"Jonah" Jonah 3:1-5;10

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 

Amen

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”

In the Name of Jesus

For all intents and purposes, Samuel and Jonah might as well be complete opposite people.  Last week we talked about all the distractions we have in life and how, when our Lord calls to us, we must put down the distractions and answer as Samuel did, speak Lord for your servant hears.  What a faith, what an example for us to follow.  Even though he did not know who was calling him the first 3 times, the fourth time he did as his master, Eli, had told him.  In the still of the night, stop and listen to the command which the Lord would give. 

Jonah was not all that interested in listening to the Lord’s commands, or at least not after he heard where the command would take him.  Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”  Understand, Nineveh was a bad, bad place.  I don’t even know what we could compare it to.  Maybe imagine the Lord is wanting to send you to Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, I don’t know, New York City, San Francisco, or Detroit!  Nineveh was a corrupt town which had wandered away from the way of the Lord.  It was a large city, especially for that time.  It’s fortified wall was 8 miles in circumference.  It was the capital of Assyria, and it seemly stood for sin.  It was a powerful city, it was a ruthless city, and something had to be done. 

It was no doubt a daunting task for anyone.  Remember, last week, how I said there were those who hear the call and obey, those who searched for a life time, and those who ignored and went about their own business?  Samuel obeyed.  It stood ready to serve Eli and, when the call became clear, the Lord.  Jonah, however, was not so ready.  Nineveh stood 500 miles from his home town.  But that wasn’t far enough for him.  Instead, he goes down to the docks in Joppa, finds a boat going the opposite direction, , he bought his ticket to ride, cause he don’t care.    

Not only is he fleeing the people of Nineveh with this move, he is effectively evading the presence of the Lord and His divine command.  Instead of being still, dropping all distractions, and listening to the Lord, Jonah does what he can to run away and actually surround himself with the noise of the world.  Do you know how many of the Lord’s prophets have biblically recorded hissy fits and disobey the Lord?  ZERO!  Jonah is a trend setter!  Quite possible a trend he could have done without setting. 

Once he got on the boat, trouble arose.   The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.  Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.  So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” 

How bad it must have been for the career sailors to even be afraid.  And yet, Jonah sleeps.  And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.  Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”  And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”  Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.  Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.  He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”  Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.  Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”  So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

Even the unbelieving heathens knew that if your god told you to do something, you better do it.  As we well know, the punishment for Jonah didn’t end there, being thrown into a raging sea wasn’t enough.  A big fish came and swallowed him and there he dwelled for three days.  He thought, he prayed, he had a long talk with God.  Finally we get to our text today. 

I have said it the last few weeks.  The story doesn’t end in death.  Jonah’s story didn’t end with his suffering and dying in the belly of a fish.  His story ends with God’s will playing out.  He is spit out onto the shore, God calls to him again, and he follows the three big rules in which the Chase house has.  He listens immediately, obeys cheerfully, and speaks respectfully. 

If this second chance isn’t Gospel, I don’t know what is.   After blatant disobedience, our Lord gives Jonah another chance.  He not only spares him, but then uses him again!  And not only did Jonah get the all-important second chance, Nineveh did as well.  Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”  And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.  The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.  And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.  Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.

Our God, is a God of second, third, fourth, 1,000^th chances.  Yes we know the punishment for sin.  God’ doesn’t simply bring ruin to a city who disobeys.  He didn’t simply place a little water on the earth to hopefully destroy her.  He didn’t simply let the children of Israel go into Jericho to defeat her, he caused them to demolish their fortified wall, their pride, their protection.  He let the water fill the earth the earth roughly 22 feet above the highest mountain. 

But to those who repent, to Jonah, to the people of Nineveh, the Israelites, to Noah and his family who remained faithful, he shows his continued steadfast love.  He reminds them that because of their repentance, forgiveness is there.  He will relent not just of earthly disaster, but eternal disaster. 

You see, the disaster has passed, it’s over and done with.  The threat for us is gone.  What Jonah rightfully deserved, what Nineveh deserved, what deserve has already been handed down.  God destroyed his son, he abandoned him and left him for dead.  He wasn’t in the belly of a fish for three days but in a house of death, in a tomb only to leave three days later.  All so that when Jonah repented, when Nineveh sat in sackcloth and ashes, when we repent of our sins, we may hear the most precious words of absolution.    

