First Sunday after Christmas (December 31, 2006)
“The Lord Comes to His Temple: The Lord Whom You Seek” (Luke 2:25-39)
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Here we are once again in this holy place in time and space. The Lord has come to his temple. The Word became flesh and became a temple among us. And this place is a temple, because the Word made flesh is present among us in Word and Sacrament. But before we consider Christ's presence in this temple, let's travel back in time and view those individuals in the Jerusalem temple when our recently-born Savior came to the temple in Jerusalem. And as we do so, I want you to consider a question, so "that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."
Imagine yourself for a moment, a first-century Jewish person, inside the temple courts. Consider your own personal, individual reasons for being here. Why are you here? What do you seek? This is important because a pilgrim could come here for the wrong reason. A seeker could journey to this place, but his particular wants and desires are contrary to God's will. Why might some people be here? To try to impress God with how holy you are. To try to impress your neighbor with how pious you are. To proceed impenitently through the liturgy with the highest desire being that you will have got that done on your checklist for the day. To forgive God for something that happened in your life. To build up heavenly rapid reward points for the number of trips you've made to be here. To seek to appease God's wrath upon sin with what you perceive to be a host of good works on your part. To gain a leverage against God that you will pull out as a trump card on Judgment Day. Heard enough? Let me give you one more – to hear these examples in a sermon and think that you are exempt from such natural inclinations of your old sinful heart and from such unchristian thoughts in your head.
Why are you here? And what do you seek? Take a look at the others who have come to this holy place throughout the years. Do you see them? Husbands and wives... families... singles... old men... widows... a baby... newlyweds... new parents. Why have they come here and what do they seek?
Consider that widow here. Her name is Anna. A faithful, 84-year-old woman who hangs around the
temple day and night. She's quite remarkable in that she's one among only a few. She's one of the
few of the ten lost tribes of Israel...the tribe of Asher. Why is she here in the temple? What is she
seeking here? St. Luke reports that she is one of the remnant in Israel looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Anna's hope is in the LORD God and she awaits him in the place where he has promised to be found in his grace and mercy, for he has said through the mouth of his prophet Malachi, "Behold, the LORD whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple." (Malachi 3:1) Anna worships "with fasting and prayer night and day." Anna abides in the temple awaiting the Advent of the world's Redeemer, just as one of the faithful today might enter a place like this awaiting the real presence of the LORD in Word and Sacrament.
Do you see them? Husbands and wives... families... singles... old men... widows... a baby... newlyweds... new parents. Why have they come here and what do they seek?
Consider that man over there. His name is Simeon. Whether he is clergy or laity, we don't know. We assume he is old, but actually Luke doesn't tell us his age. He only tells us that it had been revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah with his own eyes. What we do know about him is that he is devout and righteous. God the Holy Spirit has worked faith in his heart. Why is Simeon here in the temple? And what does he seek? Simeon is looking for the consolation of Israel ... for the hope and comfort of the Church. So this day, inspired by the Spirit, Simeon "came into the temple.” Perhaps Simeon had those very words from Malachi on his mind, "Behold, the LORD Whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple."
Look at the others here. Husbands and wives... families... singles... old men... widows... a baby... newlyweds... new parents. Why have they come here and what do they seek?
Mary is here. She is a wife, married a year or so. She is a mom, having given birth to her firstborn, a son born forty days ago in the little town of Bethlehem. Why is she here and what does she seek? Mary is here for her purification according to the Law. Mary needs a sin offering to be made for her so that she might be clean. Leviticus 12:8 says, "This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.” Mary gladly and willingly receives this Word of the LORD and her spirit rejoices in God her Savior.
Joseph is here. He is a husband. He is a dad, having been entrusted with a son...not his own biologically...but the Son of God incarnate of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Joseph is the baby's legal father. On the eighth day when the Infant was circumcised according to the Law, Joseph named him Jesus. Now Joseph has brought his family from Bethlehem to the temple in
Jerusalem. Why is he here and what does he seek? As the pious head of the holy family, he sought to
do what was good and right and according to the Law for his wife and her firstborn Son. Joseph and
Mary "brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the
Lord, ‘Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord') and to offer a sacrifice
according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.'”
This is actually quite remarkable when you realize what this means! Because of the Passover
when the firstborn sons were spared by the blood of the lamb, all such sons belong to the Lord. A
firstborn son could be bought back by bringing an offering of a lamb, or a pair of turtledoves, or two
young pigeons. Joseph and Mary bring an offering to redeem the Redeemer! How ironic, since Jesus is already redeeming them by beginning his total and perfect faithfulness to the Law of God in their place...and in ours. Joseph and Mary bring, not a lamb, but rather, the offering of the poor... two turtledoves... on behalf of him who would become the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And the Word of the Lord has come to pass that is written, "The Lord Whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant in Whom you delight, behold, He is coming, says the LORD of hosts." (Malachi 3:1)
This has all come to pass because the Baby Jesus is here. He is the firstborn Son of Mary and the Son of the Most High. The Savior is here and he is holy to the LORD. At eight days Jesus shed his first blood for the world when he was circumcised according to God's command. At forty days Jesus is still an infant. Why has he come? He has not come for Himself, but rather, he has come for us. For himself he needs no purification ... no redemption. The Incarnation of the Son of God is for the sin of the world. His way of the cross which will lead to his sin-atoning death is for the life of the world. For, as St. Paul wrote, "when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4) Jesus has come to His temple on our behalf and to be Emmanuel, which means "God with us."
What does He seek? The little Lord Jesus seeks to be present with his Church in the temple, and he was and is and ever shall be. The Christ seeks to be in the midst of his people who "come into His Presence with singing" ... who "enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise" (Psalm 100), and he was and is and ever shall be. Here the LORD God Almighty has his little congregation... his family, a widow, a man, young and old, husband and wife, mother and father, carpenter and housewife. Here, forty days after the Birth of the Christ what began as an assembly of the Old Testament Christian Church became the first congregating of the New Testament Church. "Behold, the LORD Whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple," and He was and is and ever shall be.
What happens as a result? A widow can remain in the holy place and tell the Good News of Jesus to all who were looking for the Redeemer. A man can commend himself into the hands of God, saying, "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your Word." A father and mother can marvel at this Word that tells them of the Savior of the world and of their Savior. Husband and wife may now go home, living their lives and carrying out their responsibilities to each other, submitting to one another, living in the Presence of Jesus.
Indeed, the LORD God is present with his people in THIS holy place and sanctifies them with his Word of forgiveness of sins, of peace among us, of hope that doesn't disappoint and of life in His
Name. His cleansing Word is "by the washing of regeneration and a renewal of the Holy Spirit.” This Manna from above feeds His Church with his very own body and blood. Through faith in Jesus ... the Incarnate Son of God ... the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world ... you may depart in peace according to God's Word...for you are forgiven of all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Christmas Sermons Online
I finally got around to posting all the Christmas sermons from last weekend. This sermon series "The Lord Comes to His Temple" was adapted from a sermon series by the Rev. Michael McCoy.
I'm pleased to hear from some of you that you are reading the blog and enjoying it...and even telling your friends about it. Some of you have said that you don't know how to post comments. All you have to do is click on where it says "Comments" below each post and it will take you to another spot where you can type in your comments.
I'm pleased to hear from some of you that you are reading the blog and enjoying it...and even telling your friends about it. Some of you have said that you don't know how to post comments. All you have to do is click on where it says "Comments" below each post and it will take you to another spot where you can type in your comments.
Sermon for Christmas Day 2006
Sermon for Christmas Day 2006
“The Lord Comes to His Temple: The Incarnate Word” (John 1:14)
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I want to talk to you about a shepherd. No, not one of those shepherds on the Judean hillside. We'll get to them later. First, I want to talk to you about a man who tended sheep long before those fellows outside Bethlehem. This shepherd was born into slavery in Egypt and put in a basket on the river Nile when his mother could hide him no longer from the King's murderous threats. He grew up and renounced his royal adoption by the King's daughter and fled to the place called Midian where he took up the occupation of sheep herder.
When he returned to Egypt, he became a shepherd of a different sort...a shepherd of God's people. He led them out into the wilderness. And there, this particular shepherd would often leave his flock for a time. He would walk from the place where some were gathered and where far too many were straying. He would do this not because he didn't care for the sheep. He would do it precisely because he did care. At the appointed time, the shepherd would go over to one particular place. God had come down there and the shepherd would be in the presence of the LORD God Almighty. The shepherd could not ascend to God's glorious paradise. Therefore Yahweh himself—the great I AM— had come down in order that the shepherd might be in the very Presence of God.
This is how the Bible describes it: Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. (Exodus 33:7-10)
While in the Tent of Meeting, Moses would hear God speak to him. In the presence of the LORD Moses heard the Word, who said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14) That was an amazing blessing...that the children of God could gather in the presence of the LORD and rest in His mercy and grace. The LORD was with them as they traveled in their exodus journey to the promised land, and the Word tented among them in the pillar of cloud standing at the door where eternity stood in time, even as the people of God dwelt in their aging tents. They were called to wait in the presence of Yahweh and to have faith in Yahweh. And one day, the time would come when one of their descendants would be moved by the Holy Spirit to write this Good News: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."
The Tent of Meeting was a temporary place. There came a time when the new had come and the old had passed away. And so our shepherd under consideration moved from the one tent to the new and recently completed Tent of Meeting which came to be known as the Tabernacle. The shepherd inspected everything as God had instructed him and which instructions he passed on to all the craftsman, and he puts his stamp of approval on it. And the cloud moved from the old to the new. We read in Exodus 40:34-38, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
The Ark of the Covenant rested in that tent. The Mercy Seat upon the ark covered the tablets of the Law that rested inside. Also before the tent was a basin filled with the Word's cleansing water and the bread of the presence set at the Lord's Table. With the promise of God's Word of Law and Gospel with them, the Church journeyed and lived in the very presence of the LORD, who tabernacled among them and was the Way for them.
But now, before I get to those Bethlehem shepherds, I want to talk about the son of another Bethlehem shepherd. This son's father was born in Bethlehem and grew up to be a shepherd. He once killed a giant with only a rock and a sling. Later on, he grew up to be King of Israel and handed his kingdom over to his son. This particular son of David oversaw the construction of the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. After seven years, the Temple was ready. On the eighth year the priests Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. (1 Kings 8:6-7) These artistically rendered angels spread their wings over the place of the Ark and overshadowed the Ark. It is as if these angels were announcing the coming Presence of the LORD. As Scripture says, "when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the Glory of the LORD filled the house of the Lord." (1 Kings 8:10-11)
Listen to King Solomon's prayer as he stood before the altar of the LORD and in front of the congregation: ...have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, 'My name shall be there,' that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. (1 Kings 8:28-30) The forgiving Word is the Truth and he lived among his people.
