Seek the Lord who took away your shame.

 

Sermon for Epiphany 4, January 29, 2023

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, in truth and love.  Amen.

Zephaniah 2:3, 3:11-13  ³Seek the Lord, all you humble people of the earth who have carried out his commands.  Seek righteousness.  Seek humility.  Maybe then you will be sheltered in the day of the Lord’s anger.…¹¹In that day you will no longer bear the shame of your rebellions against me.  Then I will remove the proud boasters from among you, and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.  ¹²But I will leave among you the people who are humble and weak.  They will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.  ¹³The Israelites who remain will no longer act unjustly.  They will not lie, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth.  Instead, they will graze peacefully like sheep and lie down.  No one will terrify them. (EHV)

Seek the Lord who took away your shame.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            This early in the church year, one doesn’t expect our readings to focus on Judgment Day.  Yet, because we do not know when that day will come, it is good to be reminded to be continually ready to stand before the Lord on that great and terrifying day.  The prophet, here, warns God’s people that like the rest of the world, they too will be judged.  The question before us is how will we stand?  And, how will we live as we wait for the Lord?  Looking into the distant future, Zephaniah urges God’s people: Seek the Lord who took away your shame.

Make no mistake, this prophet is blunt in his message.  God’s judgment will fall upon all people, and those who merely pretend faithfulness to the Lord will not stand.  Those who seek to boast in their lineage or works will likewise fall.  And of course, those who defy the Lord by worshipping other gods have nothing ahead of them except God’s just anger and condemnation.

Still, though much of Judah had forsaken the God of their forefathers to wander after the idols that led to Israel’s doom, there remained some faithful to the Lord.  Like today, they were under attack from evil neighbors and deceiving spirits.  Zephaniah addresses those humble folk as people who have been carrying out God’s commands.  They had been doing the sacrifices, saying their prayers, and following the laws laid down by Moses.  Yet, was pride in their works also leading them astray?

We too receive a warning here.  It is very easy for pious believers to fall into the trap of imagining that God saves us because of our piety and dedicated service.  Our sinful nature and the old evil foe love to tempt us with pride in how good and faithful we imagine ourselves to be.  The pharisaical attitudes that beguiled the leaders of Jesus’ day can also tempt us.

By the Lord’s inspiration, the prophet said, “Seek the Lord, all you humble people of the earth who have carried out his commands.  Seek righteousness.  Seek humility.  Maybe then you will be sheltered in the day of the Lord’s anger.”  The people of Judah had seen their northern relatives in Israel hauled off to exile, their nation ruined, their gods and cities trampled.  One would think that this would have brought Judah and Jerusalem back to their senses, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.  Still, God doesn’t give up on His people. Rather, He invites them again and again to come to Him for forgiveness and salvation—to Seek the Lord who took away your shame.

Rather than seek refuge in our own works and sacrifice, God invites us to find peace and salvation in Him.  God’s Son, Jesus, would say in His day, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)  If we try to find our hope for the future in the law, we will always fall short of the righteousness needed to enter God’s heaven.  Isaiah had spelled this out for God’s people decades earlier saying, “All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth.” (Isaiah 64:6)  When sin entered the world, it corrupted us completely, so we could do nothing perfectly holy.

The prophet said, “Seek righteousness.  Seek humility.”  As Isaiah already showed us, that isn’t found within us.  Our only hope is to find it in Jesus.  Moses was considered the most humble man to walk on earth, (Numbers 12:3) yet he was still only a poor foreshadow of the Savior to come.  St. Paul wrote about Jesus, “Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant.  When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death―even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8)

This is the humility and righteousness that saves, that Jesus, the perfectly holy Son of God would live for us every obedience necessary to fulfil the law and yet suffer even death to pay its penalty for all the sinners who had rebelled against God.  This, too, is why the Lord invites, encourages, and commands us to gather in worship, because in the means of grace shared with believers in worship, God serves us again as He brings us the forgiveness of sins and strengthens our faith so that we remain humble believers in Christ.  Looking forward to how the promised Savior would take away our guilt, Zephaniah wrote, “In that day you will no longer bear the shame of your rebellions against me.” 

