First Sunday after Christmas: Audio Sermon (30-Dec-2012)

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First Sunday after Christmas [Luke 2:33-40] (30-Dec-2012)

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

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

Text: (Luke 2:33-40)

And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favour of God was upon him.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, send us the Holy Spirit so that I may preach well and that we all may hear well, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Gospel reading today is set 40 days after Christmas, when Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple. In the bible, not much is said about Jesus’ childhood. And this is a very significant fact. The gospels of John and the Gospel of Mark say absolutely nothing about Jesus’ childhood, but begin with his baptism, and the preaching and healing that Jesus performed after that time. Jesus’ ministry of preaching, teaching and healing began with his baptism.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we are told about how an angel went to Joseph in a dream to encourage him to take Mary to be his wife. We are told about wise men visiting from the East. We are told about King Herod’s plot to kill the baby Jesus, and the family’s flight as refugees to Egypt. And we are told how the angel of God guards the family and warns them at various stages along the way, and how they eventually return to Nazareth after Herod’s death.

At the beginning of Luke’s gospel, Luke tells us about his efforts to write an orderly account, “having followed all things closely for some time past.” We are told about the Angel Gabriel visiting John the Baptist’s father Zechariah in the temple to tell him that his wife Elizabeth will conceive in her old age. We are told about the same angel visiting the Virgin Mary and announcing to her the conception of the baby Jesus. We are told about how Mary visits Elizabeth, and how the baby John leaped for joy in his mother’s womb when the sound of Mary’s greeting reached his mother’s ears, and how Mary sang her great song: My soul magnifies the Lord. We are told about the birth of John the Baptist and how eight days later when the baby was to be circumcised, Zechariah’s voice was given back when he named his son John.

In chapter 2 of St Luke, we are told about the birth of Jesus, following the travelling of his parents to Bethlehem for the census decreed by Caesar Augustus. We are told about the great appearance of angels to some shepherds in nearby fields watching the flocks. We are told about the circumcision and naming of Jesus eight days after his birth. Later in the chapter we are told about the boy Jesus who goes missing, and is found by his parents in the temple.

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus, Mary and Joseph go to the temple 40 days after his birth. This is the occasion which is known as Jesus’ Presentation, or Mary’s Purification. In the church, this event is traditionally celebrated on February 2^nd, 40 days after Christmas, as is sometimes known as Candlemas. In the mediaeval times, people often brought candles to church, and had a procession with candles, because of Simeon’s words: “A light to reveal you to the Gentiles.”

There were two things that needed to be done on this occasion. In Exodus 13 it says that “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”. So Jesus needed to be brought to the temple to be presented to the Lord. Also, after childbirth, a woman would have to wait 40 days, if she gave birth to a boy, and longer if she gave birth to a girl, before she could enter the temple, and would have to make a sacrifice of a Lamb and a pigeon or a turtledove. But if she couldn’t afford the lamb, then she could bring two pigeons or two turtledoves.

On this occasion, Mary and Joseph brought two turtledoves to the temple, by which we learn that Mary and Joseph were not wealthy people, but were in fact poor.

When they go to the temple, they are met by a Simeon, who had it revealed to him “by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” So he sees the baby Jesus, picks him out from the crowd, and says the words which many of know so well, since we sing these words every Sunday after we have received the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper: “Now, Lord, let your servant depart in peace.”

So this is the occasion on which the events of our Gospel reading today happen. But our reading today starts just after Simeon has sung his little song.

And we read: And his father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him.

Now, it often happens that parents marvel at their children. They marvel when they say their first word, when they take their first steps, and all that sort of thing. All these occasions cause parents to marvel, because it reminds them that they were just like this helpless baby once upon a time. And what a miracle it is when each of us a preserved through life and brought to adulthood!

But very rarely does it happen that someone should come up to a child’s parents in a public place, or in a church, as in the temple, and speak a prophesy about the child. This is something that hadn’t happened to Mary or Joseph. This event separates the child Jesus from them. Jesus is different from his parents: he will learn to walk and talk just like them, and just like any other child. But no other child will offer to an old man the certainty of a blessed death, in such a way that he can say: “Now, you are letting your servant depart in peace.”

And so we read that his father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him.

And the Holy Spirit also calls us to join in with them and marvel at the baby Jesus, and stand in wonder at him. In verse 18, we hear that all who heard the report about the shepherds wondered at what the shepherds told them. But that Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. Here, with the shepherds, as they go about telling everyone this exciting news, the wondering is much more of a mixed bag: some people would be excited and some people would be quite scared at what was being said.