Now, finally, let's talk about the shepherds whom you heard about in last night's Gospel reading and whom you sang about in two of this morning's hymns. These shepherds left their flocks and journeyed toward the House of Bread, which is what Bethlehem means. As they hurried there, they had only the Word of the Christmas angel, 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. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:10-12)
And what did they find? David's greater Son. The Word made flesh. The Word among us. What Child is this? Emmanuel. That little baby boy is “God with us.” And the disciple whom Jesus loved would proclaim this Good News with these words, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."
In a world of pain and suffering, the Word became flesh in order to suffer the agony and divine wrath for all the sins of the world ... sins of thought, word, and deed ... sins of the past, present, and future. He came to take upon himself the penalty due the original sin of the Old Adam and his heirs. The Incarnate Son of God atoned for the sins of Cain and Abel ... Saul and David ... Jezebel and Mary ... Judas and Peter ... and you. In a land of death the Word became flesh in order to die the death deserved by the world. In doing so, Jesus gave Himself for the life of the world. On the third day, the Word that became flesh and tented among us rose from the dead. For forty days, Jesus tabernacled with His disciples and spoke about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3), then ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.
Here's how the author of Hebrews put it: For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:24-28)
In this building this morning, a shepherd and a flock congregate in this House of Bread. And what about us? Does the Word made flesh dwell among us? Indeed he does. That is his promise and he has given us his Word on this. He who is in heaven according to both his divine and human natures is also truly with us right now according to both his divine and human natures. We are in his presence and this humble sanctuary is where his glory dwells. His glory is here but hidden, not under the covering of a tent or in a cloud, but hidden and revealed in Word and Sacrament. It's hidden, but real, nonetheless.
Each shepherd of God is called to stand before the altar and lead the congregation in prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving ... called to teach all things whatsoever the Lord Jesus has taught, especially that Jesus is the Mercy Seat who has fulfilled the Law in our place. The Bread of the Real Presence of the Incarnate Christ is the feast that is served at the table in the Holy Place. Here, too, is wine to gladden the heart of man (Psalm 104:15)..."the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God" (Hebrews 9:14)...the Blood of Christ poured out "for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28) The font stands at the ready, waiting for the watery Word of Life to be poured out and proclaimed...that men and women, infants and aged are baptized and forgiven in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear friends in Christ...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us saying, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Therefore, gather in his presence, and rest in his mercy and grace.
Amen.
“The Lord Comes to His Temple: The Incarnate Word” (John 1:14)
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I want to talk to you about a shepherd. No, not one of those shepherds on the Judean hillside. We'll get to them later. First, I want to talk to you about a man who tended sheep long before those fellows outside Bethlehem. This shepherd was born into slavery in Egypt and put in a basket on the river Nile when his mother could hide him no longer from the King's murderous threats. He grew up and renounced his royal adoption by the King's daughter and fled to the place called Midian where he took up the occupation of sheep herder.
When he returned to Egypt, he became a shepherd of a different sort...a shepherd of God's people. He led them out into the wilderness. And there, this particular shepherd would often leave his flock for a time. He would walk from the place where some were gathered and where far too many were straying. He would do this not because he didn't care for the sheep. He would do it precisely because he did care. At the appointed time, the shepherd would go over to one particular place. God had come down there and the shepherd would be in the presence of the LORD God Almighty. The shepherd could not ascend to God's glorious paradise. Therefore Yahweh himself—the great I AM— had come down in order that the shepherd might be in the very Presence of God.
This is how the Bible describes it: Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. (Exodus 33:7-10)
While in the Tent of Meeting, Moses would hear God speak to him. In the presence of the LORD Moses heard the Word, who said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14) That was an amazing blessing...that the children of God could gather in the presence of the LORD and rest in His mercy and grace. The LORD was with them as they traveled in their exodus journey to the promised land, and the Word tented among them in the pillar of cloud standing at the door where eternity stood in time, even as the people of God dwelt in their aging tents. They were called to wait in the presence of Yahweh and to have faith in Yahweh. And one day, the time would come when one of their descendants would be moved by the Holy Spirit to write this Good News: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."
The Tent of Meeting was a temporary place. There came a time when the new had come and the old had passed away. And so our shepherd under consideration moved from the one tent to the new and recently completed Tent of Meeting which came to be known as the Tabernacle. The shepherd inspected everything as God had instructed him and which instructions he passed on to all the craftsman, and he puts his stamp of approval on it. And the cloud moved from the old to the new. We read in Exodus 40:34-38, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
The Ark of the Covenant rested in that tent. The Mercy Seat upon the ark covered the tablets of the Law that rested inside. Also before the tent was a basin filled with the Word's cleansing water and the bread of the presence set at the Lord's Table. With the promise of God's Word of Law and Gospel with them, the Church journeyed and lived in the very presence of the LORD, who tabernacled among them and was the Way for them.
But now, before I get to those Bethlehem shepherds, I want to talk about the son of another Bethlehem shepherd. This son's father was born in Bethlehem and grew up to be a shepherd. He once killed a giant with only a rock and a sling. Later on, he grew up to be King of Israel and handed his kingdom over to his son. This particular son of David oversaw the construction of the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. After seven years, the Temple was ready. On the eighth year the priests Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. (1 Kings 8:6-7) These artistically rendered angels spread their wings over the place of the Ark and overshadowed the Ark. It is as if these angels were announcing the coming Presence of the LORD. As Scripture says, "when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the Glory of the LORD filled the house of the Lord." (1 Kings 8:10-11)
Listen to King Solomon's prayer as he stood before the altar of the LORD and in front of the congregation: ...have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, 'My name shall be there,' that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. (1 Kings 8:28-30) The forgiving Word is the Truth and he lived among his people.
Now, finally, let's talk about the shepherds whom you heard about in last night's Gospel reading and whom you sang about in two of this morning's hymns. These shepherds left their flocks and journeyed toward the House of Bread, which is what Bethlehem means. As they hurried there, they had only the Word of the Christmas angel, 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. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:10-12)
And what did they find? David's greater Son. The Word made flesh. The Word among us. What Child is this? Emmanuel. That little baby boy is “God with us.” And the disciple whom Jesus loved would proclaim this Good News with these words, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."
In a world of pain and suffering, the Word became flesh in order to suffer the agony and divine wrath for all the sins of the world ... sins of thought, word, and deed ... sins of the past, present, and future. He came to take upon himself the penalty due the original sin of the Old Adam and his heirs. The Incarnate Son of God atoned for the sins of Cain and Abel ... Saul and David ... Jezebel and Mary ... Judas and Peter ... and you. In a land of death the Word became flesh in order to die the death deserved by the world. In doing so, Jesus gave Himself for the life of the world. On the third day, the Word that became flesh and tented among us rose from the dead. For forty days, Jesus tabernacled with His disciples and spoke about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3), then ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.
Here's how the author of Hebrews put it: For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:24-28)
In this building this morning, a shepherd and a flock congregate in this House of Bread. And what about us? Does the Word made flesh dwell among us? Indeed he does. That is his promise and he has given us his Word on this. He who is in heaven according to both his divine and human natures is also truly with us right now according to both his divine and human natures. We are in his presence and this humble sanctuary is where his glory dwells. His glory is here but hidden, not under the covering of a tent or in a cloud, but hidden and revealed in Word and Sacrament. It's hidden, but real, nonetheless.
Each shepherd of God is called to stand before the altar and lead the congregation in prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving ... called to teach all things whatsoever the Lord Jesus has taught, especially that Jesus is the Mercy Seat who has fulfilled the Law in our place. The Bread of the Real Presence of the Incarnate Christ is the feast that is served at the table in the Holy Place. Here, too, is wine to gladden the heart of man (Psalm 104:15)..."the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God" (Hebrews 9:14)...the Blood of Christ poured out "for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28) The font stands at the ready, waiting for the watery Word of Life to be poured out and proclaimed...that men and women, infants and aged are baptized and forgiven in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear friends in Christ...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us saying, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Therefore, gather in his presence, and rest in his mercy and grace.
Amen.
Sermon for Christmas Eve 2006
Sermon for Christmas Eve 2006
“The Lord Comes to His Temple: The Temple of God is Born” (Luke 2:10-18)
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
On this holy night and in this holy place we are blessed to join the angels and the archangels and all the company of heaven to be in the gracious Presence of the LORD God Almighty and to celebrate the moment when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born...the moment when the Incarnate God came forth from his mother's womb. Celebrations like this are taking place all over the world tonight...just like the celebration of that little congregation assembled around a manger's guest in the little town of Bethlehem. The Birth of our Redeemer has happened. The Temple of God is born.
Now this may sound a bit strange. We think of a temple as being something that is built, not born. Solomon built the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem based upon God's design revealed in His Word. Though Solomon's Temple was destroyed, it was replaced by another that took forty-six years to build, (John 2:20) and that one was eventually destroyed, too. Those are temples were fashioned from stone, wood, and fabric by human hands according to the God's design and in which was the Presence of the Lord in cloud and fire and glory.
But the “temple” that was born in the City of David is the Son of God and the Son of Man. At the moment of His conception, the divine and human natures came together, never to be separated again. The Temple of God was, at that instant, a single cell...very God of very God and also true man. Nine months later the Temple of God was born. In that Temple the whole fullness of God dwells bodily. (Colossians 2:9) Bethlehem's Babe is God Incarnate...Immanuel...God with us.
Take a look, for a moment, at this tiny infant in the manger. Do you love Him? Of course, you do. Who doesn't love a baby...especially this one? But do you love Him above all others...more than mommy or daddy?...more than husband or wife?...more than son or daughter?...more than you love yourself? Not likely.
Do you trust Him? Well, what does that mean? How does one trust a newborn infant? What is a tiny baby capable of doing that would cause anyone to trust Him? Still the question remains, Do you trust Him above all others? Again, not likely.
Do you fear Him? Don't be silly, right? No one is afraid of a baby. A baby can't hurt anyone. But you were not asked if you were afraid of Him. You were asked whether or not you fear Him.
