Sunday after Christmas, Year B [Luke 2:22-40] (31-Dec-2017)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

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

[Simeon] took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word.”

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the events are written down about Jesus’ birth, and there are also written a number of events which occurred after Jesus was born, when he was still a baby. And there have been different days in the church year when these events have been traditionally commemorated and celebrated.

So in the Gospel of Matthew, we read a very short description of Jesus’ birth, and tells us about how the angel spoke to Joseph in a dream to take Mary to be his wife. In Luke, we then read a lot more detail about Jesus’ birth. We read about how Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem because of a census that was on at that time, and we read about how Mary gave birth, and placed Jesus in a manger, because there was no room in the inn. Then also in the Gospel of Luke, we read the details about how an angel went to visit the shepherds in the fields to tell them about this wonderful good news. We also read about how after the shepherds heard this, a wonderful choir of angels, a multitude of the heavenly hosts appeared to the shepherds and sang a wonderful Christmas carol straight out of heaven: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those with whom he is pleased! It has been a custom in the church that every Sunday we would sing this song too, joining in as part of our Sunday service with the angels who are constantly gathered around God’s throne. Then Luke tells us about how the shepherds visited Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus and told the new parents about how the angels has visited them. Mary considers all these things quietly, she ponders them in her heart, and yet the shepherds are full of excitement, praising and glorifying God.

Then we have a number of events that occur after Jesus’ birth, while he was still a baby. The first event is written in Luke, and we are told about how when Jesus was eight days old that he was circumcised. This was to fulfil the law that was given by God to Abraham. Also, there was a custom that on that day to give the child his name. And so we also read that on the day of Jesus’ circumcision, he was given his name, and unlike most children, whose names are thought over carefully and given to them by their parents, Mary and Joseph were both given the name of the new child by angels. The angel says to Joseph in his dream: You will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. The angel Gabriel says to Mary: You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. A special point is made of this by Luke, that the name Jesus was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. In the church year, this event has been traditionally remembered and commemorated on New Year’s Day, the first of January, because this is eighth day after Christmas Day.

Now Joseph and Mary didn’t live in Bethlehem: they lived in Nazareth, in the region of Galilee. They only happened to be in Bethlehem because they had travelled there to register for the census. Sometime while they were still in Bethlehem, we read that Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus received a very strange visit from some very strange visitors. These visitors are often called the Three Wise Men. In Greek, the word for the wise men is Magi. St Matthew actually doesn’t tell us how many wise men there were, but he does tell us that they brought three unusual gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. And so, Christians have often assumed that there were three wise men because of the three gifts, but there may have been more. This visit of the wise men the church has normally celebrated on the sixth of January, twelve days after Christmas, which we call Epiphany.

Now also sometime after this, we read about how Mary and Joseph go down to Jerusalem. This wasn’t a very long distance to travel, maybe about 10 kms or so, a bit like coming into Maryborough from Oakhurst [coming into Childers from Apple Tree Creek, or Cordalba]. Mary and Joseph travelled to Jerusalem to make a special visit to the temple there, and this is the event that we read. This event was often celebrated in the church on February the second, which is exactly 40 days after Christmas.

Sometime after this event, we read in Matthew’s Gospel that there was a reaction to the fact that the wise men had come to visit Jesus. They had followed the star that they saw to Jerusalem, and had asked King Herod where the King of the Jews was to be born. King Herod became very worried when he heard this, and thought that this new king might be a threat to him. He had asked the wise men to come back and report to him when they had found the baby Jesus. However, the wise men were warned in a dream not to return to Herod and they departed to their own country by another way.

But then we read about how Herod flew into a rage over this and decided to obliterate Jesus from the face of the earth, and ordered that every baby boy in Bethlehem under two years old was to be killed. Can you imagine the heartache and the wailing and the suffering of the mothers and fathers in Bethlehem when that happened? We often call this event the murder or the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and this murder of these children are often remembered on the twenty-eighth of December. Jesus and Mary and Joseph escaped to Egypt, and stayed there until Herod had died. We often call this event the Flight to Egypt. And then they went back and lived in their hometown of Nazareth where Jesus grew up. We also read about this at the very end of our reading today. So these are the events that we read about in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that occurred when Jesus was still a baby. It’s important for us to recognise that there was a historical sequence of events here.

Let’s now come to our reading today, which tells us about the event when Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus and visited the temple in Jerusalem when he was 40 days old. There are also a number of different things that happened when they went to the temple, and a historical sequence of events.

First of all, we read: When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons”. Here St Luke explains for us what they were doing in the temple. In the book of Leviticus, we read that there was a special law that 40 days after a woman had given birth to a boy, she had to remain outside of the temple, and then bring and offering of a lamb for her purification. But if the people couldn’t afford a lamb, they had to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons. This passage shows that Jesus and his family carried out everything according to the law of Moses, and that Jesus fulfilled the law for us. It also shows us that Joseph and Mary were poor, because they took the less expensive option of the birds, instead of a lamb.

Secondly, we read: Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms. This old man Simeon was not one of the people in the temple, like the priests, who had an official duty to perform. Instead, Simeon was told by God to go to the temple at that particular time, and when he went there with all the people, he was able to pick out from the crowd exactly who that baby Jesus was.