What a profession of faith the king of Nineveh says stop turn from evil, who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.  This is the theme of Lent, repentance and forgiveness.  We even use the words from the second chapter of Joel during Lent Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.”  Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.  Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him…

This is what Jonah, the prophet, forgot, and the King remembered.  It is what we must remember as well.  Whether we are the one lost in sin, if it’s someone we know or someday we have the chance to share forgiveness to a people we are intimidated by and are afraid of.  Preach the Gospel, share the gospel, lift high the cross at all times, who knows how and when the Lord will word, leaving a blessing in return.  

Amen

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"Who's Calling?" 1 Samuel 3:1-10

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 

Amen

And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

In the Name of Jesus

In today’s world, there are lots of things that vie for our attention.  In fact, that is the point of every ad we see, whether TV, newspaper, magazine, or internet.  They want our attention, our business, they want us to forget about every other product and solely buy theirs.      

There are lots of things that that we give our attention to.  When our phones ring with a phone call or text message we drop what we are doing to answer it.  If you are a news junkie then when you see a breaking news story I wouold be that you stop what you are doing to pay attention.  We will even devote ourselves to our favorite TV shows, sports teams. 

But is what gets our attention that which needs it the most?  Are you guilty of giving your full attention to things that don’t really matter?  Guilty of giving attention to something meaningless while other more important tasks which require attention are forgotten?   

There is even a certain sex among us that gets accused of selective hearing.  Hearing only what they want to hear and being able to tune out everything else, ignore all other distractions.  

Of all the things that demand our attention, the most important is our God.  God demands attention.  God has been calling for the attention of man ever since the creation of the world.  He spoke to Adam and Eve in the garden and demanded their worship and praise.  He spoke to and through the prophets of the Old Testament and even to the Paul, then Saul, on the road to Damascus.  Each time demanding action in His name.

In our Old Testament text today he calls someone a bit out of the ordinary.  Not someone who was in power.  Not someone who was old and wise.  Not someone who we would have expected.  Instead he is calling a young boy, a boy who was the answer to many petitions prayer by his mother, for she was barren.  Because this child was a gift from God, she promised to give him then to the Lord’s service. 

In chapter three for 1 Samuel, we find the boy, Samuel, living in the temple caring for the aging priest Levi.  It took dedication.  The text says that his eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see.  This particular evening, Eli was in his bed and Samuel was camped out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.     

Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!”  and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.  And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.’  Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.  And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” 

Samuel was confused by the call of the Lord.  It is very interesting for how religious his mother was, read the first two chapters of 1 Samuel, her faith is really why he is in the temple serving with Eli in the first place, we get the sentence there in verse 7, Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.  Really, how is this possible for him to be given to the Lord’s service, be in the Lord’s house day after day and yet have it written about him that he didn’t know the Lord or his word? 

Perhaps at a young age the boy had perfected his selective hearing and tuned out anytime he heard someone speak on the matter of God.  Maybe he worked so hard, and was so diligent in that work, that he was always distracted as to what was going on around him.  Either way he runs to the aid of Eli each time he hears his name called in the night. 

Ever wonder who is calling you?  We live in a world that is confused by calls.  These calls, even THE CALL are interpreted many ways.  Some will take the call for God in their life and spend their whole life searching out a “spiritual force” to follow.  Then there are some who will ignore that call and do whatever they want, almost a Jonah if you will (who we will talk about next week). 

How do we answer THE CALL?  Are we those who go the other way, those who ignore it, or those who search out the caller only to miss him all together?  Maybe another question we should answer is, does God still call?  Is he still calling to us today? 

Praise God he does!  He still calls to us.  Not standing and appearing to us but through his Word, through the Holy Spirit.  Think back to your confirmation memory work.  The third article explanation.   The Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.   

He speaks, he calls, through the Holy Spirit and his Word.  Just like he had things for Samuel to hear and to do, so he has things for us to hear and do.  Hear what the Lord had for Samuel.  Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.  On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.   And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.  Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”    

Remember this is Samuel’s first experience with the Word of the Lord!  But this is what HE wants us to hear too.  He calls so that we sit and listen.  He wants us to know the same things which Samuel would soon prophecy about.  First, we must know of our sin and that we are lost in that sin.  But we also need to know that we are not lost in that sin.  But it doesn’t end there.  We also listen to his words of love and because of that love, forgiveness.  He still calls us to and into his love and forgiveness.   

That’s what Samuel would end up sharing.  That is what his timeless, transcendent message will always be.  We are sinful, but he loves and because he loves us he forgiveness us through his Son.  When he calls to us be begins where we must begin as well, at the cross.  This is where ur relationship is founded, the actions of Christ for us.  This is what he continues to call to us with and say to us, whether we stop all distractions and listen or not.    

