New Year's Day -- Circumcision and Name of Jesus [Luke 2:21] (1-January-12)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am), and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (3pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Luke 2:21)

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Mëë ci ni̱n da̱ŋ bädäk thuuk, cua gua̱a̱th cuelä gatdä. Kä cua ciötdɛ cɔl i̱ Yecu. Ɛ jɛn ciöt ëë ca ka̱m jɛ ɛ jääk nhial ni mëë /ka̱n jɛ ni ruet ɛ man.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today’s Gospel, I think, is probably the shortest gospel reading in the entire lectionary. I don’t know that there are too many other gospel readings where there is only one verse of the bible that is read.

Today is the first day of a January, New Year’s Day; and in the history of the church, the readings for January 1 celebrate an event in Jesus life that took place when he was eight days old. January 1 is the eighth day after Christmas, and is the day when the church remembers that Jesus was circumcised and when he received his name.

In older times, it seems as though a baby boy wasn’t given his name when he was born, but rather when he was circumcised. These two things go together. And this custom was carried forward into the New Testament by Christians, who named their child when it was baptised. You might remember in the news in the last few years that the Danish royal family do it like this, that their children are not given their names until they are baptised. This is such a nice custom, because it shows that it’s more important what God calls the child rather than what people call the child. The child’s name is written in God’s book of life, and this determines what people call it, not the other way around.

And so there are basically three parts to this reading:

1.    The first thing is, that at the end of 8 days, Jesus was circumcised. [Cua gua̱a̱th cuelä gatdä]

2.    On the same occasion, he was given the name Jesus. [Cua ciötdɛ cɔl i̱ Yecu.]

3.   This name was given by the angel when he was conceived in the womb. [Ɛ jɛn ciöt ëë ca ka̱m jɛ ɛ jääk nhial ni mëë /ka̱n jɛ ni ruet ɛ man]

So the first thing we will meditate on today is the fact that Jesus was circumcised.

Now why is this significant?

In the Old Testament, circumcision is a mark that belongs the Jewish people as God’s chosen people, and also as a holy family. The Jewish people were God’s chosen people. They were the ones to whom God spoke his words of prophecy. It was from the Jewish people that the prophets came. The Jewish people were the people who preserved the words of God. St Paul says in Romans 3: The Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God [Ci Kuoth ruacdɛ ka̱m ji̱ Juudh.], or as the writer to the Hebrews calls it, the living and active word of God, sharper than any two-edged sword [Ruac Kuɔth tëkɛ, kä lätdɛ elɔ̱ŋ, leny muɔthdɛ muɔth thɛpä mi ca thɛr kui̱cnikɛ da̱ŋ rɛw].

Now the Jewish people then, or the men of the Jewish tribes, were marked with a covenant of circumcision, in the flesh. And the mark designated them as a holy family, a holy tribe, a holy people, the guardians and preservers of the words of God.

And if you wanted to become part of the God’s church, God’s holy people, before the time of Jesus, then you had to become part of this family: and if you were a man, this meant undergoing the ritual of circumcision.

In the New Testament, Christians do not perform this ritual any more. Instead, we are baptised. (Thank God for that! For one thing, they might have to send pastors to seminary for an extra few years: baptising is a lot easier!) With baptism comes something that is better than circumcision: We are not marked in the flesh, but we are sealed with God’s own Holy Spirit. In Holy Baptism, we are washed not just with water, but with the Word of God, the blood of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus says: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God [Mi /ka̱n raan di̱eth kɛ pi̱ kɛnɛ Yiëë, /cɛ dee wä cieŋ kuäärä Kuɔth.]. Paul writes in Titus: God saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, but he washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit [Kuoth ci kɔn kän, kä /ciɛ kui̱ lätni cuŋni tin canɛ la̱t, kä ɛ kui̱ kɔ̱cä lɔaacdɛ, kɛ la̱k in ci kɔn moc kɛ tëk mi pay tuɔɔk Yiëë in Gɔaa in Rɛl Rɔ]. Also in Ephesians, St Paul calls baptism a washing of water with the word [la̱k kɛ pi̱ kɛ riet].

When Jesus was born into the world, he brought salvation to all people, not just to the Jewish people, but also the Gentiles, like most of us today in the church. And so everything in the Old Testament is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. All the promises of God have their Yes in Him. [Kɛ ɣöö ɛ jɛn ɛn nin nyin Kuɔth diaal tin cɛ lar ɛ ɣöö "Ɣɔ̱ɔ̱n” rɛydɛ.] And so, the total forgiveness of sins and the full reception of the Holy Spirit were not given to the Jews. They were still looking to the future for these things. For the Jews, it is important that they preserved the family, and it was from this Jewish family that the Messiah, the Christ, would come. Christians believe that this person was Jesus. And so, now that Jesus Christ has come into the world, born of the Virgin Mary, we receive the full forgiveness of sins, and the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit with all his gifts from heaven. And so, baptism is not simply given to men like circumcision, but to both sexes, men and women, because both men and women receive the full forgiveness of their sins and the full measure of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. St Paul says in our epistle reading today: For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [Kä ca yɛ lak kɛ matdun kɛ Kritho, cia rɔ̱ kum kɛ Kritho. Cia cu thil raan Juudh kiɛ Gɛ-rith, kä cɛ thil kuany kiɛ ram mi lɔr, kä cɛ thil wut kiɛ ciek, kɛ ɣöö yɛn diaal lapɛ kɛl rɛy Kritho Yecu.]

