Advent & Christmas Services

Advent Sunday Services
Advent 2 - 12/5/10 @ 9:30 a.m.
Advent 3 - 12/12/10 @ 9:30 a.m. with Holy Communion
Advent 4 - 12/19/10 @ 9:30 a.m.

Advent Midweek Services all with Holy CommunionAdvent 1 Midweek, 12/1/10, 4:00 and 6:30 p.m. (5:00 to 6:15 Soup and Sandwich)
Advent 2 Midweek, 12/8/10, 4:00 and 6:30 p.m. (5:00 to 6:15 Soup and Sandwich)
Advent 3 Midweek, 12/15/10, 4:00 and 6:30 p.m. (5:00 to 6:15 Soup and Sandwich)

Christmas Services with Holy Communion
Christmas Eve, 6:30 p.m.
Christmas Day, 9:30 a.m.
First Sunday in Christmas, 9:30 a.m.
New Year's Eve, 6:30 p.m.

Latin names for Advent Services

In case you were wondering about those Latin words for the Sundays in Advent....

Advent I
Ad Te Levavi
from Psalm 24
in Latin = Ad te levavi animam meam
in English =Unto thee have I lifted up my soul

Advent II
Populus Sion
from Psalm 30
in Latin = Populus Sion, ecce Dominus veneit et ad salvandas gentes
in English =People of Zion behold, the Lord is coming to save all nations

Advent III
Gaudete
from Philemon 4
in Latin = Gaudete in Domino semper
in English = Rejoice in the Lord always

Advent IV
Rorate
from Isaiah 45
in Latin = Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant iustrum
in English = Drop down ye heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness

The Eve of Thanksgiving - 11-24-10

The Church Season of Trinity
Thanksgiving Eve, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (November 24, 2010)

“THANKSGIVING FOR ALL PEOPLE”

Readings: 
    Psalm 67
    Deuteronomy  8:1-10
    1 Timothy 2:1-4
    Luke 17:11-19

Sermon Form    Deductive

+INI+

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Old Testament Lesson from the 2nd chapter of 1st Timothy especially the following verses:

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (ESV)

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

The weather changed, the days have grown shorter, the crops are now harvested, and for those who will see it, the abundance of God is again revealed in the gifts which He has given to us.  And as we gather together this time of year for Thanksgiving many families out of a sense of tradition will begin their meals by mentioning something they are particularly thankful for at this time.  And those thank-you thoughts may be for the present gathered family, or for the well-being of those who can not be with us on that day.  We take to  time thank those who prepared all the food set before us, for the love and care they took to insure the opportunity of a wonderful meal.  We thank God for friends, for our jobs, for our well-being and the well being of others.  And for all those thankful thoughts, Thanksgiving Day is a wonderful day.  Our memories tend to want to keep it that way, for our minds are filled with those Thanksgiving Days of the past, the experience of that special entrée that your mom or grandmother used to make.  And sometimes we cherish a memory of how something didn’t quite go according to plan.

And for those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, nor the grace which He gives us, those memories, and those offerings of thanks all come to an abrupt end by the prompting of someone at the table saying ‘let’s eat’ or ‘go ahead and dig-in.’  And while that may indeed be the point of the national holiday of Thanksgiving, it is not at all the main point for our thanksgiving.  In fact, most people outside this place will not even know that the word thanksgiving is from the Greek word Eucharist, which is the word for Holy Communion, or Holy Eucharist. 

But, St. Paul in his great love for St. Timothy his brother in Christ and fellow evangelist, takes great care to say what thanksgiving means for Christians.  St. Paul wrote, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people”(v. 1). Here St. Paul gives, “Four synonyms for prayer, each with a different nuance. Supplications; Offered for specific benefits or needs. Prayers; A common NT term, denoting a wide array of petitions. Intercessions; Appeals for others made to God with boldness and childlike trust. Thanksgivings; Expressions of gratitude for mercies received. All these of these different ways of prayer are always appropriate, even when earthly circumstances are difficult, because we are never separated from God’s love and mercy in Christ.” And finally St. Paul closes that sentence with, 'all people.' Those are inclusive words, meaning even all unbelievers and enemies of the Church are included in the Church’s prayers.”

