Steady Faith [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 4^th day of Christmass in which we ponder our Lord’s words from His Gospel, saying:

“And His father and His mother marveled at what was said about Him”

 

Christmass is only the beginning. As Jesus continues to make His father and mother marvel at what is said about Him, we too follow along for the marvels. In God’s Word, we hear of marvels because we too are supposed to marvel at these things. The words you use affect you, thus calling Jesus God is important. We are to believe this, come to understand it more, and live life according to it.

 

The Sunday after Christmas is a double-win for the Christian. First, contrary to the world, the celebration continues. There are 12 days of Christmass, not just last Thursday. And second, we breathe a heavy sigh of relief that the commercial and material have forgotten Christmass and that the frozen depths of Purgatory have once again received Mariah Carey.

 

As soon as the Bethlehem light goes out, we also return to our unbelief. With no more store shelves to remind us of the season and no house lights flashing in time to AC/DC, we get back to “real life”. Life that has been put on pause because of lunches, dinners, parties, and giving. It wears a poor soul out.

 

Instead of the chaos, we crave routine. A steady, no frills existence where we can be with the familiar and predict what's coming. So when we are thrust into the Christmass celebration, though we enjoy it, it gets in the way. We can’t do what we want because we have to go see so-and-so. We can’t spend as we wish, because someone needs a present. We can’t leave yet, we just got here.

 

Sts. Joseph and Mary may be glad to see the 8th day after Christmass, in our Gospel today. Since the conception of their Son, there has been no normal. Exhausted by angels, stars, dreams, controversy, and shepherds, they rejoiced to get back to Church.

 

Back to Church as in, “everything according to the Law of the Lord”, as we heard. They had a baby, so normal! So now they must do family and baby things. For Church its going to offer the appropriate sacrifices at the appropriate time. There is no room for surprises. God’s Word is very clear.

 

That means a trip to the Temple. That means prayers. That means service. It is a relief and comfort because God is doing all that work that He has been since the beginning. Same offering. Same sacrifices. Same blessing. Same God.

 

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Sts. Joseph and Mary did not get to rest from marveling. For no sooner had they fulfilled their Temple duties, than St. Simeon came up and began singing, Anna began speaking to everyone who would listen, and they marveled at what was said about Him, once again.

 

Why? Because Jesus is Almighty God. The marvel is that He is not just Almighty God on paper, but almighty God in the arms of His parents, in the arms of shepherds, in the arms of Simeon. The ink has leapt off the pages of Scripture and has become a being that we now must deal with and yet He continues to look normal.

 

Though Jesus returns with His parents to grow like a normal boy, they will soon marvel along with the teachers and priests of Israel when Jesus enters the Temple at 12 years old, questioning and answering the elite. 

 

People will continue to marvel at Jesus, at the words He says and the work He does, the rest of His life. The Apostles marvel at Easter and at the recognition of Jesus in the breaking of the Bread.

 

And what Jesus marvels at, in the face of all this, is unbelief (Mark 6:6). That it takes all of the Christmass chaos, all the Lent chaos, and all of the Easter chaos and yet still there is unbelief. That is the true Christmass miracle and it is a backwards miracle. God being made man is normal. God’s creation not believing it is not normal.

 

It is to this weak and lowly state that Jesus comes. He did not wait for St. Mary to be highly favored, but made her that way, spoke her that way. He did not wait for St. Joseph to be a righteous man, but gave him the righteousness necessary. He did not wait for shepherds, angels, or lowing oxen. But instead made His own way. The Normal Way.

 

Yes, Jesus marvels at unbelief, but He also marvels at belief, saying, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith” (Lk 7:9). This from a non-Jew centurion who confesses that he is not worthy to have Jesus enter under his roof to save his son.

 

Two things here: One, for the centurion it was not normal that the mighty condescend to the weak. Two, it was not normal that death should take a loved one. It was not normal that demons torment the people. It was not normal that wind and wave should kill and destroy. It is not normal that the dead should come back alive.

 

Jesus gives us His Advent to show us how off track we are. It is normal for God to be doing all these things and it is normal for us to live that life, no matter how it shocks our sinful system. Therefore, as Jesus spoke Mary “highly favored”, so too does He speak to us and gives us the faith to live this, godly, normal life.

 

We marvel that God cares so much about our lives that the same words He used for His father, mother, and Apostles work for us. That He speaks of us as highly favored, in Christ. He speaks of us as having greater faith than all Israel, in Christ. That He gives to us eternal life for faith in Christ.

 

Normal is God actually working in our lives, as He said. Normal is being able to handle God as He comes near to bless us. Normal is being able to find Jesus in the breaking of the Bread. Why? Because He loves us and because He chooses to act in this way.

 

So now it is our turn to marvel and continue to do so. Each time we hear the words of the Gospel, that we are free from the guilt and punishment for our sins, for Christ’s sake, we say “So extra ordinary”. But when we see the Way this is accomplished and look at church and font and Altar, we say “so ordinary”.

 

And that is where God locates Himself, in the ordinary. Those things which are repeated countless times. His holy Scripture. The Lord’s Prayer. His Word made flesh. It is the abnormal life of sin that gets in the way, pauses the life of faith, and does not let us do as the Holy Spirit directs. 

 

God’s Way is ordinary. Word, water, bread, wine. Preaching and Teaching. A Church life that continuously runs through that ordinary life of Jesus year after year, just to see Him once again win salvation for us. And that deserves celebration. Not just once a year, but every year. Every Sunday, even. 