The third thing we read in our reading is that Simeon speaks a wonderful word of blessing, which we often call the Song of Simeon. We read that Simeon blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” Simeon prays a prayer of joy that he can die in peace, now that he has taken in his arms the baby Jesus. You will probably recognise these words from our Sunday service which we often say or sing after the Lord’s Supper.

After we read this, we come to a fourth part of our reading, where Simeon gives a special word of blessing to Jesus’ parents. We read: His father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in 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.” These are very strange words indeed to be spoken to a couple with a child.

The fifth part of our reading tells about another person who was there on this occasion. We read: And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Here we read about an old woman, Anna, who St Luke calls a prophetess. Simeon had lived somewhere in Jerusalem and had come up at exactly the right time to meet the baby Jesus. But this lady was always there in the temple, and lived a life of fasting and prayer. And she began also to praise God and talk about this baby Jesus.

Now we come to the sixth part of our reading, which says: And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. We read here that after they met these unusual old people, Simeon and Anna, Mary and Joseph did everything that they had gone to the temple to do, to offer the sacrifices which were prescribed in the law of Moses. And then after that, they returned to Nazareth. It sounds here like they went back to Nazareth immediately, but in Matthew’s Gospel we read that somewhere in the mix they had returned to Bethlehem and fled to Egypt and then after a couple of years returned to Nazareth and Galilee.

And then we read the seventh and final detail of our reading: And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favour of God was upon him. Here we read about something that now takes place over years. With a couple of sentences, St Luke describes the whole childhood of Jesus. He grows, becomes strong, and becomes wise, and it is noticed that the particular favour of God was upon him. So this is the order and the historical sequence of the events in our reading today. There are so many things going on, and so many things that we can talk about.

However, I’d like to come back to the words, the song if you like, of the old man Simeon. In the world today there are many false prophets, and there are many people who want to basically tell Christians that their faith is all about this life, and that the best time of our life is now. This is not true. Psalm 23 very clearly calls this life the valley of the shadow of death. The last prayer of the Lord’s Prayer is that God our heavenly Father would deliver us from evil. In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther applies this to the whole of our lives here on earth, and says: We pray in this petition...finally, when our last hour comes, [that our Father in heaven would] give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to himself in heaven. If we haven’t realised this yet, then we have to ask ourselves why we come to church, why we pray, why we hear God’s word, why we want to be Christians. The most important thing that this baby Jesus has to give to us is a blessed end, a Christian death. This world is a sinful world, and we are sinners who are part of that sinful world. And because of our sin, God will pronounce a judgment upon us: one day we will die. We don’t know when it will be, maybe it will be when we are old, maybe it will be when we are young. St Paul says: The wages of sin is death.

But a wonderful thing happened in the life of Simeon. It was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death [that he would not die, that he would not experience death] before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he comes into the temple and says: Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. This is a wonderful prayer. And in the church we use this prayer in a number of different ways. Firstly, we use it as a prayer at deathbeds. Secondly, we use it as a prayer at funerals: it is an old custom to sing this prayer when we carry a coffin out of the church. Thirdly, it has long been a prayer which Christians use before they go to bed. And fourthly, it has been a prayer that we use after receiving the Lord’s Supper. Now these things all go together: death, sleep, and the Lord’s Supper. We often fear death, but we don’t fear going to sleep. But in many places the bible calls death a sleep. When St Stephen is stoned to death, it simply says that he fell asleep. Or when St Paul is talking about the resurrection, he says: We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed. When by faith we take the baby Jesus into our arms and into our hearts as our wonderful Saviour, then we know that death will be nothing more for us than a peaceful sleep. And about the Lord’s Supper, it was once said that we should go to the Lord’s Supper as if we are going to our death, so that when we die it will be just like going to the Lord’s Supper. Up we will come to Jesus, individually, one at a time, one by one. Don’t you know what a wonderful thing it is to receive the body and blood of Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins? We take the body of Christ not just in our arms like Simeon, but into our mouths and bodies. And one day, Jesus will take us in his own arms, just as he already took us into his arms on the day of our baptism, and rescue us from all of our sin, and together with all our sadnesses and disappointments and worries and heartaches. And so we can say: Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace according to your word. St Paul also uses that word “depart” to talk about death. He says: My desire is to depart and be with Christ. What a wonderful thing it will be one day to leave this troubled world, and to be with Christ? It is just as when Jesus said to the thief on the cross: Today you will be with me in paradise. The word “depart” is a shipping word: it has the picture of a little ship departing, sailing off from the troubled shores of this earth, where we can lower our anchor down in the loving heart of our Saviour Jesus in eternity.

