Text: Luke 2:1-20

The Promised Savior Comes

            Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.  The text for the sermon comes from the Gospel which was read earlier.

            A roaming reporter stopped six people on the sidewalks of New York City and asked, “What is the most important happening in history?”  Five replies from two men and three women were as varied as might be expected.  “The settlement of Jamestown by the Englishmen.”  “The defeat of the Saracens at Tours.”  “The splitting of the atom.”  “The defeat of the Japanese.”  “The invention of the wheel.”  The sixth answer came from a fourteen-year-old school boy, “The birth of Jesus Christ.”  If we have the insight of the fourteen-year-old schoolboy as well as his wisdom, we will know at this moment that we find ourselves celebrating an event that has been called the greatest in human history since the creation of the world.  It is a holy day as well as a holiday.  It is Christmas!

            A number of weeks ago, Pastor Firminhac and I took the confirmation classes to see The Nativity Story.  In the movie, there was a man who was proclaiming the prophecies of the Old Testament, that one day, there would be the arrival of a King, the coming Messiah, who would save the world.  Joseph and the pregnant Mary were walking the streets on their way to Bethlehem for the census and heard this man’s cries of the promised Messiah.  Meanwhile, somewhere in the East, the three wise men embarked on their journey to find the coming Messiah in Bethlehem.  They were learned men who had studied the prophecies of the Old Testament to better understand the Messiah that was promised of old.  They had found the signs pointing them to the Baby in the manger.  The world of the first Christmas was ready for the great birth.

            Some 2000 years later, Christmas is come for us.  But are we ready?  It’s hard to be ready for Christmas when you still have presents to buy, cards to send out, and parties to attend.  That is the whole reason for Christmas, isn’t it?  That is what the world wants you to think. 

            Just this past week, as I was watching Monday Night Football, they showed downtown Indianapolis, namely the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.  Every year, they string upwards of fifty strands of lights to make it resemble a Christmas tree.  But one of the announcers, when referencing it, called it a “holiday” tree.  Several years ago, Wal-Mart got in trouble for telling people “Merry Christmas” as they left the store.  They had to change it to “Happy Holidays” for fear of getting sued by non-Christians.  More and more, we have taken Christ out of Christmas.  But when looking at our Gospel reading, there are no cards, no parties to attend.  There is only the story of a man and his betrothed wife who is pregnant, on their way to Bethlehem to register for the census.

            As the shepherds are minding their own business, they get a special visitor, one who delivers a wonderful message which they had been waiting for and expecting, if they didn’t know it: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” 

            This is the message which the people of Israel had been waiting for.  This is the message that we have been waiting for.  From the moment that Adam and Eve were displaced from the Garden of Eden, a promise of a Savior was given to them: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  The book of Isaiah is filled with prophecies of the coming of Christ.  “He was despised and rejected by men…Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”

            This is truly what Christmas is all about.  The birth of Jesus gave to us “an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”  We now have a way to be forgiven of the sins which we cause.  We now have life everlasting.  We are once again made sons and daughters of God, the Father. 

            At Bethlehem, the best we could ever know became real.  There the great event in history occurred that has changed the face of all of life: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  God has spoken through the prophets stating that salvation was to rest on nothing less than God revealed in human form.  This was the one thing that all men could understand. 

            Unfortunately, this is the one thing that we seem to have forgotten.  The focus goes from the child born in the manger to Christmas cards, parties and gift-giving and receiving.  Jesus has been put on the back-burner, if we even remember Him at all.  The saying that “Jesus is the reason for the season” is true only in so far as it is because of Jesus that we do all the things we do during the month of December.  We all know that Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birth, but we do not always keep in mind the meaning of the event.  It was not just the birth of another child.  It was God becoming enfleshed in Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary.

            Following the messenger’s announcement of the great and mighty wonder, suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!”  Now heaven and nature may sing Gloria in Excelsis!  Now angels and archangels and all the company of heaven may laud and magnify His glorious Name, evermore praising Him and singing and confessing and teaching and believing that this Baby is the King of king, the Lord of lords, the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of the lost, and the Word who has become flesh and dwelt among us.  By the gracious working of the Holy Spirit through this Word, you and I may believe that this Jesus in an animal’s feeding trough is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may have life in His Name.

            Let our focus be on what Christmas is all about.  It is not about the commercialization that we have made it to be.  It is not about the gifts and the parties and the like.  It is about a baby who was born.  This baby grew up in stature of a man.  This man willingly gave His life so that you and I should not die, but have everlasting life.  As the hymn says, “Christ, the Savior is born!”  Let us rejoice in the Gift of all gifts which have been given to us, Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us, amen.

            Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.  Amen.

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Text: Luke 3:1-14 (15-20)

Make Ready the Way of the Lord

            Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.  The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Gospel which was read earlier.