Now think back to your most glorious Thanksgiving meal ever.  Everything set in its place and everyone smiling and happy.  Now try for a moment to remember if anyone at that beautifully adorned table gave thanks for all the unbelievers in the world or for their enemies or the enemies of the church.  We didn’t have to think too long to know that the likes of them are not to be included in our perfect meal. But Pastor, you will say, if that is how St. Paul would describe to Timothy as the meaning of thanksgiving, to include those not loved by our world or even by us, how then can we ever have our perfect gathering?  If we include those dregs on earth whom we deplore how could we ever have that perfect Thanksgiving meal? 

Well repent and do not fear.  That perfect meal does exist, at least not on Thanksgiving Day, but it does exist for you in the Holy Eucharist. That perfect meal is not made by our hands, but rather by the right hand of God.  There Jesus Christ will feed you not just for today, but for all your tomorrows too. 

And the meal which Christ has prepared is not only for you, but for all the world and all peoples too.  For just days before His death, Jesus gave His Holy food, His Holy Eucharist.  And upon that table made of wood God in Christ shared His meal for all who would attend.  But that table of Christ’s love was set on end and the wood of the thanksgiving table became the cross.  And there upon the cross Christ died for you, and in three days time Jesus rose again, and now the Eucharist  the eternal  Thanksgiving given and shed in Jesus Christ's Body and Blood are now among us shared. 

And so the eternal Thanksgiving meal which Jesus blessed, it is for you.  Remember today, tomorrow, and forever, while you give thanks and serve a Thanksgiving meal, the Holy Thanksgiving meal the Holy Eucharist is the meal which always serves you.  It is Jesus Christ who bids you to enjoy, remember, and cherish the thanksgiving meal of tomorrow with good gifts of food, family, and friends.  But also know that Jesus bids you to enjoy that greater Thanksgiving feast prepared for you which never ends.  Amen.

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The Last Sunday of the Church Year - November 21, 2010

The Church Season of Trinity
The Last Sunday in the Church Year, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (November 21, 2010)

“Present and Future”

Readings:   
    Psalm 149
    Isaiah 65:17:25
    1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
    Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon Form    Deductive

+INI+

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 65th chapter of Isaiah, especially the following verses:

Isaiah 65:17-25 (ESV)

[God said to Isaiah]17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. 20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

This is the last Sunday of the Church Year, so this day we set aside to look forward to the end of the world.  And the odd thing about looking forward is that we are already living at the very end of the world.  So some of what the text describes is already, it has been done by Christ and some of it is not yet, because it looks past the end of this world and into the eternal realm.

It is also very awesome that what God told Isaiah of the world in our Old Testament lesson, is exactly what St. John said he saw in his words recorded in the Book of Revelation.  Confused?  Well listen again to Gods word in which He speaks of a reality which Isaiah would see, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”(Is. 65:17)  Now listen to what St. John saw, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” (Rev. 21:1)

One reality was looking from the here and now, another looking at the there and eternity.  So what can we learn from this?  Heaven is not only a future reality it is a present reality for us too.  But just as soon as I say that you have heaven now, I’m sure that most would think that this life just doesn't always feel like heaven, does it?  It doesn’t it look like heaven either.   Because we have in our minds that Heaven is where God is, and where His people are, yet heaven is also where God’s Word is preached and the heavenly gifts of God are handed out - gifts like Holy Baptism, the Holy Absolution, and the Lord's Supper.  So, this is heaven, right here.  Heaven is in the Church, whether it be here in the world in the Church Militant or there in heaven in the Church Triumphant.

It is while describing the realities of the coming age that Isaiah, and we too, need all of the pictures, all of the words to describe heaven and really none of them help us to see anymore than a faded glimmer of what will be.  But, God does tell us that this His heavenly place will be a new place a, “new heavens and a new earth.”(v.17)  And when it comes, the sorrows and the troubles of our past and present will be forgotten.  Those who wonder how they will feel about their family and friends who do not join them in heaven can find comfort here, "the former things will not be remembered or come to mind." (v. 17) We will not know, nor sorrow.  All of God's people will be there, and it will be right and it will be right for us. The promise is that in this new earth, "There will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying." (v.19) There will be no sorrow.  The New Jerusalem is for rejoicing!  Nothing will interrupt our joy!  