This is what the prayer of Simeon is about. In Jesus, he sees and we see not our condemnation and judgment, which we would deserve because of our sin. Without that Jesus in our arms, we have no hope of salvation and eternal life.  Instead, Simeon says: For my eyes have seen your salvation. But maybe we think that this salvation is only for certain types of people, but not me. Maybe we think it was only for Jews, and not for Gentiles, or only for holy people and not for sinners. But Simeon says: My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all people. Jesus is your Saviour, and your salvation, and this salvation is prepared in the presence of all people, including you. Simeon says: A light for revelation to the Gentiles (that includes us, everyone who is not Jewish, like the wise men from the East) and the glory of your people Israel. Here Simeon prophesies that salvation is not just for Jews, but for Gentiles too, and that in Jesus Christ, all people of the world will be brought into one holy Christian Church. This Jesus is our salvation, our light and our glory. He is the way, the truth and the life and no-one comes to the Father except through him.

So let’s commend ourselves to this child Jesus. Don’t let your life end before you have taken him into your arms! Even though we live in a troubled, sinful world, and sin much ourselves, this life is not all there is. Jesus has promised a wonderful eternity to you too, so that, like Simeon, one day you will depart in peace according to his word, or as St Paul says: depart to be with Christ. And then you will sing for all eternity with all the angels of heaven with clearest tone and full voice like you have never sung or heard before: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! Amen.

Dear Jesus, according to your word and your timing, let your servants depart in peace. Save us, shine your wonderful light on us, and be our glory. Amen.

Christmas Day [Luke 2:8-14] (25-Dec-2017)

This sermon was preached at the Lutheran preaching place at Biggenden, at St John's Anglican Church, Biggenden, 23-Dec-2017, 2pm, Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 24-Dec-2017, 10.30am, and St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 25-Dec-2017, 8.15am.

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

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

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, St Luke describes for us the events that surrounded the birth of Jesus.

We learn about Caesar Augustus holding a census, and requiring everyone to go to his home town. We read how Joseph and Mary travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem because Joseph was from the house and lineage of David, and David was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem was called the city of David. So Bethlehem was the town of Joseph and Mary’s ancestors. And we read that while they happened to be at Bethlehem, the time came for [Mary] to give birth. And we read: And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

This part of the reading talks about very matter-of-fact kind of things: a Roman emperor, a census, Joseph and Mary travelling, a birth, an inn, a manger. There is nothing from face value that seems all that supernatural—in fact, it’s all very factual, and historical. St Luke claims that what he is writing is historical fact, and not a myth, not a fairy tale, not fiction. St Luke says: I am writing an orderly account for you… that you may have certainly concerning the things you have been taught.

However, we know that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the God of heaven and earth that we worship, also guided and directed Mary and Joseph so that they would be in Bethlehem at the right time to fulfil the prophecy.

Now at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, where St Matthew speaks about the birth of Jesus, he quotes the prophet Isaiah, and says: Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us.

Jesus is truly God, and at the same time he becomes a true man, and takes on human flesh from the Virgin Mary’s womb. As it says in our Gospel reading today: The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. Even as Joseph and Mary are travelling from Nazareth to Bethlehem, that unborn child in Mary’s womb is actually their true God who is with them, and leading them and guiding them, their Immanuel, God with us.

And right at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, we read where Jesus says: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

At the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, when Matthew talks about the birth of Jesus, he calls Jesus “Immanuel”, God with us. At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus promises exactly the same thing: I am with you always to the end of the age. Jesus says: I will be travelling invisibly with you, taking you on the journey I want to travel with you, just as I was hidden travelling with Mary and Joseph.

Jesus says: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And he commands his apostles to go and baptise and teach.

Jesus doesn’t want his church to baptise people in silence, but also he wants the church to talk about it and teach people. The work of the church is not finished when baptising is done, but the work of the church continues when we keep talking about baptism. In fact, when Jesus ascended into heaven, he didn’t simply want to leave his life behind, but he sent out his apostles to tell the whole world about his wonderful life, his wonderful birth, his wonderful suffering and death and resurrection. Because when we talk about Jesus, and preach about him, and teach about him, his life and everything that he said, he promises to be with his church always to the end of the age.

So in the same way, Jesus is not satisfied that he should simply be born in Bethlehem. His work at Christmas is not finished simply when he is born and placed in a manger. After Easter, Jesus sent out preachers to tell people all throughout the world that he was risen. But also when he was born, he also sent out preachers to tell the world about it.

It’s this second part of our Gospel reading today which tells us about the preachers that Jesus sent out.

We read: And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

It’s strange: St Luke has told us about the most important politicians and world leaders—he has told us about Caesar Augustus and his census, and Quirinius who had to organise it and follow out the Caesar’s orders.

St Luke also tells us about Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus, who in God’s eyes are very precious.

But then St Luke tell us about some shepherds. They don’t seem to be very significant people to anyone. They are simple men, with maybe some teenagers and older boys looking after sheep. Back in those days, sheep weren’t keep in paddocks in fences, so the shepherds had to guard the sheep all the way through the night.

But remember, Moses was a shepherd, King David was a shepherd boy. In fact, the skills that David had learnt being a shepherd, especially learning how to kill animals with his slingshot, was what enabled him to kill Goliath.

So God had used simple shepherds before. And when Jesus sends out his apostles and pastors, he says to them: feed my sheep. In fact, the word “pastor” is Latin for “shepherd”.

So what happens to these shepherds?