            The world gets ready for this season on one level, Christians on another.  The world gets ready for just one great big blockbuster of a day on Christmas, kind of an annual consumer feeding frenzy, indulging itself in stuff and more stuff.  Then when it’s over, it’s over.  All that is left of Christmas on December 26 is a big pile of wrapping paper and trips to the store for after-Christmas sales and returns.

            Fortunately for us, that is not the way it is in the Church.  For us, when Christmas comes, it stays.  It lingers on through Epiphany, and all the way through Lent.  We continue to ponder the great glad news that God has become man to redeem all humankind out from under the iron grip of death and hell.  And we will sing our Christmas praises well into January and beyond.  We make Christmas last.

            But Christmas hasn’t begun yet; we’re still in Advent.  We’re still getting ready.  Yet our readiness is much more than just sending cards and decorating our homes and having parties.  It is a readiness of the heart that God desires at His coming.

            In our Gospel reading for today, we hear about John the Baptist.  John was a herald.  He announced what God told him to preach.  John preached both the Law as well as the Gospel.  He proclaimed “a baptism of repentance.”  John’s baptism was characterized by repentance.  To repent means to change one’s mind.  It involves a turning away from sin and a turning toward that which cleanses from sin.  It is a complete about face.  A man who repents is one who has changed his mind about sin.  He no longer finds pleasure in it, but realizes it is a cause of eternal damnation.  He has also changed his mind about salvation.  He no longer thinks that he will get to heaven by being good.  When we speak of “repentance” in this sense, we include a turning to faith in the Messiah, God’s promised Savior from sin.  Thus John preached the Law, which shows us our sin, and the Gospel, which points the sinner to his only Savior.

            The point of John’s message is not a message of himself, but of Christ.  Advent means “coming.”  Advent is a time where we focus on the coming of Christ.  That is why the words of the prophet Isaiah are so important: “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”  Even our Collect for today speaks of the coming: “Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son.”  Just as a messenger was sent ahead of a king or ruler to get people to repair the road on which he was to travel, so John was sent out ahead of God’s Son to prepare for Christ’s coming.

            Here we are on this road to Bethlehem, to make ready the way of the Lord.  John the Baptist has gone before to make ready the way of the Lord.  What is it that John is making ready?  Is it people?  Is it a place?  Is it a thing?  The answer is all of the above.

            First, John “went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  He preached this to anyone and everyone.  He didn’t tell this to just Jew or Gentile, Christian or non-Christian.  This was a message that everyone needed to hear and John was fulfilling the words of Isaiah as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.”  He went in and laid it all on the line to all who heard him: “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.  Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”  The sad truth is that more often than not, you and I don’t produce the good fruit our Lord expects.  We simply don’t love God with all our heart and soul and strength, much less love our neighbor as ourselves.  Despite our best efforts, there are those we have hurt and those we have failed to help.  Our thoughts and desires are soiled with sin.  There is nothing good within us, in our sinful nature.

            That is where preparing the way of the Lord begins.  Through the Law, we hear about our sinful nature and what that means for us.  It means death and damnation.  It means eternal separation from God.  But the message that John is preaching about is the sweet sound of the Gospel which we need to hear; that there is One who is coming to save us from our sins.  There is One who is coming to give us everlasting life.  There is One coming who is forever bridging the gap between God and man, One who will trade His life so that we can have life.  It is in John’s message of the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ Jesus that we are lifted up and comforted.

            John’s warning was indeed sharp.  When the message of love and grace fails to touch the heart, then the Law’s message of judgment upon sin must be proclaimed.  The purpose of this message is to strike fear in man’s conscience, so that he might stop and realize his lost condition without Christ.  Through the power of the Gospel alone, the Holy Spirit works true faith.  This Gospel turns the sinner to his only Savior through whom he can escape God’s just punishment.  Among his hearers John’s message found those who were troubled in their consciences.

            That is the message of our text today.  Our sin has separated us from God.  We don’t want to hear that.  We don’t like to hear that.  Those whom John was preaching to had an answer to his preaching: “We have Abraham as our father.”  What they failed to realize was that by being a descendant of Abraham did not bring about salvation.  Staking a claim to Abraham did not make anyone less a sinner.  If that were true, then we all would be saved because we all claim to have Abraham as our father.  But where did Abraham come from?  He came from the lineage of Adam and Eve, our first parents and the first sinners.  One can claim Abraham as their father, but ultimately we must claim Adam and Eve as our first parents. 

            The reason why the season of Advent is so important is because it shows us the need of a Savior.  Hearing John’s message can cause great fear in us, knowing that we might be a tree that does not bear good fruit.  Those to whom John is preaching to begin to ask the simple question, “What should we do then?”  John gave simple, straightforward answers.  He told them what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. 