I believe there are three ways people try to deal with shame.  The first reaction sinners have is to try to hide it.  When they first sinned, Adam and Eve tried to hide their shame from God as they hid themselves among the trees in the Garden of Eden.  Little children, hardened criminals, cheating husbands and wives all try to hide their shame for their evil deeds.  Some of that is the fear of punishment, but much is simply trying to keep shame covered up.  In the news and media reports, we hear of scandalous coverups almost daily, especially in the political realm.  Funny thing is, hiding our shame from people seldom works for very long, and shame can never be hidden from God who sees everything.

Another way of dealing with shame is one that is becoming quite common again in our times.  The sinner simply denies there is anything to be ashamed of in the sin.  The people of Zephaniah’s time imagined that because they were God’s chosen people, it didn’t matter how they lived or what other gods they might worship, no matter how vile and disgusting that worship might be to the God who had rescued them from slavery and loved them as His own beloved Bride. 

In our times, mothers wail against law enforcement when their children fall under the law.  Abusers accuse their victims of being the cause of their violence and hatred.  Sexual sins are especially likely to be justified as loving when it is really just self-indulgent immorality.  Live free, love who you want, as many as you want, do what makes you feel good are common mantras.

This isn’t anything new, of course.  When guilt makes us unable to live with our conscience, the conscience conveniently allows itself to be nudged toward approval of the indulged wickedness until we can again feel good about ourselves.  The shame we felt might even become a point of pride. 

The trouble with these first two ways of dealing with shame is that both lead eventually to destruction and everlasting banishment from God’s love.  Speaking through His prophet, the Lord declared, “Then I will remove the proud boasters from among you, and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.”  Zephaniah was given the coming verdict for those who reject God’s love; “So wait for me,” declares the Lord, “until the day that I rise up to plunder.  For I am determined to gather the nations, to assemble the kingdoms, and to pour out my indignation upon them and all my furious anger.  All the earth will be consumed with the fire of my zeal.” (Zephaniah 3:8)

Judgment for the unrighteous is certain and terrifying.  However, as you have heard many times, God has no desire to judge and destroy.  His pleasure is to save.  Therefore, God promises, “But I will leave among you the people who are humble and weak.  They will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.  The Israelites who remain will no longer act unjustly.  They will not lie, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth.  Instead, they will graze peacefully like sheep and lie down.  No one will terrify them.”  There is peace and salvation through the Savior God promised to send.  That was the message of all God’s faithful prophets.  Time and again, God sent His messengers to deliver warnings to His people, but along with the warnings came the promise of forgiveness.

In our epistle lesson, Paul wrote, “We preach Christ crucified, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:25)  We preach Christ crucified, because “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)  We live in times where mankind assumes great knowledge.  We imagine we have surpassed the ancients in understanding how the world works.  Yet, for all the supposed knowledge we possess, most people reject the promise of a Savior who died on a cross for the sins of the world.  To the world, Jesus looks too shameful and weak to have power.  To believe in Him, we are forced to admit ourselves shameful and weak.  Yet, it is through faith in Jesus Christ that we receive every good thing.

Jesus promised, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)  When the words of our God have brought us to believe that we are nothing but sin while Jesus is our righteousness, then we inherit everything: forgiveness of all sin, peace with God, certainty for our future, and a home in heaven of glory, joy, and life eternal.  When the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament moves us to believe in Jesus, we are given life in heaven with Him.

It is at that time that we see fulfilled what God promised Zephaniah: “I will leave among you the people who are humble and weak.  They will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.  The Israelites who remain will no longer act unjustly.  They will not lie, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth.  Instead, they will graze peacefully like sheep and lie down.  No one will terrify them.”  Today, in those who trust in Jesus as their Savior, God sees only the perfect righteousness Jesus lived for us all.  He sees all our faithful service as good and holy for Jesus’ sake, and He remembers our sins no more.  Furthermore, God promises an eternity in heaven where there will never be any sin, lying, trouble, sorrow, pain, or death.

