Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve 12/24/11 Text: Luke Title: Behold Your God! This weekend is a special time, for we have two days, today and Sunday, to worship the one who came to earth for you; our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a great time for the people of God to come together and worship him, so we can make a statement to the world, as to who is King of our lives. For the past four Sundays of Advent leading up to today we have been looking at what "God Incarnate" means. For those who might be here today who may not be familiar with the term “God Incarnate” it means “God in the flesh”. In other words “God Incarnate” is Jesus; Immanuel, God with us. During those four weeks of study we learned why God had to come himself to be one of us instead of sending an angel or a really good person like Saint Nicholas or Saint Jerome, or Saint Paul, or any other saintly person to accomplish what he wanted to do. We learned that God had to come himself because angels after God threw out of heaven those angels that revolted against him can no longer sin or die. We also found out that a human, no matter how saintly they were would not work either, for all humans are descendants of Adam and Eve and thus are horribly infected with sin and deserve God's wrath. An angel would not work. A descendent of Adam and Eve would not work. What could he do, for it had to be someone who could sin against God, if he chose to do so, while at the same time would not sin because he loved and trusted in God so much that he would willingly and gladly keep the Ten Commandments and who would always trust in God to care for him even in the midst of the most alluring temptations and circumstances. Humanly speaking God was in a dilemma. There was no angel or human that could do what God needed to be done, so that his beloved human creation could be restored to the relationship he originally created them to be in with him. He had to do something, so when the time was right, as we read earlier in the Gospel of Luke God came as one of us. We first see him; a baby in a manager. He who made and continues to sustain all of creation made himself lower than the angels he created. He became human dependent on the nourishment from his mother’s breast and the care and protection of her husband Joseph. God did not come in a flash of light and power, so that the world would know that the King of Kings had arrived. He announced his arrival in the cries of a newborn infant, hardly noticeable among the stink and sounds of the animals in the stable. Certainly his birth was not noticeable to the people of this busy city, as they went about their daily lives. No fancy garments, no nurse maids, no hoopla, none of that. In all honesty Mary and Joseph were probably the only ones that cared that he was born. God Incarnate arrived, as one of us and the path to our having peace with God was set in motion. Jesus, God Incarnate played at his mother's feet. He learned a trade, as all boys had to do. He learned God’s Word and exhibited great understanding of it even as a child. He was a remarkable man; this man, God Incarnate. He was God on earth even though he felt hunger, the sorrow of being despised and mocked by those he loved. This God Incarnate, Jesus felt the pain of the whip and nails as they bit into his flesh, all while being crushed under the weight of human sin; all for us. When you read of Jesus in God’s Holy Word you will see that Jesus, God Incarnate had the most magnificent hands, for while they were hands like our hands they were the hands of God on earth. He would touch lepers and they would become clean. His hands would hold little children and they were blessed. His hands would heal the sick, and drive out demons. His hands would comfort the sorrowing and raise the dead. His hands would distribute bread and wine, as he gave himself to us in remembrance of his death and resurrection. And then those magnificent hands who only showed mercy were in the end pierced by nails. And because God willingly became Jesus, God Incarnate, so that he could bleed and die in our place, he shows us that he alone is able to heal our hurts, forgive our sins, and defeat our death. It is no wonder God’s Word tells us that those things we trust in; our idols, our little gods that we so often chase after offer nothing but tragedy and sorrow in the end. What is really weird, is that deep down we know that the earthly things that we strive after and put our trust in are worthless in the end, yet we continue to chase after them looking for that perfect little god or gods that will fulfill our happiness. The problem with our relying on these gods for happiness and security is that any god who doesn’t suffer, who knows no agony, or does not die for you, is a false god in which there is no future and who wants to drag you into eternal separation from God. We praise God that he did become one of us and that he did suffer, was in great agony, and died for us, so that we can be restored to the relationship that God wants us to be in with him. That restoration came with a terrible price, yet he rose in glory, as he promised he would and showed himself to his disciples. The