We read: And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

Here we can see that this baby Jesus is not satisfied by simply being born and placed in a manger. Just like he sends out the apostles to preach about his life when he ascends into heaven, so also when Jesus is born he sends out preachers to tell people about his birth.

But here’s a problem—we know that Jesus is the true Son of God. And after his resurrection, Thomas tells us the truth when he says to Jesus: My Lord and my God! But the true almighty God, the Lord of heaven and earth, has taken on human form. And he has taken on human form in each of its individual different stages. At Christmas time, we read that he became a tiny newborn baby.

So even though we know that the baby Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth, how is he going to send out preachers? How is he going to publicise this good news? How is he going to make this great miracle known? Is the good news simply going to stay locked and hidden away in a little stable in the back streets of Bethlehem?

No—Jesus isn’t finished yet. And so he sends out preachers. But of course, a baby can’t talk. He can’t gather a team together, a mighty army of preachers. So what does Jesus do? He sends out a different kind of preacher, the kind of messenger that looks after babies: he sends out an angel.

Jesus himself says later, when he is older: See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Babies, children and angels have a special relationship. Angels are always looking after and guarding the tiniest of children, right from the time of their conception. This is the reason why guardian angels are often painted as cute little naked babies!

And so this baby Jesus sends out an angel. This baby is not just human baby, but was conceived of the Holy Spirit by a virgin mother. And: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to [him].

He had the authority on earth to direct the world leaders and world events (like Caesar Augustus and the census) to fulfil the prophecy that he should be born in Bethlehem. But now after he has been carefully laid by his loving mother in the manger, he shows his authority in heaven, by sending out heavenly messengers, heavenly preachers, the angels of heaven.

We read: An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

The baby Jesus is in the manger, but his glory shines all across the sky. The baby Jesus is lying amongst the animals and earthly creatures, the hay and the dung, but his glory shines around the heavenly creatures, the sun, the moon and the stars.

And when sinful people come into the presence of the almighty God, the judge of heaven and earth, people are filled with fear. Remember that the first angel mentioned in the bible, when Adam and Eve are cast out of the Garden of Eden, flashed a flaming sword about him.

What is this angel going to do? Cut us in pieces? Smash our hearts to the ground? Obliterate us from the face of the earth? No wonder it says: They were filled with fear.

No—not at all. The Son of God did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

So what does the angel do? What does he say? Does he give the shepherds a list of rules and regulations: what to eat and how to dress? Does he tell the shepherds to place their own works and prayers and efforts and opinions in the balance of divine justice? Does the angel even preach God’s own holy law to them, and make them tremble even further? Does the angel take them and show them all the fires of hell one after the other to frighten them into salvation?

No—not at all. These shepherds were already filled with fear, just by the mere sight of the angel. The fact that we even preach at Christmas that angels even exist and keep watch over us should fill our hearts with tremendous fear. People who deny that angels exist, only do so because it suits their bad consciences to do so.

But the tiny baby Jesus doesn’t send out messengers to fill people’s hearts with fear, he sends them out with pure good news on their lips. He sends them out with gracious words that pour out divine, heavenly joy!

The angel says: Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

I bring you good news. Not bad news. The angel doesn’t say that a baby is born, but he’s no use to you unless you do this or that. The angel brings the shepherds good news completely and totally freely.

And this is good news of great joy. This is the sort of joy that is not worked by human beings, a kind of fake pleasantness that people give each other at the checkout in the shops which buries their sadness only for the time being. This is a joy that is worked only by God, only by God the Father, only by Jesus Christ our Lord, only by the Holy Spirit.

And who is this good news of great joy for? It’s for all the people. Is it just for Jewish people? No. Is it only for Gentiles? No. Is it only for Jews together with Gentiles who act like Jews, and eat like Jews and follow Jewish customs? No. It’s for all people. Jews, Gentiles, Greeks, Barbarians, pagans, atheists. All are called to repent and believe the Gospel. It’s for all people: all people are called to listen to the voice of this angel and hear the good news of great joy. Even you can see this from the Gospel of Luke itself—it tells you about things which happened in Judea, but doesn’t tell them in the Hebrew language. St Luke wants the good news from this angel to go out to all peoples, so he wrote it in Greek, the most widely-language in his day. And on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the apostles the ability to speak in other languages, and the bible is even translated into our own language, so that we can hear it too. This is because it’s for all people.

So what is the good news of great joy?

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

Unto you. The gospel is for you. It’s not for everyone else except you. It’s not for those people who think they are more holy than everyone else, but not you. No—it’s for you. Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour.

Jesus is called here our Saviour. He will save his people from their sin. This baby in the wooden manger, will one day be nailed to a wooden cross.

And he is the Christ, the Messiah. Christ means anointed one. He is anointed with every gift of the Holy Spirit. In fact, St Paul says: in him the fullness of deity dwells bodily. He is the one who gives out the Holy Spirit, and distributes the Holy Spirit to everyone who hears and believes his spoken words. He is the one who pours out the Holy Spirit, baptising them with the Holy Spirit as they are baptised with water. He is the one who will pour out his Holy Spirit on those who know and lament of their sin, and who eat and drink his true life-giving body and blood in his Holy Supper.