You see, this is First Commandment stuff. And if this Baby "is Christ the Lord"...and He is!...then He is God Who is the great "I AM" before Abraham was born. He is God Who bent down and wrote with His finger on tablets of stone on Mt. Sinai, "I AM the LORD your God ... You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:2-3) What does this mean concerning this "Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger"? Answer: You should fear, love and trust in Him above all things. That's what Martin Luther said in the Small Catechism. Here's what he said in the Large Catechism: "The meaning is: 'See to it that you let me alone be your God, and never seek another.' In other words: 'Whatever good thing you lack, look to Me for it and seek it from Me, and whenever you suffer misfortune and distress, come and cling to me. I am the One Who will satisfy you and help you out of every need. Only let your heart cling to no one else." The purpose of the First Commandment is to require true faith and confidence of the heart, and these fly straight to the one true God and cling to Him alone.
Now we feel uncomfortable. We know that our hearts have not always clung to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Our words and deeds have only produced fruit that comes from such unclean hearts. What are we going to do with this Temple of God recently born and now sleeping in a manger? Is He a threat? King Herod thought so and sought to kill him. Or is the Christmas Jesus a manageable threat...a Baby Who is kept at arm's length, approached on the first day of Christmas, and then left in His cradle in the same way as we pack away our Nativity Sets and Christmas decorations until next year?
The Babe held in the arms of Mary and entrusted to the care of Joseph is the Temple of God. When you stand before his manger, you are standing in the very presence of the Lord God Almighty. When people realize this, they wonder what this means. Why was He conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary? What has He come to do?
Well, boys and girls...the Lord has NOT come to put check marks on the blackboard behind your name every time you've been bad, or to find out if you've been naughty or nice. Listen up, young people...the advent of the One True God in Bethlehem did not come to be a dictator that requires you to wear a "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelet. Now hear this, grown-ups, the Lord God Almighty was not born in order to give you eleven steps to God-pleasing parenting, or nine ways to be a good spouse, or ten Christian things to do when you're retired. In short, the Incarnation of the Son of God was not to help you become a good person...or even a better person.
Listen to the Christmas Angel announce to the shepherds the reason for the Incarnation: "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." Christ the Lord was born to be the Savior of the world. He came to save you from yourself and your sins. He came because you were naughty...because you have, every day, broken His Commandments...because you have not been a God-pleasing parent, or because you've not been a good spouse, or because your retirement years are filled with sloth and pride and complacency or complaint.
His name is Jesus, which means "Savior." That's what God came to do. He was also
circumcised on the eighth day and shed His first Blood in fulfilling the Law. At the Jordan River, Jesus touched the water of the world and sanctified its use in baptizing infant, elderly, and all nations in between, doing so in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He was tempted as we are, yet without sin, and defeated the devil. He prepares His Table before us, even in the midst of this fallen world, and this manna from above feeds His own with His very Body born of Mary...He is the good wine of the wedding feast and His sin-atoning blood shed on the cross is given for you for the remission of sins. And knowing that all was finished, Jesus died that we might live. And don't forget what He said about himself: "Destroy this Temple and I will raise it again in three days,” which is exactly occurred on Easter morning.
All of this is to say that the Son of God became man, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born without sin, that He might become Lord over sin. He suffered, died, and was buried that He might make satisfaction for you and pay what you owed, not with silver and gold but with His own precious blood. All this in order to become your Lord. For He did none of these things for Himself, nor had He any need of them. He did it all for you. Afterward He rose again from the dead, swallowed up and devoured death, and finally ascended into heaven and assumed dominion at the right hand of the Father. The devil and all powers, therefore, must be subject to Him and lie beneath His feet until finally, at the last day, He will completely divide and separate His Church from the wicked world, the devil, death, and sin.
Until that Day, the LORD calls his undershepherds to announce forgiveness in the name of the Triune God, and to proclaim that where there is forgiveness of sins there is also eternal life and salvation. Each pastor is called to take heed to himself and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made him a guardian, "to feed the church of the Lord which He obtained with His own Blood.” (Acts 20:28)
What joy for God's messengers to declare the wonder of this Good News, both heavenly and earthly. Heaven's angels marvel at the Incarnation and proclaim their divine hymn of "Glory to God in the Highest.” The heralding angels wonder as they “long to look” into these things (1 Peter 1:12) from high above the manger and far beyond the star that announced the Birth of the Temple in Bethlehem. And faithful shepherds make haste to go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened. Later these men returned to their flocks and their vocation as shepherds. As they have opportunity, they tell the Good News of the Savior's Birth. Those who hear this Word of joy to the world and ponder it will be found in Christ; that is, in ... the Temple of God.
Amen.
“The Lord Comes to His Temple: The Temple of God is Born” (Luke 2:10-18)
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
On this holy night and in this holy place we are blessed to join the angels and the archangels and all the company of heaven to be in the gracious Presence of the LORD God Almighty and to celebrate the moment when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born...the moment when the Incarnate God came forth from his mother's womb. Celebrations like this are taking place all over the world tonight...just like the celebration of that little congregation assembled around a manger's guest in the little town of Bethlehem. The Birth of our Redeemer has happened. The Temple of God is born.
Now this may sound a bit strange. We think of a temple as being something that is built, not born. Solomon built the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem based upon God's design revealed in His Word. Though Solomon's Temple was destroyed, it was replaced by another that took forty-six years to build, (John 2:20) and that one was eventually destroyed, too. Those are temples were fashioned from stone, wood, and fabric by human hands according to the God's design and in which was the Presence of the Lord in cloud and fire and glory.
But the “temple” that was born in the City of David is the Son of God and the Son of Man. At the moment of His conception, the divine and human natures came together, never to be separated again. The Temple of God was, at that instant, a single cell...very God of very God and also true man. Nine months later the Temple of God was born. In that Temple the whole fullness of God dwells bodily. (Colossians 2:9) Bethlehem's Babe is God Incarnate...Immanuel...God with us.
Take a look, for a moment, at this tiny infant in the manger. Do you love Him? Of course, you do. Who doesn't love a baby...especially this one? But do you love Him above all others...more than mommy or daddy?...more than husband or wife?...more than son or daughter?...more than you love yourself? Not likely.
Do you trust Him? Well, what does that mean? How does one trust a newborn infant? What is a tiny baby capable of doing that would cause anyone to trust Him? Still the question remains, Do you trust Him above all others? Again, not likely.
Do you fear Him? Don't be silly, right? No one is afraid of a baby. A baby can't hurt anyone. But you were not asked if you were afraid of Him. You were asked whether or not you fear Him.
You see, this is First Commandment stuff. And if this Baby "is Christ the Lord"...and He is!...then He is God Who is the great "I AM" before Abraham was born. He is God Who bent down and wrote with His finger on tablets of stone on Mt. Sinai, "I AM the LORD your God ... You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:2-3) What does this mean concerning this "Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger"? Answer: You should fear, love and trust in Him above all things. That's what Martin Luther said in the Small Catechism. Here's what he said in the Large Catechism: "The meaning is: 'See to it that you let me alone be your God, and never seek another.' In other words: 'Whatever good thing you lack, look to Me for it and seek it from Me, and whenever you suffer misfortune and distress, come and cling to me. I am the One Who will satisfy you and help you out of every need. Only let your heart cling to no one else." The purpose of the First Commandment is to require true faith and confidence of the heart, and these fly straight to the one true God and cling to Him alone.
Now we feel uncomfortable. We know that our hearts have not always clung to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Our words and deeds have only produced fruit that comes from such unclean hearts. What are we going to do with this Temple of God recently born and now sleeping in a manger? Is He a threat? King Herod thought so and sought to kill him. Or is the Christmas Jesus a manageable threat...a Baby Who is kept at arm's length, approached on the first day of Christmas, and then left in His cradle in the same way as we pack away our Nativity Sets and Christmas decorations until next year?
The Babe held in the arms of Mary and entrusted to the care of Joseph is the Temple of God. When you stand before his manger, you are standing in the very presence of the Lord God Almighty. When people realize this, they wonder what this means. Why was He conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary? What has He come to do?
Well, boys and girls...the Lord has NOT come to put check marks on the blackboard behind your name every time you've been bad, or to find out if you've been naughty or nice. Listen up, young people...the advent of the One True God in Bethlehem did not come to be a dictator that requires you to wear a "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelet. Now hear this, grown-ups, the Lord God Almighty was not born in order to give you eleven steps to God-pleasing parenting, or nine ways to be a good spouse, or ten Christian things to do when you're retired. In short, the Incarnation of the Son of God was not to help you become a good person...or even a better person.
Listen to the Christmas Angel announce to the shepherds the reason for the Incarnation: "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." Christ the Lord was born to be the Savior of the world. He came to save you from yourself and your sins. He came because you were naughty...because you have, every day, broken His Commandments...because you have not been a God-pleasing parent, or because you've not been a good spouse, or because your retirement years are filled with sloth and pride and complacency or complaint.
His name is Jesus, which means "Savior." That's what God came to do. He was also
circumcised on the eighth day and shed His first Blood in fulfilling the Law. At the Jordan River, Jesus touched the water of the world and sanctified its use in baptizing infant, elderly, and all nations in between, doing so in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He was tempted as we are, yet without sin, and defeated the devil. He prepares His Table before us, even in the midst of this fallen world, and this manna from above feeds His own with His very Body born of Mary...He is the good wine of the wedding feast and His sin-atoning blood shed on the cross is given for you for the remission of sins. And knowing that all was finished, Jesus died that we might live. And don't forget what He said about himself: "Destroy this Temple and I will raise it again in three days,” which is exactly occurred on Easter morning.
All of this is to say that the Son of God became man, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born without sin, that He might become Lord over sin. He suffered, died, and was buried that He might make satisfaction for you and pay what you owed, not with silver and gold but with His own precious blood. All this in order to become your Lord. For He did none of these things for Himself, nor had He any need of them. He did it all for you. Afterward He rose again from the dead, swallowed up and devoured death, and finally ascended into heaven and assumed dominion at the right hand of the Father. The devil and all powers, therefore, must be subject to Him and lie beneath His feet until finally, at the last day, He will completely divide and separate His Church from the wicked world, the devil, death, and sin.
Until that Day, the LORD calls his undershepherds to announce forgiveness in the name of the Triune God, and to proclaim that where there is forgiveness of sins there is also eternal life and salvation. Each pastor is called to take heed to himself and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made him a guardian, "to feed the church of the Lord which He obtained with His own Blood.” (Acts 20:28)
What joy for God's messengers to declare the wonder of this Good News, both heavenly and earthly. Heaven's angels marvel at the Incarnation and proclaim their divine hymn of "Glory to God in the Highest.” The heralding angels wonder as they “long to look” into these things (1 Peter 1:12) from high above the manger and far beyond the star that announced the Birth of the Temple in Bethlehem. And faithful shepherds make haste to go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened. Later these men returned to their flocks and their vocation as shepherds. As they have opportunity, they tell the Good News of the Savior's Birth. Those who hear this Word of joy to the world and ponder it will be found in Christ; that is, in ... the Temple of God.
