Evil on the run [Septuagesima]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Exodus 17:1-7

• 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5

• St. Matthew 20:1-16

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 1)
 
Who speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:
“And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’”
 
“And when evening came…"
These are the words we will be pondering today, from Holy Scripture. A small phrase, yet so profound from God. God includes this here in order to show His strength over such darkness, that even there He can pay out on His promises. This points us to the coming eternal light we now wait for, going through Lent. This means that in life there is hope. No matter how dark it gets, the morning is coming. Dawn awaits and we live our lives according to that hope.
 
Why is it important to reflect upon this seemingly insignificant phrase and the fact that our Lord does His work in the evening? Because that is where we are. We are in darkness and it is in darkness that God speaks to us. In fact, we just finished off the Christmass season and one of it’s main points was “A light has shined on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Isa 9:2). 
 
St. John describes it in other words saying, “The light shines in the darkness” (Jn 1:5). This perfectly sums up our celebration of Christmass and Jesus’ invasion of this sinful realm. In the beginning, there was darkness and the Word said, “Let there be Light”. Jesus, stepped out of heaven, to be born of a virgin and made man. Thus, bringing Creation’s true light back to its intended place. 
 
But it appeared to be a struggle. Light struggling against dark. Jesus had to be accepted by His earthly father, Joseph. Who knew if Joseph was going to divorce St. Mary or what? A struggle. Next, Jesus had to secure living space. With no room at the Inn, where would the Son of Man lay His head (Mt 8:20)? Then the escape from Herod’s swords, the flight to Egypt, and adolescence. 
 
We were in doubt, every step of the way, that Jesus would make it. Even when He called foreign kings to worship Him, was baptized in front of everyone, changed water into wine, and was transfigured on earth. We were still 50/50 as to whether or not Jesus was Who He said He was.
 
While we constantly remain in doubt, in our sin, the Church season has changed. The wind has moved to the east as we begin our Easter phase of the Church Year. This season also brings struggle, but now the tables have turned. St John continues in chapter 1 describing this new season: “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
 
In Christ, the Kingdom of God has taken residence up on earth, in Word and Sacrament. God’s Kingdom has come, as we have prayed for all this time. Once God has established Himself, there is no overturning Him or pushing Him out. All of Lent is focused on this struggle of the world, our sin, and the devil struggling to kick God out. 
 
In our Gospel reading, you may think it natural to hand out paychecks in the evening, after all the work is done and before heading home for the night. Yet, even today, with things like direct deposit and salaries, payment isn’t always withheld until a job is finished and we receive it anytime the bank feels like coughing it up.
 
Jesus pays the men at night specifically to show His power over darkness. Where before, “the hour and power of darkness” (Lk 23:53) not only ruled the world, but was where sin and vice went to commit their horrible, rebellious acts (1 Thess 5:5-7). So that when the ultimate abomination of desolation is set up, that is the Cross of God, we can remember these wages being paid out in such darkness.
 
Repent. You only lament being in the darkness, because the Spirit of God has revealed its evil to you. If you were left on your own, you would love the darkness, because it hides you. Not just the gross sins that you think you have not been guilty of, but it hides you: your thoughts, words, and deeds that are soiled with sin.
 
For example, you believe that as long as you are a good person, church is unnecessary. As long as you say, “Jesus is Lord” behind these four walls or the next four walls, that you are secure in your belief. That you will receive your due, your payment, in the end, what’s coming to you.
 
And you will. Everyone will receive their wages and, just as in the Gospel, it will be the same. All across the board. No overtime. No bonuses. No extras. Can you handle that? Can you handle getting the same thing from God that your enemy does? Can your belief and self-righteousness stand up to the fact that you will not be the only one on the “special boy” pay scale?
 
Jesus declares, in Isaiah 45, “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things” (v.7). God did not create sin, but He made the darkness, so we should expect it to obey Him and not hide our sins. And in the darkness of Gethsemane, our sins are revealed in all their shame.
 
In the arrest and resulting complete forsaking of our Savior, Jesus the Christ, our sin is shown to us and that we are friends of the dark. So it is that in the dark, Jesus is arrested. It is in that dark, Jesus is interrogated. It is in that dark, Jesus is condemned, scourged, and crucified. Afterwards, to be laid to rest, in the dark earth. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
 
“And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know”, Jesus says in Isaiah 42:16, “in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.”
 