 

Jesus doesn’t want a lot for Christmass. Just you. Hearing, believing, and holding sacred the holy things He has set out for you in His Holy Church. The cross stands still as the world spins off its rocker. Drawing nearer to that cross, we marvel at the stillness of the Holy Child, God made man, manifest. God has done this. This is real life now. We marvel at the mightiness of God made man.

 

Merry Christmass.

Served a Son [The Holy Nativity]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 40:1-11

• 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

• St. Matthew 11:2-10

The twenty-fifth day of December.

In the five thousand one hundred and ninety-ninth year of the creation of the world

 

from the time when God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth;

 

the two thousand nine hundred and fifty-seventh year after the flood;

 

the two thousand and fifteenth year from the birth of Abraham;

 

the one thousand five hundred and tenth year from Moses

and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt;

 

the one thousand and thirty-second year from David's being anointed king;

 

in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel;

 

in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;

 

the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome;

 

the forty second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus;

the whole world being at peace,

in the sixth age of the world,

 

Jesus Christ the eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,

desiring to sanctify the world by His most merciful coming,

being conceived by the Holy Spirit,

and nine months having passed since His conception,

was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary,

being made flesh.

 

The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

 
And oh God what a nativity. The depth of God being born in His own Creation as a man is unfathomable. Every other religion will shout you down, saying, God cannot become a man! Little do they know how great the true God actually is.
 
If God was a man, He wouldn’t be God anymore. So how can God be a man? That is the strength of human logic. It can reach up into the heavens and bring down God Himself and call Him to account. “You are not God, you are a man and men are sinners.”
 
And it makes sense, because we know men wrote the Bible and they can’t be trusted either. So the Bible is a sham, God is a sham, therefore Christianity is a sham. Wow. Game. Set. Match, Christians. Get your oppressive God out of my life!
 
Our pride reaches to the heavens as we love to tell God what to do with His Christmas and with His Son. I believe you can hear those echoes in Psalm 115, “Not unto us Lord, not unto us”. This seems to contradict the Christmass refrain, “Unto us a child is born”, from Isaiah 9:6.
 
Now the Word never contradicts itself, but when I put those two together, I’m reminded of Ahaz, the King of Judah during Isaiah’s time. Ahaz receives the Promise of the Virgin Birth, even though he is not faithful, not going to church, and not a believer. 
 
He even removed God from his name, being originally Jehoahaz. 
Now, to give Ahaz 8th-commandment-credit, he did have it rough. His father had apparently been one of the righteous kings of Judah, the southern part of the split kingdom, but his father did not take down the altars and worship places of the false gods in the nation. So Ahaz grew up open-minded and confused. His father said he worshipped the one, true God, but his actions, or inactions, said otherwise.
 
Thus Ahaz bartered with God. He did not pray to Him, but used God’s things from His temple. Ahaz took silver and gold from the Temple to make his own altars to false gods. The very gods that were now making war with him through other countries and winning against him. He thought that if he started to pray to them, they would help him win as well.
 
Ahaz did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and paid for it. Even Israel, their northern kingdom of brothers, came and invaded, taking away goods, money, and people. If it weren’t for the prophets of God, the kingdom of Judah would have been ruined.  
 
Ahaz had two prophets during his reign. Double the chances, yet double the failure. Micah and Isaiah were preaching and teaching all that you read about in their respective books. Thus we come to the conversation between Ahaz and the Lord:
 

“Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

And He said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isa 7:10-14)

 
Even though God is speaking to Ahaz through His prophet, Ahaz has no use for a God that does not give him what he wants. Ahaz does not seek the Lord’s counsel, nor does he pray to Him, nor does Ahaz believe the Lord. Thus, God’s offer to him. “Ask for a sign. Any sign.” 
 
God is begging to serve the sinner! God is begging Ahaz to repent of his ways and turn to Him again. I can’t even imagine God begging me for anything and I don’t even want to think about it anymore. Ahaz, in his sinfulness, and you in yours, make a beggar out of God.  Because of your love for your sin, God must come begging and serving.
 
Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus, that He is a God of love and service. For, says Jesus, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28)
 
God comes to Ahaz not with a, “I’m going to destroy you”, but with a “I want to give you a sign, so please ask me for one and not your false idols.” God wants Ahaz to know that He is the one that will and can help him. God wants Ahaz to know that He is the one and only true God. 
 
God comes to Ahaz with an invitation and a Promise. God promises to not turn His back on Ahaz, as he has done to Him. He promises a Savior and He invites Ahaz to find there the Gospel, by Grace, through faith, for Christ’s sake alone. “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name, Emmanuel.” 
 
Where Ahaz sells God out to the lowest bidder, God invests everything in the sinner. Where sin, death, and the devil attempt to root out Jesus, Jesus roots Himself in the barren places, our hearts, dies in that soil, and rises again producing 100-fold crop of forgiveness. 
 
“Not unto us Lord”, the sinner says in his pride. Don’t worry about me God. Depart, for I am a sinner. You don’t want to be here, to live here, to do Your work here. Stay in heaven, we’ll be fine somehow.
 
Faith continues the Psalm, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” And God’s Name is made flesh and dwells among us. Immanuel. There is no room for pride or false humility. God is acting, let all mortal flesh keep silent.
 
Faith’s only response is to get out of the way, “…let it be to me, according to your Word”, declares St. Mary. Jesus has come to work out salvation for you and to create His faith in you. The humble service and submission of Mary is what Jesus does for us on the cross.
 
So, the cross of Christ is our refuge. Our place to turn when we are full of sin and empty of all hope. Instead of us having to submit to God and work our own humility, Jesus gives us His own. He steps down from heaven and places Himself in a position to serve spiritually and physically. He makes Himself known and open to the sinners, even though we will crucify Him in our sin.
 