            The message of John seemed very much like the coming message of Christ, the message foretold in prophecies of old.  It was only logical for them to ask if John was the Christ.  John preached with such great power that many people thought that he might be “the Christ,” the promised Messiah.  John answered all such questions concerning himself by making a public announcement.  He points to “one more powerful” than himself, who will soon come.  That One is the Messiah Himself.  John declares that he is not fit even to untie the strings which hold the Messiah’s sandals on His feet.  In other words John was not fit to perform the duty of the lowest slave before this great One.

            So let us ask the great Lutheran question: What does this mean?  It means that John the Baptist is not the Christ, but only the forerunner of Christ, the one who is to preach about His coming and prepare the way of the Lord.  Let this holy Advent season be your comfort and your joy as deep within takes root the reality that Christ has actually come in the flesh and will come again at the end of time.  But He comes this very day in His Word and Sacrament to make you new and whole and free; a new person, made clean by the blood of the Lamb, who has freed you from your sin by His death and resurrection.  So prepare the way for His coming.  Let this be your constant Advent prayer: “Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of your only-begotten Son.”  In the name of Jesus, amen.

            Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.  Amen.

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Text: Mark 13:32-37

When Christ Returns

            Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.  The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Gospel, which was read earlier.

            The Last Sundays of the Church Year anticipate Christ’s soon return.  While presently suffering tribulation and temptations, the Church prays in godly fear to be kept in faith until that day.  The Last Sunday in the Church Year, the Sunday of the Fulfillment, calls pilgrims traveling through this vale of tears to remain faithful until the day of our salvation.  Today, throughout the whole Christian Church on earth, believers are contemplating the return of Jesus Christ.  Today, the Church looks toward the future – to the consummation of the age.  On this Sunday, the Christian Church talks about preparation – about being ready for the return of Jesus.

            The Lord will return, and we want to know when.  Bookstores are filled with paperbacks interpreting biblical signs through current events, trying to determine when Jesus will return.  Don’t waste your money buying predictions about the Last Day.  This will only lead you astray, since Jesus promised that you will not know when He returns until He returns.

            God’s Word talks much about being ready for the return of Christ. Jesus took the time to prepare his followers.  The Lord provided them with details about what conditions would be like when He returned.  He talked to them about the signs of the end of the age.  And Jesus warned them about the challenges that believers would face as the end of the age approached.

            For your faith’s sake, He warned you of things to come, even things now here, because you will be tempted to drift from faith, to fall away in persecution, to doubt God’s love when suffering, and to doubt when He will return.  Therefore, don’t stumble on these things that you fear, the speculations of the end that are so uncertain, or the troubles of today that seem so threatening, but WATCH FOR THE END BY RECEIVING CHRIST’S PROMISES TODAY.

            It is pointless to try to predict or determine when Christ will come again.  Even Christ Himself tells us that is pointless: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be on guard!  Be alert!  You do not know when that time will come.”  The only thing that we need to focus on is not the when, but that He will come again, just as he promised. 

            The parable that Jesus tells to His disciples is one that is very appropriate for the Last Sunday in the Church Year: an owner of a house who goes away, leaving his servants in charge, each with their assigned tasks.  The doorkeeper’s task is simple: watch to alert everyone that the man of the house has returned.

            As end another Church Year and begin a new Church Year, it is a year of watchfulness.  We watch for the return of Christ.  The reason for this watchful attitude is given.  The specific time, the end time that Jesus has been talking about in this entire chapter relating to His second coming, is unknown.  The uncertainty connected with this lack of knowledge is no reason for carelessness or indifference.  The very opposite is true.  Uncertainty calls for increased watchfulness, as Jesus illustrates in the parable.

            The man who has gone away is no other than Jesus Christ.  Christ left this world in His ascension, just as He said He would.  But He also said that He would return again.  In our Gospel text for last week, Jesus told His disciples that “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”  Christ Jesus, who once came to save all humanity, who comes to us even now in Word and sacrament, is most certainly coming again.  We do not know when that will be.  It could be at anytime.  The sinful world, which goes on its outwardly merry but purposeless way, is totally oblivious to this fact.  In making predictions and the like of when Christ will return, we try to set a date to which Christ Himself could not determine.  The Scriptures are abundantly clear that only God knows when that is to be.  Not even Jesus, in His humanity, claimed to have that knowledge.  And yet many have attempted to set a date and to lead others into believing and accepting their view.

            All of us are destined to stand before Christ.  It might be one second after this [snap fingers here].  It may happen before Christ returns as we come to the end of our life.  But make no mistake, Christ will return to put an end to all things as we know them and to fulfill the promises made by God in Scripture.
            Well again, what is Jesus’ advice?  Simple, be ready!  Be alert.  Know that Jesus is returning and live in His forgiveness and grace.  Know that the cross was about making us ready to stand before Jesus.  Know that God draws close to keep our hearts ready for that great and awesome day that is coming.  Know that God has more at stake in us being ready for the end of time than we have.  He sacrificed His one and only Son on the Cross to make us ready!