And the same thing happens at Christmas: some people take the Christmas message to heart in such a way that it amazes them every year, and offers them great spiritual food to hear the good news of the angels again and to join in singing with them. Some people may become fearful at the prospect that this could be true, and stay away. Some people may be cynical and sceptic, and think that Christmas is a whole lot of mumbo jumbo.

But when it says that Jesus’ mother and father marvelled, we’re not talking about that sort of wondering and amazement, a mixed bag of doubts. The text is saying that Mary and Joseph were truly amazed at the child Jesus in such a way that it caused them great joy and awe and reverence.

The Holy Spirit also causes us to be amazed and marvel with them, and to meditate upon just what a wonderful thing it is to be in the living presence of Jesus, to have access to his name in prayer, and to be covered in his blood in baptism. What a wonderful occasion his birth really was! How wonderful and marvellous it really was!

So many of the Christmas carols teach us this attitude and this reverence: O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, Come and behold him, Born the king of angels. Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies. O the joy, beyond expressing, When by faith we grasp this blessing. Wondrous birth! O wondrous child Of the virgin undefiled! Joy to the world! The Lord is come: Let earth receive her king.

And then we read: And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many is Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

We read that Simeon first of all blessed the parents. And here should be a particular encouragement to all Christian parents. God blesses parents, and blesses the duties of parents, and wants to encourage parents in their parenting. Parents will learn very quickly that their children are sinners, but also they should marvel together with Mary and Joseph just what blessings are being poured out on their children through baptism, and just how much they can learn through the Scripture. So many times, many children will quickly become wiser than their parents in the faith. As Jesus says from the words of Psalm 8: Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have established praise to still the enemy and the avenger. Or when Jesus says: Let the little children come to me and do not stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

So many Christians who are parents carry a great burden and weight on their shoulders, in that they know and feel what they perceive to be their failures in parenting. Parents know that they haven’t perfectly fulfilled the task that St Paul commands: “Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

But this is why it is so important to confess our sins to God regularly, and especially those of us who are parents, and to confess our sins of parenting, and to receive God’s living words of forgiveness for us, and to come to church and badger our pastors to speak the absolution, the words of forgiveness from Jesus, for our comfort again and again. Let God bless you in all your weakness and helplessness, just as he blessed Mary and Joseph through Simeon in all their poverty.

But what are these words that Simeon speaks to Mary: Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed. Jesus is the rock of stumbling and offense. Many people will be offended by him, and will fall when they join the voices of Pilate and Caiaphas and want to sentence Jesus to die on the cross. But Jesus says: Blessed is the one who is not offended at me! These people will rise. As Simeon says: This child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed. See, how especially when Jesus is on the cross how he is opposed, and rejected! And Simeon says to Mary: And a sword will pierce through your own soul also. This happened when Mary had to watch her firstborn Son die so cruelly. It’s one thing for a mother to endure the death of any son, but for Mary to endure the death of her Son is a great weight—a sword which pierces through her soul. Mary didn’t participate in suffering for the sins of the world, but she experiences what it means to take up the cross and follow Jesus daily. So we too as Christians should be ashamed to take up our cross and join Mary at the foot of the cross.

And Simeon says: so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. Here at the bottom of the cross, the thoughts of many hearts are revealed. Do we stand at the bottom of the cross and let the blood of Jesus drop down upon us, or do we mock Jesus, and say: “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” The cross, and how we view the crucifixion and the death of Jesus: this is the place where the thoughts of many hearts and laid bare and naked before the eyes of Christ our judge. But as we read in the gospel of John: He did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world may be saved through him. His blood is not shed in vain, but is shed so that together with the repentant thief, he may also say to us: Today, you shall be with me in paradise.

In the last two verses we read: And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favour of God was upon him.

Isn’t this amazing, too, and deserving of our amazement and astonishment? Jesus was the word became flesh, the true Son of God, as we say: God of God, Light of Light, and nevertheless, he grew! Just like any other child, he grew up, and became strong. And we read that he was filled with wisdom.

This is something that is so lacking in our education system today. It is rare to find a child who is filled with wisdom, but what a great gift it is when we meet one! What a tragedy it is when children are left unloved, and uncared for, and wander about the streets like they own the place, foolish and without wisdom.

We need to urgently expose and teach the wisdom of God to children today. They too need to grow with Jesus and be filled with wisdom. And not the wisdom of the world—the wisdom of how to get rich, how to become famous, and not get caught doing bad stuff—but the wisdom of the cross, the wisdom of the forgiveness of sins. This is the wisdom that all people of all ages need to return to daily, and never to think we’re too old for it. There should never be a person who says, “I’m too old for learning with Jesus now. Instead, I’ll just pretend like I know everything and be rude to everyone.”

