Sermon - 1st Sunday after Christmas - Matthew 2:13-23

In general, I think that the person unfamiliar with the Bible might be surprised to find out some of what is in it.  There are all manner of stories of abuse and deceit, betrayals and conspiracies, family dysfunction and plot lines that would be rated R if they were in a modern movie.  Many times, these things are even perpetrated by believers!  And so we can see that the Scriptures do not paint some lily-white, idyllic version of reality, but because they are entirely trustworthy and true, you can find even some of the darkest deeds of human nature in those pages.  You can find some of the most sinister and malevolent characters.  The Bible doesn’t sugar coat a thing.

One of those bad guys is Herod.  Herod the Great, here, the one in charge during the days of Christ’s nativity.  This Herod was called great because of his many building projects and worldly accomplishments.  But he was also great – at being bad.  His paranoia and lust for power led him to some of the most wicked deeds recorded.  Sources outside of the Bible describe some of these.  For instance he had his own two sons and a wife put to death for fear they would threaten his power.  There was a saying that it was safer to be one of Herod’s dogs than one of his sons.  One secular historian said of Herod, he was “above all prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition”.

And so, when he hears of a child that is born and being called “King of the Jews”, his reaction is sadly predictable.  The threat must be eliminated.  There is only one King of the Jews, and that’s me.
His first attempt to destroy this possible usurper was to co-opt the wise men themselves through deceit.  But they outfoxed the fox, with the help of God’s warning in a dream, and his plan fell through.  Now enraged, Herod loosed a terrible vengeance upon the children of Bethlehem, and destroyed all of babies up to 2 years old.  Some have suggested that this wicked deed of Herod’s isn’t recorded in the secular history books because it didn’t happen.  But biblical scholars will answer that it certainly did, and it just might not be mentioned because on the scale of Herod’s many foul deeds, it didn’t rank as noteworthy to the historians.  Bethlehem, a small village, not a large metropolis, may have seen only a few dozen of these children die.  Not enough to be noticed by history, but certainly enough to be noticed by the Lord and his church.

We commemorate this event and called it the day of the “Holy Innocents”, it even has a date on the church calendar – December 28th.  They were the first Christian martyrs, in a way, the first ones to shed their blood for the sake of Christ.  And they were a foreshadowing of Christ as well – who would one day shed his holy, precious, innocent blood.

But what do we do with such a terrible story and such a bloodthirsty scoundrel as Herod?  How does a Christian answer for all of the Herods and Hitlers and Stalins and other villains and devils of the world?  Or even the fact that senseless violence, whether intentional or accidental, sometimes takes those we love?  Doesn’t this get us back to the question at the bottom line of many a skeptic’s line of reason…, “How can a good God allow such evil?”  Perhaps even we Christians are tempted to try these doubts on for size here and there.

And as an aside, but not really an aside… because I don’t see how anyone treating this text in our context could leave mention out – don’t we see similarities here with the slaughter of the innocents in our own day, in the rampant practice of abortion?  I’ll not quote statistics, but they surely dwarf the numbers of the murdered children of Bethlehem.  We don’t have to look far to see the same sort of evil, the same destruction of the weakest among us.  If we think about it too much, or too long, it becomes unbearable.

So what does a Christian do with all of this?  How do we answer for all of the evil and violence and darkness in this world?  The answer might surprise people.

The first thing to do is repent.  You might say, “What?  We’re talking about other people’s sins here.  How did we get to me?”  Ah, but this is just what Jesus does.  He directs you away from other people’s sins, and other people’s victimhood, and calls you to, first of all, repent.  Here’s how Jesus answered a question regarding some similar circumstances:

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”  (Luke 13:1-5)

For the Christian, repentance is always in order.  Because we are always grappling with sin.  And we are always tempted to look out at the other sinners, and the evil of the world outside of us, and not first and foremost at ourselves.

Consider, how have you, by your own sins, joined hands with the Herods of the world?  What evil deeds have you been a party to?  Perhaps it’s not so obvious.  Perhaps it’s more in the realm of sins of omission.  Could you be doing more to love and serve your neighbor? How often do you pray for your enemies or bless those who curse you?  Probably not enough.  I know, because I don’t either.
Perhaps you’ve given tacit approval to sin, or even rationalized it as not that bad.  And if someone else’s sin doesn’t seem that bad then maybe my sin is even less of a problem.  Live and let live, don’t be too judgey.  I’m ok, you’re ok. And sooner or later the slippery slope sees us slide not only from the moral high ground (as if we were ever there), but right off of the narrow road and into destruction.
 
No the Christian need not find the answer to the problem of evil.  Some questions will keep the philosophers grappling until judgment day, because God has not given us those answers.
But the Christian needs to do as Jesus commands, and repent.  Turn from your own sin. Take the log out of your eye.  Flee from wickedness.  Confess your sins, believe his word of absolution, and have life.

While our God doesn’t fully explain the origins of evil, or clue us in on his secret counsel of why he ever let Adam and Eve be tempted, or why he allows wicked Herods to run rampant in this world.  But he does better than explain it all to us – rather, he saves us.  He sends a Savior into the darkness of this dungeon of a broken creation.  And he bursts us out of its prison of sin and death.  He shines a light in the darkest corners of our sin, and chases away its darkness forever. 