So we know he still calls.  But why?  What does he still come to us?  Well, in a world full of distractions he wants to hear things that are good and beneficial for us.  He wants us to hear, to continually to hear.  In fact he want us to just hear it, but he wants us to LOVE to hear his word.  To use the words from the collect we use on non-communion Sundays, he was us to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest His Words.  It’s the different between, I have to go to church and I get to go to church!  HE wants us to earnestly desire His Words. 

He also wants us to heed his calling.  He doesn’t just call men into the Office of Holy Ministry.  He calls everyone into vocation where they can be witnesses.  To some he calls into church council positions, some he calls to be teachers, business owners.  Just because your job doesn’t deal with religion or churches doesn’t mean God isn’t using you to witness to others.

Accordingly, he calls us also to spread his word, his love, his forgiveness.  If you have such a great message, you can’t just keep it to yourself, can you?  And what a better time.  Sitting right in-between Christmas and Ash Wednesday.  Invite others to come journey with us to the Cross of Calvary.  Invite others to put aside the distractions of the world and fix their eyes with us on Jesus. 

What a wonderful thought.  Praise God he allows us the opportunity to forsake this world and enter into his holy house.  Yes there can be distractions even here in his house.  Our mind can be in a million different places and our attention can be called away in an instant.  But His Word remains here whether we are distracted or not.  His presence remains here even when want to look to other things.  His body and blood remain here even when we refuse to see it.  His forgiveness will always flow here even when we think we don’t need it.

Praise God for his faithfulness to a distracted children.  

Amen

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"Necessary Water" Mark 1:4-11

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 

Amen

in those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

In the Name of Jesus

Water is a very important part of our lives.  According to my research the world is made up of 70% water while our bodies are made up of between 60-65% just one year after birth, down from 73% at birth.  In order to remain healthy, in order to keep the in balance, there must be the right amount of hydrogen di oxide.  Too much in our bodies and we can actually drown ourselves.  Not enough, and we run the risk of dehydration and causing our bodies to shut down.  Looking at nature, add more water to our lakes and streams then what should be there and you will see how quickly land will get saturated, flood, and become a devastating mess.  Not enough water and you will see the effects on more than just land and vegetation.    

It is plain to see, through our years on this earth, that the truth is this:  Too much or not enough….WATER KILLS. 

Don’t believe me?  Let’s first look at the Israelites.  Stuck in their brutal slavery to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, they begged for release.  God had hardened Pharaoh’s heart and caused him not to grant their wish.  After the tenth plague, after the Angel of Death passed over, Pharaoh told them to get out of town.

In order to be saved they had to pass through…..water!  They were cornered in certain death on the banks of the Red Sea it was either death by Pharaoh’s army or death by water if they tried to swim across.  In faith Moses followed the command of the Lord to stretch out his staff and the waters would part.  The Children of Israel went into the midst of the sea, passing on dry ground.  But as Pharaoh and his host went into the midst of the same sea, the water swallowed them up, thus wiping out, wiping away that when held them captive.  By the word of the Lord their chains were burst. 

Noah, living well before Moses, had to deal with sinful people.  Not just sinful rulers, but an entire population.  It is recorded that the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.  So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 

Strong words.  This led to the destruction of the world by the flood.  Water consumed the world and the only ones saved where the faithful, Noah and his family, saved in a vessel commanded and blessed by God.  The wickedness, the sinfulness, was wiped out and the earth cleansed. 

Back to Moses.  In a situation, somewhat related to the slaughter of the innocent boys in and around Bethlehem we remembered a few weeks back, there was an attack on young males in the Israelite camp in Egypt out of fear that they would be able to overthrow the Egyptian powers.  They said Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.  Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.  And so it was decided, since their first command to the midwives to kill the sons and leave the daughters was disobeyed,  Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.

Water brought immediate death for those young boys.  But to Moses, one destined by God to do great things, he his saved in a basket, a vessel blessed by God.  

In today’s world, water is still a sign of danger.  There was even a movie that exclaimed “Don’t go near the water!”  We are ever aware of the dangers of water with the searching for missing planes, dramatic rescues of individuals who fall through ice into fridge water.  In a matter of seconds, water kills. 

Yet it is simply amazing, throughout the Bible water is used as a means of death.  But it never ends there, it doesn’t end with death.  The death brings about a cleansing. 

