Preachrblog

Sermon – New Year's Eve Romans 8:31-39 December 31st, 2017 “Inseparable” We Christians live in a world of many dangers, troubles, and trials. We saw them this year, as we do every year. Natural disasters like Hurricane Michael in Florida, wildfires in California, even a volcano in Hawaii. There's been violence: school shootings continue. Persecution of Christians has continued, even if in our part of the world it's only the soft persecution that disguises itself as tolerance. Maybe we should count our blessings that we've been free from famine and nakedness and war. But your mileage may vary. We've lost some loved ones here this year, it seems more than most years for our congregation. Marriages have fallen to pieces. Children have rebelled. Jobs have been lost. Sickness has taken its toll. Someone looking at Christians from the outside might observe that we are just as miserable and that we suffer just as much as anyone else, and maybe in som...

Matthew 2:13-18 Christmas 1 “Mercy for Those Who Suffer” Certain feast and festival days are observed by the Lutheran Church, in the freedom of the Gospel, but with appreciation of our connection to the universal Christian, or catholic, church throughout history. If you look in the front of your hymnal, you'll see a list of those that we have retained – certainly a much shorter selection than that of our Roman Catholic friends, who count thousands of saints and have various individuals in commemoration every day of the calendar. But the first few days after Christmas have an interesting trio of occasions appointed. December 26, 27, and 28 mark the commemorations of St. Stephen, the first martyr, St. John the Apostle, and then the 28 th recalls the Holy Innocents. It is this observance that I'd like us to focus today. And to remind us of the story, I share the following reading from Matthew chapter 2. This happens just after the wise men visit Jesus: __ ...

“Christmas is. Christmas isn't” It's finally here. After all the preparations, all the waiting, all the expectation. Christmas is today. And Christmas is many things. Christmas is decorations and celebrations. Christmas is Ham and Egg Nog and Cookies. Christmas is white, and red and green. Christmas is visions of sugarplums and big-hearted grinches. Or is it? Christmas is family. Christmas is spending time with loved ones. Christmas is love and joy and peace and good cheer. Christmas is giving, not receiving. Or is it? Is Christmas all these things? Surely it's not the crass and the outward, the greedy selfishness and sparkly lights. Perhaps it's the higher ideals, the love and generosity, the “spirit of Christmas” sort of thing. Or is it? What is Christmas, without Christ? It isn't. And for all the moaning we do about “keeping Christ in Christmas”, for all the tisk tisks we point at our culture and world. For all the rightful criticism of those people who lose th...

Luke 1:39-45 “The Visitation” Today, as we stand on the brink of Christmas, the Gospel reading is from Luke 1, an episode called “The Visitation”. Mary, the mother of our Lord, visits her cousin Elizabeth. And miraculous words and actions take place. Elizabeth confesses her faith, by the Holy Spirit, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”. But the unborn John who can't even speak also confesses his faith clearly, and “leaps for joy” in the womb. The Greek word actually means he “skipped”. In word and deed, these people of God welcome the unborn Christ, who is about to appear in the flesh. I'd venture to say that in this time of year, many of us either visit someone or are visited by someone. Out of town family come for a while. Or maybe you stop by to see some friends. Maybe it's a party. Maybe is just to drop off gifts. Maybe it's just to talk and catch up with someone you haven't seen in a while. The holidays are a...

Rejoicing at the First Promise Genesis 3:1-7, 14-15 The serpent. He overcame by a tree. He took his captives into his tyranny and held them for ransom. His misery loves company, and the path is wide. Not just Adam and Eve, but all people fell in that bitter day. Even before they were born, the nations were doomed to come forth in sin, under death's dark shadow. In exile, soon from the Garden, but already from harmony with God, sin's wages of death would come due. It seemed the serpent had won the day. It seemed he crushed his foes. Enter Emmanuel. God was with them, even in the garden. Even after they turned away from his word, turned away from his love, he came – he walked in the cool of the day and called out for them. He already had a plan. He already had a promise. Serpent, you will bite the dust. Serpent, your head will be crushed. Because the seed of the woman is coming. Emmanuel is coming. And he will overcome you by a tree. He wil...