Amen.
Sermon for Christmas Eve Morning 2006
Sermon for Christmas Eve Morning 2006
“The Lord Comes to His Temple: The Home of Joseph” (Matthew 1:18-25)
Our theme for our Advent and Christmas sermons has been “The Lord Comes to His Temple.” We heard how the Lord visited Mary and made her womb his temple, as the very presence of the Incarnate God dwelt there. Next, we heard how the Lord made the house of Zechariah his temple. The Savior, carried in the womb of Mary, crossed the threshold and graciously visited Elizabeth, her unborn baby John, and her mute husband Zechariah. This past Wednesday, we stopped at a watchtower along the Judean Road to Bethlehem and learned about all the exciting events that took place there so long ago.
But this morning, we get a little flashback in the timeline of our theme. It was either six or nine months before that trip to Bethlehem that there were some perplexing moments back in Nazareth, some 70 miles to the north in the region of Galilee. A poor carpenter by the name of Joseph received some troubling news. His fiancée was pregnant. And they had never been intimate.
When and how did Joseph find out? Did Mary break the news to him right before she skirted off to visit her relative Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea? Or was it after she returned from that three-month stay? If it was at that point, was she beginning to show? Perhaps, but even at three months, it would be easy to hide a pregnancy under the layers of robes that women wore in those days. Nevertheless, Mary knew that she wouldn't be able to hide this baby for long. Soon her belly would be pushing all that fabric forward farther and farther. Maybe she decided to break the news to Joseph herself before he figured out why she had such a rosy glow in her cheeks. And if it was Mary who told him, she apparently didn't give him the whole story. She must have thought that Joseph would have a hard time believing that an angel had visited her and told her that she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and that the baby to be born from her womb would be the Messiah promised from of old. “Uh, okay, Mary. Whatever you say,” you can just imagine Joseph saying incredulously. And so the only thing that Joseph apparently learned, whether from Mary herself or from the town gossips, was that Mary was pregnant.
How do you suppose Joseph felt? How do you feel when someone you love dearly hurts you? Start the litany...sad, angry, embarrassed, confused, disappointed, disgusted, depressed, deserted...you've been there. We've all been there.
And what do you do when you have to face a tough decision? Think of the decision that Joseph was faced with. St. Matthew tells us that Joseph was a “just man.” In our modern parlance, you might say that Joseph was “a good guy.” And that character is shown in the way that he decided to divorce Mary quietly without exposing her to additional public shame and ridicule. Why divorce, you might ask? They were only engaged, after all. Well, in those days, engagement was tantamount to being married, even though the actual marriage ceremony and consummation of the marriage didn't take place until much later after the initial betrothal. And Joseph would have been within his rights according to the Old Testament Law to have Mary stoned for committing adultery. So really, Joseph was acting with great restraint and compassion.
Joseph was about to do the wrong thing for all the right reasons. (Thoughts here borrowed from Dr. Jeff Gibbs' commentary on Matthew) Therefore, God had to intervene. He had to intervene and divinely reveal to Joseph what he could not know “by [his] own reason or strength.” The same goes for you and me. We cannot know or believe the Good News about Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has revealed it to us through the Word of God. Recall Luther's explanation to the Third Article of the Creed: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel.”
Joseph desperately needed some Gospel at that moment in his life. He needed to hear some Good News. And so God graciously gave Joseph a dream in which an angel appeared to him and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” That was Good News for Joseph. Not only did he not have to divorce his beloved. This Baby to be born of Mary would also forgive Joseph of all his sins, for no matter how much of a “good guy” Joseph was, he was also a sinner just like the rest of us.
Matthew tells us that when Joseph woke up, he did exactly as the angel told him. The Word of God had come to Joseph. What Joseph could never have believed by himself, God revealed with his almighty Word and enabled Joseph to have faith in this wonderful, amazing promise of a Savior from sin. That Good News enabled Joseph to do the right thing for all the right reasons. He took Mary as his wife. The baby to be born would now be the Son of David by his bloodline through Mary and by his legal status as the child of Joseph of Nazareth. And Matthew also tells us that Mary's virgin status was intact until she had given birth to her Son, proof of such a miraculous conception and birth.
Now there were two new residents in the home of Joseph the carpenter. There was his wife Mary. And there was the Second Person of the Holy Trinity himself. That Baby in the Virgin's Womb fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name 'Immanuel'”...and Matthew adds an explanation for that Hebrew word...which means “God with us.”
We don't hear much more about Joseph. He is mentioned in passing only a few times where people call Jesus “the son of Joseph” (e.g. Luke 4:22) or “the carpenter's son.” (Matthew 13:55) How strange that the foster father of Jesus doesn't get more ink. But then again...maybe not strange at all when you consider the purpose that his whole life was heading towards, unbeknownst to him...to care for and to raise the Boy who would become the Savior of the world...and to care for his blessed mother and get her to Bethlehem in time for her to give birth, since that was the place that the prophet Micah had said the Messiah would be born: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.” (Micah 5:2)
The home of Joseph became the temple of the LORD God. For thirty years before he went to the cross, Immanuel lived there...God with us. Joseph's initial hurt over the news of Mary's pregnancy was taken away with the Good News of the identity of her Baby. That may not be the case with the hurts we face from our loved ones, our disappointments, our anger, our sadness. When those hurts linger, remember your identity as God's baptized child. Your God is Immanuel...God with us. No matter how much you have been hurt by those around you, you are still God's dearly loved child.
The decision Joseph faced was now an easy one, because God told him exactly what to do...marry the girl! That's not always the case with the important and often life-changing decisions we face. Sometimes we are panicked with the options that are presented to us and we don't know which way to turn, which direction to take. When you are faced with difficult choices, remember that you stand in God's grace by faith in your Savior Jesus. Come to him and pray for wisdom in your decision-making. Your God is Immanuel...God with us.
Always remember that your God is Immanuel...the God who is not far off...but the God who is with you...the God who is near you...the God who is as close to you as his Word in your ears and his Body and Blood upon your lips...the God who has made YOU his temple, and who inspired St. John to write, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)
Amen.
“The Lord Comes to His Temple: The Home of Joseph” (Matthew 1:18-25)
Our theme for our Advent and Christmas sermons has been “The Lord Comes to His Temple.” We heard how the Lord visited Mary and made her womb his temple, as the very presence of the Incarnate God dwelt there. Next, we heard how the Lord made the house of Zechariah his temple. The Savior, carried in the womb of Mary, crossed the threshold and graciously visited Elizabeth, her unborn baby John, and her mute husband Zechariah. This past Wednesday, we stopped at a watchtower along the Judean Road to Bethlehem and learned about all the exciting events that took place there so long ago.
But this morning, we get a little flashback in the timeline of our theme. It was either six or nine months before that trip to Bethlehem that there were some perplexing moments back in Nazareth, some 70 miles to the north in the region of Galilee. A poor carpenter by the name of Joseph received some troubling news. His fiancée was pregnant. And they had never been intimate.
When and how did Joseph find out? Did Mary break the news to him right before she skirted off to visit her relative Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea? Or was it after she returned from that three-month stay? If it was at that point, was she beginning to show? Perhaps, but even at three months, it would be easy to hide a pregnancy under the layers of robes that women wore in those days. Nevertheless, Mary knew that she wouldn't be able to hide this baby for long. Soon her belly would be pushing all that fabric forward farther and farther. Maybe she decided to break the news to Joseph herself before he figured out why she had such a rosy glow in her cheeks. And if it was Mary who told him, she apparently didn't give him the whole story. She must have thought that Joseph would have a hard time believing that an angel had visited her and told her that she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and that the baby to be born from her womb would be the Messiah promised from of old. “Uh, okay, Mary. Whatever you say,” you can just imagine Joseph saying incredulously. And so the only thing that Joseph apparently learned, whether from Mary herself or from the town gossips, was that Mary was pregnant.
How do you suppose Joseph felt? How do you feel when someone you love dearly hurts you? Start the litany...sad, angry, embarrassed, confused, disappointed, disgusted, depressed, deserted...you've been there. We've all been there.
And what do you do when you have to face a tough decision? Think of the decision that Joseph was faced with. St. Matthew tells us that Joseph was a “just man.” In our modern parlance, you might say that Joseph was “a good guy.” And that character is shown in the way that he decided to divorce Mary quietly without exposing her to additional public shame and ridicule. Why divorce, you might ask? They were only engaged, after all. Well, in those days, engagement was tantamount to being married, even though the actual marriage ceremony and consummation of the marriage didn't take place until much later after the initial betrothal. And Joseph would have been within his rights according to the Old Testament Law to have Mary stoned for committing adultery. So really, Joseph was acting with great restraint and compassion.
Joseph was about to do the wrong thing for all the right reasons. (Thoughts here borrowed from Dr. Jeff Gibbs' commentary on Matthew) Therefore, God had to intervene. He had to intervene and divinely reveal to Joseph what he could not know “by [his] own reason or strength.” The same goes for you and me. We cannot know or believe the Good News about Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has revealed it to us through the Word of God. Recall Luther's explanation to the Third Article of the Creed: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel.”
Joseph desperately needed some Gospel at that moment in his life. He needed to hear some Good News. And so God graciously gave Joseph a dream in which an angel appeared to him and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” That was Good News for Joseph. Not only did he not have to divorce his beloved. This Baby to be born of Mary would also forgive Joseph of all his sins, for no matter how much of a “good guy” Joseph was, he was also a sinner just like the rest of us.
Matthew tells us that when Joseph woke up, he did exactly as the angel told him. The Word of God had come to Joseph. What Joseph could never have believed by himself, God revealed with his almighty Word and enabled Joseph to have faith in this wonderful, amazing promise of a Savior from sin. That Good News enabled Joseph to do the right thing for all the right reasons. He took Mary as his wife. The baby to be born would now be the Son of David by his bloodline through Mary and by his legal status as the child of Joseph of Nazareth. And Matthew also tells us that Mary's virgin status was intact until she had given birth to her Son, proof of such a miraculous conception and birth.
Now there were two new residents in the home of Joseph the carpenter. There was his wife Mary. And there was the Second Person of the Holy Trinity himself. That Baby in the Virgin's Womb fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name 'Immanuel'”...and Matthew adds an explanation for that Hebrew word...which means “God with us.”