And believe it or not, there is a proper way to approach this death by water.  Maybe you caught it.  Pharaoh and his host went down into the basin of the Red Sea before being overcome by waters of death.  For those outside of the ark, they stay down in the waters as it rose all around them.  The poor innocent Hebrew boys who were thrown down into the water so that the Egyptians would feel more secure about themselves before a Hebrew, himself, rose in power in their land. 

But to those marked by God, to those whom he has chosen to save, the water was a means of salvation.  While their oppressors died in the water, the Children of Israel passed through on dry ground and they watched as their pursuers died in the deeps of the water.  Noah saved in the same way as Moses.  In divinely inspired vessels.  To those who were forced into the deadly waters, our Lord brought them safely out on the other side. 

Even in out Gospel reading, where we get the institution and blessing of baptism, we get the implication of the proper movement regarding the death of water.  Mark records that in those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Even our Lord went down into the waters of death in order to be brought up.  But why?  This is something that we all have done.  We have all passed through the waters, we have all gone down, in order to be brought up.  But the question remains, why must we go down to death?  Am I making a lot out of nothing this morning?  I guess I will let you be the judge of that.  Why must we go down in to the waters? 

In order of baptism to be lifesaving, our sin and the punishment we rightfully deserve must be placed somewhere.  It must be placed back on the one from whom all sin came.  Yes, Christ came and bore the sins of the word, he bore the punishment upon his shoulders which was meant or you and me, through the events of his life, he is eternally sticking it to the serpent.      

It is a three step process.  First our Lord comes, descends into the water and comes out for us.  He lives his live for us, perfect in every way.  He goes to the cross baring the weight of our sins, and dies for them.  Secondly, our Lord rises from the dead and proceeds to descend into hell to proclaim victory once and for all over sin, death, and most importantly, the devil.  He goes to proclaim that the punishment given him in the Garden of Eden, belongs to him alone.  He has redeemed His own.  He has given his life so that the sin we commit, is forgiven and we are seen in Christ’s perfection.

And the third step, he institutes Baptism, he gives us this live saving miracle, so that we can go down into the water, so that we can drown the Old Adam in us and leave it there.  He literally goes into the water so that we too can go into the water and DIE! 

And we don’t get to just kill that Old Adam once, we are urged to kill it daily!  Martin Luther writes, in answer to the question what does such washing with water indicate that it indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die. 

And what is even better is what Paul encourages us with in his Epistle of the Romans.  Words frequently heard and funerals because they beings us great comfort in the face of sins ultimate curse, death.  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Luther finishes his answer by stating after the old Adam is drowned and die that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.  Because we have gone down into the waters with Christ into death then we will be raised with him as well.  It doesn’t get any better than that.  Yes water means death, death for us all.  But praise God that because we have died, we will now live forever in paradise.  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 

Amen

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"The Holy Innocents" Matthew 2:13-23

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.

In the name of Jesus

            Boy this story sucks the joy right put of Christmas doesn't it.  A story about violence and death is unpleasant so soon after Christmas, especially when we are talking about the death of children.  Unfortunately, the death of children is all too common in our society.  And there are many whom those deaths do not bother at all, because they are the deaths of aborted children.  Yet there are many of us who lament greatly that so many millions of unborn children have died in our country, and around the world, because of abortion.

            But the deaths we discuss today are not the deaths of aborted children.  They are the deaths of children already born, deaths which took place because of one man’s hatred toward the Christ Child.  These children had done nothing wrong to cause their deaths.  They were innocent children who were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

            These children were born around the time when, and near the place where our Savior Jesus Christ was born.  His birth went unnoticed by most, even though He was the Savior of mankind.  Angels announced His birth to shepherds out in the fields.  Those shepherds announced His birth to others in and around Bethlehem.  But word didn’t spread very far.  Or, if it did, not many took notice.

            Certainly there was little notice taken in Jerusalem.  We might have expected word would get there, since Jerusalem is only as far from Bethlehem as Dodge Center is from Claremont.  God had foretold this Child’s birth through the prophets for ages.  Yet, strange­ly, over a year after His birth, few knew the Savior had been born.

            Few knew until, one day, a group of Gentiles from a far away country came to Jerusalem and asked about this Child.  They had come to see the new king, and to worship Him foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures.  They had figured the king’s palace was the right place to look for the new king.  So they came and asked King Herod about this birth.

            Even Herod knew nothing about the birth of a new king.  But he sure caught his attention.  Herod was a very cruel man, and was planning to be king for a long time.  He had already murdered several relatives, because he was concerned that they might want his throne.  Herod didn't know who this new king might be.  But he wanted to find out.