That way and path is the Path of Life in the midst of death. The way of Jesus’s cross is through the way of death that we do not know and cannot come back from. Yet, the Way is the Way of Life, even in death. Darkness covers Jesus only to encounter Easter morning light. Death enshrouds Jesus only to be forced to spit Him back out again.
 
The Lord builds His kingdom during the Day, to be sure, His is the kingdom of light, but it is of such power that no darkness can contain or comprehend it. It is of such Life, that no grasp of death or chill of steel can destroy it. It is such a kingdom, that it can operate in darkness and still bring light. 
 
That is, the Kingdom of God has come in the Person of Christ Jesus and in the Church and Ministry of His Gospel. Darkness now struggles and flees, because there is no other choice. In our season of Easter, though we struggle through Lent first, it is especially important to remember God’s Promises.
 
That is that there is a Vineyard, for you. That there is work, for you. That there is fulfillment, for you. That there is an eternal denarius waiting for you when your evening comes, and you fall asleep in Faith. Jesus’s struggle is over. He is the Victor. Your struggle continues because you return to your sin. 
 
In faith, you are a child of light, God’s Own. 
He works in His Church, the Vineyard, and He pays in Word and Sacrament. “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” (1 Thess 5:9-10). This was always to be, for even “Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was” (Ex 20:21) and there they ate, drank, and saw God (Ex 24:11).
 
Yes, the devil is on the loose, but he is on the run.
 

Exodus: Complete! [The Transfiguration]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Exodus 3:1-14

• 2 Peter 1:16-21

• St. Matthew 17:1-9

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 1)

 

Who speaks to you on this day of His Transfiguration from His Gospel, saying:

“And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light”

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Transfiguration will always be and remain heaven’s testimony to Christ’s divinity. That He is God and man and on Transfiguration’s mount, a finite man shines with the glory of infinity. This points us to faith and hope that because Christ, a man, has done this, that we too, as men, may be brought along to glory. We apply this to our own lives by understanding better God’s Word of faith and hope for us and for all people.

 

Maybe you are like me and were a little disappointed in the Exodus story, when you learned it as a child. Or maybe you have recently discovered it or have never heard of it, so your disappointment could yet materialize! 

 

Disappointment number one: these people, God’s people are enslaved. We hate that word, whatever it means. God brought them a chance to get out, to be free, and they didn’t want it. It took 12 plagues to get them out and they wanted to go back each step of the way, away from Egypt.

 

They were thirsty and didn’t want God’s water. They were hungry and didn’t want God’s bread. They were tired and didn’t want God’s rest. They didn’t want to wait for Moses. They didn’t want to hear from God. Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

 

Disappointment number two: exile in slavery turned into exile in the desert for 40 years. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. The Great Exodus turned into the Great Wandering, wondering when the heck they would get out of the desert, after the Lord split the blessed sea in half for them to cross without getting wet.

 

“How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them” (Num 14:11). And even though Moses once again interceded for his people and turned away the wrath of God (14:13-20), the Lord declared that “not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it” (14:23). Rather, they would suffer by wandering in the wilderness for forty years (14:34) and die out there.

 

Disappointment number three: Moses did not get in to the Promised Land! After all that and after all the signs and wonders that God caused to literally come from of Moses’ hand, “Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them”, saith the Lord to Moses (Num 20:12).

 

Not to mention that Moses did not level Egypt with hellfire from an A-10 Warthog fighter plane. I mean God knew the future right? Neither did God instantly teleport all the Hebrews out.

 

Regardless, what a let down. God intended signs, wonders, and great faith and it just didn’t pan out. The people remained stiff-necked, Egypt in power, and the other God-hating nations were poised to wreak havoc on the Chosen. 

 

So why is the Lord’s Church bringing that disappointment up today, at the Transfiguration, by reading the beginning of the Exodus in our Old Testament? I mean besides the supernatural coincidences of bright things and Moses in proximity, why bring it up? St. Luke rubs it in even more, in his account of Transfiguration. Jesus says, “And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his Exodus, which he was about to fulfill at Jerusalem” (Lk 9:30-31).