            Jesus tells us to be ready because one day He will return.  This time He will not be the humble Savior who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, only to be killed on a cross. He came then to be our Savior, to give up His life on the Cross.  When Jesus returns next, He will come to judge.  He will come to destroy the present world and to establish the eternal Kingdom where all believers are to live for eternity.  You have a place in that Kingdom as God washes you clean through the forgiveness that Jesus won on the Cross. And if you are a believer, and if when Christ returns you are having a weak moment, it is that same forgiveness that Jesus won on the Cross – once for all believers for all time – that assures you that Jesus will usher you into the Kingdom.

            As this Church Year ends and we look to the coming of a new Church Year, we watch expectantly.  We keep watch because we do not know when Jesus will come back.  Regardless of His return, we do not want Him to find us sleeping.  We stay awake and watch vigilantly by coming to church so we hear the Word of God and receive the gifts which He has given to us in His sacraments.  We watch by attending Bible study where we learn more of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. 

            When we understand the situation that confronted the 12 disciples at this moment, we can appreciate the Lord’s personal concern that they be especially alert.  In short order the Lord was to be anointed by Mary of Bethany for His death and burial; He was to institute His Holy Supper; He was to be arrested, tried, condemned, crucified, and buried; He was to rise triumphantly on the third day; He was to commission His disciples to preach the good news to all creation; He was to ascend into heaven.  Each event fit into the master plan for the salvation of the world, and all was to take place in the light of His second coming, when all the pieces would finally fit together for all eternity! 

            We look to the words of Jude in our Epistle reading for today: “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”  It is in that faith, that we can look to Christ’s return with joy.  It is in that faith that we can look to that return of Christ as a great reunion with all who have gone on ahead into the eternal Kingdom.  It is in that faith that we can look to the return of Christ as our deliverance from this world.

            As we look to the future, let us hear and follow the words of Jesus: “Watch!”  Amen.

            Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.  Amen.

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Text: Philippians 4:6-20

Be Thankful

            Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The text for our sermon this evening is the Epistle which was just read.

            Tonight is Thanksgiving Eve.  In approximately 12 hours or less, Tom Turkey will be making his entry to the oven.  The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year.  Everyone will be out at the wee hours of the morning trying to get the best deal on all the items on their Christmas list.  But what does all of that have to do with our text for this evening?  Absolutely nothing!  In Paul’s day, they didn’t have Thanksgiving as we have it.  But he does write something to the church at Philippi that could be seen as his way of giving thanks.

            Paul had a special bond with the congregation in Philippi.  His letter to them is filled with joy.  Paul had not written because there were major problems in the congregation.  Rather, he wrote to encourage them in their faith—not to be discouraged by his chains, to show Christ’s humility to one another, to receive Epaphroditus back with honor, to place no confidence in their own works but to cling to the Savior and His gift of eternal life. 

            Two verses earlier in verse four, Paul gives us these words.  Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!  At the seminary, there is a beloved professor who teaches New Testament classes.  When he gets to Philippians 4, he tells us that we need to continually rejoice in the Lord, and if we don’t, we should pack our bags and leave the seminary.  After that class, he would always walk into the classroom and before he could remove his coat and hat, he would ask us if we were rejoicing in the Lord.  Our answer would always be yes, but were we really rejoicing in the Lord?  Do you always rejoice in the Lord?  Do you give thanks when your car dies in the middle of the road or when your power goes out in a storm?  Of course not!  And why is that?  It’s because of our sinful nature.  The “Old Adam” in us keeps popping up and causing us to be human, to be sinful.  Our sin keeps us from rejoicing in the Lord, regardless of what it is that we have or do not have.  But through Christ, we can be thankful and we can rejoice in the Lord.  

            The advice he gives to the Philippians then is just as valid to us.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Christians are never to worry about a single thing.  Unless we can constantly get rid of our worries before they worry us, joy would cease, and that noble, gracious yieldingness would disappear.  We are to pray and not to shrink from petitioning and to let the actual things asked for be always made known to God.  Then no worry will ever be able to arise.  In what better hands can any trouble of ours rest than in God’s hands?

            It is hard to be anxious when you’re thanking God.  If we review all of the blessings which God has already given us, both physical and spiritual, the evidence is overwhelming that our God loves us and is able to care for us.  Even the poorest believer has riches in heaven because of our Savior, forgiveness of sins won for us by Jesus Christ on the cross for all of mankind.  The grace of free forgiveness is enough proof that our future is in good hands?  So why worry?

