Witness of suffering [St. Stephen Day]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• 2 Chronicles 24:17-22

• Acts 6:8-15, 7:54-60

• St. Matthew 23:34-39

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 1)
 
Jesus speaks on this 2^nd day of Christmas aka St. Stephen’s Day, saying:
“For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” 
 
When you hear the Word of God and realize you believe, having received faith from above, it hits you like a ton of bricks. (Sorry St. Stephen+ no offense). Your entire worldview changes. What you thought you knew, turns out to be lies. What you thought were lies, turn out to be true. The world seems to flip on its head and the rocks tumble all around.
 
Though really, through God’s Word the world is just righting itself. For it is you who were backwards and upside-down, believing the lies. You were clinging to the earth, the dust, the rocks from which you came and you tumbled along with them, hurling yourself at the God who made you suffer.
 
Yes. In our sin that is our charge we bring against God. “Why bring me here if I’m just going to suffer?” Job speaks this point saying, “Let the day perish on which I was to be born,
And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived’” (3:3).
 
The Christian Church is the Church because it suffers, because it bears the cross of her Lord and Savior. Whether its the wood of the cross or the stones of the tomb, the ancient saying goes, “the blood of Christians is the seed [of the Church]” (Tertullian, Apology, L:13).
 
However, it is not enough for the Christian to suffer, more to the point, we were not made to suffer. 
Genesis 1 says, “So God created man…and blessed them…and behold it was very good” (v.27, 28, 31).
 
It is also not the point of suffering to seek out suffering. In that route, we seek suffering in our sin and St. Peter warns us in our 2nd Sunday after Christmas Epistle, “let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler” (1 Pet 4:15), in other words, as a sinner. 
 
Note the crime they accuse St. Stephen of. It is not giving to the poor, it is not doing good deeds, it is not even for “being a Christian”. As we heard them from our reading in Acts, St. Stephen is charged with speaking against the authority of the day. In this case, satan’s authority coming from the twisting of holy Scripture.
 
The twist that says, no matter what God’s priests and Temple authorities do, it is God’s will. The twist that gives godlike authority and lordship to all who “serve” and “preach” and “teach” in God’s “service”. The twist that allows murder and the breaking of all commands in order to preserve its own power structure, even at the cost of defying the God they claim to be in service to.
 
Satan is the only one to lie and proclaim and promise that kind of earthly glory to those “serving” today. This is why we term this sort of theology the theology of glory. 
 
Theologies of glory are approaches to Christianity and to life that try in various ways to minimize difficult and painful things, or else to defeat and move past them, rather than looking them square in the face and accepting them. In particular, they acknowledge the cross, but view it primarily as a means to an end – an unpleasant but necessary step on the way to good things in the future, especially salvation, the transformation of human potential by God and the triumph of the Kingdom of God in the world. As Luther puts it, the theologian of glory “does not know God hidden in suffering. Therefore he prefers works to suffering, glory to the cross, strength to weakness, wisdom to folly, and, in general, good to evil” (The Heidelberg Disputation, Proof to Thesis XXI).
 
So we hear the words of both our saints today, St. Zechariah in the Old Testament reading and St. Stephen. Don’t be fooled, however. Zechariah is not demanding revenge. The word there is “judge”, in the Greek. Meaning, he is calling upon God to judge between his words and the words of the authorities.
 
St. Stephen is doing the same. Though St. Stephen already knows God’s judgement, because he has seen it in action, in the flesh, on the cross. And God’s judgement, which St. Zechariah also asked for, is guilt for the Son, innocence for the sinner.
 
And where St. Stephen and St. Zechariah can only pray and hope for God’s forgiveness to be handed out to their enemies, Jesus Christ, the King of Saints, purchases and wins salvation, making it a reality.
 
Jesus Christ is buried under the rocks of His martyrs. Though He is somewhat special. His rocks are brand new. It was “a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid” (Jn 19:41) and they threw “a stone against the entrance of the tomb” (Mk 15:46). A special stoning for a special man.
 
For while Sts. Zechariah and Stephen did not get out of their tombs of rock, Jesus did.
 
St. Fulgentius from the 6^th century makes this point for u:,

“Yesterday, my dear brethren, we celebrated the birth in time of our timeless King; today we celebrate the triumphant suffering of a soldier. Yesterday our King, clothed in a robe of flesh, came forth from a virginal womb and deigned to visit this earth; today a soldier, leaving the tabernacle of the body, departs, as a conqueror, for heaven. The former, preserving the majesty of divinity, assumed the lowly form of human nature and entered this world to do battle; the latter, laying aside corruptible bodily trappings, has ascended to reign unceasingly in the palaces of heaven. The One, Christ, descended veiled in flesh; the other, Stephen. ascended laureled in blood.
 
Yesterday the angels sang exultingly “glory to God in the highest”; today they have joyously received blessed Stephen into their midst. Yesterday Christ was wrapped for us in swaddling clothes; today blessed Steven is clothed by Him with the stole of immortality. Yesterday the narrow crib carried the Infant Christ; today the boundless heavens receive the triumphant Stephen. Our Lord descended alone that He might make many ascend; our King has humbled Himself that He might exalt his soldiers.
 