prophet Isaiah around 3,000 years ago told the people of Israel when they were without hope, “Behold your God!”, as he told them all that God had done and was going to do for them, giving them hope and comfort. Tonight I am saying to you who, as I am, are lost without Jesus’ redemptive act, “Behold your God!” who is able to comfort you in all your troubles of life. “Behold your God!” who is willing to give you twice the mercy for the sin you have done and will do. “Behold your God!” who is preparing the way for his coming, so that your hope in being with him in the new heaven and earth is sure. “Behold your God!” who is mighty and powerful, breaking and destroying those who are against him while being gentle, kind, and loving to those he calls his children. “Behold your God!” Jesus is not just some nice godly man he is God Incarnate, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the same God who while he appeared to his people of old in the form of fire, clouds, and smoke, now appears to us in the Word of God and the Sacraments. My dear fellow redeemed brothers and sisters in Christ it is time for us all to put away those things we try to make into substitutes for God, especially those “I can do it myself spirits” that we all rely on so much to get us through life, for no matter how strong you are, or how successful you might be in your relationships, or profession, or how good you are at making or saving money, or doing good things for people, you cannot make peace with God on your own. It is God’s work entirely, so as you head off this evening after the worship service for the Christmas festivities and family gatherings have fun, stay safe, and remember that Jesus, God Incarnate whose birth date we are celebrating is the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life that counts. There is simply no other way, truth, or life, no matter what others may tell you. He alone has done what you or anyone else cannot do. He has fulfilled the angels’ promise that they told the shepherds the night of his birth, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" You now have peace with God. Merry Christ-mass. Amen.

Fourth midweek Advent 12/21/11

Fourth Advent Midweek service 12/21/11 Text: Isaiah 40:1-11 Title: God Incarnate For the past three Wednesdays we have been studying Isaiah 40:1-11. We have seen God’s wonderful love toward his people Israel and a for-shadowing of his love for us. God through the prophet Isaiah, long before the people of Israel were conquered by Babylon were told that because their worship was empty and they had fallen into unbelief and depravity that they would be punished for their sin. They did not listen to God’s Word spoken through the prophet Isaiah and as history shows their beloved city was pretty much destroyed, the temple flattened and their gold and silver taken away from them, as they were hauled off to Babylonia where they would spend 70 years in captivity. God loving his people, as he did, had Isaiah speak wonderful words of forgiveness to them before this happened. Yes, they would be enslaved, but it would not be forever. At some time in the future when they had repented of their sin God would bring them back to their beloved city and the temple would be restored. They would prosper again. God would not forget them even though they had forgotten him. God would do more than just bring them back. He would bless them double the sin they had done, and they had gotten really good at sinning. Listen to what Isaiah tells us about the nation in Isaiah 1:21-23, “21 How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. 22 Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water. 23 Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them.” As you can tell they deserved God’s wrath, for they had turned their back on God. But God would not turn his back on them, for God told them that the trip back would be just the opposite of the trip to Babylonia. Instead of pain and sorrow there would celebration. And it happened that way, for when God saw that the time was right he used the pagan King Cyrus to accomplish what he promised. King Cyrus would not only let the people go, but would finance their trip, protect them from their enemies in the city, and spent his vast resources to pay for the restoration. Last Wednesday we read in verses 7-8 of Isaiah 40 that while, “The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” People come and go, governments flourish and fail, the wisdom of the world will rise and fall, but, as God Word tell us, “the word of our God will stand forever.” I don’t know about you, but that is what gives me hope in these times of uncertainty. No matter what happens in my life or the lives of those I am here to shepherd I know without a doubt that I and this congregation, as long as we stay faithful to God, can depend what God says he will do he will do, for we are told in God’s Word that “with God nothing is impossible.” When God says he is going to do something he does it and that my dear brothers and sisters in Christ is our sure hope. That is what gets us through the tough times. Today we are finishing our study with the words of God in verse nine through