Church is hard [Lessons and Carols]

 

To the saints who are in Accident, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 1)
 
Jesus speaks to us, this Christmass Eve, from His holy Scripture and many hymns.
 
And in the first half of this evening, so far, we have gone through the Old Testament and have sung hymns that maybe were unfamiliar and so we call them hard. And that is by design. How many of you understand the Old Testament when you read it? Does that mean you throw it away?
 
Orthodoxy is the same way. Not orthodoxy as in the Orthodox church, but orthodoxy literally. As in, “straight or correct belief”. As Lutherans, we believe that our faith and practice is orthodox. Not only do we believe that what we do is in line with God’s Word, but it is also in line with the entire Church, from Jesus (really Adam), on to today.
 
Like the Old Testament, however, orthodoxy is hard. Maybe you have been a Lutheran for a few months, maybe decades, or maybe you aren’t Lutheran. Sometimes, the work of living out this correct faith day in and day out, season after season, gets old.
 
Other, more popular Christian groups aren’t so demanding of you. There is no Advent or Lent forced on you. The ministry leader is not encouraging you to go to Confession neither does he make you go through the Divine Liturgy where the music isn’t hummable, there are no extra Services, and no rules.
 
And when we’re weak and under a lot of stress, dealing with family and jobs, its easy to wonder: why bother?
 
In one sense, we can say that its like eating healthy. You cannot live on cotton candy, though you may want to, so a certain amount of discipline naturally follows. in another sense, the hard thing to do is usually the right thing, or at least, doing hard things are the most rewarding. You don’t get ahead in your job by doing the bare minimum every day. You step up. You dig deeper.
 
Same here. Dig deeper into your faith. Why let someone else tell you what to believe? Go find out for yourself. Interrogate God. He is not afraid of tough questions. Don’t be satisfied with candy corn theology, find the filet mignon Christology.
 
For one, the Divine Service, practiced here, is actual heavenly worship. Go through the hymnal and see how many prayers and hymns and canticles are songs directly from heaven, from the angels’ mouth, even. For the Divine Service God gives us aims at holiness and reverence. God is not your buddy, but Lord of all. Coming into His presence can be jarring, yet He comes.
 
Second, God’s Service offers continuity. Contrasted with the hectic and chaotic day to day living and working, God’s Service invites you to sit and receive, no strings attached. You do not have to worry about fitting in, being good enough, or matching energy. God does the work and gives you rest. He proclaims, He forgives, He feeds. And He has done so since the beginning.
 
Thirdly, the Church gives spiritual formation that has stood the test of time. You wonder why we do things the same again and again? Because it works. The catechesis that your ancestors used, you are given. The hymns, readings, and feast days that have been offered countless times are now offered to you. Because 1 + 1 = 2, it will always be taught that way. Again, God offers a holy rhythm to life that the world does not.
 
Fourth, I want the steak, not the candy. I want to be actually healed of my sins, not told to do better. I want to truly come into God’s presence, literally, not in my head. I want true repentance and I want true Absolution. This only comes from God Himself, not my head. Thus, when the Divine Service speaks Christ’s words, I hear and believe. When it baptizes me into Christ, I feel and believe. And when it communes me I see, smell, and taste and believe.
 
Finally, the Church gives us Christ Crucified. If I love my preferences more than Christ, I will miss Him. If I value my emotions over Christ, I will miss Him. If I value Christ as I should, I will hear Him speak for Himself and act for Himself. I will be conformed to His preferences and His beliefs. I will be His sheep and He will be the Shepherd.
 
And that’s hard. Its hard to take the back seat. Its hard to submit ourselves to something we allegedly can’t see. But we believe that Jesus established a Church and that that Church has carefully kept His Word and faithfully administered the Sacraments according to it. 
 
And it is within those bounds that God places Himself. He has set the guardrails of this ancient, holy Church, such that if we want to seek Him out and know Him more deeply, find His abundant grace, and be transformed to His image, it better be where He has promised to be. It can only be there. 
 
So don’t give up this faith that has been given to you. Press on as Israel did in the Old Testament, for through that you get to the New. Press on underneath the cross you bear, for through that you get to glory. Press on through the Church of Christ, for through that you get to Him, Body and Blood, Word and Sacrament.