Nevertheless, dearest brethren, it is necessary that we know with what weapon blessed Stephen was armed so as to overcome satanic savagery and merit such triumph. To obtain the crown which is signified by his name, St. Stephen was armed with charity and by it conquered all obstacles. Because of his love of God he fled not from the cruel Jews; because of his love of neighbor he prayed for those who are stoning him. In charity, he corrected the erring that they would amend; in charity he prayed for his executors that they would not be punished. By virtue of charity he conquered the fire-breathing Saul and so merited to have his persecutor on earth as companion in heaven.“ (St. Fulgentius, Matins of St. Stephen, Pius Parsch I:216)

 
In this way only, were the torrent of stones dear to Stephen, as they were dear to Christ Who rested in the tomb for you. We thusly pray with St. Stephen today, at this Altar, in this Service, with Psalm 63, “My soul clings fast to Thee” because my body was stoned for Thee, my God (v.8). 
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord. 
 
 

Historic Proclamation [Christmass Day]

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 52:6-10

• Hebrews 1:1-12

• St. John 1:1-14

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 1)
 
Jesus speaks from His newborn lips today, saying:
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
 
Once again, we hear one of the people’s favorite verses, in verse 12, because once again, we believe that “to receive Christ” is an active act on our part, as O Little Town of Bethlehem commands us singing, “Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Lord enters in”.
 
But when have souls ever been meek? As we have already mentioned this Advent season, we have been trying to rewrite history since we started recording it on paper and God’s history is no exception. The sin-filled soul rages at even a hint of God’s presence.
 
So, what I’d like to read to you is the historic proclamation of Christmas, begun in the 4th century and completed by the 6th. This Proclamation was not a “required” reading on Christmas Eve until the 16th century when Pope Gregory XIII decided we needed a new calendar. But that’s another story.
 
Please listen:
The twenty-fifth day of December, being the 20th day after the last New Moon.
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.
 
Now, if you were paying close attention, perhaps you got offended by this proclamation, because it claims to be able to number the years from Creation, when no one was counting, or at least writing it down. And people have been offended. 
 
In a deplorable, but not unexpected, happenstance, the old text was thrown off the cliff by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1994. They replaced it with a generic formula of dates using: “when ages beyond number had run their course” and “when century upon century had passed”, instead of exact years.
 
This change to being imprecise was lauded as genius and the height of scholarship. Imagine calling a loss of information genius. But that is our level of science and understanding today, to be less precise instead of more. To be more general and inclusive, instead of being exact and truthful.
 
Though Christians complain about this, they perpetrate more than most. As we have already seen in the “christian” changes to this proclamation. But is also most noticeable on Christmas where candy, lights, and presents take center stage, replacing fasting, prayer, and meditation on God’s mysteries. I mean can you imagine changing Genesis 1 to something like: "And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was an indeterminate period of time. And some innumerable ages later God said: Let there be a firmament ..."
 
No. As we have been discussing these past Sundays, history is important and God takes it very seriously. Though we may be able to debate dates and counts of years, more important to us and to faith is that we recognize God’s work in relatable, recordable, and recent history.
 
The Gospel according to St. Luke, chapter 2, is our biggest example here, and most recently on our minds because of Christmas. In that Christmas reading, the Lord goes through much trouble to mention striking and provable details of the current time, for those alive in the first century.
 
There we hear of Caesar Augustus, a prominent figure in history even today. We hear this was the time when Cyrenius was first made governor. We hear specific cities, specific peoples, and specific times. There is no way anyone can get those dates wrong.
 
There is no possible way that God will allow us to miss the great Day of the Lord when He said through Isaiah that we shall know His Name and shall know that it is He Who is speaking. “Here I am”, He says (Isa 52:6) in our OT reading. 
 
And He writes “Here I am” on walls and even in the stars. He sets off a beacon for the whole world, and all of history, to announce “Here I am”. St. Mark 4:22 says, “For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.”
 
God may know the secret sins of our hearts (Ps 44:21, 90:8), we may deal in secrets beyond number, century after century, but He gives us this promise, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you …” (Jer 29:13-14).
 
God will be found. Not through any effort of ours, but by the sheer openness of God and His works. He has hidden nothing behind silly, man-made centuries upon centuries or silly man-made numbers in the billions of billions and trillions of trillions. 
 
There is no question. Our faith is historic. Our proclamation and belief about Christmas is historic. Our beliefs are not pulled out of some old, dusty, myth-filled past or even from the brains of greedy, white men. 
 
They are pulled out of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, displayed for the entire world, yes in a manger, but yes upon the cross. And we can be reasonably comfortable that history continues to confirm the veracity of God’s Word, not that we need it to.
 
So we find that “receiving Him” is not as active as we thought. “Receiving Him” is actually very passive, because as the verse goes on to state, it is only by the will of God that any of this happens. For children of God are born not of the flesh or blood of man, but by the Will, the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, born specifically for you.
 
Merry Christmas!
 
 

Children's Programme [Christmas Eve]

 Grace to you all and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Christ.
 
What to do with a child? They can’t fend for themselves, They can’t pay the bills.
 
Yet, everyone understands being pregnant and having a baby. No end of money and energy is spent on celebrations, gender reveals, and showers even before the baby gets here. The excitement sits on all family and friends alike as the time approaches. The child in the womb is spoiling his parents even before he can take part. 
 