            Ultimately, God’s forgiveness is what drives away our worry by giving us peace.  Is it a wonder why when the sermon is over, you almost always hear Paul’s words: “And now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  They are words of assurance for us that God has given us His peace and that by that peace, we have received the free gift of God through His Son, Jesus Christ: forgiveness. 

            Where does true peace come from?  Does it come from us?  Our military?  We cannot produce peace with God or peace with ourselves.  True peace is God’s work and God’s gift to us.  With hands and hearts and minds centered on what is excellent and praiseworthy, all done by the power of the Spirit living in us, the God of peace will be with us, filling us with peace.

            In looking at this text, verses 11-13 stick out as a prime example of what we should be saying, regardless of the circumstances. 

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

            Did you hear what Paul just said?  Paul is saying he is lacking something, but that’s ok because he can live with that.  He’s been in need and he’s had it all.  Regardless of the situation, Paul is content with what he has.  The same goes for us today.  We’re content because we have a loving Savior who promises to take care of all our needs, not because we’re helpless to change our situation.

            A popular song from several years ago has a line in it that says, “it’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you got.”  How true is that!  I’ll give you an example.  At the seminary, the food wasn’t the greatest but it wasn’t the worst.  There was always something to eat.  You may not like what is served, but at least there was food.  What about the person who will be sitting at the Salvation Army tomorrow trying to warm themself up while eating some turkey that someone donated?  Do you think that person will complain because they got dark meat instead of light meat or that they ran out of gravy for the mashed potatoes?  They will be happy that they have something to eat.

            We’re not always happy that we’re in the situations that we’re in or liking the idea of eating Easy-Mac several nights a week until the next paycheck comes but we make due.  And why do we make due?  I can do all things through him who gives me strength.  You see, God never gives us anything that we cannot handle.  He will bring us right up to that line and push us to our limit, but will never push us over that line.  Paul has learned and has taught us that whether he has more than he needs or goes hungry, his God will care for him by giving him strength to do all things. 

            It is interesting that Paul says he “learned” how to be content.  Contentment is not an attitude we’re born with.  It is a lesson we learn, as the Holy Spirit works trust in our hearts through the Means of Grace.  Our society is growing more and more materialistic and dissatisfied with its possessions.  We act as though we were drinking salt water: the more we drink, the thirstier we become.  We need to proclaim boldly to our fellow Christians that the secret to being content is not what we have but whom we have: Jesus Christ.  True contentment comes only through trust that Jesus loved me enough to die for me, that He lives, and that He will continue to care for me in every situation.

            And what better way for this text to end.  And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.  Amen.

            And now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting.  Amen.

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Text: John 8:31-36/Psalm 46

Free at Last

            Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.  The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Gospel and Psalm 46 which were read earlier.

            In one of his earliest Reformation writings, Martin Luther wrote On the Freedom of a Christian Man.  The Reformation was about the question “What does it mean for man to be free?”  In our culture and society, freedom is usually associated with choice; a person is free who has the right and power to choose as he wills.  We often hear of the freedom of choice.  However, such freedom arises from the idea that man is free by way of detachment from persons and things; such freedom arises from the idea of the person as independent and autonomous.  The Bible knows of no such freedom of man.  The Bible rather reveals man as entrapped, dead in sin, and destined to death.  That man can live only if he is freed from that slavery and is reborn to the servanthood of love.

            The date is October 31, 1517.  A young professor at Wittenberg is struggling with his faith.  He has the faith which he has been taught by the Roman Catholic Church, yet he has the faith of his own heart and conscience which says that there is something wrong with the Roman Catholic Church.  That is when this young monk decided to do something.  He wrote up a document for discussion and nailed it to the town bulletin board, the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.  That document, known as the 95 Theses, led Luther and many others to freedom.

            In our Gospel reading for this morning, Jesus tells “the Jews who had believed him” what is needed to be set free: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  For Martin Luther, he wanted to be free: free from the false errors that were being taught by the Roman Catholic Church.  He criticized what was unbiblical, but at the time, he had no intention of splitting the Church.  His goal was to reform the Church, to correct the abuses and make straight what had gone crooked over the past few centuries.  At least, that’s how it began.

            Luther looked at the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and found flaws in them because they are teachings of man.  He was a learned man with regards to the Scriptures and saw nothing in there about the practice of indulgences.  Indulgences, as you may know, were the documents purchased from the Church that would take away the punishments for sin people thought they had to suffer after death in a place called purgatory.

            In the following years, Luther saw that the problems ran much deeper than just indulgences.  The problems dealt with the liturgy, they dealt with leadership in the Church, and, even more central, they dealt with the certainty of salvation.  They dealt essentially with these two questions: “Who rules the Church?” and “How can I find a gracious God?”  That is, the questions were about God’s Word and God’s grace.  Luther’s goal was to return authority in the Church to the Word of God.  His goal was to return to the Word of God and find therein the grace of God.