We don't hear much more about Joseph. He is mentioned in passing only a few times where people call Jesus “the son of Joseph” (e.g. Luke 4:22) or “the carpenter's son.” (Matthew 13:55) How strange that the foster father of Jesus doesn't get more ink. But then again...maybe not strange at all when you consider the purpose that his whole life was heading towards, unbeknownst to him...to care for and to raise the Boy who would become the Savior of the world...and to care for his blessed mother and get her to Bethlehem in time for her to give birth, since that was the place that the prophet Micah had said the Messiah would be born: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.” (Micah 5:2)
The home of Joseph became the temple of the LORD God. For thirty years before he went to the cross, Immanuel lived there...God with us. Joseph's initial hurt over the news of Mary's pregnancy was taken away with the Good News of the identity of her Baby. That may not be the case with the hurts we face from our loved ones, our disappointments, our anger, our sadness. When those hurts linger, remember your identity as God's baptized child. Your God is Immanuel...God with us. No matter how much you have been hurt by those around you, you are still God's dearly loved child.
The decision Joseph faced was now an easy one, because God told him exactly what to do...marry the girl! That's not always the case with the important and often life-changing decisions we face. Sometimes we are panicked with the options that are presented to us and we don't know which way to turn, which direction to take. When you are faced with difficult choices, remember that you stand in God's grace by faith in your Savior Jesus. Come to him and pray for wisdom in your decision-making. Your God is Immanuel...God with us.
Always remember that your God is Immanuel...the God who is not far off...but the God who is with you...the God who is near you...the God who is as close to you as his Word in your ears and his Body and Blood upon your lips...the God who has made YOU his temple, and who inspired St. John to write, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)
Amen.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
'Tis the Day After Christmas
'Tis the day after Lily's
first Christmas at home.
The gifts are unwrapped.
The guests are all gone.
Empty boxes, dirty dishes,
No turtle doves here.
Hope your Christmas was merry!
Have a happy New Year!
first Christmas at home.
The gifts are unwrapped.
The guests are all gone.
Empty boxes, dirty dishes,
No turtle doves here.
Hope your Christmas was merry!
Have a happy New Year!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Merry Christmas to All!
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Since this day falls on a Sunday this year, we will have morning services as well as our two evening services. Including Christmas Day, it will seem like I've camped out for two whole days at the church. That's okay...this is an especially joyful time of year and it's always good to be with brothers and sisters in Christ receiving His good gifts in Word and Sacrament whenever the opportunity presents itself.I know some of you may be traveling to visit family in other parts of the area, so I may not get to see you over the next two days. In any case, I want to wish all of you...and anyone else who happens to "drive by" our little intersection here at 92nd & State...a very joyful celebration of our Savior's birth.
Interested in a Trip to England & Scotland?
I know all of you are probably busy with last minute Christmas shopping. Planning a trip overseas in 2007 is surely the last thing on your mind. But if you have at least an extra three grand sitting around, perhaps you'd be interested in this. It's a trip to England and Scotland hosted by Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne. For more information, go to CTS's website by clicking here.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Recommended Read
I'm in the middle of reading In Search of the Genesis World: Debunking the Evolution Myth. If you didn't order this when it was offered as November's Book-of-the-Month, then I would recommend you get your hands on a copy. It gives plentiful examples of why people should consider the Bible's view of the ancient world rather than current evolutionary theories. In particular, the author describes evidence of catastrophies in history that radically changed the character of the earth and left unique fossil deposits that point to a young, changing earth rather than an extremely ancient, uniform earth.You can order this book online at Concordia Publishing House's website or from Amazon. Or, you can always see Mary down at The Bookworks on 3rd Street in Marysville and tell her that Pastor Onken sent you. She does a great job ordering books in a timely fashion.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Peanuts, Jazz, and the Gospel of Luke
The TV special "A Charlie Brown Christmas" from 1965 is a classic. (I was born in 1965...does that make me a classic?) As far as I'm concerned, it's the best that TV has ever had to offer during the Christmas season. It mocks commercialism, has some cool piano jazz music, and ends with a recitation of St. Luke's account of the birth of the Savior. How can you beat that?
Thanks to Gene Veith for linking to a great article about the cool music you hear throughout the show.
By the way, the Peanuts theme is called "Linus and Lucy." It happens to be in my own piano repertoire and has a soft place in Julie's heart...it's the first song she ever heard me play on the piano. Funny, though...I don't remember her swooning over me while I played like Lucy did with Schroeder!
Thanks to Gene Veith for linking to a great article about the cool music you hear throughout the show.
By the way, the Peanuts theme is called "Linus and Lucy." It happens to be in my own piano repertoire and has a soft place in Julie's heart...it's the first song she ever heard me play on the piano. Funny, though...I don't remember her swooning over me while I played like Lucy did with Schroeder!
Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent
Third Sunday in Advent (December 17, 2006)
“Stones in Advent: A Scandalous Stone” (Luke 7:18-23)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The anticipation of Christmas morning fills our hearts with joy. The joy of being with family...the joy of giving and receiving...the joy of watching children unwrap their presents with unbridled enthusiasm...the anticipation of all those joy-filled moments builds and builds every day as Christmas Day approaches each year.
Today is the third Sunday in Advent, and the lighting of the pink candle today signals to us that Advent is once again coming to a close very soon. Our celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ is right around the corner. In the midst of our Advent repentance, we also have Advent joy.
Joy is all over the place in today's service. We began by singing “Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers.” The Introit and the Epistle reading both begin with St. Paul's encouragement to “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!” In the Old Testament reading, the prophet Zephaniah says, “Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” We sang the words from Zechariah in the Gradual, “Rejoice, greatly, O daughter of Zion.” And then we get to the Gospel reading, and joy momentarily comes to a screeching halt.
John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah, is in prison. That's him pictured on the cover of your bulletin this morning. John doesn't look very joyful, does he? He was put in prison by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great who was king when Jesus was born. John had publicly criticized Herod Antipas for committing both adultery and incest with his brother's wife. Rulers don't like it when you talk about them like that. There was no such thing as the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech in those days. If you made the ruler mad, he could put you in prison. And that's what Herod Antipas did to John.
So when our Gospel lesson today opens, John had been in prison for a number of months.1 Apparently, there were visiting hours in this prison, and some of his followers came and reported to him about what Jesus had been doing. In particular, they must have heard about Jesus bringing back to life the widow's son in the city of Nain, which Luke records right before our text and says, “This report about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.”2
What was going on in John's mind? He couldn't have been jealous of Jesus for getting all the attention. Earlier in his ministry, he pointed to the Lord and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And when some of John's disciples left him to follow Jesus, John was satisfied about this, and said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”3 But prison is not a happy place, especially prisons in those days. Was John starting to get a little depressed? Was his faith in the Lamb of God wavering? Why did he send two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Was he wondering why there was such a delay in the Messiah's plans to bring about the Kingdom of God? Was he losing his joy as the King's messenger who had come to “prepare the way of the Lord”?
Some commentators say that John had no doubts. They say that he sent his disciples to question Jesus because John's disciples were still too loyal to him, and now they needed to give their allegiance to Jesus.4 Others say that John knew about Jesus' acts of grace and mercy, but wondered where his acts of judgment were, which John himself had preached about...all that business about the axe being laid to the root of the trees and all those fruitless trees being cut down and thrown in to the fire.5 This is all quite possible. But taking the text at face value, and considering the present condition of John...including that sinful nature that he shared with you and me...I can't help but think that John was starting to have some questions of his own.
As you and I anticipate Christmas, maybe you have some questions. “Why am I not as joyful as everybody expects me to be during the holidays...with all the pressure to shop, buy the right gift for everyone, decorate, and entertain? Do I have to go to a bunch of family parties and put on a happy face, even though there is so much unresolved, underlying tension between some of us?”
This is not just the case with anticipating our Lord's First Advent. It also goes for anticipating our Lord's Second Advent. We have questions about that, too. “Why does Jesus seem to be dragging his feet, as this world seems to spin out of control? When will his justice finally be delivered for all the wickedness and evil in the world? Is he really going to come back again, like he said, or is this all a made-up fairy tale?”
You see, you and I are not much different than John in our text. We are not in a prison cell. But we are in prisons of our own. We are all in bondage to sin. The sins of others and our own sins have wreaked havoc in our life. The chains of doubt, despair, discontent, bitterness, resentment, hatred, slander, and impatience hold us down and keep us from Advent and Christmas joy...along with other sins that handcuff us and keep our hearts as cold as stone.
Oh, yeah. That's right. We're supposed to be talking about “Stones in Advent.” That's been our theme for our Advent and Christmas sermons. But where's the stone in our Gospel reading today? Today's stone is the one who said, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” The word for “offended” can be translated “scandalous” or as something which trips people up, like a stone in your path over which you stub your toe or trip and fall. Both St. Paul and St. Peter, that rocky apostle, wrote that for those who do not believe, Jesus is “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”6
Why is Jesus so scandalous? Why do people trip up over him? Because he does things we don't expect. John expected Jesus to do more than what he was doing. John may have been expecting Jesus to dispense his judgment right then and there, instead of at his Second Advent as is God's plan. And so Jesus sends John's disciples back with some encouraging words. He reminds John that he is truly the promised Messiah who was doing what he was sent to do. “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.” Through his miracles, Jesus came show that he came to release people from their imprisonment to sin and its effects in the world.
But Jesus is an even more scandalous stone than that. During his First Advent, he didn't automatically heal everyone and raise all the dead. You would expect God to do this for people. But God does things we don't expect, including being born as a helpless baby. When he grew up, Christ's main purpose was not to be a miracle worker, but to become weak and to suffer and die for the sins of the world on the cross, to rise again from the dead, and to offer life and salvation and forgiveness as a free gift...no strings attached. People stumble over that Good News, because they think that there has to be a catch. They expect to be saved at least partially by their own good works rather than by faith alone in the Son of God who loved them and gave himself up for them.7
We don't like scandal...unless it comes out of Hollywood or Washington, D.C. We like our lives to be free of controversy. We don't want God dying on a cross. That's scandalous. That's offensive. Instead, give us a sweet little baby in a manger. But when you really think about it, that baby in the manger is just as scandalous, because the Bible tells us that he is “true God, begotten of his Father before all eternity, and true Man, born of the Virgin Mary.” How can a man be God? How can a Virgin give birth? Let the angel Gabriel tell you how this can be: “Nothing will be impossible with God.”