And he is the Lord. He is our Lord, and our master. But he is also the same Lord who appeared to Moses in the burning bush: The same Yahweh, the same one who said “I AM WHO I AM”, the same Lord. And no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And then the angel points to this greatest miracle of all: This Christ the Lord is not to be found sitting on a cloud, and is not to be found so out of reach that the shepherds have to climb up into the riddles of God’s heart to find him. The angel says: And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Even in our church today, as we join together in the liturgy with all the angels of heaven, this baby is Jesus wrapped up in his word, in baptism, and in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.

It should be no surprise then that we read: 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!

Glory to God in the highest! What a wonderful message! What a wonderful messenger! But even more, what a wonderful child, a wonderful Saviour, what a wonderful Christ, what a wonderful Lord! Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, how we desire to join in with the angels to sing your glory today this Christmas! But what a wonderful miracle it is that the angels even want to join in with us, knowing that you were not born in Bethlehem for them, but for us, and for all people! Glory to God in the highest! Amen.

Christmas Eve [Luke 2:1-7] (24-Dec-2017)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 7pm.

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

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our Gospel reading for Christmas from Luke 2, starts like this: In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria.

The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was about to be born in the flesh. He was true God, equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and yet at the same time he came down from heaven and took human flesh from the Virgin Mary. This is at the centre of the whole Christian faith: Jesus is both true God and true man. He has God the Father as his own father, and the Virgin Mary as his true human mother.

Now, why does the bible passage about Christmas start by talking about Caesar Augustus and the governor of Syria Quirinius? Let’s hear the passage again: In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria. The first thing we learn from this is that the birth of Jesus Christ is not a myth or a fairy story, but that it happened at a certain time in history, when certain world leaders were in charge. If something of this significance were going to happen today, we might say: Queen Elizabeth II was the Queen of England and the British Commonwealth, and Malcolm Turnbull was the prime-minister of Australia.

But secondly, we need to take notice of Caesar Augustus and think about exactly who he was. Caesar Augustus was born in 63 BC and was adopted by his great-grand-uncle, Julius Caesar. Eventually, this boy became the Emperor of the whole Roman Empire. He was considered so great that even while he was still living people built altars dedicated to him and worshipped him as a god. In fact, one of his titles was “The son of a god”.

Meanwhile, while this man was exalting himself to be a god, the Almighty God of heaven and earth humbled himself to become a man. A mere man made himself into a god, while the true God made himself into a man.

And so, while this was all happening in Rome, God was doing a wonderful thing in Bethlehem. From a human point of view, Rome was the centre of the world, but from God’s point of view it was small town in Judea, in modern-day Israel, called Bethlehem, that was the centre of the world.

Now it so happened, that during the reign of Caesar Augustus, his whole empire was so well managed, that there was a great time of peace that prevailed. There were no wars, no uprisings, no battles. It was a time of great peace. And so, Caesar Augustus used this opportunity to take a census of his entire empire so that he could make everyone pay tax. It says: A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

We also read: This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. St Luke tells about this, because he wants to tell us the man who organised this particular census, and this particular registration. Here we can work out exactly when the time of Jesus’ birth was, in the year 6 BC.

Then we read: And all went to be registered, each to his own town. Here we learn how the process of the census worked. Today when we have a census, the government send forms around to our homes, and we have to fill them in and wait for them to be collected. Or else, they ask us to fill them in online, and the whole thing crashes! But in these times, the people had to go to their own hometown, the place where their ancestors lived, and be registered there.

Isn’t it strange that at Christmas time we should be discussing the ways in which censuses were conducted 2000 years ago? Isn’t it a strange thing that the bible passage which describes the birth of Jesus talks about all these things –Caesar Augustus, the governor of Syria Quirinius, the census, the process, and all this? Why does St Luke tell us all these things?

We read: And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

So now we see that it wasn’t just everybody in the whole Roman empire that was moving around and travelling to their hometown, but now St Luke wants to tell us about a particular family that were travelling their own hometown. It says that Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, but they went to travel to Bethlehem, because Bethlehem was his family’s hometown. Joseph was part of King David’s family and was from his lineage, and so he went to the town where King David was born, which was Bethlehem. The prophets also foretold that the Christ would come from the family of King David.

Now in the Gospel of Matthew we read that when the wise men came to visit King Herod to find the baby Jesus they wanted to know where the King of the Jews would be born. It says: Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [King Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”

So we read in our reading that Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth to Bethlehem at this particular time when Caesar Augustus was holding a census. We learn here that God uses world leaders and world events to shape things for the blessing of the whole world. It’s not as if God the Father takes Mary and Joseph in some magical or supernatural way to Bethlehem. No—this happens through real events in world history: in this case, a real census that was ordered by a real Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus.

Every Christmas too, we can look back at the whole year and see that the world has changed since last year. Maybe it has changed for what we think is the better, or maybe we think it has changed for the worst. Since last Christmas, there have been things that have happened all around the world, all around Australia, all around Queensland, even around Maryborough that are unique to 2017. And world history is never going to be quite the same again. This year has been a unique year, just as 2016 was, 2015 was, and so forth. God has used all the events of the previous year to shape and direct the world for the blessing of everyone.