Jesus opens Himself up even to Ahaz and does not forsake those who have forsaken Him. Jesus allows His house to be desecrated and robbed in order to rescue us. He allows Himself to be ridiculed and mocked, just so we can be comforted. Jesus humbly takes our sin to the cross as our sinful sense of justice demands of Him.
 
It is Jesus who says to us on the cross, “…let it be done to me according to your word.” Since we will not turn back to God, Jesus sacrifices Himself in order that we may be turned. Turned to His gracious giving of Himself in Body and Blood, in the manger of our mouths.
 
Ahaz did not deserve that God should come and give him a sign.  We poor sinners do not deserve the forgiveness given to us freely. But we are dealing with a God of mercy and kindness. One who gladly and joyfully endures all things, even death on a cross, so that the sinner would not die, but turn and have eternal life through His only-begotten Son, Jesus the Christ.
 

In the world [Christmass Eve]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 7:10-14

• Romans 1:1-6

• St. Matthew 1:18-21

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

 

Who speaks to us on this eve of His own nativity, saying,

“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit”

 

God works in the world, but He does not work with the world. God is in the world, but He is not of the world. And this is the familiar verse for us, from Jesus, that is to be in the world not of the world. Well, actually its “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world”, from John 17:14-16.

 

God works in the world and we can see it in our Gospel reading, verse by verse. “The birth of Jesus Christ took place”, that is God uses human fetal development, human maturing, and human birth, all of which with we are very familiar, to come into the world. St. Mary was betrothed to St. Joseph, that is the Father uses marriage, as we know it, to make this family for Jesus. 

 

The compassion of St. Joseph is not an earthly concept, but the Lord allows us to find compassion in this life, so we understand it. Sleep and dreams happen in our own slumber, being encouraged to take a leap of faith and get married, and having children and a family. All of which even unbelievers get to take part in. Christians do not corner the market on any of this. 

 

And this is what we must discern, that God gives this “daily bread” to everyone, even all evil people, though they hate them. Therefore, there is no command and no promise to find God in those things. For example, just because we get married to someone in some way, does not mean that we have faith in Christ, receive the forgiveness of sins, or have eternal life.

 

If we believed that, we would be of the world, believing that the things of the world grant divinity. That simply because we develop as a human, that is divine. That because we sleep and dream, those are things from God sent to save us. That, because we take leaps of faith, we know that God will give us what we leap for.

 

That is not how Christmass goes. If you notice, God is using those things which He created, but using them in ways we refuse to, in our sin. He is birthing our Savior because, in our sin, there is no way for us to bear sinless children. According to the promise of the virgin birth, God makes it so.

 

That is also the only way human development from conception to the grave, is divine. It is because the holy life of Jesus spent time in that development, that we can say “all life is holy”. Yet, we do not look for a divine spark in an embryo, in order to gain God’s eternal compassion.

 

Just because you are married, or sleep, or have dreams, or are in a family does not mean God has given you eternal life. God truly works in the world, but He has not left a trail of bread crumbs in the world for us to follow, hope to not lose any of it, and earn His love.

 

The birth of Jesus Christ happened the way it happened because God willed it. And He willed it in order that we find Him to be a good and gracious Father, a self-donating Son, and a sanctifying Spirit. 

 

Does that makes sense? I hope it does. You will not find the forgiveness of sins in birthing children. Children are an heritage, a gift, a fruit of the Lord Who has suffered and died for you. For being in the world and not of the world does not simply mean we change our principles. It means we must be changed, inside and out.

 

So it is not birth, in and of itself, it is the birth of Christ and the Promise that He is the Word made flesh, sent to save His people from their sins. It is not simply being a virgin that allows God entrance into the world, it is the virgin birth Promised to bring forth Jesus. Not just marriage, but God’s promises in marriage. Not just being human, but the promise of rescued humans.

 

Thus, returning to Jesus’s words to Joseph, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit”, that which is truly God’s work is only from the Holy Spirit. And how we know its from the Holy Spirit is if it was promised.

 

This is because, in this fallen world, nothing is promised. The birth of a child is not promised. It is perilous business being pregnant, let alone giving birth. The life of both mother and child are at stake. 

 

Being married is perilous. If you chose the wrong person to marry, it could be disastrous for both parties and the children. Heartache, struggle, anger. Marriage is not promised. Being parents, getting proper sleep, and all this in safety to guarantee survival is not promised. So even in the real world, faith is necessary.

 

Faith that things will all work out. Faith that everything will be ok. Faith that what others have would be promised to us. Indeed, “the righteous shall live by faith” alone (Rom 1:17)

 

So we seek the birth of Jesus and He was born, as promised, in Bethlehem, never to be born again. We seek the saints Mary and Joseph as promised, and we found them as guardians of Jesus until He matured. We will not find Jesus with them, in that way, again. We seek the Lord’s strength in marriage and rest, as promised, not that Jesus will be revealed in dreams again, but that we hear and believe.

 

Thus the promise for us today is not to find Jesus in swaddling clothes, but to find Him as promised, wrapped in Bread and wine at the Altar of His church. The righteous live by faith, that is the promise of salvation, given out by God, in the world. This, the word Christmas, teaches us.

 

The word Christmas is from two words: Christ and Mass. You see, Christmass was always a Service in Church. A time offered by God’s Church to come and give thanks, to offer thanksgiving in this world. A thanksgiving that must first descend from heaven and a service that must be God’s own.