In the first chapter of Matthew, we read the genealogy of Jesus. And the first words of the gospel of Matthew say: The record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. [Warɛgak gua̱ndɔɔŋni Yecu Kritho, gat Dee-bid, gat A-bɛ-ram.] And then we see Jesus’ family tree all laid out from Abraham to King David, from King David to the time of the exile into Babylon, and then from the exile into Babylon up to Jesus. The genealogy in Matthew starts with Abraham. Abraham was the first person to be circumcised. The covenant of circumcision was first given to Abraham. And so the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew shows the history of the circumcised people, the Jewish people.

Recently, at our youth bible study in Morwell, one of the boys asked me, “What happens in the family tree after Jesus?” Now we all know the answer to this ahead of time. Jesus wasn’t married, he didn’t have a wife, and he didn’t have children. The family tree ends with Jesus. But now if you want to be part of Jesus family, you don’t have to become a member of the Jewish family, you don’t marry into Jesus family, you’re not born into Jesus’ family by being simply born from your mother, but you’re baptised into Jesus family. The gospel of Matthew shows us the whole history of Jesus’ family – at the beginning we see his ancestors, the people who belonged to the covenant of circumcision. And at the end of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us about the future of his family: He says, Make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. [Jakɛ naath kä jil kɔaarä rɛy dööri diaal, kä lakɛ kɛ kɛ ciöt Gua̱a̱r in te nhial, kɛ Gat, kɛ Yiëë in Gɔaa in Rɛl Rɔ.] In the Christian church, we are made part of Jesus family: the family which is born again through water and the Spirit, the family which all drinks of the same Holy Spirit. But we are not Jesus’ descendants: we are his brothers and sisters. Jesus says: “My mother and my brothers [and sisters] are those who hear the word of God and do it.” [Maar kɛnɛ dämaari [kɛnɛ nyimaari] kɛ nɛy tin liɛŋkɛ ruac Kuɔth kä la̱tkɛ jɛ.] We don’t enter heaven because we are Jesus’ great-grand children, we enter heaven because he makes us his equals, his brothers and sisters. Jesus Christ himself comes to us and he brings us to God the Father with him, and he says: “These people are with me: they’re with me, I’ve died for them, they are covered with my blood, they are my friends, my family.”

What a wonderful thing that Jesus does for us! All the promises of God find their Yes in Jesus. [Kɛ ɣöö ɛ jɛn ɛn nin nyin Kuɔth diaal tin cɛ lar ɛ ɣöö "Ɣɔ̱ɔ̱n” rɛydɛ.] What a wonderful thing it is to be baptised and to share with Jesus his baptised life! What a wonderful thing it is to be covered with his blood, and forgiven of all our sins, and to drink from the deep wells of the same Holy Spirit! What a wonderful thing it is to be part of Jesus family, born again by water and the Spirit!

But there’s one more gift today in today’s reading that we haven’t talked about much yet. The circumcision of Jesus shows that he is born into Abraham’s family and has arisen from the midst of God’s chosen people.

But also, on the same day, Jesus was given his name.

We read: And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. [Mëë ci ni̱n da̱ŋ bädäk thuuk, cua gua̱a̱th cuelä gatdä. Kä cua ciötdɛ cɔl i̱ Yecu. Ɛ jɛn ciöt ëë ca ka̱m jɛ ɛ jääk nhial ni mëë /ka̱n jɛ ni ruet ɛ man.]

Now, most children are not given a name before they are conceived. Sometimes, if a woman becomes pregnant, the mum and dad might discuss what the names they would like to call their child when it is born. But this is after they know that the baby is there, already conceived.

Sometimes, a person might say, “if I ever had a baby, I don’t know when – I might call him Nimrod, or if it a girl, I’ll call her Pocahontas.” But this baby might never exist! This baby might be conceived one day, or it might not be.

But in our reading, we are reminded of that wonderful, brilliant event, when the angel Gabriel goes to the Virgin Mary and says: Greetings! Rejoice, highly-favoured one! The Lord is with you.” [Malɛ, ji̱n nyam mi ca poth! Kuoth a kɛɛl kɛ ji̱.]And then the angel says to the Virgin Mary: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. [/Cu dual, Mɛri, kɛ ɣöö ci puɔ̱th jek kä Kuɔth.] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” [Kä nɛn ɛ, bi ruët. Kä bi dap kɛ gat mi dho̱o̱l, kä bi ciötdɛ cɔl i̱ Yecu.]