            So he set out to find the new king.  He checked with those who knew the prophetic writings, to find out if the prophets had said where the king would be born.  The word came back that it was in Bethlehem.  Herod then arranged with the Gentiles, who had come to him, to find this king and bring back word where he was.  He wanted to know where this new Baby King was, so he could destroy Him.

            But God intervened in a dream, and sent the Gentiles on their way home without reporting back to Herod, therefore greatly angering him.  Since he knew the place and approximate time of the birth.  But he didn't know who the Baby was, he took action to be sure that Baby King did not live.  And that’s where our text comes in.  It says; “Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.”

            As a result of Herod’s actions, many innocent children died.  They were slaughtered, because one wicked man with power cared more about himself and what he wanted than he did the Savior of the world.  Imagine the grief those parents suffered over their loss!  Those children were the first known martyrs after the birth of Jesus, the first to lose their lives, because someone hated the Savior.

            Of all those children in and near Bethlehem, God spared the life of one.  That One was the very child whom Herod was trying to destroy.  God intervened to save this Child, because the Christ Child had come to be the Savior of the world.  Were He to die at the hands of Herod’s army, Jesus could not have accomplished what He had come to do.

            Before Herod’s army came to Bethlehem, God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream one night, warning him of the danger to Jesus, and telling him to take Mary and Jesus and go to Egypt until the danger had passed.  So they left by night, escaping the slaughter of young boys that took place soon afterward.  Joseph and his family then stayed in Egypt until Herod died, and the immediate danger was passed.

            Yet the danger to Jesus did not end.  This innocent Child Jesus would die one day, but under different circumstances, and for a different reason.  Te reason he would die came well before His birth.  It happened in the Garden of Eden, when the devil, having already fallen away from God into sin and wickedness, led Adam and Eve also to fall away into sin.  Their sin and guilt brought death and hell into the lives of all mankind.  Adam and Eve passed that original sin and guilt on to their children.  Each generation of parents has continued to pass original sin and guilt on to their children.

            Those little children who died in Bethlehem were innocent of anything that would have moved Herod to kill them.  Yet they were not completely innocent.  They, like you and I, are guilty of committing sin in our lives.  The devil continues to work hard to try to turn us completely away from God. 

            Sin moved our Creator to do many things.  It led him to destroy the world with a flood.  It led him to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.  But, sin is also the reason why Jesus Christ came as Savior, and the reason why He died.  God demanded that sin be punished with physical and spiritual death.  HE demanded that blood must be shed for sin. 

            However, God knew that, should He punish us for our sins, no human being who ever lived would enjoy eternal life with Him in heaven.  Every human being is sinful from his youth.  There is not one human being ever who has escaped from the curse.  And there never will be.  God knew this would be the case even before He created the world.

            So God also devised a plan by which He would save sinful mankind.  This plan involved God Himself coming to earth as the Savior.  He would come and meet all the requirements for heaven.  He would live a perfect life.  He would even shed His own blood and suffer for sinful mankind the punishment God required for our sins.  God would suffer this punishment even though He would be perfect and innocent in every sense.  The sweetest swap, the righteous chooses death, so that the unrighteous may have life.  

            In order to fulfill this, God must take on human form, so that He could be the complete Substitute for us and save us from our sins.  That’s why Jesus was born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary.  That’s why the devil tried with all his evil might to keep Jesus from doing what He had come to do.  That’s why this innocent Child, who escaped the sword of Herod’s army in Bethlehem, would still ultimately die.  He was born to die, the innocent for the guilty.  When Jesus shed His blood and died for us on the cross, and then rose again on Easter, God’s plan to save us was brought to a successful close.  Good had triumphed over evil.  And we were set free.

            God has set you and me free in Jesus Christ.  We are free from the requirement to obey the Law for righteousness and eternal salvation.  Jesus has done that for us as our Substitute.  We are free from God’s anger for our sins.  Jesus Christ bore the brunt of that anger in our place.

            The path which Jesus took, the path which all take who are connected to him is not easy.  Those children did not deserve to die, Jesus did not deserve to die.  But praise God that he works through unexpected means, even the death of innocent children to bring about life for all.  This Christmas and always let us praise him for his infinite wisdom show through the life of his son.   

Amen.

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"This is He!" Luke 2:40-52

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 

Amen

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.  And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”  And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”

In the Name of Jesus

It is a long process when a company decides it is time to move on from a current CEO and seek after “fresh ideas”.  It is a long grinding process which includes a lot of questions that need to be asked both of the company itself, so they know what direction they wish to go, but also of the candidates they choose to interview because they need to know, they need to be certain that the chose someone who will be able to take them down the right path. 