 

The Mass, or the Divine Service, is God’s work in the world which is not of this world. Anything that we accomplish is of the world. It cannot be helped. We are born of the flesh and that which is born of the flesh is flesh, sinful flesh. This is the importance of Jesus being made man, that now, in the world, there is that which is not of the world: forgiveness.

 

The divine Service offered here is God’s work in the world. There is nothing special about ink and page in itself, but with the Word of God it is His life-giving Word, able to give heavenly faith. There is nothing special about water, but with God’s Promise it is a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

 

Bread and wine can be found on any table and in any store, without God’s promise, that is. But with God’s Promise, what is in the world has been raised out of the world in order to accomplish the Will of God. That Will being for us to hallow His Name and strengthen and keep us in His Word and faith until we die.

 

Now, we seek the child of Bethlehem nowhere else besides these promises. We seek Him in Word, water, bread and wine. Not because they are otherworldly, but because God has attached His Promises to them, for you. We will find Him in no other place. Jesus chooses to dwell with us in no other way. 

 

He has given us His Word, as He said in St. John 17 which I quoted earlier. He has given us His Word as both promise and sacrament. Promise that He will be faithful and rescue us from our sins and Sacrament that He will perform that faithfulness and rescue in front of our eyes today, not just in the end. 

 

Being in the world and not of the world, means more than just being kinder, nicer, and merry. It means going to church. It means being brought out of the world by God’s own Promise and it means living this new life in Christ, by the very things He has promised to leave in the world, just for you.

Losing to win [Advent 4]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Deuteronomy 18:15-19

• Philippians 4:4-7

• St. John 1:19-28

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
                  
Who speaks to us on this last Sunday before His Nativity, saying,

“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know”

 
 One of the reasons we do not know, is because we are always changing and Jesus is not. This is part of God’s Word to show that Baptism doesn’t change, because our Savior and His Promise doesn’t change. This teaches that we should not resist. We are usually told to not resist change, but in God’s true religion it is the opposite. Never tire of doing the same thing for the same God Who delights in it.
 
For no matter how hard you struggle, in the end, you must lose. “It is appointed for man once to die” and dying is losing (Heb 9:27). We feel it at every sickbed. We feel it at every funeral. Even King David feels it deeply and complains to God, in Psalm 6, “Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” (v.4-5).
 
If you remember last week, we came to believe that John the Baptist must also lose and he does. He is alone in the wilderness. Sure he has a few disciples, but nothing serious. He dresses funny, eats funny, and won’t comply with any of the other sects in Judaism trying to overthrow the Romans. He especially rejects the authority of the Pharisees and current priests.
 
Our saying goes, “you can’t win for losing”. You can hear John the Baptist's frustration at this revelation, in today’s Gospel. Its not that he’s begging for his life, its that he’s begging for the truth. Don’t persecute me, I’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t throw me in jail, I’ve broken no laws. Don’t behead me, I don’t deserve it.
 
In fact, just the opposite. John the Baptist did all the right things, spoke the truth, and showed mercy. John did all the right things, said all the right things, and believed all the right things. Yet, in the end he must lose. 
 
Hear John’s last words recorded in Scripture to get the idea:

“A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:27-36)

 
He must increase and I must decrease. The friend of the Bridegroom is only given His voice, His words, to joy in and he must admit, confess, and submit to the fact that the Father loves the Son only. 
 
In our lives, we live this struggle daily. Every day it seems as if God has left us to our own devices. So much so that entire religious sects have been created from this false belief. God has set us on our way, yet in our sin we doubt it ever happened, so we’re on our own. 
 
In our sinfulness we get bored of repetition. Because of this, we associate failure with boredom. Because nothing changes and nothing different happens, we assume in our hearts that we must be doing something wrong. Its wrong because we are not accomplishing anything, we are not moving forward, we are not doing what we were created to do!
 
So says satan. For from the beginning, he is a liar and a murderer. Eve, he said, aren’t you tired of the same old fruit, day in and day out? Don’t you want something different, something exciting, something meaningful? 
 
Thus, the Temptation of Jesus was the same, the devil is not original after all. But instead of fruit, it was the fruit of Jesus’s labors, the fruit of His Faith. Why do you starve yourself waiting for someone to come feed you? Just make your own bread and forsake those whom You created. Do you not know Your own worth? Throw Yourself off the Temple, gather the angels, and show to everyone what You’re truly capable of.
 
Your talent and power are wasted on the humans. Serve under me and I will make you the greatest born among women. No one will stand in Your way and You will make the greatest kingdom on earth however You want.
 
I hope you hear in these temptations the devil’s own words in your ears concerning your church, and your family, and all the other repetitious things that God has put in your life. 
 
Imagine your heart rebelling one day. Meh, today I don’t feel like working, it says. Blood, blood, blood. Pump, pump. pump. I want adventure. I want something different. Something fresher! Imagine anything in all of Creation going on strike and doing something different. 
 
Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case is, God has given us the will to imagine something different, something apart from God. That is the temptation to sin, because whatever we imagine still retains God’s goodness in it. 
 
For example, a belief in evolution without God, as opposed to God’s Creation of all things, presupposes things would work together to create life, without God. It assumes life will just form on its own, because that’s our experience. But life is God’s realm.
 
And if life is God’s realm, then He knows how best to order it. John confesses this, as we already heard. It is enough that the Bridegroom has given us His voice. It is enough that the Bridegroom comes from above and has the Father’s love. It is enough that the Bridegroom has come down from His chamber and nothing is hid from the heat of His Love.
 
For on top of giving us a heart that pumps day in and day out without complaining, and all other things in creation that are for our benefit, He also gives Himself. That is also still His Word, yet His Word is unlike our words. St. John did not mean that it is enough for Him to speak every now and then or to give visions. On top of that, John meant that the Word would be given, Himself.
 