And not only that, but the angel also went to Joseph in a dream, 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. [Jo-thɛp, gat Dee-bid, /cu dual kɛ kuën ciëkdu ni Mɛri, kɛ ɣöö min rueetdɛ läthɛ Yiëë in Gɔaa in Rɛl Rɔ thi̱n.] She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” [Jɛn bɛ gat dap, kä bi jɛ cɔl i̱ Yecu, kɛ ɣöö ɛ jɛn min bi nɛɛkɛ kän kä dueerkiɛn.]

What a wonderful thing this is! A child is conceived by the Holy Spirit, and given a name: the name Jesus. And this name Jesus, has a special meaning: Jesus means “he saves”. Jesus is our Saviour. Jesus saved us from our sins.

And so out of obedience to this angel, both Joseph and Mary, who each had an angel speak this name to them, call the baby’s name Jesus.

And what a name this is! Let your 2012 be a year which is blessed by this holy name! This is a name that has come ringing out of the eternity on the tongues and lips of angels, and has now been imprinted in time, in our world, on this one little baby, Jesus. This name is our hope! It is our strength! It is our peace! May Jesus be a Jesus to you this year, may he be your Saviour! His name is always there and it is powerful – and Jesus invites you to use it, to imprint it on your mind, your heart. It is a name that makes everything right, because it is the name that brings forgiveness, salvation, healing, peace, life, goodness, perfection, to every situation in life, to every day, to every hour.

St Peter says in Acts 4: And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among [people] by which we must be saved. [Kä thilɛ ka̱n teekä kä radɔ̱diɛn, kä thilɛ ciöt dɔ̱diɛn wi̱i̱ muɔ̱ɔ̱n mi ca ka̱m naath, min bi kɔn dhil kän.]

St Paul says in Philippians 2: At the name of Jesus every knee will bow [Kɛ ciöt Yecu, bi mua̱al diaal rɔ̱ goŋ.]

It is this name, Jesus, that was put on you, imprinted on you when you were baptised.

It is this name, Jesus, that is preached to you, and it is in this name, that your sins are forgiven.

It is this name, Jesus, that is spoken over you at the Lord’s Supper: The body of our Lord Jesus Christ and his holy precious blood strengthen and preserve you in body and soul until life eternal.

And it is this name which brings an end to the entire bible, at the end of the book of Revelation, and which will also bring this sermon to an end today:

He who testifies of these things says: “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! [Ram min lat ŋɔaani ti̱ti̱, laarɛ jɛ i̱, "Ɛpuc bä mal ben." Inɔnɔ. Ku ben, Kuäär ni Yecu!] The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. [A puɔ̱th Kua̱r ni Yecu tekɛ nɛy diaal tin ci Kuoth kɛ lɛy. Inɔnɔ.]

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for your holy and precious name, which was given to Mary and Joseph even before you were conceived. As we begin a New Year, this 2012 today, we ask that you would bless this year with the holy and precious name of Jesus. We ask that you would stamp it and imprint it on this year and on everything we do, on everything we plan, and on everything we hope to accomplish. We pray these things before the throne of your Father in your name, our Saviour, Jesus. Amen.

Christmas Day: Audio Sermon (25-December-11)

Click title for link

Christmas Day [John 1:1-14] (25-December-11)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am), and St John's Lutheran Church, Sale (4pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (John 1:1-14)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today’s Gospel reading is one of the most important readings in the entire church year. It is so important that at one time in church history this passage from the Gospel of John was read at the end of every single church service, every single Sunday. And so, here we are, on Christmas Day 2011, to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. We are here to hear the living and active words of this same Jesus Christ who is present here today in the flesh to speak these words into our own ears himself, and we are here today to receive his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.

During this last December, it has struck me, and many people I have spoken to, that Christmas is not looking much any more like it used to. There are decorations around the place, but not much. Children are not learning Christmas carols in school any more. Mention of the birth of Jesus in schools and kindergartens is becoming more and more taboo. Some say that there haven’t been many Christmas carols on the radio this year.

Christmas next year and in years to come could do with a come-back, don’t you think? But the problem is this: Christmas is something that is not built on sentimentality, nostalgia, and nice warm fuzzy feelings. Anything built on these things will eventually run out of petrol and find itself stuck in a ditch on the side of the highway while the rest of the world drives past not even noticing the wreck.

Christmas will never have a come-back though, until the central event of Christmas that we commemorate, the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, the Word become flesh, is confessed with boldness and confidence by sinners throughout the world once again.

You see, it’s not Christmas that needs a come-back: it’s Christianity. Christmas without Christianity is like a dead empty shell. You don’t invent a festival if you don’t believe what it’s about. Nobody thinks to build a grand cathedral in Europe anymore if no one’s going to come and worship in it. Nobody builds an empty building with no purpose. The empty shell of Christmas can only be filled with goodness again when it is filled with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

And so our text today is the solid, solid rock on which all the rest of Christmas is built.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

+++

But before we get to the event of Christmas. We need to backtrack and sort out some other things first.

In the first chapter of the book of Genesis we read: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Christmas is nothing without these words, and without this fact.

There is a God. God exists. He is real.

And not only that, but God created us. He made you. He made everything that you can see, and everything that you can’t see. And he made these things in the beginning. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Full stop. No argument.

Ah! But I want proof, you say?

Well, let me say a few things about science and faith.

