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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Christmas Eve



Luke 2:1-14 & Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 - Christmas Eve - December 24, 2013           
His Name Shall Be Called Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined…
6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

The world walks in darkness.  People behave like fools when they can’t see where they’re going.  And so there’s no real surprise that the world seeks enlightenment where there is no light, and wisdom where there is no knowledge.  People think that if one is powerful, and if he can persuade the multitudes to behave and think as he tells them to, that this is the determining factor of what is true and good.  Oh, people deny this as they claim to seek justice and equality and all sorts of virtues.  They’ll walk according to their inner lights, but in the end, might always makes right.  The multitudes are invariably impressed by power.  They think they have control of their hearts, they think they know where their progress is taking them.  But their hearts are fickle and predictable, and the end result is always deeper and deeper darkness. 
Power can be seen all over the world as influential characters sway popular opinion, and as authoritative figures impose their will on the masses.  These two forces usually go hand-in-hand.  Just think, for example, of the homosexualist agenda that has in the past couple decades gained so much momentum.  Who would have thought even when I was a young boy that it would get to this?  That’s power!  Hardly, though, can we think of anything darker and more damaging to the soul than slavery to sexual perversion.  But enough celebrities speak in favor of it, and enough judges spout their opinions about it and the next thing you know, what was once universally regarded as shameful is now defended tooth and nail — even against the kindest and most thoughtful attempts to rebuke it.  True Christian concern for sinners who need to repent and find mercy in Christ is now mocked and condemned as hate speech.  So-called progress is power all right — it is the power of darkness. 
Brothers and sisters, the world walks in darkness.  It always has.  But God is not like the world.  He stands in light.  He stands in his own light.  He is light.  And it is he who orders all the affairs of this world.  Now that’s something to consider, especially when it looks like things must be way out of his control.  But consider the affairs of this world. 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Advent Mighty God



Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 - Advent III Midweek - December 18, 2013           
His Name Shall Be Called Mighty God
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined…
6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.


Christ’s name is Wonderful and Counselor: Wonderful, because of the wonders he has done for us; Counselor, because he comforts and upholds us by his word.  The third name that the prophet Isaiah gives him shows us that this King of ours not only abides with us in our suffering, but has the power to assure a happy outcome.  He is Mighty God.  Or as we confess in the Nicene Creed, he is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God. 

Of course, this has already been settled – that the Child who was to be born is himself in fact the almighty God.  And it’s important to know.  In chapter 7, Isaiah gave a sign from the Lord to King Ahaz that the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel, that is, God with us.  The Child who was to be born of Mary is God.  This is an important truth.  If Jesus were not God then his death could not have paid for our sins.  If he were not God then his wonders could have only inspired the imagination, but they could not have benefited mankind in any eternal way.  If Jesus were not God, then his counsel and comfort would have only been temporary.  Like all human counsel, it would have had only enough power to urge us on in our struggles – but not the power to free us from our sin. 

But Jesus is God.  He is of one substance with his eternal Father and equal in glory with the Holy Spirit who proceeds from them both.  There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  By the commission of the Father and by the power of the Spirit, the Son was conceived in the womb of their own creation.  True God became true man.  And Mary became the mother of God. 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Advent Counselor



Isaiah 9:6-7 - Advent II Midweek - December 11, 2013           
His Name Shall Be Called Counselor



The prophet Isaiah preached that the God who speaks threats against sin is the very God who covers sin.  How wonderful!  He preached that the God whose thoughts are higher above our thoughts than the heavens are above the earth is the same God who makes his thoughts wholly accessible by sending his Son to be our Savior.  How wonderful!  For Jesus’ sake, God simplifies his thoughts of eternal wisdom so that even a child can understand him: “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).  The prophet Isaiah further prophesies that the God of glory who makes such wonderful promises is the God who will lay aside his glory and dwell with man in order to keep his promises.  He will be our Immanuel – God with us.  He will reveal his glory not with riches and fame, not with pleasures and admiration from those around us.  No, but in suffering; in rejection.  He will lay aside his glory in order to reveal his glory on the cross.  There God will be glorified because there God will reconcile himself to sinners.  How wonderful! 