No—let Jesus be your wisdom. Let his cross sink into you and be your heavenly wisdom! And let him not just be your wisdom, but also your righteousness and your sanctification. Let him clothe you with his holiness and make yourself small with him to share in his holiness with him. When we really see ourselves as little children, and desire to go back to school with Jesus, only then can we learn wisdom with Jesus. Because just as the favour of God was upon Jesus, so that divine favour will also be upon us. May the Holy Spirit kindle in us and grow in us such a childlike humility!

And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favour of God was upon him.

Amen.

Lord God, heavenly Father, let us not be ashamed to be a child together with Jesus. So much of our childhood was wasted on sinful things, but we place the perfect obedience and the perfect humility and the perfect childhood of your Son in our place. Fill us with the wisdom of the cross, and let your favour rest upon us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Christmas Day: Audio Sermon (25-Dec-2012)

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Christmas Day [John 1:1-18] (25-Dec-2012)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am), Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (10.30am, 26-Dec) and St John's Lutheran Church, Sale (2pm, 26-Dec).

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

Text: (John 1:1-18)

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: Heavenly Father, send us the Holy Spirit so that I may preach well and that we all may hear well, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

St John writes: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Pastors are called to preach God’s Word. They are not called to preach God’s thoughts or his ideas. The thoughts of God, and the mind of God, and the ideas of God are completely inaccessible to us. They are outside of our knowledge. And anyone who presumes to know God’s mind, or to know what God thinks is a liar. It is the difference between saying, “Thus says the Lord”, and “Did God really say.” The true prophets say, “Thus says the Lord”, and Satan says, “Did God really say.”

We read in the bible that in the beginning God did not imagine or think the world into existence. He spoke. His voice rang out. “Let there be light”. And there was light.

The only way you can get to know a person is by what they say. You have no idea what a person is thinking. It is their mouth that reveals to you their heart. As Jesus says: “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

In the book of Proverbs we read: “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.”

Families are not governed by what parents think about their children. They are shaped and formed by what parents say to their children. Governments, nations, civilisations have nothing to do with the thoughts of politicians, kings, queens, leaders, dictators—they are ruled by what the leaders say.

Jesus does not rule his church through what pastors and Christians think, but he rules it through what they say. Jesus doesn’t rule the church through his thoughts, he rules the church through his Word.

At the heart and centre of Christianity is the Word of God, God’s speech, his voice, his living words. God’s Word is not first of all written on a page, they are spoken out loud by the church. The bible is not a book of words on a page, they are the sermons of God himself to be read out loud to his church. And so, St Paul says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

And so, it’s so important what we say. Jesus says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.” But the forgiveness of sins is not an idea of God, a thought in his mind, a concept, but it is his word that is spoken in the church on the earth. As Jesus says: “If you forgive anyone their sins, they are forgiven.” Do you see how important it is for us as Christians to speak?

The deterioration of a society and a culture has to do with the deterioration of the words that we speak. People don’t listen to each other anymore, but they presume to know what people are thinking. If a person disagrees with a person, they always presume to know what they are thinking, and they don’t listen to their words.

We wouldn’t know anything about God at all unless he speaks. And as long as Christians are concerned with God’s thoughts and not with his words, then the church joins forces with the devil and destroys its own living soul. Jesus doesn’t say, “Teach them to observe everything I think”, but “Teach them to observe everything I have commanded you”, that is, everything I have said.

And at the same time, there are so many words that God speaks to us. But at the same time, they are one unified word, one golden ring where everything fits together in a perfect unity. We don’t teach the words of God, as if they are individual pieces stuck together with sticky-tape—we teach the word of God, as a unified whole.

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Why is it so important to speak the Word of God?

Because: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

St John speaks about the Word of God as being eternal. The Word of God was in the beginning. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of God remains forever.

The Word was with God, and the Word was God. If we separate God from his Word, then we are not talking about God anymore. The Word was God.

But then in verse 2, St John says: “He was in the beginning with God.” All of a sudden, St John talks about the Word of God as if it is person. And it is a person. And we wouldn’t know that the Word of God is a person, if the bible didn’t say, “He [the Word] was in the beginning with God.”

And so, it is so important that we say what we mean and mean what we say. The further we move away from God, the more our thoughts and our words and divorced, the more we rely on people to do what we mean and not what we say. This never happens with God: his Word is always an exact reflection of his mind. And his Word is in fact a separate person, but also truly God together with him.

St John says: All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

This Word that God speaks is a great light. It is a brilliant sunshine that shines all throughout the world. It brightens up rooms, and hearts, and minds. It gives clarity and wisdom and joy. It is powerful and gives life! The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

So listen to what we have read so far: 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 that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

And then we read: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that 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.

What is this light which enlightens everyone? Who is he? How was he coming into the world? How does he enlighten everyone?