How has God shaped and moved you this year? Has he moved you from a Nazareth to a Bethlehem? Has he changed your opinion about something? What are the circumstances that have even led you to come and hear the words of Jesus in this church today? How has God brought you to this point in your life, just as he brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem?

Let’s look back at our reading. It says: Joseph went to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Here we read something that is very unusual, and especially for those days. If Joseph would have been travelling with Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered, we would assume that they would have been married. In those days, if they weren’t married, they probably wouldn’t have been allowed to travel together. These sorts of matters would have been very important then.

But the text doesn’t say that Mary was his wife, but it says that she was his betrothed, his fiancée, and it also says that she was with child.

St Luke calls Mary his betrothed, Joseph’s fiancée, because he wants to emphasise that the child is not Joseph’s child. This child is not the result of Joseph and Mary’s marriage, but existed before they were married.

Now, many people today would explain this very simply: they would say this is a “shotgun wedding”. They would say that Joseph and Mary went to bed together before they were married.

But this is not what the bible claims, and this explanation is not the Christian faith. The Gospel of Matthew tells us the following: When Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together [before they had been married, before any sexual relations] she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And later we read: Joseph did as the angel commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. When the bible talks about “knowing” a person, it’s talking about sexual relations between a man and a woman. The bible says that he knew her not. In the Gospel of Luke, when the Angel Gabriel goes to the Virgin Mary, and tell her she will become pregnant, Mary says the same thing:  How will this be, since I do not know a man?

So it is a central belief of Christianity, that Jesus’ mother was in fact a virgin. So who was the father? God the Father was the Father, and Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This is the Christian faith. Of course, this has never happened before and it will never happen again. But that does not mean that this is impossible. In fact, when the Angel Gabriel went to Mary, he said these powerful words: Nothing will be impossible with God. And these words ring out over the entire life of Jesus.

And so we read in our reading: And while [Joseph and Mary] were [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

You can see that God provided the occasion for Mary and Joseph to travel through the census. Mary didn’t choose the time and place for her son to be born, but God chose it, and the prophecy was fulfilled. And Mary found herself having to put their little baby in a manger, in an animals’ feed-trough, in a stable, because there was no room in the inn. All the hotels and motels in town were all filled up with other people.

And so the life of Jesus, the eternal Son of God in human flesh, begins. Jesus, who is true God, is born of a true virgin. And Jesus never promotes himself, but has the simplest, and humblest, and poorest of births, and the simplest of beginnings. The time, the place, the circumstances are all chosen for him and by him.

The man Caesar Augustus exalts himself as god, and at the same time the true Almighty God humbles himself to become a small tiny baby.

Caesar Augustus want to take a census of his whole empire, but Jesus is born so that he would enrol his whole empire, the whole world in the book of life.

Joseph and Mary are moved by the Holy Spirit from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and we are constantly moved by the Holy Spirit from darkness to light, from sin to forgiveness, from weariness to rest, from sadness to joy.

Jesus shows us his great power as God, how he was able to allow himself to be born at a particular place at a particular time according to the prophecy, but he does this in great weakness, humility, great gentleness, great poverty, lying in a manger in a stable. And by doing this, the little stable in Bethlehem becomes the centre of the world, the focus of the whole universe, the place where angels want to look in, the place where shepherds run to, the place where stars shine down upon.

What a wonderful thing it is to come and be in the presence of that same Lord, that same Jesus, that same Saviour today, to receive from him the forgiveness of all our sins, his great comfort, his great peace and his great joy! What a wonderful thing it is that Jesus comes to meet us in his word, in baptism by giving us his Holy Spirit and in the Lord’s Supper by giving us his body and blood! What a wonderful thing it is that our God comes to meet us where we are and takes us on his journey for us with him, to allow us to grow with him in faith from baby steps into adulthood. And what a wonderful thing it will be when this same child, this same Jesus, this same Saviour, will welcome us in to his inn, where there will never be any lack of room. As Jesus says: In my Father’s house are many rooms and I am going to prepare a place for you.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Amen.

Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your Son into the world to be born as a tiny baby in Bethlehem. Send us your Holy Spirit, and send us your gift of faith and peace and joy, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Advent IV B [Luke 1:26-38] (24-Dec-2017)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am.

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

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

In our reading today, we read about the events which are spoken about in the Apostle’s Creed, where it says: He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The reading today begins by talking about an angel, and not just any particular angel, but the angel Gabriel. In the bible, there are only two angels who are named: Gabriel and Michael. And strangely enough, both of these angels are mentioned in the book of Daniel. Michael’s name means “one who is like God” and is called the great prince who has charge of your people. Gabriel’s name means “strength of God”, and brings to Daniel an answer to his prayer in the temple. Gabriel also was the angel who brought a message to Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, when he was in the temple, while he was performing his duties as a priest. Here in our reading, Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary.