So yes, to the world, believing Christians may often look humble and weak, but we have God on our side.  He sent Jesus to make us holy and to enable new life in us.  His Holy Spirit worked that life in us through baptism and the hearing of the Good News of all that Jesus has done for us.  To all who believe in Him, Jesus promises, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies.  And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish.” (John 11:25-26)  Jesus’ resurrection from the dead guarantees it.  Seek the Lord who took away your shame.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore.  Amen. 

Live in Christ Who gives you life.

 

Sermon for Epiphany 2, January 15, 2023

Peace to all of you who are in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Colossians 2:6-15  ⁶Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, ⁷by being rooted and built up in him, and strengthened in the faith just as you were taught, while you overflow in faith with thanksgiving.  ⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, which are in accord with human tradition, namely, the basic principles of the world, but not in accord with Christ.  ⁹For all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ.  ¹⁰And you have been brought to fullness in him.  Christ is the head over every ruler and authority.  ¹¹You were also circumcised in him, with a circumcision not done by human hands, in the putting off of the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, ¹²when you were buried with Christ in baptism.  And in baptism you were also raised with him through the faith worked by the God who raised Christ from the dead.  ¹³Even when you were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ by forgiving us all our trespasses.  ¹⁴God erased the record of our debt brought against us by his legal demands.  This record stood against us, but he took it away by nailing it to the cross.  ¹⁵After disarming the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them by triumphing over them in Christ. (EHV)

Live in Christ Who gives you life.

Dear friends in Christ,

            What makes a person good?  Theologians and philosophers have debated that question for almost as long as time has existed.  Most people would like to be good, and most people would like to consider themselves good people.  Certainly, most people want to raise good children, we want to have good neighbors, we want good government and a safe and peaceful place to live.  Still, what makes a person truly good?  What standard will we use?  Is any standard acceptable?

Today, in our world, there are numerous standards being used to identify good versus evil.  If you study philosophy in college, you would be directed to study a wide variety of thinkers who came up with various standards of what they think is good.  Perhaps, though, they all miss the point.  You see, when it comes to salvation and eternal life, whether the world sees you as good, doesn’t really matter, does it?  What matters is what God sees.  Therefore, in answer to some who were misleading the people of Colossae with various philosophies and religious ideas, St. Paul advises that you Live in Christ Who gives you life.

Now, we might all agree that having the world judge you to be good does have some advantages in this life.  If your neighbors view you kindly, you are likely to have peaceful interactions with them.  If the authorities in your city, state, and country view you as good according to the laws of that area, you are unlikely to spend time in jail, and you might even be offered a position of power.  If you are considered good by your family, you will likely be given much more freedom to do things as you want to do them.  On the other hand, what does God, who will judge us in the end, say about being good?

Our God, the Creator of heaven and earth, has declared, “You shall be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)  That, my friends, is the standard that matters in the end, and God’s standard will never change based on the whims of society, or the evil in men.  To enjoy eternal life in heaven, we must be holy as the Lord our God is holy, for “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (Matthew 25:31-32)  

The people of Colossae were under attack by teachers from a variety of backgrounds and ideas of good.  Certain teachers of Jewish background demanded adherence to the Mosaic laws, especially demanding circumcision of these Gentile Christians before they would be saved.  There were also plenty of pagan philosophies floating around, all of which were at best attempting to satisfy natural law, but not one of those ideas could count as holy before God.

In a recent Sunday sermon, and countless other times, you were reminded that “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)  This is why Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6)  Being holy before God requires perfect obedience to God’s law and God’s will for our lives, without any exception for personal preference or time off for good behavior.  Being holy requires perfect thoughts that are always in full agreement with our Creator.  It requires that we never desire anything but what God gives us.  It means we never complain or ever question God and His Word.  Furthermore, because God is our Creator, He has the perfect right to make the rules for who will enter His heaven, and He requires that we perfectly align with Him.