And he does it, by becoming the victim of violence himself.  Yes, Jesus was spared the destruction of Herod, was kept safe in Egypt by the Lord’s design.  But he would not always be spared.  He was being kept safe until the proper time, the appointed hour for when he would stand before another Herod, and finally drink the cup. Out of Egypt God would call his Son, call him toward his true purpose, his one goal.

Jesus Christ bears the violence, suffering, shame, agony and bitter death of the cross.  He does it to make all things new.  He does it to overturn the Devil’s kingdom.  To drain the venom from death’s sting.  He does it to heal all who are wounded by violence and even to raise those whose blood is shed by the wicked.  The cross is the ultimate antidote to evil.  It is the only real hope that things will be made right again – but what a hope it is!

Matthew sees, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the slaughter of the Holy Innocents as a fulfillment of prophecy – quoting Jeremiah 31:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they care no more

It all sounds so hopeless and sad.  But the very next verse in Jeremiah reads:

Thus says the Lord:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the Lord,
and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
 There is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
and your children shall come back to their own country.

When we consider the Herods of the world, the slaughter of so many innocents – a river of blood throughout history – we may be perplexed and depressed, driven even to despair.  When our own little corner of history falls under the crashing tower, under the boot of oppression, or beneath the shadow of death…  we may mourn and weep like Rachel, but we too have a hope.  We have the cross of Jesus, the blood of the Innocent One.  And one day our weeping will be no more, as God wipes every tear from our eyes.  This is our hope, in the Babe of Bethlehem, the Christ of the cross.

Sermon - Midweek Advent 3 - Bathsheba and Mary

Week 3 -  Bathsheba and Mary – Mothers of the Son of David

We’ve looked at Eve and Sarah, mothers of promise, as well as Rahab and Ruth, mothers from the nations.  Tonight we consider two women who share a common distinction, but otherwise might at first seem very different – Bathsheba and Mary.  But as we look closer, we’ll see that they maybe aren’t that different at all.  Nor are we, who are also in Christ, the Son of David.

Bathsheba:  2 Samuel 11:1-5; 26-27

Bathsheba’s tale is a sordid story of adultery, unplanned pregnancy, conspiracy and murder, followed by a cover-up.  We didn’t hear all of the gory details this evening, but even Scripture doesn’t spell out every last detail – but leaves some to our imagination.

One debate that continues to run is what was Bathsheba’s culpability in the whole affair?  How much of a victim was she?  How much of a seductress?  Did she act out of fear before a powerful man, or did she play the game for her own ends, willingly participating in the sin (or at least, not protesting as she might have)?  Maybe one day in heaven we will know.

But one thing is for sure, she was caught up in this web of sin.  And she, like all of us, was a sinner.  Whether a #metoo victim of toxic masculinity or a woman who worked it all to her advantage (or, perhaps even some of each of these), the fact is that Bathsheba was part of a big mess of sin.

Sometimes we are responsible, directly, for the messes we find ourselves in.  Sometimes we truly are the victim, for evil also comes from the devil and the sinful world around us.

If it’s your own sin that got you into trouble, then there’s only one thing to do – repent!  We should pray to see our own sin clearly, to have the word which shows it to us (that word of law), and also that our pride would not hinder us from confession.  For yes, even we Christians can willfully participate in evil deeds of the flesh.  Sins of lust and greed and lies and even murder, if only in our hearts.  And often enough, those sins don’t seem to have consequences.  We seem to get away with it.  No harm, no foul, right?  No, for the Lord sees even the secret sins of the heart.

And then sometimes, often when you least expect it, that secret sin is laid bare.  It’s not so secret anymore.  Judging eyes can now see what a scoundrel you are.  The cat’s out of the bag.  The fig leaf didn’t do its job.  And what do you have left but excuses and equivocations, rationalizations and blame.  But none of that really works.  The only rescue is repentance, confession, forgiveness.

But then there are other times when you find yourself knee-deep in a quagmire of sin and its consequences, and none of it is yours!  You are the victim of some other sinner.  You are the target of some satanic plan.  Or perhaps you simply fall, for whatever reason, under some aspect of this broken world of chaos – and disaster, disease, or even death comes to visit.  Here, too, the Christian is not without hope!  Here too, we have good news from Christ.  For he is with us, working for the good of his people in all things – all things!  Even that which seems so ugly, and may well be. 

Whether she was complicit or not, Bathsheba knew the bitterness of sin’s consequences, when on the 7^th day after birth, the child she had with David died.  Not even old enough to be baptized, just a day shy.  And while scripture records David’s grief leading up to the child’s death, we can imagine Bathsheba grieved it too, like only a mother can.

And yet, God brought them blessing.  He brought forth good from this whole mess.  For Bathsheba would bear David another son, the boy Solomon.  And Solomon would reign in superlative wisdom, and build the temple, the house of God, and be a great king in his own right.  But even more – Solomon, this first surviving Son of David would continue the line of promise that culminated with THE Son of David, even Christ our Lord.

The Christ, who by his own death would destroy death.  The Christ, who with a wisdom greater than Solomon and a faith stronger than David, would turn this sinful world order on its head, and deal with sin like only he could. Thanks be to God for the son of Bathsheba, the Son of David, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Mary: Luke 1:26-38

And then, Mary.  Dear Mary, the God-bearer.  Beloved and honored by Christians from the beginning, for as she herself sang, “all generations will call me blessed”.