In our reading today, we read that the angel Gabriel goes to a virgin betrothed to a man. On one hand, the text calls Mary a virgin. And on the other hand, she is betrothed to a man. “Betrothed” is basically what we would call “engaged”. It’s important first of all that when a man and a woman want to live together and share a home and raise a family that they get married. And it’s important when people want to get married, that they enter into a period of engagement. This is a time for preparation, and also for testing. Sometimes an engagement doesn’t lead to a marriage, and it’s much better to call of an engagement than to get married and divorce later. This was the situation that Mary and Joseph were in: they were engaged, or betrothed, and preparing to get married—it was a time of preparation, and testing. It was not the time for sexual relations yet. In those days, particularly, one of the things for testing was to make sure that the woman wasn’t getting married as a show to cover up for the fact that she had become pregnant with someone else’s baby. It would be as if she said, “Oh no! What am I going to do? I know—I’ll marry the first man I can find.”

Now, to stop this from happening—which would have been pretty rough for the men involved—engagements usually lasted around nine months. Nine months was the length of a pregnancy, so if there was any funny business going on, it would give enough time to demonstrate whether she was an honest woman.

So this was the situation that Mary and Joseph were in. She was a virgin betrothed to a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. Now all these details are extremely important. If Mary had become pregnant outside of marriage, she would have been in very serious trouble. But the fact that she is betrothed means that Joseph would be able to care for her as her future husband, but also he would be able to testify that the child was not his.

Now in the wider church today, there are many people who simply deny what we call “the virgin birth”. However, as you will see in our text today, the fact that Jesus’ mother was a virgin is a central teaching of Christianity. In the Creeds we say every Sunday that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. It is not a side issue, or something that we can laugh off as if it’s not important. The “virgin birth” is not some conspiracy of men in the church to put down real women and mothers. This teaching is not really about Mary at all—it is about who Jesus is. It is about who Jesus’ mother is, and who his Father is. The Virgin Mary is his true human mother, and God the Father is his true Father. This is what we read about in our reading today.

So the angel says to Mary: Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you! We read: But [Mary] was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. Just imagine—Mary has just seen an angel appear to her, and yet she is not troubled by what she sees, but by what he says. She is greatly troubled at the saying. You see, it is important that Mary discerns. Who is this angel? Why is he coming to me? Is he telling me a lie? Is this the devil in disguise? And so, it says that she tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. If this is a greeting from God, then all well and good. But if not, then she wouldn’t want some angel flattering her, or deceiving her, or leading her down the garden path, away from God.

So what did the angel actually say to her? He said: Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you! The word there “greetings” is a standard greeting, like “hello”, or “Good morning”. But literally, the word is Rejoice. The angel is wanting to give her encouragement, joy. He is giving her a blessing. And he calls her: O favoured one. This could also mean: a woman who has been shown grace, or a woman who has received God’s favour. These words are also where the Catholic prayer comes from: Hail, Mary, full of grace. The expression “favoured one” is translated “full of grace”. However, in John 1, it is said that Jesus is full of grace and truth. Here in this passage, it is more correct to say that Mary has been shown grace or shown favour, rather than being full of grace. It is a wonderful gift of God that He chose Mary to be the mother of his Son. It is not as if she earnt it by being full of grace. The angel also says to her: The Lord is with you! This is very similar to the greeting we say in church every Sunday before we say a prayer, where the pastor says: The Lord be with you, and the people respond: And also with you, or in older times, the response was: And with your spirit. The Lord is already with Mary, and the Lord now sends Mary an angel to tell her. The angel then reveals to Mary the presence of the Lord. In Mary’s situation, the Lord is with her in a special way—she is about to be the mother of the Son of God. Nobody has been greeted like this before, and nobody will ever be greeted like this again. And so, it’s no wonder that Mary was troubled, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

And so the angel says to Mary: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

Listen to those wonderful words from the angel: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. We human beings are all sinners. We are all members of one sinful human race, and we have received and inherited sin from our parents. Just as we get all kinds of blessings from our parents, so also we have inherited the family debt. We know that even right from childhood, we don’t need to teach children to be naughty; they do it all by themselves! And God has every right to completely wipe out every single one of us with one wave of his hand. He is a righteous judge, and loves what is right, and good, and pure, and holy. And we know that we are not righteous, right, good, pure and holy in and of ourselves. And yet, because of Jesus, and his sacrifice for our sin on the cross, because of his atonement, and payment for our sin, justice was paid for us, and our debt was cancelled. And so, because of this, if we ever find ourselves standing before God, knowing our sin and fearing his presence, then we can be comforted in the fact that we have a Saviour, who has paid for our sin, and has earnt on our behalf the favour of God. It is a wonderful thing to believe that when God looks at us, he doesn’t look at our sin, but he looks at Jesus. And because of Jesus, he shows us his favour. He doesn’t blaze his anger at us, but he shines the light of his face, and forgives us every single one of our sins. And when we have this forgiveness, we have God’s favour, his good pleasure, and there is nothing of which to be afraid. This is the same wonderful gift here that was given to Mary, when the angel said: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. She found favour not because of anything that she was, and not because she was sinless, or because of anything that she had done or not done, but purely as a gracious, loving gift of God.