Still, the Good News, that the people of Colossae had already learned, is that Jesus has taken care of our righteousness and the punishment for our sins.  They already knew that nothing more is needed to be saved than to believe in Jesus as their Savior.  “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.^” (Isaiah 53:5)  Therefore, Paul writes to remind them not to let go of that saving promise.  He said, “Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, by being rooted and built up in him, and strengthened in the faith just as you were taught, while you overflow in faith with thanksgiving.” 

The truth is there is nothing we must do to make our salvation more sure.  Jesus had accomplished everything needed when He announced from the cross, “It is finished.”  To come to believe in Jesus doesn’t require a decision on our part.  There are no spiritual exercises that make God more happy with us.  Forgiveness and salvation come to us completely as a gift of God’s grace. 

The Colossians knew this, and still, Satan was working through deceptive teachers to make them wonder.  You and I also face the same type of persuaders who are convinced that we must do something to be right with God.  The opinion of the law rooted in our rebellious nature makes it hard for us to fathom God’s merciful love.  St. Peter warned from personal experience: “Be alert.  Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  Resist him by being firm in the faith.” (1 Peter 5:8-9) 

One of the devil’s oldest lies is telling us that you can’t trust God to be faithful.  But, the Holy Spirit assures us through John, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)  Our God is ever faithful.  For thousands of years before He sent His Son, God gave promises of the salvation to come.  Now, that Jesus has come, and has lived and died to accomplish our release from the devil’s chains, those ancient prophecies fulfilled comfort us with the sure confidence that Jesus is who He claims to be.

Most of our world has a hard time believing this because they imagine we need to see God with our own eyes in order to believe.  To that idea, Paul writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, which are in accord with human tradition, namely, the basic principles of the world, but not in accord with Christ.  For all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ.”  When God claimed Jesus was His Son, He wasn’t deceiving us.  Christ’s resurrection from the grave, at the precise time He had promised to rise, proves He is exactly who He said He is.  Those people who walked this earth with Jesus, heard Him teach, saw His miracles, watched Him die, then saw Him alive again—they saw God face to face.  That wasn’t any imagined theatrics. 

People who today deny Jesus deny numerous eyewitnesses and the testimony of God Himself.  None of this matters if you don’t know or believe what Jesus did for you.  However, for you, Jesus became a man.  For you, Jesus suffered and died.  For you, Jesus rose and lives in heaven.  Paul explains that this reality has cleansed you of everything that separated you from God. 

The Jews were commanded to circumcise their boys as a sign of God’s covenant of grace.  That covenant was complete in Christ Jesus.  Therefore, Paul explains, “Christ is the head over every ruler and authority.  You were also circumcised in him, with a circumcision not done by human hands, in the putting off of the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, when you were buried with Christ in baptism.  And in baptism you were also raised with him through the faith worked by the God who raised Christ from the dead.” 

Baptism and faith in Jesus connect you fully to Jesus, the Head of all creation.  As you have already heard, it is through Christ that all your sins have been carved away from you, and the penalty of death for sin is paid in full.  Likewise, in Christ, you have been given life that doesn’t end.  Therefore, Live in Christ Who gives you life.

What great comfort is ours that the sins that so trouble our hearts, and this world in general, are no longer remembered by God.  Paul wrote, “Even when you were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ by forgiving us all our trespasses.  God erased the record of our debt brought against us by his legal demands.  This record stood against us, but he took it away by nailing it to the cross.” 

We each had a debt of sin that none of us could ever pay.  Most of us even today still feel guilt for the multitude of things we know are not in accord with God’s commands.  As faithful Christians, we know we don’t measure up to perfect.  Thanks be to God, it is not our measure that counts before God. 

When Jesus was nailed to the cross, you who were dead in sins were made alive to God through Jesus.  You who once had no hope now stand in complete and perfect holiness in God’s sight.  This isn’t to make us arrogant and immoral.  Rather, it gives us sure confidence to live for Jesus who loved us unto death.

There is a lot of talk in our world about how to be a good neighbor, how to live unoffensive lives among people who offend our God, how to love things that God tells us to hate, and how to do and do and do and do.  None of those things make us right in God’s eyes, nor do they give us peace.  Jesus gives us peace that never ends.  When the world screams against you that God’s way isn’t right, remember what Paul wrote here: “After disarming the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them by triumphing over them in Christ.” 