            That was and still is the heart of the Reformation.  It wasn’t about starting a new church.  It was about going back to the Word of God.  Only in the teachings of Christ will we know the truth and be set free. 

            If John’s account would have stopped there, all would have been well, but it didn’t stop there.  “They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone.  How can you say that we shall be set free?’”

            They looked at what Jesus had said only in an earthly manner; they failed to look at it in a spiritual manner.  They knew the one true God.  They had the truth.  They were heirs of the covenant of Abraham.  They were free.  So if you are free already, how can you be free again?

            We look at Jesus’ words in a worldly manner also.  We are not slaves to anyone so how can we be set free?  We are slaves and we are not free.  As Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”  We are slaves.  We are slaves because we are sinful.  We are slaves because of the sinful world that we live in.  We are slaves and there is nothing that we can do about it.  The Bible shows that once a person sins, he is no longer free to serve God, only sin.  In fact, he is now compelled to sin, because sin is personified as a harsh, domineering master that has a stranglehold on us.  Every sin only serves to bind us tighter in its lock.  And once we are slaves to sin, we cannot free ourselves.

            Jesus Christ has indeed set us free.  If the Son frees us, we are really free; free from the compulsion and bondage of sin, free to serve God as He originally intended us to do and as Jesus did.

            Martin Luther, the great reformer, relied solely upon Jesus Christ and His teaching to free us, not the false teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.  In looking at Scripture, He saw that outside practices, while they may be good, do not bring about salvation.  Salvation has been won for us by Jesus Christ on the cross.  Where did Luther get this?  He got it from Scripture, namely Psalm 46, which is the basis for his hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” 

            For Luther, this is what he needed to hear.  He entered the monastery because he thought by doing this, he would be able to escape the world and its sin.  Unfortunately, he discovered that even in the monastery, sin was still present.  There was nowhere that he could go to where sin would not be present.  But when Luther read Psalm 46, he was put to ease.  It didn’t matter what happened, God would be the ever-present help in trouble.  “A mighty fortress is our God,/A trusty shield and weapon;/He helps us free from ev’ry need/That hath us now o’er-taken.”  Where did Luther find the trusty shield and weapon?  He found it in Jesus Christ and Him alone: “But for us fights the valiant One,/Whom God Himself elected./Ask ye, Who is this?/Jesus Christ it is,/Of Sabaoth Lord,/And there’s none other God.” 

            Salvation is found only in Jesus Christ.  He knew from what Scripture taught that one could not find salvation in an indulgence.  He knew from what Scripture taught that one could not find salvation by praying “Hail Mary’s” and “Our Father’s.”  Salvation has been won for us by Jesus Christ on the cross.  There and only there can be forgiven.  It was here that Luther found freedom at last: freedom from sin, death, and the devil.  Salvation came by faith, not by what we did, but by the grace of God.  By grace alone, by faith alone, and by Scripture alone are we free at last.  In the name of Jesus, amen.

            Now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.  Amen.

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Text: James 4:7-12 (13-5:6)

Submission to God

            Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.  The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle which was read earlier.

            Habits are a good thing to have.  They can be a very good thing.  For instance, it is a good habit to set aside money into a savings account for those unexpected circumstances.  It is a good habit to pay your bills on time so as not to incur late fees.  It is also a good habit to attend church regularly for the edification of one’s spiritual well-being.   However, it is just as easy to have bad habits as well.  For instance, it is a bad habit to neglect your spouse and children.  It is a bad habit to speak ill of others.  It is a bad habit to eat too much.  However, it is often too easy for us to fall into bad habits than it is for us to have habits that are good.

            In looking at our text for today, James is writing to the churches about something that was not only difficult for them to follow, but it is also difficult for us to follow today: “Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.”  By our very nature, we do not submit to God, we do not resist the devil and we do not come near to God.  We don’t know how to submit ourselves to God.  We don’t know how to resist the devil and we don’t know how to come near to God.  All of this is alien and foreign to our sinful natures.

            The same was true for the churches to which James is writing.  They had decided to give in to their habits of in-fighting and the like.  They had begun to turn their backs on God, to begin to deny who and what God has done for them and to follow the ways of the world.  It was very easy for them to do what they were doing.  It is a lot easier to give into the things of this world which you can see rather than in the mystery of God which one cannot see. 

            James is encouraging Christians to place themselves under God—to place themselves in His ranks, under His leadership and His direction, under His will and His word.  Such submission means giving oneself completely and totally, without hesitation or condition.  It means denying self and taking one’s will and desires and thoughts and words and actions and gifts and abilities—one’s entire being—and placing all of it at the disposal of God.  And, of course, that sort of self-submission will express itself in the way the Christian relates to his God and to his fellowman.