eleven. “9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" 10 Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” While there is a lot that can be said about these final verses I just want to cut to the chase by focusing on three words, “Behold your God!” “Behold your God!” who is able to comfort you in all your troubles of life. “Behold your God!” who is willing to give you twice the mercy of the sin you have done and will do. “Behold your God!” who will prepare the way for his coming, so that your hope in being with him is sure. “Behold your God!” who is mighty and powerful; breaking and destroying those who are against him while being gentle, kind, and loving to those he calls his children. “Behold your God!” When the time was right God came, and made himself one of us, a baby in a manager. He who made and continues to sustain all of creation made himself dependent on the nourishment from his mother’s breast and the care of his stepfather Joseph. Our God did not come in a flash of light and power letting the world know that the King of Kings had arrived. He announced his arrival in the cries of a newborn infant; hardly noticeable among the sounds of the animals in the stable. No fancy garments, no nurse maids, no hoopla; our Savior God arrived amongst us, as one of us. His hands would touch lepers, hold little children, heal the sick, and drive out demons; his hands would comfort and raise the dead. And his hands would break bread. He was God on earth, yet he also felt hunger and grief. He would feel the pain of the whip and nails, as they bit into his flesh while being ridiculed and crushed under the weight of sin, not his sin, but our sin. And because he became God Incarnate so that he could bleed and die in our place he shows us that he alone is able to heal our hurts, forgive our sins, and defeat our death. It is no wonder God’s Word tells us that those things we trust in; our idols, our little gods that we so often chase after offer nothing but tragedy and sorrow in the end. Any god who doesn’t suffer, who knows no agony, or does not die for you, is a false god in which there is no future and who wants to drag you into eternal separation from God. Those gods are not our God, for our God Jesus gave of himself for you and all humankind. He gave of himself to be crucified unto death, yet he rose again as he promised, so it is time my fellow redeemed sinners to put away those things we try to make into substitutes for God especially our do it myself spirit. Put away those things and take up his cross, for he is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. All praise to God Incarnate; Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fourth Sunday in Advent 12/18/11

Fourth Sunday in Advent 12/18/11 Text: Luke 1:26-38 Title: Rorate Coeli (Rain Down from heaven) Sunday Today is Rorate (row-rate) Coeli (ko-a-lee) Sunday. This is the ancient Latin name for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Sunday we are celebrating today. It means “Raining down from heaven.” And comes from the Latin translation of God’s Word, the first part of Isaiah 45:8 which reads in English, "Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness.” As you will learn it is the perfect name for this Sunday, as we hear the angel Gabriel announce to Mary that she was going to be the mother of the God-man Jesus. In preparation for this Sunday and the Christmas celebration next Sunday we have for the past three weeks been studying the Incarnation. In this study we have learned many things about the Incarnation of God; that is the coming down of God to be flesh and blood. By looking at God’s Word we know that God from the time he created human beings wanted them to be in a loving trusting relationship with him. We know that because Adam and Eve use to openly converse with God. Then, for some reason that we will never know this side of heaven Adam and Eve quit trusting in God. We know the rest of the story, don’t we, for we don’t have to look too far to see war, hatred, crime, selfishness, greed, sickness and death. It has touched us all. We definitely know the consequences of living sinful lives in a sinful world. Because of sin God could no longer come into direct contact with his people because of their sin, but he continued to show his love, for those who many times turned their backs on him, he spoke to them by speaking through the prophets, showing himself in visions, fire, clouds, smoke, and last, but certainly not least he communicated with his people in the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. And because sacrifices could not appease God’s wrath toward sin God had to do something to reconcile his human creation to himself. It had to be, in human terms, something drastic, for his human creation could not, left on their own, no matter how many animals they sacrificed, grain or money they offered to God could ever make themselves right before God. They could not pray enough or worship him enough. Without God actively breaking into our existence all people are doomed. So God came himself to do what no one else could do; make peace between us and God. Angels could not do it. A human, even the most saintly of all humans couldn’t do it