Nor is it impossible for God, through that Baby, to release you from the prison that sin has created in your life...to forgive you...to renew you...to reconcile you to God and to others...to restore your Advent and Christmas joy...and to bless you, as Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Blessed are you, no longer stumbling over that stone named Jesus, but with faith firmly established on such a solid foundation as his life, death, and resurrection.
Amen.
1Fahling, The Life of Christ, p. 285
2Luke 7:17
3John 3:30
4e.g. Fahling, p. 285
5e.g. Lenski, Luke, p. 404
6Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:8
7Galatians 2:20
“Stones in Advent: A Scandalous Stone” (Luke 7:18-23)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The anticipation of Christmas morning fills our hearts with joy. The joy of being with family...the joy of giving and receiving...the joy of watching children unwrap their presents with unbridled enthusiasm...the anticipation of all those joy-filled moments builds and builds every day as Christmas Day approaches each year.
Today is the third Sunday in Advent, and the lighting of the pink candle today signals to us that Advent is once again coming to a close very soon. Our celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ is right around the corner. In the midst of our Advent repentance, we also have Advent joy.
Joy is all over the place in today's service. We began by singing “Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers.” The Introit and the Epistle reading both begin with St. Paul's encouragement to “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!” In the Old Testament reading, the prophet Zephaniah says, “Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” We sang the words from Zechariah in the Gradual, “Rejoice, greatly, O daughter of Zion.” And then we get to the Gospel reading, and joy momentarily comes to a screeching halt.
John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah, is in prison. That's him pictured on the cover of your bulletin this morning. John doesn't look very joyful, does he? He was put in prison by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great who was king when Jesus was born. John had publicly criticized Herod Antipas for committing both adultery and incest with his brother's wife. Rulers don't like it when you talk about them like that. There was no such thing as the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech in those days. If you made the ruler mad, he could put you in prison. And that's what Herod Antipas did to John.
So when our Gospel lesson today opens, John had been in prison for a number of months.1 Apparently, there were visiting hours in this prison, and some of his followers came and reported to him about what Jesus had been doing. In particular, they must have heard about Jesus bringing back to life the widow's son in the city of Nain, which Luke records right before our text and says, “This report about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.”2
What was going on in John's mind? He couldn't have been jealous of Jesus for getting all the attention. Earlier in his ministry, he pointed to the Lord and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And when some of John's disciples left him to follow Jesus, John was satisfied about this, and said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”3 But prison is not a happy place, especially prisons in those days. Was John starting to get a little depressed? Was his faith in the Lamb of God wavering? Why did he send two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Was he wondering why there was such a delay in the Messiah's plans to bring about the Kingdom of God? Was he losing his joy as the King's messenger who had come to “prepare the way of the Lord”?
Some commentators say that John had no doubts. They say that he sent his disciples to question Jesus because John's disciples were still too loyal to him, and now they needed to give their allegiance to Jesus.4 Others say that John knew about Jesus' acts of grace and mercy, but wondered where his acts of judgment were, which John himself had preached about...all that business about the axe being laid to the root of the trees and all those fruitless trees being cut down and thrown in to the fire.5 This is all quite possible. But taking the text at face value, and considering the present condition of John...including that sinful nature that he shared with you and me...I can't help but think that John was starting to have some questions of his own.
As you and I anticipate Christmas, maybe you have some questions. “Why am I not as joyful as everybody expects me to be during the holidays...with all the pressure to shop, buy the right gift for everyone, decorate, and entertain? Do I have to go to a bunch of family parties and put on a happy face, even though there is so much unresolved, underlying tension between some of us?”
This is not just the case with anticipating our Lord's First Advent. It also goes for anticipating our Lord's Second Advent. We have questions about that, too. “Why does Jesus seem to be dragging his feet, as this world seems to spin out of control? When will his justice finally be delivered for all the wickedness and evil in the world? Is he really going to come back again, like he said, or is this all a made-up fairy tale?”
You see, you and I are not much different than John in our text. We are not in a prison cell. But we are in prisons of our own. We are all in bondage to sin. The sins of others and our own sins have wreaked havoc in our life. The chains of doubt, despair, discontent, bitterness, resentment, hatred, slander, and impatience hold us down and keep us from Advent and Christmas joy...along with other sins that handcuff us and keep our hearts as cold as stone.
Oh, yeah. That's right. We're supposed to be talking about “Stones in Advent.” That's been our theme for our Advent and Christmas sermons. But where's the stone in our Gospel reading today? Today's stone is the one who said, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” The word for “offended” can be translated “scandalous” or as something which trips people up, like a stone in your path over which you stub your toe or trip and fall. Both St. Paul and St. Peter, that rocky apostle, wrote that for those who do not believe, Jesus is “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”6
Why is Jesus so scandalous? Why do people trip up over him? Because he does things we don't expect. John expected Jesus to do more than what he was doing. John may have been expecting Jesus to dispense his judgment right then and there, instead of at his Second Advent as is God's plan. And so Jesus sends John's disciples back with some encouraging words. He reminds John that he is truly the promised Messiah who was doing what he was sent to do. “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.” Through his miracles, Jesus came show that he came to release people from their imprisonment to sin and its effects in the world.
But Jesus is an even more scandalous stone than that. During his First Advent, he didn't automatically heal everyone and raise all the dead. You would expect God to do this for people. But God does things we don't expect, including being born as a helpless baby. When he grew up, Christ's main purpose was not to be a miracle worker, but to become weak and to suffer and die for the sins of the world on the cross, to rise again from the dead, and to offer life and salvation and forgiveness as a free gift...no strings attached. People stumble over that Good News, because they think that there has to be a catch. They expect to be saved at least partially by their own good works rather than by faith alone in the Son of God who loved them and gave himself up for them.7
We don't like scandal...unless it comes out of Hollywood or Washington, D.C. We like our lives to be free of controversy. We don't want God dying on a cross. That's scandalous. That's offensive. Instead, give us a sweet little baby in a manger. But when you really think about it, that baby in the manger is just as scandalous, because the Bible tells us that he is “true God, begotten of his Father before all eternity, and true Man, born of the Virgin Mary.” How can a man be God? How can a Virgin give birth? Let the angel Gabriel tell you how this can be: “Nothing will be impossible with God.”
Nor is it impossible for God, through that Baby, to release you from the prison that sin has created in your life...to forgive you...to renew you...to reconcile you to God and to others...to restore your Advent and Christmas joy...and to bless you, as Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Blessed are you, no longer stumbling over that stone named Jesus, but with faith firmly established on such a solid foundation as his life, death, and resurrection.
Amen.
1Fahling, The Life of Christ, p. 285
2Luke 7:17
3John 3:30
4e.g. Fahling, p. 285
5e.g. Lenski, Luke, p. 404
6Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:8
7Galatians 2:20
Friday, December 15, 2006
Two Articles about Christmas
Gene Veith has two posts on his blog that are appropriate to the season. The first is entitled "Missouri Synod Lutherans and the Christmas Tree." The second is entitled "Christmas was NOT based on a pagan holiday." Click on the titles here to read them.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Sermon for the Funeral of Lucile Bauer
Sermon for the Funeral of Lucile Bauer (December 11, 2006)
“I Thank My God in All My Remembrance of You” (Philippians 1:2-6)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Those are familiar words. Many of you hear them as the pastor begins his sermon, especially those of you who attend this congregation. Those words are actually the first words of the text I chose for our meditation on God's Word today. They are from St. Paul's letter to the church at Philippi, the first chapter, and they were just read in our services yesterday morning. As I read them in church yesterday, some of the words struck me as being appropriate for our time together today.
That familiar greeting from St. Paul is good for you today. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The loss of your dear one is fresh in your mind and heart. And so it's good to hear about God's grace and peace today. Grace is God's love that we don't deserve, but love that he gives to us nonetheless. And God is gracious to us because of his Son, our Savior Jesus, who died and rose again for us. Through Jesus, we have peace with God. Therefore, in the midst of your sorrow and pain, it's good to know that God's grace and peace is with you...and that it will not be taken away from you, no matter how sad you may feel. Remember God's promise to you also from the pen of St. Paul in Romans 8: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, not angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Right after his greeting, he says to the people of Philippi, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” As I read those words, I couldn't help but think of Wednesday afternoon, when Del...you and your children were gathered around Lucile's bedside. Through your tears and in between Lucile's labored breaths, I heard each of you say in your own way, “Thank you, Mom. Thank you for all you did for us. Thank you for being such a good and faithful wife. Thank you for being such a good and faithful mother.”
You know, sometimes it's the simple things that our parents do for us which we take for granted and forget to say thank you. But you didn't even forget to say thank you to your mom for fixing your lunch every day before you went to school. And Dennis even related the fact that you knew what day it was depending on whether you pulled out a liverwurst sandwich...that must mean it's Wednesday...or a tunafish sandwich...ah, must be Friday.
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” I'm sure you will continue to do a lot of remembering in the days to come...and a lot of thanking God for the gift Lucile was to each of you.
A few verses later, St. Paul says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Our Lord began a good work in Lucile when he brought her into his family in the waters of Holy Baptism. In those cleansing waters, he forgave her of all her sin. Through his powerful Word of promise connected to those waters, God the Holy Spirit came into her heart and created faith in her Savior Jesus. And God continued to grow Lucile's faith over the years in Sunday School, confirmation classes, and through her faithful hearing of God's Word. Lucile came to church often, confessed her sins, and heard those wonderful words of absolution...that through the “holy, innocent, bitter suffering and death of [God's] beloved Son” she was forgiven “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” She also regularly received Christ's body and blood in Holy Communion as often as she could get to church. There were some Sundays over the past year or two that she wasn't able to make it to church. But I'll tell you what...I've know of people in better condition than she was in who find excuses to not come to church. You knew that if Lucile wasn't here, then she truly wasn't able to make it. If she was able, she was here...most recently in those comfy blue seats in the back. Only two weeks ago, she was here and marched right up here...oxygen tank and all...to receive her Lord's precious body and blood. That in itself was a confession of faith. But she also made a bold confession of faith even to the very end. With her family gathered around her, she repeated over and over again, “Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.” Then she proceeded to lead us all in saying the Lord's Prayer together.
That good work that God began in Lucile...that good work of bringing her to faith as a gift of his grace...is not completed yet. It's only partially completed. She is indeed with Jesus right now. Scripture says that to be “away from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord.”1 But Paul says this good work that God begins in us will be brought “to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” There will come a day when this body in front of us here...and the bodies of all who trust in Christ as their Savior from sin, death, and hell...will be raised to life again to live eternally in the very presence of God. You see, death does not have the final word among us. Death is a result of sin in the world. But Jesus Christ came to conquer sin and death and hell through his own death and resurrection.