And the Word was made flesh, as John chapter 1 says. The Word was made flesh and St. John the Baptist’s joy is fulfilled. Joy that a Prophet like us has arisen. Joy that the words of the Almighty are in His mouth. Joy, that a man has been born.
 
For, there’s more to Deuteronomy 18. The chapter ends right after our pericope reading, with instructions on how to spot a false prophet. A false prophet will have God’s own wrath on him if he does not speak the exact words from the Lord’s own mouth. 
 
From verse 22, “when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.”
 
“if the word does not come to pass” means “if the Word is not born”. In other words, if he does not point to Jesus, he is a false prophet. Moses did not get to point to Jesus in the flesh. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi did not get to point to the Word of God and say, “Behold the man”. Thus they lost in the end. 
 
Even Jesus, pointing Himself out as God and man, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins on the cross, lost in the end. As the True Prophet, however, Jesus's loss was gain. Tempting Jesus only resulted in draining all the power out of temptation. Murdering Jesus only resulted in draining out all the power of death.
 
The prophets did not stop pointing to Jesus. The Apostles did not stop pointing to Jesus. And your faith today is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Says Ephesians (2:20). And the apostles were proclaiming the death of Jesus until He comes, in Communion.
 
“Do not grow tired of doing good” (Gal 6:9), that is, do not grow tired of doing THE Good: receiving from God the Good He wants to give you. Now imagine if God were to change His mind and His ways? This is why St. John the Baptist likened Jesus coming to a Bridegroom. The Bridegroom pledges His Truth and His faithfulness to the Bride. He does not change.
 
We must lose. We must lose out to God. We must give up on trying to refresh or excite our spirit and proclaim it to be “from God”. God has promised and only He can accomplish our victory that we so long and pray for. He has done it. He will do it and He continues to feed it to us, even today. 
 
So we lose and Jesus wins. We lose our grand and flashy entrance of God into the world and He wins His birth in a manger. We lose our false ideas of increasing mercy and grace and God wins at the cross. We lose our sinfulness of thinking we can do better than God and God wins by continuing to give us His Spirit by His spoken Word, cleanse us in Baptism, and feed us in Communion.
 
We decrease and Jesus increases in His Word and Sacrament. And isn’t that what we wanted all along?
 
 

What makes a theologian? Anfechtung [Wednesday in Advent 3]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 43:1-11

• James 1:2-4

• St. Matthew 5:10-12

 

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

 

Who speaks to us this evening through St. James, saying,

“you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness”

 

He says, the testing, or the Proof in the pudding, of your faith, that God-given-gift, produces endurance. Thus, as we conclude our short study on “How to be a theologian”, we come to anfechtung, in the German, and tentatio, in the Latin.

 

Anfechtung, as Google AI teaches, is a multifaceted term meaning challenge, contestation, appeal, or temptation. Used in law for challenging a will or a contract, or an election. And the Latin, tentatio, actually comes to us as temptation, through various linguistic errors of pronunciation.

 

However, like “daily bread” in our Lord’s Prayer, it appears to be a word that defies English definition, at least by one word. Temptation comes close, but it is more accurate to say that it is the struggle against sin itself and all that includes. Anfechtung describes what a true believer goes through, when the devil learns that he has put his trust in Christ.

 

This simply continues our theme that we have discovered. In prayer, we are not just conversing, but living the life of faith, pursuing the true Teacher of Holy Scripture, Jesus Christ. In meditation, we are not simply internally thinking about God, but speaking and hearing His Words in the rituals of His Church, all of which He has given to us, graciously.

 

Anfechtung, then, is undefinable by ink and paper alone. It also needs a heart that believes and trusts in what the theologian has lived, studied, and learned. And that is not pretty. As King David declared to us tonight, in our Psalm, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word” (119:67).

 

Affliction? Isn’t that devil territory? How can affliction be from God and keep us on the straight and narrow way? But, consider this: a cow stays in his yard only after he runs into the electric fence. Jesus says it this way in Psalm 32:9, “be not like the horse or the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle”.

 

In one of his Table Talks, Martin Luther once remarked, “I did not learn my theology all at once, but had to search constantly deeper and deeper for it. My temptations did that for me, for no one can understand Holy Scripture without practice and temptations. This is what the enthusiasts and sects lack. They don’t have the right critic, the devil, who is the best teacher of theology. If we don’t have that kind of devil, then we become nothing but speculative theologians, who do nothing but walk around in our own thoughts and speculate with our reason alone as to whether things should be like this, or like that,” (TWA I, 147, 3-14). 

 

That critic, the devil, teaches us as only our enemies can.

Until a child of God feels the fiery darts of the tempter, despairs of saving himself, stares in shock at the horror of which he is capable, and finds at the end of his rope the crucified God of love, he still has much to learn of theology. (Devil’s Classroom, Bird, 1517.org)

 

Our opponents teach us through failure. When we fall back into sin, we learn a little more about who we are and what tempts us and a lot more of hatred of sin. If we get inot a debate or discussion, when sharing our faith, we may be the loser, not being able to speak our faith completely. But this opposition Let’s us see that we always have room for improvement.

 

We may not have “won” this time, but maybe next time with what we have learned.

 

In this anfechtung, the Christian is given the opportunity by God to overcome Satan personally, as Romans and our Great Litany say, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (16:20). This is echoing Genesis 3, “He will crush your head and you will bruise His heel”. Of course, these are both talking about Jesus first, so we will not have direct responsibility for our salvation, but that it will be near. Its accomplishment will be so close, we can feel it. In fact, it will be as close as our skin and bones, because that is what we are baptized into: a Body.