 

What we have here, is God directly linking two events intimately and inextricably together. That now, when we hear of and ponder the Transfiguration of Jesus, we can not help but cast our thoughts also to the Exodus and what they mean together.

 

Repent! Since you did not trust in God, to treat Him as holy in the sight of His Church and your community, you also fall under the curse of the Exodus. Your sin will send you to exile for much longer than 40 years and you will also never enter into the Lord’s Rest. Take care! An evil, unbelieving heart, leads you to fall away from the living God (Heb 3:12). Even those who hear the Word still rebel.

 

Begin to understand the patience and love of your God in this way. The Exodus was incomplete on purpose. It was never meant to be the permanent, final solution to the problem of Israel. One of the ways we know this is that God uses the word “forever” when He speaks of the Promised Land and, as we know all too well today, the “Promised Land” is not.

 

Listen to Jesus:

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (Lk 24:44)

 

And Matthew 3 and 5:

“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (v.15)

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (v.17)

 

Not just the Law, but Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled. They are all lacking. They are all incomplete. Some portion or part is missing in order to finish them. This is part of the reason we may have some anxiety when reading the Old Testament. We know its supposed to be a full story, its already over, but it just feels disappointing.

 

So the Exodus is incomplete. God’s people are still enslaved. The mountain top on which Jesus stands today is simply the mountain tops on which Moses met with and saw God, in the flaming bush and the dark clouds. This time round, Moses is not sent. The Flaming bush goes Himself, aglow with consolation, to free His people from their sins.

 

Jesus brings His people to a point. He walked with them out of the Exodus, stayed with them throughout all the desert wanderings, and never left them for a minute in the Promised Land. However, in all their doings there was always a place where Jesus could go, but not the people.

 

“Jesus said to them,” in John 8, “‘I will go away; you will look for me, but you will die in your sins. You cannot go where I am going…You belong to this world here below, but I come from above. You are from this world, but I am not from this world.’” (Jn 8:21-23)

 

Part of the fall into sin, in the Garden of Eden was separation from God. Adam and Eve saw God, walked with God, knew God. After the Fall, they knew sin, death, and the devil and God was far from their hearts. There was an impassible wall that had gone up and no getting around it, through it, or over it. 

 

Thus, the curse from the beginning was, “If you eat of the tree you will surely die”. When we try to follow Jesus, we die from sinfulness. We cannot go on. We strike the wall and it kills us. It is at that point that Jesus says, “Rise, let us go from here” (Jn 14:31). He says, “Let us go to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” (Mt 20:18-19)

 

Jesus says, “but later you will follow me” (Jn 13:36) and we do follow Him to Jerusalem. It is Jerusalem that is the point. The point of no return. “rise and have no fear” (Mt 17:7), He says, we go to the cross.

 

Have no fear, we are going through that wall. Have no fear, we must die to breach it. Have no fear, Jesus will die first, make the way straight, and the rough places plain. Have no fear, transfiguration's light pales in comparison to Resurrection’s Light.

 

God’s rest, that we cannot enter, is completed in Christ’s rest in the Tomb. What the Exodus, Moses, the prophets, and the psalms all could not get past was the wages of sin, which prevents all sorts of godliness. Jesus opens up a man-sized hole into sinful humanity, which tears that veil in two, from top to bottom.

 

Freedom is through the Cross of Jesus and there are no ways around it. We must follow after and in so doing, we find the exodus from slavery fulfilled. Where the march from Egypt and subsequent desert vacation could not erase the stain of rebellion, the blood of Jesus does. Where the thunder and lightning from the mountain could not persuade to obedience, the crucifixion moves to Faith. Where the Moses, the prophets, and the psalms words fell on deaf ears, the washing of rebirth and renewal breaks that levy.

 

The Body and Blood of Christ purchases Faith for us. In that Faith, we trust the Word of God, in the water, in the desert, and in the plagues. In that Faith, we are brought to the mountain of our sinfulness and find only Christ Crucified there, having already accomplished His work for us.

 

Moses and all Israel have finally found rest after all their wanderings in sin. Not because they have died and cannot move anyway, but because they have been set free from the bondage of death. For their Lord and Maker, Jesus Christ, has crossed the river. He has absorbed the hatred, the rebellion against God, and our mistrust of God’s holiness and has exchanged them for forgiveness, for you.