That's why the 17th Century poet John Donne could say,
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
“One short sleep past, we wake eternally.” That may very well be what it will seem like. Just as you go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning, not realizing that 6, 7, or 8 hours have passed...perhaps on that Last and Great Day when Christ calls us from our graves, it will seem like we only closed our eyes a short time ago, and now it's time to get up.
Here's how it's described in 1 Corinthians 15: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' 'O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Or as Donne put it: “and death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”
Death has no reason to be proud, that's for sure. But you have a reason to be proud. I think there's room for a little godly pride in times like these. You can be proud of your wife, your mother, your grandmother. You can give glory to God for the faith that he gave to her, and the ways in which that faith produced fruit in her life, especially the fruit of love and service to her family. And you can thank God in all your remembrance of her, that she has “fought the fight,” she has “finished the race,” she has “kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for [her] the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to [her] on that Day, and not only to [her] but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
Amen.
12 Cor. 5:8
“I Thank My God in All My Remembrance of You” (Philippians 1:2-6)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Those are familiar words. Many of you hear them as the pastor begins his sermon, especially those of you who attend this congregation. Those words are actually the first words of the text I chose for our meditation on God's Word today. They are from St. Paul's letter to the church at Philippi, the first chapter, and they were just read in our services yesterday morning. As I read them in church yesterday, some of the words struck me as being appropriate for our time together today.
That familiar greeting from St. Paul is good for you today. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The loss of your dear one is fresh in your mind and heart. And so it's good to hear about God's grace and peace today. Grace is God's love that we don't deserve, but love that he gives to us nonetheless. And God is gracious to us because of his Son, our Savior Jesus, who died and rose again for us. Through Jesus, we have peace with God. Therefore, in the midst of your sorrow and pain, it's good to know that God's grace and peace is with you...and that it will not be taken away from you, no matter how sad you may feel. Remember God's promise to you also from the pen of St. Paul in Romans 8: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, not angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Right after his greeting, he says to the people of Philippi, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” As I read those words, I couldn't help but think of Wednesday afternoon, when Del...you and your children were gathered around Lucile's bedside. Through your tears and in between Lucile's labored breaths, I heard each of you say in your own way, “Thank you, Mom. Thank you for all you did for us. Thank you for being such a good and faithful wife. Thank you for being such a good and faithful mother.”
You know, sometimes it's the simple things that our parents do for us which we take for granted and forget to say thank you. But you didn't even forget to say thank you to your mom for fixing your lunch every day before you went to school. And Dennis even related the fact that you knew what day it was depending on whether you pulled out a liverwurst sandwich...that must mean it's Wednesday...or a tunafish sandwich...ah, must be Friday.
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” I'm sure you will continue to do a lot of remembering in the days to come...and a lot of thanking God for the gift Lucile was to each of you.
A few verses later, St. Paul says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Our Lord began a good work in Lucile when he brought her into his family in the waters of Holy Baptism. In those cleansing waters, he forgave her of all her sin. Through his powerful Word of promise connected to those waters, God the Holy Spirit came into her heart and created faith in her Savior Jesus. And God continued to grow Lucile's faith over the years in Sunday School, confirmation classes, and through her faithful hearing of God's Word. Lucile came to church often, confessed her sins, and heard those wonderful words of absolution...that through the “holy, innocent, bitter suffering and death of [God's] beloved Son” she was forgiven “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” She also regularly received Christ's body and blood in Holy Communion as often as she could get to church. There were some Sundays over the past year or two that she wasn't able to make it to church. But I'll tell you what...I've know of people in better condition than she was in who find excuses to not come to church. You knew that if Lucile wasn't here, then she truly wasn't able to make it. If she was able, she was here...most recently in those comfy blue seats in the back. Only two weeks ago, she was here and marched right up here...oxygen tank and all...to receive her Lord's precious body and blood. That in itself was a confession of faith. But she also made a bold confession of faith even to the very end. With her family gathered around her, she repeated over and over again, “Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.” Then she proceeded to lead us all in saying the Lord's Prayer together.
That good work that God began in Lucile...that good work of bringing her to faith as a gift of his grace...is not completed yet. It's only partially completed. She is indeed with Jesus right now. Scripture says that to be “away from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord.”1 But Paul says this good work that God begins in us will be brought “to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” There will come a day when this body in front of us here...and the bodies of all who trust in Christ as their Savior from sin, death, and hell...will be raised to life again to live eternally in the very presence of God. You see, death does not have the final word among us. Death is a result of sin in the world. But Jesus Christ came to conquer sin and death and hell through his own death and resurrection.
That's why the 17th Century poet John Donne could say,
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
“One short sleep past, we wake eternally.” That may very well be what it will seem like. Just as you go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning, not realizing that 6, 7, or 8 hours have passed...perhaps on that Last and Great Day when Christ calls us from our graves, it will seem like we only closed our eyes a short time ago, and now it's time to get up.
Here's how it's described in 1 Corinthians 15: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' 'O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Or as Donne put it: “and death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”
Death has no reason to be proud, that's for sure. But you have a reason to be proud. I think there's room for a little godly pride in times like these. You can be proud of your wife, your mother, your grandmother. You can give glory to God for the faith that he gave to her, and the ways in which that faith produced fruit in her life, especially the fruit of love and service to her family. And you can thank God in all your remembrance of her, that she has “fought the fight,” she has “finished the race,” she has “kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for [her] the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to [her] on that Day, and not only to [her] but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
Amen.
12 Cor. 5:8
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Demotivators
It's hard not to be a cynic when you are someone who believes (as the Bible teaches, of course) that people have a sinful nature with which even Christians constantly battle. That's probably why I love twisted humor, such as this. You may have seen various motivational posters in assorted office spaces...maybe you even have one or two. "Demotivators" is a parody of those pithy posters intended to motivate, but which usually make me feel rather defeated.
There's a lesson on Law and Gospel here, isn't there? The Law's high expectations never motivated anyone. The Gospel is the only true motivator in our life of service to others.
In the meantime, have a laugh at this bit of cynical satire with me. If you've ever worked in an office setting, I think you will especially appreciate this stuff.
There's a lesson on Law and Gospel here, isn't there? The Law's high expectations never motivated anyone. The Gospel is the only true motivator in our life of service to others.
In the meantime, have a laugh at this bit of cynical satire with me. If you've ever worked in an office setting, I think you will especially appreciate this stuff.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Paul McCain's New Blog
Many of you who have received my emails in the past know that I have forwarded a lot of stuff from the Rev. Paul McCain and his blog Cyberbrethren. Just yesterday he announced that he has started a new blog devoted to discussions on the Lutheran Confessions as contained in the Book of Concord. If you are interested in reading more about this (and I know you are out there, since many of you purchased Concordia, the recent edition of the Confessions that CPH published), then you may want to pay Rev. McCain's new blog a visit. It's located at bookofconcord.blogspot.com.
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent
Second Sunday in Advent (December 10, 2006)
“Stones in Advent: Stones as Children of Abraham” (Luke 3:8-9)
Today our sermon series “Stones in Advent” continues. Last week we heard that even if all the disciples of Jesus were silent, God could make the stones cry out. Today we will hear John the Baptist tell us about some other “Stones in Advent.”
You younger people here have probably never heard of the “Pet Rock” fad that stormed the country back in the mid-1970's. Gary Dahl was a brilliant marketer who thought up the idea. For a little under five bucks, you could buy your own pet rock, complete with a cardboard box with your new friend nestled inside in that same stuff that protects your eggs in your Easter basket. Each pet rock also came with its own “Pet Rock Training Manual.” It told you how to properly raise and care for your new pet. It told you that your new pet would easily obey the commands “stay” and “sit.” However, “roll over” required some extra effort by the trainer. And “come” was completely out of the question.1 But house training it was a snap. The manual told the owner to “Place it on some old newspapers. The rock will never know what the paper is for and will require no further instruction.2
Hundreds of thousands of these things were sold, making Dahl a millionaire. Ask your parents later if they were one of the people who bought one. By the way, I can proudly say that I never had a pet rock. You know why? Because when I asked for one for Christmas one year, my wise father said to me, “Son...it's a ROCK. You want a rock? Go outside in the garden and dig one up. I'm sure you'll find yourself a good one there. I'll even put it in a box for you.”
People did a lot of stupid things back in the 60's and 70's. It may have had something to do with all that hazy blue smoke, and I'm not talking about the smog in LA. Rocks as pets? You've got to be kidding me.
That's probably the same response that John the Baptizer got when he told the crowds who came out to hear him that “God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” Rocks as children? You've got to be kidding me.
John had come as the last and greatest prophet... the bridge between the Old and New Testaments. He was sent, just as he had preached, to “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Like a city that prepares its roads when a king is on his way to visit, smoothing out all the rocky places, the people were to prepare their hearts by repenting of their sins and receiving the forgiveness of God by trusting in the promise of the Messiah to come.
People came out in droves to hear John. Why? Perhaps some came because they were truly sorry for their sins and wanted to be ready when the Messiah arrived on the scene. In those days, for one reason of another, there were a lot of expectations that the arrival of the Messiah was just around the corner. Others may have come out of curiosity. They heard that there was some strange hairy preacher out in the desert, baptizing people in the Jordan River, and so they said to one another, “Let's go see what all the hubbub is about.” And then there were the religious authorities from Jerusalem, the Pharisees and Sadducees, who came out to see John, perhaps to see if his sermons met with their “doctrinal review committees.” St. Matthew is the one who tells us that they were the ones John addressed when he said, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our Father.' For I tell you...” and here you can imagine John waving his hand around at all those water-worn rocks on the banks of the Jordan... “God is able from these stones to raise up children from Abraham.”
The Pharisees and Sadducees, and many Israelites in those days, relied on their bloodline. They believed that their physical descent from Abraham was their ticket to being in God's good graces. John saw right through their hypocrisy. “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance,” he told them. In other words, “If you are truly sorry for your sin, then there should be some evidence of it in your life. There should be some changes in your life. There should be some good works to show that you have truly repented.” And then John warns, “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.” Long ago, God had planted Israel as his own vineyard. He cultivated it with his love and mercy. But the children of Abraham rejected him and did not produce the fruit of repentance. God's judgment is pictured as a tree being cut down and thrown into the fire.