 

“though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Heb 5:8). Jesus is the picture of Anfechtung. There is no glory without the cross. There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. All theology is Christology. To be conformed to the image of the Son means to be conformed to His suffering. 

 

Thus, in order to mature, we are enrolled in the School of the Holy Spirit. Or to be more crass, the devil’s school. What that means is simply that now that we have been saved from sin, satan, death, hell, and all related calamities, we must re-encounter them in life. 

 

Just the day to day being a good person is the area of attack, as our Small Catechism spells out in the Table of Duties. For we all believe “once saved always saved” and that once Jesus comes into our lives, they couldn’t be any better. Everything will fall into place now, with God’s guidance. Peace. Grace. Comfort. 

 

They may be yours at first, but then they appear to drift away as Monday comes around. Then, once again, you have to face the people that aggravate you, test your patience, and wrong you. This is anfechtung. On top of that, are all the false religions and false churches in the world who unceasingly try to undermine the faith.

 

All of this without God intervening. But that is the devil’s goal, to get us to despair of God’s action. Because God has already acted and He has acted perfectly and completely, leaving nothing out and no one behind. 

 

This is part of anfechtung: having to deal with all of life with only the cross of Christ. For that is God’s only answer and yet it is the perfect answer. It is not perfect because it solves all of our problems, but because it makes facing those struggles worthwhile. It makes our temptations, tests, and it makes light our darkness.

 

This is because our Savior has walked this path first. He has entered the deepest, darkest temptations, walked His bloody road, and lit every beacon along the way, for us. He has made a way, where there was no way. He has purchased peace and forgiveness where there was not peace or forgiveness. He has Promised hope where only despair reigned.

 

And He did all this for us. As He said in Isaiah tonight, “Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears…[for] you are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and I am God” (v.8, 12). The anfechtung of God is accomplished in struggle, in bearing the cross. But it is His cross and so He is never far off, but always near. 

 

Near preaching and teaching His Word, near washing us in Baptism, and near feeding us His true Body and His true Blood for the forgiveness of sins. In these promises made by the Crucified Jesus, the true theologian trusts.

 

And he spends his God-given time in prayer, meditation, and anfechtung. He does not shun the Lord’s trials, but admits his sins, piles on more the devil forgot, and seeks comfort and consolation solely in the Blood of Christ.

 

And though these all have deep implications and sound like $10,000 words, you are already doing them. Just like you are already a scientist figuring out the world, you are a theologian. Everyone is. And everyone is a sinner and must deal with their brokenness. 

 

And it is in that sinful, brokenness that God shows His real glory. The Glory of a true Father Who loves us and makes a way to heal us. “Scripture imprisoned everything under sin”, says Galatians 3, “so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (v22). 

 

As theologians then, we gladly struggle, as St. James said tonight. Knowing that anfechtung “produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” in Christ Jesus (Rom 5:3-5). 

 

He has been given to us as promised, beginning with the child in the manger.

 

 

The Original Way [Advent 3]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 40:1-11

• 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

• St. Matthew 11:2-10

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
                  
Who speaks to us on this third Sunday of the new Church Year, saying,
“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
 
Thus far from God’s Word, included for us to hear of faith alone, because, as Jesus laments, will there be faith on earth when He returns? For if John, the greatest born among women, must face jail time, then what’s in it for us? 
 
There is a very promising trend, they say, of the younger generations returning to church. Through one statistic or another, American evangelicals are pushing this fact. And its somewhat true and churches are seeing young people coming. Good news. 
 
However, there is always another side to the story. The other side is that there is also a growing trend of young men returning to the pagan gods, the “old” gods as they say. There is an increase in popularity of living off-grid, eating like cavemen, and practicing the “old ways”. 
 
And it makes sense. When you go into the woods and into the fields to find a livelihood, it was the ancients who knew how to live off the land. When your distrust of lying medical professionals reaches a peak, you begin to understand that ancient peoples were able to heal themselves through real food, not from Walmart. When you search for strength and trust in life, you look no further than yourself and how amazing the body is.
 
The mystery of the wilderness, the strength of nature to weather any storm, and the ability to shut out the material world is tempting. Much more than that, the old religions promised fulfillment. If you want to be your strongest, healthiest, peaceful-est self, just follow the people of the land.
 
Now, for the rest of the story…the old gods promise fulfillment, but at what cost? Hard work and sacrifice are not the only things demanded. You will reach a plateau in your self-improvement, because you can only improve so far. But there is a promise beyond that: indulgence. A personalized, self-improvement. And for every instant gratification and lust you can imagine, the price you pay is your soul. 
 
If you want a woman, take her, because you are stronger. If you want someone else’s woman, because you are stronger, no one will tell you no because they don’t want to get killed. If you want to get stronger than just eating beef liver, then drink the blood of powerful men. If your children are weak or get in your way, kill them. That is true pagan ritual.
 
What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!"
 
Who’s to say this way of making yourself stronger is wrong? Odin wills it. They promise no responsibility afterwards, on your part. To the victor go the spoils. To the strong, justice. To the self-anointed, truth.
 
It is the lies that we and our country have told our young men, that drove them to seek out that sort of truth. We labelled our un-masculine propaganda, “just be nice”, as Christian and so they seek out anything but Christian. For if those “christian” rules got them to those lies, of what use are those rules?
 
This was St. John’s temptation. He was the greatest born among women. He was the prophet. He was Elijah to come. He knew what they wanted to hear. He knew they wanted glory and if he just said what they wanted, he could just capitulate and it would be his.
 