After questions are asked, references need to be checked, backgrounds double checked, and credentials even triple checked.  The goal at the end of the hiring process is to be able to state with absolute certainty “THIS IS HE/SHE!”  “This is the one that we have been waiting for!”  Perhaps you have been a part of this type of process before, and therefore know how good it feels to exclaim those type of words. 

Believers in the time before the birth of Christ, even after, have found themselves asking, testing, examining a lot of people to find out if they were the promised Messiah, the one anointed by God.  This was an important process.  They spent their lives waiting for the fulfilling of the promises made for centuries.  A savior was coming, one who would lead them into the Promised Land, but when?! 

The one many believed to be this Promised One is the one whose birth we just celebrated.  If what  the angel Gabriel had to say, or the angels who appeared to the shepherds, or the shepherds themselves who came bearing witness, or even the magi who came from the east who come looking for the one told of in ancient Scripture were any indication, then all searching was over.  Everything pointed to the child born in the manger, behind the inn, in Bethlehem as the Promised One. 

But as the child grew, as he began his public ministry, the excitement turned into disappointment as they witnessed the actions of this so called “Messiah”.  Not only did he become close friends with a tax collector and fishermen, he went into their homes, he ate with them, he touched diseased people, he touched dead bodies which meant he was unclean.  They even accused him of blasphemy after a while as he began to teach that he and the Father were one.  Moreover, this self-proclaimed Son of God succumbed to the threats and punishments given and died.      

Imagine the terror which Mary and Joseph had to have felt when they realized they lost the Promised One!  They were traveling home from a festival in Jerusalem and one day’s journey into the trip, Jesus is gone…  They were entrusted with the care of the Son of God and he was GONE!  When they find him, not just sitting in the temple in Jerusalem, but speaking and asking questions, his response is telling. 

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.  And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”  He answers Mary Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?     

He had escaped from his parents care and he tells them did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?  In essence, did you not know that I must be in my father’s house and therefore about my father’s business?  For all who wondered about whether or not he was the true Messiah, it is laid out right here.  Friends in Christ, THIS IS HE!  He came to complete his father’s business.  He came to complete that which we confess in the second article of the Apostle’s Creed.  Let’s take a minute to read this together.  LSB 322, the Second Article of the Creed with Explanation.

The Second Article: Redemption

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Plate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord. Who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

This is His Father’s business.  This is what he came willingly, cheerfully, and solely to do.  What is even more amazing is that, while he came to be in his father’s house and about his father’s business, he came to be about our business.  Yes the Father sent him to earth to accomplish his plan for eternal salvation.  But who is this plan really about?  Who is this plan for?  It is for you!  He came and suffered, died, from, and ascended back into Heaven for you. 

All those who have, in faith, wondered if this was truly the Messiah can with gusto exclaim “THIS IS HE!”   This is the one people of all times and places have waited for.  He is the one who would and did put an end to sacrifices because he was the perfect sacrifice.  He was and is the one who would intervene for us, who stands in our place pleading for us at the throne of the Father.  He is the one who took our sin and guilt so that we would have His perfection.  

Even though Mary and Joseph didn't understand what he said at the time, we read in our text that Mary treasured up all these things in her heart.  She held this event, the words of the shepherds that night, the words of Gabriel together and was able to see that this truly was the promised one.  To answer one of the popular Christmas songs, Mary Did You Know, yes she did!  She and Joseph knew the mission, the purpose of this Child.  That he had come to do His Father’s will.  

While our sermon hymn isn't one of the well-known Christmas songs in our hymnal, it serves as a great reminder, a great proclamation of the Child born in Bethlehem.  I love the third verse.  “This is he whom seers in old times, chanted of with one accord.  Whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word.  Now he shines the long expected.  Let creation praise it’s Lord.” 

Friends in Christ, THIS IS HE!  This is the one who fulfills His Father’s demands perfectly.  This is the one who fulfilled his Father’s will perfectly.  This is the one whose birth, life, and death and bee foretold of for thousands of years.  Now, in Luke’s Gospel, twelve years after his birth, he states it with his own mouth.  Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?

Praise God for the birth of his foretold Son.  Born for us, born for the world.  Praise God that he came to fulfill all that which was foretold beginning at the fall of man in the garden.  So that he could one day, return to his creation and call it home.   

Amen

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