Hard to think of any woman who stands in greater contrast to Bathsheba than Mary.  The adulteress (willing or not) versus the virgin pure and mild.  The woman who rose to a seat of power, and became mother of an of the king’s child – or the humble maiden from Nazareth.  We don’t see Mary as sinless, though many Christians wrongly make that claim.  But we do see in her a great faith that is worthy of imitation, a humility that we can aspire to.  When Mary was told the news that she would bear the Lord Jesus, she gave no objection or argument, only, “Let it be to me as you have said.  I am the servant of the Lord!”

And we sing, even tonight, the song of Mary – the Magnificat!   A joyous response of praise and thanks to the God who remembers his mercy.  The God of our fathers, who raises the lowly and brings down the mighty.  A God of tender mercy who remembers his promises.  And of course, there is no greater promise than the seed of the woman who comes to crush the serpent.  God was bringing this promise to fulfillment, and it would begin here, with faithful Mary.

But Mary wasn’t all good and Bathsheba wasn’t all bad.  Both of these sinner/saints had a role in the salvation story.  Both were mothers of the Son of David.  Bathsheba, in the most mundane and earthly way.  Mary, in the most blessed and miraculous way.  Bathsheba’s Son of David was a great man, but Mary’s Son of David was the God-man.

Son of David.  What a loaded term.  Of course David was the king of Israel’s glory days.  Even today with the modern nation of Israel, we see the “Star of David” on their flag.  David was king over a united kingdom which saw wealth and success, victory over enemies, and had the respect of the nations.  This only grew under Solomon, until his two sons tore the kingdom apart.

But God had made a promise – that the throne of David would be forever.  That a Son of David would reign forever.  And if you only looked outwardly at history, you’d have to say that promise failed when the last Davidic king of Judah was deposed in 587 BC.  But God’s promise was not for an earthly king, but for much more.

When Jesus came to Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, on that Sunday when they spread their palms – they also welcomed him with the accolade, “Son of David!  Hosanna!  Save us now!”  A shot across the bow to the established rulers, for this “Son of David” talk was the moniker of a king.

But Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world.  And yes, he would rule on David’s throne, but not some paltry earthly kingdom.  He would be enthroned on the cross, crowned with thorns, buried with the rich in death.  But then he would retake his true power and majesty, returning to the throne of heaven, where he now rules all things for us, his people.  Now, he can and truly does answer the Hosannas of all his people.  Now, and forever, the true and ultimate Son of David will save us.

But he had to be both God and man to do all this.  And so God made provision, that in the womb of the Virgin Mary, heaven and earth would meet, and a Divine Nature would become one with a lowly human nature.  So David’s son is David’s Lord.  And he is Bathsheba’s lord, and Mary’s savior, and ours.

You see the one common thread the truly connects all these women, Eve and Sarah, Rahab and Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary – is their offspring Jesus Christ.  Christ who shared his human bloodline with them, but in whose holy precious blood they and all who share Adam’s blood are saved.  Jesus the fulfillment of promise, the savior of the nations, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Thanks be to God for his long-awaited promises that informed the faith of the Old Testament saints.  Thanks be to God for bringing those promise to fruition through the fruit of Mary’s womb.  Thanks be to God for the Son of David who brings us into his everlasting kingdom.  And Thanks be to God that the Jesus who has come will come again to bring us final victory, resurrection, and a place in eternal glory.

A blessed Advent and Christmas to you all.  In Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sermon - Midweek Advent 2 - Rahab and Ruth

The Mothers of Jesus – Midweek Advent Series 2019
“Mothers from the Nations”

We’re continuing our series on the “Mothers of Jesus” which began last week with the “Mothers of Promise”, Eve and Sarah, who shared a common thread.  They both received promises about their offspring and looked to God in faith for fulfillment.  Through these women, God would move forward his plan of salvation,that would culminate with the birth of his own son in Bethlehem.
Today we are focusing on two other mothers from Jesus’ family tree, Rahab and Ruth.  Let’s call them, “Mothers from the nations”, since both of these women had their origins outside of 12 tribes of Israel.  Rahab was a Canaanite, a resident of Jericho.  And Ruth was from Moab, one of the neighboring nations.

We know the central place the Israelites, and especially the tribe of Judah had in salvation history.  We know who they grew from a large family to small nation during their time of bondage in Egypt.  We see God bring them through the 40 years of wilderness sojourn, miracles along the way.  And finally they come to the River Jordan and the promised land, the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The land flowing with milk and honey.

It was here, Canaan, that God would plant them.  It was here, through them and their descendants, that God would raise up the long-promised Messiah, the savior of the nations.  At a certain time and place, through a certain people of a certain nation and tribe and even descended from a certain king, David.

You can see why the Jews were tempted to think they were something special.  Well, they were!  They were the chosen people, chosen by God, chosen for a great purpose.  But sometimes this caused sinful pride rather than grateful humility. Sometimes “salvation is from the Jews” became a way to look down on others, aliens, outsiders.  The great unwashed masses. The gentiles.