But joy is not always what we feel in our lives.  We pin ourselves down in this world by our sin, whether it be by our own actions or inactions the result is the same. We fail to see heaven in this world because we are too busy trying to make it from day to day here on earth.  The body fails, the mind is attacked, and so our first inclination is to attack at God.  So what about this new heaven God? Where is it, why not now, why so much pain, why me, why my family, why?  Well the why is a question blinded by our sin and when we repent our eyes are opened to see that why question is really better answered by the where reality. And that where reality is the new heaven and earth, and that new heaven and earth became a present reality in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  He came from heaven to earth, to make a new earth and  a new heaven, for you.

And that new reality is for you sheer bliss.  Peace shall be the rule in your hearts and minds.  God tells Isaiah that even the creatures of the wild will be calmed, and there will be no violence or death.  Lions will eat hay like cattle.  Wolves will graze next to rather than upon the lambs.  The powerful will not hurt or take advantage of the helpless.  And the part I like the best is that the serpent who deceived the Old Adam will have dust for his breakfast, lunch, and supper. 

All of these wonderful promises, eternal life and happiness and peace and joy and contentment, all of these promises are because of the victory over the cross by Jesus Christ, and His promise given there for us.  He has won the battle.  He has paid the price!  He has done all that needed to be done.  Jesus made us His people, and pours out all of the heavenly riches for us.  Your sins, whatever they may be, are forgiven.

And because we have been given such a rich reward, we are called to share that Good News with those who are around us.  And that focus and message is upon our new banner too as a reminder.  Witness.  Share the Good News of Jesus Christ.  The Bible tells us “For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.”(1 John 5:7-8)  Because you when heard you received the free gift of faith, let all the world hear of the love of Jesus Christ. Mercy.  Have mercy on those who are around you, because your Father has had mercy on you, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give Hs life as a ransom for many.”(Mk 10:45)  Life together.  We are called to have fellowship with one another, to live out our lives in our vocations proclaiming Christ by what we do and by what we say, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”(1 Cor. 1:9)  Witness, Mercy, Life Together, these phrases illustrate how the church lives and works together to proclaim the Gospel and to provide for our brothers and sisters in Christ in our congregations, in our communities, in our state, in our country, and throughout the world.   And in all we do, Christ is at the center, leading us, sustaining us, keeping us focused on our mission.  This will never change.

So as we look at our lives now and see things which are not what they could be, challenged by life, by our thoughts, and our actions.  Do not forget the comforting promises God has given to you in His Son, and revealed Holy Scripture for you.  The entire Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament tells you that all of God’s gifts, are for you.  God put His Son into this world for you.  And Christ puts Himself into you in your Holy Baptism, He puts His body and blood into you in Holy Communion for you.  In Christ your old sinful Adam has died and you are given the promise that you too will see the new Jerusalem and that new heaven made just for you.  And there in the New Jerusalem God tells us that, “no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.(v. 19)  The tears of a life of todays will give way to an eternity of joy and gladness.  Today you heard of what one day you will see with your own eyes, and you heard of what your loved ones who have died in the faith now see with their own eyes.  And that is the present and future reality of your eternal life. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity - November 14, 2010

The Church Season of Trinity
The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (November 14, 2010)

“Certain Faith”

Readings:   
    Psalm 126
    Isaiah 51:9-16
    Colossians 1:9-4
    Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon Form    Deductive

+INI+

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 9th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verse:

Matthew 9:18-26

 18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.  20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”  22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.  23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26 News of this spread through all that region.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

In our Gospel lesson, one man and one woman desire healing from Jesus and both people receive what they desire in two different ways. Both people also are outstanding examples of faith that clings to Jesus Christ against all odds.

In the parallel accounts in Mark and Luke we hear that the ruler of the synagogue’s name was Jairus. His daughter has just died. Although he has no reason to trouble Christ with a request, nevertheless, he came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” Talk about strong faith! Jairus knew that all Jesus needed to do was lay a hand on her and she will live. A few weeks ago, we heard that someone with a fever wanted Jesus to come and lay a hand on them too.  And there Jesus spoke but a word and the fever was gone. This time Jesus follows Jairus who wanted Christ’s mercy. 

But on the way to someone who was dead, Christ came upon someone who was becoming dead.   For on the way to the ruler’s home, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But, instead of our Lord laying a hand on her or speaking a word of healing to her, she touches his tunic and is healed. Jesus knows what has happened. Mark and Luke’s Gospel record Jesus asking who touched Him because Mark says He felt power leaving Him. Nevertheless, our Lord’s response to her action is the same: Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.