St John says: 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.

Now we are starting to become more clear. We can see Jesus Christ here, though his name has not been mentioned. John is drawing you further and further into the great mystery he is describing. Jesus Christ is the same person as the Word we are talking about, yet the words of John haven’t told us this yet. Jesus was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

Think about Isaiah chapter 1: The ox knows its owner, and donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. See how at Christmas the ox and the donkeys and the sheep look into their feed trough and see their maker there. What a great mystery, that the animals should see their creator lying in a manger!

And yet, St John says: The world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. See how the world rejects words, and rejects truth, and idolises ideas and thoughts, and wants to read people’s minds instead of speaking well of them, and at the same time they reject the Word of God when it is spoken, and they reject the Word of God, who created them, and lies in a manger at Christmas.

Jesus came to his own people—the Jews: Jesus was born from a Jewish family—and his own people did not receive him.

St John says: 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 man, but of God. We receive Jesus not by our free will, not because we are born into a particular family, but from God’s action—he saved us, and he baptises us. And we receive Jesus and become children of God simply by believing in his name.

And then we come to the heart of our text: 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.

The Word became flesh. This Word of God, who was in the beginning with God, who was with God and who is God, has now become a human being in such a way that his human body, his mouth, his face, his soul, his spirit, his blood, his bones, his flesh are the Word of God, who was with God and is God. This is what happens at Christmas. Jesus Christ is the Word of God that has existed from the very beginning of time. Now 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 did not become flesh. The Holy Spirit did not become flesh. Only the Son became flesh. The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. He lived a human life on this earth.

And St John says: We have seen his glory. Listen to that word “glory”! It’s the same “Glory” that the angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest!”

And what kind of glory is it? It is the glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Do you see? The relationship between God and his Word is the same relationship as a Father and his Son. They are both truly God, and yet one is a Father and one is a Son. And the apostles say that they saw this glory. They saw the great brilliance of Jesus when his body was transfigured with holy light on the mountain, when they heard God the Father speak: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

This is the great miracle of Christmas! Jesus is God’s Son, and yet he is a human being! He is just like us, and shares our human nature with us, and yet when we look at Jesus’ face we see the face of God himself.

And St John says: And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Now, in our text, Jesus Christ’s name is finally mentioned. We realise now that He is the Word of God. St John has told us. And we do not receive from him what Moses brought through the law—punishment upon punishment, sadness upon sadness, despair upon despair—but grace upon grace, forgiveness upon forgiveness, love upon love, hope upon hope, joy upon joy.

Do you see how the Christian faith always become richer and richer? The more we stick with it, the more we learn, the more we are forgiven, the more we are drawn closer to Jesus’ own heart, the more he lifts up our heads and encourages us.

And then in the last verse of our text, we learn one of the greatest mysteries of all. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.

Do you see? Jesus makes God the Father known to us. Jesus is God’s only beloved Son—he is at the Father’s bosom, close to his heart, listening to his heartbeat. Jesus says: “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” If you listen to Jesus, you listen to the Father. They are of one mind and one voice together with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes what belongs to Jesus and declares it to you. And the text says: The only God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.

The text says: The only God. Jesus is the only God. What about the Father and the Holy Spirit? Aren’t they God too? How is Jesus the only God.

Jesus says: Nobody comes to the Father except by me. The apostles say: There is no other name, except the name of Jesus, given under heaven by which we can be saved. The Father dwells in Jesus and the Holy Spirit is given only by Jesus. If we want a god, the only one we can have is Jesus Christ, who was born in Bethlehem. We can’t even have the Father and the Holy Spirit without Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ is our brother in the flesh. It is Jesus who teaches us to call God “Father”. He is the Word become flesh. Every time we hear his words of grace and of truth, Jesus is present in his flesh speaking these words into our ears, and preaching to us himself.

The only God, Jesus Christ, baptises children in the name of Father who is in him, in the name of the Son who is himself, and the Holy Spirit whom he gives.

The only God, Jesus Christ, speaks to us in the church the forgiving judgment of his Father through the pastor, and breathes out upon us the Holy Spirit.

The only God, Jesus Christ, gives his body and blood to us to eat and drink, and nothing less than his flesh and blood, in whom his Father dwells, and through which the Holy Spirit is poured out and given to us to drink from deeply and richly.

And all of this happens through the power of his Word. And this is the Word that has become flesh.

So enter God’s holy sanctuary today, this Christmas, to listen to God’s Word, to pray in the name of Jesus, and the receive his holy gifts in the Lord’s Supper, and be surrounded by the heavenly glory of Jesus Christ, together with the angels and the archangels and all the company heaven, to enter into the glory of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. This is the glory that the apostles saw with their eyes, and which we hear with our ears and believe.

Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, the Father’s Son and Mary’s Son, the Word who has become flesh and dwells among us, let us sing your glory with the angels today, just as they did at the first Christmas. Let us receive you in our church today through your Word, let us receive your grace, your truth, your light, your life. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace! Amen.

Christmas Eve: Audio Sermon (24-Dec-2012)

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Christmas Eve [Luke 2:8-14] (24-Dec-2012)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (7pm, 23-Dec-2012), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yarram (10:30am) and 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 2:1-20)

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, send us the Holy Spirit so that by your grace we may believe your holy word and live godly lives here in time and there in eternity, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Many of you may know the old Charles Dickens novel, “Oliver Twist.” The story is about a young orphan boy who runs away from people who want to use him for their own purposes to London, where he is taken in by a gang of thieves. In the 1960s there was a musical made of this old story, and one of the songs is one where the little boy Oliver sits by himself, all alone, and sings, “Where is love?”

And today, we might look around and say, “Where is joy?” “Where has it gone?”

People know basically how to have a good time, they know how to have fun, and they know how to have a party. But they do not know what joy is. They have not experienced it. We live in a world today where people smile with  their mouths but not with their eyes.

People live in fear of the future. They worry what’s going to happen. This is especially felt in young people today. There’s no optimism.

And everyone will have their own opinions about this and why this is the case.

But it’s strange that while this is the great time of the year for the church to celebrate the birth of Jesus, it is also the great time of the year for a rival false god—namely, money, things, and stuff.

Right at the time when the church comes together to celebrate to birth of the world’s creator in human flesh, who has come to die for the sin of the world, that same world is gathering to itself everything it can, except the baby Jesus in its arms.

And whatever people might think of the Queen, whether you are a monarchist or a republican, when her face is printed on the back of our coins, she’s no use to you. Her face does not cheer you, her mouth does not speak to you, and her eyes do not smile at you.

So why is that we spend all our time collecting as many little bits of metal with her face on it as we possibly can? When we have a little bit of it, we just want more, and we’re still unhappy.

But economics are not certain. When will the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis finally hit Australian shores? When will we have to go without?

And so, when people worship a false god, for many people Christmas is a time of quite some sadness, as people realise just what a mess their lives are, and just how helpless they really are in fixing them.

And so we say, “Where is joy?”

At Christmas time, we come to the Son of God, Jesus Christ’s own church to celebrate his birth. He is both true God and true man. He is the world’s Creator, and the world’s Saviour, and on the last day he will judge the world.

But at Christmas time, Jesus puts himself completely at the world’s mercy. He chooses to be born at a certain time at a certain place, in the city of David, in Bethlehem, in a stable, wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

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In our sermon today, I want to particularly focus on what happened just following Jesus’ birth, which has to do with the angels and the shepherds, and particularly the words which the angels spoke to the shepherds.

But before we look at these words, we need to remember that many people don’t believe that angels exist. If that’s the case, then these words won’t mean a thing to them, and they will continue in their sadness. They will continue to laugh at God, and say they want proof that he exists. Christmas will always be a joke for these people, and they will always mock the convictions of anyone who lived before them. Even the worst science student, who fell asleep during science at high school, all of a sudden becomes the most careful scientist when it comes to religion. But if you want to put God under a microscope, then God has ceased to be God, and you have made yourself god. If there is one thing that will completely destroy western civilisation as we know it, it will be our futile desire to want to be in control of everything, and even to want to be in control of God.

Many people also do believe in angels, but they look for them in the wrong place. They look for them everywhere except where Jesus has promised them to be: ascending and descending on him. I’m talking of the New Age movement here, where people are looking for something supernatural, but in the end they are only worshipping themselves and their own feelings.

In St Luke’s gospel, we read something magnificent, profound, and full of joy—such joy as the world has never known.

We read: In the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

See here how God doesn’t set about to prove himself. He doesn’t need to: He’s God. He could easily go and make a great display to the important people in the world: the educated, the wealthy, the comfortable. But he doesn’t. Instead, he goes to some shepherds. They are simple people, people of great poverty, people who can’t afford to go to sleep at night because they need to stay with their sheep (this is the days before fences!). They probably haven’t been to school, and they have to work hard for a living, and fight hard against wild animals.

But nevertheless, the angel of the Lord appears to them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. And we read, “And they were filled with fear.”

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.”

Listen to these words from the mouth of the angel. Take each word and think about them.

The angel says, “Fear not!” Today, we treat the events of Jesus’ life like a cute bedtime story, but if we really thought about each of the things that happens, and how they happen in such a precise order, what fear it would cause us! If these things happened among us today, we would be freaking out.