Most people misunderstand how these two things are related.

Some people say that science is based on facts, and faith is based on feelings.

Wrong.

Science is not based on “any old facts”, it is based on research. Faith is not based on feelings, it is based on events where God intervenes in human history.

Science is based on observing things, and learning things by observation. Faith is based on listening to the word of God.

Let me tell you how science works: A scientist first of all observes something. Scientists discover things, they look at things, like a fossil, or a rock, or bacteria under a microscope, or stars, or glaciers, or weather, or whatever type of a scientist they are. And they make experiments, and they measure things. They observe all the detail very carefully. And then they make a theory (or an hypothesis) about the big picture, and they test it out.

Theology, Christianity, religion, faith works completely the other way around. We don’t start with a small detail and make a theory about the large picture. God reveals his word as an entirety, as a package, in advance. And then in each generation of the church, we break down the big picture into little pieces. We take the bible verse by verse, and book by book and we dissect the bible for the benefit of each generation.

Christianity doesn’t take a small detail like a leaf or a stone, and make a theory about the existence of God. We believe in the existence of God, because we trust in God’s word. We believe as Christians that at specific times in history, God has gradually revealed his word and his will to the sinful, fallen human race.

You see, science sees itself as always moving forward. Theories are only facts until someone disproves it and comes up with a better theory. And many scientists overstep their mark, and are not humble enough to realise this. Even this year, the Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to the Australian scientist, Brian Schmidt and his colleagues, for “the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae”. He discovered something new, which nobody knew before. He made observations and made a new discovery. And that’s a good thing.

But faith is talking about something else. It doesn’t work like that. Faith doesn’t move forward. It stands its ground. It listens to the Word of God.

Faith is built on facts just as much as science is, but it’s a different type of fact. We believe that God spoke in many and various ways through the prophets, but in these last times he has spoken to us through his Son. (Hebrews 1:1). The fact that God has spoken his word is an historical fact.

Nobody will ever disprove the existence of God scientifically. In fact, it’s impossible to do that. The only thing you can do is to reject the Word of God. Science can’t measure God. Science can’t observe God. If it could measure God, and if it could observe God, then we would be the gods and God would be less than us. The one true God, the Holy Trinity (the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit) would just be like any old pagan god, who brings the earth into existence through his or her mistakes.

God brought the world into existence, not through mistakes, but through his love and through his word. And God said, let there be light. Because not only is there a God, but he is also a loving God, who is full of light, and life, and goodness, and gives light and life to the world.

Look at each tree, and how different each tree is, how different each leaf is, how each detail was shaped and formed. Look at each bird, each animal, each insect, if you can count them. Look at the stars and the supernovae, how magnificent they all are. Look at the earth, and notice that if the earth was thrown just a few degrees off its axis, then life as we know it simply wouldn’t exist. Psalm 8 says: I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place. Psalm 33 says: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. Psalm 104: O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.

It takes almost more faith to believe that all these things came about by chance, or that there is some impersonal naturally selecting force ordering all these things. When science and human reason becomes a religion, which it has become, it becomes a crippling groping around in the dark and just another form of that other religion that has been passed down through the centuries: paganism, idolatry.

But hang on a minute, you might say? What’s all this got to do with Christmas? I thought I came to church to hear a sermon about the birth of Jesus!

Well, our text today for Christmas day, which has been read in the church every Christmas day for centuries starts in this place, with the words: In the beginning.

And when we say in the beginning, we mean: before there was anything that we can see, before anything could be measured scientifically. In the beginning means that we are talking about eternity. Eternity is not something we measure, it is a reality that we believe by faith. And in our Gospel reading today, we read that God is not just a non-descript nothing, but he has a shape and a form. He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but there are not three gods but One God. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal and the Holy Spirit is eternal, but there are three who are eternal but one who is eternal.

And the Son of God, St John calls “the Word”: The Word of God.

And so St John begins his gospel with these words inspired by the Holy Spirit: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him, was not anything made than was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of [all people]. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

We know these things, because God has spoken them, and because in pulpits throughout the world, this word is preached.

So St John says: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. (The first Christian pastor, the first man sent from God.) He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, than all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of God (and not by scientific argument and not by scientific reasoning and scientific proofs), but [were born] of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This is what was happening at the first Christmas. The Word of God, who was with God, and who is God, became flesh. Your Maker became a baby that you can hold. This is what was happening when angels came down to sing with shepherds in the fields watching their flocks. This is what was happening when a virgin from Galilee became pregnant. This is what was happening when Joseph and Mary had to find lodging in a stable. This is what was happening when the donkeys, the sheep, the horses, the cows looked in their feeding trough to see the God of heaven and earth who created them. The animals there knew who their maker was, what about you?

The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. This is what was happening when the angels came to bring good news of great joy to all people. This is what was happening when the stars themselves lead wise men from the east to offer to the baby their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. This is what was happening when Mary and Joseph gave the God who created them the name Jesus, because he will save them from their sins.