The world’s philosophies will pass away.  The laws of the land, and societal protocols will always be subject to change and the vagaries of sinful people.  One thing is constant—God’s love for His people.  He sent His Son to be your Savior.  Jesus lived, died, and rose again to give you life that never ends and a home in heaven that will welcome you into eternal joy and peace.  Through baptism and through faith in Jesus granted to you by the work of the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament, you have been connected with the Son of God who give His all to save you.  He promises never to leave you, never to forsake you, to hear and answer your prayers, to always defend you, and to work everything for your everlasting good.  Trust Him.  Trust Jesus and the message of peace with God He has given to bring you life.  Live in Christ Who gives you life.  Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.

The Lord’s Servant establishes justice in righteousness.

 

Sermon for Epiphany 1/Baptism of our Lord, January 8, 2023

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  Amen.

Isaiah 42:1-7  Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.  I am placing my Spirit on him.  He will announce a just verdict for the nations.  ²He will not cry out.  He will not raise his voice.  He will not make his voice heard in the street.  ³A bent reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not snuff out.  He will faithfully bring forth a just verdict.  ⁴He will not burn out, and he will not be broken, until he establishes justice on the earth.  The coastlands will wait for his law.  ⁵This is what the true God says, the Lord who creates the heavens and stretches them out, who spreads out the earth and everything that it produces, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk on it.  ⁶I am the Lord.  I have called you in righteousness.  I will hold on to your hand, and I will guard you.  I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people, to be a light for the nations, ⁷to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the prisoners out from the dungeon, and to bring those who sit in darkness out of prison. (EHV)

The Lord’s Servant establishes justice in righteousness.

Dear friends in Christ,

            There is outcry in the streets and social media demanding justice in our times.  Yet, these loud voices don’t really want justice because justice demands accountability, and almost no one truly wants to be held accountable for bad decisions, poor choices, and immoral or unethical behavior. 

Here and there around the world, there are wars and uprisings as neighbor fights against neighbor claiming some vague right to settle grievances or to take property controlled by others.  Again, many of those instigating the fights claim an imagined moral higher ground, while they commit horrible atrocities in the name of this supposed good.

There is, however, one battle that had to be fought to bring an end to all hostilities, to bring peace among the warring parties, to right the grievous wrongs that have infested our world, and to bring an end to death and misery forever.  In this battle, The Lord’s Servant establishes justice in righteousness.

Ever since sin entered the world, there has been a battle raging between mankind and what is good.  Because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), only God remained truly good.  Everyone else is corrupted by evil desires, selfish motives, and a lack of knowledge of what is truly good.  Because all people had become enemies of the Creator, they had no desire nor any power to settle this war.  Therefore, without divine intervention, all people would be lost to hell.

However, our Creator is both a jealous God and the God of love.  He has asked, “Do I really find any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” says the Lord God.  “Don’t I want him to turn from his ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23)  God both loves those He created to have a special relationship with Him, and He jealously fights to rescue us from the deceiver who tried to steal God’s glory.  The apostles later wrote, “The wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23) so “just as it is appointed for people to die only once and after this comes the judgment, so also Christ was offered only once to take away the sins of many.” (Hebrews 9:27-28)  This is essentially the message of Isaiah’s prophecy in our sermon text.  Isaiah was given the opportunity to tell people about the promised Savior and the justice He brings to the world.

The prophecy says, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.  I am placing my Spirit on him.  He will announce a just verdict for the nations.”  Because God loves the world, His response to our rebellion was not to destroy as one might suppose, but rather, to work out the salvation of all who will believe in Him.  Therefore, God sent His Son, the Christ, to be His suffering, sacrificial Servant.  That One Man, Jesus, of human and Divine nature, would win the war that brings us peace. 