But the angel first of all comes and melts away the shepherd’s fear. He says: “Fear not.” Now why? What’s the reason why they shouldn’t fear? The angel says, “Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.”

The task of this angel, his mission, his work is to bring them good news. And the gift that he brings is great joy! And this gift of great joy is for all the people, not just for some. It’s not for those who have their ships in order—it is for all people, not for all good people, for all people.

The good news is the seed, and the great joy is the plant that grows out of it. So let the message of Christmas ring out! Joy! Joy! Joy! Great joy!

But the thing that is so inaccessible to people’s minds is that this joy does not come from the message or words or preaching of any one human being, it comes directly from heaven, from an angel of God himself. This is the great offense of Christmas! This event can’t be examined, or tested. But it is still objective. The shepherds still say that they saw what they saw, and we read that Mary, the mother of Jesus, treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The joy of Christmas can only be brought to you by the angel of God. It can only be brought as an invasion from the supernatural realm into your world. It can only be given to you as a gift from heaven itself, and as long as we seek and grope for the world’s joy, it will only ever turn out to be a poor second-best. The angel says: I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. The shepherds say later, “Let us go and see the thing which the Lord has made known to us.”

And now this angel tells us what the good news of great joy is: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

The joy comes from the Saviour who is born in the city of David. A Saviour is born. A Saviour is someone who saves. This means that you no longer have to save yourself. You no longer have to fix your own life in order to be acceptable to God. This Saviour will die for you, and rise again from the dead for you. This Saviour is not just a human being, but is also true God, in such a way that his blood spilt on the ground is not like yours. Your blood does nothing. But his blood will be presented to God the Father as a perfect offering for sin, and will transcend space and time in such a way that it will cover you in all your sin and shame. The forgiveness of sins will be given to you in Holy Baptism, it will be given to you continually every day, just as Jesus Christ, this baby born in Bethlehem, will be with you in his flesh every day. You will be helpless, but Jesus will be your help. You may be weak and sad, but Jesus will be your joy. You may be a sinner, but Jesus will be your lawyer, your punishment, and your sentence. And you will be free. You will be forgiven. And he will pray for you every day as Lord of heaven and of earth.

And if you want proof, here’s the proof. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

And we read: Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

The word Christmas is made up of two words: Christ and Mass. The angel has talked about Christ, and the now we learn about Mass. Nowadays, the Catholics are normally the ones that usually talk about “Mass”. But the word “Mass” means the Divine Service of the Lord’s Supper. And this is what Christians come together to do every Sunday: to hear Christ’s own words preached, and to eat and drink the true body and blood of Christ in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.

And every Sunday we sing these words: “Glory to God in highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

And the angels show us the reality of Christ’s own church on earth. Through the unity of God and man in the one person of Jesus Christ, heaven and earth are drawn together in such a way as to make one united choir. Angels come and join in singing with sinners. Angels invite all the shepherds, all the nobodies, the desperate, the helpless, the shmo-s of this world—just like you, if you are humble enough to realise it—to sing together with them, and let your voices be polished and purified together with theirs. Sinners come to join in singing with the heavenly spirits, the mighty warriors of God’s heavenly army, the angels of peace, the saints whose joy is made perfect, and the whole company of heaven. As St Paul says in Colossians: Christ has made peace through his blood on the cross.

And so all the angels sing, “Glory to God in the highest!” God’s highest glory has been brought down to earth. God’s own Son in his brilliant, life-giving flesh is present on the earth. God’s glory shines around the earth. And sinners sing the glory of God in such a way that it reaches the highest point of heaven, where the cherubim stand beneath the throne of God, and the seraphim sing God’s holiness above it, “Holy, holy, holy”, rejoicing over one sinner who repents.

Glory to God in the highest!

And on earth peace!

There is no peace on earth, without the glory of God. Peace has been made. The peace that Jesus has won on the cross is too strong for the all the warmongers and hate-mongers of this world. Their anger and their chaos will soon wear out and will soon burn out to nothing.

And so the preaching of Christmas is spoken by the angel. And the songs of Christmas are sung by the multitude of the heavenly hosts.

This is the great joy of Christmas! This is the joy that cannot be overshadowed by all the sadness of the world. It is good news and it is for all people.

Like the shepherds, say with them, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

Like Mary, treasure up all these things and ponder them in your heart.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, let the light of your face shine upon us, and let your face light up the great darkness of this world. Let your angels ascend and descend in every place where your word is preached and let every heart rejoice, and every voice sing your glory to the heights of heaven. Amen.