 

United in Baptism [The Baptism of Jesus]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 42:1-7

• 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

• St. Matthew 3:13-17

 

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

 

Who speaks to you all today saying:

“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

 

Thus far from God’s Word, included here for us to hear, because Jesus doesn’t need to be baptized. Jesus doesn’t need to go to the cross either, but He does so, for you. He makes His Word and Sacrament to make the unrighteous, righteous. We pray that God lead us to realize this and believe that He makes our lives holy, 100%, and all those around us who believe, as well.

 

In our Gospel, Jesus goes into the water, but not even Rome, for all its pomp and circumstance, trusts the Word of God in the Water. For though the roman Catholic church believes in baptism, it cannot stand how plain and common water is, so it must become holy water! A super-water able to cast out demons for movies, quite apart from God and His Word and work. Because you don’t need Christ or His Crucifixion when throwing holy water at those who disagree with you.

 

So here is today’s lesson: When Christ and His work are united perfectly, there you have Christianity. When you can have one without the other, there is only satanism. When you can live in God’s Creation and completely believe that it came from nothing. When you can have “faith” but it be solely based on your thoughts, emotions, and actions. When you do not need Christ and Him Crucified to gain any part of God’s love, there is only devilry.

 

So yes. There is nothing special about water, even though it was one of the very first things that was created. There is nothing special about John the Baptist, even though there is none greater than he, born among women. There is nothing special about doves, or lights, or voices, or any other thing we have encountered in our Gospel reading, except of course God made them for His purposes!

 

The something special that we do run into, which becomes a problem, is this righteousness. You see, when we begin to use flowery speech and speak of big, fanciful ideas, it is easy to divorce oneself from reality. When we speak of sacrifice and patriotism, it doesn’t take much to motivate entire groups of people to commit horrible acts under one “good word”.

 

To Rome, divorcing Christ from His work begins at the pope. Since the pope is now the Vicar of Christ on earth, Christianity, who’s in and who’s out, belongs solely to him. This gives rise to witch hunts, cultish Inquisitions, and apostasy. The pope does not need Christ and His Crucifixion to do his work here. 

 

But Rome is an easy target to pick on. The harder target is always self-inspection. 

What is your “holy water”? 

Who is your “pope”? 

More importantly, what in all of life do you think you can accomplish without Christ? And I’m not talking about lip service only. “Jesus is my Lord”. “I can do all things with Christ”. 

 

I mean which parts of your religion can you do without Christ? Can you be a decent human being without Jesus? Can you change diapers without Jesus? Can you hold down a job, raise a family, or tie your shoes without Jesus?

 

Repent! In our quest for holiness we have left out the Holy! Rather, we have placed Him in His proper corner to sit and wait like a good boy, until we need Him. We come to Church on Sunday to do Sunday things, but we go about Monday-Saturday doing anything but. Yes, repent of the sin of not needing Christ and Him Crucified, Monday-Saturday.

 

Dearly Beloved, one of the great mysteries of Christianity is God’s union with man: His Incarnation. God becoming flesh is impossible for reason to understand. God can make a body for Him to use and then discard or He can possess someone for a time, as the pagans believe, but for an infinite being to truly and actually take on finite status? Impossible.

 

Even St. Mary expressed this inexpressible claim in a moment of sinfulness. Hail Mary, full of grace, Gabriel exclaimed, you’re going to have God for a baby. Mary was greatly troubled and said, how can this be? Gabriel replied, with God, nothing will be impossible.

 

With sin, nothing is impossible either, as in trying to separate God and His religion. In the case of St. Mary and Jesus, the impossible is not doing great things for God, but uniting God and man into one Christ. You can already do great things for God without Jesus, as we have said, but you cannot be united to Him as close as your flesh and blood.

 

This is the beginning to understanding our Lord’s Baptism and our own. At God’s Word, St. Mary conceived and bore God. At God’s Word, the low, pitiful, ant-like existence of sinners is assumed into the almighty, holy, and infinite Godhead. 

 

“Jesus goes up out of the water”, says St. Gregory of Nazianzus, “…for with Himself He carries up the world... and sees heaven opened, which Adam had shut against himself and all his posterity, as the gates of Paradise by the flaming sword. And the Spirit bears witness to His Godhead, for He descends upon one that is like Him. 