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Advent 2



Luke 17:20-30 - Advent 2 - December 8, 2013
The Kingdom of God is within You

Solomon says that there is nothing new under the sun.  From the first day that Adam and Eve disobeyed God and fell into sin until the end of the world, all things on earth remain essentially the same.  We are born; we die.  In between is a whole bunch of joy and a whole bunch of sorrow.  I suppose the race is on to make the former outnumber the latter.  But what a futile race, because ultimately it doesn’t really matter.  We are born; and then we die.  And for a thousand generations the same mundane thing takes place.  Our place, our thoughts, our accomplishments, and even our hopes and dreams are forgotten.  That’s what Solomon says, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”  (Ecclesiastes 1:2).  Kind of a depressing picture to paint, isn’t it?  But it’s true.  And I think everyone knows it. 

Many people respond to this unavoidable fact by living for the moment.  They try to experience as much pleasure as they can before it’s too late.  This is known as hedonism, or Epicureanism and has gone in times past by the motto: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”  A modern equivalent to this is what kids say these days: “YOLO – you only live once.”  Obviously such an outlook on life is incredibly selfish.  It encourages young people to measure the value of life by how much enjoyment they can pack into it rather than by how much good they can do for others.  This flies in the face of what St. Paul tells us in our Epistle lesson: that we should not aim to please ourselves, but to edify our neighbor.  It is true that we only live once.  But what life are we living?  Are we animals seeking carnal pleasure for some small window of time?  Or are we children of God who live forever seeking that which is above? 

Hedonism wares on you. 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Advent Wonderful



Isaiah 9:1-7 - Advent I Midweek - December 4, 2013           
His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful

I have never been in a war.  I’ve never seen it.  I understand only what I have read in books and seen in movies.  Some in our congregation have seen war.  And they could, if so inclined, tell sad stories of what they have seen.  Others have been affected by war from right here at home as they suffered the loss of dear loved-ones fighting a faraway cause.  But barring a few terrorist attacks here and there in the United States, none of us have experienced what it is like for enemy forces to be moving at you on all sides to take over and occupy the land that we call home.  In such a war the cries of heart-broken mothers and widows can be heard right alongside and mingled with the cries of pain and defeat that their beloved sons and husbands shout out. 

This is how most war has been fought in the history of the world.  Right there close to home. War is horrible.  God has graciously preserved us from the worst of it.  It’s hard for us to imagine it here in the Midwestern United States, since we seem to be safe within the midst of a mighty empire.  But that’s what I’d like you to do for a moment.  Imagine.  This is what Jerusalem faced.  Judah was under attack – not only by foreign invaders, but from the apostate tribes of Israel to the north plotting against them with nearby Syria.  The northern kingdom of Israel had already been punished for its worldliness and idolatry, and now Judah faced what looked like certain doom for having committed the same sins themselves.  For them, little was left to the imagination.  The threat was imminent.  And they deserved it.  For fear of pain and for the knowledge of guilt, all of Judah was shaking in terror (Is. 7:2).  But God had compassion. 

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Advent 1



Matthew 21:1-9 - Advent 1 - December 1, 2013
  Lauding the Lord's Lowliness


Today is the first Sunday of the Church Year and the beginning of the Season of Advent.  During Advent, we prepare for our celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas.  We do this first of all by remembering why He was born in the first place: to die on the cross and take away the sin of the world.  It’s fitting that we begin the Church Year with the Gospel lesson that we just heard, because it records Jesus’ final entrance into Jerusalem right before His long awaited crucifixion under Pontius Pilate.  We begin the Church Year with the same Gospel, which is appointed for Palm Sunday as well.  We do this because the entire Year, indeed, our entire lives revolve around that singular event that took place on Mt. Calvary 2000 years ago.  The reason we make the cross the focus of our Church year is because it is the focus of Scripture.