190127 Sermon on Matthew 8:1-13 (Epiphany 3) January 27, 2019

190127 Sermon on Matthew 8:1-13 (Epiphany 3) January 27, 2019

I’d like to focus on the second part of our Gospel reading today that has to do with the Roman centurion.  It is worth our time and consideration when we hear Jesus say that he has not found faith in all of Israel like he sees in the centurion.  There is nothing so important as to have faith, and so it makes sense that we should learn what we can from this person whom Jesus holds out as an example. 

There are two outstanding qualities to this man’s faith that we can see in our text.  First, this man is humble.  Second, he trusts that Jesus is able to do anything and will help him.

We can see that this man is humble by the way that he responds to Jesus’s willingness to come to his house to heal the man’s servant.  The centurion says, “I’m not worthy that you should come into my house.”  Why isn’t the man worthy for Jesus to come and help him?  The short answer is that he is a sinner.  But we are kind of used to that answer since we have received the training that we have in God’s Word.  We know that we are poor miserable sinners.  This can become kind of like a textbook answer where we know what we are supposed to say.  It is something different when we speak by knowledge of our own experience and say, “I am a sinner.  I am not worthy that Jesus should come under my roof.”

Luther liked to talk about painted sins and real sins.  Having painted sins is the way of talking about sin where we say, “Oops, I messed up, but nobody’s perfect.”  This is when we excuse away our sinfulness, while acknowledging that we are still technically sinners.  Having real sins is when we realize that we have offended God by what we have done and that he has every right to be angry with us and punish us.  Real sins are stinky and revolting.  They are the kind of things that you don’t want anybody else to know about because you would be so embarrassed if they knew.  But God knows all that we have done.  Again, here we can have this as a textbook answer: “We know that God knows everything, ergo, he must also know all the sins that I’ve committed.”  Or we can know this by experience: “I know that I have offended God and his angels by my actions.  How can I possibly not be punished in this life by all kinds of tragedy and misery and go to hell in the next?”

When the centurion says that he is not worthy for Jesus to come under his roof he is not rattling off some textbook answer to Jesus.  He certainly isn’t saying this as though these were “some magic words” whereby he can manipulate Jesus into doing nice things for him.  The sin is heavy and hot and stinky.  He says that he isn’t worthy of Jesus coming under his roof because he knows it to be the truth.  He knows that that roof just might come down upon his own head as punishment for the sins that he has committed.  This man’s humility is the first element of the greatness of his faith.

The second element to the greatness of his faith is his boundless trust that Jesus can do whatever he wants to do, and he dares to believe that Jesus will do good to him.  “Just say the word,” he says, “and I know that you can heal my servant.”  He even preaches a little to Jesus.  He tells Jesus that he knows what it’s like.  As a commander in the army he can tell one soldier to go here or there and he goes, or he tells someone to do this or that and he does it.  The word and the command are enough.  And he is a man who is under authority, and yet he can do that kind of thing.  And so of course it is possible that the one to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given—namely, Jesus; of course it is possible that Jesus can just say the word and it will come to pass by his almighty divine power.

In this second part of the centurion’s great faith we can also hear these words in kind of a wooden, textbook sort of way.  Jesus is God.  God is omnipotent.  Ergo, Jesus can do whatever he wants, even healing by just speaking a word.  Or his grace and his kindness might be turned into theological principle that has to take place, because that’s just the way it is.  The textbook says so.

But this centurion believes in a real Savior, not a painted Savior.  He is not engaging in ideas.  He is speaking, praying, to a person.  And the remarkable thing about it is that he is so sure that Jesus will help him.  He is not praying with a double mind, saying to himself: “Who knows whether Jesus will do what I ask him to do or not.”  No, he says (as you heard him): “Speak the word Jesus and it will be done!”  He is full of joy and confidence.  The sun is brightly shining.  There is not a doubt in his mind.  This is the second part of the greatness of this man’s faith.  He believes that Jesus can do anything, and that he will be kind and merciful to him.