The angel says: And behold—in other words, listen to me, I’m going to tell you something very important—you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Mary is going to be this child’s mother—the Son of God will take his human nature from her womb, from her flesh. She is going to be his mother. She will conceive in her womb, she will bear a son, and she will call his name Jesus. In this sense, Mary is going to have a normal child, in the normal way, and like every other mother, she will give this child a name.

But there is some things that about this conception and birth and this child that are not normal, but are special, supernatural, wonderful. The angel says: He will be great. We can talk all day about all the wonderful ways in which Jesus is great! The angel says: And [he] will be called the Son of the Most High. This is very important: this child will be Son of Mary, but he is also going to be the Son of the Most High. The “Most High” is another way of speaking about God. This child is not going to be a child of God, in the sense that all people are created by God, and are God’s children. But this child will be the only begotten Son of God. He is the Son of the Most High, in the sense that has always existed as true God together with the Father before the beginning of time. This Son of the Most High is one with the Father, and equal to his Father. The angel says: And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. This means that Jesus is going to be a king in the line of King David. He is going to rule over the house of Jacob, or the house of Israel. He will be a king, and he will rule over all of God’s people. And unlike the kings of the Old Testament, and the kings and politicians of our time, who only reign for a set number of years, Jesus will reign over the house of Jacob forever. Even today, Jesus is alive, he is seated on the throne as a king descended from David at the right hand of the Father, ruling over the whole of creation, and ruling his church, his kingdom here on earth through his powerful word, and there will never be a time when he will not be ruling. The text says that he will reign…forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. This is no ordinary boy who is to be born—this is not just Mary’s son, but the Son of the Most High. This is just as when Jesus says to Peter: Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And Peter says: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. The Son of Man is the Son of the living God. The Son of Mary is the Son of the Most High.

Mary asks the angel: How will this be, since I am a virgin? Literally, in the Greek, the question Mary asks is: How will this be, since I do not know a man? In the bible, “know” often refers to sexual relations, just as at the beginning of the bible where it says: Adam knew his wife and she conceived. Mary realises that there is something being promised to her that is not normal, and not the ordinary way things are done. And so the angel says: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. It says: The Holy Spirit will come upon you. These words are the basis of what we say in the Creed that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The angel says that this will take place by a special act of God, by an overshadowing of the power of God. We can also see here a wonderful picture of all three persons of the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Who will come upon Mary? The Holy Spirit. Whose power will overshadow her? The power of the Most High, the power of God the Father. And who is this holy child who is to be born? The Son of God.

The angel also wants to strengthen and encourage Mary and increase her faith so that she doesn’t worry and doubt what is going to happen. The angel says: And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. Elizabeth is John the Baptist’s mother. And the angel shows to Mary that another miracle has taken place: Elizabeth is old and she was also barren, and yet she also has a child. In a similar way, the angel says: you are young, and a virgin, and you will also have a child. And Elizabeth’s baby was conceived six months ago, so that you will be able to see her round tummy with your own eyes. And the angel says: For nothing will be impossible with God. The angel says that this is a miraculous event. It will happen in a way that no human being, no inventor, no scientist, can come up with. It is purely a miracle and an act of God. This is an important word to all those who ridicule the virgin birth. If we don’t believe that there is a God who can work outside what we think are the normal laws of nature, then of course we won’t believe in a virgin birth. But there is a God, and nothing will be impossible with God. This is a wonderful word for us to encourage us in our prayers too. When we think things are impossible, we should remember that we have a God with whom nothing is impossible.

And so right at the end of our reading, we read where Mary says: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. This is a very encouraging word, and shows the wonderful power of God at work in Mary, and the great faith that he had worked in her. On one hand, she agrees with the word of the angel. God does not force her to comply, but she agrees with the whole plan. She says: I am the servant of the Lord. And also she says: Let it be to me according to your word. This word that the angel has said from a human point of view seems impossible, and yet she says: Let it be to me. The angel has spoken a word, and she has become impregnated through her hearing. In a similar way, when we hear the word of God, and read it, and think about it, it takes root in us, and grows in our hearts and begins to shape us from within. Let’s also pray that the Holy Spirit may work that humble attitude in us that we seek to submit to God’s gracious will for us in our lives in every day of our lives, every day and every minute.

Sometimes we have some bad news or something bitter in our life we need to contend with. There is an old Russian prayer that says: Whatever news I may receive during the day, teach me to accept it tranquilly, in the firm conviction that all eventualities fulfil your holy will. I know from my own experience that sometimes I don’t have the strength of faith to think like that. And yet, the alternative is always to be putting our will above God’s will. God is a very gracious Father to us, and sometimes we don’t understand why he gives our deepest sorrows to us. But he also promises to show you his loving face again. Jesus says: A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me. This life is not the only existence that God has made for us—this is a valley of the shadow of death. There is a better country to come yet, a kingdom that will have no end, as our reading says. The king is Jesus, and the future is bright with him. And so, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and not in our own strength, we can look to him and say with Mary: I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. Amen.

Lord God, our heavenly Father, we thank you for the conception of your Son, and we pray that you would lead us to trust in your word, knowing that nothing is impossible with you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.