We, today, are not immune to such temptation.  Insider/outsider, us and them scenarios, divisions and distinctions among men that lead us to treat our fellow man as somehow less, and us, my group, me, as somehow something more.  Maybe we consider ourselves smarter, more loving, more politically astute, or more theologically pure.  It’s part of our sinful, fallen, human nature to adhere to a party spirit.  Something about it makes us feel good, right, and even justified.  Better than that group, or that guy over there.  And not so concerned or worried about my own faults, failings, and sin.

But justification comes from God alone.  To the extent that we are good, or have anything good, it is a gift from God alone.  So boasting is excluded, says Paul.  Boast, rather, in the Lord!
“But, but…we are children of Abraham”, some might have said.  Well isn’t that fancy?  God can raise up children of Abraham from the stones, says John the Baptist.

Take Jonah, who was sent to preach to Nineveh, but ran the other way, not in fear, but in hatred.  For he did not want to see THOSE people given the gospel, given second chance, or to receive God’s mercy.  And when God forgave them, Jonah was mad!

So take Rahab and Ruth – two women from the outside.  Pagans, raised worshipping other gods, false gods.  And yet God chooses them, blesses them, includes them not only in his kingdom, but in the very line of blood that would bear the Messiah.

Rahab:  Joshua 2:1-22

Rahab came first, chronologically.  She lived in Jericho, the first city the Israelites would conquer in their campaign to take possession of the land.  But Jericho was not just some small hamlet, it had mighty walls.  And as it happened, Rahab and her family lived in one of these walls.  The Scripture casually mentions that she is a prostitute. And so this adds to the reasons a good and pious Hebrew would want to avoid someone like her.

But for whatever reason, she shows hospitality to these two Hebrew spies.  She takes them into her home, at risk to herself.  She even draws attention from the King of Jericho, who knows they are spies!  But she hides them and lies to the king and saves them.  And then she who showed them mercy asks for mercy.

She says to the spies, “I know that the Lord has given you this land…”  Rahab confesses her faith in Yahweh.  This pagan prostitute, by some means, somehow, has heard the word of God and believed.  And it creates in her, however small it may be, a faith that can move mountains.  Or in this case, at least has a part in bringing down a city wall.  She let the spies down through the window by means of a scarlet cord, and that same cord was to serve as a sign – when the Israelites did come to conquer, they would pass by her house and not destroy her and her family.

The sign of red – it has to remind you of the Passover, when the blood of the lamb on the Israelite doors marked them safe from the destroyer.  And that blood of the Lamb itself was a sign also pointing to a greater blood and a mightier salvation – the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.  In Jesus, God passes over our sins, and does not destroy us.

Rahab is remembered in the New Testament, in Hebrews as an example of faith, and in James as an example of good works.  She is part of the genealogy of Jesus.  She is an example of God working his salvation even for the outsider, the castaway, the most unlikely people.  And of using those redeemed sinners for the benefit of others in his kingdom, and to further his plan.

1500 years later, a great-grandson of Rahab’s named Jesus would be criticized for associating with prostitutes and other sinners.  But the same God who had mercy on Rahab had mercy on them, and has mercy big enough for you, whatever your sins and whoever you are.

Ruth:  Ruth 1:1-18

Then let’s consider Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite, a foreigner with foreign, false gods.  But when a Jewish family came to Moab to live because of a famine, Ruth married one of the young men.  Later the father and the two sons died, and Mother in Law Naomi decided it was time to go back home to Bethlehem.  The poignant moment comes when the other widowed daughter-in-law returns home to Moab, but Ruth pledges her loyalty and remains with Naomi.  She leaves behind her land and people, and notably also her foreign Gods.  Ruth, you see, has also come to faith in the true God.

Here it’s perhaps a bit easier to see how it happened.  Certainly she heard the word of God through her family.  How many of us, also, have been brought to faith by the word we received through our family?  Either being raised in the church and hearing and learning from our parents, who also brought us to God’s house.  Or by meeting and marrying a faithful spouse who brought us along- or how many other examples of God working through the family to bring people to encounter the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then come to faith in him.

Ruth’s story would continue in Bethlehem, where she eventually marries Boaz and becomes the great-grandmother of King David.  Which also makes her an ancestor of the Son of David, our Lord Jesus Christ.

That God would again use a foreigner, a woman, as part of the lineage of his Son, we can see by now is not really so out of character.  For Jesus called disciples who were fishermen and zealots, tax collectors and nobodies.  Our God is not a respecter of persons, in that he treats all the same – offering grace and mercy to all through Christ, making disciples, even today, of all nations.

That means there is also always a place for you.  No matter how checkered your past, no matter your lack of credentials.  Whatever your family of origin, God has called you into his family, the church.  Jesus says, “who are my mother and my brothers?  Those who do the will of God”.  And what is the will of God but that sinners repent and believe in Christ.  The blood of the crucified Christ covers all.

Thanks be to God for Rahab and Ruth.  Mothers of Christ from the nations, who show us God’s mercy and plan of salvation working in various ways.  Let us learn from their examples of faith and works, as we continue to prepare for Christmas by repentance and faith.