Advent 4: Audio Sermon (23-Dec-2012)

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Advent 4 [John 1:19-28] (23-Dec-2012)

This sermon was preached at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (10am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yarram (2pm) 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 1:19-28)

[John] confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, send us the Holy Spirit so that by your grace we may believe your holy word and live godly lives here in time and there in eternity, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

When the Jewish priests and Levites asked John who he was, he said: I am not the Christ.

In fact, the text makes a big deal out of this point. We read: He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

At the time, many people mistook Jesus and John. They were doing very similar things. They were very similar in age, and their mothers were related. In fact, it was John who jumped for joy in his mother’s womb, when the sound of Mary’s greeting came to Elizabeth’s ear. John was the jumpy baby, Jesus was the quiet baby.

When John began his ministry, he said: “Repent and believe the gospel.” And when Jesus was baptised and began his ministry, he also said, “Repent and believe the gospel.”

When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” the first thing they say is, “Some say John the Baptist.” Also, after John the Baptist had been beheaded, King Herod heard about the fame of Jesus and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”

So you can see that many people confused Jesus and John. But also, they lead quite different lives. John’s life was marked with a certain strictness and austerity. He wore strange clothes—camel’s hair and a leather belt—and ate a strict diet of locusts and wild honey. Jesus on the other hand was particularly known for eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. Of course, we know that he fasted in the wilderness for 40 days, but his ministry was not marked by the sort of strictness that John kept to. We are never told much about Jesus’ clothing, and we assume that he dressed in a way that was fairly normal at the time. Jesus was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard, and went around healing people, and comforting them, and blessing the children.

Jesus says at one point: “We played a dirge, and you did not mourn. We played the flute and you did not dance.” John was the funeral man—he sang a dirge, a funeral song, but people didn’t listen to him. Jesus on the other hand was the wedding man—he played the flute, a wedding a song, but people didn’t dance, they didn’t listen to Jesus either. Jesus is the bridegroom, and his church is the bride. John is the best man—he gives a speech not in honour of himself but in honour of the couple, in honour of the groom. John doesn’t point our attention to himself, but to the groom. John must decrease, and Jesus must increase. John is Jesus’ forerunner, and Jesus comes and walks in John’s footsteps. But Jesus also brings things that John does not—Jesus brings healing for the sick, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, resurrection to the dead. Jesus dies for the sin of the world, and rises again from the dead. These are things that John does not do.

And so, it is very important that when the Jewish priests and Levites come to John, that the first thing John says is, “I am not the Christ.” “I am not the Messiah.” “I am not Jesus.”

And the same goes for us. Today we are very conscious of the fact that many people have turned away from the church and have rejected Christianity. And so Christians today have much more of an increased desire to want to share the faith with unbelievers. A lot of the time, these people are members of our own family, and whenever Christians mention anything about their faith, people are very sensitive and sometimes get angry. They don’t want to lose their loved ones, and never talk to them again. But at the same time, Christians love these people in their families, and want the best for them, and always find themselves walking a tight-rope between their love for them, and speaking the truth in love to them. But when someone asks us about the faith, we shouldn’t pretend that we are Jesus.

I remember hearing about a Christian man who was asked, “Do Christians live a much better life than other people, and do many more good things and good works than people of other religions?” Now the man who asked the question was from China, and didn’t know a lot about Christianity, and didn’t know many Christians. But the Christian man replied, “Well—sometimes, I suppose. But people of other religions, like Muslims and Buddhists and atheists, also do good things, and sometimes live a life that is better than many Christians, and are friendlier and kinder.” Anyway, l remember this Christian man telling me that afterwards he was really upset about the way in which he felt that he lost an opportunity to witness to his faith. But, if you think about it, he did. He didn’t pretend that Christians were Jesus—he didn’t pretend that the church was perfect. He spoke the truth, and he answered the question honestly. This answer may have completely surprised the man, and completely blown his worldview.

You see, most of the time, our best works are the works we don’t see. St Paul says, “Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Jesus is the one who performs the good works through us—the glory belongs to him. So there’s no point in bragging about what you think are your good works, because they are not the ones that God himself holds most valuable. Remember when Jesus tells about the sheep and the goats, and the sheep say: “When did we see you hungry and feed you? When did we see you thirsty and give you a drink?”

So if people say that Christians are hypocrites, and criticise Christians, and say that the church is a mess, then agree with them. It’s true. Christians are continually giving Jesus a bad name, and the church is full of sinners. The best thing to do then is to agree with the true verdict of God—yes, I am not Jesus. I am not the Messiah.

As one of my fellow students at the seminary used to say, “If you find a perfect church, don’t join it, because you’ll stuff it up!”

People think the church is full of sinners. They are right—you are a sinner.

People think religion is for the weak. They are right—you are weak.

People think Christianity is just some other kind of self-help. It’s not self-help—but you do need all the help you can get.