Faith is a word that is tossed around so much that it’s hard to remember what faith is and what faith is not. One thing is for certain: you don’t just have faith. Faith is not merely trusting a process or wanting the impossible to be possible. Faith has an object. For those in the Christian faith, the object of faith is the Triune God. You trust God to keep the promise He made to our fathers in the faith, to Abraham and all his children’s seed forever.

In the book of Hebrews we hear these words, “Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.”  So, you see that saying to someone, “You just gotta have faith” while still having the tiniest bit of doubt about who will perform your request, or who will take care of your needs is not really faith. Faith is being sure.

Now think about putting yourself in the place of the woman, for twelve years you’ve been sick. The doctors are stymied. They can’t seem to find the problem.  They’ve done all the tests.  The medicine can’t or isn’t curing the illness. So what are you left with, well quite frankly your only hope and trust and faith is in Jesus. But stubborn as we are we don’t go to Christ because we don’t think He will heal us. Or we won’t go to Him because He won’t heal us in our terms.

Now put yourself in the place of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue. Jesus brings joy both to Jairus and his household.  Jesus comes into the house, a house full of doubts.  Tears are flowing because the young girl is dead.  And when Jesus says the girl is just sleeping, the mourners break out in laughter.  But, Jesus confounds those who ridicule Him for saying Jairus’ daughter is not dead, but just sleeping. He clears the room of the crowd, Jesus, “took her by the hand, and the girl arose” If the resurrection of the dead does not bring joy, then nothing can bring that kind of joy.

The same two things that happen to Jairus and the woman with a flow of blood happen to you now and will happen to you in the Day of Resurrection. When you pray for healing, peace, repentance, forgiveness, or any other need you may have, be it physical or spiritual, even if you glance the hem of our Lord’s garment, then you believe without a doubt, and Jesus hears your prayer and He will answer according to His good and gracious will.

When you pray for spiritual matters, like strengthening your faith, our Father in heaven has to give it to you. When you pray for earthly matters, like healing from illness, our Father answers according to His will. If His will is that your loved one die, and if they die in the Christian faith, then really they have the best healing possible. If His will is that your loved one recovers, you rejoice because the illness is gone. You also rejoice because, if the one healed is a Christian, they know that ultimately they will have final healing in their resurrection.

There is no greater joy than the eyes which will see and ears will hear than our Savior descending from heaven to call you to His side. For ages upon ages, up from this earth rise countless men and women who died in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His promise of forgiveness and they are restored, they are brought home to Him. Their sins are forgiven in Christ’s blood and righteousness. They are restored to the way they were meant to be when our Lord shakes off their mortal bodies, reunite their souls with their new bodies, and recreates heaven and earth, just as He promised in His Word. And their faith believes it possible, because with God all things are possible.

Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see. And there is evidence of these things which you have not seen. The evidence is in Holy Scripture, God’s Holy Word. And here today the substance of your hope is in the visible Word with water, and with the bread, and wine, delivering forgiveness and eternal life into your life. 

Christ’s love for you is real, He came from heaven to earth for you.  In our lesson these two people are healed today, Jesus became incarnate to them.  He came into their presence, for them, to heal them, to set them free one from sickness and one from death.  The world today ridicules a faith which believes in Christ, just as it so many years ago Jesus was ridiculed just before He raised the Jairus’ daughter. But, Christians will have the last laugh against this world and the devil when Jesus casts out the unbelievers and He raises His children from the slumber of death to the joy of eternal life. 

Jesus comes into your lives to heal you too.  He becomes incarnate in this world to address your every sickness, to grant you hope for every trial, to give you the certainty of what you may not be able to see right now.  Though the world, the devil, and our sinful nature would throw trials and tribulations at us to try block and hinder your view of heaven.  Jesus casts away the blinding darkness of the unbelieving world, and He brings you through and out of all that would cause you sadness in the here and now.  For Jesus brings you to His there and forever.  Jesus came into this world, for you and for me and for all who would believe in Him.  And that heavenly relief is what we in faith hope for, and Jesus makes certain you will eternally see.  Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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All Saints Day (Observed) - November 7, 2010

The Church Season of Trinity
All Saints Sunday
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (November 7, 2010)

“FOR ALL THE SAINTS”