And so, we give thank to our heavenly Father today, for sending his Son, Jesus Christ into the world, and we ask him to send us the Holy Spirit through the same Jesus Christ. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All we like sheep have gone astray. The wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God bless you this wonderful, joyous, happy Christmas Day! May God bless you with a blessed happy Christmas! The Word has become flesh and dwelt among us. He still lives in the flesh among us in his church on earth. He speaks his words still today and forgives your sins. He comes to his church giving you his body and blood. And all the company of heaven, the angels and the archangels, rejoice with us!

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts! Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Amen.

Lord God, heavenly Father, we believe that you, together with your Son, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit are truly One God. We thank you that your Son took on human flesh and was born a humble birth in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary. Send us the Holy Spirit, and give us the great joy which comes with the good news of Christmas, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Christmas Eve: Audio Sermon (24-December-11)

Click title for link

Mid-Week Advent Service 4: Audio Sermon (21-December-11)

Click on title for link

Christmas Eve [Matthew 1:18-25] (24-December-11)

This sermon was preached at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (18-Dec-11, 3pm), St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (18-Dec-11, 7pm), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yarram (23-Dec-11, 6.30pm) and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (24-Dec-11, 7pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Matthew 1:22-23)

All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

What do you think Christmas is about?

Well, first of all, it’s not about the end of the year. It’s not about end of year work-parties, or break ups. It’s not about falling into a heap when the craziness is finally over.

It’s not about families. It’s not about family baggage that gets trotted out year after year, dragged out of the family closet. It’s not about playing cricket in the backyard.

It’s not about food. It’s not about ham, about turkey, barbecues, cranberry sauce, roast potatoes, Christmas pudding, fruit mince pies, white Christmas, and candy canes.

It’s not even about presents, about businesses, about buying and selling. It’s not about Santa Claus, and Rudolph. It’s not even first of all about children, and its not even first of all about singing.

Christmas is the commemoration of one event in history which changed the world as we know it. Christmas is the day where we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, and the day Christmas is about nothing else.

Everything that we know about Christmas, and everything that we look forward to at Christmas is the result of years and years of culture and society building on this one historical event. Sometimes these things were designed to promote the birth of Christ, and sometimes these things were designed to take our attention away from it.

St Paul says: If Christ had not been raised, then my preaching is in vain, and so is your faith.

In the same way, we could say, If Jesus Christ was not born of the Virgin Mary, if he was not conceived by the Holy Spirit, and truly born of a virgin, then my preaching is in vain, and so is your faith. Christmas would be a waste of time, and we would do ourselves a favour not letting the church have a foot in the door every year. We should commemorate something else.

But the word Christmas is made up of two words: Christ and mass. There is no Christmas without Christ, no matter how hard people might try to wrench the person of Jesus out of the occasion. And there is no Christmas, without mass, without a church festival, without people going to church throughout the world celebrating and singing, without the word of God, and without the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Christmas simply is these things. If we try and make it something that is not these things, we will at least always have the word Christmas, Christmas, Christmas ringing like church bells in our ears reminding the whole world what hypocrites we have all become and calling us to worship the baby who is the reason for the festival. Even our calendar which is up to its 2011^th year is based not on the resurrection of Jesus but on his birth.

And so the gospel of Matthew says: All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means God with us).

The year 2011 has been an interesting one. It has been one of great political and social unrest all around the world, with natural disasters one after the other. But it also found people in the western world remembering the 10^th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York city on 11^th September 2001. And why is this significant?

Since this time, there has been a counter-attack not just on the Middle East, and the Islamic world, but on Christianity. The argument for the last ten years has gone like this: “9/11 happened because of religious extremism. All religion is bad. Therefore Christianity is just another version of the same hate-filled, war-mongering, intolerant, prejudiced, loveless rope that is choking the world of its life.”

And so, we’ve had the resurgence of a vigorous atheistic movement, almost an evangelistic atheist movement, almost a “religiously-extreme” atheistic movement which has set out as its goal to destroy the foundations of religion, and especially in the west, Christianity. Atheism today is not indifferent to Christianity, it is against Christianity. And there have been situations where the church itself has rotted away to such a filthy corpse of a shell, where it simply bowed down and said Yes and Amen not to the Lord of the church, Jesus Christ, and been responsible for sex abuse and all sorts of things, and made the integrity of the church fair game and a good whipping boy for all of the problems in the world that we would like to shake off. And the church in these places has sometimes deserved everything they get.

And so, it has been said, that to teach bible stories to children is child abuse. That everyone who believes the Christian faith must have been brainwashed and is simply not capable of thinking for themselves.

And so most Christians today hang their heads in despair looking at the valley of dry bones, and say: “God, can these bones live?”

But all of this distracts us from the simple event of Christmas:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

At this Christmas time, each of us needs to consider and think whether we believe that this event happened in history or not. It’s as simple as that. So do we believe that a baby boy was born in Bethlehem in the year 6BC? The gospels themselves, the gospels of Matthew and Luke, spell out in great detail what was happening at the time. We know that King Herod was on the throne at this time. We know about Caesar Augustus at this time. We know about Quirinius being the governor of Syria. All this historical details which you can go and check for yourself. There is not just one record of the birth of Jesus, but there are two, one in Matthew and one in Luke. Matthew tells it more from Joseph’s perspective, Luke is more from Mary’s. But the two accounts match. The manuscripts have been passed down through the centuries pretty well. In fact, the New Testament is one of the most well-preserved documents in history. The event itself fulfils many different prophesies from older times.

