Sexagesima

Isaiah 55 - Sexagesima Sunday - February 23, 2014           
What It Pleases God to Accomplish

“Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.” This is Luke 8:1, which is just a couple verses before our Gospel lesson begins. What a wonderful thing to consider: Jesus going all over the place – not to select cities and villages that have somehow earned the honor of his visit, but to every city and every village around. This is because what Jesus had to give was not just for some; it was for everyone — just as the sky opens up and pours rain and snow on the earth with no concern as to where it lands.

Septuagesima

Matthew 20:1-16 - Septuagesima - February 16, 2014
The First Shall Be Last

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:8-10

The fact that we are saved by grace through faith is not of ourselves.  It is not our work; it is God’s.  Our salvation – from God speaking his promise, to the faith that the Holy Spirit creates in our hearts through this promise – is entirely the gift of God.  He is gracious.  The good works that we accomplish as Christians are also gifts of God.  We are his workmanship.  The faith that God creates to trust in his mercy is the same faith that springs forth into action.  The faith that does not produce fruit is a false faith – one that God has not created.  The faith that has no desire to please God is the faith that does not trust God. 

Epiphany 2

John 2:1-11 - Epiphany Two - January 19, 2014           
Jesus Gives Joy to Marriage

Marriage is a divine institution, not a human institution.  Proof for this is that it is still around.  How many human ideas – as good as they were in their time for arranging society – have since grown obsolete?  Take for instance the feudal system of Medieval Europe.  And how many social conventions – as useful as they once were for guiding people’s behavior for the common good – have simply outworn their usefulness?  Take for instance the food rationing of the 1940s.  But marriage is different than these.  Marriage has been constant in its essential form and purpose throughout culture and time.  And that’s because it wasn’t invented by man.  It was invented by God. 

Epiphany 1

Luke 2:41-52 - Epiphany One - January 12, 2014           
Whose Children Are We

I remember when Monica and I brought our oldest child home from the hospital after he was born.  As far as anyone could have assumed, we were totally prepared for it.  We had fixed up his room; we had a bunch of diapers and stuff; and his car seat was all strapped in.  But once we were actually on our way to our apartment, it struck us how crazy it was that they were actually letting us take him home.  Did they know how little experience we had being a mother and a father?  Did they actually trust us to take care of this child?  Certainly, he would be better off in the hospital where the inevitable blunders of his parents could at least be offset by ready access to medical attention.  Well, of course, we were just nervous.  And as it turned out, he was much better off in our home.  And seeing as he’ll be turning six in a month, our inexperience wasn’t as dangerous as we thought. But besides all this, it’s not like they “let” us take him home at all.  He was never theirs.  God gave him to us, not to them. 

And this is the greater mystery to ponder: not that nurses and doctors let us go home with a baby, but that God commits to our care little children whom he loves.  They are his.  He gives them to us.  They are his before they are ours.  He gives them to us so that we might take care of them.  He loves them before we know them.  It is therefore our chief responsibility as parents to teach our children of the great love their Father in heaven has for them.  That is why we bring our children to be baptized according to Jesus’ command and promise. 

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. 

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. 

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!