God placed His Spirit upon Jesus so that everything Mary’s Son did was holy and acceptable in God’s sight.  Jesus’ every thought, word, action, or inclination was to obey His Father’s will.  Jesus knew that He would be rejected and abused and finally put to death in order to work out salvation for us, yet He went willingly about that work without objection.  Isaiah was shown this: “He will not cry out.  He will not raise his voice.  He will not make his voice heard in the street.”  Unlike any ordinary human, Jesus didn’t cry out at the unfairness of His treatment.  He didn’t complain to His Father in heaven about the evil in His neighbors.  Nor, did Jesus ever expect to win the battle with force of might.

In our world, wars are won with the power of armies and the shrewdness of those leading the fight.  Political battles are won by overpowering others with the craftiness of words, allegations, promises, and lies.  Jesus would win His war against sin, death, and the devil with submission to God’s will, trust in God’s plan, and humble unselfishness unlike anything the world had ever seen.

Because God requires that we be holy just as He is holy, perfect holiness had to be lived by His Son in human flesh.  Because Jesus rebuffed every temptation and resisted any evil put before Him, Jesus was able to stand in judgment before the world without anyone able to accuse Him of any fault.  The most they could claim is that “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” (John 19:7) 

Thus, Jesus was put to death because He truly is the Son of God who stepped in to take our place in punishment for sin.  Isaiah’s prophecy was thus fulfilled that “He will faithfully bring forth a just verdict.  He will not burn out, and he will not be broken, until he establishes justice on the earth.”  The just verdict at Jesus’ trial was that He is the Son of God and perfectly without any sin.  However, because we sin, a just verdict condemned Jesus to die, because “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

To His chosen, suffering Servant, God called out, “I am the Lord.  I have called you in righteousness.  I will hold on to your hand, and I will guard you.”  To do what we could not do, God’s Son came into the world to win us peace with God.  Everything about His life was designed to meet that goal, and God worked all things throughout history to make it happen exactly as planned. 

Though during His ministry, enemies tried to silence Jesus, no one could.  When some hastily tried to kill Him, Jesus walked away safe and sound.  When the devil tried desperately to trap Jesus with God’s Word, Jesus was able to flick that troublemaker away with authority, and the Father sent angels to help Jesus.  Then, when it finally looked to the devil and the world that Jesus had been defeated in death, as men laid His bloodied, abused body in the grave, the Father was ready to raise Him on the third day, and just at the promised time, Jesus was raised from the dead, with many eyewitnesses giving us the assurance and confirmation that He is God’s Son and the promised Savior of the world.  The world and the devil couldn’t stop Jesus on His mission to pay for our sins, and the grave couldn’t hold Him when the debt had been paid.

God’s promise to Abraham, “In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed,” (Genesis 22:18), was made true in Jesus when “God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)  God’s covenant with Abraham is our sure hope.  Isaiah wrote, “I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people, to be a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the prisoners out from the dungeon, and to bring those who sit in darkness out of prison.”  We saw a foretaste of that in the miracles Jesus performed as He walked this earth.  However, the miracles weren’t Jesus’ mission.  His mission was to rescue sinners—you and me included—by living righteousness for us and paying for our faults, sins, guilt, and shame with His holy, innocent blood. 

Still, further miracles followed.  Jesus will not be stopped in His mission to save people from their sins.  Once the payment price was paid, and Jesus returned to heaven in triumph, He sent the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament to call more and more people into His kingdom of grace.  For you and me and millions more, The Lord’s Servant establishes justice in righteousness.  Making Himself God’s Servant, Jesus did everything needed to lift sinners out of the poverty and slavery the devil had imposed upon the human race.  Giving His all to rescue us, Jesus now gives us the joy of knowing God and all His love.  The debt of sin is paid, and through faith, His righteousness is now credited to those who believe in Jesus. 