Readings:  
    Psalm 149
    Revelation 7:2-17
    1 John 3:1-
    Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon Form    Deductive

+INI+

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the first Lesson from the 7th chapter of Revelation, especially the following verses:

Revelation 7:2-8 (ESV)

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Today we are observing All Saints Day, or also called the Feast of All Saints.  This day has been consecrated for many centuries to the memory of those whom the Lord removed by death and transferred into the Church Triumphant in heaven. The first reading is a part of St. John’s vision of heaven. He saw God on the throne. In the midst stood the Lamb, and St. John saw a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and the Lamb, clothed in white robes of purity and righteousness, with palm branches in their hands. This vast multitude cried out with a loud voice: All praise and honor for our salvation which belongs to our God, who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb! And all the angels standing round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God with a sevenfold Magnificat.  The Magnificat are the words of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, were see begins saying, “My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.”(Luke 1:46-47)

And one of the elders said to St. John: “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”(v. 13) He knows, but he questions in order to teach. When then St. John answers him, “Sir, you know, he answered him”: “These are they who have come out of great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”(v. 14) There is a continuous pouring in of the elect from the world of care to the realm of peace. Because they have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, “therefore are they before the throne of God and serve Him day and night within His temple, and He who sits upon the throne will shelter them with His presence.”(v.15) Jesus dwells among them, spread His tabernacle over them, as He did in the wilderness. “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”(16-17)

We have here a glimpse of our loved ones who have gone before us in the faith and here they are the dearly departed believers. And where do we see them? Before the throne and before the Lamb. These words give us no clue to the locality of heaven but they do give us eternal comfort. But there is something of far greater interest and importance here than where heaven is, it is the knowledge of the state of the saints rather than the place. Where are they, “Before the throne.” While we live, breath, and move about in God’s creation we have a consciousness of God’s presence, but the saints, their state is bliss.  For they are “Before the Lamb.” On earth they saw the Savior as we do know, with the eyes of faith.  Now departed from us, they see Him beyond the veil of human senses and no longer bound by the limitations of their earthly eyes there is no din of a sinful world to obstruct their sight. They are forever with their God.  They are in His immediate presence.  They are where we wish to be.  They are where they wished and longed to be, standing before the Lamb of God.

And what do our loved ones look like? Well, they are “standing.” Becaue God sits upon the throne. They have been given white robes. White stands for purity and righteousness. On earth they, like us, were sinners.  And as sinners their garments were spotted by sin. But now in glory their garments are washed white as snow by the blood of the Lamb. The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son who cleanses us from all sin. And so they appear before God pure and spotless, arrayed in the garment of Christ’s righteousness. Pure and holy, they are fit to mingle with the angels and archangels and to stand before God. They have palm branches in their hands. Their troubles in this earthly wilderness is ended, their harvest home of the Church has come. Their days of labor are over, now comes rest.

All sorrow has passed away. “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” This is perhaps the tenderest little sentence in the whole Bible. We who are still in the great tribulation can hardly conceive of a state when there shall be nothing to cause a single tear to flow, no dying, no sorrow, no pain, no longing. Picture the vision! From all nations the saints stream into heaven out of the great tribulation, their cheeks. wet with tears, and God tenderly wiping away all tears and saying comfortingly: That is all over.

And what do they enjoy? For one thing, the real presence of God. “He who sits upon the throne will shelter them with His presence.” Just as the presence of God hovered over the Israelites in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. “The Lamb … will be their Shepherd.” Christ now feeds them the bread of heaven and guide them to springs of the water of life. Here they had but crumbs, there they have in abundance. Here they had but drops, there they have the fullness of the fountain. Here the bread and wine, the water and the Word of life reached them through earthly vessels, from a printed book and from human lips.  Now they are at the fountainhead, enjoying the pure sweetness of God’s presence .

And so what do they do in God’s presence?  Scripture tells us, they “serve Him day and night within His temple.” Their service of praise is unwearied, day and night. Never do they tire of singing God’s praises for His unmerited mercy and grace shown when He sent the Holy Spirit with His message of Christ Jesus and worked faith by the Gospel and kept them in faith until the end.

How glorious that picture which St. John paints of the saints for you of the saints who are in heaven, and for us who are still in the great tribulation. Some of us may have come here today sorrowing over the loss of some sainted loved one, but as our eyes swell and blur at the loss of those who we love, hear God’s comfort through the words of St. John and know that even now God has wiped away every tear from our eyes.