When you put these two parts of the man’s faith together you are left with a picture of his soul that necessarily must remain mysterious.  On the one hand his sins press hard upon him and he knows of God’s hatred for all his iniquities.  On the other hand he has joy and confidence in the mercy of his Savior Jesus.  Those are two very different frames of mind that exist together in one soul.  Here we are treading on holy ground and we dare not try to make it acceptable to our reason, to know exactly what is going on.  Faith is a miracle worked by the Holy Spirit in those who hear of God’s judgement and his mercy.  That’s why it is holy ground, and we dare not make it common, or explainable using psychology or whatever other means.  The Christian at the same time fears, loves, and trusts in God.

Something that we can say about these two parts of faith, though—because the Scriptures teach us about it—is that the two parts are not equal.  They are far from being equal, in fact.  Terror because of our sins is not a permanent fixture in the Christian’s life.  It necessarily remains so long as we live this earthly life because we will not be rid of our sinful flesh until it dies at the end and awaits its purified raising at the end.

Of the two parts of faith that we’ve looked at, the confidence and joy we are to have in Christ being kind to us and loading us up with one good thing after another, is the greater part.  It is eternal, first of all.  Our fear shall cease when we die.  The confidence and joy will grow eternally.  But also in this earthly life, it is better the part, the more important part, the more effective part, the part that is more difficult to receive and keep.  The strength of the Christian life does not consist in moping around feeling like garbage.  Your moping and sulking might seem as though it will earn you some credit with God, but that is a terrible and wicked lie mainly because it seems so plausible.  Your sorrow over your sin cannot make up for what you have done.  The only thing that can make up for what you have done is the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, in spite of and regardless of our sins, we must love and trust in him and boldly make our requests to him like this wonderful centurion: “Just say the word, Jesus, and I shall be healed.”

And this is how we must take the word of Jesus as it is spoken to us today.  When you are forgiven by the pastor or by another Christian, you must not understand that word to be empty or without power.  Jesus says, “Whoever hears you, hears me.”  And in another place he says, “Whosoever’s sins you forgive they are forgiven them, whosoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.”  And so when our fellow Christian announces the truth to us we must be certain of it and rejoice in it as if Christ our dear Lord spoke to us himself and said, “I forgive you all your sins.”  Wouldn’t it be amazing to see Jesus in front of us and to hear those words: “I forgive you all your sins?”  He instructs us, by his own word, to regard these words of fellow Christians as being his own.

Or another word that Jesus has left us by which he promises every grace and blessing is baptism.  One of our hymns says over and over again: “God’s own child, I gladly say it: ‘I am baptized into Christ.’”  That’s right!  You are baptized.  You are God’s own child.  Therein lies your status and your strength and your Christianity. 

It might seem as though you will become a better person if you torture yourself or feel really, really bad about yourself and go moping around in sadness.  You show me in the Scriptures where it says that you can save yourself by feeling bad about what you have done.  There aren’t any such passages.  But I can show you passages that say baptism saves, that Christ’s body and blood forgives sin.

In our Old Testament reading Naaman is brought to his senses by his wonderful servants who direct him back to the word that the prophet Elisha spoke to him about with the washing in the Jordan.  They say, “The prophet has spoken a great word to you, will you not do it?”  I can say to you, likewise, “God has spoken great words to you.  Will you not believe them?  Will you still be filled with uncertainty and doubt about whether Jesus forgives you, loves you, and will bring to fulfillment the fullness of your salvation?  Be like this centurion who says, ‘Just say the word, Jesus, and it will be done.’  Jesus wants you to have joy and confidence in him.  Why would you not embrace it, remaining in the cold?”

Since joy and confidence on the one hand, and sorrow and terror on the other, are so different from one another, there has always been a tendency among Christians to want to choose one and neglect the other.  At some points in the history of the Christian Church the people were taught that they should never be joyful and confident.  The seriousness of sin was stressed at these times.  At other times—and I think this is true of the period of history that we have just come out of—joy and confidence have been emphasized but the notion that Christians should ever feel sorrow or terror has been fought against as being unChristian.