            Submission to God means resisting the devil, and vice-versa, for every evil working of Satan in his fight against Christ and the church, and every temptation which he throws like a snare before the feet of the Christian constitute nothing less than an attack on the lordship of God.  Satan would like nothing better than to have Christians arrogantly throw off that lordship and claim it for themselves.  He would like nothing better than to see God’s people refusing to submit to the Lord. 

            There are two options for the world: turn to God or turn to the ways of the world.  If we turn to the ways of the world, then what is there for you?  What comfort do you have in the world when a loved one dies?  Can the world promise you that your loved one has now been united with Christ forever?  If, however, we turn to God, we will find comfort in a loved ones death.  We will find life everlasting.  “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”  We can not come to God ourselves, but we can come to God by the Holy Spirit.  James is speaking to the Christian, encouraging him to submit himself by the power of the Holy Spirit to God by coming near in sincere repentance.  He calls for them to acknowledge the fact that, although they claim to be the Lord’s, they have turned away from Him time and again, going their own way, trying to live without the Lord in this world.

            We live in a world where the prevailing attitudes are “Be your own man, or woman!”, “Don’t let anyone tell you what to do!”, or taking an old commercial a little out of context, “Have it your way!”  The problem with these attitudes and ideas is that they’ve led us away from God.  We no longer look to Him for guidance, or for that matter even acknowledge that He has something to say about our lives.  We live our lives as if we are an island that answers to no one, nor has any effect on any of the other "islands" which exist around us.  James, in language that is fairly strong, reminds us that the truth is quite to the contrary.  He tells us to “Submit yourselves, then, to God” and “Humble yourselves before the Lord.”  Oh, but we don’t do that either do we?  Nobody likes the idea of submission or humbleness, after all, these words imply weakness, and in this world you can’t appear weak.  But we are weak and we can’t do it alone, although we often try.

            That is our Old Adam at work in us.  We somehow think that we can do it all ourselves, that we don’t need God, that we don’t need the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.  In today’s world of people telling you that you can do it yourself, that you can make the decision for Jesus, it’s no wonder many people try to go it on their own.  However much we try to live without God, it is all the more apparent that we do need God. 

            At the start of our reading James records one of God’s many promises that are found in the Bible.  He tells us, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you, come near to God and he will come near to you.”  Now we need to remember something.  This verse does not say that we choose God; we do not make the decision to follow Him.  But He has chosen us and He has given us the faith that we need to follow Him.  We, however, are capable of choosing not to anger our Lord by our repeated, an often blatant sins. Listen to these words from Romans 8 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”  James gives us God’s promise to lift us up.  By our submission and humbleness before God, He will exalt us in heaven and earth.  The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 149, “For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.”  Those of us who turn to Him, those of us who humbly trust in Him to direct our lives, in all aspects, will be saved from the terrors of hell.  He loves us, He wants to be part of our everyday lives, and He will bless us.

            It is very hard to deny the world, especially when we are so much a part of the world.  We accept the dictates of the world for our lives rather than the Word of God.  That’s not the shocking part of it all.  The shocking part is that we don’t really care that we follow the world and not God.  It is much easier to accept what you can see over the things that you cannot.  When we follow the world, we will ultimately move away from God.  But thanks be to God, we can come back to Him and He will accept us with open arms.  That is what a loving God does.  “But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

            As His redeemed children, we have been given the gift of His unfailing love, love that came at the expense of His Son, Jesus Christ.  When we turn our backs to God, He will still be there to accept us back in His loving arms.  That is what grace is all about.  We have a God of grace and mercy, who exalts the humblest of man, not by anything that we have done, but by what has been done for us through His Son.  By sending His Son, who took our failures upon Himself, we are no longer under submission to Satan, but we are lifted up by God above sin, death, and the misery of our sinful lives.  What better reason to submit to God can there be than this?  In the name of Jesus, amen.

            Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

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Text: Ephesians 5:8-14

From Darkness to Light

           Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.  The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle which was read earlier.

            “I have seen the light!”  That’s a familiar phrase which I’m sure everyone has heard before.  But ask yourself this question: if you have seen the light, what did you see before?  Before seeing the light, you saw darkness.  In the beginning of creation, there was darkness until God created the light.  To be in darkness is not a pleasant situation.  Already in infancy, most children are afraid of the dark.  The thought of a criminal lurking in the dark evokes feelings of terror.  Metaphorically, one is “in the dark” when he lacks understanding.

            The spiritual darkness which once characterized the Ephesians was far worse than any physical or mental darkness.  They were directed by the darkening power of sin into religious and moral darkness.  Spiritually they were dead.  They were totally ignorant of divine truth.  Their spiritual ignorance guided them into acts of ungodliness and immorality, together with the consequent misery.  Paul’s words “you were once darkness” imply that the Ephesians were once instruments of darkness.  They were people whose “darkness” was evident in their behavior and speech.