Like St Paul, boast of your weaknesses. This is just as much a faithful confession as any other.

And so John says to the priest and the Levites, “I am not the Christ.”

Then they ask him some more questions. “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

Our reading today begins with the words, “This is the testimony of John.” By worldly standards, this seems like quite a poor testimony and quite a poor witness to the faith. People are asking John questions, and he’s just giving them one-word answers.

“Come on, John!” we might think. “Make an effort! These people have come a long way!”

You see, when it comes to giving a witness to the faith, people think that they always have to give a great eloquent speech, and impress people with their wit and the clever arguments. But while John makes his one-word answers, the people who ask him are sharpened in their questioning, their consciences are shaped that little bit more.

So they ask, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

John is preaching in such a way that people come to a realisation of their own sinfulness, their own helplessness and their own poverty. But Jesus is the one who then brings the comfort, the forgiveness, the strength and all the treasures of heaven.

But at this point, the Jewish priests and the Levites are not satisfied. The real motivation for their questions is revealed in their last question. They are not simply interested in who John is, but why he is doing what he is doing.

They say, “Then why are you baptising, if you are neither the Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptise with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

In some texts, it also says, “even he who comes after me, who was before me.” This is the same as when it says earlier in John chapter 1, that John said, “He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.”

So first of all, “he baptises with water”. Jesus is the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit. This happens every time a person is baptised in the church: the pastor baptises with water, and at the same time, Jesus baptises the person with the Holy Spirit. Baptism is not our work, but it is Jesus’ work. Jesus is the one who makes baptism powerful.

But baptising is John’s particular vocation—it is his mission. We also have particular vocations—we might be a part of a family, a husband, a wife, a son, or a daughter, a father or mother. We might work in a particular workplace. We are citizens of a particular country. We are called not to be successful in all these things, but faithful in all these things. We are called to do what we are called to do where we are placed, and to do it to the best of our abilities.

But as Christians live our lives in the world, Jesus is standing among us as one whom the world does not know. In fact, many times, Jesus stands among us and with us as one whom we often do not recognise. Never mind—he is still working. We know Jesus is with us, though we still need to learn daily to recognise him in each and every situation.

You are not Jesus. You are not the Christ. But Christ works through you to his good pleasure. He uses you as his vessel, but the treasure is hidden in jars of clay. The light is kindled in a rusty old lamp. People will see the rusty lamp—don’t pretend to people that you’re not one. People will see the dirty old jar—don’t pretend to people that you’re not one.

John says: Jesus is the one “who comes after me.” John is six months older than Jesus, and Jesus follows in his footsteps, and continues the ministry where John left off. But at the same time, Jesus is John’s maker, his creator, who has now taken on human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Jesus, the Son of God, was there with the Father and the Holy Spirit creating the world, and so John is not worthy to even untie the strap of Jesus’ sandals.

The same goes for us. Jesus works so close together with us, and wants to dwell with us and make his home in us. Even the simplest things that we don’t even know, Jesus glorifies, and shines his light through us. But at the same time, we are not Jesus. We are completely the opposite of Jesus. We are the sinners he died for. We are the ones he prayed for on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” If we don’t think we are sinners, then we make ourselves to be the Messiah and we have no need for the real one. As St John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

On the other hand, if we do say we have sin, then the truth is in us.

And so, we are weak, but Jesus is strong. We are sinful, but Jesus is perfect. We are poor, but he is rich. We are useless, but Jesus knows how best to make use of us. We struggle, but Jesus constantly succeeds. And despite our differences, Jesus does not reject us. It’s not as if Jesus doesn’t want to have nothing to do with us, but he wants to live with us and rule our hearts and work through us. It’s completely the opposite of what we would expect. He forgives our sins each and every single day, and speaks his own words of forgiveness you’re your ears through the pastors of the church. He gives you his body and blood to eat and drink. He doesn’t do this for people who are perfect like him, but he does this for those who are needy, and are nothing like him, except for the fact that share the same human flesh. As the book of Hebrews says: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

And so, just as Jesus fills John’s works with the Holy Spirit, he also fills each of our works with the Holy Spirit, each word, each thought, and makes them useful for his purposes, even though we are not worthy to even untie the strap of Jesus’ sandals.

May the Holy Spirit increase in us and grow in us that same humility that belonged to John the Baptist, so that we give a faithful witness to Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, let us never for a moment think that we are Messiah after all, and that we don’t need you after all. Forgive us for all those times we have taken the credit for ourselves, when it belonged to you. Send us the Holy Spirit, and make us useful vessels in your service, despite all our failings and unworthiness. Come Lord Jesus, and strengthen us, and make your home and your dwelling in us. Amen.