The great and awesome day of delivery comes. The phone calls pile up, the cards rush in, the FaceBook likes near monetization levels. 
 
The baby is born.
The phone lines go dead. The mail halts. Facebook turns away. 
 
You see, everyone understands having a baby, but the world doesn’t understand having a baby. It doesn’t understand the diapers, and the lost hours, and the constant investment with no return. Sure, you will get a pat on the head and a “it’ll be ok”, but too bad. The baby is a burden a drain, unwanted.
 
This is evident in our country as to how we treat our infants. they are toys. they are dolls. We dress them up, show them off, and throw them to the wolves of the public sector who have nothing better to do than program them against us.
 
It is unfortunate that the darkness of the world closes around us so closely, for such were some of us, says 1 Cor 6:11), aligned that way, thinking that way. Sinful you were. But where the darkness surrounds, Christ’s light abounds.
 
“But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:11). No longer are we children of the night, but sons of the day. No longer are our bodies for sin and death, but for the Lord only, 1 Cor. 6 continues. 
 
For this night, of all nights, our bodies have been sanctified by His body. Our every step of life, gestation and maturation, have been touched by eternity. From conception to the grave, we are the Lord’s. And now that He has come into our world, we will be with Him even beyond the grave.
 
The world might not know what to do with babies, but the Lord does. He knows exactly how to create them, to care for them, and to love them. He knows exactly how to honor motherhood and infancy, by becoming an infant Himself and daring the world to lift one little finger against Him.
 
They dared and we dared, in our sin. that is why His cross will always come after His birth. But it is at this point that the mystery begins. The mystery of God made man. The mystery of the Lord serving us. the mystery of how can a body do such great things such as die and come back to life, never to die again.
 
This is the washing that our Infant Lord gives to all infants in baptism. this is the holiness freely given by God to all who believe the Word of the Cross. This is the justification Christ declares as He holds out His Body and Blood with nail, imprinted palms.
 
The Lord of all has found it important to do all this with an infant. It behooves us to follow His example and so we do. We cherish our children as He told us. We teach them and make them dress up funny, year after year, so that this Word of God imprints Himself forever on their hearts.
 
So we are given a clean heart, and the Body and Blood of our Savior. We are given God’s Body in our own baptism, which saves and gives faith, so that we believe in God being born and that the Christ Child will work His wonder of salvation among us.
 

Lessons & Carols [Christmas Eve]

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 1)
 
Jesus speaks to us, this Christmass Eve, from His holy Scripture and many hymns.
 
But, Pastor, why are we wasting our time with all these musty, Old Testament readings?  This is not what Christmas is about.  It’s about the nice, fluffy story of sweet, 8 lb 6oz. baby Jesus.  So can we please hurry up so that we can get on with the evening?
 
Let me tell you; for the same reason we read the Old Testament, was Jesus born in the darkness. These Old Testament readings remind us of the state of our hearts at this moment and the state of the entirety of time in that moment.  Even winter reminds us that we are in the darkness of our sin, which does not want God’s kingdom to come nor His Name to be hallowed.
 
Jesus was born into the sin and corruption of this world’s darkness to remind us why He came and who He came for.  He is an infant now, but He does not stay this way.  We have been praying for Christmas to come so that Jesus would step out of heaven to BEGIN His work.  That work being His death and resurrection for the redemption and salvation of us sinners.
 
Braving spears, false piety, and corrupt justice systems, Jesus the Christ breaks into our world as a child.  If a child can break through, what kind of watch is kept on us now?  Not a good one.  Sin, death, and the devil do not stop Jesus from entering the virgin’s womb and being born sinless, to die for sinners.
 
And it’s not just this one night, Christians.  Jesus does not only come down this night to give us joy to the world, peace, comfort, hark the herald angels, mistletoe, and presents to pretty little girls.  Jesus dwells with His people.  He comes down to serve them Faith and forgiveness every Divine Service in which His Gospel is preached in its purity and His Body and Blood eaten and drunk according to it.
 
This is what Christmas is all about: God’s Divines Service.  It’s about the fact that we don’t have to go on vacation to find Jesus.  We don’t have to commune with nature to gain peace.  We don’t have to get away from it all or know it all to gain enlightenment.  Jesus puts Himself, along with all the things His Gospel promises, in a nice little box for us in a manger.  And He’s as easy to find as a present under a tree.
 
Jesus is He Who crushes the serpent’s head.  Jesus is He Who is offered instead of Isaac.  Jesus is He Who breaks our darkness to increase our gladness.  He is the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the Prince of Peace.  He is the Root of Jesse and our Judge and we are going to hear how He accomplishes this.
 
In the next set of readings is where we hear this.  Jesus completes His work in humility and service, Divine Service, the exact opposite of what we would do if we had to save the world.  In humility, He takes our sin as His own, forgiving us of it forever, dying on the cross.  In service He comes down to wash us in Baptism, to speak to us in the Gospel, and to feed us all of these glorious and wonderful things in Body and Blood.
 