because we are all descendants of Adam and Eve. No one could reconcile humans to God except God himself. He had to come, for if he did not all of his human creation, the people he loved. The people he made to be in relationship with him would be destroyed. That brings us to our Gospel text for today; the “raining down from heaven, which we see in the story of Mary being told she was going to be the mother of the God-man Jesus, the Savior of the world. God himself coming down to be born, as one of us, except of course Mary became pregnant through the workings of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had no earthly biological father. She was a virgin before she was pregnant and while she was pregnant until after she gave birth to Jesus, for we are told in another Gospel that Joseph did know her until after Jesus was born. There are a few things in the Gospel for this morning that I would like to point out to you, so that you might have a deeper appreciation for “God raining down from heaven” to us. In the first verse the sixth month tells us that Mary’s aunt Elizabeth who was old and barren was six months pregnant. Her baby grows up to be John the one who baptizes Jesus. It is interesting to note that when an angel had told Elizabeth’s husband that she would become pregnant that he doubted and God made him mute while Mary on the other hand when she was told that she would become pregnant believed and praised God. Read down a little further to where the angel says, “Greetings O favored one, the Lord is with you. That greeting sounds a lot like the angel said something like, “Hello Mary, I bring you greetings from God, for you are a nice girl being a virgin and all. You are worthy of being the mother of Jesus. That sounds like what the angel is saying, but the English translation does not do a good job of giving us what he actually said to Mary. In the Greek the greeting carries the meaning of Mary you have been graced by God. In other words Mary you are favored, not because of who you are, or how good you are, but because God has chosen you to be the mother of Jesus. God in his picking of Mary to be the mother of Jesus made her to be the favored one. That meaning is reinforced by the verse just a little further down where the angel tells Mary that she has found favor with God. It is not her doing, but God’s doing that made her find favor with God. As we go through the text you hear the angel tell Mary how she will become pregnant. We see that Mary is confused and who wouldn’t be? I can just hear her say, “You said what?” She was a virgin and I am sure that she knew that at least back then, that you did not get pregnant without having intercourse with a man. It is impossible. Yet listen at what she says after the angel tells her, “For nothing is impossible with God.” Mary replies, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Mary in faith accepts what the angel has told her even though she did not have a clue as to how she was going to become pregnant. What a statement of faith! While Mary in her faith completely trusted and accepted what the angel has told her after he said, “For nothing is impossible with God.” that sentence is probably one of the most twisted and misused quotes in the Bible. You usually see it on a sign or hear it spoken in a prayer when an underdog team goes up against another team who is supposed to really outscore them. It is like a cheer. God will see that we win, if we just believe. The problem is that you really have to take the angel’s saying out of context, to say that it means anything close to that, for if you pay attention to what is taking place when the angel tells Mary that “For nothing is impossible with God.” the angel is answering her question of, “How can this be?” He is telling her that if God saw to it that her Aunt Elizabeth who was old and barren got pregnant then he can certainly do what the angel has said he would do. When you read the passage in the Greek you get a better idea of the meaning, for the Greek says what God says will happen will happen. In other words the angel is not saying that what Mary, you or I say God can do he will do, but that what God says he will do he will do. Nothing is impossible for God when he says he will do it. I hear quite often, “If only Jesus were alive today I could believe and trust in him. It had to be easier to believe in Jesus then. It is harder now with all the different truths that are being taught. “Which one is right.” Maybe all of them are right” they say. To think that way is to miss the true Jesus, God Incarnate. Jesus did not quit being active in our lives life just because he ascended to heaven, as some believe. He is the same incarnate Word though whom the Father created the universe. He is the same Savior who spoke forgiveness and life for us. He is the same living Word who promises to remain close to us until his final return. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ God continues to “rain down from heaven” on us today in his Word and Sacraments and the absolution that I speak to you in Jesus’ name every Sunday. He is here now, as he has always been and always will be, for he is the great, “I am.” God Incarnate. Amen.