            The same is true for all of us today.  From the moment that we were conceived, we were sinners.  David writes in the Psalms, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”  We are sinners.  We are in the dark.  We know sin and that is what we are comfortable with; that’s what we like.  Because of our sin, we are very much like the Ephesians, doing acts of ungodliness and immorality. 

            For some strange reason, we try to classify or rate sins, thinking that a sin like gossip isn’t as bad as killing someone.  The fact of the matter is that a sin is a sin is a sin.  It doesn’t matter what the sin is, it is still a sin and offensive to God. 

            Our lives are full of sins, regardless of how good of a life we lead, according to ourselves.  You’re a good person if you don’t kill a person right?  You’re not like all the murderers that are sitting on death row serving time for the murders they committed.  But what about that person you can’t stand, the one you just despise?  According to God, you are guilty of murder.  St. John writes “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.”  Our sins are as black as night and reflect who we are, sinners in a fallen world.

            The effects from the fall into sin are very great.  We break God’s laws, we disobey Him, and we despise Him because of our sin.  That is the way that Satan wants it.  As far as he is concerned, that’s the way it should be.  But fortunately for us, God intended it to be different.  He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to restore creation to its rightful place, as children of God.  No longer are we darkness.  “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” 

            We have seen a brilliant light.  As a light switch brings illumination to the eye, so the light of the Gospel brings illumination to the heart.  The light which has shined upon you is Jesus, the “Light of the World.”  “Those who sat in darkness have seen a great Light.”  The Holy Spirit has brought you to faith in Jesus as your Savior.  He led you to a recognition of your sins, your depravity, your need for forgiveness and the source of it.  As a “light shining in a dark place,” the Spirit used the Word of God as a bright torch to direct you in the way of truth.

            Because we were once darkness but are now light, we should “live as children of light” because that is what we are.  We have gone from being sons and daughters of darkness, children of Satan, to being sons and daughters of light, children of God through the merits of Jesus Christ.  And because of that, it means that our lives should reflect that light and not the darkness.  You belong to the household of God, individually and communally, because Jesus has redeemed you through His blood.

            Paul writes this same thing to the Corinthian Church: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”  When we were children of Satan, we did what came naturally to us: we sinned.  We continue to sin today because we are still sinners.  But while we are still sinners, we are also saints, made clean by the blood of the Lamb on Calvary’s cross.  Because we have been made saints, our lives should reflect that nature as one redeemed by Jesus Christ.

            We are to “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”  The works of darkness are totally unfruitful.  What farmer would want to spend his time in a field which produces no grain?  He would want no part of it.  In the same way, the child of light will have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness.  Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

            The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, one of the auxiliary organizations of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, helps to expose the “fruitless deeds of darkness” while pointing unbelievers and those in need toward the illuminating love of Christ through the good deeds they do in supporting the Church’s missionary efforts at home and abroad.  The glorious light of the Gospel shines in a sin-darkened world by the faithful teachings and confessions of the LWML, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who brought light to the world and through that light, gave to us forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.

            This forgiveness of sins, life and salvation has been given to us freely by God through Jesus Christ at His expense.  We need God to come to us, because we cannot come to Him.  God is unapproachable for sinners.  He is beyond the reach of mortal man. There are those who think we have to first approach God and accept Him.  But if you are righteous enough to approach God, then why do you need a Savior?  Our Lord did not come for those who do not need Him.  He came to seek and save the lost.  He came to give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, make the lame walk, and raise the dead.

            We as sinners need Jesus, whether we think we do or not.  When we were in darkness, we were separated eternally from God.  There was no way to bridge the gap between God and His creation.  Try and see if you can bridge the gap.  It’s obvious that you can’t.  No one can, or at least not of this world.  Only Jesus Christ could bridge the gap.  Only Jesus Christ could turn us from darkness into light.  To make it even more clear what happens, we are made light in the Lord.

            We are not made light in ourselves.  Nothing in us reflects light until the Holy Spirit works faith in us and brings us to Jesus Christ.  The only thing that is reflected in us is our sin and our darkness.  What God should see when He looks at us is a person covered in the blackness of their sins.  However, that is not what He sees.  He sees us clothed in the righteousness of His Son, who took away our sins and made us clean by the blood of the Lamb.

            The saving Light of the Gospel shined upon you in the waters of Holy Baptism, as they did this morning.  As your sins were washed away in that heavenly flood, your heart and soul were filled with heavenly light.  The Holy Spirit has illuminated your soul with faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  The light of the Gospel that shines with you comes from your gracious heavenly Father who has claimed you as His own dear child.  He has redeemed you through the blood of Jesus that you may be His servant as His instrument of light in the world; not to glorify yourself, but that through you He may be glorified.  And on the Last Day, He will raise you up to His marvelous light for all eternity.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.

            Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.  Amen.

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