Sermon - Advent 2 - Matthew 3:1-12

Matthew 3:1-12
"Vipers and Fruit, Sandals and Fire"

Our annual Advent visit with John the Baptist comes almost like that odd relative that we see at the holiday family gathering.  We know and love him, but we aren’t always sure what to make of him and his odd ways.  Strange clothing, strange diet, strange living arrangement – but all of that seems designed to get your attention.  What’s really notable about John is his message.  He’s the voice, after all, of one crying in the wilderness ‘Prepare the way of the Lord…’

And at the heart of John’s message is a call to repentance.  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.

Repent.  It’s a hard word.  An unpopular word, perhaps even in the church.

Did you know that Advent, as a season, is meant to be a penitential time, a season of repentance?  Sorrow for sin, and renewal of faith – that’s how the church prepares for its major celebrations.  Advent is, in this way, of a similar tone to Lent. 

Preparing means repenting.  Preparing for Christmas means repentance.  Just as Christmas isn’t about gifts and good feelings, the preparation for Christmas isn’t about shopping and cleaning and cards and cooking.  The one who prepared the way is the one who comes and says, “Repent”.  We do well to listen.

John makes us uncomfortable, not just because he’s an odd character, but more importantly because he points to our sin.  He reminds us we are a brood of vipers – the venom of sin running through our veins, tracing all the way back to the lies of the serpent that our first parents bit into.  It’s a deadly poison, this sin of ours, and our condition is terminal.  John minces no words, pulls no punches, but straight up calls out sin and sinners and boom, wow, does he!

Sometimes we need that verbal shock to the system.  Sometimes we need a John to slap us with a stark call to repentance.  Sin is serious business.  It’s not just a problem, it’s a disaster.  Even your little sins are deadly.  Even your secret sins make you filthy.  By nature sinful and unclean.
And so what do we do with dirt?  Wash it.  John brings a baptism, a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.  Our annual encounter with John should remind us of our own baptism.  Every day you wash your face you should remember your baptism.  For there in those waters, all your sins went down the drain.  There in that blessed flood, the Old Adam was drowned.  You are prepared, through repentance and faith, for the kingdom.  You are prepared, through your baptism, to receive the one who comes, the one greater than John.

So just what are the “fruits in keeping with repentance”?  Certainly not good works that make up for our sins or blot out our bad works.  It’s not like we can balance the ledger book ourselves, or even help the process.  The fruits in keeping with repentance are first of all, genuine sorrow for sin.  Not taking it lightly or minimizing its deadliness.  But rather confessing our sins to the one who is faithful and just, and who will forgive our sins. 

But the fruits of repentance are more than that – for confession and forgiveness bring change.  They bring renewal of life.  And so by the power of the Spirit we are different.

One example close to John’s sermon here is that of humility.  Fruit in keeping with repentance would lead people not to rely on their own credentials, “Hey don’t you know who I am? Who we are?  We’re children of Abraham!”  John is not impressed with that.  God can bring children of Abraham from stones.  And he does, in a way.  For we are children of Abraham by faith, and he brings us out of nothing, even from death, as from an inert and lifeless stone.  Glory be to God!  Not glory be to me.

And the fruits of faith are the natural outcome.  They are just what good and healthy trees do.  So the works of love for God and neighbor are the fruits of Christian faith.  They are just what Christians do.  And the new man doesn’t need to be told to do good than a tree needs to be told to bear fruit.  And a tree that has no fruit is cut down because it is dead.  So too the fruitless, faithfulness, unrepentant sinners have a fate in the fires of judgment.

The axe is already at the root of the tree.  The lumberjack is winding up and about to swing.  Judgment is ever at hand.  Repent!  Believe.

But don’t believe in John. Don’t repent for the sake of John. Even he would tell you all this is not about John.  He’s preparing the way for another.  He’s making way for someone far greater than he. 

And John confesses this in another marvelous word picture.
“I’m not worthy to carry his sandals” John says.  Or in another passage, “to undo the thong of his sandals”.  Either way, a likely reference to the slave’s job of washing feet.  John uses strong language to show that he’s not even worthy to be his slave, wash his feet, carry his sandal.  He’s not in the same league as this one who is mightier.  Even John’s baptism isn’t as great or as full.  It is preparatory.  John’s paving the way, but another one is coming, a greater one, a mightier one.

And of course we know that it’s Jesus.  The shoot from the stump of Jesse.  The one on whom the Spirit of the Lord rests (as it would do at his own baptism).  Jesus – the Christ – the servant of all.  He comes not just to undo sandals and wash feet, but to lay down his life as a ransom for many.  To go to the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Jesus is certainly greater than John, but he makes himself last and least in the kingdom, which is why we regard him as the greatest.  Jesus, by his death becomes the fount and source of all baptism, by his blood and in his death.  Jesus, the one who makes us clean first by becoming sin and dying. And then in our baptism he distributes and applies the work of the cross to each of us.  And there we are buried and raised with him.

Jesus comes to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.  It’s not that Jesus’ baptism is entirely different than John’s.  But John’s was preparatory, and Christ’s baptism is in all its fullness.  And in Jesus, the true and final division will be seen between the repentant and unrepentant, between the believer and unbeliever.  The believer will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, that is, cleansed and made righteous unto life with Christ forever.  But the unbeliever, the one who’d rather slither with the vipers, the dead tree without fruit, that one is burned in the baptism of fire – that is a different sort of cleansing, if you will, by destruction and judgment. 