He was the greatest, why should he end up in prison? If he is publicly humiliated to that extent, then no one will believe his message. If God allows His prophet to be trampled and defeated in front of everyone, then they will just seek out gods who will give them victory over their enemies.
 
It would be easy to change the story and just say, “What I really meant was…” in order to gain the favor of men. His popularity attracted attention and that attention came with a deal. Change your story and we’ll make sure to take care of you, for we have the power and the glory.
 
John also knew they wanted a martyr. For in order to maintain the power and glory they got for themselves, they needed planned opposition. Thus, St John knew, regardless of whether he claimed to be the Christ or not, he was going to prison. He was going to take the fall. He was going to be their martyr.
 
Is there any mystery, manliness, or life in Christianity? Is not John the shadow of that and Jesus the picture itself? John is uncompromising. He knows what brings in the cash and he refuses. He is not the Christ, not even worthy to untie His sandal. He is not the one to usher a new, jewish era over their enemies, he won’t even wear proper clothes. He will not stand for marriage to be blasphemed and goes to jail over it.
 
For greater than the old gods who demand blood, sexualization, and shame is the God Who is Justice. Jesus bears the insults against John, for they are properly aimed at Him. He is the God Who sends John and all the prophets. He is the God Who set up all of creation to work as it does, and He is the One Who is Coming to bring the wrath to come, raise up children of Abraham, and lay the axe against the tree.
 
Yet, John does go to prison and is beheaded. Jesus does get arrested and is found guilty in a court of law. They are both reeds shaken by the wind, soft-clothed men, and regular, ordinary men. Who cannot break out of the cycle of Empirical lies any more than we can.
 
Jesus brings a new way. As He shows us, the reed bent by the wind stands up again on Easter. The soft clothing of the Christ turns out to be imperishable clothing. The strength of God is found in service, serving sinners the gift of forgiveness. The justice of God turns out to be for everyone, not just the strong. And the Blood of God is what gives strength for immortality.
 
Jesus is the Self-Donating God. Instead of demanding His men to strip away all dignity, morality, and strength to prove their worth, He offers them His own. And He offers it in His soft clothing that is stained with betrayal, torn with suffering, and dripping with blood. 
 
Jesus’s manly Way is the way of the cross. The denial of self. The forsaking of the temptations to lust and greed and pride. Does being able to take those things whenever you want, make you a man? No. And worse than that, they make you someone else’s man. Those things are not the path of a man, but of the devil.
 
It is righteousness that the God of all things demands and it is righteousness that the manly Son of Man offers with His own Body. It is obedience that the God of the wilderness and all places requires of His creatures and it is obedience that the Only-Begotten gives with His life. It is Mercy that marks the Way of this realm, and it is mercy that hangs on the cross for you.
 
Hangs there until the job is done. “Come down from there”, they tempt our Lord. Oh how peaceful it would be! “Drink this”, they coax Him, knowing He is dehydrated to death. “It can all end. Right now. Peace. Just say it. Cry out, mercy”, and the old gods would make everything right again.
 
Can Odin produce such manliness? Can Zeus control himself long enough to reveal such strength? Does Allah have the guts to come down and offer himself in love to those who have sinned against him? I don’t think so.
 
The Way of the cross is the old way, the original way. The way its supposed to be. No amount of self-improvement, self-indulgence, or self-anointing can produce the righteousness of God. He must produce it Himself and He chooses to do it in love. The love that sacrifices Himself for the good of another. That is, all of us.
 
The Way for John is in prison. It is there that he will show the glory of God. How, not even the wind of an executioner’s axe can bend the reed of God’s Will. How not even soft camel hair can clothe a believer in Christ. And that not even the humiliation and death of a prophet of God can mar one ounce of God’s holiness.
 
For His holiness is wrapped up in the promise of salvation and He keeps it. He keeps it even in the face of death, which has no power over Him. Is John ridiculed? Yes. Does that prevent the salvation of God?
 
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Promise of the Lord endures forever. John was adopted into the Word, the Promise of the Almighty and the Promise held fast. John now lives in Christ, out of the reach of those who would harm him any longer. The commendation from God is faith in Christ, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.
 
When those things are received, then it is that we have made it to the Way. This is why the true Church on earth orbits around the gifts of God which promise such things: Word, Baptism, Sacrament of the Altar, and Absolution. 
 
These are the things of Christ, which no amount of sin can overcome. Sin done to others or sin done to self. They are permanent things. They are universal things. Their power hinges solely on Christ and His life. The promise we find in Word and Sacrament are the Promises made in the flesh and blood of Jesus by His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.
 
For it takes more of a man to endure, than to yield. It takes more of a man to remain faithful, than to indulge. It takes more of a man to serve, than to be served, because Jesus is among us as the One Who Serves.
 
Challenge the old gods. Stand up to them. Out serve them, out mercy them, out self-control them. Do not overshadow the manliness of faith with a willingness to appease everyone. God’s Word is what is working, not your charisma. Baptism saves, not your improvement. Communion forgives. God wills it. Numbers or no numbers.
 
Amen.
 
 

What makes a theologian? Meditation [Wednesday in Advent 2]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Joshua 1:8-9

• Philippians 4:8-9

• St. Luke 2:15-19

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

 

Who speaks to us this evening from Philippians, saying,

“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you”

 

One thing all of our readings this evening have in common is the call to find an object. What I mean is, they all talk about the good and the true and good success and marvels, and then the hearers are told to go and find those things. 