Jesus places Himself in a box so that you can find Him every time you look for Him.  He is in His Church, as He promised, given for you for the forgiveness of your sins.  He then dwells within you, constantly forgiving and bringing you to Life and to Light from death and darkness. 
 
Jesus marches from the Old Testament and the darkness of prophesy and the manger, to the divine revelation and wisdom of the cross.  He wraps Himself in Moses and the prophets, Bread and wine, to assure you that He really has come in this manner and that this is how He’s going to accomplish His work of saving you.  In water, in Word, and in Body and Blood.
 
 
 

Meditations of Athanasius [Christmass Eve]

 READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 7:10-14

• Romans 1:1-6

• St. Matthew 1:18-25

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

 
Jesus speaks from our Epistle today, saying:
“…the Gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures”
 
For your meditation, this evening, I offer two selections from old, dead Church fathers—one anonymous; and one from the early Bishop whose name the anonymous piece bears. For God proclaims His promises through His prophets and continues to speak to us in His Word, through His pastors, in His Church as She moves throughout history.
 
Tonight, all these readings we heard, all these carols, the tree, the candlelight—even your celebrations at home, the presents, the candy and cookies, the Hallmark villages and the various hot toddies—they all celebrate and bring our focus to one place: the incarnation—God in human flesh lying in a manger. This profound mystery is the very foundation of the Christian faith. That is why the Church rates this as a first-class feast in the church year. 
 
So, tonight I thought it fitting that we contemplate devotionally a section of one of the great creeds of the Church. While generally, we think of creeds as our confession of faith, they also proclaim to us the profundity of the Faith. So, tonight, instead of confessing it, hear and ponder this section of the Athanasian Creed which confesses the significance of God in a manger:
 
(Read vv. 27-37 on p. 320 in Lutheran Service Book)
“Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man of the substance of His mother, born in the world; Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood; Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ: One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking the manhood into God; One altogether; not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead; He ascended into heaven; He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty; from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”
 
While that creed bears the name of Athanasius, Athanasius most certainly did not write it. It is written some years later. But it confesses the doctrine he championed throughout his life. Athanasius was bishop of Alexandria in Egypt in the early fourth century during the Church’s greatest Christological controversy in which those who held to the Arian heresy denied the divinity of Jesus. 
 
Athanasius tirelessly defended the orthodox teaching on the divinity of Jesus. He was exiled by his enemies five times and almost murdered twice. Christmas—and the incarnation it celebrates—is of course, at the heart of the person and work of Jesus. So, Athanasius wrote voluminously on the incarnation. Here is a small piece from Athanasius on the incarnation:
 
“The Word perceived that corruption could not be got rid of otherwise than through death; yet He Himself, as the Word, being immortal and the Father’s Son, was such as could not die. For this reason, therefore, He assumed a body capable of death, in order that it, through belonging to the Word Who is above all, might become in dying a sufficient exchange for all, and, itself remaining incorruptible through His indwelling, might thereafter put an end to corruption for all others as well, by the grace of the resurrection. It was by surrendering to death the body which He had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from every stain, that He forthwith abolished death for His human brethren by the offering of the equivalent. For naturally, since the Word of God was above all, when He offered His own temple and bodily instrument as a substitute for the life of all, He fulfilled in death all that was required.
 
You know how it is when some great king enters a large city and dwells in one of its houses; because of his dwelling in that single house, the whole city is honoured, and enemies and robbers cease to molest it. Even so is it with the King of all; He has come into our country and dwelt in one body amidst the many, and in consequence the designs of the enemy against mankind have been foiled, and the corruption of death, which formerly held them in its power, has simply ceased to be. For the human race would have perished utterly had not the Lord and Saviour of all, the Son of God, come among us to put an end to death…
 
Some may then ask, why did He not manifest Himself by means of other and nobler parts of creation, and use some nobler instrument, such as sun or moon or stars or fire or air, instead of mere man? The answer is this: The Lord did not come to make a display. He came to heal and to teach suffering men. For one who wanted to make a display, the thing would have been just to appear and dazzle the beholders. But for Him Who came to heal and to teach the way was not merely to dwell here, but to put Himself at the disposal of those who needed Him, and to be manifested according as they could bear it…”        
—    from “On the Incarnation” by Athanasius of Alexandria (ca. 293-373)
 
In other words, God is in the manger so that He can die for you, and by dying, destroy death from the inside out. So sin and death no longer have dominion over you. And instead of the eternal death which you deserved, you have eternal life because you are forgiven for all your sins—all because God is a baby in a manger.
 
 

Doubt doubt [St. Thomas]

 READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Ephesians 2:19-22

• St. John 20:24-29

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 1)

 

Jesus speaks from Ephesians, saying:

“In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

 As the Advent season comes to a head, we begin to get excited. We have many things that the Church has given us to celebrate to intensify these feelings in Church. Such as today along with upcoming children’s programs of the Christmas story, reminding us of Who is coming. We are currently in the midst of the 7 days of the great O Antiphons prayed before the Magnificat at Vespers. And this evening, lowly St. Thomas knocks on the door.

 The greatest lesson that St. Thomas teaches us this Advent, is to doubt our senses and doubt our doubts, as we sang in our hymn this evening. Doubt your senses that only see commercialism and a manger. Doubt your doubts about what your church can do and who that child in a manger is.

