prepared, proclaiming Him the promised Messiah, the very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and calling sinners to repentance that they might escape from the wrath to be revealed when He comes again in glory.
One of the colors for Advent is violet—the color of repentance. Advent doesn’t look like the rest of the world at this time of year. It’s not supposed to. It’s supposed to feel as strange as St. John the Baptist dressed in camel hair, with locusts stuck in his teeth. Advent, with its violet and blue instead of the ubiquitous red and green, is supposed to be a vivid reminder that we are meant to set our minds on repentance: praying for deliverance from our perilous sins, and praying for salvation from the wrath of the Last Day.
But Advent also offers hope and directs us where to look for such hope. The upside of realizing that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, is you also know that salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. If we are closer to Judgment Day and Jesus’ return, then we are also that much closer to our eternal salvation. This means Advent is also our John the Baptist by pointing us to the Lamb of God who comes to us right now. So we are taught how to prepare the way of the Lord: by repentance and faith.
So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light… put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Jesus does indeed rescue us from the threatening perils of our sins. So let us confess them, cast them off, and try not to gratify those desires. Instead, let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He comes to us now in His Word, in His Baptism, in His Absolution, and in His Holy Supper. Let us meet our coming King in this His present Advent, here in His Church, where He forgives our sins and equips us with the armor of light so that we can stand and fight against temptation and overcome the danger.
We need Advent to prepare ourselves now, so that we may greet Christmas with true overflowing joy. Likewise, we need to prepare now with repentance and faith, so that when Christ comes again we may greet Him with true everlasting joy. If we make use of Advent and so are truly ready for Christmas, then we will also be truly ready for Christ’s final coming on the Last Day. For, after all, the true meaning of Christmas is that Jesus is our Savior who came to die and rose again—He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and He is coming back.
So, finally, notice who the Collect is praying to. Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come. Well, Jesus is the One who is coming. So it also ends: For You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Typically, the collects are prayed TO the Father THROUGH Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord. But we begin Advent by praying directly to our Lord Jesus who is coming again to save us, praying that He would come and be our Lord and Master. We pray that He would deliver us from our sin, rescue us from ourselves and our own evil desires, and that we would escape from the wrath to be revealed when He comes again in glory. This is why the crowds with their palm branches shouted out: Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna means, “Save us,” so Hosanna in the highest, literally means “Save us in heaven!” This is what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer when we say Deliver us from evil. It means, Take us from this evil life of sin and sorrow. Take us to heaven. And asking this of Jesus means we are willing for Him to be that Lord over all our life.
But if you don’t want a Master, if you think you can be free to do what you want, then you will just have many tyrannical, evil masters, constantly on your back, especially the devil and your own sin. You will be like that ship that cannot be steered but only used and blown about by every evil foe. But if we are willing to be held and controlled by Jesus, then we will have only one Master—a Master who is good, and good for us. Having Jesus, the Lamb of God, as our Lord and Master means that we do also want Him as our powerful Master, our strong Captain. We know the threatening peril of our sin and we’ve had enough of it—we hate our sin. So then, we are praying to the Lord Jesus, not only that He would come to our hearts and minds at Christmas, not only that He would come in His Word and Sacrament throughout the year, but also that He would come and bring this sad world to its rightful end and rescue us by His mighty deliverance in all His powerful glory.
Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA, and Immanuel, Charlotte, IA