This morning, we celebrate Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.  Jesus’ baptism is important, because by His washing in water, Jesus sanctified our baptisms by which we are connected with Him.  Jesus didn’t need to be cleansed of sin, because He had none.  Yet, to fulfill all righteousness for us, Jesus was baptized by an ordinary mortal to make Baptism the means by which God would claim sinners for forgiveness and salvation.  Paul explains that by that connection of water and Word poured out upon us in the name of the Triune God, our old selves were put to death, yet we are raised to life again through faith in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:4)  Thus, connected with God’s Servant by the faith Baptism gives, we now have Jesus’ righteousness covering us, and His promise that we too will be raised from the dead to live forever in heaven.

Dear friends, the purchase price to redeem the rebellious and lost has been delivered to our heavenly Father, and so that we may know and believethat the payment was sufficient, Jesus continues to give us His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, as living proof that His sacrifice as the Lamb of God was made and accepted by the Father. 

Trusting in God’s mercy for Jesus’ sake, you have confessed your sins and received the sure promise that all your sins are forgiven in Christ.  Now, come forward for the holy meal that assures you again of the God’s saving grace in Christ Jesus.  “Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him.” (Psalms 34:8)  The Lord’s Servant establishes justice in righteousness.  Amen.

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Everything according to law accomplished for you.

 

Sermon for Christmas 1/Name of Jesus, January 1, 2023

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—to whom be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Luke 2:21-24  ²¹After eight days passed, when the child was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.  ²²When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. ²³(As it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male will be called holy to the Lord.”) ²⁴And they came to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” (EHV)

Everything according to law accomplished for you.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)  So came the command to Joseph from the angel of the Lord.  According to the Mosaic Law, every Israelite boy was to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth.  There were no exceptions among believers.  Thus, we remember Jesus’ circumcision on New Year’s Day, the eighth day after the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth according to the way the Jews counted the days.

Circumcision was the sign given to Abraham to confirm faith in God’s covenant of salvation with Abraham.  Thus, when God rescued Abraham’s descendants out of slavery in Egypt, and then gave His law to Moses on the mountain, circumcision was again included in the commands to show the world that the people of this nation were God’s elect.  Not being circumcised indicated that a man wasn’t a part of God’s people, so any who neglected that rite were in effect cutting themselves off from the salvation God planned to provide through one precious Seed of Abraham. 

Now, the One to whom all God’s promises pointed had entered our world.  This Child of Mary, conceived in her by the Holy Spirit, had no sin of His own, so consequently, He had no sin from which He needed to be saved.  Jesus inherited no sin from a human father from which He needed redemption.  Jesus didn’t need the Savior God had promised Abraham, therefore for Himself, He had no need to be circumcised.  However, Jesus did not enter our world for His own benefit.  He came to redeem you and me, so in Jesus, we find Everything according to law accomplished for you.

To His disciples, later, Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)  At that point, Jesus was not speaking specifically about the law of circumcision, but rather, about every last detail of God’s instruction for our lives and His plan for our salvation.  Jesus came that we might be set free from the law that had bound us since the fall into sin.  In reality, all law is given to maintain peace in a sinful world. 

We usually think of peace on earth, peace among people, nations, and different ethnicities.  However, the main point of everything Jesus did was to gain peace between us and our Creator.  That peace had been ruined by sin, and every sin committed breaks our peace with God.

As was the custom, Jesus was circumcised at eight days old.  Some might assume Mary and Joseph made the decision.  However, nothing happened to Jesus that day that He didn’t intend.  God put Jesus into human flesh so that He might live in perfect obedience to all of God’s will and all of God’s law for mankind.  Thus, Jesus’ blood was spilled, even when He was an infant, so that you and I would be counted in complete harmony with God’s commands.

Now, maybe you think you are doing a good job of obeying the law.  Yet, there is not one person in this room that can claim to be obeying God’s instruction perfectly.  There is not one of us that doesn’t at times question why we don’t just go our own way.  In fact, there is not one person here who doesn’t regularly go astray.  So, why do we need Jesus to be circumcised?  Because Jesus was fulfilling all that God had commanded and promised so that we could be counted holy.