 Doubt your doubts about whether or not this child, Whose essence none can touch,

is bound in swaddling clothes. Doubt your doubts about God Who, in the beginning, established the heavens, lies in a manger and whether or not He Who rained manna on His people in the wilderness is fed on milk from His mother’s breast.

 This is the Christ Who Himself builds you into a dwelling place for God. this dwelling place being none other than the true Temple, the Body of Christ. This is the King of the Nations, their desire and Cornerstone Who makes both, one. It is this King Who will bring our sad divisions to a final end, fulfilling His Word in Haggai 2:9, “This last Temple will be more beautiful than the first one, says the Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give peace”

 It is the King Who secures the wounded out of battle and into the peace of His Church. It is the King Who formed us all out of clay, yet saves us in that very clay.

The Lord speaks of this Desire of Nations in Haggai 2:4-8, “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts: 

According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.

For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.”

 And the King of Saints in Revelation 15:3, “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”

 This is about Jesus. This is crucifixion. The thorny crown loaded on the head of Christ is the cross and His marvellous work that shakes the cosmos is His suffering, death, and resurrection which St. Thomas preaches to us with his eyes and his fingers. 

 For the King of Desire, the King of Saints suffers. He is a King Who comes to serve, not be served. His kingship is that of securing salvation and peace for His people for eternity. He does not lead into a battle that has no end, but leads to an End already readied and waiting. 

 And He reigns over us. Yet again, not in the sense of earthly kings, though that is included. His reign is one of service, Divine Service. His reign is humility. Humility in the manger, humility on the cross. Humility in flesh that still bears those glorious scars!

 And He reigns over us. He takes in the sinner and the tax collector, the stranger and the alien and hands out amnesty, creating citizens and saints. Through His Body and Blood, on the foundation of Apostle and Prophet, our Cornerstone and Temple, baptizes us into Himself, such that we are grafted in and have no choice but to be found in His Temple still praising Him.

  Doubt your doubts. This earthly, dying place we call the Church is where St. Thomas led countless numbers of people to receive the Christ child in bread and wine. St. John Evangelical Lutheran is the revealed Church on earth where the O Antiphons lead trillions in prayer to repent of their sins and receive absolution.

 Doubt your senses. This water; these words; this bread and wine are not just presented here in their simple forms, but are offered with the Word of God to give exactly what they promise: salvation, faith, and forgiveness.

 This is where Jesus is reigning over you and everyone else, have no doubt about that, for it is only in His Church where the forgiveness of sins is handed out for free to all who believe and are baptized. The King of all nations rules the House of God and unbars the gate of heaven, locked by sin and death, unlocked by nail and spear, thorn and scourge which Jesus presents to you in Bread and Wine.

 

 

Bethany [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. (2 Cor 1)

 

Jesus speaks to us today, through His Gospel and says,

“These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”

 

As is ever the case, we find the people of God causing trouble and affliction wherever they go, similar to the Gospel we heard. For it is at the place of John’s baptism that many centuries beforehand, Israel crossed that same river, led by Joshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus btw), to oust the people populating Israel at that time, causing them no end of grief.

 

There is ever action, both Good and Bad, wherever the Lord is. It is peace in the world that you should be afraid of, not affliction in the Lord’s House. It is not because the Lord cannot handle His house properly that there is affliction, it is because He must carry out His work of salvation while being burdened with all of us. 

 

This is why Bethany means “house of affliction” and this is why John is proclaiming the Messiah and baptizing there. Because Jesus will come to be baptized at this afflicted spot and in doing so, will remove all affliction in His righteousness.

 

It is right that we more and more imitate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Not just in love and peace, but in affliction. For He Whom we are commanded to conform to is He Who is wounded, He Who is afflicted, He Who suffers. When these things approach us in our lives, we count it as all honor and blessing and glory to be like our Master in all ways, not just the nice ones.

 

It is in this way, that the House of Affliction has been passed down to us. At least, we whine about it in that way. We find this affliction most prominently in the place we call “church”. Orthodoxy, is the word I’m going to use. Orthodoxy, remaining on the straight and narrow path, is what is practiced here and because it doesn’t change, it gets old to you.

 

With this reasoning, everything gets old. How you eat doesn’t change. How you dress doesn’t change. How you interact with the world, sight, smell, hear, touch, taste, doesn’t change. Your entire life is boring, a chore, a house of affliction.

 

In this sin, you drag these thoughts and feelings into your worship and prayers, longing for change and excitement, but realizing it is only your own feelings of staleness that you have brought yourself. 

 

Yes, herein lies the true problems you face. You may change preferences, or tastes, or locations, but you bring your demons with you. Your demons that scream and kick at anything that smells of God and yet will constantly lead you around from one fad to the next, draining you and demanding everything from you.

 

Repent. You believe that if you put in the effort and invest in something that you will get out of it exactly what you put in, earning that reward. But that is not how sin works. What you put into it does not come back. Anything that goes into that house of affliction, does not return. 

 

It is this point that God provides you with a demarcation. John the Baptist stands at the border between the wilderness and the Promised Land. The wilderness that takes everything from its inhabitants until their death and the Promised Land which promises every good until its inhabitants live forever.