The truth, though, is that we need both, but the two things are not equal.  We need sorrow and terror for sin because we still have our Old Adam and we still sin.  God’s Law must still be preached that shows us how impossible it is for us to be blessed because we are so unworthy.  But this is lesser and is passing away and will no longer be necessary once our sinful flesh has died.  The more important, the more powerful, and the more difficult thing to believe and hold to is that God can do more than we can even ask or think, and he is well pleased with us and desires to help us.  Jesus’s atoning sacrifice has brought about God’s goodwill towards us.  Therefore we must be joyful and confident that we are indeed children of God and that a rich inheritance awaits us in the life of the world to come.

Our Gospel reading this morning has given us an opportunity to learn.  In the Roman centurion we see someone who has no confidence whatsoever in himself.  He hates himself, in fact.  But his heart is bounding and joyous in Christ and he has no doubt about him and his mercy.  May it be so also for each one of us.

190120 Sermon on Ephesians 5:22-33 (Epiphany 2), January 20, 2019

190120 Sermon on Ephesians 5:22-33 (Epiphany 2), January 20, 2019

One of the old accusations against Christians is that they don’t want anybody to have any fun.  The old pagans among the Romans and the Germans didn’t like having their drinking parties and their orgies denounced as wicked.  They countered by saying that Christians are prudes. 

But this is not just an ancient thing.  Ever since the widespread use of the automobile in the 1910s young people have gone off to secret places to give vent to their lusts.  This was a change from the courtship that used to take place at the woman’s parents’ house.  Those preachers who might take up a charge of lewdness or fornication against these young people were disliked.  A lot of young people voted with their feet and quit coming to church, or maybe the quit coming to that church and went to some other one where they could be more comfortable.

Even though this is just one hundred years ago it might seem like ancient history for us.  Why bring it up?  I bring it up to show that we are dealing with not just a new problem when it comes to dating, living together, marriage, and so on.  We are in fact dealing with an old problem that has been avoided.  It’s easy to show that it is an old problem by pointing out the similarity of the charge made against Christians.  One hundred years ago the liberated young people were saying that the Church was being prudish and old fashioned.  Times had changed but the Church had not changed with it.  That is the very same thing you will hear today too.

Why haven’t we dealt with this old problem?  It’s because this is an uncomfortable topic that affects all of us.  Who among us is without sin?  And people vote with their feet.  So if your only goal is to perpetuate the existence of the congregation, then topics like this appear to be off limits.  But it is evil and devilish for congregations to just want to continue to exist.  That is not the reason why we have congregations.  The only reason for congregations to exist is so that the Word of God can help people avoid hell and enter heaven.  There would be no reason whatsoever to talk about uncomfortable things if people’s blessedness and salvation were not at stake.  But because they are at stake, and because God’s Word gives us direction in these things for the purpose of helping us, then let us go boldly forward and learn and repent and believe in Jesus.  Then let us teach—all of us, not just me—helping those who are trapped in the imagination of their own hearts about these matters.

Our Epistle reading today is located towards the end of St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  Often towards the end of their letters the apostles would address how the Christian is now to live in the callings God has given.  That’s where our reading comes from today.  And in the portion we read he is addressing wives and husbands.  Wives are to submit to their husbands in everything like the Church submits to Christ in all things.  Husbands are to love their wives like Christ loved the Church—giving himself up for us on the cross so that we could be cleansed from every sin and stain and be presented to himself in splendor.

Some other time, perhaps, I could spend some time on these words addressed to the women and the men.  A lot of people don’t like these words because there is an inequality between the roles.  Husbands and wives are not equal.  They are not the same.  They are not interchangeable.  Each has their role.  The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is head of the Church.  Many people have hated these words for a long time because they believe that only equality and sameness is honorable.  I’m happy to defend what St. Paul says here against those who would pervert the natural order.