But then we sit back and say: But are the gospels reliable? After all, they are not a neutral book. But then, look at the history of other people. Look at the history of Ancient Egypt, and Ancient Rome. Many things we read about Julius Caesar in history books are taken from records which are a lot less “scrupulous” and “reliable” than the New Testament.

But then we might say: But all of this impossible! It’s not possible for a virgin to conceive and give birth. Your argument has a hole in it: Just because you’ve never seen it before, and probably will never see one in the future, doesn’t mean it’s possible. It doesn’t mean that it is not possible. Of course, if God simply didn’t exist, then it would be impossible. If that’s where you’re at, then that’s your business. If we want God to be subject measurement and experiment, then we would make ourselves God and we make him less than us. That’s not the way he made it.

We notice in our reading from Matthew:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “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.”

Notice how all the details come together. There are all sorts of things that have happened precisely at the right time and have happened at the right moment. She is betrothed, but still a virgin. She is promised to be married, but she has never been with a man. Now in those days, if she had become pregnant outside of marriage, then she could have been stoned to death. But she’s protected, because Joseph is happy to still marry her. They both know what they did and didn’t do. They knew that no exchanges, as it were, took place.

And so, God appears to Joseph in a way that is not usually what we would read in a history book. He comes in a way that is offensive to our sense of reason and common sense. He comes through an angel in a dream.

We tell our children from a young age that dreams are not real. But there are many dreams and many angels that appear to Joseph for all sorts of reasons in the gospel of Matthew. He recognises something real in them and things work out right for them. The wise men from the East are warned not to go back to Herod in a dream. Joseph and Mary escape to Egypt because Joseph was warned in a dream. They came back because of an angel in a dream.

But if the dream’s not real, then neither is God. Just because we’re talking about a dream here, doesn’t mean that something real, factual, and external to Joseph didn’t take place.

All the many historical details, and historical circumstances, and world events, the basic record that Jesus lived an historical life we can read in other places, in other history books. Josephus, a Jewish historian from that time, recorded some things about the life of Jesus. There are other historical accounts that point to all this.

But still, God does not convince you simply by historical facts, but he calls you to faith simply through the mystery of a dream.

And we read: All this took place.  The historical details and the dream together, all took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

God is always with us. But the text is pointing us to the fact that this person in history, Jesus Christ, a human being, was also in actual fact, true God. He was born of the virgin Mary, and also conceived by the Holy Spirit. He is a true human being, a real man with real flesh and blood, and also he was true God.  That’s what it means when we call Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.

But without the virgin birth, without the event of Jesus birth, without this person coming into our world in this way, and in these circumstance, the whole thing is a scam. Christianity is the only religion that lets you investigate these things for yourself. But of course, many people will not investigate these things, and refuse to, because once the investigation has begun, that person begins a dangerous road, because Jesus says: “Seek and you will find.” “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will in fact be satisfied.”

God bless you this Christmas! May the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ fill you with such joy, that your voices and blended and mixed in with the voice of that great angelic choir that came down and sang to those shepherds in the fields that night, singing: Peace on earth, good will to all people! The angel says: “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy!

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” which means God with us. And when Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And she called his name Jesus.

Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you that you were conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. We thank you for this event in history, and for making us part of this wonderful and glorious history through your living and active word, and the community of your holy church on earth. Bless us with the Holy Spirit, and give us a happy, safe and blessed Christmas. Amen.

Mid-Week Advent Service 4 [Luke 1:39-56] (21-December-11)

This sermon was preached at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon, 7pm.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Luke 1:39-56)

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Tonight is our final gathering together on these Wednesday nights during Advent. And tonight’s reading we read the passage where Mary goes to visit Elizabeth.

Last week’s reading was the passage just before tonight’s reading, and this told of the angel Gabriel coming to Mary to announce to her that she would be pregnant with Jesus. And the event which happens in that reading is commemorated in a special church festival called the Annunciation, on the 25th March, 9 months before Christmas.

The event in tonight’s reading, where Mary visits Elizabeth, is also commemorated with it’s own special church festival, called the Visitation, which is celebrated either on May 31st or July 2nd. And like the Annunciation, the Visitation used to be a major church festival in the Lutheran Church, but is often not celebrated any more.

But by our modern standards, there’s not an awful lot that happens, and we might think, what was the fuss all about. But that’s precisely the problem: “by our modern standards”. In different times of history people would look at this passage in Scripture and see a lot going on.

So let’s see what happens in our reading tonight.

We read: In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.