We know in our hearts our grief appears selfish and that we are thinking only of our loss and not of their gain. Yet we know, in spite of all our pain caused by our separation, we would not wish them back. They have come out of this great tribulation. And really the biggest challenge for us is that we wish sincerely to be with them.

Listen closely to how God comforts you now.  This wish to be with the saints is gratified in a measure today at the Lord’s Table, as we commune with our Lord and with all the saints. If we would want to feel close to our loved ones who died in the Lord, the place to be close to them is not in the cemetery, where only their physical covering is found a temporary sleeping place. The place to be close to their real selves, to have communion with them, is at the Lord’s Table. The Holy Communion, is the Sacrament that links us to the saints in heaven.

The text tells us that the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, feeding them with the bread of heaven. Today this same Lamb is truly present here, the Lamb of God, who gives us heavenly food, His very Body and His very Blood together with the Bread and Wine, heavenly manna, His very Self.

The saints stand before the throne and the Lamb, praising God for their salvation. The angels join in the praise. Today we also join in the song of heaven in the Holy Eucharist. We acknowledge: it is truly meet, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto You, Holy Father, almighty, and everlasting God. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Thy glorious name.” Then we break forth in the jubilant Sanctus, the song of the angels from Isaiah’s vision: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth adored, heaven and earth with full acclaim shout th glory of Your Name.”(Is. 6:3)  So we sing not only with the angels and archangels, but yes even all the company of heaven, including the saints in glory, our blessed dead.

We could go on indefinitely showing that God in the scriptures reveals that we are never closer to heaven and our sainted loved ones than in the Sacrament of Holy Communion and with Christ, with one another, and with the members of the Church who have come out of the great tribulation. Here we have a foretaste of the bliss which the saints enjoy in heaven. Here is the Lamb, here He feeds us with Himself, here we occupy ourselves as do the inhabitants of heaven. May we, as we gather before the throne and the Lamb today in praise and adoration, become conscious of the fact that we are experiencing a foretaste of heaven and we are in communion also with all the blessed saints who have gone before us.  Blessed are they who die in the Lord, blessed are we who die in the Lord, from this time forth and forever more.  Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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Reformation Day - October 31, 2010

The Church Season of Trinity
Reformation Sunday
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (October 31, 2010)

“HE WHO HAS EARS”

Readings:   
    Psalm 46
    Revelation 14:1-6
    Romans 3:19-28
    Matthew 11:12-19

Sermon Form    Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 11th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses:

Matthew 11:12-19 (ESV)

[Jesus said]12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 “ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

“Out of love and concern for the truth, and with the object of eliciting it, the following heads will be the subject of a public discussion at Wittenberg under the presidency of the reverend father, Martin Luther, Augustinian, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and duly appointed Lecturer on these subjects in that place.  He requests that whoever cannot be present personally to debate the matter orally will do so in absence in writing.  Number 1.  When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent”(Mt. 4:17), He called for the entire life of believers to be one of penitence.”

And so it began, that is a document written by Martin Luther entitled “The Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” or better known by us as Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses.  I would dare to say that most Christians have never read this document and I am pretty certain that most Lutheran’s have never read them either.  Yet on this very day, 493 years ago, a 34 year old Roman Catholic Priest and University Professor, walked about ten minutes from his university post and nailed those Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.  In doing so, Luther tacked his ideas on a community bulletin board and thereby offered to spar with the church of Rome and the Pope himself.  Luther had attacked an evil and wicked generation and this was risky business to say the least, and at the most could draw the possibility of deadly consequences.  But, it was the Gospel truth for all who would have ears to hear or in this case read it. 

In our Gospel lesson Jesus speaks to the crowd gathered around Him and He talked to those who had an ear to hear what He was saying.  And Jesus talked of John the Baptist saying, “12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. ”(v.12)  John the Baptist preached, prayed, and pointed to Christ.  And for this proclamation of truth, John met with extreme violence, his head was cut off at the birthday bidding of King Herod’s niece.  Herod like the crowd either didn’t believe the prophecy of John or he just didn’t want to hear it.  Herod didn’t care about God’s Word, Herod wanted things his own way, and why not?  By what right did anybody have to question him about marrying his brother’s wife?  So what is left to say of the generation of Herod? His evil generation passed by in time by ignoring the proclamation of Word of God.