But today I’d like to focus on something a bit larger—the sexuality of us creatures as men and women, that is to say, as husbands and wives.  Further down in our reading today St. Paul quotes Genesis chapter 2.  Genesis chapter 2 describes the creation of Eve from Adam’s rib.  Upon seeing his wife Adam says, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.  She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”  The very next verse is the one that is quoted by St. Paul: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

With these words from Genesis you have God’s institution of marriage.  Marriage is God’s design.  Man and woman leave their parents and are joined together in a new family.  To this new family God wishes for there to be children, for he said to Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.”  Sometimes these families are barren by God’s own hidden will—a problem that afflicted several of God’s people as we read about in the Scriptures.  It was always a cause of rejoicing because something has been set right when this plague was lifted from the couple and a child was given by God.  Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah.  Samuel was born to Elkanah and Hannah.  John the Baptist was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth. 

Children are not a plaything or an ornament or a luxury.  Children belong in these families formed by the union of man and woman, husband and wife.  The union itself is the means through which children are created.  They are to be raised in families where neither father nor mother will leave.  They are to be raised in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  The only reason why this old world keeps spinning ‘round is so that children can learn of their Creator and Savior and by faith sing his praises.  Therefore, marriage is the highest institution on earth and all of life is directed towards it.  The only reason why we have government or schools or any other beneficial thing is so that husband and wife and their children may be served and benefited and furthered in their filling the earth with life. 

We sinful creatures are somewhat blind to this because one of the worst effects of the fall into sin is that we take things that are common for granted.  If we see something a lot then we think that it must be nothing, a dime a dozen, and unimportant.  Husbands and wives with children are pretty common, and so people think that presidents and CEOs and other more rare (and always highly paid) positions in life must be so much better.  But that is not true.  There is no higher calling than husband and wife, father and mother, because this is where new life comes from.  The whole earth exists for these callings.

And so when St. Paul makes reference to Genesis, to husband and wife becoming one flesh, he is dealing with the highest earthly affairs that exist.  It doesn’t matter that this old ungrateful world is jaded and despises marriage.  It is what it is regardless of whatever anybody thinks of it, and it is high and exalted.  But then St. Paul says something that is very surprising.  He says that this mystery is profound, but he is saying that it refers to Christ and the Church. 

And so this would mean that Jesus leaves his Father and his mother and he holds fast to us, to his Church, to his own body.  The highest earthly calling is elevated to the greatest of all truths that exist: God has become Man, and has joined himself to our sinful race.  The two have become one, so that by the riches of the bridegroom the bride may be redeemed and saved from hell.  All people, young and old, married and unmarried, all people without exception have this engagement from the Son of God whereby he claims them as his own bride to be submissive to him.  This is not an engagement with royalty or mere flesh and blood.  This is union with God.

Most people, however, do not treasure this divine betrothal.  Some are disturbed by it and fight against it openly.  Most, though, more or less take it for granted.  This is the great danger for us and our people who see ourselves as Christians.  Familiarity breeds contempt.  The shocking truth is no longer shocking and they do not wonder about it.  They still pledge allegiance to Jesus, but that is mainly because they want to use him to stay out of hell.  The two becoming one flesh is not holy to them.  It’s hardly anything more than a business transaction.

To be sure, this is not by accident.  God’s enemies would like to have you believe that Christ and his promises are repulsive.  But if they fail in convincing you of that, then they will never cease to work night and day for you to take it for granted.  If the hot sun of persecution won’t get you, then maybe the weeds, the other cares and pleasures of life, might work to choke out all your love and devotion.

Something similar happens also with earthly marriage and the marital union.  There is a concerted effort to make it not sacred.  The goal is to make it seem common and ordinary.  Then the sexual union is nothing other than recreation, a pleasurable activity.  It doesn’t matter who you do it with.  The main weapon for desensitizing us is to indulge in the thrill of seeing the glory of another person’s body which should remain hidden from all others because it is the property of that person’s husband or wife alone.  All our songs, TV shows, music, magazines, internet, and so on urge us to do this.  All the flesh and all the casual sex is meant to convince us that it’s all no big deal.  It’s just a way to have fun.