On that day when Jesus was cut for you and me, they called His name, Jesus.  No big deal, right?  Babies get named all the time.  However, Jesus was given this name because He came to make its meaning real.  The name Jesus means “The Lord saves.”  From the fall into sin, God had promised salvation.  Now, trust me, God was not slow to keep His promise.  In fact, God had a very carefully laid out plan to work salvation for all people.  Paul wrote in the letter to the Galatian congregation, “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

Every moment of Jesus’ life was dedicated to the work His name claims.  Not one moment was spent with His mind wandering to unnecessary or unholy thoughts.  Not one minute of Jesus’ life on earth was spent in something less than God-pleasing service.  Oh how I wish I could be so focused on doing my work that nothing ever distracted me.

Now, you could assume that those distractions so common to so many of us are simply rest breaks, or lapses in judgment, or even ordinary entertainments.  And sometimes they are.  The difference is Jesus was never betrayed by His flesh.  He never betrayed His Father’s will.  Jesus never once lost sight of His goal to save sinners like you and me.  Therefore, Jesus lived in perfect obedience to every commandment God had laid out for the world, to the law written in our hearts at creation, to every ceremonial law put on Israel’s worship life, and to every civil law imposed upon society by Judea’s Roman overlords.  Jesus was the complete opposite of the rebel or the laggard.

Then, there is me, and likely you, how many sins are we only hoping no one knows about?  How much guilt hangs heavy over our heads?  How many regrets do we have about how we have treated others?  Jesus had none of that.  Yet, for you and me, Jesus was willing to be born as a Man, raised in near poverty in a dusty backwards town, never owning any home of His own, never having any apparent earthly honor or authority, and finally, be falsely accused of sins He couldn’t and wouldn’t commit so that He would be brutalized and whipped, and nailed to a cross to bleed again for you and me, as He gave His innocent life to pay the penalty our sins and guilt deserved.

We see in our short Gospel lesson, here, that Jesus was presented to the Lord at the time of their purification.  Forty days after the birth of a boy, the Mosaic code required the mother to bring an offering to the Lord for her purification.  In the case of a firstborn son, the child belonged to the Lord, and it was required that the child be redeemed by the parents.  Jesus was not redeemed as most Israelite boys would have been.  Instead, God’s only-begotten Son became the Firstborn Son promised and destined to serve God’s plan to win favor between God and the human race.  Therefore, Jesus remained set apart to do the will of God—which was repairing the damage sin had done to our relationship with the Almighty.

The point of this text is to show the world that not one thing was missed in Jesus’ assignment as our Rescuer.  Because we are born with a sinful nature and with the curse of sin hanging over our heads, we could never save ourselves.  We could never right the corruption that so deeply corrupts our entire being.  But, because God is love, it was never His intention to allow the devil to steal away the whole human race.  Therefore, God committed Himself to winning back a family of believers who put their trust in Him alone.  To accomplish that mission, God made His only-begotten Son the perfect Child who grew up to be the perfect Man who never once displeased our Creator, God Almighty, so that Jesus could be the perfect Lamb of God who would be sacrificed to take away the sins of the world.

And because we were lost, spiritually dead, enemies of God at birth, God gave the world His Word of reconciliation in the Bible and sent His Spirit in the Word to raise up for Himself a Kingdom of saints who He called out of this dark and dreary land.  All of this was prophesied in the Old Testament.  In the New Testament, we see it being carried out.  With His holy life and sacrificial death on the cross, God’s Son won our redemption and our freedom from sin, death, the devil, and the grave, and then He sent out His disciples to carry the Good News of what Jesus has done for us so that many former lost, disheartened sinners might be brought to believe in Jesus and receive forgiveness and life everlasting. 

Dear friends, by the Word and the Sacrament of Baptism, God brought you to believe in Jesus.  By the Gospel and the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the Spirit strengthens and keeps you in that saving faith.  Jesus then promises, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)  By His resurrection from the grave, Jesus shows that He has overcome everything that kept you separated from God.  The doors of heaven are now open wide to all who believe in the Son, because Everything according to law is accomplished for you.  Amen.

Now may the God of peace—who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, in connection with his blood, which established the eternal testament—may he equip you with every good thing to do his will, as he works in us what is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ.  To him be glory forever and ever.  The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.