 

So if you are in a place that demands emotions from you and does not satisfy until you have given your all, you are not in Church. But if you find yourself in a place where God is serving, regardless of your emotional state or energy level, then you just may be in Church.

 

Is John the Baptist unworthy of untying God’s sandal? Are you? In the hopes of finding your own affliction to appease God, you may dare to say so, but that’s the wrong question. The right question is, “Why has God come to untie my sandal?” 

 

Once again, our sin turns us in on ourselves and we miss Christ completely. Our eyes are down on our own feet, but Jesus is lifted up on the cross. Our soul is downcast, but Jesus has risen from the dead. Our humility is manufactured, but God’s humiliation saves us all. In humbling Himself to the point of needing sandals, to the point of death, even death on a cross, Jesus afflicts sin for us.

 

Dear Christians, your God is not a tame God. He does not dress in the soft clothing of king’s houses, pandering to preferences while His people sit in sackcloth. He goes with them saying, “Lo I am with you always” and proves it by wrapping Himself in sackcloth and ashes: swaddling clothes and human flesh.

 

The Lord is not a reed shaken by the wind neither does He hide Himself when the tempest overtakes His people. Though “terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind…distress and anguish come upon you” (Pro 1:27), know that Nahum 1:3 says, “His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”

 

Therefore, Isaiah 28:2, “Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, he casts down to the earth with his hand.” Jesus being made man.

 

All these struggles and afflictions do happen in the world around us, but the Bible is clear. These events happen where the Lord goes. Deuteronomy 7:21, “..the LORD thy God [is] among you, a mighty God and terrible.”

 

And notice Psalm 68:35, “O God, [thou art] terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel [is] he that giveth strength and power unto [his] people. Blessed [be] God.”

 

Life is hard, but Jesus does not refuse the hardest couch. His Way is the obstacle. That obstacle being sin, death, and the devil plaguing His creation to death. That obstacle being our inability to face and meet those obstacles.

 

And where He is, is among us, Immanuel. Where He is, is in death and resurrection. Where He is is where He has trod and where He promises to be today in Word and Sacrament. He stares down nail and spear which pierce Him through. He does not flinch in the face of affliction, for you.

 

Yes, dear child of God. The Lord is terrible, but His terribleness is filtered through His Son. He is our sun and shield by which we may approach God and not be in fear of our lives. Because He only speaks to us through His Son, through His pastor, in Word and Sacrament.

 

The fiery wrath that burns all sin and corruption to oblivion is quenched in the waters of baptism. For Jesus is the one Who has come, baptizing with water and Spirit to life everlasting. He is the Christ Who speaks Himself, not through His prophet’s lips only. He is Elijah’s master and creator Who comes to untie your sandal of sin.

 

All this He does without any merit or worthiness in you, in His House. Yes, we may call it a house of affliction, for it is full of sinners. But in Christ, it is also Bethlehem, the House of Bread. The House of the Promised Land.

 

For it is here, in the wilderness beyond the Jordan which we call the USA, that Christ has built His House of Promise. This House is His own Body and Blood, built by Himself which not even death or the gates of hell can roll over. It is this House of Christ that we are baptized into, yes facing affliction because of our remaining sin, but receiving more than a thousand mercies because of His sacrifice.

 

 

Historic Faith [Advent 3]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 40:1-8

• 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

• St. Matthew 11:2-10

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 1)
 
Jesus speaks to us today, through His Gospel and says,

“And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:”

 
What is going on in our Gospel reading for today? A game of telephone with disciples running hither and thither, getting their lines crossed? No. What you are witnessing in today’s Gospel reading is Historic Faith in action: how it is given and how it is passed down.
 
Jesus tells the Apostles that in following Him, He will make them “fishers of men”. That has so confounded pastors and laymen alike, through the centuries, that we simply take it as a metaphor. Ok, we know what fishing is, but fishing for people with hook and bobber is kind of a strange picture. 
 
But sending out a message and capturing men’s hearts, that is easier to understand. That is what Jesus was doing, anyway, not using hook, line, and sinker. Jesus was preaching and teaching. Changing minds. Spreading ideas and justice. Peace and love. That is why so many followed Him.
 
That is why everyone still follows Him today…or not.
 
Because they don’t. Justice, peace, and love are ideas anyone can have. You don’t need to be Jesus to spread those thoughts and you don’t need to believe in Jesus to champion those ideas either. Jesus says, “Blessed is the man who is not offended by me” not “blessed is the man who is not offended by my ideas”.
 
Couple that with the fact that St. John does not make it out of prison alive, and you have a recipe for something bigger going on than what we first suppose.
 
And there has to be something bigger, because this world has gone mad with hubris. It is all the rage to dismantle history, tear down statues, and rewrite how we are to speak and live our lives. 
 
Repent. You are no better. You also wish to rewrite others’ lives, yet because they’re your ideas you call them “good”. You declare yourself the island of all that is good and right and demand that others think and do as you think and do. You even dare to use God’s holy Word in your quest and throw the book at others, as God’s one, true representative on earth.
 
But this is not what “fishers of men” means. Coercion and tricks have no part to play. There is no hook, line, sinker or any other fishing metaphor that smacks of lies and deceit. There is only the Truth and that Truth comes to us through history, bodily.
 