It’s similar to Jesus separating the wheat from the chaff with his winnowing fork – that’s how they separated the edible kernel of wheat from the dead outer husk or shell, by tossing it in the wind and watching the chaff blow away.  So will the Christ separate the believer from the unbeliever.  It’s the same idea that he will separate the sheep from the goats when he comes to judge the living and the dead.

John would prepare us to receive Jesus.  And receiving Jesus is always best done in repentance and faith, and so do we receive him today under the forms of bread and wine.  Sorry for our sins, wanting to do better, and believing his words of promise attached to these humble earthly things.  Here, in the sacrament, the kingdom is at hand.  Here, according to Christ’s promise, he gathers you in again – with the faithful who are forgiven.

And soon he will come in glory to judge the living and the dead, and to gather us into his eternal garner.  Then will his kingdom be seen in glory forever.  Then will we, and John, and all the faithful receive the fulfillment of baptismal promises, even resurrection from the dead and life in the world to come.

Be prepared for that day, and for this meal, and for the celebration of Christmas – be prepared as John would have you – in repentance and faith, always in Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen. 

Sermon - Midweek Advent 1 - Eve and Sarah

The Mothers of Jesus – Midweek Advent Series 2019
“Mothers of Promise”

This Advent for our midweek series, we will be looking in on 6 women from the Old Testament who share an important distinction.  Each of them is a mother in the long line of the Messianic lineage.  Through each of them, and the children they bore, God carried forward his plan of salvation and ultimately brought forth Jesus Christ the Savior of the world.

We will see various aspects of sin and grace in each of these women – and hopefully also draw connections with ourselves.  And through it all give thanks to the Lord who never forgets his promises, but always works to fulfill them – whether through the rise and fall of nations – by the mighty deeds of famous and powerful men – or through the humble and common vocation of motherhood.

Each week, we will consider two women under a common theme, and tonight we look at Eve and Sarah – both “mothers of promise”.  For each of these women received a particular and powerful promise concerning her role as mother, and the blessing that would come through the fruit of her womb.

Genesis 3:13-21 (Eve)

Consider first, Eve.  Perhaps any discussion of biblical motherhood ought to begin with our first mother, the mother of all (as Adam called her), Eve. 

As such, Eve’s story is the story of all of us.  We find our true origins there in her and our first father Adam.  We see that she was created, with Adam in the image of God.  We see that she was made from Adam’s rib, a suitable helper for him, since it’s not good for man to be alone.  And we see, also, that even before the fall into sin, God blessed our primal parents “be fruitful and multiply”.  He had an ongoing work of creation in mind – procreation, part of the design of this created order.

But who can think of Eve without also seeing her role in the fall?  The serpent deceived her, and she willingly ate the forbidden fruit, gave some to her husband also, and thus the world was plunged into the corruption of sin.  How things might have been different had Adam interceded, or had Eve not listened to the old evil foe.  We may never know.

But we do know what happened next.  God came, personally, to the garden and spoke with them.  Whole books can be written, and surely have been, on these precious verses of Scripture which tell us the real predicament of this world and its origin.  But let us focus on one important part of the aftermath – the promise of the seed!  The first Gospel!  The first prophecy!  The first mention of the One who would come to reverse the curse, crush the foe, restore all things, and bring us back to paradise.

And it would happen through the seed of the woman!  Through child-bearing, procreation, through birth.  Surely the Father knew he would one day send the Son to be born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law.  That the little babe of Bethlehem would be the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.  The mystery of the incarnation – as inextricably linked to the mystery of the cross.

Eve, who is so well known not only for being the first woman and mother of all, but also for being the first sinner – is also bound up in the first promise of God’s savior.  And so Eve is blessed, and we do well to remember her as a mother of the promise.

Some, like Martin Luther, seemed to think that when Eve had her first son, Cain, she thought that God would accomplish all this through him.  “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”  Perhaps, so, perhaps not.  But at the very least, we see Eve’s faith in this statement.  She is looking for that promise to be fulfilled, and she knows the Lord is helping.  And where Cain would fail, and miserably, there was another son to come, one who didn’t kill his brother, but died for his brothers.  And where Abel’s blood for vengeance pleaded to the skies, the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries.
We are, like Eve our mother, guilty of sin.  We are, like Eve our mother, saved in the promise of a Messiah who crushes the Serpent’s head at the cross.  As Eve looked forward to the fulfillment, may we look back on the help the Lord has provided in the person of his son, the seed of promise, the Christ.

Genesis 18:9-15 (Sarah)

Our second mother to consider is Sarah.  We might begin by regarding Sarah in comparison to our first mother, Eve.

Like to Eve and Adam, God came personally to speak with Abraham and Sarah.  The central figure of the three men who visited their tent seems to be an appearance, a manifestation of God himself – likely God the Son.  We call these Old Testament appearances “theophanies”, and they are rare and precious occasions.  It means God has something important to say, so important he’s coming in person.

Like Eve, Sarah was a sinner.  You can see that from her jealous dealings with her maidservant Hagar and Abraham’s son with Hagar, Ishmael.  You can see it with her complicity in Abraham’s more than once passing her off as his sister, not his wife, before powerful men.  And you can see it also in her reaction to the promise she here receives that she will, in her old age, bear a son.  She hears, and she laughs.  And then she lies and denies it, out of fear.