God's plan to bring about a Savior was indeed centered in a bloodline. That's why he was so patient with the stubborn Israelites over and over again. He had promised that through that bloodline of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob...then King David...and on down to his mother Mary...that a Savior would one day be born. The tree that God had planted in Israel was cut down, but a stump remained...a faithful remnant. And from that stump, a branch grew, as we heard in last week's Old Testament lesson from Jeremiah 33, “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” Jesus was the Branch that sprung up in the womb of the Virgin Mary. And at his crucifixion, God's justice over sin was satisfied. The sinless Son of God died with the sins of the world laid upon him. And now his righteousness is given as a gift to all who are baptized in his name and trust in him as Savior.
That's how you become a true child of Abraham. God's plan to bring about the Savior was centered in a bloodline, but his plan to make children of Abraham out of stones is NOT by one's genealogy. It's by faith. Paul explains this in the fourth chapter of Romans, where he says that Abraham was justified... he was counted as righteous in God's sight... because he believed God's promises. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” verse 3 of Romans 4 says, and then he says that all who “walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had” are also declared righteous by faith. And Paul makes the same point in Galatians 3 where he says “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.”
So it doesn't matter whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. It doesn't matter whether you are a Swede or a Norwegian or a German. It doesn't matter what kind of a hyphenated American you are. Nor does it matter what kind of block-headed things you may have done in your life as a stone. It all boils down to this: God makes you his child by causing you to be born again in the waters of Holy Baptism. Apart from God working in our hearts through his Word, we are as spiritually dead as those stones on the banks of the Jordan River. But when the forgiveness of sins in Christ is spoken to your heart, faith is created and becomes the hand that receives that same forgiveness through Christ's death and resurrection.
God turns stones into children of Abraham, and then he makes you into a tree. He plants you as a new tree in this vineyard called the Church and causes you to bear good fruit. The preaching of John to those gather at the riverside is for us to hear, too. “What then shall we do?” the crowds asked him. To the people he said, “If someone needs clothes, give them some of yours. If they are hungry, feed them.” To the tax collectors, he said, “Don't cheat people.” To the soldiers, he said, “Be the best soldier you can be, and serve with honesty and integrity...and be content with your wages.” To us, he would say something similar. Help the poor and needy. Serve in your individual vocations and occupations with honesty and integrity. Don't covet, but instead be content with all that God has blessed you with. Always refer to God's commandments when you think to yourself, “How else can I serve my neighbor in love?” You will have plenty to keep yourself occupied there without wondering, “What does God want me to do?” It's all there in black and white. And the needs of others are right there in front of you, waiting to be met. It's really not all that hard to see them.
After all, you're not a rock. And you are not simply a pet either. God has lovingly adopted you, not as a pet, but as a dearly loved child. You are a living stone who has become a child of Abraham, not by bloodline, but by faith in the shed blood of God's beloved Son. Respond to John's Advent sermon to “Prepare the way of the Lord” by smoothing out all the rocky places in your life by repentance and by receiving the forgiveness of sins from the King who has come, who comes to us today, and who will come again, just as he promised. Amen.
1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_rock
2http://www.virtualpet.com/vp/farm/petrock/petrock.htm
“Stones in Advent: Stones as Children of Abraham” (Luke 3:8-9)
Today our sermon series “Stones in Advent” continues. Last week we heard that even if all the disciples of Jesus were silent, God could make the stones cry out. Today we will hear John the Baptist tell us about some other “Stones in Advent.”
You younger people here have probably never heard of the “Pet Rock” fad that stormed the country back in the mid-1970's. Gary Dahl was a brilliant marketer who thought up the idea. For a little under five bucks, you could buy your own pet rock, complete with a cardboard box with your new friend nestled inside in that same stuff that protects your eggs in your Easter basket. Each pet rock also came with its own “Pet Rock Training Manual.” It told you how to properly raise and care for your new pet. It told you that your new pet would easily obey the commands “stay” and “sit.” However, “roll over” required some extra effort by the trainer. And “come” was completely out of the question.1 But house training it was a snap. The manual told the owner to “Place it on some old newspapers. The rock will never know what the paper is for and will require no further instruction.2
Hundreds of thousands of these things were sold, making Dahl a millionaire. Ask your parents later if they were one of the people who bought one. By the way, I can proudly say that I never had a pet rock. You know why? Because when I asked for one for Christmas one year, my wise father said to me, “Son...it's a ROCK. You want a rock? Go outside in the garden and dig one up. I'm sure you'll find yourself a good one there. I'll even put it in a box for you.”
People did a lot of stupid things back in the 60's and 70's. It may have had something to do with all that hazy blue smoke, and I'm not talking about the smog in LA. Rocks as pets? You've got to be kidding me.
That's probably the same response that John the Baptizer got when he told the crowds who came out to hear him that “God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” Rocks as children? You've got to be kidding me.
John had come as the last and greatest prophet... the bridge between the Old and New Testaments. He was sent, just as he had preached, to “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Like a city that prepares its roads when a king is on his way to visit, smoothing out all the rocky places, the people were to prepare their hearts by repenting of their sins and receiving the forgiveness of God by trusting in the promise of the Messiah to come.
People came out in droves to hear John. Why? Perhaps some came because they were truly sorry for their sins and wanted to be ready when the Messiah arrived on the scene. In those days, for one reason of another, there were a lot of expectations that the arrival of the Messiah was just around the corner. Others may have come out of curiosity. They heard that there was some strange hairy preacher out in the desert, baptizing people in the Jordan River, and so they said to one another, “Let's go see what all the hubbub is about.” And then there were the religious authorities from Jerusalem, the Pharisees and Sadducees, who came out to see John, perhaps to see if his sermons met with their “doctrinal review committees.” St. Matthew is the one who tells us that they were the ones John addressed when he said, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our Father.' For I tell you...” and here you can imagine John waving his hand around at all those water-worn rocks on the banks of the Jordan... “God is able from these stones to raise up children from Abraham.”
The Pharisees and Sadducees, and many Israelites in those days, relied on their bloodline. They believed that their physical descent from Abraham was their ticket to being in God's good graces. John saw right through their hypocrisy. “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance,” he told them. In other words, “If you are truly sorry for your sin, then there should be some evidence of it in your life. There should be some changes in your life. There should be some good works to show that you have truly repented.” And then John warns, “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.” Long ago, God had planted Israel as his own vineyard. He cultivated it with his love and mercy. But the children of Abraham rejected him and did not produce the fruit of repentance. God's judgment is pictured as a tree being cut down and thrown into the fire.
God's plan to bring about a Savior was indeed centered in a bloodline. That's why he was so patient with the stubborn Israelites over and over again. He had promised that through that bloodline of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob...then King David...and on down to his mother Mary...that a Savior would one day be born. The tree that God had planted in Israel was cut down, but a stump remained...a faithful remnant. And from that stump, a branch grew, as we heard in last week's Old Testament lesson from Jeremiah 33, “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” Jesus was the Branch that sprung up in the womb of the Virgin Mary. And at his crucifixion, God's justice over sin was satisfied. The sinless Son of God died with the sins of the world laid upon him. And now his righteousness is given as a gift to all who are baptized in his name and trust in him as Savior.
That's how you become a true child of Abraham. God's plan to bring about the Savior was centered in a bloodline, but his plan to make children of Abraham out of stones is NOT by one's genealogy. It's by faith. Paul explains this in the fourth chapter of Romans, where he says that Abraham was justified... he was counted as righteous in God's sight... because he believed God's promises. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” verse 3 of Romans 4 says, and then he says that all who “walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had” are also declared righteous by faith. And Paul makes the same point in Galatians 3 where he says “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.”
So it doesn't matter whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. It doesn't matter whether you are a Swede or a Norwegian or a German. It doesn't matter what kind of a hyphenated American you are. Nor does it matter what kind of block-headed things you may have done in your life as a stone. It all boils down to this: God makes you his child by causing you to be born again in the waters of Holy Baptism. Apart from God working in our hearts through his Word, we are as spiritually dead as those stones on the banks of the Jordan River. But when the forgiveness of sins in Christ is spoken to your heart, faith is created and becomes the hand that receives that same forgiveness through Christ's death and resurrection.
God turns stones into children of Abraham, and then he makes you into a tree. He plants you as a new tree in this vineyard called the Church and causes you to bear good fruit. The preaching of John to those gather at the riverside is for us to hear, too. “What then shall we do?” the crowds asked him. To the people he said, “If someone needs clothes, give them some of yours. If they are hungry, feed them.” To the tax collectors, he said, “Don't cheat people.” To the soldiers, he said, “Be the best soldier you can be, and serve with honesty and integrity...and be content with your wages.” To us, he would say something similar. Help the poor and needy. Serve in your individual vocations and occupations with honesty and integrity. Don't covet, but instead be content with all that God has blessed you with. Always refer to God's commandments when you think to yourself, “How else can I serve my neighbor in love?” You will have plenty to keep yourself occupied there without wondering, “What does God want me to do?” It's all there in black and white. And the needs of others are right there in front of you, waiting to be met. It's really not all that hard to see them.
After all, you're not a rock. And you are not simply a pet either. God has lovingly adopted you, not as a pet, but as a dearly loved child. You are a living stone who has become a child of Abraham, not by bloodline, but by faith in the shed blood of God's beloved Son. Respond to John's Advent sermon to “Prepare the way of the Lord” by smoothing out all the rocky places in your life by repentance and by receiving the forgiveness of sins from the King who has come, who comes to us today, and who will come again, just as he promised. Amen.
1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_rock
2http://www.virtualpet.com/vp/farm/petrock/petrock.htm
Thursday, December 7, 2006
92nd & State's New Location
No, we haven't up and moved the intersection where Messiah Lutheran Church is located. This is the new location of the blog entitled "92nd & State." I started this blog originally for the youth of our congregation, but I thought I'd try expanding it to include information and other tidbits for the rest of our church. It's been a while since I posted anything at the previous location. Also, something went haywire with the old site, and I couldn't access it to edit or add posts. It's still out there in cyberspace, however. If you want to view anything that was posted there, just click here.
Nevertheless, we're here now. My other blog (redthreadtomarysville.blogspot.com) is with Blogger. Blogger has always been pretty foolproof for me, so I decided to stick with them.
I'm not the most expert of bloggers, so this will always be a work in progress. I'll try to categorize all the posts for easy reference. Enjoy, and feel free to check back periodically. Leave me a comment now and then if you are so inclined.
Nevertheless, we're here now. My other blog (redthreadtomarysville.blogspot.com) is with Blogger. Blogger has always been pretty foolproof for me, so I decided to stick with them.
I'm not the most expert of bloggers, so this will always be a work in progress. I'll try to categorize all the posts for easy reference. Enjoy, and feel free to check back periodically. Leave me a comment now and then if you are so inclined.
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