 

So also does the voice from heaven, for Jesus came from heaven, witness to His Godhead.

And the Spirit comes like a dove, for He honors the body of Jesus, for this also was God through its union with God, so the Spirit is also seen in a bodily form. Moreover, the dove has from distant ages desired to proclaim the end of the [Flood]. 

 

But if you are to judge the Godhead by bulk and weight, and the Spirit seems to you a small thing because He came in the form of a dove, O man of contemptible littleness of thought concerning the greatest of things, you must also to be consistent despise the kingdom of heaven, because it is compared to a mustard seed. And you must exalt the adversary above the majesty of Jesus, because he is called a great mountain (Zech 4:7) and leviathan (Isa 27:1), king of that which lives in the water, whereas Christ is called the lamb, and the pearl, and the drop of rain that comes from heaven, and similar names.” (Gregory of Nazianzus, Treasury of Daily Prayer, p 1093-94)

 

Yes, the drop of rain that comes from heaven, shakes the heavens and the earth by daring to suffer and die to reconcile sinners to God. The mustard seed that drops to the earth and dies, only to rise up, producing fruit a hundred times over, puts Himself in the water. This means that it is the will of God to unite you, all of you, to Himself.

 

“How mighty is the grace of water, in the sight of God and His Christ, for the confirmation of Baptism!”, says St. Tertullian. “Never is Christ without water: He Who is Himself baptized in water (Matt 3:13-17); inaugurates in water the first display of His power when invited to the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11); in His preaching He invites the thirsty to His own eternal water (John 7:37-38; John 4:6ff.); He approves, among the works of charity, the cup of water offered to a poor child (Matthew 10:42); He gathered His strength at a well (John 4:6); walks over the water (Matthew 14:25ff.); calms the waves (Mark 4:39); and serves His disciples with washing by water (John 13:5). 

 

Even His Passion bears witness to the power of Baptism's waters, for while He was being handed over to the cross, water intervened and was a witness against Pilate's hands (Matthew 27:24). And when He is wounded, after His death, water bursts forth from His side that had been pierced with the soldier's lance (John 19:34)!” (Tertullian, Treasury of Daily Prayer, p 1090)

 

Amazing! We will sing of these mercies of the Lord forever and with our mouth make known His faithfulness to all generations, with water. For with the water and the Word, there is a complete and perfect witness to the entire world of Who God is and what He is doing. We need just step aside and let God do His work of salvation in His Baptism.

 

And, such wonderful gifts found in baptism don’t stop there. For the Blood of Jesus covers all of life, Sunday through Sunday. All of your life is hidden in Christ and just because it is not as flashy as Sunday Service, or not as mythical to subjugate demons, doesn’t mean that it is worth less or not worthy of God’s attention and affection.

 

Unity is unity and in baptism, you are united to Christ, His death and resurrection, by His Blood. At His Word and by His Faith, you are made His, body and soul, body and blood. The Blood of Christ makes the entire being of the Christian, holy; a worthy living sacrifice to the Lord God almighty. 

 

This, then is the meaning of that righteousness, as Jesus has used it today. In the righteousness that the Word of God has placed in Baptism, the whole person baptized, is redeemed. Every dark nook and cranny. Nothing is left out. All is turned out, exposed, and paid for so that Christ’s life is the one you live now, not your own.

 

All this is done only out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in you. Which is a good thing, for then it would be your work and you can do your work without Jesus. But since God has ordained that He institute and run His Word and Church, He gets the first and last say in it, that is: “Baptism now saves you” (1 Pet 3:21)

 

Holy days: treasured [Epiphany of our Lord]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 60:1-6

• Ephesians 3:1-12

• St. Matthew 2:1-12

 

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

 

Who speaks to you today saying:

“And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

 

Thus far from God’s Word, which He includes for us here, in order that we may see that, whenever God acts, it is always within His Church where He holds no secrets. There is always a Divine Service called in order to hear the Word of God. Doubly so in today’s case. First, by Herod and second, by the Wise Men’s presentation to Jesus of their gifts. May we be so moved to the Divine Service in our midst, as often.

 

Double First class with privilege octave second order. That is the official Church classification of the Feast of our Lord’s Epiphany, which we celebrate today. You can think of it this way: Easter is emperor, Christmas is Empress, Last Sunday is King, Epiphany is Queen. Or something like that. 