We’re often not given to know the thoughts of the characters in the Bible, and see only their outward actions.  We know Sarah laughed, but we don’t exactly know why.  Did she laugh in derision- at the ridiculousness of such a promise?  Did she laugh in nervousness, not knowing exactly what to make of it?  Or was it laughter that rises from joy, amazement, or wonder – like a child might laugh as a butterfly floats by?  Maybe it was a mixture, or all three of these, for you and I know mixed emotions and reactions as well.

But what it appears not to have been is the response of faith, at least not at first.  She laughed to herself, in seeming doubt that such a promise could come true, when she was “old and worn out”.  After all, she had already heard the promise to Abraham and found another way to make God’s word come true.  But a son of Abraham by her slave Hagar was not what God had in mind.  He would bring about the fulfillment of the promise, not you, Sarah.

And when the Lord asked her why she laughed, she denied it, which further indicates her guilt and shame at her reaction.  Perhaps similar to Eve and Adam who sought to hide their nakedness with fig leaves, and hid in the garden at the sound of the Lord.  Sarah, it seemed, was ashamed at her reaction.  But like, Eve, she too would later believe.

The Lord gently, but firmly rebukes her.  He doesn’t let her deny her unbelief, but calls her to believe the promise.  It’s a promise he had already made and reiterated to Abraham.  It’s a promise he would be repeating again to Isaac and all his descendants.  It’s the continuation of the promise, really, that he made to Eve about the seed that was to come, to crush the serpent. 

Like Eve, Sarah was a mother of promise – the promise, in her case, of a son in her old age.  A promise connected to the promises to Abraham, and carrying forth the promise made to Adam and Eve.  A promise that continued the unfolding of God’s plan for salvation.

And soon, Sarah would see this promise of a son for her fulfilled.  And she and Abraham would name him “Issac”, that means, “laughter”, in obvious memory of Sarah’s laughter.

So often we think about the patriarchs, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and on the paternal lineage of the Christ.  But what of the matriarchs?  These faithful women by their sides?  What of their faith?  Shouldn’t we also see God blessing them and the whole world through the babies they would bear, as generation after generation the Lord of history and master of time would work not only through the rise and fall of nations, but also through the humble and everyday bearing of children? 

And of one child in particular.  One child who was promised to Eve, and to all.  One boy who would descend from Sarah’s womb, and fulfill God’s promise to Abraham and bless all nations. 
This one, this child, this Christ – would be Eve’s Savior and Sarah’s too. 

He would restore Eve and all her children to the tree of life and we will eat its fruit in season and out of season forever.  The serpent who once overcame at a tree will be overcome by the tree of the cross.  The lies that he told about being like God in disobedience are undone in Christ, who raises us in a glorious body like his.  So that death which came as the fruit of that first tree is overturned in the fruit of the cross.

This same child of promise would restore to Sarah and all the children of Abraham by faith, and give us true joy in his presence.  He would bless all nations by incorporating them into the New Israel by baptism and in faith.  He would make those people of his a royal priesthood – princes and princesses given a share in his eternal reign.

And so, now, you.  Heirs to the promises of these women, heirs through the promises fulfilled in Christ.  Don’t hide your sin and deny your shame as they once did, but trust in the one who keeps his promises, as they both learned to do.  For the God who was faithful to them is faithful to you.  The Christ who was promised to them, has already been born for you, died for you, lives for you. We await the annual remembrance of his birth.  And we await his coming again in glory, according to his promise.

Sermon - Advent 1 - Matthew 21:1-11

“The Prophet fulfills Prophecy”
Matthew 21:1-11

Once again the church year begins anew with the season of Advent, which simply means “coming”.  Of course, Christ is the one that is coming.  We anticipate the celebration of his birth – Christmas is coming.  We anticipate his second coming in glory on the Last Day.  And today, a Gospel reading about Jesus coming in another way – coming into the city of Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, to the great adulation of the crowds.  They greet him with Hosannas and the moniker “Son of David”.  But this coming is humble and for not for purposes of conquering, but of dying.  He comes as Messiah, yes, but what does that mean?

One of the blessings of the Advent season is that it sinks us a little deeper into the Old Testament.  We focus a little bit more, it seems, on the longing of the ancient people of God for their salvation to appear.  Their many years of waiting in faith for the promises of God to be fulfilled.  We focus, especially, then, on prophecy.  The first advent wreath candle is the “prophecy” candle.  Even our Gospel reading today, the Palm Sunday account, centers around the fulfillment of prophecy.  And it concludes with a comment about Jesus as being himself a prophet.

A prophet – what exactly do we mean when we say that?   We have the 4 major prophets – Isaiah, Jeremeiah, Ezekiel and Daniel – and then the 12 minor prophets of the Old Testament.  But what did they have in common?  Why group them together?  And then of course, there’s John the Baptist, considered the last of the Old Testament prophets, and a transition figure who points us to Jesus.  How does he fit in?

Over the years, as I have informally surveyed people, the most common explanation I hear is that a prophet is “one who tells the future”.  And that is often the case.  It’s at least part of the answer.  If we look at the examples of Scripture, we see the prophets make predictions that come true, time and time again.  In fact that is the determinative test of a false prophet – does his prediction come true?  Deuteronomy 18:22 – “when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.” 