Luke 3:1-14 “Our Annual Visit with John the Baptist” Like an old familiar friend, every year about this time, the Christian church recalls the unusual person of John the Baptist. He's one of the characters in God's salvation story that has really grown on me over the years. And not just because he's so eccentric. John is a voice crying in the wilderness, but a voice that it seems we need to hear ever more and more. John is the last of the prophets, and even Jesus calls him one of the greatest men ever born. John he died in Herod's dank dungeon, and his head was displayed as a trophy for the wicked. A prophet's reward, indeed. Today, we hear from Luke, and consider John the Baptist, not so much for his own sake, but especially in how he prepares the way for Christ. Look at the parade of important men Luke details for us: Tiberius Caesar – Roman emperor and most powerful man in the world. Pontius Pilate, the very expression of Rome's power...

Luke 19:28-40 “The King is Coming! (Palm Sunday in December)” Did someone print the wrong bulletin for today? Why is Palm Sunday on the cover? Why is our Gospel reading about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem? Isn't Christmas just around the corner? I do seem to remember just eating turkey and stuffing. What's going on, is this some sort of liturgical time-warp or something? No. It is the beginning of the new church year, and of the season of Advent. Once again the church flips the calendar, and starts the time of preparation looking forward to that first great festival – the celebration of Christ's birth. For about 4 weeks leading up to it, we prepare. We observe what led up to that blessed event. We hear from the Old Testament prophets. We listen to the forerunner, John the Baptist, his voice crying in the wilderness. We meditate and contemplate, even in a slightly mournful and somber fashion, just why this Savior had to come. Because ...

Hebrews 9:24-28 “A Great High Priest” Some people seem to think that sin and forgiveness are just words. That they are ideas or concepts which are hopelessly outdated and irrelevant, even if they ever applied. For the unbeliever, God's law doesn't matter – each is a law unto himself. And so forgiveness of sins doesn't matter, because sin's not a problem. And let's face it, even we Christians sometimes act as if we feel the same way. We act like sin's not something that matters, at least not all that much. Sure nobody's perfect, but no big deal right? We may acknowledge it when pressed, but does this inform our daily lives? Our reading from Hebrews today might make us think differently. We don't know exactly who wrote the New Testament book of Hebrews. But we do know it was a letter written to Christians of a Jewish background. They would have been familiar with the priesthood of the Levites, the sacrificial system from the time of Moses, an...

"Who Are These, Robed in White?" A blessed All Saints Day to you. Today we celebrate the fact that God's kingdom, here and in eternity, encompasses a great multitude of believers. Sinners who are made clean and holy in the blood of Christ. At that is the definition of a saint – a holy one. Lutherans are fond of the phrase, “sinners and saints” - that is, deriving from the Latin phrase, “simul justus et peccator”, simultaneously sinners and saints. That's here and now, in this fallen world, this vale of tears. We struggle with the flesh. We sin daily, and much. And while God sees us as righteous through Christ, even as holy – as saints – we have a hard time seeing it. But St. John saw a vision – which he wrote down for us as the book of Revelation. And part of that vision is this scene from chapter 7 – the great multitude in white. As we look at the text closely, we get a beautiful picture of the church in her glory, and really, a glimpse of our ow...

Mark 10:17-22 “The Good Teacher's Loving Law” I was reading something on the internet the other evening about people who've had encounters with celebrities. Sometimes they would find them to be rude, sometimes nice, sometimes just normal people. Oprah didn't leave a tip, but signed a napkin. Will Wheaton wouldn't talk to fans. Someone saw Ed Sheerhan and said, “I don't want to bother you” and he said, “Like you're doing now?” I wonder if you and I were in the position of this rich young man who had a brief audience with Jesus – how might we act? What might we say? Would we gush over him? Call him “good teacher” or “Lord” or something else? And what would you ask Jesus if you had that one small chance? His autograph? Probably not. A Me-n-Jesus selfie? Hope not. Maybe a question for curiosity or reassurance? Maybe you wouldn't even know what to say. The rich young man had a burning question, and it is kind of a stran...