This desensitization has been very successful.  The expectation today is that beginning with high school and certainly no later than college, men and women use each other like prostitutes until they find one that they think will continue to give them a lot of pleasure.  Then they might make a more permanent commitment.  I know that people who make use of the marital union without the promise of fidelity do not think of themselves or their partners as prostitutes.  I know that they might like to talk a lot about love and other high sounding ideals.  But at the end of the day they are using the other person and if they should ever feel like they are done using the other person, then they will pack their bags and leave.  That is not love.  That is selfishness.

How do we begin to straighten this out?  Not talking about it isn’t going to do it.  That’s been our problem.  We haven’t talked about these things for many decades and we’ve allowed our people to be taught by popular culture.  Popular culture has left deep scars in all of us without exception.  Because of our familiarity with the glory of other people’s bodies, we have been desensitized to what is high and holy in marriage.  Therefore, people are deprived of what is good.  It is good for a husband and a wife to only know the glory of the other’s body after having made a lifetime commitment of fidelity.  The marital union under such conditions is the highest and best of this earthly life. 

There is some kind of connection between our sexuality and our life of faith.  Sexual sin does something to the conscience that other sins do not.  St. Paul in another place says that all the other sins take place outside of the body, sexual sin takes place within it.  It defiles.  Therefore, as he also says, we should flee sexual immorality.  We should fear it.

All of the broken down and godless societies that we find in the Scriptures are always corrupted in matters of sex.  You know well the issues with Sodom and how the men wanted to sodomize angels.  The wicked about to be destroyed in the book of Revelation are dripping with sensuality and lust.  All of these things the Scriptures say to us not so that we can ignore them or never talk about them, but so that we can take warning and not perish with the rest of the world.  If we do not talk about these things, though, that is exactly what will happen.  We will go with the flow, live like everybody else, and be condemned.  This is not hard to have happen.  This is the broad and easy way that leads to destruction.

The Word of God is our only hope.  If we will not hear it, then nothing can help us.  If we do hear it, then it is going to point out our sins and our stains and our spots and our wrinkles.  We are proud creatures (for some stupid reason) and so we prefer almost anything to having these things pointed out about us.  But if we will humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand and confess our sins, then we have the promise of forgiveness and healing in Jesus Christ. 

We heard about Christ and what he is like towards us in our reading: Christ, the bridegroom loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

The amazing thing about our heavenly bridegroom is that he did go find some pretty, wonderful girl.  He chose us with our deformities and ugliness and promised his fidelity to us that is not just ‘til death do us part, but eternally.  And so turn to him and recognize the sacredness of this betrothal and union.  There is no sin he cannot forgive.  There is no stain that he cannot remove.  He makes us holy and without blemish.

190106 Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12 (Epiphany)

190106 Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12 (Epiphany)

The fact that there are twelve days of Christmas has been made well known by the song that speaks of what your true love gave to you on each of the 12 days.  Yesterday, January 5^th, was the twelfth day of Christmas, and so if you have a true love, then you should have received 12 drummers drumming.  Today, January 6^th, closes out this season of the Church Year with the festival of Epiphany.

The occasion that is commemorated by this holiday was recounted for you in our Gospel reading this morning.  Some sages from the east saw a new star in the sky and somehow they knew that this meant a king had been born to the Jews.  And so they traveled to the land of Judea, to Jerusalem, the capital and made inquiries there about where their king was to be born.  What they found out was that the Scriptures prophesied that the king was going to be born in David’s city, Bethlehem, and so they turn in that direction, and the star comes to rest over where the child was.  And so they worship this child and give him expensive gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

Among us this festival is not especially well known.  Everybody, including the unbeliever, knows what Christmas is about—that it is the birth of Jesus.  Compare that to the awareness of Epiphany.  Most would not immediately know what the festival was about.  At other times and among other Christians this festival was celebrated with much more solemnity and fervency that it is today among us.  The reason for this was that it was thought that this was the first time in Jesus’s life where Gentiles—those who were not Jewish—were given the gift of recognizing Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. 