But that doesn’t tell the whole story of what a prophet is or was.  Just as important as his future prediction, the prophet was a spokesman or mouthpiece for the LORD in his present context.  The prophet was a representative who brought a word from God himself.  And as we know, the Word of the Lord endures forever, and does not change.  So is it a surprise that the prophets spoke both words of Law and Gospel?

Some of the harshest condemnations of the Law in the entire bible come from the oracles of the prophets.  Warnings of judgment and destruction upon unfaithful people.  This nation or that nation will be destroyed.  The prophets railed against abuse of the poor by the rich, failure to trust in God’s word, and perhaps most of all the idolatry of the people who worshiped other gods.  They even spoke powerfully by their actions, living object lessons of reproach – like when Hosea married a prostitute to teach the Israelites about their spiritual adultery against Yahweh.

This harsh word of the prophet has led some to speak of a harsh word of judgment as a “prophetic word of rebuke”, and to imagine such fire-and-brimstone preachers as being akin to an Old Testament figure.  And indeed, sometimes God sent the prophets with a word of condemnation, or a call to repentance that he knew would be ignored.  But as he told Ezekiel, “And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Friends, this kind of prophetic word is needed today, also.  For the law still stands with all of its condemnations for sin.  And while the fashionable sins of our day may be different, the church still speaks the prophetic word of law that calls everyone to account.  There is no difference.  All have sinned.  And that means that first of all we must humbly receive that prophetic word of law ourselves.  According to our sins, we deserve every one of the prophet’s condemnations and more.  We break all the commandments too.  We don’t love God or our neighbor as we should.  May we never rest on a high horse of self-righteousness that thinks the prophet’s warning is only for some other sinner over there or out there, and not also for the sinner right here.

But the prophets also spoke beautiful and comforting words of hope, yes even in the Old Testament.  The spoke of the lovingkindness of God for his people.  His mercy.  His promises to restore them to an everlasting inheritance.  And all of these promises are rooted in and focused on the one who was to come.  The seed of the woman that would crush the serpent’s head.  The offspring of Abraham that would bless the nations.  The prophet like Moses who would lead his people out of bondage to sin.  The greater high priest than Aaron. And the Son of David that would also be David’s Lord.

He would be born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem.  He would be a man of sorrows and well acquainted with grief.  He would be stricken, smitten and afflicted.  But by his stripes, we would be healed.  While it seemed that his God had forsaken him, yet he would not let this Holy One see decay.  And so he would rise.  And with him all the dry bones of Israel, his people.  And with them, all the nations would come and pay tribute, and in a new covenant, God would remember their sins no more.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.

You see some of this prophetic comfort in our reading from Isaiah today:

He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples,
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4)

And then there came Jesus.  The ultimate fulfiller of prophecy.  So often that the Gospel writers take pains to point out, “This was to fulfill what was written” as Jesus fulfills Zechariah 9:9 by coming to Jerusalem riding a donkey.  His whole life Jesus was quite busy fulfilling prophecies.  From his nativity to his public ministry, healing, curing the deaf, the lame, raising the dead and preaching good news to the poor.  In his betrayal and suffering and death.  Even down to little details like, “in order that the scriptures might be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I thirst’”.  His burial with the rich in a borrowed tomb was foretold.  And his glorious resurrection as well – the sign of Jonah – restored from the abyss of death on the third day.

And just as the prophet’s condemnations are never far from us in our sin, so too are the wonderful and comforting promises of the Christ.  So too are all of the works and words of Jesus which he did and said for you and me.  For Jesus is the prophet of all prophets, the one who brings the message of the Father to the world – that God, in Christ, loved the word, and that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish have eternal life.

He surely is a prophet – he knows the future – he tells them where to find the donkey.  He also knows what waits for him in Jerusalem – as he had told his disciples, the Son of Man will be betrayed, handed over, they will crucify him and on the third day he will rise from the dead.  Jesus tells us the future also when he talks about his return in glory, coming in the clouds with his angels to judge the living and the dead.  He goes to prepare a place for us, and will return to bring us to that place in his Father’s house.  In the meantime, he promises to be with us always, even to the end of the age.  And so he is.

But his message is also one of present comfort.  We can echo that “Hosanna” that means “Save us NOW”, because his salvation is always present.  His forgiveness today is just as sure.  His word of pardon just as real.  There IS no condemnation NOW for those who are in Christ.  He brings the word of God that blesses us.  That word connected with water placed upon us in baptism is an every-day answer to our prayers of “hosanna”.  And when he is among us in the bread and wine at his altar, we rejoice in his presence and depart in his peace.

Jesus is indeed the “Prophet”.  But Jesus is not just the messenger, he is also the message.  He is the very embodiment of God’s salvation.  He fulfilled all the prophets’ expectations by his long-awaited birth in Bethlehem.  He fulfilled the prophets’ words by his triumphal entry to Jerusalem, riding on a donkey.  And he will fulfill all his own prophetic promises as he continues to forgive sinners, bestow his gifts, and when he comes again in glory riding not a donkey, but the very clouds.

Ours is but to hear the words of law, repent, believe the words of Gospel and have life.  Ours is to echo the hosannas to the Son of David, who came to save, who comes to save us now, and will come again, our great king, our high priest, and the prophet of God, Jesus Christ. 

A blessed Advent season to you.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.