First of all, Israel is not a large place. In fact, it’s quite a similar size to Gippsland – to get from the south of Israel right up to the top is about the same distance between Pakenham and Cann River (a 5 hour drive). But Mary’s a pregnant woman, and she travels from her home in Nazareth to visit her relative Elizabeth. We would assume that Elizabeth and Zechariah lived somewhere close to Jerusalem. Now the distance between Nazareth and Jerusalem is similar to that between Bairnsdale and Traralgon (an hour ½ drive). Now here we have a pregnant woman travelling that sort of a distance back in those early times. Now anyone without a car or a train would take a long time to travel between Bairnsdale and Traralgon. Nothing is said how Mary travelled between Nazareth and Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house. In fact, there’s not a lot said about this journey at all. We’re not actually told where Elizabeth lives, except in the hill country. Now Jerusalem does have a lot of hills around it. We’re not told exactly how Mary travels, but we would assume that she takes fairly humble means to get there.

And with all of these physical, geographical barriers, we read that: she went with haste. She was eager to get there. It’s almost as if as soon as the angel had left her, she rose up to her feet and went off to see Elizabeth. Also, it’s not said exactly how Mary and Elizabeth were related. This bible passage is very much like the Apostle’s Creed: It doesn’t go into a lot of detail, and just tells us the bare minimum. So everything that it does say is significant.

So we read: Mary entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.

Did you catch what made the baby leap in Elizabeth’s womb? Mary’s greeting.

We’re not even told in this reading what Mary said to Elizabeth. It simply says: She greeted Elizabeth.

In the New Testament, there are all sorts of greetings. In last week’s reading about the Annunciation, the angel comes and greets Mary. He says: “Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you.”

As Christians, we should always be careful that what we say we mean and what we mean we say. This is very important, not just because of how other people perceive what we say, because they are not the only people who hear what we say. God is listening, and the angels are listening. Jesus himself says: I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak. Now in our culture today, greetings have almost become part of that category which we would call “careless words”. And it is so important that what we say we mean, and what we mean we say.

We go to the supermarket, and the person behind the counter might say: “How are you going?” but in actual fact they have no interest in your life, and no interest how “life is treating you.” If you say, “fine thanks”, that would be the polite thing to say. If you sometimes actually told them the truth when you’re feeling lousy, and that’s the reason why you’ve just bought half the products from the medicines aisle, then the person feels awkward, and thinks: “Well, all I asked was ‘how are you’! I didn’t want a full-blown lecture. After all, I’m not a psychiatrist!”

All this testifies to the fact that when people greet each other they don’t really mean what they say. But this also testifies to something else, that there was probably a time in history when people began greeting each other with the words “How are you?” because they were genuinely interested in how the other person was.

It’s the same with a whole heap of greetings. “Good morning”. “Good day”. “Good evening”. “Hello”. And then of course, there’s that well-known Irish greeting: “The top of the morning to you!”

In fact, apart from “hello” – I don’t know if anyone really knows what the origin of “hello” is – most greetings are a king of prayer. “Good morning” can mean, “I hope you have a good morning”. But also it means, “May God give to you a good morning.”

All these greetings that we use in day-to-day life are significant and they mean something and they come to us as part of our cultural heritage from a time when people really meant these things! The greeting between Mary and Elizabeth is so significant, even when we don’t know the exact greeting Mary said. As soon as Jesus is conceived, the first thing we read about in Luke’s gospel is how peace on earth begins to take shape. The angels come down later in Luke chapter 2 and say: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Every Divine Service we sing these words: and here in this greeting between Mary and Elizabeth we begin to see peace on earth begin to happen with a simple greeting. God has taken on human flesh, and the first thing this makes people do is greet one another with words of peace.

In the second letter of St John, we read the words: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.”

You can see that there is something from this time of the New Testament, where greetings were not the throw-away standard catch-phrases that we use today, and that they were significant. They were real, physical bestowals of a gift from God. They were prayers, but not just prayers. They were wishes, but not just wishes. They also brought a gift to the person from God.

So think about this next time you greet a person: “Good morning” or whatever you say, and remember that it is God the Father, through you, and through your greeting who bestows upon that person all the blessings that a “good morning” entails.

In the church too, there are also many greetings that we use in the church. Notice how in the regular divine service, that we do exactly the same thing as Mary and Elizabeth. We sing the song of the angels: “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth.” And then we enact peace on earth together. The pastor says: “The Lord be with you”. Think about this greeting and what it means. And the congregation say back to the pastor: “And also with you” or in the older language people would say “And with your spirit.”

And then having greeted one another in Christian fellowship, in the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, we come to pray together the prayer for the day and hear the holy Word of God. We say the same words at the beginning of the Liturgy of the Sacrament. “The Lord be with you!” “And also with you!” “Lift up your hearts!” “We lift them up to the Lord!” And after the consecration of the bread and wine as the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we exchange a greeting. “The peace of the Lord be with you always!” With all these different words, your desire to see the face of your maker, your desire to receive to receive the sacrament, and to die a blessed death should be inflamed within you, like a child leaping in its mother’s womb.

Do you see, everything has a meaning! When people say, the liturgy is just a whole lot of empty ritual and it doesn’t mean anything, we testify to the fact that as these different parts of the liturgy were woven together over time, they were put there because people actually meant what they said. When people say things like this, it testifies to the fact that we have deteriorated in our understanding from an earlier time.