That is why the festival has the name of Epiphany.  When someone has had an epiphany it means that they have suddenly realized something that was previously hidden to them.  The epiphany of the festival of Epiphany was that the Gentiles suddenly became aware of the Christ.  Instead of believing in magic or progress or technology or philosophy or however else a person might make sense of their life on this earth, these wise men bowed down and worshipped this boy who is their Redeemer and Savior.

Having this “epiphany” is a part of the story in everyone’s salvation.  It was most certainly necessary for our salvation that the Son of God should become incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary, be born, suffer and die under Pontius Pilate, and on the third day be raised from the dead together with all the other facts that are conveyed to us in our creeds. 

But it is also necessary that the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, should bring about an epiphany for us so that we can follow the Words and promises of the Scriptures to the Christ.  Without this epiphany we remain in darkness and in the shadow of death.  We remain devoted to the furtherance of our own fortunes or striving after our own happiness according to our own ideas instead of being devoted to Jesus, the center of the universe.  We should not take it lightly that this knowledge has been revealed to us. 

In that regard perhaps we can learn from those other Christians of other times who loved this festival.  Their devotion was marked by both fear of God and gratitude towards God.  They were not puffed up and proud and for good reason.  Gentiles are less than Jews.  Way back in history the Gentiles rejected God’s Word and promises and worshipped the devil instead.  Only Abraham and his descendants believed and worshipped the true God.  It was to him and his descendants that the instructions and promises of the Scriptures were given.  Meanwhile our ancient ancestors were sacrificing their unwanted children to the devil in order to have a better quality of life.  They were devoted to pornography and money and power and the other lusts of the flesh and cared nothing for their Creator.  There was no fear, love, or trust in the true God.  Only among the Jews were those who were devout.

And so when God began to open up salvation to the Gentiles as well, this was a stunning development.  It shocked both the Jews and the Gentiles.  The Jews were shocked that such filth could be made equal with them.  Those Gentiles who believed were amazed that they were plucked from the fires of hell that they knew they deserved so thoroughly.  Those Gentiles who believed thought that the epiphany of Jesus their Savior was a great light that pulled them out of darkness and they marveled that God should be so kind to choose them when they so obviously didn’t deserve anything from him except temporal and eternal punishment.  Those first converted Gentiles understood the enormous importance of what was being made known to them in the Gospel.  And so this story of Gentiles finding the Christ child and worshipping him with great joy was important to them because they saw also themselves in the actions of these eastern sages.

We do not have this zeal among us today.  Part of the reason why we might not have any special zeal or fervency for the story of Epiphany is that the Gospel is not as new to us as it has been to the Christians of different times and places.  The Gospel has been known among our people for several hundreds of years.  Are you aware, even, that your ancestors a thousand years or so ago worshipped other gods?  That we are Christians and live among Christians is more or less taken for granted.

Unfortunately this is how it always goes with the Gospel.  When people are first converted and see the love that God has for them in Christ the crucified, they react strongly like the seed that is sown upon the shallow soil.  They are grateful and they want to learn and grow as children of God.  They speak of the Gospel to their families and friends.  They support the preaching and teaching of the Gospel in the congregation and in missions and with schools.  But as time goes on the love grows cold.  People return to the mentality that comes naturally to us ever since the fall into sin.  We quit thinking about God and Christ and begin to think about how we can be happier and more successful.  There is less thankfulness, less attentiveness to the Word of God.  Love for the neighbor dries up and everybody is looking out for numero uno.  Usually, meanwhile, the machinery of the Church is usually still chugging along, but the people’s hearts aren’t in it.  Their hearts are in other things.

The Bible has many examples of this very thing happening in times of old.  A decline is very noticeable when the Israelites enter into the land of Canaan in the period of the judges.  You see a decline again in the both the northern and southern kingdoms before God overthrows them with the Assyrians and the Babylonians.  You see the decline at the time of Christ when the Gospel finally becomes repugnant to the Jews and is received with joy by the Gentiles.  In all of these periods the people of God still thought of themselves as his people, but it was more or less lip service.  What they really cared about was their own health, wealth, happiness, glory, legacy, and so on. 