 

This book of Law that Joshua is told about which contains strength, courage, and prosperity is written. He is supposed to find it, read it out loud, and act according to it. The just, the pure, and the lovely that St. Paul is preaching about in Philippians, the Christian is told to learn, receive, hear, and see them in St. Paul himself. The shepherds are told to go to Bethlehem, not to look for enlightenment, but to find the baby.

 

Tonight on “How to make a theologian” we discuss meditation. Meditation makes a theologian.

Last week, we discovered that prayer makes a theologian, because through prayer, the believer lays hold of the real Teacher of Scripture, Himself: Jesus Christ. It is not some self-absorbed exercise. 

 

Thus, meditation is also more than just calming the mind. It is also an exercise in both the spiritual and physical realms. Meditatio, our Latin, is grounded in the externum verbum, the external Word. This is evident from the passages in Scripture we have read this evening.

 

What I mean by external is that God is not using us to save ourselves. He is not asking us to dig deep, make ourselves holy, or to be more godly. This would lead to boasting and special treatment, with no use for Jesus and His Work on the cross.

 

Our Confessions put it this way: 

"In these matters, which concern the external, spoken Word, we must hold firmly to the conviction that God gives no one his Spirit or grace except through or with the external Word which comes before. Thus we shall be protected from the enthusiasts-that is, from the spiritualists who boast that they possess the Spirit without and before the Word and who therefore judge, interpret, and twist the Scriptures or spoken Word according to their pleasure" (SA III:VIII:3).

 

Like theology and prayer, meditation is something that everybody does, regardless of its objective. We all take a breather, we all take a step back, we all try to look at the bigger picture. That is, we cannot help but need to meditate on something or another. It is part of what makes us human to search for answers.

 

However, how meditation is usually sold to us is one of two ways. Either you must silence the outside things in order to look deep inside yourself for truth and peace, or you must open yourself to the universe to seek those things. In other words, first ignore God’s external Word in favor of “self”, then seek outside intervention in any other place except God.

 

Through prayer and meditation, Jesus orders those desires in the Truth, by grounding them directly in something outside of themselves. This fact should not be news to the Christian. the One, True God of Holy Scripture is always creating objects. From heaven and earth to us, and every time He interacts with His creation, it is always through objects, through means.

 

Noah’s Ark, the Burning Bush, the Temple, the Prophets. All were created objects that the Lord attached a Promise to. God chooses to do His work, all His work, through means, through tools found in creation.

 

Not just any tools. He doesn’t leave it up to us to discover them or make them. He lays out the tools and also lays out the rules. It is His Word that is to be meditated on. It is His Word that is to be sought out for eternal life. It is His Word alone which grants His Spirit, Who gives faith in Christ Jesus.

 

And although we have His Promise that the Word dwells in us, we are never commanded to seek anything there. We are told specifically what is there, inside us. Filthy rags, crimson transgression, deceit. If our meditating focuses on the inside, we will be dupped and quickly led to evil.

 

And although we have His Promise that the Word is the Creator of all things, we do not have a word from God telling us to seek Him in all things. We are told specifically that the devil and all his angels work lies and murder from the beginning. We are also told that our sinful nature sides with them. So, if our meditating focuses on opening ourselves to the outside, we will be possessed, dupped, and quickly led to evil.

 

Thus, God stands Himself, as Himself. Not as a created object, but the object of faith and works. He is God, three persons in one God. Spirit and now, in the Word made flesh, body and Soul in Jesus Christ. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each Person, with His own thoughts, words, and deeds. 

 

If you want to meditate on the truth, you must contend with the Trinity. This is why we say meditation is grounded in the external Word. There is no meditating apart from or outside of God’s revelation of Himself in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, like prayer, meditation also seeks to lay hold of Jesus Himself.

 

In this way, meditation is also a life to live. To be sure, it is burying yourself in our Lord’s Scripture, as He has given it to us in the Old and New Testaments. But it is also acknowledging that meditations on the Word of Life, bring life. It is reading, hearing, and doing.

 

In Exodus 24, Moses wakes early, prepares for church, and “took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people” (v.7). Joshua, from our Old Testament reading, “There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them” (Joshua 8:35).

 

King Josiah was 8 when he was made king and his people had forgotten God’s Word. So, “He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord” (2 Kings 23:2).

 

Each time, the command is to return to the Book. Hear the Word of the Lord and live, says Jesus (John 5:24). God will not give you His Spirit without His external Word. Without Jesus, the Word of God, and without His revelation in Holy Scriptures, there is no faith, there is no forgiveness of sins, and there is no eternal life.

 

Dr. John Kleinig, a Lutheran pastor and professor in Australia, puts it this way:

“Luther does not envisage the practice of meditation as an inward,

mental activity, but as an outward ritual enactment. As such it was

inspired by the liturgy and derived from the enactment of God's word

publicly in the divine service. God commands the church to preach, read,

hear, sing, and speak His word, so that He could thereby convey and

deliver His Holy Spirit to His people. That external proclamation and

enactment of God's word determines how the student of theology

meditates. Just as the Scriptures are read in the Divine Service, so he

reads them out aloud to himself as he meditates on some part of them.

Just as the psalms are sung there, so he sings them to himself. Just as

God's word is preached there, so he preaches it to himself. Just as God's

word is spoken there, so he hears it addressed personally to himself” (CTQ 66:3:262, July 2002)

 

For the fruit of meditation is preaching and teaching. First we find God’s Law, cold and unmerciful. You may meditate on “You shall not murder” and find only a tyrant god. But true meditation does not let it end there. True meditation finds the fulfillment of “you shall not murder” in the murder of Jesus Christ, Who’s death we proclaim in the eating and drinking of His Body and Blood, until He returns.