See what is happening in our Gospel. Jesus is not simply making decrees and giving out some sort of fantasy-like knowledge and insight through dreams or golden plates. He is using Creation. He is using what He has already made because it is good enough. He is using the thoughts and words of men to do His Will on earth as it is in heaven.
 
Though these disciples, who are going back and forth between Jesus and St. John, look like simple go-fers, they are performing a divine task: that of handing over the tradition of God’s Word. This is the “line [that] has gone out to all the earth”, from Psalm 19:4. 
 
The Psalm continues: “Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world.” Romans 10 quotes this Word saying, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: ‘Their line has gone out…’” (v. 17-18).
 
So Faith comes by hearing this “line”, this Word from God. This line, our Lord has attached to the man who is more than a prophet in today’s Gospel, who is the messenger before the Lord’s face and your face. As a loose string on a sweater, if you pull on this line, you find it is attached to something else. 
 
Going down the line, you find Malachi pop up, among the other Minor Prophets. Pull some more and you get to Isaiah and the Major Prophets. Keep on going through these men, and you will eventually find your way to Adam and then to the Lord.
 
The funny part is, if you go back to St. John the Baptist and go past him, you also find the Lord. Keep going that direction and you go through all 12 Apostles and each pastor they ordained, and each pastor those ordained, ordained, and so on and so on. Up until you get to little ole me.
 
And that is the belief behind Ordination and Apostolic Succession. That in God’s man, we find an unbroken line in His Church that reaches through history, with its beginning and ending in the Lord. In order that He might speak to us and all generations.
 
The Book of Concord puts it this way:
1] If the bishops would be true bishops [would rightly discharge their office], and would devote themselves to the Church and the Gospel, it might be granted to them for the sake of love and unity, but not from necessity, to ordain and confirm us and our preachers; omitting, however, all comedies and spectacular display [deceptions, absurdities, and appearances] of unchristian [heathenish] parade and pomp. 2] But because they neither are, nor wish to be, true bishops, but worldly lords and princes, who will neither preach, nor teach, nor baptize, nor administer the Lord’s Supper, nor perform any work or office of the Church, and, moreover, persecute and condemn those who discharge these functions, having been called to do so, the Church ought not on their account to remain without ministers.
3] Therefore, as the ancient examples of the Church and the Fathers teach us, we ourselves will and ought to ordain suitable persons to this office; and, even according to their own laws, they have not the right to forbid or prevent us. For their laws say that those ordained even by heretics should be declared [truly] ordained and stay ordained [and that such ordination must not be changed], as St. Jerome writes of the Church at Alexandria, that at first it was governed in common by priests and preachers, without bishops. (Smalcald III:X:1-3)
 
Long story short: the Church Calls and Ordains pastors to speak God’s Word. In Acts 13 we hear, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off” (v. 2-3)
 
And also Acts 6 where the Apostles specifically call for the ordaining of men other than themselves to work as they work. “And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty…These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them” (v. 2-3, 6).
 
And St. Paul teaches in Titus 1:5, “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.”
 
Jesus, our Example, is sent by His Father and He also ordains. In Luke 24, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you” (v. 46-49).
 
He is sent by His Father and your Father to cleanse the world of sin. He opens the eyes of the blind to see their sin and see their Savior. He heals the lame that they might follow Him to where His Gospel is preached in its purity. He purifies the diseased of their death, opens the ears of the sin-filled, and raises the dead from the grasp of the devil.
 
John the Baptist and his disciples call on this “line”, this Gospel of the God Who is made man, Who speaks to His creation face to face, and Who serves them with the powerful words of salvation, allowing them to speak it and do His will of redeeming sinful man.
 
This is the laying on of hands, we heard of in Acts 13. In the case of today’s Gospel, John the Baptist laid on hands, ordained his disciples to speak his message, which is God’s message of repentance and the coming Messiah.
 
He then sends his disciples to Jesus, not to simply confirm His Messiah status, but to receive from Jesus true Ordination, true authority to preach the Gospel and Administer His sacraments. John sends them to Jesus, and Jesus then authorizes them to go back to John and preach the pure Gospel.
 
The Gospel that the Messiah has come and He has come with great power and might. Not to kill, but to make alive. To preach that the war is over and iniquity has been pardoned. That the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world has been sacrificed and peace with God once more is made. 
 
Such that, His Word, that Almighty power that creates all things and sustains all things, might be placed into the hearts and mouths of men in order that they be made more like Him and that they gather more for Him, just as He gathers all men to Himself, having been lifted up upon the cross.
 
So it is that God Himself calls men to the ministry and qualifies them with His gifts (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11). The Church recognizes God’s clear leading by His Word and embraces it. With prayer and fasting, the Church lays hands on these men, through Her pastors, to prove their commission (cf. Acts 6:6; 1 Timothy 5:22). 
 
Ultimately showing that God works through His Church, gives such wonderful gifts to men, and through both the Church and the Spirit, utilizes that “fishing line” to capture men alive in order to receive the Kingdom.
 
For there is not just a “now” to our faith. There is a now, there is a then, and there is a will be. There is a long line, a great cloud of witnesses, that now we see increased with each Baptism, with each “yes, yes it shall be so”, and with each “amen”. 
 