You see this decline and worldly mentality dressed up in churchy clothes with the corrupt and bloated Jewish leadership of Jerusalem in our Gospel reading today.  The wise men came to Jerusalem to find the newborn king since this was the capital.  There were scholars of the Scriptures there who were even able to help them find the Christ.  They knew that he would be born in Bethlehem and they tell them so.  But why don’t they go with this strangers from the East to worship the Christ as well?  The Bible doesn’t tell us, but one likely reason why they don’t go is because they are afraid.  They might be afraid of Herod who was a jealous maniac who killed anybody he thought might be a rival to his ambitions.  Our reading today doesn’t get into this, but immediately following where our story ended today St. Matthew tells how Herod sent troops to Bethlehem and killed all the baby boys who were two years old and younger—trying to snuff out the newborn king before he could be a threat.  Certainly Herod was not someone to be messed with, and so the Jewish leadership might have stayed away for that reason. 

They might also not have wanted to be known as some kind of fanatic or nutjob.  If they went in search of the Christ—if they did something out of the ordinary—then people might think they were crazy.  So long as church people do what is traditional and expected, then nobody complains too much.  But as soon as they start making waves, talking and acting in unusual ways—then the name calling begins.  These Jewish leaders saw themselves as being faithful—even the cream of the crop—but their actions show that they are devoid of faith.  They play it safe in Jerusalem and would not risk their life or reputation by going with the strangers from the east to boldly worship the Savior Jesus.

This is how it is among us today too.  Most of us think of ourselves as being Christians.  But are we willing to risk the loss of reputation, or business, or friendships, or family, or life for the joy of worshipping our Savior?  We might even be well versed in Scripture and in doctrine.  We might know the right answers to even the most important of questions, but are we willing to leave everything for Jesus’s sake?  This is a scary thing.  Troubles and suffering are involved in this.  But this is not unprecedented.  Do you think it was a small thing for those wise men to defy that murderous, powerful maniac, Herod?  No, it required courage to go against the grain.

But the wise men were blessed in what they did and so will you if you leave behind earthly pleasures and insurances and follow after Jesus.  I won’t promise you money or possessions or anything else that might outwardly increase your quality of life.  It’s possible even that following after Jesus might decrease your quality of life outwardly.  Remember, the devil, the prince of this world, has a great deal of control over a person’s quality of life and like a hot sun he will persecute those who follow Christ so that they will dry up and wither away if possible.  And so there is nothing material or outward that I can promise you for following after Jesus—although I can also say that you will never be forsaken and you will always have enough.

But what I can promise you is that you will know God.  In this life you will know him and grow in your knowledge of him through his Word.  In the next you will see God and be welcomed by him.  All people, of course, will finally see God.  King Herod will see God.  But these are his enemies and persecutors.  They remain chained to the devil like we all are by nature, but their unbelief will not allow them to be set free.  Therefore they get what they deserve for who they are and how they’ve lived their lives—something that should make every one of us tremble.  Unless you are a fool, then you should know full well that we deserve hell for the wrongs that we have done.

But God makes known to you that in Bethlehem, the city of David, a Savior was born for you.  This boy would grow to be a man, and he would suffer God’s wrath in your place for the sins that you have committed.  There isn’t a sin that he did not suffer for and atone for in full.  He is the Christ, the Messiah, the seed of Eve who crushes the serpent’s head and sets us free to be children of God. 

The Word that I speak to you is an epiphany.  It reveals to you your Savior, and God wants you to know it.  And so do not be cold and indifferent, remaining in the old ruts like the people of Jerusalem who knew the truth, but would not go out to see him.  Pay homage to your crucified and risen Lord.

181230 (Guest Preacher Bruce Boyce) Sermon on Luke 2:22-40

181230 (Guest Preacher Bruce Boyce) Sermon on Luke 2:22-40