 

The point is, a great and holy day has come upon us, ready or not, and we are not ready. It is within our Lutheran tradition, that we used to know how to celebrate high holy days. Part of how you celebrate is by giving importance. By robbing time and energy from everything else and offering it to God for His mercy shown in His Word, preached on that day.

 

For just a regular Sunday, the Lutherans used to gather for Vespers Saturday evening, for that is the beginning of the celebration. The prayers would be focused on keeping vigil, that is keeping watch for the coming morning of the Lord’s Day. Confession and Absolution would be center stage, as preparations were made to go to Communion the next morning.

 

There would be some rest, but then, early Sunday morning the Church would begin praying Matins. This was to open the doors and prepare people and Church to enter into communion with Jesus. Matins would lead directly to the Divine Service, which would be a couple hours long, rejoicing in the Gospel preached, heard, and received at the Lord’s hand.

 

In some instances, people would return home for lunch, but they wouldn’t stay there. They would be visiting with friends, strangers, and the sick. Then everyone would be back to Church to pray evening Vespers again, all different of course, but all to fill up at least a whole 24hr day, dedicated to the Lord and His work. A true Sabbath.

 

Tell me that’s not how you celebrate a high, holy Feast Day? Well, that was just for a regular Sunday, though…

And then tell me what we do today? Primarily, we let the world determine how we celebrate. Aside from family lunches and dinners, we have allowed the world to dictate how and what we celebrate in church. 

 

Take Christmas, as example. Everyone, every year complains about how commercial Chrsitmass has become. Yet, everyone, every year does nothing about it and to our shame, the world puts on a better celebration of Christmas, than we do, lasting months if you count from when Christmas music hits the air waves.

 

How did the Magi celebrate, from our Gospel reading? They left clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals and all that they had to pursue, what, a star?? For 2 years? They bet everything from their lives on one fragment of Scripture that had been preserved among the sons of Babylon.

 

Just one small Word from God, kept and treasured, was all it took. That Word? 

“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth” (Numbers 24:17).

 

I encourage you all to underline that one in your Bibles. Meditate on it, but do not look for the Bethlehem star. Ever. Do not let anyone trick you into thinking that the Bethlehem star has shown up again or that you must follow it. The star was only for the Magi, only for the Birth of Jesus, and only to be illumined by God’s Word alone. We do not worship creation, but the Creator and He has ordained this time for His Son.

 

Repent. We do not have to look far to find things we have lost and have given up along the way, even in our own lives. We have cast aside the good and the true for the easy and convenient. “What is the bare minimum I need?” That is our standard of life, of worship, and our standard of truth. 

 

We have become spiritually lazy, drunk on the illusion of peace around us. Bare minimum? What is the bare minimum amount of God a human heart can contain? Is there even a way for the finite to contain the infinite?? How much of God can the world handle at one time? Our Church?

 

None. No amount. Not even the slightest breath, for that would wither the grass and fade flowers into nothingness (Isa 40:7). If that’s so, then the star the Magi followed was a trap and only pointed to an earthly boy who would grow up to be an earthly king. And Herod was just a crazy old man to think he would be alive long enough to be threatened by an infant’s claim to the throne.

 

But this boy grew up and had no interest in removing any earthly kingdoms. Not even the fake, Jew-king Herod. Not even the oppressive Roman Empire. He let them be. 

 

He did not let them be because they were doing right or obeying God. He let them alone for our example. Listen, when Israel first conquered the Promised Land, they did it their own way, leaving unbelievers in their midst that God had commanded be removed. But, the Lord said this from Judges 3: “Now these are the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them” (Jud 3:1). 

 

The test at that time, was to see if Israel would follow after other gods or remain faithful.

The Test is different now. You see the nations that were being driven out have become faithful and Israel, faithless, such that its king wants to murder Jesus. It took the Magi, foreigners, outsiders to force King Herod to finally call upon God and ask for the sign of the Messiah. 

 

Though he didn’t believe when the Lord spoke to him through the chief priests and scribes, the Lord spoke none the less and it was the gentiles who believed. The Babylonians, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites have all been given a seat at the table, because those who were invited refused.