This is because the mystery of faith is that the Word, the Line, has been made flesh and must be handed over to the gentiles, suffer, die, and rise again. And this Line must then be handed down to all generations through pastors, by His Word and Sacrament.
 
 

Historic Comfort [Advent 2]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Malachi 4:1-6

• Romans 15:4-13

• St. Luke 21:25-36

 

"Son, remember you received Good things" (St. Luke 16:25)

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 1)
 
Jesus speaks to us today, through His Gospel and says,

“So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”

 
We began last week, to learn a little bit about the importance of learning history so that we are not fooled by the tyrant of the day. But there is a softer side to history that is often overlooked because it is the humble side. It is the side of history that is like walking into your own house, with your own family, with all of your favorite things laid out just waiting for your return.
 
One of the ways this comfort comes out is in language. One example would be the use of “thee” “thy” and “thou”. Or I should say, disuse. Though our new hymnal leaves traces of them here and there, with a “Holy Ghost” thrown in now and then, we have changed our language.
 
But there is some part of us that keeps those memories alive. Sunday after Sunday of singing and chanting and reciting our Lord’s Word does something to a person. But we shouldn’t be surprised. God’s Word is just doing what God’s Word does: changing you.
 
The story goes this way: there was an older lady who was sick and there was a new pastor at the church. She and the old pastor did not get along, so she ended up away for awhile. The new pastor forgave her sins and she found her way back to the Divine Service.
 
During the Confession of Sins and the Creed, however, she would not speak like the rest. It was then that her “Thee”s and “Thou”s came out and she spoke them loudly and did not change. Why? Because those were the words given to her by her Church, Her Lord’s Bride, given to her by her Pastor. Those were the words she came into Service with like a well worn shoe.
 
Repent! We fall off both sides of the horse in this one. First we take our words too seriously and end up making idols of them, refusing to say things differently or even refusing to use a different language, saying things like, “that's not how God wants it”. Second, we take our words not seriously enough, constantly compromising and whittling down what words we say which changes our doctrine.
 
“see, I have told you all things beforehand” (Mk 13:23). 
Dear Christians, this is the point of the gift of tongues and prophesy. Not that you get to be popular because you can predict things, speak in whatever language, and get lots of money, but so that you can hear the Word of God and repeat it back to Him (which is His favorite) from your heart.
 
As we hear in Exodus 4:12, “Now then go, and I Myself will be with your mouth, and instruct you in what you are to say.”
and 
St. Luke 12:12, “For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.”
 
Language is only the half of it. What you see, what you hear, what position your body is in, and what you taste all contribute to the development of comfort in God’s Church. Yes, Jesus gives comfort for when we need it. He also gives us comfort when we don’t need it. Rather, He gives whether we like it or not. 
 
It all comes from remembering, as Jesus says in St. John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
 
What is it we remember? Yes, we remember “the law of my Servant Moses” as our Old Testament told us today. We remember Elijah, his story, and that the Lord will send him to us before the great and awesome day of the Lord. Of whom Jesus then tells us is John the Baptist.
 
We remember Jesus’s birth, His life, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. 
 
Well, no. We don’t remember any of that. We weren’t there for any of those events and we don’t pull memories out of thin air, much less any teaching or learning that we need. We only remember what we’ve been taught. Christians should be taught.
 
Remember your Epistle reading: “whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom 15:4). You are what you repeatedly do, Aristotle said. 
 
And it just so happens that God’s Word and God’s Church are filled with repetition. It just so happens that every time we turn to St. Luke 21, we hear of the return of our Lord and the fig tree. Every time we turn to Luke 2 we hear Linus in our heads and “Behold I bring glad tidings of great joy”.
 
Every time we turn our hearts to God we hear “We should fear and love God so that…”, and “this is most certainly true”. And “even without our prayers” and “A mighty fortress is our…” and on and on it goes. That which we remember from the Lord has been uploaded into our brains by those who teach.
 
But not just our brains, our hearts as well. Such that when we walk into a church, or any other place in our lives, and hear those familiar words and phrases and hymns, we say oh yes I am in the right place. Contrarywise, when we don’t, we turn and walk out.
 
Word, Hymn, and Liturgy is what our Savior has told us beforehand. Yes, we know about the bad stuff He predicted. Everybody loves the bad stuff. They are addicted to the bad stuff, to fear. But on the comforting side of remembrance and history is the strength we have prayed for to stand before the Son of Man. Especially when He sits down to serve His Supper to us.
 
What we repeatedly do is read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest all that Christ has handed down to us. “Heaven and earth will pass away”, He says, “but My words will by no means pass away” (Lk 21:33) so we remember those words and teach it to the next generation.
 
For the Lord does not change His language any more than the sun changes its course. We hear the Confession, the Creed, the Gospel, and the bells and the hymn “For all the saints” comes to remembrance, where we sing, “…steals on the ear the distant triumph song and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong” (LSB 677).
 
The Christian does not need to wait for comfort. Her Lord brings comfort with Him as sure as the fig tree comes out in leaf. Purchased and won, our comfort is found in Christ, Who laid down His life, once for all, that Peace, comfort and joy, comfort and joy, be found every single time we look for it.