We also see the many greetings of St Paul in all of his letters. In fact, each sermon I begin with the words: “Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.” I’m not saying these things to be polite. I’m saying these things to you because with the greeting comes a precious gift from God. It’s not a throw-away remark. I would encourage you to go through the New Testament and try and find all the greetings at the beginning of the epistles and meditate and think about each one and how each one is different and what each one conveys.

So we see here in our reading tonight, that it’s right at the foundation of our life together as Christians in the New Testament that we greet each other with words of peace.

And so we read: And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped for joy in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came into my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

Notice the great joy in our reading! Greetings, exclamations with loud cries, and later on, singing. What an event this was!

And so Elizabeth speaks words which are inspired words, words of the Holy Spirit. She recognised that the she is the mother of her Lord. She recognises that it is her Lord, her master, who is the fruit of Mary’s womb. It is the same Lord who spoken to Moses from a burning bush, and gave his name, Yahweh or Jehovah, “I am who I am”. The bush was burning but was not consumed. Here in our reading tonight, Elizabeth recognises through the presence of the Holy Spirit that Mary’s womb contains the very same “Lord of light who made the stars”, as we sung earlier tonight. And the Lord of light is in her womb and like the burning bush, her womb is not consumed by the holy presence of the eternal God.

So Elizabeth says: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came into my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

And then finally she commends Mary. She repays her greeting. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.

We can see here that Mary is given to us as a model and an example of faith. Blessed is she who believed. Blessed is she who made no contribution, no effort to the fact that she became pregnant. She simple bowed her head in submission to the angel’s words: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.”

And when faith puts out its hand and receives, when we offer nothing to our Lord but place before him our empty bags, our empty hearts, he fills them with gifts, grace upon grace, forgiveness upon forgiveness, and Jesus Christ himself even comes to make his home inside of us, and become participants, partakers, sharers in his divine nature. And so what a natural thing it is as a Christian to greet a person! Because every greeting has its origin in the greeting that God have given right from the very beginning of creation, and when every new day begins, and sees everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Good morning! Good afternoon! Good evening!

Lamentations says: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning!

At the end of our reading, we have a song, the Song of Mary. Traditionally, this song is called the Magnificat. My soul magnifies the Lord! In the history of the church, this song was always sung at Vespers, as we will do in our service later on. It is a song filled with joy and happiness at the incarnation, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. And unfortunately, this song is not all that well known in the church. It’s a beautiful song, one that has been sung in the church right from the early times in the NT, and needs a revival. If you like, you could use it as a night-time prayer before you go to bed for a few weeks, and see how it grows on you.

But to go into detail into the words of the Magnificat is a subject for another sermon for another day. But we also see that singing is something that people do when they are in the presence of God, and the Holy Spirit sends Mary the words here. All sorts of professors and scholars and know-it-alls who want to sit and analyse the poetry in the Magnificat like they do with a piece of Shakespeare have to realise that the beauty which comes from the poetry is because of its inspiration by the Holy Spirit, and not because Mary was necessarily an educated poet. All poetry and hymnody and psalms and spiritual songs all have their origin in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So many of the words that the Scriptures call “prophesies” are in actual fact “songs”.

So many of the regular songs we sing in church come from these first chapter in Luke. Here in our reading tonight, we have the Magnificat, the Song of Mary, which was always used in the church at Vespers, in the evening service. Later, when Zechariah the priest regains his voice, he gives voice to another song, the Benedictus, or the Song of Zechariah: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, for he has come and redeemed his people. This song has always been used at Matins, in the morning service, and our parish has been learning a version of this song regularly at lay-reading services. Then in Luke 2, there is the Song of the Angels, the Glory to God in the highest, which we sing every Sunday, confessing that the true glory and majesty of our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ has descended upon our gathered congregation in the flesh in our Divine Service. When he was a baby, he was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. Now, he is wrapped up in water in baptism, in the read, preached and absolving words of God, and in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. No wonder we sing “Glory to God in the highest”.  And then at the end of Luke 2, we read about the Song of Simeon, where Jesus was brought by his parents to the temple and the old man Simeon took the baby in his arms and sang: “Now Lord let your servant depart in peace”. We sing these words every Sunday after we receive the Lord’s Supper. Just as all of Simeon’s desire was fulfilled in holding the baby Jesus, so also all our desire is fulfilled here on earth as we approach God’s sanctuary and receive his body given for us and blood shed for us for the forgiveness of our sin. As Luther said: “When we go to the sacrament, we should go to it like we’re going to our death, so that when we die, it will be just like going to the sacrament!” And so we sing: “Now Lord let your servant depart in peace!”

So as we look forward to our Christmas services at the end of the week, sing for joy! Sing to the Lord a new song, all the earth! As St Paul, be filled with the Spirit, singing hymns and psalms and spiritual songs.

So: Greetings! The Lord be with you! A blessed Advent to all of you! A blessed Christmas to all of you! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is he who greets you and forgives you and sanctifies you in the name of the Lord! Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, what joy there is in your conception and in your birth. My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour! Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! Now, Lord, let your servant depart in peace, according to your word! Amen.