And 1500 years after Herod died, nothing really changed.  Luther would say of his time, “God’s Word and grace is like a passing shower of rain which does not return where it has once been. It has been with the Jews, but when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have nothing. Paul brought it to the Greeks; but again when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have the Turk. Rome and the Latins also had it; but when it’s gone, it’s gone, and now they have the pope. And you Germans need not think that you will have it forever, for ingratitude and contempt will not make it stay. Therefore, seize it and hold it fast, whoever can; for lazy hands are bound to have a lean year.” [AELW 45:353]

“How long before Luther’s proclaimed shower of grace passes us and moves on? Can we see the rain clouds forming strongly over the countries of Africa? How dry and parched will it become here in the United States?  Let’s run out into the rain shower that is the Gospel–the cooling, life-giving shower of God’s Word of Promise in Christ. His Word of mercy, forgiveness, joy and peace pours forth continually to this day and hour from the pierced hands, feet and side of our Lord Jesus Christ, the gifts you and I need the most are given by God through the work of the Holy Spirit through the precious and powerful Word and Sacraments. Let’s return again and again to the cleansing waters of the Holy Baptism, in which we were plunged into the death of Christ and raised to new life in Him. Let’s drink deeply from the streams of the Living Water of Jesus Christ who is Himself our atoning sacrifice, eating the bread of life that He gives to us. And then, with boldness and confidence, we continue to proclaim Christ’s mission and ministry. The Holy Gospel gives us confidence, trust and courage. It always has. It always will. We do not put our trust in mortal men but always and only in the Word of the Lord, which endures forever.”

And so what can be said of us as well?  We ignore the Word of God in our daily lives.  We beg and plead with God when we need Him, yet we debate and ignore the scriptures when they do not say what we want them to say.  Our world seems to be like shifting sand, yesterday Churches full of members.  Today members full of themselves, tomorrow only God knows.  

For we are a lazy lot of fickle humans, aren’t we?  We do not want to hear about Moses and the Ten commandments.  Nor do we want our world to be shaped or guided by them.  We don’t want to hear about the destruction of all of God’s people who failed to listen to the prophets.  We do not want to hear John the Baptist say to us, “Repent”(Mt. 3:2)  That’s Law and that’s much too stern, isn’t it?  Can’t we just have the Word of God and the Gospel the way we want to hear it, without so much pain, suffering, and violence?

 Well, truthfully, if that is what we proclaimed, and that is all you heard, all cheap Gospel and no Law, then we would be changing God’s Word.  We would only be hearing the scriptures when they meet our needs, and then calling the rest outdated because it feels like God would be impinge Himself on us by pointing out favorite heresies.  Sadly, from Adam and Eve, to the church in Luther’ time, to our time, and time to come, man has been and will be quite consistent in having the desire to turn from the whole of God’s Word.  We only want to hear the portions we want to hear.  The rest of scripture we question, did God really say that? Well if He did, I’m not sure I believe it, and now let me tell you what I believe.  And so, in shouting down the scriptures, we fail to hear our own lips making ourselves into false gods.

Repent, for in remembering Christ’s deeds on this Reformation Day celebration, we are reminded that we do not find salvation in the promises or works of men, nor traditions, nor even our feelings.  Neither do we find the promise of salvation in the scribbled words written on a piece of paper tacked to a church door by a man named Martin Luther. We do honor Luther for standing up against incredible forces. Oh that we could stand up to all those who are consumed by this world and its ways.  But instead we bow to our world, confessing what is at best thinly theological, thoughtlessly theoretical, and ultimately only politically correct.  We are called by Christ to hear the Gospel, yet sadly we all too often fail to confess that our salvation is revealed not by us, but to us. 

But with great thanksgiving we hear that the Good News of salvation is won by Jesus Christ and by Him alone.  And the promise of this salvation is given to you in your Baptism, for there you died to sin and now live to Christ.  Today in the Holy Sacrament of our Lord, Jesus Christ pours Himself out for you in His body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  And for all those who “By Faith Alone, by Grace Alone, By Scripture Alone, By Christ Alone, By God Alone,” who have been given the ears to hear, let them know they will hear the eternal voice of Jesus Christ, forever and ever.  Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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