 

Jesus has not come to bring a sword to slice between the nations. His sword is His Word and it cuts between belief and unbelief. The Old Testament tribes did not believe the Word, so they were separated. Now, the Old Testament people do not believe, so they are separated and those who were separated have become heirs, through faith.

 

How can this be? The Word does not change. The Promise was made to Israel, but the blessings and benefits of that promise were always for all who would hear and believe, as our Old Testament reading has already proclaimed, “The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they all come to you;”

 

They all gather. They all congregate. They all circle around the Lamb and His throne when He comes to Commune and speak of the things concerning Himself, that is His Word of the Cross for the forgiveness of sins. 

 

For Christ is the Light. He is the Light of Faith that never burns out or burns dim. It was Jesus’ light that brightened the star of Bethlehem. It was the Light of Christ that enlightened our darkness by His Crucifixion and Resurrection. It is the movement and work of Jesus to now continue to ordain our lives in His love.

 

That love being our own gathering around Word and Sacrament. 

You want a star in the east? The Lord of that star in the east preaches to you this very morning. You want the King of the Jews? The King of all kings and nations has shaken the heavens and the earth with His incarnation, just to purchase and win you. 

 

You want gold, frankincense, and myrrh? 

Gather around the Lord and taste and see that He is good. You may live in the world but be not of the world. The world does not know Christ and therefore does not know how to worship. The wise men submitted to a star. You are not asked to do that. You are asked to submit to the work that Jesus has accomplished for you and wishes to distribute to you: Word and Sacrament through His Spirit.

 

Christ’s Word and His Church are never lost. We may forget. We may lose things, but they always come back to us and always in the same manner: by His Word. Here is the most exciting Church Service you could ever attend on earth. In the Blessed Sacrament… you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth.

 

And in that, all the past piety and celebration is your history for you to be proud of and to cherish and treasure, as it waits for you to someday rediscover it and enjoy it in the freedom of the Gospel. That is the true meaning of Epiphany.

 

Revealed to Asher [Christmass 1]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 11:1-5

• Galatians 4:1-7

• St. Luke 2:33-40

 

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
 
Merry 7^th day of Christmass in which we ponder our Lord’s words from His Gospel, saying:

“And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.”

 
Although Simeon is a hero of Christmas, giving us our Nunc Dimittis, today we will focus on Anna. She is also a hero, on top of being a prophetess. That does not mean she is a pastor at all. She was not offering Service and prayers for the people at the Temple. As a prophetess, she was encouraging reliance on the Messiah, adherence to the Covenant, speaking only what God has already spoken, and telling of future events coming to pass.
 
This is nothing else, but the Christian’s duty. Every Christian. “Some are given to be prophets”, says 1 Corinthians 12. Thus, Anna, here, has a purpose. She has been mentioned by God in His Word and given her ancestry. From the Tribe of Asher, we hear.
 
Well, what’s so great about Asher? Not much. Not that he did evil things, you know except toss his brother Joseph in a dry well and sell him to slavers, but he just is not mentioned much. When he is mentioned, he doesn’t make out half-bad.
 
In Genesis 49:20, Jacob gives his dying blessings to his sons, “Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.” Dainties! 
And from Deuteronomy 33:24, “And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.”
 
His descendants were also average, suffering the same curse in the Promised Land as everyone else, of not driving out all the Lord commanded and other common sins. So he wasn’t an irredeemable tribe. Yet, he wasn’t an exemplary tribe. So what is the point of hearing about mediocre Asher and his descendant, Anna?
 
The Lesson comes in the name. Asher means upright or straight. The name was given in the hopes of Asher growing into such a man and by extension, his tribe. But hope alone does not get anything done, much less does it make a man out of a boy or a hero out of a nobody. 
 
In this case, as with many names in the Bible, it is given to encourage reliance on the Messiah. I’m sure Jacob had high hopes for his son, but children often disappoint. Jacob wanted to ensure his son’s faith first of all, remembering Psalm 33, “For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness” (v.4).
 
That “upright”, there, is our Asher word. “The Word of the Lord is asher” it literally says. Jacob, in true Old Testament fashion, names his son after his Messiah, after one of the titles He will hold: “The Upright One”. Christians name children in a similar way, giving Biblical names in hopes that it will cause remembrance of the faith once given to them.
 
Asher is also named to cause remembrance of the Covenant God has made with His people, through His spoken Word. Both through repentance and forgiveness; confession and absolution. It was God’s upright covenant that caused Him to give His blessings to men, but, “See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). God made men “asher”, but they desired “chishshabon”, devices of war against Him.
 
Repent. In our mediocre desire for future events to come to pass as we desire them to, we take on a devilish persona to accomplish them and believe we are doing God’s work. Cain was such, that because he was first born, thought he was God’s chosen and could do no wrong. The Pharisees, likewise. King Herod also displayed this sin in thinking he could conquer God when He was just an infant.
 
So much for those plans.
 
But who can blame them? They were just following God, weren’t they? Righteousness. Justice. Success for God’s chosen. They wanted God’s Promise to come to pass in front of them and so they did what they thought was good and upright; what they thought God wanted, that is to enforce His Law with reckless abandon and curse all who get in the way.
 
Yes, our sin will not let us blame them, because we fall for the same tricks. We believe God is waiting on us, our allegiance, our devotion to be at just the right level in order that He can then make His move. In our hubris, we would force God to become king of this world and take us as His right hand man, or woman.
 
Dear Beloved, Asher will come to your rescue. For the Lord had already set in motion the things to come before you, even before Asher was born. Such that, He promises that we will come to the Lord weeping and begging for mercy, from Jeremiah 31. And He says, “I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel” (v.9). An “asher” path.
 
What kind of path? Well, those words should sound familiar, having just come out of the Advent season. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of Yahweh make straight (ευθειας) in the desert a highway for our God” (Isa 40:3).
 
Yes, the path, the Way of Uprightness and Life has already been set and paved by the Blood of the Lamb of God. Of course uprightness is going to come from the most high and not from some whelp of a son that can’t even take care of his younger brother. Of course hope is going to spring eternal from the Christ of God Who suffers, dies, and rises again from the dead.
 
It is the faith purchased, won, and bestowed upon Asher that gives him uprightness before God and his namesake in the Bible. So that when God finally arrives on the scene and encounters Anna, of the Trible of Asher, God’s Word is fulfilled in what He said in Psalm 11, “For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face” (v.7).
 
The “Asher” shall see His face! Isn’t that amazing? Such a tiny mention, such a tiny man, such a tiny life, and yet the Lord keeps His promises and the Word of God is fulfilled in Him also, by faith. That Asher’s line is not only preserved in the Messiah, but is not left out.
 
This is similar to the promise that was made to the Tribe of Benjamin, if you recall: “behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him,“In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 
 
Truly the first are last and the last are first to behold their King of Kings (Mt 20:16). Truly the Lord has chosen what is foolish and despised of this world to shame the wise (1 Cor 1:27). Truly, Jesus has hidden these things from the wise and has revealed them to infants (Mt 11:25).
 
Not that we make ourselves this way, but that Jesus made Himself last in order to make you first, in His crucifixion. He made Himself foolish and despised, in order that you be made wise in His Word. He made Himself an infant in order to hide His work of salvation in His sacraments, for you.
 
Anna was waiting for the Redemption of Israel with all her heart, all her strength, and all her soul. She knew that salvation would begin with Israel (John 4:22) and she knew it would only be from the presence of God Who was in the Temple, day and night. She knew that uprightness would follow her all the days of her life, as she dwelt in the house of the Lord.
 
And He did. Just as He promised. And Asher’s namesake is fulfilled, for Anna, but also for us. For while Anna now chants with us the Nunc Dimittis each Lord’s Day, we are also included as her descendants, by faith. In God’s Divine Service to us, we are given to sing of this Gospel, saying, “create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps 51:10), an “asher” spirit.
 
The revelation of God in the flesh, is what makes Christmass, Christmass. The revelation that more than blood relatives of Asher are included in that revelation is what makes Easter, Easter. The final revelation that the Lord communes with and sanctifies all you who hear and believe His Word, is what makes Church, Church.
 
In Jesus, we are made upright, we are little Ashers, come up from our agonizing sinfulness, and expecting the salvation of all. And we are not disappointed. For the Christ Child Who is tomorrow circumcised, shedding His first Blood of Redemption, does so to free us, as our Epistle says:
 
“So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”